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PARIS — When the first object ever known to have visited the Earth’s Solar System from outer space zoomed past in 2017, it was so strange that at least one leading astronomer was convinced it was an alien vessel.

But researchers recently said that they had come up with a simple and “compelling non-alien explanation” for the interstellar interloper’s bizarre behaviour — though not everyone was convinced.

The object christened ‘Oumuamua — “scout” in Hawaiian — baffled scientists as soon as it was spotted by an observatory in Hawaii six years ago.

Astronomers had long been searching for comet-like objects entering the Solar System from the vastness of interstellar space, but had never before observed one. 

But ‘Oumuamua did not much resemble the comets that normally travel in from the edges of the Solar System. It lacked both a tail and a fuzzy halo, known as a coma, which are formed by dust and gas warming in the Sun’s heat.

It was also a peculiar elongated shape, never before observed in comets or asteroids. Its diameter was roughly 100 metres — about the size of a football pitch — but by some estimates it was 10 times as long as it was wide, shaped either like a pancake or a cigar.

And by the way light glinted off the object, it appeared to be tumbling end over end. 

But the strangest part was that once ‘Oumuamua slingshotted around the Sun, it sped up and deviated from its expected trajectory, propelled by a mysterious force on its way out of the Solar System. 

Scientists were left with four months’ worth of seemingly contradictory data to try to make sense of, leading to a range of theories.

‘Thruster boost’

Jennifer Bergner, an expert in astrochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of a new study, told AFP that many of the theories “stretched the imagination”.

Her proposal is that, wherever ‘Oumuamua may have come from, it started out as a water-rich, comet-like object.

During its interstellar travels it was blasted by penetrating cosmic rays that converted some of its water into hydrogen gas that became trapped within the object’s body.

When ‘Oumuamua neared the Sun, the heat released the trapped hydrogen, acting as a “thruster boost” that propelled the object on its unexpected path, she said.

Darryl Seligman of Cornell University, co-author of the study published in the journal Nature, said that “Jenny’s definitely right about the entrapped hydrogen”.

“We had all these stupid ideas, like hydrogen icebergs and other crazy things, and it’s just the most generic explanation,” he said in a statement.

Marco Micheli, an astronomer at the European Space Agency who was not involved in the research, commented in Nature that the paper “offers perhaps the first simple and physically realistic explanation of the peculiarities of this object”.

‘Very suspicious’

Not everyone was convinced.

Avi Loeb, a lauded theoretical physicist who was the longest-serving chair of astronomy at Harvard University, maintains that the simplest explanation is that ‘Oumuamua was alien technology — including in his 2021 book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.”

Loeb rejected the new theory, telling AFP that claims of a comet without a tail “is like saying an elephant is a zebra without stripes”.

He pointed to the large cometary tail seen on 2I/Borisov, the second known visitor from outside the Solar System, which was spotted in 2019.

Roman Rafikov of Cambridge University in Britain said he had previously demonstrated that if trapped gas were behind ‘Oumuamua’s acceleration, it would have “dramatically” changed the rate at which it was spinning — which did not happen.

Rafikov said he was “very suspicious” of such theories, adding nonetheless that he preferred “an explanation that does not involve aliens or divine forces”.

Bergner suggested the reason ‘Oumuamua did not have a tail or coma was that it was far smaller than any comet — including 2I/Borisov — that had ever been observed.

But that could change soon. 

In the coming years many more comets, potentially from both within and outside the Solar System, could be spotted by the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time in Chile, which is expected to begin its imaging project in 2025.

Bergner said that if small comets showed signs of releasing trapped hydrogen — and lacked tails and comas — that could help confirm her theory.

When it came to ideas involving extraterrestrial life, she said, it “depends what standard of proof you require to invoke aliens”.

“We’ll never know for sure what ‘Oumuamua was — we lost our chance,” she said. “But for now, I think here we have a compelling non-alien explanation.”

AMSTERDAM — Food scientists on Tuesday unveiled a giant meatball made from lab-grown flesh of an extinct woolly mammoth, saying the protein from the past showed the way for future foods.

