Features

From a very early age I always looked forward to the turn of the year. As the twelve months of the Gregorian calendar complete their annual run, and the daily diary runs out of pages, it is time to usher in new beginnings.

January has a sense of freshness associated with it. It is named after Janus, the Roman god of the doorway. He is depicted with two faces, one peering at the past and the other looking into the future.

I was born in this month. Of course I had to share it with one of my siblings who appeared a few years before me, also in January. But since in a family of five, these were the only two birthdays in a common month, it was given exceptional status. My brother thought it was because of his glorious presence while I was convinced it was because of my angelic one. Our early childhood was spent in such a mutually disillusioned manner.

I am told that as a young infant I did not like to get my feet dirty. Even a tiny speck of dirt on the soles bothered me. And so after a fierce quarrel, if my shoes were flung at my brother accidentally, he still had to carry me. I would keep sitting on the chair or bed unless slippers were provided or else I demanded to be piggy backed.

Now that I think about it, my heart goes out to that young boy who carried his sulking sister on his bony shoulders. Also, he was the chief protector of my party frock. What is a party frock?

Well, when I was growing up, my sensible mother made me wear my older sibling’s hand-me-downs. Our school hours stretched through most part of the day where we were attired in a ghastly uniform. When we got back to the house, we were made to change into home clothes, which were identical for my brothers and me, consisting of shorts, faded t-shirts and an occasional sweater in winter months.

The only concession made for me, being a daughter, was the solitary party frock my mom stitched for me every few months. It had all the ruffles, frills, bows and sashes and looked like a fairy dress. My brothers and I would be filled with awe just looking at it. It would hang prominently in my cupboard among the other shabby clothes.

On very important occasions I would be fitted out in the party frock. I would be immediately asked to twirl round and round in it, in front of my family. My mother would issue strict instructions to my older brother who would be assigned the thankless task of protecting it from any spill, tear or ruin. So from dusting the chair I would sit on to tucking a napkin like a bib around my throat before I ate cake, my sibling would do it all.

I always wanted to ask him why he did not refuse. On my birthday I finally cornered him.

“How could you be so nice to me when we were children?” I asked, before blowing the candles on the cake.

“I am still nice to you, and please don’t get the icing on your dress,” my brother cautioned.

“Why not?” I countered?

“Ok, go ahead,” he said wrapping a protective serviette around my neck.

“Mum would be proud of you,” I smiled.

“I am proud of you,” he smiled back. 

LAS VEGAS — The robots are coming, and they're here to help.

Help clean your windows, teach children, or even provide entertainment or companionship.

This week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas highlights enormous growth in robotics in a range of fields.

Meet Bo and Yana, for example — they're cute robots that can fit in your hand and help teach youngsters about programming.

"It's all about programmable play," said Vikas Gupta, founder of California-based i-Play, which designed the toys.

The duo can play with each other, fight, display expressions with their single eye, or even hit notes on the xylophone.

"Music becomes a way for kids to be engaged," Gupta told AFP.

"We want kids to learn programming and not be bothered with cognitive overload."

The robots are designed for children as young as five, and are being launched this year in a crowdfunding effort, the former Google and Amazon executive said.

But play is just one of the many areas of robotics on display at the show, from simple one-task robots to clean a roof gutter or barbecue grill and others that can be a kind of companion to the elderly.

There are also so-called telepresence robots, including the Double Robotics device seen on TV shows such as NCIS Los Angeles.

The Double Robotics gadget includes an iPad attached to a wheeled device that allows a telecommuter to show "face time" in the office even when working remotely. The results, at least on television, can often provide comic relief.

The global market for consumer robots was $1.6 billion in 2012, dominated by the task and entertainment segments, according to ABI Research, but this is expected to grow to $6.5 billion in 2017 with security and telepresence becoming more significant.

ABI analyst Philip Solis said robotics is moving slower than segments like tablets and smartphones, and is dominated by single-task robots.

