Features

WASHINGTON — Sea levels on Earth are rising several times faster than they have in the past 2,800 years and are accelerating because of man-made global warming, according to new studies.

An international team of scientists dug into two-dozen locations across the globe to chart gently rising and falling seas over centuries and millennia. Until the 1880s and the world’s industrialisation, the fastest seas rose was about three to four centimetres a century, plus or minus a bit. During that time global sea level really didn’t get much higher or lower than 7.5cm above or below the 2,000-year average.

But in the 20th century the world’s seas rose 14 centimetres. Since 1993 the rate has soared to 30 centimetres per century. And two different studies published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said by 2100 that the world’s oceans will rise between 28 and 131 centimetres, depending on how much heat-trapping gas Earth’s industries and vehicles expel.

“There’s no question that the 20th century is the fastest,” said Rutgers earth and planetary sciences Professor Bob Kopp, lead author of the study that looked back at sea levels over the past three millennia. “It’s because of the temperature increase in the 20th century which has been driven by fossil fuel use.”

To figure out past sea levels and rates of rise and fall, scientists engaged in a “geological detective story”, said study co-author Ben Horton, a Rutgers marine scientist. They went around the world looking at salt marshes and other coastal locations and used different clues to figure out what the sea level was at different times. They used single cell organisms that are sensitive to salinity, mangroves, coral, sediments and other clues in cores, Horton said. On top of that they checked their figures by easy markers such as the rise of lead with the start of the industrial age and isotopes only seen in the atomic age.

When Kopp and colleagues charted the sea level rise over the centuries — they went back 3,000 years, but aren’t confident in the most distant 200 years — they saw Earth’s sea level was on a downward trend until the industrial age.

Sea level rise in the 20th century is mostly man made, the study authors said. A separate, not-yet-published study by Kopp and others found since 1950, about two-thirds of the US nuisance coastal floods in 27 locales have the fingerprints of man-made warming.

And if seas continue to rise, as projected, another 46 centimetres of sea level rise is going to cause lots of problems and expense, especially with surge during storms, said study co-author Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

“There is such a tight relationship between sea level and temperature,” Horton said. “I wish there wasn’t, then we wouldn’t be as worried.”

The link to temperature is basic science, the study’s authors said. Warm water expands. Cold water contracts. The scientists pointed to specific past eras when temperatures and sea rose and fell together.

The Kopp study and a separate one published by another team projected future sea level rise based on various techniques. They came to the same general estimates, despite using different methods, said Anders Levermann, a co-author of the second paper and a researcher at the Potsdam Institute.

If greenhouse gas pollution continues at the current pace, both studies project increases of about 57 to 131 centimetres. If countries fulfil the treaty agreed upon last year in Paris and limit further warming to another -17oC, sea level rise would be in the 28 to 56 centimetres.

Jonathan Overpeck at the University of Arizona, who wasn’t part of the studies, praised them, saying they show a clear cause and effect between warming and sea level rise.

My problem is that I keep falling down. On the face of it, it does not appear like a very serious sort of predicament because everybody falls down at some point or another in his or her life. But on an average, if one were to take an overall account of falling people, I seem to fall more than the others. 

It happens without any warning and that is what usually takes my breath away, both literally and figuratively. I can be anywhere: taking a walk with my family, crossing a road, coming down the steps of a movie theatre, entering an aircraft, you name it and I have fallen headlong in, or around it. One minute I am walking straight and the next moment I find myself measuring my length on the floor. 

When I was younger, my favourite aunt taught me to stamp the ground where I fell. After I picked myself up, that is. It did not alleviate the hurt, but it helped to relieve my bruised ego somewhat because along with the physical injury, what also used to upset me was the ensuing embarrassment that followed. 

Children always giggled at my fall. I mean, instead of using the banana peel trick to lure unsuspecting strangers to walk on it so that they could slide and tumble down, here was someone, who would slip even on an anti-skid surface. The kids could not believe their luck as they roared in laughter. The real-life comic scene that played out before them was too funny. As a concession, they sometimes joined me in stamping the ground afterwards, as if it was the fault of the ground that made me fall. 

Somewhere along the way, when I suffered one sprained ankle too many, I decided to approach a podiatrist, which is a fancy name for a foot doctor. They are the only medical professionals who exclusively specialise in treating the lower extremities, primarily the foot and ankles.

