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PARIS — The world had 10 times as many obese children and teenagers last year than in 1975, but underweight kids still outnumbered them, a study said on Wednesday.

Warning of a “double burden” of malnutrition, researchers said the rate of increase in obesity far outstripped the decline in under-nutrition.

“If post-2000 trends continue, child and adolescent obesity is expected to surpass moderate and severe underweight by 2022,” researchers wrote in The Lancet medical journal.

The team found that there were 74 million obese boys aged 5-19 in 2016, up from 6 million four decades earlier. 

For girls, the tally swelled from 5 million to 50 million.

By comparison, there were 117 million underweight boys and 75 million underweight girls last year after the number peaked around the year 2000, the study said.

Almost two thirds of the underweight children lived in south Asia.

Obesity ballooned in every region in the world, while the number of underweight children slowly decreased everywhere except south and southeast Asia, and central, east and west Africa.

The prevalence of underweight children decreased from 9.2 per cent to 8.4 per cent of girls aged 5-19 over the study period, and from 14.8 per cent to 12.4 per cent in boys.

Obesity grew from 0.7 per cent to 5.6 per cent among girls and from 0.9 per cent to 7.8
per cent in boys.

In Nauru, the Cook Islands and Palau, more than 30 per cent of children and teenagers were obese in 2016. 

In some countries in Polynesia and Micronesia, the Middle East, North Africa, the Caribbean and the United States, more than one in five children were obese.

Make healthy food affordable

Experts divide people into body mass categories calculated on the basis of their weight-to-height ratio. These range from underweight, normal weight, overweight and three categories of obese.

Obesity comes with the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, while underweight children are more at risk from infectious diseases.

Children in either category can be stunted if their diet does not include healthy nutrients.

“There is a continued need for policies that enhance food security in low-income countries and households, especially in south Asia,” said study author Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London.

“But our data also shows that the transition from underweight to overweight and obesity can happen quickly in an unhealthy nutritional transition with an increase in nutrient-poor, energy-dense foods.”

The team used the height and weight data of 129 million people older than five to estimate body mass trends for 200 countries from 1975 to 2016.

While obesity in children and teens appears to have plateaued in rich countries, its rise continued in low- and middle-income countries, they found.

“Very few policies and programmes attempt to make healthy foods such as whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables affordable to poor families,” Ezzati said in a statement.

“Unaffordability of healthy food options to the poor can lead to social inequalities in obesity, and limit how much we can reduce its burden.”

I have something against the size of cameras lenses in smartphones and that of speakers in miniaturised Bluetooth speakers. They are just too small to make great photos or great sound. This has nothing of a macho or other senseless attitude. It just stems from genuine keenness to see beautiful pictures and to enjoy full-bodied sound. 

It is actually one of the high-tech world contradictions. While the digitisation of picture and sound allows generating, preserving and duplicating them in extraordinary quality, technology at the same time is designing and manufacturing devices that reduce that quality.

Over the past few years engineers have succeeded making tiny camera lenses and squeezing them in smartphones. Admitted, the resulting picture quality cannot be labelled as bad, and year after year it all keeps improving. However, can we honestly compare photos taken this way with what one can achieve with a full-size dedicated DSLR camera and a lens that alone weighs 1 kilogramme and sometime more?

Nikon has just released a new full-frame DSLR, the D850. There are posts on the web of sample photos taken with it, coupled with the company’s 70-200mm stunning zoom lens. Just looking at the photos brings you a sense of beauty, of realism, of completeness that no smartphone camera can even come close to. Of course the D850 body alone is $3,300 and the lens about as much in the US market.

When you look at a picture taken with a smartphone, you may be happy with it, assuming it is a good shot in the first place. It is only when you compare it with what a big DSLR camera can achieve that the difference become obvious.

Smartphone makers entice you with numbers such megapixels and the like. But 24 megapixels with a smartphone camera is one thing and 24 megapixels with a DSLR is another! Perhaps the only part that could sustain some kind of fair comparison between the two devices is the internal digital processing of the photo once it is shot, but certainly not the lens.