But the big news in this field, he said, is Google's acquisition of several robotics firms, which could help boost the artificial intelligence needed for multi-tasking robots.

A number of new, innovative robots are also being shown in Las Vegas.

From the Japanese firm AIST is an interactive robot called Paro — designed to look like a baby harp seal — to simulate animal therapy for people in hospitals and extended care facilities where live animals are banned.

Paro has five tactile, light, audition, temperature, and posture sensors, responds to being stroked and can respond to its name.

The French-based firm Keecker is displaying a robot that can project video or other content from a smartphone or tablet to a wall or ceiling.

This means "you can enjoy life without being tied to the television set," said Pierre Lebeau, Keecker's founder and chief executive.

The device runs on Android to allow users to draw from any of the available apps.

"You can put your kids to bed with the Milky Way, and allow them to wake up to a beautiful sunny sky," he said. "It helps people dream."

One of the crowd-pleasers is the "humanoid" Robo-Thespian from the British-based group Engineered Arts.

Thespian can make hand-gestures, and can deliver speeches — with a British accent.

To make it life-like, the robot has pneumatic actuators "so its movements are more fluid", said engineer Morgan Roe. "We try to avoid having it look robotic."

The robot can be used at museums and exhibits, where Thespian can deliver a soliloquy and direct people. But, at this point, he can't interact in the manner of Apple's Siri or Google Now.

"We are working on it," Roe said.

PARIS — Geologists on Sunday reported insights into super-volcanoes, the brooding, enigmatic giants of Earth's crust whose eruptions are as catastrophic as they are rare.

The buoyancy of molten rock, or magma, is the key explanation as to why these monsters blow their stack, according to the report in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Super-volcanoes include Yellowstone, in the US state of Wyoming, which spewed out more than 1,000 cubic kilometres of ash and rock when it last erupted about 600,000 years ago.

Events of this kind can chill the planet's surface by up to 10 degrees Celsius for a decade or more because the ash, carried into the stratosphere, reflects sunlight, according to a 2005 study.

By comparison, the biggest volcanic eruption of the last quarter-century was that of the Philippines volcano Pinatubo in 1991, which discharged a relatively puny 10 cubic kilometres.

Seeking to understand why volcanoes can be so different, a team from Switzerland, France and Britain built a computer model of volcanic activity, basing the age of eruptions on a telltale mineral, zircon, found in volcanic rocks.

Separately, a team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) used a hi-tech X-ray facility to study the density of molten rock below super-volcanoes.

In conventional volcanoes, activity is determined by the size of the magma chamber, meaning the rocky vault below the volcano, the investigations found.

Relatively small in volume, the chamber in conventional volcanoes is replenished regularly by bursts of upwelling magma, which is expelled in moderate amounts when the pressure becomes too much.

Density of magma

But in super-volcanoes, the magma chamber is simply too big to be pressurised by magma injections alone. In these leviathans, what happens is that a buoyant kind of magma steadily accumulates in the chamber.

Like a kettle, the chamber is initially strong enough to resist the pressure but eventually breaks apart in a cataclysmic discharge.

"Until now, nobody had measured the density of the magma that is present in the magma chambers of super-volcanoes," EZH's Wim Malfait said in an email exchange with AFP.

The density is important, he explained, "because magma is less dense than solid rock, the magma in a magma chamber pushes on the roof of the chamber."

"This is similar to holding a football under water — the air in the football is lighter than the surrounding water, so the water pushes it against your hand. Overpressure is enough to start a super-eruption if the magma chamber is thick enough," Malfait said.

The Swiss-French-British team calculated that the maximum volcanic eruption would entail a release of between 3,500 and 7,000 cubic kilometres of magma — the first time an upper limit has ever been established for a volcano.

The two studies should provide useful pointers as to the frequency of super-volcano events, the authors hope. Almost nothing is known about how swiftly these beasts recharge with magma and blow up, for only 23 such eruptions have occurred in the last 32 million years.

