Features

By Paul Ricard
Agence France-Presse

PARIS — A return to enjoying drinks with friends on a cafe terrace, so eagerly anticipated after seemingly interminable closures because of the COVID-19 pandemic, still poses a relatively small risk of contagion, experts warn, suggesting a variety of safeguards. 

After months of on-again, off-again lockdown, many countries have reopened their bars or plan to do so soon.

Italians led the way in late April, followed by Greece on Monday, with France set to reopen its trademark sidewalk cafes on May 19.

Even with strict Covid safety measures in place, the reopenings are hugely symbolic for millions of people, holding out the hope of a return to normalcy just as spring ushers in warmer weather.

"I feel like I am living again, I've come back to life!" said Greek pensioner Andreas Riminiotis as Athens reopened on a sunny Monday.

But is it safe?

"The main message is still that [outdoor terraces] are far less risky than poorly ventilated interior spaces," epidemiologist Antoine Flahault told AFP.

Nearly 18 months after the start of the pandemic, experts agree that COVID-19 is largely transmitted through aerosols — tiny droplets that hang in the air.

They are produced "through infected people breathing, speaking, shouting or singing," said Flahault, head of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva.

Overhanging clouds

"In a poorly ventilated space, an aerosol cloud can hang for several minutes or even hours before dissipating," he said. "But on the terrace, it dissipates rapidly into the atmosphere," he said likening it to cigarette smoke.

He estimated the risk at 18 to 20 times lower outdoors than in.

Still, Babak Javid, an infectious diseases expert at the University of California in San Francisco, said: "I do think bars, even outdoor terraces, are potentially problematic, and that's because those environments are associated with loud speech, people being close to each other, and, by definition, not wearing masks."

But he added: "Having said that, being outdoors will substantially reduce risks of transmission compared with indoors."

Behind closed doors, aerosols can remain dangerous for those sharing close quarters with an infected person, as the germs can be inhaled before they have a chance to dissipate.

Julian Tang, an expert in respiratory viruses at the UK's University of Leicester, agreed, saying: "It is the aerosols that are the main danger, especially those produced just by talking and breathing."

He added: "This is why distance between people is the most important factor, even outside, especially when you are eating and drinking and therefore cannot wear a mask."

In the long run, the best protection lies in the vaccines, he said.

"Universal COVID-19 vaccination will be the best way to reduce infections in this situation — as in all other situations."

In a study recently posted online, French researchers also noted a "short-range aerosol risk" and suggest the use of large fans.

"The more these fans induce turbulent fluctuations, rather than an average flow, the better they are," said the authors, who are students of experimental physics at the University of Paris.

They concluded that the risk varies with the direction of the wind and declines with distance from an infected person.

The study has been submitted for publication by the magazine Indoor Air, their supervisor Bruno Andreotti said on Twitter.

No sputtering please

Flahault mentioned another "theoretical risk", which he called the "direct contamination [or] ballistic route".

This could happen when an infected person "sputters while speaking, coughing or sneezing directly on the eyes, nostrils or mouth of the person across" the table a short distance away, who is not wearing a mask or glasses.

But he said this form of contagion is "more anecdotal than frequent".

Seeking to limit the risks, guidelines have been issued in various countries such as limiting the number of people at a table to six.

The authors of the French study said that besides giant fans, devices could be placed on individual tables that would suck in and filter out the ambient air.

Greece has a novel measure: banning music on the terrace, an idea that drew scorn from the opposition.

But experts say it may be well founded, since music requires people to speak more loudly, which turns up the volume of sputter and air-borne germs.

By Alberto Peña
Agence France-Presse

SANTIAGO — As sci-fi thriller “Inception” topped box offices across the world, audiences were delighted and appalled by its futuristic story of a criminal gang invading people’s dreams to steal valuable data.

More than a decade on, the technology envisioned by filmmaker Christopher Nolan is likely not far off, according to experts in Chile, who have moved the security debate beyond burglar alarms to safeguarding the most valuable real estate people ever own: Their minds.