After taking the necessary appointment I presented myself in front of a serious looking Australian doctor. My left foot still had purple bruises from the last fall that I had, less than a week ago. The doc greeted me cheerfully and then asked me if I had come to die. I was taken aback at such a blunt greeting and shook my head in a solemn response. He raised his voice slightly, thinking I was hard of hearing, and asked me again whether I had come to die. 

“Maybe I had stumbled into a euthanasia clinic,” said the voice in my head. I looked pointedly at the triangular nameplate on his desk. It read “podiatrist”. I was completely confused by now and eyed the doctor suspiciously. I accepted the fact that I was dead tired of falling down now and again but I was not ready to kick the bucket with his assistance. Not yet, anyway. Also, this medically assisted suicide, was it even legal in Jordan? 

The doctor sat up straight in his chair and it was his turn to eye me with deep suspicion. I did not realise I had spoken out aloud. 

“I cure foot problems,” he announced. 

“I don’t want to die today,” I confessed. 

“Why should you?” he asked. 

“But you just said,” I repeated what he had said. 

“I meant today, how are you today?” he enunciated. 

“Oh, I keep falling you see,” I explained. 

“Right! Lets cure your downfall,” he said. 

Exhibited under the title “Energy and Transformation” at Instituto Cervantes, Mexican artist Pedro Trueba’s works hold true to their promise: they exude intense energy and are executed in different styles and techniques (continuous transformation) to create a world that wishes to “capture the identity and soul of Mexico”.

That is the stated objective of the architect artist whose group of 28 works followed a European-Middle Eastern itinerary, arriving in Amman at the invitation of the Mexican embassy.

“A dream come true,” said Trueba in an interview with The Jordan Times, “an honour to share my work with Jordanians”.

And “the first cultural activity the embassy is organising since we opened here last year”, said Enrique Rojo, Mexico’s ambassador to Jordan.

“It is the first time a modern Mexican artist exhibits his works in Jordan. I hope it is the first of many opportunities to promote Mexican culture as a means to strengthen bilateral ties.”

Since 1991, when he held his first exhibition in Mexico City, where he now lives, Trueba has exhibited his works, which reach an impressive 9,000, numerous times, in his country, the US, Guatemala, Portugal and Switzerland, among others.

Versatile, creative and talented, the artist works in different styles, creating a “fusion of realism, contemporary expressionism and abstract”, all “inspired by energy, transformation and the movement generated in the Mexican space”.

His bold, mostly primary, colours and his mastery of the technique create imagery that is uplifting, engaging and soothing, but, above all, tells a story: of a country and its people, Mexican through and through, but easily of any other place on earth.

Whether entirely abstract, pulsating with life, or delightfully realist, Trueba’s acrylics on canvas speak to the viewer.

Vibrant, powerful primeval nebulae are rendered in bold red, blue, green or orange; the colours vie for primacy, interlace chaotically, explode to create the universe.

Or they get structured, organised, tamed. The wild abstract becomes city or seascape, assumes familiar shapes that wish to “render the space and energy, the history that we live in a city” — Mexico City, in this case — through colours, and succeed.

The artist skilfully makes his abstracts more “understandable”, more attractive by having them support an “object” in the foreground.

The lines delineating the horizon of the cityscape, moored boats or the Papantla fliers anchor the abstract, give it more, or different, meaning, make it palatable and more attractive.

The Papantla flyers — performing a sacred ritual to Quetzalcoatl, a god and legendary ruler of Mexico represented as a feathered serpent, that goes back 1,500 years, to the accompaniment of music — are images to behold.

Hanging from ropes, four young men (“symbolising the four cardinal points” or maybe the four seasons) drop in circular movements down a 30-metre pole in a graceful flight and a blur of colours.

Wearing white shirts and red trousers, and many colourful adornments, the Veracruzan flyers (Trueba’s state of origin) are painted like soaring birds defying gravity, detaching themselves against the stark abstract background, softening it and instilling life in it.

The cityscape, dwarfed by the ether above, is used to render, in striking colours, the actions, dreams and history of the people living there.

The immense vastness of the sea, quite recurrent in the artist’s works, is brought to a scale that man can more easily understand by the presence of boats.