The work is useful for understanding the risks of Yellowstone, but far more work is needed, said the authors.

"We could potentially use estimates of the vertical extension of the magma chamber to infer if a volcanic system such as Yellowstone is in critical condition or not," said Luca Caricchi, an assistant professor of volcanology at the University of Geneva.

"However, the pressure for a volcanic eruption to occur is a function of many factors," he said. "It would be premature to make any forecasting using our model."

A study from 2012 indicates that before Yellowstone erupts, the ground would lift by possibly hundreds of metres, said Malfait.

"But this would not help to distinguish directly if an eruption is going to happen next week, next year or next century," he said.

LAS VEGAS — The new Chevrolets coming out this year will be faster — on the information superhighway.

The General Motors division said Sunday it would deploy fourth generation (4G) Internet connections on several models to help motorists who want to stay connected with the growing number of apps for automobiles.

Chevy will allow the 4G connections with Long Term Evolution (LTE) in a partnership with AT&T.

"Chevrolet is expected to implement the broadest deployment of 4G LTE in the automotive industry," said Alan Batey, senior vice president of Global Chevrolet, who added that the move "is indicative of our broad commitment to deliver more value and convenience through smart technology applications".

The high-speed connections will allow for a Wi-Fi hotspot that allows passengers in a vehicle to use tablets or other devices, or to watch videos via the Internet in vehicles which have screens.

The 4G cars will for now only be sold in the United States and Canada, according to the Chevrolet announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"This technology is not just for the rich and famous," Batey said at a news conference.

"You're going to be connected everywhere."

Initially 10 vehicle models will get the 4G connections by mid-2014 but more will be added, he said.

The auto sector's presence is growing at CES with a large number of carmakers and related technology firms showing their wares at the huge electronics expo opening Tuesday.

The service links with GM's OnStar service to apps and services that require a high speed cellular or data connection. Current AT&T customers will be able to add their vehicle to a shared data plan or purchase a standalone option.

Chevrolet said its AppShop includes programmes for data, music, news, weather, travel information and more. Some of the current apps include iHeartRadio, Priceline.com, The Weather Channel, NPR, Slacker Radio and Cityseeker.

The livelier and sportier version of Volkswagen’s classy hot hatch, the Golf GTI Performance makes the best use yet of the Mk7 generation Golf’s lighter partial aluminium construction with a 10BHP power hike over the regular Golf GTI. The more focused and driver-oriented edition of the new car, the Golf GTI Performance also features a mechanical limited-slip differential to complement the standard electronic XDS+ torque vectoring system.

A more engaging and athletic drive than its Mk6 predecessor — especially with the six-speed manual gearbox, as tested — the new Golf GTI makes performance, efficiency and space improvements, and delivers a well-balanced combination of agility and refinement.

Familiar but fresh

A car that virtually defined the hot hatch segment since 1974, the Golf GTI has over years grown larger, heavier and became more practical and luxurious. However, the new Golf GTI is a noticeably sportier, edgier and focused driving machine than the one it replaces, but at the same time is roomier, more advanced, better equipped and more refined than ever.

The improvements can in large part be attributed to the combination of Volkswagen’s part-aluminium MQB modular platform, which allows for a 42kg weight loss, in addition to engine efficiency improvements that yield 18 per cent fuel efficiency for both versions of the new model.

Elegant and somewhat conservative, the new Golf GTI’s design is evolutionary and consistent with the model’s gradual development, but however looks strikingly fresh, crisp and tidy.

With sharper lines, creases, angles, shapes and components in place of its predecessor’s more rounded edges and themes, the new GTI looks more up-market and sculpted. Slightly lower, wider and wheels pushed further out to corners, the Mk7 Golf GTI looks more athletic and toned.

More angular and squinting front and rear lights clusters look more dramatic, while sportier bumpers, body kit, dual exhaust pipes, tailgate spoiler and red pinstripe detailing subtly distinguish the GTI from a common garden-variety Golf.