The South American nation is aiming to be the world’s first to legally protect citizens’ “neuro-rights”, with lawmakers expected to pass a constitutional reform blocking technology that seeks to “increase, diminish or disturb” people’s mental integrity without their consent.

Opposition senator Guido Girardi, one of the authors of the legislation, is worried about technology — whether algorithms, bionic implants or some other gadgetry — that could threaten “the essence of humans, their autonomy, their freedom and their free will.”

“If this technology manages to read [your mind], before even you’re aware of what you’re thinking,” he told AFP, “it could write emotions into your brain: Life stories that aren’t yours and that your brain won’t be able to distinguish whether they were yours or the product of designers.”

‘Prevent manipulation’

Scores of sci-fi movies and novels have offered audiences the dark side of neurotechnology — perhaps invoking criminal masterminds ensconced in secret strongholds, manipulating the world with a dastardly laugh while stroking a cat.

In fact, the nascent technology has already demonstrated how it can have significantly positive applications.

In 2013, then-US president Barack Obama promoted the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neuro-technologies) initiative, which aimed to study the causes of brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and epilepsy.

Back in Chile, Science Minister Andres Couve told AFP the neuro-rights debate “is part of a consolidation of a new scientific institutionality in the country that is now capturing international attention”.

But many are worried about the potential for nefarious actors to abuse technological advances.

Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera proposed at last week’s Ibero-American summit in Andorra that countries legislate together on the thorny issue.

“I call on all Ibero-American countries to anticipate the future and to adequately protect, now, not just our citizens’ data and information, but also their thoughts, their feelings, their neuronal information, to prevent these from being manipulated by new technologies,” the conservative Pinera said.

The Chilean bill contains four main fields of legislation: Guarding the human mind’s data, or neuro-data; fixing limits to the neuro-technology of reading and especially writing in brains; setting an equitable distribution and access to these technologies; and putting limits on neuro-algorithms.

Spanish scientist Rafael Yuste, an expert on the subject from Columbia University in New York, told AFP some of these technologies already exist, and even the most remote will be available within 10 years.

‘A new Renaissance’

They are already being applied to animals in laboratories.

Scientists have experimented with rats, implanting images of unfamiliar objects in their brains and observing how they accept those objects in real life as their own and incorporate them into their natural behaviour.

“If you can enter there [into the chemical processes of the brain] and stimulate or inhibit them, you can change people’s decisions. This is something we’ve already done with animals,” said Yuste.

The science has opened the possibility of designing hybrid humans with artificially enhanced cognitive abilities.

The risk is that, without proper safeguards, the technology might be used to alter people’s thoughts, employing algorithms via the Internet to re-program their hard wiring, to dictate their interests, preferences or patterns of consumption.

“To avoid a two-speed situation with some enhanced humans and others who aren’t, we believe these neuro-technologies need to be regulated along principles of universal justice, recognising the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Yuste.

Yuste considers neuro-technology a “tsunami” that humanity will have to deal with, which is why people need to be prepared.

“Neuro-technology can be scary if you think about dystopian science-fiction scenarios. However, for every dystopian scenario, there are 10 beneficial ones,” said Yuste, who sees neuro-technology as “a new Renaissance for humanity”.

Already, neuro-technologies are used on patients suffering from Parkinson’s or depression by stimulating the brain with electrodes to “alleviate the symptoms”, said Yuste.

Similarly, deaf people are treated with “cochlear implants in the auditory nerve” that stimulate the brain.

It is hoped that something similar in the future will restore sight to the blind or treat those with Alzheimer’s by strengthening the memory’s neuronal circuits.

“It will be a beneficial change for the human race,” said Yuste.

WASHINGTON — Jem Jenkins Jones was stuck at home in Wales for much of the past year amid pandemic lockdowns but managed to fulfil a promise to her 10-year-old daughter to see the northern lights from Iceland and South Africa’s game reserves — in virtual reality.

“She was amazed,” she said, calling the VR travel experiences “a lifesaver for us.”

Strict lockdowns and travel limitations during the pandemic have sparked fresh interest in immersive virtual travel experiences, which have become more accessible and affordable with new apps and VR hardware.