It is a parallel situation with small speakers. The industry is now able to make units that generate incredible sound power from very little boxes. Just like smartphone camera makers tell you about megapixels to impress you, speakers manufacturers brag about watts.

Here again, 30 watts (real, RMS watts) in big wooden enclosures that weigh 10 kilograms or more cannot be compared to those hand-held, almost pocketable Bluetooth boxes that also arguably are able to blast 30 watts of music. Close your eyes, listen to both, and the difference will astound you. 

Bowers & Wilkins is a celebrated British maker of fine speakers. The average weight of their units is 30 kilogrammes and the dimensions a sizable 100x30x40cm. These are standard home speakers, not models meant for theatres or concert halls that understandably would be much heavier and larger. They also make a mammoth model called Nautilus that weighs 100 kilogrammes; still made for homes! But you do not need to go to such extremes to enjoy great music.

Given the current life style, the fast pace of living, and perhaps before anything else the need for mobility, we certainly need the small and the big, the affordable and the more expensive, the good and the better. What matters is not to be deceived by the advertisers’ arguments and not to take one technological wonder for another. To each its place.

Patients continue to be confused about the roles and responsibilities different doctors play in their healthcare, new research confirms. 

In a new study, gynaecology patients receiving treatment at a teaching hospital did not fully understand the differences between an attending physician, a resident doctor and a medical student. 

“Most patients don’t realise that in a teaching hospital, it’s the residents that are doing the majority of the work,” Dr Ronald Blatt, Medical Director of the Manhattan Centre for Vaginal Surgery in New York City, told Reuters Health in a phone interview. 

Dr Catherine Flood of the University of Alberta and colleagues surveyed 108 women awaiting major gynaecological surgery. Questions assessed patients’ knowledge of residents’ responsibilities as compared with duties of medical students and attending physicians. In addition, researchers measured patients’ comfort level with resident doctors. 

Most women — 83 per cent — understood that residents “had a higher level of training” than medical students, but only 60 per cent realised that a resident is actually a doctor, the authors report in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada. 

That might explain why only 50 per cent of respondents indicated that they would feel comfortable with a resident operating on them, even under the supervision of a practicing physician. 

“Typically, patients are under the impression that [surgical] residents merely assist in pre-and post-operative procedures when, in reality, they are performing the actual surgery,” said Blatt, who was not involved with the new study. “This, of course, is only when the practicing physician is fully confident in the resident’s capability. It’s actually one of the benefits of getting treatment at a teaching hospital. There are more practitioners keeping a close eye on things compared to non-teaching hospitals.” 

Residents have graduated from medical school. They practice in teaching hospitals or clinics under the direct or indirect supervision of an attending physician for several years before deciding on a sub-specialty. But it is important to note that “resident” can mean anything from a first-year intern who is just out of medical school to a chief resident who is in his or her final year of training. 

In this study, while 92 per cent of the women surveyed believed in the importance of knowing their doctor’s level of training, only 63 per cent reported actually having such knowledge. Fifty-six per cent of those polled reported a desire to learn more about the role of resident doctors. 

“Considering the significant role of residents in patient care, educating patients is essential to improve their comfort and the overall consent process,” the authors write. 

This study is the first of its kind in the gynaecological discipline, but there are a few limitations worth noting. The sample size was small and comprised only of a region-specific Canadian cohort, which limits the generalisability of the results. 

To promote a better understanding among patients, the researchers suggest “placing placards throughout teaching hospitals, handing out pamphlets in waiting rooms, or reviewing consent forms in greater depth in the office setting”. 

Previous research, they note, shows that informed patients tend to be more actively involved in their own care and have better health outcomes than their uninformed counterparts. 

“Considering the valuable role that residents play in patient care, educating patients about their providers is essential to improve their satisfaction, comfort and the overall value of the consent process,” the researchers conclude. 

The contrast between the exuberance of Indians and the reticence of the British is most apparent when you emerge from a flight that takes off from one country and lands in the other. In a span of a few hours you can encounter diametrically opposite cultures, from the departure gates of one airport — where the relatives or friends are weeping and hugging their loved ones while bidding them goodbye, to the arrival area of another — where every traveller is received with an impassive and measured restrain.

