BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s switch to the Bologna system of academic titles has shown its worth, Bern says. A study carried out to examine the use of the Bachelors and Masters degrees but also the continuing use in parallel of some Swiss diplomas, notably in engineering, has shown that the Bologna system provides clear indications of where and what studies the student has completed.
The government notes, in a statement issued 4 July, that the Swiss diploma titles will gradually be phased out, however.
EPFL to give away 2,500 tiny robots Saturday
iCub, an EPFL robot (photo, ©2011 iCub / EPFL)
(video at end) Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Why we are altruistic, sacrificing individual gains for the greater good of a group, has just become a little clearer, thanks to hundreds of generations of robots in Lausanne. Researchers in engineering and robotics at EPFL in Lausanne and in biology at the University of Lausanne 3 May reported their findings into the genetics of altruism, a project that involved using robots to more quickly see how altruism develops over generations.
Robotics Festival brings cutting edge robots to public
The latest robot success in Lausanne could increase the size of the crowds expected at EPFL Saturday 9 May when EPFL hosts its fourth annual Robotics Festival: 30 stands with robots, 21 workshops where you can make your own, a robot contest and 2,500 little Superpattt’s being given away are part of the attraction, with expected 10-15,000 people expected to take part (register now to get your Superpattt – in French).
The altruistic robots work was carried out by EPFL robotics professor Dario Floreano and University of Lausanne biologist Laurent Keller.
“Testing the evolution of altruism using quantitative studies in live organisms has been largely impossible because experiments need to span hundreds of generations and there are too many variables,” EPFL notes in a press release. “However, Floreano’s robots evolve rapidly using simulated gene and genome functions and allow scientists to measure the costs and benefits associated with the trait.”
Their paper was published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology. It provides support for what is known as Hamilton’s rule of kin selection, developed in 1964 by WD Hamilton. He proposed a precise set of conditions under which altruistic behavior may evolve. EPFL describes it:
“If an individual family member shares food with the rest of the family, it reduces his or her personal likelihood of survival but increases the chances of family members passing on their genes, many of which are common to the entire family. Hamilton’s rule simply states that whether or not an organism shares its food with another depends on its genetic closeness (how many genes it shares) with the other organism.
‘We have shown that Hamilton’s kin selection theory always accurately predicts the relationship between the evolution of altruism and the relatedness of individuals in a species,’ explains Markus Waibel, lead author of the paper and former doctoral student of both Keller and Floreano.
Hamilton’s rule has long been a subject of much debate because its equation seems too simple to be true. ‘This study mirrors Hamilton’s rule remarkably well to ex-plain when an altruistic gene is passed on from one generation to the next, and when it is not,’ says Keller.”
The study will help biologists but it has already had an impact on other robots at EPFL, notably swarms of flying robots. “We have been able to take this experiment and extract an algorithm that we can use to evolve cooperation in any type of robot,” says Floreano. “We are using this altruism algorithm to improve the control system of our flying robots and we see that it allows them to effectively collaborate and fly in swarm formation more successfully.”
How robots become altruistic after 500 generations
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – ABB‘s financial report for the first quarter of 2011, published Wednesday, is upbeat, with a 25 percent increase in orders for the industrial engineering multinational, while net income rose 41 percent to CHF655 million.
ABB robotics packing furniture panels (photo: ABB)
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased 43 percent to approximately $1 billion. Company head Joe Hogan attributes the solid performance to lower costs and successful targeting of growth areas.
Credit Suisse published its results, the day after UBS, showing net income of CHF1.1 billion, in line with analysts expectations, with net new assets of CHF19.1b. Income was down 45 percent compared to a year earlier, but up 35 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
The weaker performance compared to a year earlier was due, according to chief executive officer Brady Dougan, to “own debt and stand-alone derivatives relating to own funding liabilities” as well as to the franc’s continued strength against the dollar.”
Both net income and new inflows of money were lower for Switzerland’s second largest bank than for UBS.
Title: Expanding your Horizons: nurturing girls’ interest in science, technology, mathematics and science
Link out: Click here
Description: First European conference inviting 400 11-13 year old girls from public and private schools to nurture interest in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology
Start Time: 9:00
Date: 14 Nov 2009
End Time: 16:00
Sponsored by the Geneva Women in International Trade (GWIT)
A day of hands-on workshops and speakers with women who excel in the non-traditonal fields for girls who show an interest.
Register on-line on the Expanding your Horizons site, further information on the event at expandingyourhorizons@gwit.ch
Winterthur, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss engineering multinational Sulzer saw its orders for the first half of 2009 fall to CHF556.2 million, a drop of 29.2 percent compared to the same period in 2008. The decrease is an adjusted figure with the nominal fall at 31.1 percent. The company says orders will remain low for 2009 as a result of the global economic slump and it expect to finish the year with a “substantially lower order intake compared to the high level of 2008.”
© Sulzer
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss engineering giant Sulzer is to cut 1,400 jobs or 11 percent of its workforce across all divisions by the first half of 2011, the company announced this morning 24 June. The cuts will come mostly in the European and American divisions. The company says it will attempt to reduce the number of direct firings by encouraging voluntary retirements, through natural attrition, and a reduction of outsourced labour. It hopes to achieve savings of CHF110 million.