The glistening meatball was displayed under a glass bell jar by Australian-based cultivated meat firm Vow at the NEMO science museum in the Dutch capital Amsterdam.

But it is not ready to be eaten just yet, with the thousands-of-years-old protein requiring safety testing before modern humans can tuck in. 

“We chose woolly mammoth meat because it is a symbol of loss, wiped out by climate change,” Tim Noakesmith, co-founder of Vow, told AFP at the event.

“We face a similar fate if we don’t do things differently,” including changing practices such as large-scale farming and how we eat, Noakesmith said.

Grown over a period of several weeks, the meat was “cultivated” by scientists who first identified the DNA sequence for mammoth myoglobin, a key protein that gives the meat its flavour.

Filling in some gaps in the sequence of the mammoth myoglobin by using genes from the African elephant, the mammoth’s closest living relative, it was then inserted into sheep cells using an electrical charge.

Tastes like chicken?

If that process doesn’t put you off, then the safety issues might.

“I won’t eat it at the moment because we haven’t seen this protein for 4,000 years,” said Ernst Wolvetang of the Queensland University’s Australian Institute of Bioengineering who worked with Vow on the project.

“But after safety testing, I’d be really curious to see what it tastes like.”

The scientists slow-cooked the giant ball in an oven before browning the outside with a blowtorch.

“It smelt a bit like when we cook our crocodile meat,” James Ryan, Vow’s chief scientific officer told the audience.

Christopher Bryant, a British-based expert in alternative proteins told AFP prospective lab-meat lovers had nothing to fear from cultured meat.

“Unlike conventional meat, which comes from dirty and unpredictable animals, cultivated meat is produced with extreme precision in sanitised food production facilities,” he said.

“Because of this, cultivated meat avoids the foodborne pathogens, antibiotics, and other contaminants frequently found in meat from animals,” he told AFP.

The mammoth meatball’s display of the link between climate change and future foods comes as global meat consumption has almost doubled since the early 1960s, according to figures by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Global livestock farming represented some 14.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans, the FAO said, as climate change warmed up the planet.

Meat consumption is projected to increase more than 70 per cent by 2050, and scientists have increasingly been turning to alternatives such as plant-based meats and lab-grown meat.

Self-confessed “failed vegan” Noakesmith said his Sydney-based startup was not aiming to stop people from eating meat, but to “give them something that’s better” and convert them to the idea of lab-created protein.

“We chose to make a mammoth meatball to draw attention to the fact that the future of food can be better and more sustainable.”

Food scientists said Vow, which planned to launch its first product, lab-grown Japanese quail in Singapore in a few months “is an attempt to redefine what cultured meat is”.

“Instead of trying to normalise cultured meat, the mammoth meatball tries to stress how different the technology is,” said Neil Stephens, a senior lecturer in technology and society at the University of Birmingham in central England.

“It suggests a future where we eat meat that is completely different to the meat we eat today, made from species we’ve never been in contact with,” he told AFP.

By Elias Huuhtanen and Julie Ezvan
Agence France-Presse

HELSINKI/LIVERPOOL — Marie Kondo may have admitted defeat, but a new generation of “cleanfluencers” is taking social media by storm, with millions watching them scour filthy homes and dole out cleaning hacks.

Digging through a mountain of trash, Auri Kananen uncovered a rotten piece of pizza on the floor of a Helsinki flat, with insects devouring it.

“I love cleaning, I love dirt,” declared the 30-year-old Finn, who has far more social media followers than Kondo, the Japanese tidying guru who has admitted embracing the messier side of life since having her third child.

Kananen has quickly become one of the world’s most successful “cleanfluencers”, travelling the globe hunting for “the dirtiest homes possible”.

“I remember when I had 19 followers. Even then it felt really cool to have 19 strangers wanting to see me clean,” said Kananen, or aurikatariina as she is known to her 9 million followers on TikTok, with 2 million on YouTube.