Even those confined to their homes can take a virtual jaunt to Machu Picchu, the rainforests of Borneo or a road trip across the United States.

Data on VR travel usage is limited but developers have seen surging interest since the pandemic hit.

“It has been skyrocketing,” said Cezara Windrem, creator of the Alcove VR platform at AARP Innovation Labs. “We’re getting more adoption every month.”

Alcove enables users to visit exotic locales such as Australia’s coral reef or the island of Malta, while adding a “shared” experience which enables people to interact and even “lead” a family member without the technical skills to navigate in a VR headset.

“We’ve heard from a lot of people who discovered Alcove and decided buy a headset for their elderly family members,” Windrem said. 

This allows for shared travel even during a lockdown and other kinds of experiences such as “playing chess with someone on the other side of the planet”.

Travel substitute

With the tourism industry largely obliterated by the coronavirus outbreak, virtual reality has emerged as both a substitute for real-world travel and a complement to help people plan their next trip.

App developers have created a range of travel experiences: Touring the pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal, the savannahs of Kenya or the Antarctic from a kayak. These come from commercial operators or organisations such as National Geographic or World Wildlife Fund.

Users can opt for hardware from Facebook’s Oculus, Sony’s PlayStation or the inexpensive Google Cardboard, among others. Some gear costs as little as $300 and many apps are free.

“I have travelled every week since the pandemic, from the comfort of my home,” said Rafael Cortes, a San Antonio computer professional who uses Alcove and YouTube VR.

“I’ve been to London, the glass bridge in China, Angel Falls in Venezuela, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, a helicopter tour of New York.”

Amy Erdt lives in Portland, Oregon, but with VR, “I like to walk around my sister’s town in Wallingford, England, occasionally because I can’t be there.”

Erdt, who administers a Facebook group of VR users, said there are “some great travel experiences” in virtual reality, which can be remarkably realistic.

“I once sat at VR poker table at 1am with a guy in Australia who was eating KFC [chicken], she said. I could hear his KFC crunch. It was a trip.”

Gaming and beyond

Virtual reality’s most popular applications are in gaming and fantasy worlds, but travel is seen as a new growth vector.

“During the pandemic when everyone is socially isolated it may seem strange to isolate yourself further to transport yourself somewhere else but it does allow us to experience things we can’t experience today,” said Avi Greengart, analyst with the consultancy Techsponential.

Greengart said VR travel has some advantages but can’t be compared with the real thing.

“With VR travel you’re not getting the food unique to the area, you’re missing a lot of the sensory experiences and serendipitous meetings with locals,” he said.

On the other hand, “you can browse a museum and have it all to yourself,” which may be impossible in the physical world.

A report by research firm GlobalData shows that virtual and augmented reality had already been gaining momentum from travel operators and tourism boards before the pandemic to enable people to get a taste of a destination before going there.

GlobalData analyst Ralph Hollister said the pandemic may be giving the sector a lift that will endure even after the pandemic.

“Spending considerably more time indoors with an abundance of spare time, combined with an urge to travel, has meant that aspiring travellers have been turning to VR to fill a void that travel restrictions have left,” Hollister said.

Hollister said he sees VR becoming an important part of the process of travellers viewing and selecting a travel destination.

“The widespread adoption of VR for this kind of purpose could be the next step for this technology and help it permanently move away from its ‘gimmick’ label,” he said.

Introduced back in 2012 in its second and current iteration and then revised in 2018, the Ford EcoSport is still going strong in several markets, with production continuing in India.

Based on the same B-car platform underpinning the sweet Ford Fiesta hatchback, the EcoSport gained a new compact three-cylinder “Dragon” engine in 2018, and in testament to Ford’s rarely matched talent at making fun small cars, the EcoSport remains one of the most practical, manoeuvrable and rewarding to drive compact crossover SUVs on the market nearly a decade later.