So, what exactly is the famous British reserve? Why are the Brits generally disinclined to show emotions or feelings or to act in any way that could be viewed as slightly off centre? Where do they get the idea of restricting their gestures and tempering their language? Is it true that most of the nation’s men and women are prone to show “passive” personality traits, as confirmed by the latest research from Mintel Market Intelligence Agency in London? 

Alexandra Richmond, senior consumer and lifestyles analyst at the firm says “far from being a negative label, the fact that the English are more likely to be passive personality types, is something we can be proud of. Passive, in this instance at least, doesn’t stand for not caring or becoming lazy, but shows someone who is easy-going and who wants to keep the harmony. Rather than being a pushover, the Brits are shy of confrontation, going out of their way to avoid causing unnecessary conflict. A passive personality type will presumably be quieter than others but they choose their words wisely and when they do speak, they are likely to say something worth listening to”. 

Also, according to social anthropologist Kate Fox, Brits have struggled to greet each other since “how do you do” became out of fashion. This formal yet standard greeting was a safe way of starting a conversation with strangers but these days they do not know how to interact because its demise has left England puzzled. “There is a ‘nice to meet you’ but quite a lot of upper class people are not happy with that because the etiquette books frown on it. Every single other nation on the planet has a straightforward ritual for greeting someone. We seem to be the only ones who can’t reach a consensus on what is appropriate,” she noted. 

Right! That is why the British have adopted the habit of speaking about the weather which is a conversation starter, an ice breaker or just a greeting and can be used for all sorts of social reasons. But when one says that it is cold and windy today, it does not mean that you are reciting a meteorological report. It is simply a manner of saying hello to an unknown person.

Passing the front desk of the hotel in London on day five of my stay, I notice a new face behind the counter. Accustomed to the usual British reserve from the staff there, I am surprised to hear a cheery “cold, isn’t it” directed at me from an immaculately dressed lady.

“It’s freezing,” I agree.

“Carry an umbrella,” she suggests.

“Thundershowers are forecast at noon,” she continues chattily.

“She’s definitely not English,” says the voice in my head. 

“The weather is unpredictable, like back home,” she drawls. 

“You are from San Francisco,” I state.

“How did you guess,” she asks. 

“I am an Indian clairvoyant,” I joke. 

“Not a British one, thank God,” she laughs.

BERLIN — Even if you are terrified of heights, jumping out of a plane with a makeshift parachute may begin to look like a good idea once you know the aircraft is running out of fuel.

That, arguably, is akin to the mindset of climate scientists and policymakers brainstorming in Berlin this week on how to compensate for humanity’s collective failure to curb the greenhouse gases — caused mainly by burning fossil fuels — that drive global warming.

In 2015, 195 nations miraculously, if belatedly, vowed to cap the rise of the Earth’s average surface temperature at “well below” 2ºC, and to make a good-faith effort to hold the line at a 1.5ºC.

But the Paris Agreement did not mandate how or when to hit those targets.

With a single degree Celsius of warming so far, a crescendo of impacts — including tropical storms engorged by rising seas, along with deadly heatwaves, fires and droughts — suggest that time is not on our side and that the range of options is narrowing.

“It has become very clear that getting to 2ºC, and especially 1.5ºC, is very dependent on our ability to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere,” Naomi Vaughan, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia, told the opening plenary of the Climate Engineering Conference 2017.

Indeed, 90 per cent of projections in the UN climate science panel’s most recent report that would keep the planet under the 2 C threshold depend heavily on such “negative emissions”. (The others assume greenhouse gas emissions peaked in 2010, when in fact they are still climbing.) 

“It is a matter of considerable concern that we are not sure how to do this on the scale needed,” Myles Allen, head of the University of Oxford’s Climate Research Programme, told AFP.

Deflecting sunlight

Michael Taylor, an atmospheric scientist from the University of West Indies, underscored the urgency in the aftermath of the two Category Five hurricanes — projected to increase in frequency — that recently ravaged the Caribbean.

“The region’s climate will be so significantly altered that it will not just be unfamiliar,” he told colleagues. “It will be unprecedented.”

