Features

AMMAN — In his exhibition, “Another Place”, Palestinian artist Ibrahim Jawabreh deftly walks a fine line between innocence and ominousness.

With the recurring, seemingly childlike drawings of little happy children, his acrylic paintings on canvas are an authentic attempt to recapture lost innocence and simplicity.

Although they may appear to the untrained eye as crude, over-simplistic pieces, each artwork speaks of the painstaking details put into it — from the layered backgrounds, the subtle differences between each “character” and their simple clothes, to the symbolism of the recurrent motifs of pets and saplings, which speak of home and family.

Images of these smiling figures crowd Jawabreh’s works — sometimes overwhelmingly — as they hold their saplings and munch on their watermelon slices. 

Their smiles are almost too good to be true, but the bright colours surrounding them and the familial atmosphere they exude dispel such impressions at first.

However, the artist breaks the “happy tone” with several pieces that veer towards the ominous.

In one piece, he replaces the bright colours with a negative polaroid-like effect that — despite the smiling faces — imparts a sense of foreboding from the child-like figures.

Another piece completely obscures the smiling, friendly faces with threads of black paint, in perhaps an expression of the loss of innocence.

Bits and pieces of the bright colours can just barely be discerned beneath the black web, mirroring the difficulty of retrieving childhood memories after the pains of adulthood.

“I’m the clown,” the artist writes. “I paint little children. Colour their faces with my salty tears. And when I’m done, I feel sad for the kids I’ve killed looking in the mirror.”

Viewers find themselves questioning the smiles and bright colours in the other paintings before them. Could they be nothing but a façade? Are they attempts to hark back to better times to escape a bleak reality?

“The wound was soft when I created them,” the artist writes in Arabic, adding that “the severity of pain” made him “forget [his] head at their feet” and die.

It is up to the viewer to take these smiles at face value, or question them and probe the paintings for answers.

Jawabreh’s heritage subtly seeps into his work: in the designs on the dresses worn by the children, in their attachment to the saplings that connect them to their land and in the sense of longing for home and family.

But the art speaks for itself rather than taking the questions of displacement and occupation head-on.

By committing to a consistent style that deceives with its simplicity and simultaneously prompts deep questions, the artist catches one off guard and captures the innocent, yet paradoxically deep curiosity of children. 

The artworks are on display at Wadi Finan Art Gallery until December 31.

Winner of the 2015 Middle East Car of the Year Award, the latest generation of Ford’s attainable icon, the new Mustang is the most advanced, efficient, refined and sportiest yet. Brimming with feel-good charm, from distinctive acoustics to evocatively evolutionary design, the viscerally charged new Mustang’s biggest changes are under its skin.

The first Mustang factory-fitted with independent rear suspension and first powered by a four-cylinder engine since 1978-87, the new model is aimed at US and global markets, including Europe for the first time. Slotting in between 3.7-litre V6 and 5-litre V8 versions, the new turbocharged Mustang 2.3-litre EcoBoost driven is muscularly efficient, and boasts power comparable to 2005-09 4.6-litre V8 predecessors.

Nostalgic yet contemporary

Arriving to coincide with the classic nameplate’s 50th anniversary, the all-new Mustang features a more contemporary interpretation of the original American muscle car. Not deviating far from predecessors’ hallmark long bonnet, fastback roofline, recessed headlights, vertical tri-bar rear lights, the new Mustang, however, has a moodier more urgent demeanour and viscerally athletic posture, and LED lighting elements. 

Harmoniously retaining classic design cues but seamlessly integrated with Ford’s current family design themes, the new Mustang is influenced by the 2011 Evos concept’s wide hexagonal grille and deep-set, squinting and heavily bowed headlights. And with long, high bonnet with distinctive dual centre scallops, it looks snoutier and more aggressive, with a palpably sense of dynamic urgency.

Wider and with more prominent profile curves, pinched hips, more sculpted surfacing and ridges, and better integrated more flowing fastback and rear deck, the new Mustang projects more power, presence and prestige. Nostalgic yet contemporary it features circular vents, meaty three-spoke steering wheel, big round dials, four-gang gated driving mode toggle switches and plenty of chrome-effect trim inside.

A small brute

Inevitable, welcome and necessary for contemporary customer and legislative efficiency considerations, the Mustang 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost is especially relevant in Europe and markets like Jordan. A high output and efficiency unit, the four-pot EcoBoost develops 310BHP at 5500rpm and generous 320lb/ft torque throughout a broad and versatile 2500-4500rpm band for effortless overtaking, it can also return frugal 8l/100km fuel efficiency.

