Features

By Catherine Lai
Agence France-Presse

SINGAPORE — Remote-controlled Venus flytrap "robo-plants" and crops that tell farmers when they are hit by disease could become reality after scientists developed a high-tech system for communicating with vegetation.

Researchers in Singapore linked up plants to electrodes capable of monitoring the weak electrical pulses naturally emitted by the greenery.

The scientists used the technology to trigger a Venus flytrap to snap its jaws shut at the push of a button on a smartphone app.

They then attached one of its jaws to a robotic arm and got the contraption to pick up a piece of wire half a millimetre thick, and catch a small falling object.

The technology is in its early stages, but researchers believe it could eventually be used to build advanced "plant-based robots" that can pick up a host of fragile objects which are too delicate for rigid, robotic arms.

"These kinds of nature robots can be interfaced with other artificial robots [to make] hybrid systems," Chen Xiaodong, the lead author of a study on the research at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), told AFP.

There are still challenges to be overcome. Scientists can stimulate the flytrap's jaws to slam shut but can't yet reopen them — a process that takes 10 or more hours to happen naturally.

Crop defence

The system can also pick up signals emitted by plants, raising the possibility that farmers will be able to detect problems with their crops at an early stage.

"By monitoring the plants' electrical signals, we may be able to detect possible distress signals and abnormalities," said Chen. 

"Farmers may find out when a disease is in progress, even before full-blown symptoms appear on the crops."

Researchers believe such technology could be particularly useful as crops face increasing threats from climate change. 

Scientists have long known that plants emit very weak electrical signals but their uneven and waxy surfaces makes it difficult to effectively mount sensors.

The NTU researchers developed film-like, soft electrodes that fit tightly to the plant's surface and can detect signals more accurately. 

They are attached using a "thermogel", which is liquid at low temperatures but turns into a gel at room temperature.

They are the latest to conduct research communicating with plants.

In 2016, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team turned spinach leaves into sensors that can send an email alert to scientists when they detect explosive materials in groundwater. 

The team embedded carbon nanotubes that emit a signal when plant roots detect nitroaromatics — compounds often found in explosives. The signal is then read by an infrared camera that sends out a message to the scientists.

GENEVA — Working more than 55 hours a week increases the risk of death from heart disease and strokes, according to a United Nations study out Monday.

The report by the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) agencies comes as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates workplace changes that could increase the tendency to work longer hours.

The study, published in the Environment International journal, is the first global analysis of the risks to life and health associated with working long hours.

It focuses on the period before the pandemic, and the authors synthesised data from dozens of studies involving hundreds of thousands of participants.

“Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard,” said Maria Neira, director of the WHO’s environment, climate change and health department.

“It’s time that we all — governments, employers, and employees — wake up to the fact that long working hours can lead to premature death.”

The study concluded that working 55 hours or more per week was associated with an estimated 35 per cent increase in the risk of suffering a stroke, and a 17 per cent rise in the risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to working 35 to 40 hours.

‘Higher amongst men’

The WHO and the ILO estimated that in 2016, 398,000 people died from a stroke and 347,000 from heart disease after working at least 55 hours per week.

Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths due to heart disease linked to long working hours increased by 42 per cent, while the figure for strokes went up by 19 per cent.

Most of the recorded deaths were among people aged 60 to 79, who had worked 55 hours or more per week when they were between 45 and 74 years old.

“With working long hours now known to be responsible for about one-third of the total estimated work-related burden of disease, it is established as the risk factor with the largest occupational disease burden,” the WHO said.

Frank Pega, a technical officer from Neira’s WHO department, said the study found no difference in the effects on men and women of working long hours.

However, the burden of disease is particularly high among men — who account for 72 per cent of the deaths — because they represent a large proportion of workers worldwide and therefore the exposure “is higher amongst men”, Pega told reporters.

It is also higher among people living in the western Pacific and southeast Asia regions, where there are more informal sector workers who may be forced to work long days, Pega added. 

‘Not worth the risk’

The WHO is concerned about the trend as the number of people working long hours is increasing. It currently represents nine per cent of the total world population.

The organisation also said that the coronavirus crisis was speeding up developments that could feed the trend towards increased working hours.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way many people work,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Teleworking has become the norm in many industries, often blurring the boundaries between home and work. In addition, many businesses have been forced to scale back or shut down operations to save money, and people who are still on the payroll end up working longer hours.

“No job is worth the risk of stroke or heart disease. Governments, employers and workers need to work together to agree on limits to protect the health of workers.”

Citing a study by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, conducted across 15 countries, Pega said: “When countries go into national lockdown, the numbers of hours work increased by about 10 per cent.”