Alone, anchored (like the flyers to the pole), holding a fisherman or a lonely seagull, or moored by a pier and watched by idle onlookers, the boats transport one to faraway places, talk about man’s taming of the formidable nature or of his desire to discover new worlds.

Alternating with the realistic images are yet more abstracts. Blocks of colour create interesting geometric patterns, abstract but not quite, clearly delineated, yet blurred at times — a playful way of rendering texture, movement and depth.

In his over 25 years as an artist, Trueba, a firm “believer in the evolution of art”, used different styles and techniques, experimenting, living up to the speed with which “things happen around us and the happenings that reach us” in no time.

He also believes in the power of art to “educate and heal”.

“We can use art for positive things” is his message, a belief that this part of the world, particularly, would be much better off to accept and adopt.

In Jordan for the inauguration of his exhibition, Trueba visited Petra, Jerash and the Citadel, sites that “will definitely influence my future works”.

Whether in daylight or under the moon, the artist captures life in tiny details or in the grand scheme of things. His images are energetic and stirring; they bring a piece of Mexico to the world, but are also proof of the universality of art.

His works will be on display until March 23.

Many elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment experienced better brain function after a “fitness” programme designed to sharpen their minds, a US study suggests.

Researchers put 127 elderly people on what they called a brain fitness regimen for 12 weeks that included meditation training, cognitive behaviour therapy, and education about the Mediterranean diet, exercise, stress reduction and proper sleep habits.

By the end of the programme, 84 per cent of participants experienced significant improvements in cognitive function, researchers reported in a paper released online February 5 in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Among the random sample of 17 patients who received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at the beginning and end of the programme, 12 had either no atrophy during the study or some growth in brain volume in their hippocampus, the region responsible for memory.

“You can choose a lifestyle that promotes rapid brain atrophy and dementia or one that accelerates brain growth and vitality,” said lead study author Dr Majid Fotuhi, a researcher at NeuroGrow Brain Fitness Centre in McLean, Virginia, and at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

“You need to decide if you can make choices that will rejuvenate your brain on a daily basis,” Fotuhi added by e-mail.

Fotuhi and colleagues tested their brain fitness programme in a group of elderly patients who were 71 years old on average.

At the start of the programme, patients underwent standardised neurology evaluations to determine and address any potential medical causes for memory loss and cognitive impairment such as sleep apnoea, depression or vitamin B12 deficiency.

Every participant also underwent MRI and brain mapping at the start of the programme.

Then each week for the next three months, they all got two hours of cognitive skills training and neurofeedback therapy, which used sound and images to prompt the brain’s circuits to work and then to rest. They also had 1 hour a week of counselling and coaching on lifestyle changes that are linked to better brain health.

Overall, 84 per cent of patients had statistically significant improvements in at least three out of ten areas of cognitive function, while another 9 per cent had significant gains in at least two areas.

Among the subset of people who got follow-up MRIs at the end of the study, nine of seventeen patients had at least a 1 per cent expansion in the volume of the hippocampus, enough to dial back the brain’s age by several years and improve cognitive abilities.

Limitations of the study include the small size, the lack of randomisation or a control group, and the difficulty of determining which of the many interventions may have been the most beneficial to cognitive function in elderly patients, the authors note.

“It is not yet proven how such an approach stalled atrophy or encouraged regrowth as measured by an increased volume,” said Dr Dale Bredesen, founding president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and a researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, in an e-mail. Bredesen wasn’t involved in the study.

Many of the elements of the brain fitness programme may have benefits that go beyond memory or cognitive abilities, said Stephanie Peabody, a neuropsychologist at Harvard Medical School who wasn’t involved in the study.

“Brain health is inextricably tied to overall health; those without injury to the brain and/or thought or mood disorders live a healthier lifestyle, have fewer chronic diseases and remain healthier into older age,” Peabody said by e-mail. 

“Beyond this, those who optimise lifestyle behaviours including sleep, activity and nutrition are able to optimise almost all aspects of brain functioning.”

Faithful to the spirit of the quintessential affordable and accessible British sports car, Frontline Developments’ modern MG revival cars of the 1962-80 MGB transcend the mere nostalgia of a restoration. Instead, the Oxfordshire-based company’s offering are a natural extension and evolution — utilising modern components and technologies and a more focused approach — that realise the MGB’s full potential without losing its character. 