Measuring just 4-metres long without its externally-mounted spare tyre the EcosPort rides on a short wheelbase with short overhangs and excellent in-segment agility. Meanwhile, its well-packaged and tall body provides good space and visibility, and generous ground clearance. Styled somewhat like a longitudinally compressed SUV or vertically elongated hatchback, the EcoSport’s dimensions may not instinctively imply sporty driving, but that is exactly what the EcoSport improbably delivers in a segment where “sportiness” is often superficial and little more than what can be charitably described as design-led window dressing or marketing cliché. 

Small and sporty

Face-lifted for the better in 2018, the EcoSport ditched a somewhat ungainly stacked grille for the much cleaner, more charismatic current fascia, and its almost playfully aggressive interpretation of larger Fords’ contemporary design language. With big and broad twin-slat and slotted grill flanked by squinting and browed lights, the EcoSport’s feisty flavour is complemented with an eager stance implied by its rising waistline, jutting tailgate spoiler and high-set rear lights. Prominent wheel-arches and lower black cladding meanwhile play up its SUV-inspired aesthetic, and good off-road angles deliver genuine dirt road ability.

A more powerful and economical replacement for the EcoSport’s outgoing 4-cylinder engine of the same displacement, the revised version’s new naturally-aspirated direct injection 1.5 litre 3-Cylinder “Dragon” engine develops 121BHP at 6,500rpm and 110lb/ft

torque at 4,500rpm. Lighter and more efficient with aluminium block and head, and twin variable camshaft timing, the ‘Dragon’ is smooth and refined as three-pot engines go, with its integrated exhaust manifold, and returns estimated 6.8l/100km combined cycle fuel efficiency. That said, when driven at full tilt, it still has a familiarly visceral, if subdued, off-beat three-cylinder engine note.

Sporty standout

Progressive in delivery and happily revving to redline, the EcoSport’s engine is responsive at low-end and flexible in mid-range for a compact non-turbo unit, and is estimated to propel its 1,212kg mass through 0-100km/h in 13-seconds and onto around 175km/h. Driving the front wheels, the EcoSport’s engine would ideally be mated to a manual gearbox, as available in its domestic Indian market. However, the regionally-available 6-speed automatic is smooth, slick and intuitive shifting, with well-judged ratios, but only offers two selectable driving options, and not manually individual and sequential gear selection.

More responsive and quicker driving in real world conditions than its modest headline stats might suggest, it is not the EcoSport’s outright performance figures which make it particularly sporty. What makes it a sporting standout standout in its segment is, however, its fluent agility, rewardingly connected handling and “just right” dynamic package. Driven extensively under different conditions, the EcoSport seems to come into its own on narrow, snaking switchbacks and sprawling country lanes, where it conjures much of the nimble, flickability and light-footed manoeuvrability that make its smaller Fiesta relation so great.

Confidence and comfort

Tidily eager into corners with quick steering, lightweight engine and short wheelbase, the EcoSport turns on a proverbial dime yet well controls body lean for a tall comfortable riding crossover. Easy to precisely place on road with its compact dimensions, good front visibility and nuanced and intimate steering feel and feedback, the EcoSport makes swift point-to-point progress with little need to dial back momentum through twist and turns. Fun and fast cross country, the EcoSport’s suspension is meanwhile supple yet settled, and its brakes intuitive in pedal travel and response.

Nimble and adjustably agile through corners, the EcoSport nevertheless delivers good grip levels, with only very rare mild understeer in specific conditions. More so, the EcoSport feels ever reassuring driven briskly, and communicates the limits of its dynamic envelope with a clarity that inspires more confidence than many more technologically sophisticated and expensive cars. Comfortably absorbing lumps and bumps in its primary reaction, the EcoSport may initially jounce up slightly on sharp crests, but is otherwise superb in its segment for its buttoned down vertical and rebound control and fluent management of imperfect road textures.

Well packaged and uncomplicated

Well packaged inside in terms of space efficiency, the EcoSport offers genuinely good rear headroom and adequate rear legroom. With its spare tyre located externally on its side-swinging tailgate, the EcoSport has a spacious vertically-oriented cargo area with additional underfloor storage, and allows useful access in low roof garages. The downside of the external spare tyre is that one needs to be careful it doesn’t bump into walls or other cars when opening the tailgate in narrow parking spaces. Easy to manoeuvre in such confines, the EcoSport meanwhile features rear parking sensors and camera. 