Working from home, combined with the increasing digitalisation of work processes, makes it harder to disconnect, he said, recommending the firmer scheduling of rest periods and personal time.

The pandemic has also increased job insecurity, which, in times of crisis, tends to push those who have kept their jobs to work more to prove their place in a more competitive market, said Pega.

WASHINGTON — Miss Mexico was crowned Miss Universe on Sunday in Florida, after fellow contestant Miss Myanmar used her stage time to draw attention to the bloody military coup in her country.

Sunday night marked the Miss Universe competition’s return to television, after the pageant was cancelled in 2020 for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrea Meza, 26, finished first ahead of the Brazilian and Peruvian finalists in a flashy televised event, hosted by American actor Mario Lopez and television personality Olivia Culpo.

Former Miss Universe contestants Cheslie Kryst, Paulina Vega and Demi-Leigh Tebow (who won the title in 2017) served as competition analysts and commentators, and a panel of eight women determined the winner.

Dressed in a sparkling red evening gown, Meza tearfully walked the catwalk as Miss Universe for the first time, before rushing back for a group hug with the other competitors.

Meza beat more than 70 contestants from around the globe in the 69th instalment of Miss Universe, which was held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

In the days leading up to the final competition, Miss Myanmar Thuzar Wint Lwin, who made the top 21, made waves when she used her time in the spotlight to bring attention to the coup in her country.

“Our people are dying and being shot by the military every day,” she said during her biographical video, which showed photos of her taking part in the anti-coup protests. “Therefore I would like to urge everyone to speak out about Myanmar.”

She also won the award for best national costume: During that competition segment on Thursday, she wore an outfit beaded in traditional Burmese patterns and held up a sign that said, “Pray for Myanmar”.

Myanmar has been in uproar since February 1, when the army ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

At least 796 people have been killed by security forces since then, according to a local monitoring group, while nearly 4,000 people are behind bars.

Miss Singapore Bernadette Belle Ong — who did not make the top 21 — also used the national costume portion to make a political statement.

Dressed in a glittering red bodysuit and matching thigh-high boots, she turned around to reveal her cape — in the colours of the Singaporean flag — was painted with the words “Stop Asian Hate”.

“What is this platform for if I can’t use it to send a strong message of resistance against prejudice and violence?” she wrote on Instagram alongside pictures of her outfit.

The United States in particular has seen a surge in anti-Asian violence in the past year, which activists have blamed on former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric, especially his repeated description of COVID-19 as the “China virus”.

The pageant has also drawn criticism in the past for objectifying the contestants.

In recent years, the competition has shifted image, focusing more on female empowerment and activism.

Launched during 2019 and 2020 in various markets, the Kia Seltos is something of a ‘world’ car compact crossover that manages to cover plenty of ground.

Modern looking, but not over complicated, classy without being over-indulgent inside, compact but well-packaged, and comfortable yet dynamically confident, the Seltos gets so much so right and at a reasonable price without being too heavy or too tech-laden. A versatile model in a well-saturated segment, the Seltos is also sold in two discretely different guises for different markets.

Discrete difference

Virtually identical in design with only slight bumper, dash and 60mm length differences telling them apart, the two Seltos variants are also built on slightly different platforms. In Europe, the US and elsewhere, the longer and pricier Seltos features more optional equipment, multi-link rear suspension, optional all-wheel-drive and is distinguished with its longer bonnet and shut-line behind its badge. For many developing markets including India and the Middle East, the shorter, lighter and more affordable variant features torsion beam rear suspension and is identified by a full clamshell bonnet. 

Trendy and modern with a snouty front-end with a slightly complicated but assertively handsome design consisting of stacked, slim horizontally-oriented headlights and a stacked grille separated by metallic strips and using different slat designs. Meanwhile, the Seltos’ headlight edges trail off to prominent creases above its slightly squared-off wheel-arches, tapering to the rear lights. Slightly more athletic and urgent in disposition in its shorter guise, the Seltos’ discretely descending roofline is tipped with a sharp sporty spoiler, and features lower body cladding for a more rugged aesthetic.

Eager delivery

Attractively eye-catching, the Seltos, however, has a slightly nose-heavy appearance from profile views when equipped with smaller 16-inch wheels, as tested, but which are now discontinued in favour of 17-inch wheels for Jordan. Under its creased bonnet and behind its strongly browed fascia, the Seltos is powered by a naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre four-cylinder multi-point injection engine, driving the front wheels, as is standard to all of the shorter Seltos variants. Power is meanwhile channeled through a 6-speed automatic gearbox for Jordan, but a 6-speed manual is available in other markets. 

