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, 
Basel Breaks Building Record Again; Riehen And Basel Celebrate 500 Years; CERN Contemplates Shut Down
News For 6 September 2022
Late last week, Basel inaugurated Roche Building 2 - the second pyramid shaped tower to be built adjacent to Roche Building 1 on the banks of the Rhein. The 205 meter tower, surpasses the height of its neighbor by 27 meters, distinguishing it as the new, tallest building in Switzerland. At a cost of 550 million Swiss Fancs, the Herzog and DeMeuron designed building is intended to house 3,500 workers. On hand for the inauguration were Roche CEO Severin Schwan, Chairman of the Board Christoph Franz and Swiss President Ignazio Cassis - who took the opportunity to discuss Swiss participation in European research programs, and federal education and research policy.
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It was 500 years ago that the municipality of Riehen and the city of Basel unified into a single administrative entity, and celebrations were underway last Sunday in the Riehen town center. To mark the occassion, two linden trees were planted on-site, with Riehen mayor Christine Kaufmann, Riehen council president Jo Vergeat, Riehen residents' deputy council Christian Heim and President of Basel Stadt Beat Jans presiding over the ceremony. On hand were nearly 50,000 visitors during the anniversary weekend celebrations.
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Facing huge increases in electricity costs and possible rolling winter blackouts in its region, the authorities at CERN, one of Switzerland's premier global research institutions is drafting a plan to halt experiments until economic stresses on the power system are relieved. Specifically, experiments will be halted during peak periods of power demand in the coming winter heating season. As a joint Swiss-European research facility on the border between France and Geneva, Switzerland, CERN draws its power from EDF the French European power giant. During peak operations, the facility consumes nearly 200 Mega watts of electricity, almost as much as 1/3 of that consumed by the entire neighboring city of Geneva.