Based in Abingdon-on-Thames at the Benetton F1 team’s former facility since 1991, Frontline Developments showcases the small-scale British auto industry’s passion for detail, expert craftsmanship, talented engineering and knack for fluent, adept and nuanced chassis tuning. A holistic re-engineering endeavour, Frontline Developments’ MGs are offered in various states of tune, focus and evolution, including the range-topping soft-top Abingdon Edition Roadster featured.

Reborn and re-engineered

Part of Britain’s rich landscape of dedicated niche carmakers, Frontline Developments’ captures the MGB’s glamour with more powerful, refined, precise and reliable resurrections. Built new from ground up, Frontline Developments’ MGs use specifically tailored seam-sealed, rust-proofed CAD-designed 1965-spec British Motorsport Heritage shells. Suspension is, meanwhile, thoroughly redesigned and modernised for contemporary refinement and handling but true to the MGB’s character.

Riding on period-style 15-inch Dunlop alloy wheels shod with relatively slim, supple and feelsome 195/65R15 tyres, the Abingdon Edition also features highly effective high performance 4-piston calliper and ventilated discs front brakes, and 2-piston with solid discs at the rear. Modified engines and gearboxes are, meanwhile, sourced from Mazda, the company that revived the small affordable sports car as a reliable modern product in 1989.

Extensively upgraded from service in the Mazda MX-5, Frontline Developments’ most powerful MG Abingdon Edition is limited to just 25 cars and uses a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels. Modified with 50mm direct-to-head individual throttle bodies, billet crank and rods, forged pistons, solid lifters and Omex engine management, the Abingdon Edition develops 304BHP at 6800rpm and 241lb/ft at 5200rpm.

Razor-sharp responses

With supercar like power-to-weight owing to its prodigious engine and a featherweight 897kg mass, the Abingdon Edition’s performance is nothing short of scintillating. Putting its power down through a modified solid axle and limited-slip differential rear set-up, the Abingdon Edition develops phenomenal traction, and rockets off-the-line with little wheel spin, even on wet and damp roads and despite narrow tyres.

With razor-sharp responses to throttle input and urgently progressive delivery, one quickly learns to adapt to and finesse the immediacy of the Abingdon Edition’s throttle responses and short clutch travel. Pulling hard from low revs and effortless flexible as it digs deep in mid-range, the Abingdon Edition is, however, in its element as its eager and punchy naturally aspirated engine intensely builds towards top-end power and a stratospheric 7600rpm rev limit.

Scintillatingly swift at 3.8 seconds through the 0-97km/h benchmark, the Abingdon Edition can achieve 257km/h. Addictively charismatic, the Abingdon Edition’s induction and exhaust soundtrack is an intensely raspy and crackling medley of growls and wails, while a short-through 6-speed manual gearbox snicks though ratios with rewardingly firm weighing and rifle bolt concision.

Direct and agile

Not limited to pre-designated options, Frontline Developments MGs are bespoke, and tailored in minutia to become a reflection of their persona. Personalisation extends beyond materials, paint and specification, but even includes suspension set-up for intended use. Rides on sophisticated low unsprung mass aluminium independent front wishbone suspension, the Abingdon Edition also features a model-specific six-link rear live axle set-up for improved handling and ride.

Small, narrow, light, balanced, the Abingdon Edition is at its best briskly blasting through B-road and snaking switchbacks, where it proves agile, manoeuvrable, and thoroughly engaging. A rewarding, unpretentious and connected driver’s car, the Abingdon Edition steering is quick and direct, while turn-in is tidy and crisp. Taut through corners, its adjustable dampers keep it flat and poised through corners and settled on rebound.

With reassuring wet weather traction, long-legged and progressive delivery and a limited-slip rear differential distributing power where needed, the Abingdon edition is tidy, agile and intuitive sprinting through corners and onto a straight. The Abingdon Edition’s modified live axle rear suspension was more refined than expected over imperfect roads, while forgiving tyre profiles keep it supple and fluent.

Craft and tech

Built and crafted in a holistic manner with trim and paint at the same premises, the Abingdon Edition’s bespoke choice of personalisation begins with made-to-measure seats for ideal fit, comfort and support, and can be specified in left-hand drive. Exquisitely appointed inside with handcrafted leathers, metal accents, rotary dials, toggle switches and pushbutton starter, the Abingdon Edition extensively features chrome, Alcantara and high-quality Connolly leather.