Developing 121BHP at 6,300rpm and 111lb/ft at 4,850rpm, the Seltos’ familiar engine may not be especially powerful, but is certainly a sweet, responsive and somewhat high-revving one. Delivering good throttle control and unleashing exacting increments of power in a zesty and urgently progressive manner, the Seltos’ engine is a pleasure to wring through to redline, along to a subtly snarling and purring soundtrack. It is particularly rewarding through winding roads where it is just as responsive winding down on throttle lift-off as on pick-up.

Responsive and confident

Tasked with the Seltos’ restrained weight of around 1.2-tonnes and with well-chosen gear ratios, its eager naturally-aspirated engine delivers better performance than expected, dispatching 0-100km/h in an acceptably quick 11.2-seconds and onto a 175km/h maximum. Responsive to throttle inputs, the Seltos’ engine also delivers decent low-end and mid-range versatility, but is best at high revs. Its smooth automatic gearbox meanwhile complements the engine with responsive and succinct manual mode shifting, which allow for a greater degree of control, connectedness and ultimately confidence through snaking lanes.

Smooth and confident in town and on highways, the compact Seltos is easily maneuvered with decent visibility, reversing camera, tight 10.6-metre turning circle and light steering. Perhaps lighter than ideal and slightly vague on first impression, its steering, however, becomes more nuanced for road feel and vehicle position once driving briskly through sprawling switchbacks, where it becomes more intuitive and communicative, with only quick wrist flick steering inputs often required. One similarly soon adapts to its sensitive brake response with lighter, more measured inputs.

Compact but accommodating

Tidy into corners, the high riding Seltos well controls its comparatively light weight. Committed through curves, it is nonetheless flickable and adjustable, with its front-wheel-drive feeling fun and more consistent and predictable than a reactive part-time all-wheel-drive system. In addition to high revving engine, delicate steering feel and keen handling, the tested 205/65R16 tyres provided the right mix of slip and grip. Slightly firm on jagged lumps and bumps, the Seltos is otherwise mostly comfortable and vertically settled, while now standard Jordan spec 215/60R17 tyres should be slightly firmer and grippier.

Available with better looking black roof and no sunroof, or body colour roof and sunroof options, the former allows improved head room, which — along with legroom — is above average. Boot space is similarly well-packaged and expands with rear seats folded. With a good level of comfort and support, the Seltos offers a good driving position, while controls, instrumentation and infotainment are user-friendly. Well-equipped if not over-equipped, the Seltos cabin design meanwhile feels modern and upmarket for its price, with soft textures and piano black panels reserved for prominent places.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1.6-litre, transverse 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 77 x 85.4mm

Compression ratio: 10.5:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC

Gearbox: 6-speed automatic, front-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 121 (123) [90] @6,300rpm

Specific power: 76.2BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 98.4BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 111 (151) @4,850rpm

Specific torque: 94.9Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 122.5Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 11.2-seconds

Top speed: 175km/h

Fuel capacity: 50-litres

Length: 4,315mm

Width: 1,800mm

Height: 1,620mm

Wheelbase: 2,610mm

Overhangs, F/R: 865/840mm

Tread, F/R: 1,572/1,595

Ground clearance: 190mm

Headroom, F/R: 1015/973mm

Legroom, F/R: 1,051/973mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1,409/1,395mm

Lift-over: 746mm

Luggage volume, minimum: 433-litres

Kerb weight: 1,232kg

Steering: Electric-assisted power steering

Turning Circle: 10.6-metres

Suspension: MacPherson struts/torsion beam

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 300mm/discs, 262mm

Tyres: 205/65R16

Price, on the road: starting from JD22,300 (no insurance)

By Abeer Jabaji
Personal Development Coach and Classical Homeopath

The voice on the other end of the mobile was loud and clear, “Hi Abeer, I think you should test for Corona. Our friend tested positive.”

“What?!,” I responded, my voice weak and trembling. I felt like an electrical current was coursing through my body.

It was less than two days ago that all three of us had sat in a small office working on a project. We were wearing our masks, but felt suffocated after a couple of hours and got lax. At times we would pull our masks below our noses and exchange pens and calculators.

News of a COVID-19 positive case feels like a life sentence after all we hear on the news and social media, with the escalating number of infected people and the rising death toll. I headed back home, refusing to believe that I could be infected. Thank God my daughter was outside Amman and I was alone in the house.

In a state of denial, I didn’t want to do a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Instead, I called my neighbour, who is a medical lab manager and asked for his advice. He told me how to follow a particular protocol he uses for recovery. It was Thursday, and Friday and Saturday were lockdown days. I rushed to the pharmacy and bought the recommended items and went back home. I did not feel anything other than the start of a little cold; however, panic set in. That weekend was the longest of my life. I spent it taking my temperature every half hour, drinking hot water, swallowing vitamins and reading articles about COVID-19. 