Pleasantly airy, uncomplicated and unpretentious inside, the EcoSport’s cabin features clear, user-friendly controls, dials and infotainment system, and incorporates good quality fabrics and materials, including more soft surface textures than expected for its segment. Its driving position is alert, upright and commanding, with grippy contoured tilt-adjustable steering wheel, generous headroom and comfortable, supportive and well adjustable seats. Rear passengers get a split-folding bench and armrest, but no independent air vents. That said, the EcoSport Trend specification is nevertheless well equipped with safety and mod cons, if not over-equipped with expensive and often unnecessary features.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1.5-litre, transverse 3-cylinders

Valve-train: 12-valve, DOHC, direct injection

Compression ratio: 11:1

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

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 121 (122) [90] @6,500rpm

Specific power: 80.9BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 99.8BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 110 (149) @4,500rpm

Specific torque: 99.6Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 123Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 13-seconds (estimate)

Top speed: 175km/h (estimate)

Fuel consumption, combined: 6.8-litres/100km (estimate)

Fuel capacity: 52-litres

Length,: 3,998mm (without spare tyre)

Width: 1,765mm

Height: 1,647mm

Wheelbase: 2,519mm

Track, F/R: 1,518/1,516mm

Headroom, F/R: 1,005/952mm

Legroom, F/R: 1,089/932mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1,353/1,303mm

Hip room, F/R: 1,310/1,292mm

Luggage volume, behind 2nd/1st row: 591-/1,415-litres

Kerb weight: 1,212kg (estimate)

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/torsion beam

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning circle: 10.6-metres

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs/drums

Tyres: 205/60R16

By Issam Ahmed
Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — Stressed out by the pandemic? 

Spending more time in green spaces might be just what the doctor ordered, according to a study that quantifies the health benefits of natural sounds, from improved mood and cognitive performance to decreased heart rate and sensitivity to pain.

The paper was led by Rachel Buxton, a conservation biologist at Canada's Carleton University, and recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We tend to look at the acoustic environment from the perspective of noise pollution and how it disturbs wildlife, and how it has effects on visitors to parks and human health," she told AFP.

"A lot of us conservation biologists are really interested in the inverse of that: what are the health benefits of natural acoustic environments?"

Buxton and her colleagues carried out a literature review to statistically analyse the patchwork of prior research in the area, which was mostly carried out in lab or hospital settings with sounds played to volunteers by headphones.

Seven of the 36 studies examined traditional health outcomes, including heart rate, blood pressure, perceived pain, skin conductance — which is linked to emotional arousal — levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and t-wave amplitude, a measure of heart health.

The rest measured potential precursors along the pathway to health, including metrics of perception, mood, and cognitive performance.

Overall, there was an 184 per cent improvement in health and other positive affect outcomes in the groups exposed to natural sounds relative to comparison groups. 

The natural sounds also led to a 28 per cent decrease in stress and annoyance. 

Among the natural sounds played to the volunteers, the sound of water had the highest impact, followed by birdsong, then a mix of both.

Mental health crisis

The team also examined audio recordings from 68 US national parks recorded over the past 15 years at 221 different locations. 

The sounds were categorised by those caused by humans, geophysical such as wind and rain or the sounds of water, and biological sounds made by mammals, birds, amphibians etc.

Across all sites, water sounds were audible 23 per cent of the time and bird sounds could be heard 42 per cent of the time.

Parks which received more visitors had much greater levels of human-driven sounds.

The parks with the highest quality soundscapes — high levels of natural sounds and low levels of anthropogenic sounds — were in Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest.

But from their analysis of the lab research, "we did find some evidence that if you're listening to natural sounds and noise, your health outcomes are still better than if you're just listening to noise," said Buxton.

What drives the effect? No one knows for sure, but Buxton has a hypothesis: "Evolutionarily, an acoustic environment that has lots of natural sounds is a good indicator of a safe environment — so it allows for mental recuperation because we're not on edge."