In her upbeat videos, she dusts, scrubs and sorts, wearing her signature hot pink rubber gloves as zippy pop music plays in the background. 

Her voiceovers often explain how the person she is helping ended up living in squalor.

“Usually people have some mental health problem or other tragedy that has happened in their lives,” Kananen told AFP.

The flat in Helsinki is the home of a depressed young man whose brother suffers from multiple sclerosis, she explained.

She can relate to people living in miserable conditions because she went through a period of depression herself, she said.

“I know how overwhelming it is,” she said.

But her experience has shown her that no situation is hopeless.

The comments sections of her videos are filled with people saying how her videos have helped them cope with their difficulties, praising her non-judgemental manner.

“I love how she is understanding the person in this situation and helping them instead of blaming them,” one commenter wrote.

TikTok tidiers

With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content.

“I was watching videos and I thought, that’s what I do at home, I can just film myself doing it,” recalled 27-year-old Abbi, known as cleanwithabbi to her two million followers. 

The English single mum films herself cleaning, doing the dishes and hovering in her red brick home in Huyton near Liverpool. 

Cleaning has always been an important part of her life as her youngest son Billy lives with sensory processing disorder.

“He really loves his routine and he does like things to be clean,” she said. 

Now Abbi, who does not wish to reveal her full name, posts TikTok videos for a living. Brands sponsor her to use their products, and she earns between $720 and $1,200 a video. 

Abbi — whose sons Jack and Billy are six and five — hits the record button on her phone and swiftly makes their beds, arranging the soft toys nicely.

“It relaxes me, it’s like therapy,” she told AFP.

“For me it’s like an escape from any worries I’ve got.”

‘It’s satisfying’

Ann Russell, a 59-year-old full-time cleaner from the south of England, has a different approach. 

Sitting on her sofa with her black dog Hollie, she answers a question from one of her TikTok followers, holding her phone up to her face. 

To remove a felt tip mark from a wooden table without removing the varnish she recommends isopropyl alcohol: “Dip a cotton bud in it and just rub it gently.” 

She said people need to be taught how to clean properly.

“If nobody told you, how on earth are you supposed to know?” she told AFP.

Russell makes between four and 12 videos every day, answering questions from her 2.3 million followers in a no-nonsense fashion. 

“I turn the phone on, I talk to the phone, and that’s it. That’s about as good as it gets. I am not very proficient,” she said with a laugh.

The fact that cleaning “is satisfying” may be behind the videos’ success, Russell said.

Most of her and Abbi’s viewers are women and millennials, as well as people struggling to find the motivation to clean.

“Washing your socks, pairing them up and putting them in the drawer [gives] a sense of a good job well done,” she said.

“It makes people feel in control. And because they feel in control in their personal life, they feel that the outside world is a safer place.”

Attempting to square the engineering circle traditionally separating sport cars and high-riding vehicles, luxury Super SUVs are derided by some sports car purists, but have proved to be lucrative cash cow since the 2003 Porsche Cayenne.

A modern automotive staple, luxury sports and super SUVs and crossovers include standouts like the Lamborghini Urus and Alfa Romeo Strelvio Quadrifoglio, while the latest crop includes first efforts from Ferrari and Lotus, and one serving as BMW’s sporting flagship.

Ferrari Purosangue

Anathema to Ferrari just a decade ago, a Prancing Horse SUV was however inevitable to sate luxury car buyers’ appetite for heavy, high-riding four-wheel-drive vehicles, and expand sales. Anticipated with excitement and apprehension, the Purosangue finally hits the road in coming weeks. Pointedly referred to as a “four-door four-seater” rather than SUV by Ferrari, it resembles a higher-riding version of Ferrari’s now retired GTC4 Lusso “shooting brake” estate –— albeit with rear-hinged rear “suicide” doors — than a traditionally bulky SUV.

