Council officials in Vienna are working overtime to get the 950 fountains in the city cleaned up and ready to be officially switched on during the UN World Water Day on 22nd of March. Fountains ranging from simple drinking fountains through to massive monumental structures are closed down over the winter to prevent damage during […]
By Michael Leidig A critically endangered bird species that lived in Europe for 1.8 million years before it was wiped out by hunters has been reintroduced in three locations by a bird lover who showed them the way using a microlight. Dr Johannes Fritz used the technique of imprinting by making sure he was the […]
School fruit and veg project flops
Categories
Austrian schools have only claimed around a fifth of the 1.3 million euros made available as part of an EU project to provide kids with fresh fruit and vegetables. In a study in Salzburg local officials said that only five of the schools and about two dozen kindergartens had joined in with the program. In […]
Glaciers melting at record speed
Categories
Despite the record cold winter Austrian climatologists say the country’s glaciers melted last year faster than ever before. They highlighted the case of the glacier on the Dachstein that in 2011 shrunk with the loss of 6 million cubic metres of water – enough to fill 40 million baths. The melting glaciers are also a […]
Space the Final Frontier for Felix
Categories
Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump. Baumgartner lifted off yesterday (Thurs) for a test jump from Roswell, N.M., aboard a 100-foot helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurized capsule to 71,581 feet — 13.6 miles — and then jumped. He parachuted […]
ORF making waves
Categories
A report on ORF television in Vorarlberg about specially shaped waves designed to catch and deflect negative energy from ley lines has provoked a huge reaction. Dozens of people who have purchased the waves and had them mounted in their homes have since contacted the consumer protection office in Vorarlberg to ask about getting a […]
Social workers ordered to hand back a 12-month-old boy to his mum after they took him into care because his grandmother had been fined for speeding have launched a legal challenge against the ruling. Baby Jonas, from Lambach, Austria, had been living with his 18-year-old mum Ann-Katrin Leitner and her partner Andreas when he was […]
Environmental campaigners are hailing a victory after local officials in Carinthia agreed to a complete stop on further building around the lakeside at the Wörthersee. After decades of uninterrupted expansion of buildings with jetties and concrete steps leading into the water there is now a situation where more than half of the lakeside has been […]
Green groups have raised the alarm over plans to use a controversial mining technique known as Fracking around Lake Constance in Germany that is already banned in some countries. Gas and oil is harvested naturally after it leaks into underground reservoirs from source rocks – but with fracking the natural process is accelerated. Expanding chemicals […]
A wind-farm project on the top of an Austrian mountain plateau has not been switched on over fears that it is in the middle of a key bird migration route and that the spinning blades could lead to thousands of bird deaths. Austrian energy company Salzburg AG has invested in building the five giant wind […]