From denial to gratitude

Full-blown cold symptoms developed by the fourth day, like they usually do with me when I get one: a lot of sneezing and a runny nose. On the sixth day of imposed isolation in my room and still convinced that I was Corona free, my daughter who came back after the weekend brought some takeaway food. As I ate, I told her that the food was not tasty at all. In fact, it didn’t taste like anything. I couldn’t even smell it. Oh no! I rushed to the kitchen cabinet and took out a bottle of Clorox bleach and stuck my nose inside. I couldn’t smell anything! 

I went around trying to smell things, anything: Menthol, coffee, cinnamon — no smell. “It can’t be!” I uttered to myself, with my heart racing, my head spinning and my thoughts all over the place. The loss of taste and smell was like nothing I had experienced before — with any cold. As my cousin, a doctor, told me, we eat with our noses and not our mouths. So once we lose our sense of smell, we lose our taste. 

The next day, and after a week of denial, I went to get a PCR test. At 7pm, I got the dreaded message. I tested positive! Panic set in as I dragged myself back to my room to self-quarantine again. It has been almost four months since I first tested. I was fortunate and very grateful that my symptoms were mild even though I tested positive again after 24 days. This experience will stay with me for a while because of these extraordinary times for us all. Here is a list of theories I came up with based on my COVID-19 experience: 

•While conspiracy theories are fun to conjure up and discuss, they stop being fun once one gets infected with COVID-19. It’s realising that sometimes things you believed to be true are just figments of your imagination once you are put to the test. We take things for granted most of the time, but once faced with a threatening situation, we reexamine our life priorities and start changing accordingly — human nature is very fickle. We move from being staunch believers in something to changing our minds once we experience it 

•Never underestimate the power of a nasal swab in times of coronavirus pandemic . It’s a game-changer. Either you’re in with the outcasts or you’re with the “I told you so” group. I was mildly bullied by some people I know when I contracted COVID-19. Well, these same people later became infected themselves. When we perceive a person as different from us, we put them in a box and judge them, not realising that we may end up in the same box one day. Let’s not judge another person until we put ourselves in their shoes

•This one is for the Corona bullies: Many people will distance themselves from those who contract COVID-19 until they get infected themselves. Then, they become their best friends. We tend to distance ourselves from others because we think they are not up to our standard or social level. We believe we are better than them. But once we face a knockdown or lose our status, these same people we scorned are the same ones who will come to help us. Let’s aim to be accepting of others from all walks of life. One is not better, smarter or wiser; our circumstances are simply different. If others were afforded the same privileges we have, I bet they would excel too

•Those who tested positive and have their names registered with the government were not allowed to go out. Those who got infected but did not do a test could go anywhere. It’s up to us to be true to ourselves. We don’t need a force or a government to keep us in check. We are our own integrity. As Wayne Dyer, a self-help and spiritual author and motivational speaker says, “always live with honesty and make truth your most important attribute”

•In life, some systems work while others don’t. You will get a phone call from the Ministry of Health to ask about your symptoms in order to improve the Aman app while the Aman app keeps crashing. Many of us will keep crashing unless we work on ourselves, our inner system. Unless we truly believe in ourselves and our abilities, we will keep sabotaging ourselves. Let’s not listen or compare ourselves to others. Each one of us is on a different path and a different journey on this earth. What is right for someone may not be right for another. So let’s trust our intuition

•Enjoy the little things in life, for they turn out to be the big things. Enjoy eating, sleeping on the sofa and not moving at all. The little things in life are the important things. A small act of kindness towards a stranger, a phone call to a friend in need, these are the things that matter. Australian hospice nurse Bronnie Ware asked people on their death bed what they regretted the most and here are five things they said: 

1.I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me 

2.I wish I hadn’t worked so hard 

3.I wish I had the courage to express my feelings 

4.I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends

5.I wish I had allowed myself to be happier 

In the end, let us always remember to be grateful every day. Feeling grateful will bring us more opportunities to be grateful for. Stay safe, everybody!

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

By Helen Roxburgh and Qian Ye
Agence France-Presse

NANJING, China — It’s whip fast, obeys commands and doesn’t leave unpleasant surprises on the floor — meet the AlphaDog, a robotic response to two of China’s burgeoning loves: Pets and technology.

The high-tech hound uses sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to “hear” and “see” its environment — and can even be taken for walks.

“It’s really very similar to a real dog,” says Ma Jie, chief technology officer at Weilan, the company behind the product.

AlphaDog follows in the paw prints of “Spot”, a four-legged machine designed for industrial use by Boston Dynamics that became an internet sensation after appearing in a series of viral YouTube videos.