Sitting in low comfortably padded and supportive seats with easy reach of all controls in the Abingdon Edition’s classy and cosy cabin, one has a distinct feeling of control. Meanwhile, a manual fold-down soft-top allows one to better enjoy its seductive soundtrack and provides excellent visibility when driving al fresco.

Timelessly classy inside and out the Abingdon Edition features extensive period-correct attention to detail, in addition to discretely incorporating modern features and technology including electric windows, remote central locking. Such features include 1960s-style Smiths instrumentation with digital internals, classic-style JL Audio stereo with USB and Bluetooth connectivity and Chrystal headlights. Other options include air conditioning, heated seats and integrated satellite navigation.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2.5-litre, aluminium in-line 4 cylinders

Compression ratio: 12.5:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, individual 50mm throttle bodies

Gearbox: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive, limited-slip differential

Final drive: 3.9:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 304 (308) [226] @6800rpm

Power-to-weight ratio: 339BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 241 (326) @5200rpm

Torque-to-weight ratio: 363.4Nm/tonne

0-97km/h: 3.8 seconds

Top speed: 257km/h

Rev limit: 7600rpm

Fuel capacity: 54 litres

Wheelbase: 2312mm

Track, F/R: 1240/1410mm

Kerb weight: 897kg

Suspension, F/R: Wishbones, coil springs / six-link live axle

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs / discs

Brake callipers, F/R: 4-/2-piston

Tyres: 195/65R15

Price, UK: Starting from £79,900

WASHINGTON  — US government regulators and the auto industry are taking a more lenient approach than safety advocates like when it comes to phasing in automatic braking systems for passenger cars, according to records of their private negotiations.

The technology automatically applies brakes to prevent or mitigate collisions, rather than waiting for the driver to act. It’s the most important safety technology available today that’s not already required in cars.

Such systems should be standard in all new cars, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). But instead of mandating it, the government is trying to work out a voluntary agreement with automakers in hopes of getting it in cars more quickly.

But safety advocates say voluntary agreements aren’t enforceable and are likely to contain weaker standards and longer timelines than if the government had issued rules.

There are about 1.7 million rear-end crashes a year in the US, killing more than 200 people, injuring 400,000 others and costing about $47 billion annually. More than half of those crashes could be avoided or mitigated by automatic braking or systems that warn drivers of an impending collision, NHTSA estimated.

“Consumers are going to come up the losers in this process,” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Centre for Auto Safety.

Meeting minutes obtained by The Associated Press of four of the meetings that NHTSA has held with automakers since October show the government is considering significant concessions.

Records of a meeting on November 12, show that automatic braking systems would be allowed that slow vehicles by as little as 8kph before a collision. Manufacturers would be allowed to exempt 5 per cent of their vehicles from the standard. Some automakers had said it would take longer to ready manual transmission vehicles for the technology. The discussion included an additional exemption for models that manufacturers intend to phase out or redesign.

The minutes from the fourth session, on December 9, indicate that some automakers say they won’t be ready to include the technology in 95 per cent of their vehicles until model year that begins in September 2025. NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety objected, saying such a long timeline “was too late for this effort to be seen as a serious effort”. Automakers are now being polled to see if they can equip 95 per cent of their vehicles by the model year beginning in September 2022.

The agency is required by law to provide meeting minutes of such negotiations and to make them public. NHTSA provided minutes of three of the meetings to the AP; the fourth was obtained from safety advocates.

“This is what happens when you start negotiating with the auto industry,” said Joan Claybrook, a safety advocate and NHTSA’s administrator during the Carter administration. “They want to negotiate this out and they want to negotiate that out,” and establish a deadline driven by their production schedules rather than safety considerations

Besides NHTSA, meeting participants included 16 automakers, two auto industry trade groups and the insurance institute, the insurance industry’s safety research arm. Representatives from Transport Canada, the Canadian government’s auto safety regulator, also attended.

Mark Rosekind, administrator of NHTSA, has said the federal rule-making process is so cumbersome and time-consuming that a voluntary agreement is likely to get the technology into all cars faster. He said regulations remain an option.