Broad band

of bang

With a third generation evolution of Volkswagen’s direct injection turbocharged two-litre four-cylinder engine, featuring reduced friction, variable thermal management and a re-designed head, the new Golf GTI makes significant torque and power increases available earlier and over a broader rev range, while fuel efficiency and carbon emissions are similarly improved.

Euro six compliant, the new Golf GTI — in standard and Performance spec — develops 258lb/ft torque throughout 1,500-4,400rpm, returns 6L/100km combined cycle fuel efficiency and 139g/km carbon dioxide emissions, compared to its predecessor’s 207lb/ft, 7.3L/100km and 170g/km figures. Power rises from 207BHP at 5,300-6,200rpm to 227BHP at 4,700-6,200rpm for the tested GTI Performance version.

Lively, perky and muscular, the Golf GTI Performance suffers little by way of turbo lag and pounces tidily off the line and soon hits its broad mid-range maximum torque band. With 258lb/ft on tap in its crucial mid-range, the GTI Performance overtakes easily and quickly, while its power seamless build-up is brisk and under-written well with no flat spots.

A broad maximum 227BHP power range also allows one to better exploit the GTI Performance’s abilities and better time up-shifts. Smooth and refined, the GTI Performance feels effortless for town and highway driving yet eager to be wrung hard and high, completing the 0-100km/h sprint in 6.4-seconds.

Punch and move

Driven through a six-speed manual gearbox with a crisp, firm and precise shifter and intuitive clutch biting point, the GTI Performance launches with an exact level of aggression or smoothness as desired. Delivering its punchy power to the front wheels, the GTI Performance features two systems that reign in torque-steer on launch and prevent under-steer and keep it tidy and poised through quick cornering.

Supplementing the standard XDS+ electronic system that utilises selective braking, the Performance version also gets a more effective mechanical limited-slip differential that apportions more power to the wheel with best grip and best able to put it down to the tarmac.

Sticking and moving along the French Riviera and winding Maritime Alps like a toned and honed pugilist, the GTI performance does not miss a beat pouncing from one corner to the next. Sure-footed and poised the GTI Performance’s turn-in is tidy and grippy, with precise and quick steering, while brakes are reassuringly capable.

Faithful through tight corners, the GTI Performance has terrific body control and grip, while its limited-slip differential allows one to effectively utilise and come back on power early out of corners. Composed and quick, the responsive GTI Performance is ever eager to be harried along sprawling country lanes and tight mountain hairpins alike.

Up-market appeal

Smooth but firm, the Golf GTI Performance is a natural and stable highway driver, with a planted, reassuring and refined ride. On fast-paced B-roads the GTI Performance’s 225/40R18 tyres and suspension set-up is sporty and tight, with terrific vertical rebound control over crests and dips, but is not punishing or harsh. Comfortable and well insulated from noise, vibrations and harshness, for daily driving, the GTI Performance’s sporty ride can however feel noticeably firm over sudden and particularly bad cracks and potholes at slow town speeds.

With well-bolstered and highly adjustable seats and steering, good visibility, upright cabin and seating position, the GTI is easily placed on road.

Classy but sporty, the Golf GTI’s cabin features good fit and finish, soft textures, ergonomic driver-oriented controls and layouts and clear instrumentation. Tartan cloth upholstery and red stitching on the GTI Performance’s chunky and contoured flat-bottle sports steering wheel hark back to the original Mk1 GTI.