Dispatching 0-100km/h in a swift 5.8 seconds and capable of 240km/h at full tilt, the Mustang 2.3 EcoBoost is a compact brute with quick-spooling turbo, that all but eliminates low-end turbo lag and pulls meaningfully and smoothly from tick-over. Underwritten by generously broad torque peak, power wells to its 5500rpm peak, before an up-shift again summons the Mustang’s brawny and versatile mid-range. 

Designed to perform like a V6 engine, the EcoBoost is however at its best when riding its rich, muscular and generously flat peak torque band, where it noticeably hardens by 2500rpm and feels like a previous generation V8. Such an impression is aided by somewhat low-revving characteristics and gurgling and growling intake acoustics piped through the cabin for dramatic effect.

Committed and charismatic

Despite small pockets of archaic-minded naysayers among the muscle car faithful — the new Mustang’s adoption of more sophisticated rear independent — rather than live axle — suspension is welcome and modernising change. With independent rear integral-link suspension and improved body rigidity for better suspension and steering precision, the new Mustang delivers noticeably enhanced handling, ride and cabin refinement.

Smoother, more settled and comfortable than predecessors, the new Mustang’s independent rear wheel travel provides fluency over imperfections and settled, buttoned down rebound control over crests and dips. Firm but forgiving the Mustang’s 255/40R19 tyres generate high grip levels on turn-in and through corners. Slightly stiff over sharp sudden speed bumps the Mustang nonetheless comfortably smooth, with taut body control through corners. 

Tidy turning-in the Mustang’s steering features adjustable weighting. Stability control and engine throttle gearbox responses can also be tailored for sporty driving or comfort. Well-balanced with intuitive on throttle adjustability, the Mustang’s handling is agile and after settling into a corner, is highly committed throughout. With wide track, rear wheels tenaciously dig in as one reapplies the throttle to blast onto a straight.

Visceral and visible

Stable at speed, the Mustang rides with heavy and firmly planted feel, while sat hunkered down, its long bonnet features dual scallops to help place it on road and create a muscle car ambiance. Ergonomic and accessible, with well-adjustable driving position, the Mustang’s well-padded front seats comfortably accommodate larger taller occupants, but stiffer side bolstering would help match its high lateral grip. 

Airier and with better visibility than chief rivals, the Mustang’s generous 385-litre boot and useably-sized — if not hugely spacious — rear seats prove usefully practical for a 2-door sports coupe. Using mostly good quality plastics and soft textures, its cabin feels more up-market, and with Premium guise, as tested, features heated and cooled seats, dual-zone climate control, ambient lighting and 50 Years Anniversary decals

Well-equipped, the Mustang EcoBoost features an intuitive Sync infotainment system with voice-activated connectivity, 8-inch touchscreen and 9 speakers. Safety kit includes eight airbags, childseat latches and optional driver assistance systems including adaptive cruise control and blindspot and cross traffic assists. An optional performance package with limited-slip rear differential, stiffer anti-roll bars and firmer damping provides enhanced cornering ability, agility and control over mid-corner road imperfections.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2.3-litre, all-aluminium, turbocharged, in-line 4 cylinders

Bore x stroke: 87.55 x 94mm

Compression ratio: 9.5:1

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

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

Gear ratios: 1st 4.17:1; 2nd 2.34:1; 3rd 1.52:1; 4th 1.14:1; 5th 0.87:1; 6th 0.69:1

Final drive ratio: 3.15:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 310 (314) [231] @5500rpm

Specific power: 137.1BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 194BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 320 (434) @2500-4500rpm

Specific torque: 170.1Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 191.9Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 5.8 seconds (est.)

Top speed: 240km/h (est.)

Fuel consumption: 8l/100km

CO2 emissions: 179g/km

Length: 4782mm

Width: 1915mm

Height: 1381mm

Wheelbase: 2720mm

Track, F/R: 1582/1648mm 

Aerodynamic drag co-efficient: 0.328

Headroom, F/R: 955/883mm

Legroom, F/R: 1130/777mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1430/1325mm

Luggage volume: 382 litres

Fuel capacity: 60 litres

Kerb weight: 1598kg

Weight distribution, F/R: 52 per cent/48 per cent

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning circle: 11.5 metres

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson Struts/integral link, anti-roll bars

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 320mm/discs, 320mm

Brake callipers, F/R: Twin/single

Tyres: 255/40R19

OSLO — Men have often argued that they are the superior sex when it comes to sense of direction, and many previous studies have backed them up. 