Its Nanjing-based creators are instead targeting the consumer market and say their robot dog — which moves at a speed of almost 15 kilometres per hour and spins on the spot like an excited puppy — is the fastest on the market.

With four metal legs it is more stable than a real dog, Ma explains as one of his team swiftly kicks it to prove the point.

“It can predict the friction and height of the ground [to] adjust its height, adjust the stride frequency, and adapt to the environment,” he tells AFP, as the robot slowly navigates going up a set of stairs.

Its creators are using 5G technology, super-fast internet speeds with immediate reaction times, to make the robot operate autonomously.

Ma studied reinforcement learning — the study of how to reinforce actions through reward or punishment — at the University of Oxford and says he has used that knowledge to inform how the AI dog mimics canine habits. 

Dog ownership was banned under the leadership of communist China’s founder Mao Zedong — but has since boomed dramatically.

And in the first month of sales, more than 1,800 AlphaDogs have trotted off the shelves, despite the hefty price tag of 16,000 yuan ($2,400).

“Orders are mostly from computer developers, tech geeks, and also kids, who really seem to like it,” said Ma. 

Robot rollout

As China seeks to upskill its workforce, Beijing has been making huge investments in robotics and AI. 

Robots are already used to deliver parcels, serve in restaurants, offer information at stations and even take throat swabs for COVID-19 tests. 

The Weilan workshop is staffed by young tech enthusiasts, filled with pencil design sketches and a central obstacle route of stairs and slopes for the machines to clunk over in testing.

Developers there hope future uses of their four-legged friend could benefit the visually impaired.

“To help the disabled is a important developing direction for us,” says Ma. “When the robot dog has the function of vision, hearing and dialogue too, it can easily interact with disabled people, and lead them to the supermarket or the bus.” 

Future software updates will include the dog “barking” — and beyond that, even add human voices to allow conversations between pet and owner.

There is also a larger “enterprise” dog model, designed for industrial inspections of machinery or pipes.

The next generation of the AlphaDog in pet form could also introduce “personalities” to the dog’s toolkit to make them even more canine-like, as well as extend its somewhat brief battery life.

Much evolved and honed since Caterham took over production in 1973, the Seven has come a long way, but retains a clear connection and lineage to the original 1957 Lotus Seven.

Offered in a broad range of power outputs, states of tune and standard or wide chassis SV guise, the 360 is the entry point to the larger 2-litre engine variants of the current Seven. Available in track biased R version or road-oriented S guise, the UK market 360 (as pictured) is also known as the 355 in left-hand-drive export guise.

Back to basics

A pared down and unreconstructed machine, the Seven aims at delivering a connected driving experience and little rivalled agility and handling abilities. In that pursuit, it follows a decidedly simple but highly effective minimalist philosophy of weight reduction that omits even the most basic conveniences, including steering assistance, much less doors and electronic driver assistance systems, with the greater weight reduction making possible further reductions and lighter and lesser components. The result is a phenomenally focused car that rewards drivers with its detailed nuance, feedback and go-cart like responsiveness.

Little changed in spirit or its iconic style over the years, the Seven’s recipe is one where form follows function. Light, low and small, with engine mounted far back in the front and wheels pushed far out for ideal within-wheelbase weight distribution, low centre of gravity and a big footprint, the Seven is built on a rigid tubular frame and features an occasional use soft top and light aluminium panels. It also features partially exposed front suspension and external side-mounted exhaust tubing, and rollover bar, with driver-machine connectivity being its primary safety system.

Howling and high-revving

Weighing just 585kg in SV guise, the Seven 360S makes the most of it high-revving naturally-aspirated 2-litre engine’s 180BHP output, rocketing through 0-97km/h in mere 4.8-seconds and onto 209km/h. Throaty and guttural, the 360S’ Ford Duratec engine’s visceral medley of rasps, gurgles, barks, howls and spitting pops are amplified by its exposed side-mounted exhaust and open top. Developing maximum power at 7,300rpm and 143lb/ft torque at 6,100rpm, the 360S is aggressively high revving, but being so light, torque still feels brutally and responsively versatile from low revs and through mid-range.

With 5-speed gearbox optimised between close ratio performance and relaxed daily driving, the 360S is muscular in mid-range and viscously long-legged when taken to its rev limit, while lightweight allows long, relentlessly sweeping acceleration before the next gear. Through corners, the 360S delivers precise throttle control for adjusting how much power to dial in. Elemental and engaging, the 360S’ acoustics brilliantly complement its easy revving and urgent delivery, and its stiff yet slick, succinct and mechanical feeling short throw gear shifts, delicately precise and intuitive clutch biting point, and accurate braking pedal feel.