With five-door convenience, good headroom, improved legroom and well-spaced boot, the GTI is a rounded and versatile performance and family car. Elegant, well-built, refined, quick, and well-kitted with many standard convenience and optional high tech equipment like adaptive cruise control, city-braking braking and lane-keeping assists, the GTI Performance’s up-market appeal treads heavily on more “premium” brand hatchbacks’ toes.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, turbocharged transverse 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 82.5 x 92.8mm

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

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

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 227 (230) [169] @ 4,700-6,200rpm

Specific power: 114BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 164BHP/ton

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 258 (350) @ 1,500-4,400rpm

Specific torque: 176Nm/litre

0-100km/h: 6.4-seconds

Maximum speed: 250km/h

Fuel consumption, combined: 6L/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 139g/km

Fuel capacity: 50-litres

Length: 4,268mm

Width: 1,799mm

Height: 1,442mm

Wheelbase: 2,631mm

Track, F/R: 1,538 / 1,517mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.318

Unladen weight: 1,382kg

Headroom, F/R: 975 / 967mm

Luggage capacity, min / max: 380 / 1,270-litres

Payload: 543kg

Steering: Variable electric-assisted rack and pinion

Brakes, F&R: Ventilated discs, 340mm / 310mm

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

Tyres: 225/40R18

SAN FRANCISCO — Wearable computers like Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Gear watch may not have caught fire yet, but that hasn’t stopped mobile game developers from rushing to create apps for the new devices, eager to seize what they hope is the next big moment in consumer technology.

Niccolo DeMasi, the CEO of mobile games maker Glu Mobile, compares the potential of wearables to that of Apple Inc.’s iPhone launch in 2007 — an event that was the catalyst to create much of the mobile app world that exists now.

DeMasi and others are betting that by developing compelling apps designed with the wearables’ special features in mind, they can create overwhelming demand for the products.

“A whole new app ecosystem is going to be born,” said Shawn Hardin, chief executive officer of Mind Pirate, which will release “Global Food Fight”, its first game for Google Glass, this month. “Those who are going to make that happen in a big way are going to be valuable companies because of it, and those who wait too late won’t be a part of it.”

The market for mobile game apps is expected to grow to $17 billion this year from just $6 billion in 2010, analysts said, and wearables could fuel growth in the years to come.

An array of new smartwatches and devices like fitness tracker Fitbit will go on display this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, heralding a potential breakthrough for the devices in 2014.

Google Glass is expected to launch broadly sometime this year. So far, its user-testing version has only been available at a $1,500 price to about 15,000 developers and consumers who registered to be part of its early adopter programme.

Galaxy Gear smartwatches from Samsung have garnered mixed reviews since their September launch, and consumers have not warmed to them yet.

Despite the slow start, Juniper Research expects more than 130 million smart wearable devices will ship by 2018. Moreover, global shipments of wearable “smart glasses” alone will reach 10 million each year by 2018, compared with an estimated 87,000 in 2013, according to the research firm.

Wearable computing devices basically function as mini-computers, mainly strapped on a user’s wrist or face, though they may end up being worn on other parts of the body, too. In developing apps for them, programmers will focus on their voice-command features as well as GPS, gyroscope, compass and WiFi capabilities. Apps for more conventional mobile devices, by contrast, mostly use their touch-screen interface.

Fun and games

Glu wanted to get a jump on its rivals by creating a word puzzle game called “Spellista” for the prototype of Google Inc.’s Glass.

Because Glass allows hands-free experiences, Spellista’s gameplay relies on voice commands and head movements that work with the device’s gyroscope. With voice commands, a gamer can snap pictures on its five-megapixel camera and create word puzzles to share with friends.

Another distinct feature of Glass is how it transmits sound. With Spellista, a user hears the game’s tutorial through sound vibrations traveling through the skull behind the ear rather than traditional speakers. That lets the user simultaneously hear ambient sound.

Over 2,000 developers, including Glu, have access to the programming code and tools needed to design apps for Glass.

With Mind Pirate’s app, “Global Food Fight”, the Silicon Valley start-up wants to demonstrate that wearable devices are well-suited for “micro-engagement” — or 30- to 90-second game sessions.

The three-dimensional app is designed for multiple players. Gamers can use head movements and taps on the Glass touchpad to virtually hurl tomatoes or gooey pies at one another and build obstacle courses to help them dodge hits.

“You could sit on a train and launch a food fight using voice commands, and you could be playing with multiple people” who could be virtually anywhere, Hardin explained.