Now a new study has not only provided evidence to support previous research but has also shown that the male sex hormone testosterone could be the reason why men are indeed better at navigating.

Wanting to explore if the reason behind a better sense of direction was due to sex hormones or cultural conditioning, or perhaps something else, a team of researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology  first asked a group of 18 male and 18 female participants to find their way around a virtual maze using 3D goggles and a joystick. 

The participants were given navigational tasks to complete from different starting points while in the maze, such as “find the yellow car”. During the task the researchers continuously recorded images of participants’ brains using an MRI scanner to monitor brain activity.

The results showed that men performed better than women, solving 50 per cent more of the tasks by taking more short cuts and using cardinal directions, the points of North, East, South and West, to orient themselves. The women used a different strategy, often using a route to get to their destination, rather than cardinal directions

The study’s author, Carl Pintzka, concluded that “Men’s sense of direction was more effective. They quite simply got to their destination faster.”

In the next step of Pintzka’s research, a different group of 42 female participants was split into two groups. Twenty-one received a drop of testosterone on the tongue before taking part in the task, and 21 received a placebo. Many of the women who had received the testosterone performed better than the ones who had not. Although they were unable to solve more tasks, they were better able to use cardinal directions, like the men in the earlier study.

The research also showed that men and women use different areas of their brain when navigating, with men using the hippocampus — the area of the brain need to use cardinal directions — more than women.

As losing one’s sense of direction is one of the first symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease, Pintzka hopes his studies could help researchers to better understand the development of the disease, and — as twice as many women as men are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s — how it could possibly be related to the sex hormones.

Today’s artificial intelligence may not be that clever, but it just got much quicker on the uptake. A learning programme designed by a trio of researchers can now recognise and draw handwritten characters after seeing them only a few times, just as a human can. And can do it so well that people can’t tell the difference.

The findings, published in the journal Science, represent a major step forward in developing more powerful computer programmes that learn in the ways that humans do.

“For the first time, we think we have a machine system that can learn a large class of visual concepts in ways that are hard to distinguish from human learners,” study coauthor Joshua Tenenbaum from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in a news briefing.

Although computers are excellent at storing and processing data (your calculator is probably much faster than you at, say, finding the square root of a large number), they’re less-than-stellar students. Your average 3-year-old could pick up basic concepts faster than the most sophisticated programme.

“You show even a young child a horse or a school bus or a skateboard, and they get it from one example,” Tenenbaum said. “If you forget what it’s like to be a child, think about the first time you saw, say, a Segway, one of those personal transportation devices, or a smartphone or a laptop. You just needed to see one example and you could then recognise those things from different angles under different lighting conditions, often barely visible in complex scenes with many other objects.”

In short, he said, “you can generalise.”

And while current “deep learning” approaches have resulted in major advances in technologies like facial and speech recognition, they often still require hundreds, even thousands of examples before they can recognise the shared qualities that allow for such a generalisation.

But there’s something else humans can do with just a little exposure — they can break an object down into its key components and dream up something new. For example, if you saw a motorcycle (two-wheeled motorised vehicle) and a unicycle (one-wheeled human-powered vehicle), you might be able to imagine a one-wheeled motorcycle, a combination of each vehicle’s conceptual “parts”.

“To scientists like me who study the mind, the gap between machine-learning and human-learning capacities remains vast,” Tenenbaum said. “We want to close that gap, and that’s our long-term goal.”

Now, Tenenbaum and his colleagues have managed to build a different kind of machine learning algorithm — one that, like humans, can learn a simple concept from very few examples and can even apply it in novel ways. The researchers tested the model on human handwriting, which can vary sharply from person to person, even when each produces the exact same character.

“Handwritten characters are well suited for comparing human and machine learning on a relatively even footing: They are both cognitively natural and often used as a benchmark for comparing learning algorithms,” the authors wrote.

The scientists built an algorithm with an approach called Bayesian programme learning, or BPL, a probability-based programme that is resilient to a certain amount of deviation. This algorithm is actually able to build concepts as it goes, essentially building bits of its own programming as it goes.

In a set of experiments, the scientists tested the programme using many examples of 1,623 handwritten characters from 50 different writing systems from around the world, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, Gujarati and Glagolitic (an ancient Slavic alphabet).

