* Astronomy

With all the tunnels that pierce them, the Swiss Alps have often been likened to an enormous Swiss cheese. That comparison was awakened in recent months when a 22-mile rail tunnel was opened near this Alpine town.
Costing $3.5 billion, the tunnel supplements a 19th-century tunnel through the Lötschberg, the mountain in whose shadow Frutigen lies. But the new one differs from older tunnels by piercing the base of the mountain, rather than its upper reaches. In addition to the main tunnel, for rail traffic, the mountain has been laced with 20 miles more of tunnel for maintenance and emergencies.

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