Undiluted dynamics

A distilled driving experience, the 360S might not be the most extreme Caterham available, but is nevertheless a more focused and direct car than most else. With its exposed nature, the Seven is an intoxicating drive, with unassisted brakes and steering adding to its direct dynamics and connected feedback. Scalpel sharp through corners, its steering offers textured and nuanced feedback and pinpoint accuracy, while quick 1.93-turns lock-to-lock, allows one to keep hands at quarter-to-three position, through most corners. Eager and undiluted, turn-in is sharp and responsive, while body control is sublime through successive corners.

With razor sharp responsiveness, flat cornering, lightweight and exacting throttle control, the 360S is a corner-carving hero that rewards precise driving with grace and thrilling point-to-point speed. Smoothly reapplying throttle by mid-corner, the Seven digs taut into tarmac and blasts off onto a straight, but with no electronic safety nets, it should be treated with respect. More refined and capable than early Sevens, the 360S features a sophisticated De-Dion rear axle and independent front suspension, and delivers nuanced and textured road feel, and surprisingly high grip limits.

Sure-footed and focused

With masterful suspension set-up, the Seven SV is sure-footed, buttoned down in vertical movement and track-ready, but in road-biased S guise is supple and fluent riding over road imperfections. With its light weight, low driving position and open top enhancing the sensation of speed, the Seven is sensational through switchbacks, but still feels stable at speed despite aerodynamic lift generated by its upright design. Meanwhile, owners can opt for a personalised suspension and steering geometry set-up to more precisely distribute weight for further — driver-specific — handling, comfort, steering and braking enhancements. 

An exhilarating experience that focuses ones driving and places responsibility for every input with the driver, the Seven’s grip levels are reassuringly high, but allows one to exactingly dial in sideways slip if demanded.

Supportive and snug yet not uncomfortable, lowering into the Seven’s cabin is easier than appears, where one sits legs extended deep into its long footwell and hands falling perfectly on its small steering wheel within easy reach of its stubby gear lever and basic controls. Mounted on detachable reenforced leatherette doors, side mirrors can, however, be shaky at speed.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, front-mid, in-line 4-cylinders

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC

Bore x stroke: 87.5 x 83.1mm

Compression ratio: 10.8:1

Gearbox: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 180 (182) [134] @7,300rpm

Specific power: 90BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 307.7BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 143 (194) @6,100rpm

Specific torque: approximately 97Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 331.6Nm/tonne

Redline: 7,600rpm

0-97km/h: 4.8-seconds

Maximum speed: 209km/h

Fuel capacity: 41-litres

Length: 3350mm

Width: 1685mm

Height: 1115mm

Wheelbase: 2305mm

Weight: 585kg

Steering: Rack & pinion

Lock-to-lock: 1.93 turns

Suspension F/R: Double wishbones/De Dion axle

Chassis: Tubular space-frame

Brakes: Discs

Tyres: 195/45R15

Minor Detail

Adania Shibli

Translated by Elisabeth Jaquette

New York: New Directions, 2020

Pp. 105

Like her first novel, “Touch” (Clockroot Books, 2010), Palestinian writer Adania Shibli’s latest book, “Minor Detail”, stands out for her unusual choice of point-of-view, her focus on the characters’ state of mind, and her understated but particularly poignant sensory descriptions.

Unlike “Touch”, however, “Minor Detail” adds a heavy dose of history and current political reality, speaking directly to Palestinians’ sometimes fatal encounter with Israeli colonisation. In both novels, the characters remain nameless, increasing their archetypal significance. 

“Minor Detail” is divided into two sections. The first covers roughly five days in August 1949. A company of Israeli soldiers has been dispatched to the southwest of the Negev Desert, to demarcate the border with Egypt, find “infiltrators” and “cleanse” the area of any remaining Arabs. For several days they see no humans, but then they discover a small Bedouin encampment and — no questions asked — eradicate the men and their camels in a burst of gunfire. They find no weapons but capture a sobbing girl who has survived the carnage. A howling dog follows along as they take her back to their camp, where they humiliate, gang rape, and finally kill her. (The dog seems like a reincarnation of Naji Al Ali’s Handala, bearing witness to unspeakable crimes.)

Told in third-person from the point-of-view of the Israeli commander, this story serves as a powerful metaphor for the Palestinians’ experience of Zionism, as Shibli deftly shapes the narrative to demolish Israeli “security” arguments and show the reality of ethnic cleansing. The commander’s attitude towards the Palestinians is revealed to be callous, racist, perverse and hypocritical: He is contemptuous of the girl yet drawn to her; he verbally forbids his men to bother her yet is the first to violate her. One is reminded of often-repeated refrains of Israeli propaganda where words are one thing, actions another.