The Association of Global Automakers, which has taken the lead for the industry on the issue, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

“Regulations can be too rigid when technology like this is changing quickly,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for insurance institute. “A complicated regulation could make it more difficult for the automakers and their suppliers to continue to develop the systems.”

Automatic braking is already available in dozens of car models, but typically as a pricey option on higher-end vehicles. Subaru offers it on the Impreza sedan, for example, as part of a $2,895 safety package.

WASHINGTON/DETROIT — US vehicle safety regulators have said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step towards ultimately winning approval for autonomous vehicles on the roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., of its decision in a previously unreported February 4 letter to the company posted on the agency’s website this week.

Google’s self-driving car unit on November 12 submitted a proposed design for a self-driving car that has “no need for a human driver”, the letter to Google from NHTSA chief counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh said.

“NHTSA will interpret ‘driver’ in the context of Google’s described motor vehicle design as referring to the [self-driving system], and not to any of the vehicle occupants,” the letter said.

“We agree with Google its [self-driving car] will not have a ‘driver’ in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than 100 years.”

Major automakers and technology companies such as Google are racing to develop and sell vehicles that can drive themselves at least part of the time.

All participants in the autonomous driving race complain that state and federal safety rules are impeding testing and eventual deployment of such vehicles. California has proposed draft rules requiring steering wheels and a licensed driver in all self-driving cars.

Karl Brauer, senior analyst for the Kelley Blue Book automotive research firm, said there were still significant legal questions surrounding autonomous vehicles.

But if “NHTSA is prepared to name artificial intelligence as a viable alternative to human-controlled vehicles, it could substantially streamline the process of putting autonomous vehicles on the road”, he said.

If the car’s computer is the driver for legal purposes, then it clears the way for Google or automakers to design vehicle systems that communicate directly with the vehicle’s artificial pilot.

In its response to Google, the federal agency offered its most comprehensive map yet of the legal obstacles to putting fully autonomous vehicles on the road. It noted existing regulations requiring some auto safety equipment cannot be waived immediately, including requirements for braking systems activated by foot control.

“The next question is whether and how Google could certify that the [self-driving system] meets a standard developed and designed to apply to a vehicle with a human driver,” NHTSA said.

Google is “still evaluating” NHTSA’s lengthy response, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday. Google executives have said they would likely partner with established automakers to build self-driving cars.

Worries about people undermining safety

Google told NHTSA that the real danger is having auto safety features that could tempt humans to try to take control.

Google “expresses concern that providing human occupants of the vehicle with mechanisms to control things like steering, acceleration, braking... could be detrimental to safety because the human occupants could attempt to override the [self-driving system’s] decisions,” the NHTSA letter stated.

Hemmersbaugh said federal regulations requiring equipment like steering wheels and brake pedals would have to be formally rewritten before Google could offer cars without those features.

For example, current federal rules require alerts on dashboards if tyre pressure runs low. NHTSA said a test would need to be created that shows the vehicle computer is informed of the problem. NHTSA raised the question of whether humans in the vehicles should also be made aware.

In January, NHTSA said it may waive some vehicle safety rules to allow more driverless cars to operate on US roads as part of a broader effort to speed up development of self-driving vehicles.

NHTSA said then it would write guidelines for self-driving cars within six months. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the administration may seek new legal authority to allow deployment of autonomous vehicles “in large numbers”, when they are deemed safe, the department said.

The process of rewriting federal regulations governing the design, placement and operation of vehicle controls could take months or years. 

MIAMI — Don’t want to fight traffic, travelling for work, can’t afford a $30 barre class? Those excuses for missing your workout no longer fly thanks to a host of new fitness apps and online subscriptions.

There’s a website for your every cardio craving from Pilates to boot camp, some taught by celeb trainers that you likely could never book in person. Bonus: Many of the sites are free or cost far less than a monthly gym fee.

Want it gym-style

Crunch Live includes many of the workouts that earned the brand a devoted following and have been retired from their brick and mortar gyms. Thankfully fans of gospel house aerobics and urban attitude dance classes can get their sweat on in these online classes for $9.99 a month. They also offer more than 75 classes including barre, yoga and strength training, in addition to their killer cardio. And yes, their popular belly, but and thigh boot camp and ab attack are in there too.