One of two broad categories under the geoengineering umbrella, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) schemes include “enhanced weathering” of rocks that soak up CO2; large-scale production of charcoal from organic waste; sequestering CO2 cast off from burning biofuel plants; and sucking carbon dioxide directly from the air with high-tech machines.

Even the massive planting of trees — which store CO2 as they grow — is seen as part of the “CDR” arsenal.

The other, far more controversial approach to climate engineering, known as solar radiation management, would deflect enough sunlight back into space to cool the planet a degree or two. 

This, proponents say, could be done by injecting billions of tiny reflective particles into the stratosphere, or chemically brightening mirror-like ocean clouds.

“It will be very difficult to meet the Paris Agreement goal of even staying below 2ºC without resorting to at least one, if not both, of these forms of climate engineering,” said Mark Lawrence, scientific director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany, which is hosting the four-day conference.

Impacts on a planetary scale

Some scientists think climate engineering of any kind is a slippery slope.

“It diverts attention away from the need to reduce emissions,” Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, a professor at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and a former vice chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told AFP.

“CO2 removal gives the illusion that we can continue using fossil fuels indefinitely,” he said.

Other experts who have reluctantly embraced the necessity of geoengineering to help fix the climate are more nervous about fiddling with the sun’s radiative force.

“This is the first time since the development of nuclear weapons that we have a set of technologies which has the potential of impacting Earth, as well as human society, at a planetary scale,” said Arunabha Ghosh, chief executive of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water in New Delhi.

Solar radiation management could disrupt rainfall patterns, and thus agriculture, say critics who also worry about what is sometimes called “termination shock” — a sudden warming if the system were to fail. 

There is also the danger of conflicts over side-effects — real or perceived, Allen said.

“Countries that are suffering from drought will blame whoever is doing solar radiation management for their troubles,” he said.

Because such technologies could be deployed unilaterally by a single country, or even a company, they also raise questions about who should set the rules.

“We have to imagine governance arrangements that have never been imagined before,” said Ghosh, who says research should continue in the meantime.

LOS ANGELES — “Blade Runner 2049” is heading for a downbeat $32.8 million opening weekend at 4,058 sites in North America.

Monday’s final result throws serious doubt onto what had been high hopes for a box office success story. In one of the most surprising turnarounds in recent years, “Blade Runner 2049” fell far short of expectations, which had been in the $45 million to $50 million range at the start of the weekend amid stellar reviews, strong advance ticket sales, and the revered status of 1982’s original “Blade Runner”.

Instead, the film grossed only a moderate $12.7 million on Friday, including $4 million from Thursday night previews. Saturday saw an 11 per cent decline to $11.4 million and Sunday’s total was $8.7 million.

The key factors for the under-performance were the movie’s 163-minute running time — which limits the number of showings each day — plus far less traction among younger moviegoers than anticipated.

“The core of enthusiastic and loyal ‘Blade Runner’ fans were over 25 and predominantly male and propelled the film as expected to the top spot, but a lengthy running time and lesser interest among females made it tougher for the film to reach the original weekend box office projections,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore.

According to PostTrack, males over 25 represented 50 per cent of the audience and females over 25 were 27 per cent, while males under 25 represented 15 per cent of moviegoers and females under 25 were 8 per cent. Males gave the movie an A CinemaScore, while females gave it a B+.

Warner Bros. is handling domestic distribution on “Blade Runner 2049”, starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, through its output deal with Alcon Entertainment. Financed by Alcon and Sony and laden with special effects, the film carries a $150 million price tag. Denis Villeneuve helms the sequel film, which is set in a bleak 2049 Los Angeles with Gosling starring as an LAPD officer dealing with replicants seeking freedom.

Warner Bros. Domestic Distribution President Jeff Goldstein said “Blade Runner 2049” had fallen short of expectations in mid-sized and smaller markets along with the South and Midwest, where the running time and Major League Baseball play-offs appeared to have held down attendance.

“We did well in the major and high-profile markets,” he added. “Alcon and Denis made an amazing movie. The audience for it was narrower than we anticipated.”