In a one-shot classification challenge, the scientists showed humans and the computer programme a single image of a new character, and then asked them to pick another example of that same character in a set of 20. People were quite good at this, with an average error rate of 4.5 per cent. But BPL slightly edged them out, with a comparable error rate of 3.3 per cent. Two different programmes based on deep-learning methods fared far worse than either people or BPL, with a 13.5 per cent and 34.8 per cent error rate.

The scientists also challenged the programme and some human participants to draw new versions of various characters they presented. They then had human judges take a look at the human-produced and algorithm-produced sets, and try to determine which ones were made by man and which were made by machine. This was a kind of visual Turing test — a method devised by renowned 20th century computer scientist Alan Turing to test a machine’s ability to demonstrate intelligent behaviour that can’t be distinguished from a human’s.

As it turned out, the humans were barely as good as chance at figuring out which set of characters was machine-produced and which was created by humans. And in another experiment, in which the scientists asked both human and machine subjects to create a brand-new character for a given writing system, the humans also found it difficult to distinguish the two. In short, the algorithm appears to have passed a basic Turing test.

The findings could be used to improve a variety of technologies in the near term, including for other symbol-based systems such as gestures, dance moves and spoken and signed language. But the research could also shed fresh light on how learning happens in young humans, the scientists pointed out.

“Although our work focused on adult learners, it raises natural developmental questions,” the study authors wrote. “If children learning to write acquire an inductive bias similar to what BPL constructs, the model could help explain why children find some characters difficult and which teaching procedures are most effective.”

Relationships That Work

Adam Saenz and Jeremy Dew

New York and London: Routledge, 2016

Pp. 131

Combining personal and professional experience with psychological and educational research, psychologist Adam Saenz and counsellor Jeremy Dew argue that human relationships are the key factor in the teaching and learning process. Knowing that “life’s greatest reward, life’s greatest treasure, is to be connected to another human being,” they view relationships as resources — more valuable than money, education or physical ability in creating people’s success and well-being. (p. 15) 

“Relational skills — and not just knowledge of specific academic content — are relevant to our students’ capacity to make a meaningful and favourable difference in their future world.” (p. 23)

Since educators are primary role models for relational skills, the authors invite teachers to look inside themselves, and reflect on their attitudes and practices for the sake of their students’ and their own well-being. 

The book opens with Saenz recounting how his emotionally and socioeconomically

impoverished background was leading him into criminality, and how he was turned around by caring teachers. Like in Her Majesty Queen Rania’s address to the Teacher Skills Forum last week, teachers are at the centre of his narrative: “Education did not change my life; educators changed my life.” (p. 17)

“Relationships That Work” elaborates four main questions that are essential to relationship-building, whether with students, colleagues or parents. While educators may understand the importance of relationships, the question is how — especially how to connect to students who are very different from them. 

The first question is “Why am I here… doing what I do?” This requires reflection on the part of teachers as to whether their core values are in line with their work — or is teaching just a job for them? “The idea is that in linking our deepest values with what we do on a daily basis, we create access to a fuel source that is pure enough and vast enough to sustain us over the course of our life in our vocation.” (p. 39)

In the authors’ view, emotions are also fuel, and the second question is “How do I manage my emotions?” so that they can be energy fuelling healthy relationships, sometimes referred to as emotional intelligence. “Apart from academic content, teachers also teach social/emotional content by modelling for students appropriate ways to experience and express intense emotions, such as anger and anxiety.” (p. 68)

This is not about denying conflict or anger, but about recognising emotions and what triggers them, and learning that one can choose to express them in ways that build rather than erode relationships. 

The third question is “Can I Build a Bridge?” and concerns social relations, empathy and connecting to others. This chapter includes a checklist for assessing whether one is so task-oriented that it gets in the way of teamwork and building bridges. Like the chapter on emotions, the ability to build bridges is pivotal for classroom management and dealing with what the authors term “escalated” students. 

“Can I build a fence?” is the fourth question about protecting one’s time, space, energy and resources, protecting one’s self from abuse and maintaining respect. In the authors’ view, demarcating boundaries is just as important for maintaining healthy relationships as is bridge-building. 

The above summary is too schematic to give a real sense of the impact of “Relationships That Work”. In fact, it’s hard to imagine anyone reading this book without doing some soul-searching, reflecting on their own professional and personal life. That, of course, is the authors’ purpose. One can hardly remain detached when presented with real-life stories and dialogues revealing the authors’ own experience and how educators grapple with problems they encounter with students, colleagues, parents and themselves. 