LiveStreaming Fitness offers live workouts and even live cooking classes for about $10 a month, including everything from yoga to kickboxing to workouts performed at your desk. If you can’t make a live class, the subscription includes a catalogue of healthy recipes to revamp your takeout night and an extensive collection of classes.

EMG Live Fitness focuses on specialty workouts like piloxing (that’s Pilates and boxing), plyojam, bosu ball, Yollet (yoga and ballet) for just $2 a class or $20 a month for unlimited classes. The handy two-minute clip gives you a preview before you buy. Choose from about 20 different workout styles, with tonnes of classes under each category plus options to join a live class or stream one on-demand.

If you love barre and yoga

At roughly $10 a month, Barre3, inspired by ballet, yoga and Pilates, offers the choice of 200 online classes. Each workout tells what body parts you’re targeting and whether you’ll need equipment like a chair, resistance bands or small weights, and offers a short preview.

With 3,000 online classes that include everything from Hatha to Ashtanga, YogaGlo has something for first timers and advanced yogis. Choose from sessions based on time and difficulty rating. You can also choose whether you want a class just for the sweat factor or one that is more meditative for $18 a month. There’s even a collection of classes that focus on cultivating your intuition, rebooting your brain and releasing stress at work.

Want to follow the popular kids

Sweat with Kayla has amassed legions of loyal #BBG girls (that’s bikini body guide) posting photo results and encouraging each other through the gruelling 28-minute sessions that include cardio and strength training. The 24-year-old Australian trainer, who recently launched her $20-a-month app based on the 12-week Bikini Body Guide, is known for her inspiring Instagram pics and some killer squat, lung, box jump sequences.

Daily Burn — $12.95 a month — includes every workout style imaginable (from kettlebells to yoga to interval training) for every fitness level with series that will challenge even the most hardcore athletes. Celeb trainer Bob Harper’s subscription also includes a meal plan with daily recipes.

The popular 7-minute workout challenge is basic but gets the job done with 12 exercises performed for 30 seconds with 10 seconds rest. The $3 app is based on workouts that promote exercising for shorter, more intense bursts to achieve better results. The moves are broken down with video, audio and text explanations and include fun features to unlock rewards when you reach your goals.

Want it for free

Fitness Blender includes everything from high intensity and fat loss workouts to stretching and low-impact days. They even break it down for you with a handy difficulty rating and estimated number of calories you’ll burn. Fitness Blender also has built-in water breaks and a countdown clock so you know exactly how many more seconds of gruelling tricep dip kicks you’ll have to endure.

BeFit lets you work out with some of the biggest celebrity trainers for free. The YouTube channel features workouts by Jillian Michaels and Denise Austin to yogis like Kino MacGregor and Tara Stiles with tonnes of different exercises to get you bikini ready. BeFit also has a free mobile series with circuit workouts you perfect for when you’re on the go.

Want to train like a celebrity

Gwyneth Paltrow liked the results so much she went into business with her trainer Tracy Anderson. Her $90-a-month subscription allows you to work out with Anderson during a live weekly class along with a breakdown of the moves from a senior trainer plus a dance cardio session and a beginner class, which are all updated weekly.

Kelly Ripa has made no secret of her obsession with Anna Kaiser’s dance cardio workouts. Kaiser’s $50-a-month streaming series offers 10-minute targeted workouts that can be pieced together to fit your needs using everything from weights, resistance bands and physio balls.

If you want to be part of Taylor Swift’s tribe, Ballet Beautiful is a good place to start. Creator and former New York City Ballet dancer Mary Helen Bowers offers a $40 monthly subscription which includes over 100 workouts or the chance to stream classes, like the ultimate supermodel workout, at your leisure starting at $8 each.

Men over 65 who had their testosterone levels reset to those of much younger men didn’t walk any faster. But they had more spring in their step, better erections and a keener interest in sex than men who didn’t get testosterone supplements.

This set of trials, underwritten by the National Institute on Aging and several other national institutes, also found no increased risk of stroke or heart attack in those taking testosterone. At the same time, however, the study’s authors acknowledged that these trials could not have detected anything short of a major jump in cardiovascular events.