Mind Pirate has set up an incubator programme, providing resources to four developers to work on games and apps for Glass and other wearable computing devices in partnership with the Canadian Film Centre, a Toronto-based film-training institute.

Timothy Jordan, senior developer advocate for Google Glass, said the game concepts that developers come up with need to be path-breaking.

“If something works well on another platform and you stamp it on Glass, you’re doing it wrong,” he said.

Games and apps have often popularised new hardware, helping to familiarise consumers with the technology. Rovio’s Angry Birds demonstrated the iPhone’s easy swipe and touch features, and the card game Solitaire made using the mouse on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating software seem intuitive.

“It’s early days in wearables, but I would be unsurprised if 2017 to 2027 turns out to be a great 10-year wave for all wearable computing, whether it’s watches or something like Glass,” DeMasi said.

Companies such as Qualcomm Inc. and Fitbit will use the Consumer Electronics Show to showcase wearable fitness trackers and smartwatches, in addition to single- and binocular-lens “glasses”.

“There’ll be a lot of competitive offerings — and I think some of these are going to be really, really well-suited for new kinds of entertainment and gameplay,” Hardin said, without providing details.

To be sure, not all developers think wearable devices are destined for glory any time soon. There are plenty of questions over the price point, limited battery life and other concerns.

Misha Lyalin, CEO of ZeptoLab, which created the hit mobile game “Cut the Rope”, says the category is mostly an R&D project for most game developers at this stage.

“In order for you to succeed as a developer, you have to have a platform that will be massive,” Lyalin said. “It’s too early to place a bet on.”

Venture capitalists are mostly taking a wait-and-see approach, though some want to make sure they are in a solid position, should the devices take off. Bessemer Ventures and Signia Venture Partners, for example, together have invested $2.5 million in Hardin’s Mind Pirate.

Glass has not yet emerged as a mass consumer platform, said Jeremy Liew, managing director of Lightspeed Venture Partners, which joined other investors to put a total of about $1 million into Lark, a Silicon Valley start-up that makes a smart wristband and an app to track sleep and exercise patterns.

“But if it becomes one, that next new billion-dollar company will be built on top of it, and that’s why it’s worth paying attention to,” Liew said.

Keep Your Eye on the Wall: Palestinian Landscapes
Edited by Olivia Snaije and Mitchell Albert
London: Saqi Boos, 2013

Due to its format, this collection of photos and essays about Israel’s apartheid wall is more than a book. It is an imaginative project shaped in the form of an accordion. Several pages can be folded out at once to give panoramic views that reveal the immensity of the wall, and how it virtually looms over Palestinian spaces. Reaching the end of the book, one realises it is only the end of the first half; one must flip the pages in the other direction to view the rest of the text and photos. There are no page numbers, and one can in principle begin at either end. This can be a bit disorienting but much less so than the experience of Palestinians who have had this monstrosity erected in their neighborhood. It is as though those who conceptualised the project wanted to counterpoise an elegant, expressive, open-ended construct to the ugly, oppressive, closed construct that is the wall. “Keep Your Eye on the Wall” was first published in France, and credit for the brilliant graphic design goes to Agnes Studios in Paris.

The contributors, mainly Palestinian, along with an Israeli and a few internationals, are all well versed in the Palestinian issue, the wall and its implications. Their sharp perceptions, whether reflected in text or pictures, open a range of possibilities in contrast to the wall itself, which is shown to be a dead-end undertaking, no matter how much negative influence it exerts in the here-and-now. To make this point, the text begins with the following comparison: “Symbolically, the wall in Palestine is this century’s Berlin Wall, albeit four times as long as that hated Cold War icon and more than twice as high.”

In the foreword, Raja Shehadeh compliments the photographers that contributed to this volume — Noel Jabbour, Raed Bawayah, Kai Wiedenhofer, Taysir Batniji, Raeda Saadeh, Steve Sabella and Rula Halawani, for their photographs which are “shockingly beautiful and evocative — by far the best I have seen of the separation barrier”.