The findings come at a time when experts say the COVID-19 pandemic is driving a mental health crisis, with the number of people reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression on the rise.

"What I would encourage people to do is just be aware of these sounds — when you go to your favourite park, close your eyes, and listen to the birds singing and the wind rustling the leaves and the trees," said Buxton.

"These natural sounds are beautiful, they're inspiring, and now we have pretty good evidence that they're good for us too."

By Marlowe Hood
Agence France-Presse

PARIS — One in seven pregnancies worldwide ends in miscarriage, and eleven per cent of women endure a failed pregnancy at least once in their lifetime, experts said Tuesday.

Some 23 million miscarriages occur every year, according to data pieced together from around the globe by an international team of 31 researchers.

But the actual tally is sure to be “substantially higher” due to underreporting, they said in a trio of studies published in The Lancet.

Two per cent of women — one in 50 — have experienced two miscarriages, while less that 1 per cent have been through three or more.

Levels of care for women suffering miscarriage is highly uneven across countries, and even within many wealthy nations, the data showed.

“A new system is needed to ensure miscarriages are better recognised and women are given the physical and mental healthcare they need,” the researchers said in a statement.

Misconceptions about miscarriage are widespread.

Many women believe they occur only rarely, for example, or that they can be caused by lifting heavy objects or previous contraceptive use.

They may also think that there’s no effective treatments to prevent a miscarriage, especially in women at high risk.

Such misconceptions can be damaging, leaving women and their partners feeling at fault and discouraging them from seeking treatment and support, the authors note. 

Miscarriage can also lead to isolation, since many women might not tell their family, close friends, or even their partner about the loss of a pregnancy.

“Silence around miscarriage remains not only for women who experience it, but also among healthcare providers, policymakers and research funders,” said co-lead author Siobhan Quenby, a professor at the University of Warwick and director of Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research. 

A miscarriage is widely defined as the loss of a pregnancy before 20 to 24 weeks of gestation, with the exact time period varying from country to country.

Unrecognised trauma

A review of published academic literature up to mid-May 2020 identified many causes for miscarriages, including a more advanced maternal age, previous miscarriages, and a father older than 40. 

Other risk factors correlating with pregnancies that end spontaneously are being extremely under- or over-weight, smoking, alcohol consumption, persistent stress, working night shifts, and constant exposure to air pollution or pesticides.

Health consequences can be severe, especially for women who experience a second or multiple miscarriages.

“Recurrent miscarriage is a devastating experience for most women, but the mental health impact is rarely acknowledged or addressed in medical care,” said co-lead author Arri Coomarasamy, from the University of Birmingham. 

“Women can experience trauma and bereavement, which may have no obvious sign and can go unrecognised.”

There is also a link with anxiety, depression and — for about 20 per cent of women — post-traumatic stress disorder nine months after a miscarriage. 

The authors of the three studies noted that most data comes from wealthier nations, but that the “silence around miscarriage” is found everywhere.

They recommended that national health authorities strengthen miscarriage care services, improve research in prevention, and identify women at high risk.

“For too long miscarriage has been minimised and often dismissed,” The Lancet said in an companion editorial.

“The lack of medical progress should be shocking — instead, there is pervasive acceptance.”

“The era of telling women to ‘just try again’ is over,” The Lancet said.

LONDON — A busy commuter train station is an unlikely place to find a haven for flowers, bees and hedgehogs. 

But a decade-old project in London bringing an eco-friendly combination of gardening, horticulture and so-called rewilding to the urban jungle is bearing fruit during the pandemic.

Hiding in plain sight, 34 solar-powered sites created by the community-led project Energy Garden are dotted around the British capital, adjacent to train platforms used daily by hundreds of thousands of commuters before coronavirus hit.

With lockdowns now easing, the passengers are returning, and the project’s chief executive Agamemnon Otero hopes its success can help address a longer-term challenge. 

“Energy Garden is really about building resilience in communities. It’s about how we directly address the climate change issue that everybody feels they are powerless to do,” he told AFP. 

“Most of the time, train operators will cut down huge swathes of trackside space and leave it denuded from any type of life. 

