Glacier Collapse Devastates Swiss Village of Blatten

CHSwitzerland|

The Swiss village of Blatten has suffered significant destruction following a glacier collapse that buried parts of the settlement. The incident, which occurred after residents had been evacuated due to fears of the Birch glacier's instability, has left one person missing and numerous homes completely flattened. Blatten's mayor, Matthias Bellwald, described the event as "the unimaginable" while assuring the community that they would support one another in recovery efforts.

Local authorities have requested assistance from the Swiss army’s disaster relief unit as government officials head to the site. Around 300 residents were preemptively evacuated on May 19 after geologists highlighted the risks posed by the melting glacier. Bellwald expressed hope for the future, stating, "We have lost our village, but not our heart."

Warnings from glaciologists indicate that communities across the Alps are increasingly at risk due to climate change accelerating glacier melts. The recent event in Blatten echoes past evacuations in Swiss towns threatened by similar geological instability. Alarmingly, studies suggest that Switzerland’s glaciers could be entirely gone within the next century if global warming is not curtailed.

Weekly Newsletter

Loading...

More from Switzerland

Tragic Loss: Five Skiers Found Dead Near Zermatt, Switzerland

Authorities discovered the bodies of five skiers in the mountains near the luxury resort of Zermatt, Switzerland, on Sunday, following a search triggered by climbers spotting abandoned skis near the summit of Rimpfischhorn. According to Swiss police, a helicopter conducted aerial surveys after the report was made on Saturday, leading to the swift recovery of the victims. Rimpfischhorn, which stands at 4,199 meters (13,780 feet), is located east of Zermatt and is favored by backcountry skiing enthusiasts. Police have initiated an investigation into the incident, and efforts are currently underway to identify the deceased individuals. The tragic event has raised safety concerns regarding skiing in the area, particularly as Rimpfischhorn is known for its challenging terrain. Further updates are expected as authorities continue to gather information and communicate with the victims' families.
CHSwitzerland

Scientists Transform Lead Into Gold at CERN: A Modern Alchemy Breakthrough

In a remarkable feat of modern science, researchers at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) successfully transformed lead nuclei into gold, producing an estimated 86 billion gold nuclei during experiments conducted between 2015 and 2018. This groundbreaking achievement was described in a paper published in *Physical Review C* on May 12, 2025. The process took place within the 27-kilometer ring of the LHC, where lead nuclei were accelerated to 99.999993% of the speed of light. As two lead nuclei collided, their immense electromagnetic fields caused an intense burst of photons, leading to nuclear destabilization and the loss of protons and neutrons. This resulted in the brief formation of gold nuclei, though the total mass produced was only around 29 picograms, too small for practical use. Additionally, the experiments yielded mercury and thallium, highlighting the scientific significance of such transmutations. While the quantities created are minuscule and impractical for gold mining, the findings offer critical insights into nuclear processes in extreme cosmic environments, such as supernovae.
CHSwitzerland

Scientists Discover Heavy Antimatter Particle at CERN, Shedding Light on Universe's Mysteries

Researchers at CERN's Large Hadron Collider have made a groundbreaking discovery of a particle named antihyperhelium-4, the heaviest antimatter particle identified to date. This finding, reported in a preprint on arXiv, could potentially illuminate the longstanding mystery of why our universe is predominantly composed of matter, despite theories suggesting an equal creation of matter and antimatter during the Big Bang. The discovery was made by the A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE), which specializes in heavy-ion physics. The experiments recreate conditions akin to those present just one millionth of a second after the Big Bang. According to the researchers, antihyperhelium-4 consists of protons and neutrons along with hyperons containing “strange” quarks, making it fundamentally different from ordinary helium. Since hypernuclei decay rapidly, locating these particles poses significant challenges; only two other antihypernuclei have been identified in recent history. Qiu Hao, a collaborator with STAR at Brookhaven National Laboratory, emphasized the importance of creating and studying antimatter to unravel the mystery of matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe.
CHSwitzerland
All Switzerland News ->