Let Switzerland Surprise You!

DemocracyFribourg Vote Makes History

InnovationThe Largest Science Experiment in HistoryLet the Games Begin!

ThinkSwissWater Water Everywhere!Water Water Everywhere!

HumanitarianUnder The Lake

LifestyleSwiss Railway becomes UNESCO World Heritage SiteLights, Camera, Action!

Democracy

Fribourg Vote Makes History

On June 22, the Canton of Fribourg made history by electing Switzerland’s first black Prefect into office—Carl-Alex Ridoré, a lawyer and member of the Social Democratic party. Ridoré won the position, a coveted one, with almost 60% of the vote and will assume administrative responsibility for the Saane/Sarine region, which contains a third of the canton’s population, including its capital city of Fribourg. Comparisons of Ridoré to America’s black presidential candidate abounded, as the media dubbed him “The Fribourg Barack Obama.” Ridoré, of Haitian descent, was born and raised in Switzerland, becoming a citizen at age 16. He acknowledged that his victory represents a move towards the normalization of multiculturalism in Switzerland but, like Obama, did not make ethnicity a key point of his campaign. Instead, he focused on his history of public service and on issues such as care for the elderly and public transportation.

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Innovation

The Largest Science Experiment in History

The quest to discover the secrets of the universe is about to engage in its latest—and largest— effort this month, as physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva prepare to switch on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Known as the most powerful atom-smasher ever built, the LHC is located inside a 17-mile circular underground tunnel. Scientists will use it to accelerate two beams of protons in opposite directions at almost the speed of light—that’s 11,000 times around the tunnel per second! The collision of these particles, when they meet, is expected to rival the energy of the Big Bang and give scientists a glimpse into the makeup of “dark matter”— the invisible mass of energy believed to make up 96 percent of the universe. The collision could reveal particles smaller than quarks, extra dimensions, and other phenomena whose existence physicists have, until now, only theorized.

Let the Games Begin!

When the athletes of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games march out for their opening ceremony on August 8, they will do so in perhaps the largest eco-friendly stadium in the world. Designed by Switzerland’s Pritzker Prize-winning architects  Herzog and de Meuron, the Beijing National Stadium—or the  “Bird’s Nest,” as it is more affectionately and descriptively known—has won acclaim both for its extraordinary design as well as for its environmental features. These include an open-grid
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