Good News Forever

Ultrasonic beeps against hedgehog deaths

New research has shown that hedgehogs can hear things we can’t: very high frequencies somewhere in the ultrasonic range which is why you never see a hedgehog and Mariah Carey in the same room. Joking aside, Scientists now hope to use this discovery to help stop the dramatic decline of hedgehogs in Europe. An estimated third of all hedgehogs die in road traffic. The idea is simple: cars could be fitted with small devices that emit high-frequency sounds (inaudible to humans) to warn hedgehogs and keep them away from roads before a car approaches.

6th May 2026

Small film, big impact

Sometimes, at the big award ceremonies, it isn’t the loudest film that wins, but the most important one. At the 2026 BAFTAs, Boong – a film in the Manipuri language from north-east India – won Best Children’s and Family Film, beating Disney blockbusters in the process. The film tells the story of Boong, a boy searching for his father. Director Lakshmipriya Devi used her acceptance speech to call for peace.

Conflicts like the one in Manipur rarely make it into our news cycles. The fact that a BAFTA winner is now drawing millions of eyes to the situation is worth more than any trophy.

The world takes a breath

Anyone who thought «clean city air» was just a romantic illusion – like unicorns or affordable flats in a central location – may want to take note: according to an analysis of 100 cities between 2010 and 2024, 19 major cities reduced their fine particle and nitrogen dioxide emissions by at least 20 per cent. Beijing and Warsaw top the list with reductions of almost 50 per cent, closely followed by Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The measures? Electric buses, expanded cycle lanes, bans on coal heating and low-emission zones. In other words: all things that are entirely doable, if people actually want to do them.

Six new national research programmes

In 2026, the Swiss government launched six new national research programmes. They will receive long-term funding from the federal government and the Swiss National Science Foundation, with the aim of strengthening research in key areas of the future. Three of them – unsurprisingly – are being led by ETH: Genesis, Precision and Clim+. The topics they tackle have global relevance: climate, fundamental physics and the origins of life.

Clim+ investigates extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall, and explores how societies can better deal with them – particularly relevant for Switzerland, which is warming at roughly twice the global average.

Precision develops technologies for ultra-precise measurements. Many unanswered questions in physics can only be solved if we’re able to measure physical phenomena even more accurately.

Genesis is dedicated to one of science’s biggest questions: how does life begin? Researchers are investigating how the first biological systems emerge from non-living matter and which conditions make life on planets possible.

The projects can run for up to twelve years. With a bit of luck, they’ll deliver insights much sooner that help us better understand – and perhaps even improve – our lives. Another major plus: plenty of stable jobs for people working in research.

Horses do throat singing

Can you immitate a horse? Yay or Neigh? The unique sound horses use to communicate is, of course, called neighing. For a long time, it puzzled scientists. The animals produce two tones at once – high and low – and no one could quite explain how.

Now, a research team has finally cracked the mystery of the neigh by inserting a tiny camera into horses’ nostrils to observe the process. The result: the sounds are a form of whistling produced in the larynx. Horses are therefore the only known animals capable of both whistling and “singing” through their larynx at the same time. Researchers believe the two-toned neigh allows them to communicate several messages simultaneously and express a broader range of emotions. Way to go, my emotionally communicative friends on four hooves.

We’re happier again

A reason to rejoice: Switzerland is back in the top 10 of the world’s happiest countries, according to the World Happiness Report (published on 18/19 March). While Helvetia was still standing proudly at the very top in 2014, we slipped further and further down the rankings in the years that followed – eventually even falling out of the top 10 altogether. In 2024, we only managed 13th place.

Now we’re back among the ten happiest countries again – though «happy» here refers to how satisfied people are with their lives overall. Let’s hope the upward trend continues and we soon find ourselves right at the top again. Not because we love winning (which, to be fair, we absolutely do), but because being happy should really be the ultimate goal anyway.

Valais irrigation helps fight the climate crisis

Sometimes the solution doesn’t lie in something new – sometimes it’s enough to rediscover knowledge that’s been forgotten. Take the traditional irrigation systems of Valais, known as bisses: for centuries, these handmade stone and wooden channels have carried glacier water across several kilometres directly to the fields – without pumps, powered solely by gravity. Long overlooked, these traditional irrigation systems are now attracting renewed attention from international researchers (and since 2023, they’ve been recognised as UNESCO World Heritage). For good reason: they could serve as a model for other mountain regions around the world, promote biodiversity and help keep groundwater levels stable.

2000-year-old bread discovered

Finding old bread on the floor is usually the opposite of newsworthy. But when that bread turns out to be a Roman-era flatbread, it’s close to a sensation. Bread, being organic, normally decomposes completely and gets eaten away within a few weeks. Recently, though, archaeologists in Windisch unearthed an intact example – because it had been completely charred. In this carbonised state, it can survive for centuries, and in this case even around two thousand years. For archaeologists, the find is important because it offers insights into ancient diets, baking techniques, grain varieties and much more. For once, everyone’s very glad someone forgot about their baking for a little too long.