Immediately identifiable with its jutting nose, lasciviously long bonnet, pinched waist, athletically broad rearwards stance and sophisticated airflow management, the luxuriously-appointed Purosangue is meanwhile powered by a prodigious, naturally-aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted far back for near-perfect weighting, and developing 715BHP at 7,750rpm and 528lb/ft at 6,250rpm. Dispatching 0-100km/h in 3.3-seconds and 0-200km/h in 10.6-seconds, with a 310km/h top speed, the Purosangue’s high-revving 8,250rpm engine nevertheless provides plenty of versatility, with 80 per cent torque available from just 2,100rpm.

Primarily driving its rear wheels through an 8-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox, the Purosangue’s 4RM-S all-wheel-drive system meanwhile powers the front wheels directly from the front of the crankshaft through a separate transmission system, when additional road-holding is necessary. Incorporating four-wheel-steering for enhanced cornering agility and high speed stability, the Purosangue’s sophisticatedly managed dynamic systems also include a 48v electric motor powered active suspension system controlling each wheel, for improved cornering body control and ride comfort.

Specifications

• Engine: 6.5-litre, V12-cylinders
• Gearbox: 8-speed dual-clutch automated
• Driveline: All-wheel-drive, electronic limited-slip rear differential
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 715 (725) [533] @7,750rpm
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 528 (716) @6,250rpm
• 0-100km/h: 3.3-seconds
• Top speed: 310km/h
• Length: 4,973mm
• Width: 2,028mm
• Height: 1,589mm
• Wheelbase: 3,018mm
• Weight: 2,033kg
• Suspension, F/R: Double wishbones/multilink, 48V active suspension
• Tyres, F/R: 225/35R22/315/30R23

BMW XM

The antithesis of BMW M’s first, most iconic mid-engine 1978 M1 ports car, the German manufacturer’s performance division newly launched flagship is instead the big, brawny and bulky XM performance SUV. A hulking and heavy hybrid SUV, its tall, wide and high dimensions and complicated, exaggerated and bulging bodywork starkly contrast with the sleek wedge-like shape and effortlessly evocative lines of the M1, and even the 1990s Citroen XM it shares its name with.

Nevertheless, the XM conveys a palpably aggressive, urgent and imposing demeanour, reflected with a powerful hybrid drive-line consisting of a 483BHP and 479lb/ft twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 engine and 194BHP, 207lb/ft electric motor. Producing a combined system output of 644BHP and 590lb/ft, the powerful XM is undoubtedly quick with 4.3-second 0-100km/h acceleration and 250km/h top speed, but perhaps somewhat blunted by its near 2.8-tonne mass. That said, a more powerful 738BHP Label Red version arrives later this year. 

Utilising all-wheel-drive to put power down and adaptive damping to manage cornering lean, the XM promises good dynamics for its enormous weight and height, but will likely fall short of lighter super SUVs’ — like the Ferrari Purosangue or Lamborghini Urus — handling ability and agility, let alone M power cars of past. Good high speed stability uis also expected, but trying to make a giant SUV handle like a car, will come at some cost to ride comfort, especially with huge low profile tyres.

Specifications

• Engine: 4.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8-cylinders + electric motor
• Gearbox: 8-speed automatic
• Drive-line: All-wheel-drive
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 644 (653) [480] (combined)
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 590 (800) (combined)
• 0-100km/h: 4.3-seconds
• Top speed: 250km/h
• Length: 5,110mm
• Width: 2.005mm
• Height: 1,755mm
• Wheelbase: 3,105mm
• Weight: 2,785kg
• Suspension, F/R: Double wishbone/multi-link, adaptive dampers
• Tyres, F/R: 275/45R21/315/40R21

Lotus Eletre

A daringly dramatic, yet divisive, departure from Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s “simplify, then add lightness” mantra, the Eletre is the British sports car maker’s late-coming Chinese-manufactured gambit into the crossover segment. A sharp and stylish electric super-SUV with staggering performance and advanced LIDAR-assisted ‘intelligent’ driving tech, it promise to be a sales breakout attracting new clientele, but will also undoubtedly alienate some traditionalists among the Lotus faithful with its hefty 2.7-tonne projected weight. 