Fox’s opening of survival drama “The Mountain Between Us”, starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet, was the weekend’s runner-up, coming in slightly below projections with a moderate $10.6 million at 3,088 venues. Based on the Charles Martin novel, the film stars Elba as a surgeon and Winslet as a journalist who are left stranded together following a plane crash. Reviews have been mixed, earning the film a 46 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

The fifth weekend of New Line’s blockbuster “It” showed plenty of staying power in 3rd place with $9.6 million at 3,197 sites. It will close the weekend with $305 million domestically plus $298.8 million internationally to top the $600 million worldwide mark.

Lionsgate’s animated “My Little Pony” trotted in 4th with a modest $8.9 million at 2,528 locations, slightly above forecasts. Based on the Hasbro toys and TV series, the movie’s voice cast includes Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Uzo Aduba, and Sia.

Fox’s third weekend of “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” come in 5th with $8.7 million while  Universal’s second weekend of “American Made” came in 6th place, followed by Warner’s third weekend of “The Lego Ninjago Movie” with $7 million. Focus Features’ expansion of Judi Dench’s “Victoria & Abdul” came in 8th with $4.2 million at 732 locations.

“Flatliners” ($4 million) and “Battle of the Sexes” ($2.6 million) rounded out the top 10.

PARIS — A house-size asteroid will give Earth a near-miss on Thursday, passing harmlessly inside the Moon’s orbit while giving experts a rare chance to rehearse for a real-life strike threat.

Dubbed 2012 TC4, the space rock will shave past at an altitude of less than 44,000 kilometres — just above the 36,000km plane at which hundreds of geosynchronous satellites orbit the Earth.

That represents about an eighth of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

NASA’s Mike Kelley, who leads the exercise to spot, track and intimately probe the transient visitor, insisted there was “no danger. Not even for satellites”.

“We’ve now been observing TC4 for two months, so we have very accurate position information on it, which in turn allows very precise calculations of its orbit,” which will not cross that of Earth nor its satellites, he told AFP.

As its name suggests, the object was first spotted five years ago when it called on Earth at about double Thursday’s projected distance, before disappearing from view.

It is 15 to 30 metres wide — about the size of the meteoroid that exploded in the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk in central Russia in 2013 with 30 times the kinetic energy of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The resulting shockwave blew out the windows of nearly 5,000 buildings and injured more than 1,200 people.

While the Chelyabinsk event caught everyone unawares, TC4 is one of thousands of space rocks whose whereabouts are known. 

Millions are not.

On its 609-day loop around the Sun, TC4 will return to Earth in 2050 and 2079, according to Ruediger Jehn of the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Object programme in the Netherlands.

“We know today that it will also not hit the Earth in the year 2050, but the close flyby in 2050 might deflect the asteroid such that it could hit the Earth in the year 2079,” he told AFP by e-mail.

With a one-in-750 chance of hitting the planet then, TC4 is listed at number 13 on the “risk list” of objects posing even the remotest impact risk.

‘We are practising’

“We need to make very precise observations to be able to better predict the return in the year 2050,” Jehn said.

Flybys like this one are actually quite common — about three objects similar in size to TC4 graze past at a similar distance every year.

What makes TC4 special is that it has been chosen to test the global asteroid pre-warning system, fed by a network of observatories, universities and labs around the world.

The asteroid’s close approach will allow teams to evaluate how accurate they were in predicting its orbit and size, while using telescopes to learn more about its composition.

“For us this is a test case,” said Jehn’s colleague Detlef Koschny. “We are practising for the real serious case.”

Many scientists believe the Earth will once again be hit by a space rock of the size that wiped out the dinosaurs, though nobody knows when.

And even if they become better at predicting a strike, there is very little to be done about it, for now.

Futuristic projects mooted to deflect or destroy incoming space rocks have come to nought so far, and the only strategy would be to evacuate people in zones at risk.

TC4 will make its closest approach to Earth just before 0541 GMT on Thursday, at a point south of Australia, according to ESA and NASA.

It will not be visible to the naked eye nor with regular binoculars, “but it can be seen in the night of October 11-12 until about 4:00am from European observatories”, Jehn said.

Arguably Japan’s most accomplished premium automotive brand, Infiniti vehicles traditionally sold in its ostensible home market under the upmarket Nissan Skyline and other nameplates. Since 2012, Infiniti has sought to establish itself as a global brand and moved its corporate headquarters to Hong Kong. 

