Our friend and long-time contributor Ian Ellery, aka the Gadget Guru, joined us on the programme this evening to share his gadget-y insights. First up, 
Authorities Play Down Risk from Radioactive Waste; Swiss Solar Plane Soars; Tram Line 8 to Weil Set to Open
The radioactive substance, emitting 100 times the legally permitted amount, was waste paint deposited by the watch-making industry normally used to illuminate numbers on watch dials.
The population was not informed of the discovery earlier because officials did not want to alarm the population.
But on Monday, Roland Charrière, deputy director of the federal office of public health, acknowledged “we should have informed (the public) faster”, the ATS news agency reported.
The lack of communication “did not reassure people and does not respond to their expectations”, Biel Mayor Erich Fehr admitted.
The radioactive waste was discovered in November 2012 at the roadworks, part of a 2.9-billion-franc bypass involving tunnels, in the centre of the town of Biel.
The three levels of government, who had earlier pointed fingers at each other over the the lack of information given to the public, put on a united front at Monday’s press conference.
“We are going to work together,” Biel municipal councillor Barbara Schwickert said, according to ATS.
Thomas Varrin, a spokesman from the roads and bridges department of the canton of Bern, described the discovery of radioactive waste as an isolated case, and that road workers were not in danger of being exposed to radiation.
Charrière, from the federal public health office added there was no health risk to people living near the waste site or for the workers working on the construction site.
nevertheless, new checks of the area are to be made this month and the results of the analysis will be made public, authorities said.
In the meantime, the federal health office has set up a website to respond to emailed inquiries from the public and to respond to potential concerns.
The use of radium paint for watch dials has been banned in Switzerland for more than 50 years.
However, legislation to protect against radioactive substances has only existed in the country since 1991.
As a result, its seems to be very difficult to pursue the watch industry for having dumped radium paint before its was banned, Sybille Estier, a specialist on radioactivity in the environment from the public health office, is quoted as saying by the news agency.
Although Biel is the home to Swiss watch maker Swatch, no company was singled out in any of the investigations to date for bearing responsibility.
=====================================================
Solar Impulse 2, A swiss experimental solar powered airplane, carried out a flight lasting two hours and 15 minutes, half an hour longer than scheduled, German test pilot Markus Scherdel said."Everything worked as expected," Scherdel told a press conference after the flight at an air base in Payerne, in the swiss canton of Vaud. "Of course, we have to do more testing, but it's a good start and I'm looking forward to flying the airplane the next time." Built from carbon fibre, the 2.3-tonne plane has four 17.5-horsepower electrical motors powered by 17,248 solar cells studding its fuselage and 72-metre (234-feet) wingspan — as long as that of an Airbus A380. It is the successor of Solar Impulse, a record-breaking craft that in 2010 notched up a 26-hour flight, proving its ability to store enough power in lithium batteries during the day to keep flying at night. Solar Impulse crossed the Mediterranean to reach Morocco and traversed the United States last year without using a drop of fossil fuel.
The goal with Solar Impulse 2 is to fly non-stop for more than 120 hours — five days and five nights — enabling it to cross the Pacific and Atlantic legs of its global mission. The operation in March 2015 will circle the globe eastwards, making numerous stops on the way. starting in one of the gulf states of the middle east, The plane will head over the Arabian Sea to India, Myanmar and China, then cross the Pacific Ocean, the United States, the Atlantic, southern Europe and finally North Africa before returning to its point of departure. Speed at night will be limited to 46 kilometres (28.75 miles) per hour to prevent the batteries from being run down too quickly. The sponsors of the project are Bertrand Piccard, the scion of a dynasty of Swiss scientists and adventurers, and André Borschberg, a former Swiss airforce pilot. Piccard made history in 1999 by becoming the first person to fly around the world in a hot-air balloon. He and Borschberg founded Solar Impulse a dozen years ago, frustrated with traditional airplane makers who refused to take them seriously. "This is really an experimental project of exploration, so everything is new," Piccard said on Monday.
======================================================= Tram Line 8 construction extending the line into Weil am Rhein, Germany is set to conclude in the coming months. The public transport system will be the first cross-border road constructions in Europe in over 75 years at a cost of over 100 million Swiss Francs. Weil am Rhein Mayor Wolfgang Dietz addressed the media last Friday saying construction remains on schedule, operating tests are to occur during October and that the line will be officially opened on the 14th of December this year. Construction began on the project more than 3 years ago in March of 2011 after planning delays that officially started the project at a ground breaking ceremony in December of 2008. So far, tariff details remain to be ironed out for cross-border riders. however, due to the expected demand resulting from the draw of German Shopping - most notably at Rhein Center, tariff negotiations will likely be concluded soon.