More intriguing is what Shibli reveals about the commander’s psychology. The man is obviously obsessive-compulsive as evidenced by his frequently repeated washing rituals, whether to remove the desert sand from his body or the scent of the girl. Does he sense that this environment is hostile and alien to him as an invader? Is he trying to wash away his guilt? Also telling is his treatment of a spider bite on his leg. He meticulously cleanses and wraps it yet otherwise pretends that it is nothing, despite recurring bouts of illness that warn it is poisoning him. Is this festering wound an indication of the persistence of Palestinians remaining in the state he aspires to build — the Achilles heel of the Zionist project? 

The first part ends with the commander’s attempt to subdue the howling dog, which provides the transition to the second part where it is keeping a young woman in Ramallah awake at night, some sixty years later. Everything changes except the excellence and emotional impact of Shibli’s prose. The point-of-view shifts to this Palestinian woman whose narrative is first person, present tense. Her only resemblance to the Israeli commander is being slightly off the psychological norm. Yet, while his deviance is criminal, hers is being oversensitive to details and borders, magnifying her human vulnerability, and making her uniquely unqualified to live in the post-Oslo reality with its myriad of new borders, repartitioning Palestine and fragmenting the West Bank. As she explains, “The borders imposed between things here are many. One must pay attention to them, and navigate them, which ultimately protects everyone from perilous consequences… There are some people who navigate borders masterfully, who never trespass, but these people are few and I am not one of them. As soon as I see a border, I either race toward it and leap over, or cross it stealthily, with a step… once I cross a border, I fall into a deep pit of anxiety.” (p. 54)

Her acknowledged inability to evaluate situations rationally and resulting panic attacks keep her largely confined to her office or home until she happens to read an article about the murder in the desert, her attention caught by a “minor detail”: The date on which the young Bedouin woman was murdered is exactly her own birthdate, 25 years later. This coincidence piques her curiosity, “because there was nothing really unusual about the main details, especially when compared to what happens daily in a place dominated by the roar of occupation and ceaseless killings”. (p. 60)

So, she sets out on a quest for the truth, searching for new details which will reveal the murdered girl’s side of the story — how she must have felt, leading to a shattering ending. In gripping, human terms, Shibli confirms what volumes of historical records reveal: In the uneven confrontation between Zionism and the Palestinian people, Israel may have the upper hand in terms of brute force, but the Palestinians have the high moral ground. “Minor Detail” is available at Books@Cafe.

By Dr Silvia Zayadin
Veterinarian

Allergies in pets are common, accounting for many pet-related problems and visits to the veterinarian. Causes can vary — food or environment triggers or having no known origin. A pet’s allergy tends to worsen with age, affecting its quality of life if not managed correctly or on time. Here is my medical advice on how to help your pet. 

Types and causes

•Certain substances cause seasonal or environmental allergies (pollen, seeds, dust, for example) that the pet inhales or gets into direct (skin) contact with, in the house or outside. Spring and fall are the seasons in which symptoms become more severe. Most dogs start showing signs of allergy between one and three years of age. Symptoms can be controlled, but there is usually no permanent treatment available 

•Flea allergy is one of the most common skin diseases seen in pets, dogs in particular. It is not necessary to see the flea itself on the animal’s coat as the flea’s saliva from the bite is what causes the symptoms. The pet will become itchy and restless. The most affected area is the area around the tail, with more severe itching causing the animal possible self-injury when trying to bite and chew on the affected area 

•Food allergies can affect both dogs and cats; however, it is not as common in cats. These can develop at any point in a pet’s life, regardless of whether it has previously eaten these types of foods or not. The most common food allergy for dogs is from a protein source, such as beef or chicken. Sometimes the allergy is triggered by other ingredients such as grains

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of allergy are skin-related such as: 

•Itchy and red skin 

•Licking or chewing on certain areas of the body

•Hair loss 

•Face rubbing

•Recurrent skin and ear infections

Other symptoms 

•Gastrointestinal signs such as diarrhoea or vomiting

•Runny nose 

•Sneezing or coughing

•Difficulty breathing 

•Red and runny eyes

Diagnosis

A thorough examination, along with medical history and symptoms, are recorded when diagnosing allergies in pets. Additional testing (blood tests, diagnostic imaging and sometimes specific blood tests) can determine the allergic triggers. Trial elimination diets can aid in the diagnostic process as well.

Certain breeds are known to be predisposed to allergies, so it is good to consult your veterinarian and schedule regular appointments if you have a pet belonging to one of those breeds. Examples of such breeds are the Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Shar-pei and Boxer. 