Christine Leuenberger writes about the wall in the context of the network of barriers, checkpoints and separate road systems that partition the West Bank and restrict movement between Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled areas, greatly limiting the number of places where Palestinians and Israelis encounter one another. “Spaces in which to discuss peace have become increasingly difficult to come by…“ She also places the Wall in an international context as such barriers are being built in many other places, dividing peoples and cultures.

In a thought-provoking essay, Malu Halasa tackles the difficult question of whether doing art work on the wall serves to beautify it or to express resistance. In the process, she addresses shifts in the focus of Palestinian art over the years.

Yael Lerer is one of a small group of Israelis who have continued to visit the Palestinian territories even after 2000 when their entry was forbidden in line with the Israeli government’s separation policies. He even finds the silver lining in the cloud: Barred from using the main roads as in the past, “we were introduced to the beauty of rural Palestine — step by step, journey by journey,” when going “to visit friends, participate in demonstration, buy books or attend theater performances.” And he has some tales to tell.

In her intense prose style, Adania Shibli contributes a short story that allegorically conveys the psychological impact of the wall being erected in the private and communal space of those Palestinians who were so unlucky as to live in its path.

“Keep Your Eye on the Wall” proves the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, and one must actually see the book to get the full effect. Still, one can’t resist describing some of the photos that constitute the heart and soul of “Keep Your Eye on the Wall.” Besides those depicting the sheer expanse of the wall, there are many that juxtapose it with ordinary figures, producing eerie contrasts: A horse grazes peacefully alongside it; children eat a snack, or a man trudges home, in its shadow. A series of stark, black-and-white photos reveals the life of those who must scale it and live in the rough to earn a living. In other pictures, graffiti and paintings cover its grey drabness, while still other photos suggest new visions of resistance to its seeming permanence.

This is only a preview of what is in store for the reader/viewer in a project meant to shake up perceptions, even to shock. Hopefully, it will shock more people around the world into joining the movement against the Wall and the occupation that gave birth to it.

NEW YORK — People standing near someone using an e-cigarette will be exposed to nicotine, but not to other chemicals found in tobacco cigarette smoke, according to a new study.

E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, create a nicotine-rich vapour that can be inhaled, or “vaped”.

Researchers and regulators have questioned whether e-cigarettes are a smoking cessation aid or may lure more young people toward smoking, as well as what effects they have on health.

“There is ongoing public debate whether e-cigarettes should be allowed or prohibited in public spaces,” study co-author Maciej Goniewicz told Reuters in an e-mail.

Goniewicz is a cancer researcher in the Department of Health Behaviour at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.

“E-cigarettes contain variable amounts of nicotine and some traces of toxicants. But very little is known to what extent non-users can be exposed to nicotine and other chemicals in situations when they are present in the same room with users of e-cigarettes,” Goniewicz said.

He and his colleagues conducted two studies of secondhand exposure to e-cigarette vapours in a laboratory. Their results were published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

In the first study, the researchers used an electronic smoking machine to generate vapour in an enclosed space. They measured the amount of nicotine as well as carbon monoxide and other potentially harmful gases and particles in the chamber.

The second study included five men who regularly smoked both tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Each man entered a room and smoked his usual brand of e-cigarette for two five-minute intervals over an hour while the researchers measured air quality. The room was cleaned and ventilated and the experiment was repeated with tobacco cigarettes.

The researchers measured nicotine levels of 2.5 microgrammes per cubic metre of air in the first study. Nicotine levels from e-cigarettes in the second study were slightly higher at about 3.3 microgrammes per cubic metre. But tobacco cigarette smoking resulted in nicotine levels ten times higher at almost 32 microgrammes per cubic metre.

“The exposure to nicotine is lower when compared to exposure from tobacco smoke. And we also know that nicotine is relatively safer when compared to other dangerous toxicants in tobacco smoke,” Goniewicz said.