Unveiled shortly after last year’s retirement of the long-stranding Elise, Exige and Evora line-up, and replacement with the Emira sports car as Lotus’ last true combustion engine sports car, the high-riding 5-door, 4-seat Eletre is distanced from core brand characteristics. It is nevertheless sportily stylish inside and out, with a long, low and jutting design reminiscent of the Lamborghini Urus. Developed after the Lotus Evija EV hyper car, the Eletre’s lightweight carbon-fibre and aluminium body meanwhile incorporates “porosity”, for enhanced range, efficiency and air flow management.

Set for sale this summer, the Eletre promises 20-minute, 400km range non-domestic high capacity 350kw charging, and a claimed fully charged 600km range. Powered by a dual electric motor all-wheel-drive system delivering 603BHP and 524lb/ft torque, the standard Eletre’s swift 4.5-second 0-100km/h acceleration and 258km/h top speed is however eclipsed by the 905BHP and 726lb/ft Eletre R version’s 2.95-second 0-100km/h acceleration and 265km/h maximum.

Specifications

• Engine: Dual, front and rear electric motors
• Gearbox: 1-speed automatic
• Drive-line: All-wheel-drive
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 603 (612) [450]
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 524 (710)
• 0-100km/h: approximately 4.5-seconds
• Top speed: 258km/h
• Length: 5,103mm
• Width: 2,135mm
• Height: 1,630mm
• Wheelbase: 3,019mm
• Weight: 2,700kg (estimate)
• Suspension: Multilink, active air suspension
• Tyres, F/R: 275/40R22/315/35R22

By Nathalie Khalaf
Holistic Counsellor

I’ve had many clients seek my help to change or control the emotional state they find themselves in. They reach a point when they feel more emotional and don’t understand why.

When I ask them what they mean, they explain that they cannot control or manage their emotions as well as they used to. And, more often than not, they experience bursts of rage at the smallest things, or break down into tears for “no reason”.

Feeling our emotions

What all these people have in common is inner loneliness and pain from the desire to protect themselves from the outside world, which is causing a lot of undesired emotions. They feel ashamed, unable to control something their body seems to be doing without their consent.

There is no such thing as “being emotional”. We are either feeling our emotions as a natural part of being alive, or “being emotionless” which goes against our nature. We cannot wish our body to stop eliminating what it does not need anymore; it is simply part of what has to happen in order for us to be well. Emotions are as much a part of our “aliveness” as is our physical body.

A river of emotions

Imagine a river for a moment. The river is made of a “container” — which is the riverbed of sand and rock — as well as the water running through it. Together, these elements create a river. Now imagine piling up rocks to form a dam somewhere along that river. The rocks eventually stop the flow of water along the river.

The blockage of water can be stopped for a while, until the water seeps or bursts through the dam to continue on its way down the riverbed. We may notice an increase in the power of the water as it accumulates on one side of the dam, unable to continue its natural path down the riverbed. On one side of the dam, there is heightened energy from the water and on the other side there is the calm which comes from emptiness as the riverbed may have little water left or is completely dry. Once the water force overpowers the dam, there is a bit of a rush of water until the balance is restored and the river runs as it naturally should.

That river is us. We are the container. Our emotions are the water. In order for a river to be a river, it needs the container as well as the water passing through it. The rocks are our emotional blockages. When we decide we do not want to feel something, it starts with a thought, which gets translated into blocked energy (a dam), if you will, to the flow of natural energy passing through our body.

The impact of childhood on adult emotions

As we grow up and go through our life experiences, we encounter times when we feel hurt, let down, disappointed, jealous, angry, sad or just fed up! That’s all normal. Our unconscious mind will, by default, want to protect us from that pain, and we start building mini dams in order not to feel those unpleasant emotions.