There are examples of teachers who seem to instinctively know how to deal with “escalated” students, instances of those who burn out from work-related frustrations, and stories of others who learn to make changes so their work is more fulfilling. These examples are presented in such a vibrant and compelling way that one automatically thinks: Is this me? Could it be me?

This is not simply a manual proposing better teaching practices (though that should be an end result). It is more a challenge to consciously live a constructive and satisfying life, in which education is the primary focus, though the authors’ approach is also applicable to other fields, such as family relations, child rearing, therapy, caregiving and wherever interpersonal relationships are involved, which is virtually everywhere.

Because Saenz and Dew speak logically and persuasively to the heart and the mind, it is hard to avoid their challenge.

You already know that smoking is bad for you and that drinking too much alcohol may shorten your life. Now a new study says that spending too much time in a chair and depriving yourself of necessary sleep should join a short list of behaviours known to increase your risk of premature death.

Sedentary time and lack of sleep were damaging in their own right, but when combined with more traditional risk factors, they had a multiplier effect that made an early death far more likely.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, make clear that “some risk behaviours tend to cluster, particularly in certain patterns, and that the joint risk could be much higher than the sum of the individual risks,” the study authors wrote.

For instance, smoking was the most dangerous single risk factor among the six studied — the small number of people for whom smoking was their only vice were 90 per cent more likely to die during the course of the study than were people with practiced clean living across the board. People who reported high alcohol consumption — more than 14 alcoholic drinks per week — as their sole risk factor did not seem to be putting their lives in danger. But for those who combined heavy drinking with smoking, the risk of premature death was nearly tripled. And when lack of sleep was added to the mix, the odds of an early death were nearly five times greater — even though lack of sleep by itself had only a slight effect on mortality.

These numbers are based on the lives, and sometimes deaths, of 231,048 Australians from Sydney and rest of the state of New South Wales. They enrolled in the 45 and Up Study between 2006 and 2009, answering questions about their smoking history, eating and drinking habits, exercise routines, sedentary time and sleep duration. The study volunteers were tracked until the middle of 2014; during that time, 15,635 died.

When they joined the study, 7.2 per cent of the participants were smokers, 19.1 per cent were heavy drinkers, 17.2 per cent had a poor diet, 22.9 per cent got too little exercise, 25 per cent spent more than 7 hours sitting each day and 23.1 per cent got either too little or too much sleep. Nearly one-third (31.2 per cent) of the volunteers did not engage in any of these risk factors and 36.7 reported only one. However, 21.4 per cent of them admitted to two of these bad habits, 8.1 per cent admitted to three, 2.1 per cent reported four, 0.4 per cent had five and 0.04 per cent engaged in all six.

Except for heavy drinking, each of the six behaviours was associated with at least a slight increased risk of death during the study period, the researchers found. Smoking was the most dangerous, followed by lack of exercise.

After accounting for factors such as age, gender, education and other demographic factors, the researchers saw a clear pattern: The more deviations a person had from a clean lifestyle, the greater his or her risk of premature death. Compared to people with no risk factors, those with just one were 27 per cent more likely to die during the course of the study, and those with two had a 73 per cent increased risk of death. At the other end of the spectrum, people with five risk factors were 4.61 times more likely to die, and those with all six were 5.38 times more likely.

Some combinations were more deadly than others, the researchers found. Those who blended insufficient exercise with prolonged sitting were 2.42 times more likely to die during the study, and those who were also guilty of sleeping for too many hours were 4.23 times more likely die by the time the study ended.

 “These findings suggest there is a ‘synergistic effect’ among risk factors,” the study authors wrote.

The authors acknowledged that it was up to each volunteer to report on their smoking, sitting, sleeping and other behaviours, and some of them might have shaded the truth to impress the researchers. If so, the study results probably underestimate the true effects of the risk factors, they wrote.

The authors added that their results would be more meaningful if they tracked people’s risks behaviours over time, and if they could link those behaviours to heart disease or other specific causes of death. That information was not available when the analysis was done, they wrote.

Harvard University scientists are calling for “urgent action” after their federally funded study confirmed dangerous, lung-destroying chemicals are commonly found in the liquids used in electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices.