“These are corridors for biodiversity to come in and so it’s very important that a section of every garden is still wild.”

Community interest has grown steadily since the initiative started in 2011, but has spiked during lockdown as more volunteers joined to work — socially distanced — tending to the gardens. 

The first site was established at Brondesbury Park station in northwest London, part of the Overground network that generally services outer suburbs where the Underground does not reach.

‘Out and helping’

Layers of rubble were dug out and the site replanted with vibrant flowers, fruit trees, fragrant herbs, tea plants and an array of vegetables including potatoes, kale and Jerusalem artichokes.

There are even hops from which Energy Garden brews its own beer.

Jaylyn Miguel, in her 20s, was one of the volunteers who joined during lockdown last year.

“I guess it was for my own mental health, I wanted to just be out and helping the community,” she said.

“I want to learn more about sustainability. Collectively it’s really important, so that we can make sure people have access to organic food. 

“I certainly didn’t have experience growing food, and I’ve been learning quite a lot over this period. It’s good to just learn from others.” 

The gardens’ solar panels power water hoses that help cultivate the various plant life, and excess electricity is sold back to transport companies to offset their carbon footprint. 

That, in turn, generates a revenue stream to fund more community gardens, with Otero planning to expand on a national scale. 

Funding also comes from corporate and community investment.

Individuals can become part of a “one vote, one share” cooperative system that gives each shareholder a say in the running and evolution of their garden.

The designs for each site are formally approved by the agency Transport for London, which manages the capital’s sprawling network.

The project also runs school workshops and youth training programmes to teach youngsters about sustainable practices, and the gardens are maintained by more than 300 volunteers.

‘Our space’

Volunteer and project investor Terence Tehranian visits the Brondesbury Park garden regularly with his young children to lend a hand. 

“I think it really is making London a better place to live. It’s making the environment better because more plants means less carbon dioxide and it’s bringing people together,” he said.

“I think those things are important for a huge city like London where that often doesn’t happen.” 

Otero said it was fitting that the gardens are part of the transport network, counterbalancing a sector that in 2019 produced 27 per cent of net greenhouse gas emissions in Britain — although most of that was road traffic rather than rail.

“What we wanted to do was really have a discussion around the biggest consumer of energy and the biggest generator of emissions,” he said.

“I’m really excited for people to get involved and join a garden, and even become investor members. 

“This is our space. We need to take back the spaces and make them what we want to see.”

Effectively if not officially re-launched under a new official importer in recent months, Geely’s compact Coolray was unveiled last week in Jordan as a follow-up to last year’s well-received mid-size Azkarra. 

The second of a revitalised crossover model range to arrive, the Coolray is a testament to just how far Geely has come since it first launched in Jordan, and since its 2010 acquisition of veteran Swedish automaker, Volvo. Launched globally in 2020, the Coolray first debuted under the Bin Yue nameplate in 2018 in its domestic Chinese market.

Sporting style

Pitched overtly to a younger clientele as a car that “understands youth”, it is difficult to fault Geely’s assertion, given the Coolray’s sharp and assertive design, bold colour palettes and punchy power, bordering on the junior “performance” crossover category. Developed in collaboration with Volvo to some extent, the Coolray’s closest Swedish relation seems to be the Volvo XC40 in terms of size and drive-line. With a certain aesthetic relation also evident, the Coolray, however, carves its own distinct Geely design sensibility with a sportier swept back style and sharper surfacing details.

Assertive yet tastefully executed in its pouncing demeanour and chiselled details, the Coolray features plenty of ridges and contrasting convex and concave surfaces, with a muscular bonnet, prominent sills and sharp waist height crease line running along its body. Its dramatic, squinting and heavily browed headlights flank a charismatic grille with rippled effect mesh. At its best aesthetically in Sport trim, as driven, the Coolray features carbon-fibre details, sharp air splitter-like lower lip, huge tailgate spoiler and quad exhaust ports flanking an air diffuser-style lower bumper element. 