As emotions are energy, and energy will sooner or later over-ride any mental decision we have made not to feel, the accumulated and stagnated energy breaks the dam and continues its path onwards. At such points in our lives, we feel overwhelmed and may break down. That’s what happened to me! And by the age of 36 there were so many emotional “dams” within me that I had several physical diseases, hardly any energy or a will to live and certainly not one ounce of happiness! But that’s all for another article so watch out for it!

We have been gifted this life. I see lives represented by rivers, all apparently similar yet so different in size, flow, power and journey. As all rivers are crucial for their surroundings, so are we to everyone in our lives. In order to live a good life, we receive a physical body and emotions to feel our way through our lives. Emotions are a crucial part of our existence. They are meant to flow through our body. We are meant to simply allow them to pass through us; in other words: Feel your emotions. Feel the anger, the love, the hatred, the fear, the joy, the pain, the disappointment, the forgiveness, the jealousy and the sadness. Feel it all by allowing it to pass through and out of your body.

As children we are born with our natural ability to laugh, love, scream and cry. It is only as we grow older that we start trying to manipulate and control emotions. By not feeling, we create blocks. We hold our emotions in. Then one day that energy surprises us; we collapse in a fit of rage or tears and we think something is wrong with us. There is nothing wrong with us at all. We are simply being taught by our bodies how to be human. And expressing emotions is part of being human.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

WASHINGTON — Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna nearly 200 years ago after a lifetime of composing some of the most influential works in classical music.

Ever since, biographers have sought to explain the causes of the German composer’s death at the age of 56, his progressive hearing loss and his struggles with chronic illness.

An international team of researchers who sequenced Beethoven’s genome using authenticated locks of his hair may now have some answers.

Liver failure, or cirrhosis, was the likely cause of Beethoven’s death brought about by a number of factors, including his alcohol consumption, they said.

“We looked at possible genetic causes of his three main symptom complexes — the progressive hearing loss, the gastrointestinal symptoms and the liver disease ultimately leading to his death due to liver failure,” said Markus Nothen of the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital of Bonn, one of the co-authors.

Beethoven, Nothen said, had “a strong genetic disposition to liver disease” and sequences of the hepatitis B virus were detected in his hair.

“We believe the disease arose from an interplay of genetic disposition, well documented chronic alcohol consumption and hepatitis B infection,” Nothen said.

No explanation 

for deafness

Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said hepatitis B “was probably quite common at that time in the early 19th century”.

“At least in the last few months before his death he was infected with hepatitis B virus,” Krause said.

The authors of the study, published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on Wednesday, were unable to determine any genetic causes for the progressive hearing loss that eventually left Beethoven completely deaf by 1818.

The researchers analysed eight locks of hair said to be from Beethoven and determined that five of them were “almost certainly authentic”, said Tristan Begg, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge and the lead author of the study.

“Because we reconstructed the genome from ultra-short DNA fragments, we only confidently mapped about two-thirds of it,” he said.

One of the most-famous strands of hair, known as the “Hiller Lock,” which has been the subject of previous research and found to contain high levels of lead, was revealed not to be from Beethoven at all but from a woman.

Family secret

Beethoven, who was born in Bonn in 1770 and died in 1827, battled gastrointestinal problems at various times of his life as well as jaundice.

“There were periods of acute illness where he was unable to work, for example, his month-long period of acute illness in the spring of 1825,” Begg said.

The researchers, by studying Beethoven’s DNA data and archival documents, also uncovered a discrepancy in his legal and biological genealogy.

They found an “extra-pair paternity event” — a child resulting from an extramarital relationship — in Beethoven’s direct paternal line, said Toomas Kivisild of the Institute of Genomics at the University of Tartu.

Kivisild said it occurred some time within seven generations that separate a common ancestor, Aert van Beethoven, at the end of the 16th century and Beethoven’s birth in 1770.

Begg said it was no surprise it was not recorded.

“You wouldn’t necessarily expect an extra-pair paternity event to be documented,” he said, it being “probably clandestine in nature”.

“You cannot rule out that Beethoven himself may have been illegitimate,” Begg said.

“I’m not advocating that,” he stressed. “I’m simply saying that’s a possibility and you have to consider it.”