The study comes in the wake of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation in October that found high levels of diacetyl and a related chemical in locally made e-liquids and exposed inadequate testing that results in manufacturers claiming their products are diacetyl-free when sometimes they are not.

The Harvard study, which focused on the presence of diacetyl in e-cigarettes, is similar to one done a year ago by a Greek researcher. But it could have more impact, because it was funded by a division of the National Institutes of Health and comes as the US government weighs whether to regulate the increasingly popular products.

Harvard researchers found diacetyl in 39 of 51 samples tested, including menthol and other flavours not typically associated with the creamy, butter flavour for which diacetyl is known. The evaluation included all the flavours from three large cigarette companies, as well as selections from e-cigarette distributors and e-liquids in disposable cartridges.

The study also noted that two other flavouring chemicals — 2,3-pentanedione and acetoin — were prevalent in the samples. Studies have found 2,3-pentanedione, the chemical cousin of diacetyl, to be equally toxic when inhaled.

The chemicals destroy the lungs’ tiniest airways, leading to scar tissue build-up that blocks airflow. It can result in a permanent, sometimes fatal, lung condition known as bronchiolitis obliterans, perhaps best known for its links to injuries and deaths in microwave popcorn workers.

“Due to the associations between diacetyl, bronchiolitis obliterans and other severe respiratory diseases observed in workers, urgent action is recommended to further evaluate this potentially widespread exposure via flavoured e-cigarettes,” said the authors of the study, published this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

An earlier Journal Sentinel investigation found potentially dangerous levels of the chemical in coffee roasting facilities and exposed cases of lung disease in commercial coffee roasters and grinders. In the wake of that report, the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention posted a warning to coffee industry workers in September.

The number of young people using e-cigarettes tripled last year, according to data published in April by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly 2 million high schoolers — about 13 per cent — reported they had used an e-cigarette in the last 30 days, findings from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey show.

It’s the first time since 2011, when the survey started collecting data on e-cigarettes, that current use among youths has surpassed use of every other tobacco product, including conventional cigarettes, according to the CDC’s news release.

There are no requirements that manufacturers test their e-liquids, nor are there any standards to meet. What testing is done is driven largely by the desire of e-liquid makers to market the safety of their products.

Many vapers have turned to e-cigarettes to aid in their effort to stop smoking conventional ones, with nicotine a common ingredient in the products.

In October, several cases of lung problems tied to e-cigarette use emerged, including a 60-year-old Vermont man who suffered an acute lung injury and was diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis after vaping “red hot cinnamon” flavoured e-cigarettes. That case was documented in the journal CHEST.

Joseph G. Allen, the lead author of the Harvard study, stressed the importance of including flavours in the discussion surrounding potential risks and hazards of vaping. People using e-cigarettes as well as physicians need to be aware of diacetyl’s ties to serious lung disease, he said.

“It’s prudent that we act soon to regulate these e-cigarettes,” said Allen, assistant professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “[People] don’t know the risks associated with inhaling these chemicals. … We need to move more quickly.”

Following a failed attempt in 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year proposed new rules to regulate e-cigarettes. The rule-making process allows for stakeholders, including the public, to weigh in. The comment period ended in August 2014. Regulators received 135,000 remarks and are still sifting through them more than a year later.

Asked Wednesday about the results of the new study, an FDA spokesman said it provides more information on “the important questions being raised about the ingredients in e-cigarettes”.

“The FDA values research being conducted to help inform the agency on how best to protect the public, especially youth, from the death and disease caused by tobacco use,” said spokesman Michael Felberbaum. “The agency evaluates studies as part of a larger body of evidence aimed at assisting in our mission to protect public health and furthering our understanding on particular issues.”

Can you imagine, because hybrid cars present obvious advantages, not to have the option to buy a regular car today? Hybrids are great but are not yet an absolute must, at least not a legal obligation.

Similarly, can you imagine, because Cloud computing brings excellent functionality, not to have the choice to work locally on your computer but in the Cloud only?

Imposing their ideas by force, not giving you a choice, is what some players in the IT world are trying to do. 

Microsoft, otherwise known for some arm twisting tactics in the past has been very reasonable over the last few years and is giving consumers the option of working in the Cloud or locally, of shifting to Windows 10 or staying with Windows 7.

On the other hand an IT giant like Adobe, famous for its Photoshop software, among other excellent products, is now drastically limiting your choice to use its Suite that also includes Illustrator, Acrobat Pro, Premiere, Dreamweaver, and a few others. It seems like the only way is to get the company’s Cloud based products. 