E-cigarettes also produced some particulate matter, but regular cigarettes produced about seven times more. E-cigarettes didn’t change the amount of carbon monoxide or other gases in the air.

“What we found is that non-users of e-cigarettes might be exposed to nicotine but not to many toxicants when they are in close proximity to e-cigarette users,” said Goniewicz.

“It is currently very hard to predict what would be the health impact of such exposure,” he added.

He said more research is needed to find out how the current findings correspond to “real-life” situations, when many people might be using e-cigarettes in a room with restricted ventilation.

“This is an interesting piece and points in the direction that a number of other studies are pointing, though it begins to expand the evidence on the potential effects to others,” Amy Fairchild told Reuters in an e-mail.

Fairchild was not involved in the new research, but has studied how e-cigarette use might impact views on regular cigarettes at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York.

She said the study suggests e-cigarettes are far safer, both in terms of toxins and nicotine, than tobacco cigarettes when it comes to the health effects on bystanders — although more research is needed to know for sure.

“In locales considering extending smoking bans to e-cigarettes, I think that these data weaken the case for more sweeping bans,” Fairchild said. “And so this begins to answer the question about why e-cigarettes are considered better: they reduce risks to both the user and to the bystander when compared to tobacco cigarettes.”

Fairfield said the concern about vaping ultimately revolves around whether e-cigarettes are going to change broader patterns of smoking at the population level.

“There are potential harms, including promoting continued smoking of cigarettes and renormalising cigarette smoking behaviours,” Goniewicz said. “Regulatory agencies around the world will need to make a number of regulatory decisions about product safety that could have major effects on public health.”

Goniewicz has received funding from a drug company that makes medications to aid smoking cessation. Another study author has received funds from an e-cigarette manufacturer.

PARIS — The mayor of Paris on Sunday joined France’s interior minister in calling for comedian Dieudonne, whose vitriolic brand of humour targeting Jews has caused outrage, to be banned from the stage.

Dieudonne has been part of France’s comedy scene for years, but while he started out with a Jewish comedian in sketches that mocked racism, he gradually veered to the far-right and alienated some fans with anti-Jewish comments — his latest being a joke about gas chambers.

Speaking on Europe 1 radio, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe likened Dieudonne to a criminal who “defends crimes against humanity”.

“We must ban the performances [of the comedian],” he said, echoing recent comments made by Interior Minister Manuel Valls.

Dieudonne has been fined several times for defamation, using insulting language, hate speech and racial discrimination, and a provocative arm gesture he makes has been described as an upside down Nazi salute.

Dieudonne argues that the horrors of the Holocaust are given too much focus to the exclusion of other crimes, like slavery and racism, and says his so-called “quenelle” gesture merely represents his anti-establishment views.

The gesture has landed several personalities in hot water, including footballer Nicolas Anelka, who used it to celebrate a goal.

“SOS Racisme”, an organisation that fights racism, announced Sunday it would take to court anyone who spread pictures of or did the “quenelle” in locations such as synagogues or Holocaust memorials “that leave no doubt” as to the anti-semitic nature of the gesture.

Valls, meanwhile, has said he is examining options to ban performances by a man he brands as a “little trader of hate”, outraged by Dieudonne’s latest jibe against Jewish radio presenter Patrick Cohen.

“When I hear Patrick Cohen speak, I tell myself, you know, the gas chambers... A shame,” Dieudonne had said in comments filmed secretly at a show and then aired on French television.

Valls has also asked Dieudonne to pay some 65,000 euros ($88,500) he has run up in fines.

Officials in several cities where Dieudonne is set to perform during a nationwide tour this month have also said they are trying to ban his show.

And veteran Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld have called for a protest on Wednesday at a theatre in the western city of Nantes, where Dieudonne is due to perform.

The controversy comes at a sensitive time for France, where racism has shot to the fore after the country’s black justice minister was the victim of a series of racial jibes — prompting President Francois Hollande to pledge intransigence on racism in his New Year’s address.