Beethoven had asked in an 1802 letter to his brothers that his health problems, particularly his hearing loss, be described after his death.

“He had the wish to be studied post-mortem,” Krause said.

“And it is kind of, basically, his wish that we are fulfilling to some degree with this project.”

PARIS — Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans has reached “unprecedented levels” over the past 15 years, a recent study has found, calling for a legally binding international treaty to stop the harmful waste.

Ocean plastic pollution is a persistent problem around the globe — animals may become entangled in larger pieces of plastic like fishing nets, or ingest microplastics that eventually enter the food chain to be consumed by humans. 

Recently published research found that there are an estimated 170 trillion pieces of plastic, mainly microplastics, on the surface of the world’s oceans today, much of it discarded since 2005. 

“Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans during the past 15 years has reached unprecedented levels,” said the study, published in open-access journal PLOS One.

The amounts were higher than previous estimates, and the study found that the rate of plastic entering the oceans could accelerate several-fold in the coming decades if left unchecked.

Researchers took plastic samples from over 11,000 stations around the world focusing on a 40-year period between 1979 and 2019. 

They found no trends until 1990, then a fluctuation in trends between 1990 and 2005. After that, the samples skyrocket. 

“We see a really rapid increase since 2005 because there is a rapid increase in production and also a limited number of policies that are controlling the release of plastic into the ocean,” contributing author Lisa Erdle told AFP. 

The sources of plastic pollution in the ocean are numerous. 

Fishing gear like nets and buoys often end up in the middle of the ocean, dumped or dropped by accident, while things like clothing, car tyres and single-use plastics often pollute nearer to the coast.

They eventually break down into microplastics, which Erdle said can look like “confetti on the surface of the ocean”.

‘Flood of toxic products’

On current trends, plastic use will nearly double from 2019 across G20 countries by 2050, reaching 451 million tonnes each year, according to the report, jointly produced by Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. 

In 1950, only two million tonnes of plastic were produced worldwide. 

Recycling, even in countries with advanced waste management systems, has done little to help the pollution problem since just a small percentage of plastics are properly recycled and much often ending up in landfills instead. 

If landfills are not properly managed, plastic waste can leech into the environment, eventually making its way to oceans. 

“We really we see a lack of recycling, a flood of toxic products and packaging,” Erdle said. 

The rates of plastic waste were seen to recede at some points between 1990 and 2005, in part because there were some effective policies in place to control pollution. 

That includes the 1988 MARPOL treaty, a legally binding agreement among 154 countries to end the discharge of plastics from naval, fishing and shipping fleets. 

But with so much more plastic being produced today, the study’s authors said a new, wide-ranging treaty is needed to not only reduce plastic production and use but also better manage its disposal. 

“Environmental recovery of plastic has limited merit, so solution strategies must address those systems that restrict emissions of plastic pollution in the first place,” the study said. 

Last year, 175 nations agreed to end plastic pollution under a legally binding United Nations agreement that could be finalised as soon as next year. 

Among the key actions under negotiation are a global ban on single-use plastics, a “polluter pays” scheme, and a tax on new plastic production. 

The total weight of the plastic pollution detected in the ocean today is estimated at 2.3 million tonnes, the PLOS study said. 

It examined samples in the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the North Pacific, the South Pacific, the Indian and Mediterranean oceans.

PARIS — Journalists had fun last year asking the shiny new AI chatbot ChatGPT to write their columns, most concluding that the bot was not good enough to take their jobs. Yet.

But many commentators believe journalism is on the cusp of a revolution where mastery of algorithms and AI tools that generate content will be a key battleground.

The technology news site CNET perhaps heralded the way forward when it quietly deployed an AI programme last year to write some of its listicles.

It was later forced to issue several corrections after another news site noticed that the bot had made mistakes, some of them serious.

But CNET’s parent company later announced job cuts that included editorial staff — though executives denied AI was behind the layoffs.

