wire - news in brief

A Wooden Toe: Swiss Egyptologists Study 3000-Year-Old Prosthesis
It is likely to be one of the oldest prosthetic devices in human history: Together with other experts, Egyptologists from the University of Basel have reexamined an artificial wooden big toe. The find is almost 3000 years old and was discovered in a female burial from the necropolis of Sheikh ŽAbd el-Qurna close to Luxor.

Ancient Bones Reveal Insights Into Swiss Wild Horse Population
Researchers from the University of Basel have, for the first time, studied how regional environmental changes influenced the populations of wild horses in Switzerland 25,000 years ago. Their results show: Contrary to the wild horses in the Eurasian steppe; the Swiss population grew considerably after the end of the last Ice Age.

The man with cities on his mind
Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani hasn't just written definitive reference works on urban planning and shaped a generation of ETH architects; he has also run numerous projects of his own.

Novartis’ new analyses reinforce the potential of Ultibro Breezhaler for COPD patients historically treated with steroids
New analyses from the FLAME study suggest dual bronchodilator Ultibro Breezhaler provides similar or better efficacy versus steroid-containing therapies, regardless of blood eosinophil (a type of white blood cell)  counts   Data was published in the centenary issue of the American Thoracic Society's 'American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine'   Together with the International Primary Care Respiratory Group, Novartis is launching

The stories of survivors and life after the Holocaust
The «Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors» exhibition, which opens today at the ETH Zurich Archives of Contemporary History, tells the stories of how fourteen eyewitnesses survived the Holocaust and then went on with their lives.

Prehistoric alpine farming in the Bernese Oberland
Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The people in Switzerland were on the move in the High Alps and running alpine pastures 7,000 years ago and therefore much earlier than previously assumed. A study by the University of Bern that combines archaeological knowledge with findings from palaeoecology comes to this conclusion.

A computed tomography scanner for objects
Micro computed tomography scanners deliver very high-resolution images of the internal structure of materials.

Can conflict be predicted?
Modern data science techniques can also be useful in conflict research. However suggests that certain expectations regarding the predictability of armed conflict are unrealistic. ETH News caught up with him for a chat. ETH News: Mr Cederman, your research deals with violent conflict, as well as the ability to predict it.

Historical copper, trapped in ice
South America's mining industry supplies half the world with copper. The world's largest mines are located in the Andes.

Bringing energy-hungry buildings up to date
As buildings evolve from energy consumers to energy producers, architecture is seeing a major paradigm shift, with building renovations becoming a real challenge.

Fifty years of the Archives of Contemporary History
What began as a student initiative has today become one of Switzerland's most distinguished archives.

"I can see no alternative to the multilateral path"
Streams of refugees, global warming, the Euro crisis - it seems we spend our time arguing about our problems in marathon negotiations when we should really be solving them instead.

"The information about the site is very limited, but we still have the ruins"
"Analysis of historical urban development broadens our perspective on how urban spaces are shaped and deployed.

“I’m interested in almost everything”
On Monday Kay Schaller was elected as the new VSETH president. He takes over this important role of representing his fellow students from his predecessor, Thomas Gumbsch.

Valuable historic documents
As part of the Humanitarian Switzerland project, the Archives of Contemporary History has integrated into its database a total of 250 hours of video and audio recordings featuring contemporary witnesses.

Paleoclimatology - revisiting a tiny prehistoric witness
New insights into the growth dynamics of minuscule marine organisms could help put the study of Earth's climate, both present and prehistoric, on a more solid footing. For hundreds of millions of years, the tiny shells of single-celled marine organisms called foraminifera have been accumulating on the ocean floor.

New SNF research grant for Prof. Anu Wadhwa
Anu Wadhwa has been awarded a grant by the SNF to study uncertainty in the venture capital investements practices in the cleantech sector.

Novartis announces Aliskiren will continue to be available to appropriate patients, as FDA interim assessment is concluded; product information updated
Combination product Valturna to be voluntarily withdrawn from the US market as of July 20, 2012 Basel, Switzerland April 19, 2012 - Novartis announced today that the Tekturna labels have been updated

Getting inside the mind (and up the nose) of our ancient ancestors
Reorganisation of the brain and sense organs could be the key to the evolutionary success of vertebrates, one of the great puzzles in evolutionary biology, according to a paper by an international team of researchers, published today in Nature.

Novartis therapy GilenyaTM reduced the risk of MS disability progression regardless of treatment history or disease severity, new analysis shows
Gilenya delayed the progression of disability both for patients who were previously treated for their MS and for patients who had not received prior treatment 11 scientific abstracts on Gilenya effic

Banken ohne moralischen Kompass
Zurich - University of Zurich Das moderne Finanzwesen hat sich von religiösen und moralischen Grundsätzen gelöst. Nicht so das «Islamic Banking».

Muhammad als formidabler Risikomanager
Zurich - University of Zurich «Islamic Banking» ist kein Nischenprodukt mehr. Auch Schweizer Banken wie UBS und CS verfügen heute über Scharia-konforme Anlagemöglichkeiten.

Verschmähte Pracht
Zurich - University of Zurich Die Malerei gilt als Inbegriff der Kunst. Wandteppiche und andere textile Kunstwerke werden dagegen als zweitrangig wahrgenommen und wenig erforscht.

NCCR sesam: A Positive Review for the SNSF from the Swiss Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations
10.12.2009 / Bern - SNF The Swiss Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations gave the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) a clean report on its handling of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) "sesam", which was discontinued at the end of September 2009.

Wenn der Imam Deutsch spricht
Zurich - University of Zurich Sollen Imame und islamische Religionslehrer künftig in der Schweiz ausgebildet werden können? Ja, sagen viele Muslime und Schweizer Institutionen in einer neuen Studie der Universität Zürich.