This is what Adobe seems heading to with its Direct Cloud or Creative Cloud concept. In other words, you cannot buy a new Adobe license for a product that you would install and use on your computer independently of the Internet. Moreover what you pay for is not anymore a lifetime licence fee but a subscription and that has to be renewed on a yearly basis.

Whether the fees are too high or not remains debatable. On average it is about JD400 per product per year, but the company offers a global subscription for about JD900 per year and that gives the consumer the right to use all the company’s products. If you are an enterprise and need two or more of Adobe products (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, for example), you may find the deal acceptable. If you are a home or small office user and only need Photoshop, the deal becomes much less acceptable. The company stresses the fact that all licenses previously paid for earlier versions will be duly honoured and will remain valid for a lifetime.

I have spoken to several Adobe users in Jordan. They are more annoyed — to put it mildly — by the fact that they have no choice but to work with a Cloud-based Adobe module than they are hurt by the expensive yearly subscription system. Again, this is true for the newest versions.

Yes, Cloud computing is a trend. Yes, Cloud-based products present excellent functionally for the user and allow for a better control of software piracy from the supplier’s end. Yes, Adobe has the right to protect itself against pirates. However, all this doesn’t justify depriving the consumer from an otherwise viable option.

The fact that Photoshop — to name only this one — is a superb, truly superior photo processing product is undeniable. It is really one of the rare software products that do absolute wonders with your photos, that come with countless features and that are nearly perfect, if there has ever been anything such a perfect piece of software. To go back to the car-computer analogy, Photoshop is the Rolls-Royce of photo processing software.

With all the new constraints, however, a good number of users may be put off by the deal; especially that there are acceptable replacements and that come free. GIMP for example, does most of what Photoshop can do, at least for typical user, and comes legally free. Admitted the graphical user interface is not as nice as Photoshop’s and some of the very sophisticated functions are not available, but GIMP will satisfy more than 80 per cent of the population. Again, it is legally free to download and install.

In the end it’s about alternatives and choices and not about being for or against the Cloud, or not willing to pay software license fees. The more options you give consumers, the happier you will keep them.

AJDOVSCINA, Slovenia — Ultra-light, fast and cheap: more than a century after the Wright brothers flew the world’s first powered aircraft, a small Slovenian company now hopes to revolutionise the aviation industry with its award-winning electric planes.

Pipistrel’s pioneering Taurus Electro is seen as a breath of fresh air in a sector responsible for 13 per cent of CO2 emissions from all transport sources.

Launched in 2007, around 20 orders are now put in every year for the two-seater plane, which is produced in a factory in the town of Ajdovscina, close to the Italian border. 

The 110,000-euro ($120,770) price tag is offset by the plane’s inexpensive maintenance: at 70 cents an hour, the Taurus is 10 times cheaper to run than traditional twin-seater planes, according to Pipistrel.

Simplicity is key: you charge the battery, hop inside the cockpit and hit the “on” button to activate the fuselage’s propeller. 

The large-winged aircraft can thrust itself to an altitude of 2,000 metres, after which the engine is retracted and the Taurus glides across the sky as a sailplane.

“You have just two buttons, up and down and full power, but you can always switch off immediately when you need to slow down the aircraft,” explained pilot Nejc Faganelj, soaring high above the Slovenian countryside on a sunny winter’s day.

But behind the deceptively easy usage lies a highly complex design. The most crucial element — and biggest challenge — is the lithium battery, which needs to be light yet sturdy so that it doesn’t catch fire if it overheats.

“To copy a design from the car industry is not that difficult. But to make something that is lighter, more efficient — that is definitely something that has not been done before,” said Pipistrel engineer Jure Tomaciz.

Secret night flights

Now Pipistrel has even loftier ambitions: to sell the world’s first electric four-seater plane. 

Its Taurus G4 prototype — built by combining two twin-seaters — won NASA’s prestigious Green Flight Award in 2011, worth $1.35 million.

The plane covered 650 kilometres in the space of two hours with an average speed of 172 kilometres per hour. 

“The car industry, with all the money it has at its disposal, and practically no weight limitation, even today isn’t capable of producing an electric car that would take four passengers for 600 kilometres at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour,” Pipistrel’s founder, Ivo Boscarol told AFP.

“We did that with our electric plane,” he added proudly.

The son of a machine engineer turned test pilot, Boscarol has spent the last three decades developing and perfecting his low-carbon invention. 

