News
CHEOPS successfully launched
The relief was huge when the Soyuz Fregat rocket with CHEOPS on board took off shortly before 10 a.m. MEZ on Wednesday, 18 December 2019. The spectators at the University of Bern followed the ESA live coverage from Kourou, French Guiana, with great applause. The day before, an error in the Fregat upper stage had […]
Continue Reading
CHEOPS launch postponed
Liftoff is currently scheduled for Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 9:54:20 CET. On Tuesday morning, 1 hour 25 minutes before liftoff during final countdown operations, the Soyuz-Fregat launcher’s automated sequence was interrupted. The rocket with the CHEOPS space telescope on board should have taken off from ESA’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 17.12.2019 […]
Continue Reading
Learning AI from NASA and Silicon Valley
Bern researcher and NASA take a cue from Silicon Valley to hatch Artificial Intelligence Technologies. Could the same computer algorithms that teach autonomous cars to drive safely help identify nearby asteroids or discover life in the universe? NASA scientists are trying to figure that out by partnering with pioneers in artificial intelligence (AI) — companies […]
Continue Reading
At the interface between PlanetS and SNSF
By Leonore Lovis As finance coordinator, I am at the interface between PlanetS and SNSF for all financial aspects (from the global view on PlanetS financial situation up to details on specific expenses) as well as for matters related to the employment of PlanetS members. In addition, at the local level, this position includes the […]
Continue Reading
New initiatives
The NCCR PlanetS Board at its meeting on Friday November 8, 2019 has decided to attribute CHF 350’000 to two new initiatives. Holly Capelo and Monika Lendl describe what the new projects are about. TEMPus VoLA: The Timed Epstein Multi-Pressure-Vessel at Low Accelerations from Holly L. Capelo UBE, Jean-David Bodénan ETHZ/UZH, Clement Surville UZH, Jonas Guillaume Kühn UBE, […]
Continue Reading
Survey: PlanetS Members feel well informed
In October, the communication team conducted a survey of PlanetS members and associates on communication and outreach. With the survey, the communication team wanted to find out how well the PlanetS members are informed about the latest news and topics relevant to them, which communication channels and service offerings are used for outreach and how, […]
Continue Reading
A sinuous career path
In previous editions of the InsiderS, we have already portrayed astronomers and physicists who have made their careers outside academia. Here is the story of PlanetS member Pierre Bratschi who is in charge of communication and outreach at the Geneva Observatory. By Pierre Bratschi As a child, I didn’t dream of being an astronomer, I […]
Continue Reading
General Assembly in Montreux
The PlanetS General Assembly is the main event during the yearly NCCR cycle and gathers a large majority of NCCR members and associates. It will take place on January 27 – 29, 2020 in Montreux. Registration has to be completed by 15 December 2019. This time the organizers chose Montreux for the PlanetS General Assembly after […]
Continue Reading
Nobel prize ceremony
In a very formal and festive ceremony in Stockholm, the Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf presented the Nobel prizes to this year’s esteemed laureates, among them Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. Fanfare sounds accompanied his Majesty handing over the medals. As every year, the award ceremony took place on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, […]
Continue Reading
Stardust from red giants
Some of the Earth’s building material was stardust from red giants, researchers from ETH Zurich have established. They can also explain why the Earth contains more of this stardust than the asteroids or the planet Mars, which are farther from the sun. Around 4.5 billion years ago, an interstellar molecular cloud collapsed. At its centre, […]
Continue Reading