Treatment and management

Unfortunately, there is no single effective treatment option that will cure the allergy. What we do is a series of steps to help manage the severity of symptoms and allow the animal to have as normal a lifestyle as possible:

•If the exact source of allergy is known, trying to limit the pet’s exposure to it

•Regularly using products to control the external parasites, such as fleas

•If the allergy is food-related, a special diet can protect your pet from the source that causes the allergy 

•Using topical and oral supplements to keep the skin healthy (vitamins and minerals, omega fatty acids, topical antiseptic shampoos)

•In moderate to severe cases, using medications to control the symptoms

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

By Kang Jin-kyu
Agence France-Presse

SEOUL — Thirty teenagers, thousands of hours of training, dozens of shattered dreams: it all comes to a head next week when the Blitzers will be launched into the cut-throat K-pop market, hoping to become the next BTS.

An all-male septet — like the musical phenomenon that topped the US Billboard charts last year — their three years of training are being distilled into three minutes of music and dancing that will determine whether they are a hit, or just another nowhere band.

The routine, always intense, is punishing in the weeks running up to their debut: gym sessions, singing lessons, promotional shoots, and around 10 hours of dance practice into the early morning. 

The programme leaves them less than five hours sleep a night in bunk-beds in their shared Seoul house — the empty berths tombs for the hopes of those expelled after failing to make the cut.

In a dedicated, mirror-lined rehearsal studio, the seven survivors stood poised for the opening bars of their first single, “Breathe Again”, outnumbered by managers, trainers and choreographers.

The moment it came over the speakers they launched into high-energy lockstep moves, spinning each other around with military precision.

“Though I want to hold your hands I can’t come near you/Because I’m stuck unable to move,” sang 17-year-old lead singer Cho Woo-ju as he jumped off a human staircase formed by his bandmates.

As the song reached its climax they came together in a line-up, simultaneously throwing trademark K-pop poses.

But the response was underwhelming. “It was just a warm up for you guys, right?” said a dance instructor. “Let’s do it for real now.” 

“Yes!” the boys responded with a unanimous shout. 

“We practise our dance moves until we synchronise them perfectly,” said backup singer Jang Jun-ho. 

‘Only a couple survive’

K-pop is the latest and biggest instance of the so-called Korean Wave, as the South’s popular culture gains overseas recognition — epitomised by the global success of boy band BTS.

The phenomenon earns billions of dollars for the world’s 12th largest economy and scores of groups are assembled and launched each year by record labels trying to capture a slice of the pie.

The Blitzers were put together by Wuzo Entertainment, a nascent Seoul management agency.

The firm has invested around 1 billion won ($900,000) in the band — its first — and is effectively betting its existence on their success.

The potential returns are huge — the agency behind BTS, Big Hit Entertainment, since renamed Hybe, floated on the Korean stock exchange last year and now has a market capitalisation of more than $7 billion.

But the odds are stacked against the Blitzers, whose six-track debut mini-album will be released on Wednesday. 

“Every year more than 50 idol groups launch into the market,” said Kim Jin-hyung, the label’s co-chief executive. “Only a couple of them survive.

“If Blitzers succeed the company succeeds,” he told AFP. “If they fail, it’s almost certain we’ll have to shut down our business.”

The Blitzers are all aged 17 to 19 and were mostly recruited while still in school, some of them initially training part-time after class.

A rigorous testing process whittled them down, until 12 of them moved into the shared house for the final stage, with the seven group members chosen in November.

Even the winners were left with mixed feelings. Leader Choi Jin-hwa, 19, said that altogether he saw around 20 of his fellow trainees dismissed, but he “never got used to it”. 

“Regardless of how long they had been with us, they had all practised all day long with me ever since joining,” he told AFP. “Even though I had done nothing wrong, I felt a sense of guilt.”

The discipline is relentless, with Wuzo determining when they get up, when and what they eat, when they wear make-up and when they go to bed.

Weight control is constant. “We ban them from eating night time snacks,” said manager Oh Chang-seok, who lives with the band, combining the roles of caregiver and enforcer.

“It’s inevitable,” he explained. “They have to be ready at any time” if a promotional opportunity arises.

The K-pop industry is accused of consuming young hopefuls with only a tiny minority surviving to stardom, with former Nine Muses idol Ryu Sera last year likening it to a “factory-like mass-production system” in an interview with AFP. 

Wuzo’s Kim rejects such criticism as “one-sided”.

“We as a company give trainees an opportunity to pursue and realise their dreams and they give us an opportunity to grow as a company,” he said. “We are all in this together.” 

And manager Oh is realistic about cast-off former trainees. “We can’t help those who were given an opportunity for self improvement but couldn’t keep up with the others,” he said.

“We need to present the public with the best ones.”