Its Nissan-Renault Alliance parent company announced a looser platform and driveline sharing alliance with Mercedes-Benz. This started with Mercedes donating an engine for the entry-level Infiniti Q50 executive saloon and most recently Nissan donating the Navara platform to underpin the recently launched Mercedes X-Class pick-up.

Swooping and sporty

For Infiniti, the alliance of convenience with Mercedes has however led to Infiniti’s entry into the premium hatchback segment. Based on the Mercedes A-Class’ platform and driveline, and built at the Nissan alliance’s Sunderland facility in the UK, the Q30 is Infiniti’s most ambitious gambit a car with broader global reach, and is aimed at the likes of the Audi A3, BMW 1-Series and the Q30’s own German donor. Arriving in late 2015, the Q30 is offered with a range of mostly Mercedes-sourced turbocharged diesel and petrol engines, and range-topping four-wheel drive Q30S 2.0T AWD.

Though sharing underpinnings and driveline with the Mercedes A-Class, the Q30S’ design sensibility is distinctly Infiniti. With snouty and broad mesh grille, deep side intakes, slim moody headlights, rakishly descending roofline, sportily long bonnet and low rearwards cabin, swooping lines and jutting ridges and surfacing, the Q30 is complex in detail yet uncomplicated in how it emits a sense of thrusting momentum and eager, ready-to-pounce motion. Sitting 20mm lower than garden-variety versions, the top of the line Q30S 2.0T AWD model drive rides on larger 19-inch alloys and wider, low profile 235/45R19 tyres.

Quick and confident

Powered by the same transversely-mounted 2-litre direct injection turbocharged petrol 4-cylinder engine as the Mercedes A250 4Matic and sharing the same four-wheel-drive system and 7-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox, the Infiniti Q30S is muscular, versatile, punchy and efficient. 

Producing 208BHP at 5500rpm and 258lb/ft torque through a broad 1200-4000rpm mid-range, and suffers little in the way turbo lag from idle. Launches responsively from standstill, and with all four wheels digging into the tarmac, the Q30S AWD sprints through 0-100km/h in 7.3-seconds and onto a 230km/h maximum, yet returns 5.5l/100km combined cycle fuel efficiency.

Refined and smooth, the Q30S’s early, broad and generous torque band allows for confident yet relaxed cruising and on-the-move and in-gear versatility for brisk overtaking and confident performance on steep inclines. Muscular in mid-range, its generous mid-range sweet spot underwrites a punchy and eagerly progressive delivery of power. 

Its dual-clutch automated gearbox is seamlessly smooth and swift shifting, and features different driving modes. Alert and responsive in Sport mode where down shifts are executed more eagerly and gears held longer, the Q30S also features smooth Comfort and more economical modes, in addition an engine stop/start system for further efficiency.

Comfort and commitment 

Ensconced low with hunkered down seating and a long bonnet ahead, the Q30S has a sportier, seemingly more luxurious and traditional driving position than most hatchbacks in its segment where on sits high. This ambiance is well reflected by the Q30S’ agile and confident driving experience, with quick and light yet precise steering and tidy turn-in to corners. Maneuverable in town and eager and agile through winding country lanes and hill climbs, the Q30S AWD is flickable yet committed. Its tidy cornering lines and tight road-holding aided by a front-biased four-wheel-system that reallocates power to the rear wheels for traction and grip when necessary on low tractions surfaces.

Riding on tauter and lower sport suspension, the Q30S AWD well controls body lean through corners and feels settled and buttoned down with taut vertical control over dips and crests. Riding slightly on the firm side, the Q30S’s suspension and tyres nonetheless provide a smooth and mostly comfortable ride over imperfections and reassuring stability and refinement on high speed straights. 

Finding a good compromise between sportiness, comfort and stability, the Q30S AWD feels crisp through corners, with understeer and oversteer arriving late but progressively, and easily corrected, if one pushes too hard into or out of a tight corner.