Small but prodigiously powerful

Under its tautly skinned bonnet, the Coolray is powered by small but prodigiously powerful turbocharged direct injection 1.5-litre 3-cylinder engine, co-developed with Volvo, and producing 177BHP at 5,500rpm and 188lb/ft torque at a broad and muscular 1,500-4,000rpm mid-range. Paired with a 7-speed automated dual clutch gearbox and driving the front wheels, the Coolray’s three-pot powerhouse propels its 1,340kg mass through the 0-100km/h benchmark in just 7.9-seconds as its scampers off the line hunting for traction, and onto a 195km/h top speed. Meanwhile, low combined fuel consumption is estimated at 6.1l/100km.

Powering the larger and heavier Azkarra in hybrid guise, Geely’s 1.5-litre turbo engine better exhibits its un-assisted abilities in the lighter non-hybrid Coolray, in which it delivers genuinely brisk progress. Quick spooling and responsive from idling speed, the Coolray is virtually lag-free from standstill, with a big meaty mid-range allowing for muscular overtaking and hill climb abilities. Eager through revs but with a relatively low rev limit, the Coolray’s engine is one that like to be driven hard, with a charismatically distant yet distinctly off-beat 3-cylinder thrum at full chat.

Quick and comfortable

Stable, quiet and refined at speed, the Coolray is a reassuring and relaxed long-distance cruiser. Quick and comfortable, it is a more forgiving ride than its assertively sporty styling or low profile 215/55R18 tyres imply. Supple in absorbing bigger bumps, depressions and side to side textural unevenness, the Coolray conversely well controls body lean through corners. Its dual clutch gearbox is smooth through ratios in default mode, and succinct in “sport” and manual paddle shift modes. However, operated manually, it conservatively favours protecting the drive-line than being overly responsive to aggressive shift inputs.

A sportily agile and responsive drive in most circumstance and for most drivers’ demands, given it is a high riding crossover with generous 196mm ground clearance, the Coolray turns into corners in a tidy fashion, with nimble weight transfer when driving in a reasonably brisk fashion. Its light and quick steering meanwhile weights up nicely and becomes more nuanced when picking up speed through sprawling switchbacks. Driving over road imperfections, the Coolray seems more settled than many rivals on rebound and in its vertical control, but would benefit from stiffer damper rates.

Accessible and practical

Impressively practical, fun, refined and accessibly priced at starting from JD23,000, slightly stiffer dampers would have helped better fulfil the Coolray’s sporting potential, but perhaps slightly reduced comfort. 

Firmer dampers pressing its driven front wheels more forcefully in contact with the road on low traction tarmac would reduce torque steer when accelerating from standstill and over when climbing steep inclines with small high frequency ripples and textures. Additionally, firmer dampers would allow one to exit a corner with more aggressive and earlier throttle input and reduce torque-induced under-steer and stability control corrections.

A good value crossover with plenty of premium-like features, the Coolray is sporty and stylised inside with soft textures, good quality materials, trim, and fit and finish. Well-equipped with mod cons including user-friendly tablet-style infotainment screen and electronic gear lever, the Coolray Sport features a chunky flat-bottom steering wheel and electric driver’s seat.

For taller drivers, the non-sport model’s manual driver’s seat allows a lower driving position. That said, the Coolray Sport’s seating is supportive through corners and comfortable, while space is good in front, decent in the rear and boot space is well-packaged.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1.5-litre, transverse, turbocharged 3-cylinders

Valve-train: 12-valve, DOHC

Gearbox: 7-speed dual clutch automated, front-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 177 (179) [132] @5,500rpm

Specific power: 119.8BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 132BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 188 (255) @1,500-4,000rpm

Specific torque: 172.6Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 190.3Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 7.9-seconds

Top speed: 195km/h

Fuel consumption, combined: 6.1-litres/100km (estimate)

Fuel capacity: 45-litres

Length: 4,330mm

Width: 1,800mm

Height: 1,609mm

Wheelbase: 2,600mm

Ground clearance: 196mm

Luggage volume, minimum: 330-litres

Kerb weight: 1,340kg

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/torsion beam

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs/discs

Tyres: 215/55R18

Price, on-the-road, with insurance: starting from JD23,000