In a trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers compared the mood, physical vitality and sexual vigour of older men who got testosterone supplementation for a year with those of their peers who did not. All the men started the trials with testosterone levels of 275ng per decilitres — levels that were pretty low for men over 65 (only about one in five men screened for inclusion in the trial qualified) and “unequivocally low” compared to levels typically seen in healthy young men.

The idea of the Testosterone Trials was to gauge whether men whose testosterone levels are “low for no apparent reason other than age” will benefit by having those levels boosted pharmaceutically. The benefits they found were most apparent in the realm of sexuality, and either modest or not evident on broader measures of health and functioning.

For a year, men in three groups had their testosterone levels boosted to levels typical of a man 19 to 40 years old, using a product called AndroGel (whose maker, AbbVie, provided study funding and donated product, as well as consulting fees to four of the study’s 33 authors). A fourth group got a placebo product, and served as a comparison group for the testosterone-supplemented men on sexual function, vitality and physical well-being.

Men whose testosterone rose most saw the greatest increases in sexual interest and performance, as measured by a daily questionnaire about psychosexual health.

After three months of getting testosterone, the men in the trial’s sexual function arm reported a roughly 60 per cent jump in their sexual activity. That level stayed at more than 50 per cent above their baseline levels until roughly month nine, at which point the increase in sexual activity over baseline slumped to about 20 per cent.

On other measures, compared to men getting the placebo product, those who got the testosterone supplement reported increased sexual desire and better erectile function.

Men who got testosterone showed no less evidence of fatigue. But they scored slightly higher than men who got a placebo on a questionnaire measuring their sense of vitality, and reported slightly lower depression symptoms. And at the end of the trial, men who got testosterone were more likely than men who didn’t to report their energy was better.

The effects of testosterone on men’s physical function were more mixed. In the subset of men who were specifically compared on physical function, testosterone didn’t perform any faster on a six-minute walking test. But by a broader measure that included a questionnaire about physical function, they did a little better.

When all the trial’s participants were tested on walking speed, however, more of those who got testosterone improved than did those who got a placebo. And despite evidence to the contrary, men on testosterone were more likely than those who got a placebo to perceive that their walking had improved.

In addition to the National Institute on Aging’s support, the Testosterone Trials were also funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

PARIS — Organic milk and meat contain about 50 per cent more beneficial omega-3 fatty acids than conventionally produced equivalents, according to a pair of recently published large-scale studies.

Previous research has linked omega-3 with reduced rates of cardiovascular disease, improved neurological development, and better immune function.

A team of two-dozen researchers led by Carlo Leifert, a professor at Newcastle University in England, combed through nearly 200 peer-reviewed studies on milk, and 67 on meat.

They found clear differences between organic and non-organic products, especially when it came to omega-3.

“Western European diets are recognised as being too low in these fatty acids, and the European Food Safety Authority recommends we should double our intake,” said co-author Chris Seal, also from Newcastle University.

“Our study suggests that switching to organic would go some way towards improving intakes of these important nutrients.” 

Half a litre of organic, full-fat milk or its equivalent in other dairy products, for example, was found to provide 16 per cent of the recommended daily dose of so-called long chain omega-3, while conventional milk provides 11 per cent.

There are no additional calories in equivalent organic dairy or meat products.

Most people choose organic products for one or more of three reasons: animal welfare, the environment, and health.

“But much less is known about impacts on nutritional quality,” Leifert said in a statement.

Scientists not involved in the research suggested that the health gains identified were minimal.

They also pointed out that the higher omega-3 levels were not directly related to the fact that the products were organic.

“It is the choice of feed, not the organic farming method, which makes the difference,” said Ian Givens of the University of Reading. Organic animals are generally grass-fed.

Modest gains in omega-3 from going organic must also be weighed against the potentially negative impact of saturated and trans fats also found in dairy and meat, others pointed out.

“Oily fish and eggs are more important sources of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids,” said Tom Sanders, a emeritus professor at King’s College London.

In addition, organic foods also have less iodine, an essential element found in seafood but missing in most other foods. Conventional dairy products have more because it is added to cattle feed.

Iodine is especially important for pregnant women, which means that a “switch to organic milk may exacerbate this deficiency unless consumers include other sources of iodine in their diet”, cautioned Margaret Rayman, a professor of nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey.

Nutrition experts disagree on the extent to which organic foods confer health advantages.