"switzerland" news and stories

There are some places where you can get bacon ice cream already, but how would you feel about ice cream made of frozen berries, meat and bones? Don't worry - this isn't a new flavor from Haagen Dazs or anything like that. This is a concoction being fed to some of the animals at the Zurich Zoo in Switzerland. Temperatures have been at record highs there this summer, and the zookeepers say that the "alternative ice cream" helps keep the animals comfortable and cool, not to mention that they seem to quite like the taste. The mix is being given to the big cats, apes and wolves. Hopefully they have something equally tasty (relatively speaking) for the zoo's other residents.

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A Swiss lab has created a system of sensors and microphones to help dieters keep track of what they eat. A report from The Wearable Computing Laboratory describes how an in-ear microphone (right) was used, with very high accuracy, to identify various foods based on what they sounded like as they were eaten. Other parts of the system include a collar to detect swallowing and hand sensors to detect "food intake related motions." The lab hopes that all of this automation will make it easier for people to keep track of what they eat, as opposed to having to manually take notes about everything they consume in a day.

[Via pasta and vinegar]

A little spat has broken out in Switzerland over a trademark dispute over a red ribboned Easter bunny.

Chocolate makers Lindt says it holds the right, copyrighted since 2000, to manufacture golden Easter bunnies tied around the neck with red ribbon. In neighbouring Austria Hauswirth also makes a similar product and has done for 50 years.

Hauswirth is a small company in comparison to Lindt and refused suggestions from Lindt's lawyers to replace the wrapper with a bronze one or the red ribbon with a green one. A court order prevented Hauswirth with selling their bunnies this year; a move that prompted them to give away thousands of chocolates to children across Austria.

A further court date has been set for June.

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