Classy cabin

Classy, sporty and user-friendly inside, the Q30S’s cabin has a distinctly sporty ambiance, with small chunky steering wheel, well-adjustable driving position and supportive and comfortable “S” model specific sports seats with integrated, but non-adjustable, headrests. Rear space and 430-litre cargo volume is decent for its segment. 

A standard panoramic sunroof lends an airy ambiance in contrast to dark and business-like interior hues but likely reduces headroom slightly compared to non-panoramic base models. Cabin materials feature prominent soft textures and quality materials, and include some Mercedes-sourced switchgear. However, cabin design and infotainment system are distinctively Infiniti’s own.

Well-equipped with extensive convenience, infotainment and safety features, the Q30S comes with standard parking sensors, lane departure warning and around view monitor to complement good front and side visibility.

An additional Tech package adds intelligent cruise control and blind spot warning. Also standard to the S is a voice recognition and smartphone and Bluetooth integrated infotainment system with 10-speaker Bose audio system, and forward collision warning and stop system, adaptive brake assistance, and other features.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, turbocharged, transverse 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 83 x 92mm

Compression ratio: 9.8:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, variable timing, direct injection 

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

0-100 km/h: 7.3-seconds

Maximum speed: 230km/h

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 208 (211) [155] @5500rpm

Specific power: 104.5BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 131.3BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 258 (350) @ 1200-4000rpm

Specific torque: 175.8Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 221Nm/tonne 

Fuel consumption, combined: 6-litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 156g/km

Fuel tank capacity: 56-litres

Length: 4425mm

Width: 1805mm

Height: 1475mm

Wheelbase: 2700mm

Track width, F/R: 1563/1567mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficient: 0.32

Luggage volume: 430-litres

Kerb weight: 1584kg

Steering: Electric-assisted, rack and pinion

Turning circle: 11.4-metres

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/multi-link

Brakes: Ventilated discs, 320mm/discs, 295mm

Tyres: 235/45R19

ARUSHA, Tanzania — Nigerian neuroscientist Oshiorenoya Agabi may have found a way to solve one of life’s puzzling dilemmas: how to make air travel pleasant again. 

What if you could skip tedious airport security lines, while a special device able to sniff out explosives works silently in the background?

This is only one of the possible uses of what Agabi says is the world’s first neurotechnology device developed by his Silicon Valley-based start-up Koniku and unveiled at the recent TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania.

While those in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are working furiously to create machines that can mimic the brain, or — like tech entrepreneur Elon Musk — implant computers in our brains, Agabi has found a way to merge lab-grown neurons with electronic circuitry.

As many grapple with the finite processing power of silicon, the 38-year-old said he had looked to the brain which is “the most powerful processor the universe has ever seen”.

To simulate the power of just 204 brain neurons would require a supercomputer, he said.

“Instead of copying a neuron, why not just take the biological cell itself and use it as it is? That thought is radical. The consequence of this is mind-boggling,” he said.

So he and a team of geneticists, physicists, bio-engineers, molecular biologists and others set about doing just that, focusing on the problems that were particularly hard for silicon devices to solve. 

This includes detecting volatile chemicals and explosives or even illnesses such as cancer.

‘A world first’

Agabi said the Koniku Kore device is “a world first” and able to do just that, essentially through breathing in and smelling the air.

He said “major brands”, including those in the travel industry, had signed up and the start-up’s current revenues of $8 million (7 million euros) were expected to leap to $30 million by 2018.

One of the main challenges was finding a way to keep the neurons alive, a secret Agabi did not wish to expand on, saying only they could be kept alive for two years in a lab environment and two months in the device.

As AI improves in leaps and bounds, scientists are trying to make and succeeding in making machines more like our brains, able to learn and understand their surroundings: a prospect that is terrifying for many.

Musk, who has repeatedly warned about the perils of AI making humans obsolete, is working on a new project to implant “neural lace” brain-interface technology to prevent humans becoming like a “house cat” to potential machine masters.

However, Agabi, who grew up in Lagos where he helped his mother sell food on the streets, believes the future of AI lies in making machines more alive.

He believes his company could build a cognitive humanoid system based on synthetic living neurons in the next five to seven years.

“It’s not science fiction,” he told AFP.