When he built his first aircraft in the 1980s, he had to test-fly them in secret and only after dark — at the time piloting private planes was prohibited in Slovenia, then part of the former communist Yugoslavia.

The night flights, along with the aero-dynamic shape of the plane wings, inspired Boscarol to name his company after the pipistrelle bat.

Today, the Slovenian firm is a global market leader in the field of energy-efficient aviation travel, with Boscarol featuring on the 2015 list of news outlet Politico’s most influential Europeans.

“I’m sure the electric flight will become a standard. This aircraft will be able to cross the Atlantic, to fly faster, to carry more persons,” he said confidently. 

Hybrid is the future

However, large aircraft companies remain cautious, saying there’s still a long way to go before the technology can be used for heavy passenger planes.

“I don’t think we’ll see an entirely electric plane for another 50 years,” said Philippe Petitcolin whose Safran company supplies engines to Airbus planes.

Nevertheless, “in 20 or 30 years, we may be able to fly regional commuter jets with around 60 people onboard thanks to hybrid electric propulsion”, according to Airbus Group boss Tom Enders.

The corporate giant currently explores this vein with its E-Fan, a twin-seater plane powered by two 30-kilowatt electric motors.

The ultra-light aircraft aims to offer aero clubs an alternative to traditional planes, both noisier and more polluting.

But, there’s still a lot of room for improvement: the E-Fan currently only has a one-hour flight range.

Last summer it, however, managed to cross the English Channel, 106 years after Frenchman Louis Bleriot became the first person to make the journey in a heavier-than-air plane.

The E-Fan’s exploit shows what can be possible with “a future aviation based on more electric technologies”, according to Airbus.

Since early morning today, I have been trying to figure out whether I was a cougher or a sneezer. In all fairness I should be neither because I had recently subjected myself to a painful flu vaccine a few weeks ago, even before the weather turned. That should have given me ample immunity to tide over all kinds of influenza infections for the first couple of months, at the very least. 

But here I was, being woken up at the crack of dawn, by a fit of the most obnoxious body-wracking cough, followed with a fierce bout of sneezing. I mean, if there was a guarantee period to the resistance that a flu shot apparently supplied, I did not make it to the first trimester also. It did not make sense to me, not at all. 

However, with my head all woozy and nose blocked, I still tried to count my sneezes and coughs. At that unearthly hour, where the writers of horror stories excelled in making their characters face all sorts of evil demons, that was the best that I could do. I was a sound sleeper who could usually sleep through earthquakes and storms but when I was roused at midnight by my own coughing and sneezing, my imagination went on an immediate overdrive.

I began seeing brick shaped shadows instead of a tissue-box, and a lady in white instead of the window curtains. Incidentally, Bollywood was to blame for dressing all its female ghosts in a white flowing garment. Irrespective of the story angle, the colour code for all their fictitious ghost figures was white. Why so? I don’t know and typically they wore their long black hair loose and were filmed carrying a candle in their hands. That eerie sight was enough to scare the living daylights out of the bravest of us and I was not brave, not when I was sneezing or coughing. 

So I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and ducked my head under the quilt, but this action tickled my nostrils and I was rewarded by another monster sneeze. The throat, not to lag behind, quickly followed this up with some nasty sounding whooping coughs. The calculations in my mind went for a toss as I tried to grasp which one was getting an upper hand. Suddenly, it became very important to me to know under which category I was being placed. By now I was running a high fever and was hallucinating a bit too. The window curtain clad lady was advancing towards my tissue box at an alarming pace, balancing a lit candle with an orange flame, that was flickering in the wind. 

Coming to grips with the fear that was crippling me I attempted to include the lady to help me in my survey. Forty-nine sneezes versus fifty-one coughs, I croaked. A strange rasping sound emerged from my mouth. Trying to clear my throat resulted in another giant sneeze that almost extinguished the approaching candle-flame. 

“Whom are you talking to?” my husband asked suddenly. 

“The woman in white has turned into a man!” said the voice in my head. 

“Say something,” my spouse coaxed. 

“Fifty,” I managed to utter, and sneezed one more time. 

“What’s that?” he mumbled sleepily. 

“It’s a tie now,” I told him. 

“Which tie?” he was confused. 

“Sneezer/cougher one,” I sneezed again. 

“Go to sleep,” he stated.

“I’m a sneezer,” I exclaimed in triumph and dissolved into another fit of coughs.