“We want to build a brain of biological neurons — an autonomous system that has intelligence. We do not want to build a human brain.”

Agabi did a bachelors degree in theoretical physics in Lagos before taking an interest in neuroscience and bio-engineering for his PhD in London.

He spoke at the opening session of the four-day TEDGlobal conference, putting African ideas, innovation and creativity in the spotlight with a variety of speakers who each get an 18-minute window to get across their message of choice.

TED — originally known as Technology, Entertainment and Design — has built a global following for its online videos of inspiring talks devoted to “ideas worth spreading.”

The annual international version is taking place in Africa for the first time in a decade with a new crop of “TED Fellows” from the continent to take to the stage.

“This gathering couldn’t come a moment too soon,” said TEDGlobal co-curator Emeka Okafor. 

“Africa has experienced spectacular economic, demographic and creative growth, but both opportunity and danger are rising at an exponential rate. Our conference will gather the idea catalysts, problem-solvers and change-makers already hard at work here charting Africa’s own path to modernity.”

People who skip breakfast may be more likely to develop atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, than individuals who start each day with a hearty meal, a new study suggests. 

Even after researchers accounted for diet and other risk factors for heart disease, people who routinely skipped breakfast were significantly more likely to develop atherosclerosis compared to individuals who normally had a morning meal, the study found. 

“A greater percentage of energy consumed earlier in the day may favour cardiovascular health,” lead study author Dr Valentín Fuster of the CNIC in Madrid and Mount Sinai Heart in New York City said by e-mail. 

Previous research has linked skipping breakfast to a higher risk of problems that can lead to heart disease such as obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol, researchers note in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

For the current study, researchers examined data from dietary questionnaires completed by 4,052 adults who did not have a history of heart problems. 

Overall, just 3 per cent of the participants reported skipping breakfast, while 69 per cent typically consumed a light morning meal (accounting for 5 per cent to 20 per cent of total calories for the day) and 28 per cent had a hearty breakfast (accounting for more than 20 per cent of the day’s caloric intake). 

Those who skipped breakfast were more likely to be male, smokers and dieters who consumed the bulk of their daily calories around lunchtime. 

When they ate, breakfast skippers tended to spend no more than 5 minutes on their morning meal and consume mostly coffee or orange juice. 

Compared to people who had a hearty breakfast, individuals who had a light breakfast were still 21 per cent more likely to have damage in a major artery in the neck and 17 per cent more likely to have damage in a major blood vessel in the abdominal area. 

In addition to having the greatest risk of atherosclerosis, people who skipped breakfast also had the greatest waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. 

Participants who skipped breakfast were more likely to have an overall unhealthy lifestyle, including poor overall diet, frequent alcohol consumption and smoking. They were also more likely to be overweight or obese. 

The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove that skipping breakfast directly causes heart problems or hardening of the arteries. 

Another limitation of the study is that some people may have been skipping breakfast because they were obese and were trying to lose weight or improve other risk factors for heart disease that could also contribute to atherosclerosis, the authors note. 

“Many overweight people who might be skipping breakfast or other meals in the hope of losing weight should keep in mind that studies have repeatedly shown that contrary to the commonly held belief, such habits can be associated with [weight gain] and might lead to significant metabolic abnormalities including the increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes,” said Dr Prakash Deedwania, author of an accompanying editorial and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. 

“Indeed, these studies have proved the age old concept that breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Deedwania said by e-mail. 

Individuals who regularly eat breakfast also tend to have a healthier lifestyle, exercising more, eating better and smoking less than people who skip their morning meal, said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a nutrition researcher at Columbia University Medical Centre in New York City who was not involved in the study. 

“I think that, for everyone, consuming a healthy breakfast is a great way to meet guidelines for fruits, whole grains, lean protein,” St-Onge said by email. 

“It doesn’t have to be large,” St-Onge added. “Many people are not that hungry in the morning, and it doesn’t have to be very elaborate. 

The important thing is not to wait too long to eat, because people may then resort to unhealthy snacks or whatever they can grab on the go to give them a boost until it’s time to eat lunch, she said. 

“Having a healthy first meal just sets the tone right for the rest of the day,” St-Onge added.