The German publishing behemoth Axel Springer, owner of Politico and German tabloid Bild among other titles, has been less coy.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to make independent journalism better than it ever was — or simply replace it,” the group’s boss Mathias Doepfner told staff last month.

Hailing bots like ChatGPT as a “revolution” for the industry, he announced a restructuring that would see “significant reductions” in production and proofreading.

Both companies are pushing AI as a tool to support journalists, and can point to recent developments in the industry.

‘Glorified word processor’

For the past decade, media organisations have been increasingly using automation for routine work like searching for patterns in economic data or reporting on company results.

Outlets with an online presence have obsessed over “search engine optimisation”, which involves using keywords in a headline to get favoured by the Google or Facebook algorithms and get a story seen by the most eyeballs.

And some have developed their own algorithms to see which stories play best with their audiences and allow them to better target content and advertising — the same tools that turned Google and Facebook into global juggernauts.

Alex Connock, author of “Media Management and Artificial Intelligence”, says that mastery of these AI tools will help decide which media companies survive and which ones fail in the coming years.

And the use of content creation tools will see some people lose their jobs, he said, but not in the realms of analytical or high-end reporting.

“In the specific case of the more mechanistic end of journalism — sports reports, financial results — I do think that AI tools are replacing, and likely increasingly to replace, human delivery,” he said.

Not all analysts agree on that point.

Mike Wooldridge of Oxford University reckons ChatGPT, for example, is more like a “glorified word processor” and journalists should not be worried.

“This technology will replace journalists in the same way that spreadsheets replaced mathematicians — in other words, I don’t think it will,” he told a recent event held by the Science Media Centre.

He nonetheless suggested that mundane tasks could be replaced — putting him on the same page as Connock.

‘Test the robots’

French journalists Jean Rognetta and Maurice de Rambuteau are digging further into the question of how ready AI is to take over from journalists.

They publish a newsletter called “Qant” written and illustrated using AI tools.

Last month, they showed off a 250-page report written by AI detailing the main trends of the CES technology show in Las Vegas.

Rognetta said they wanted to “test the robots, to push them to the limit”.

They quickly found the limit.

The AI struggled to identify the main trends at CES and could not produce a summary worthy of a journalist. It also pilfered wholesale from Wikipedia.

The authors found that they needed to intervene constantly to keep the process on track, so while the programmes helped save some time, they were not yet fit to replace real journalists.

Journalists are “afflicted with the syndrome of the great technological replacement, but I don’t believe in it”, Rognetta said.

“The robots alone are just not capable of producing articles. There is still a part of journalistic work that cannot be delegated.”

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — The white-coloured humanoid “Garmi” does not look much different from a typical robot — it stands on a platform with wheels and is equipped with a black screen on which two blue circles acting as eyes are attached.

But retired German doctor Guenter Steinebach, 78, said: “For me, this robot is a dream.”

Not only is Garmi able to perform diagnostics on patients, it can also provide care and treatment for them. Or at least, that is the plan.

Garmi is a product of a new sector called geriatronics, a discipline that taps advanced technologies like robotics, IT and 3D technology for geriatrics, gerontology and nursing.

About a dozen scientists built Garmi with the help of medical practitioners like Steinebach at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence.

Part of the Technical University of Munich, the institute based its unit specialising in geriatronics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a ski resort that is home to one of the highest proportion of elderly people in Germany.

Europe’s most populous country is itself one of the world’s most rapidly ageing societies.

With the number of people needing care growing quickly and an estimated 670,000 carer posts to go unfilled in Germany by 2050, the researchers are racing to conceive robots that can take over some of the tasks carried out today by nurses, carers and doctors.

“We have ATMs where we can get cash today. We can imagine that one day, based on the same model, people can come to get their medical examination in a kind of technology hub,” said Abdeldjallil Naceri, 43, the lead scientist of the lab.

Doctors could then evaluate the results of the robot’s diagnostics from a distance, something that could be particularly valuable for people living in remote communities.

Alternatively the machine could offer a more personalised service at home or in a care home — by serving meals, opening a bottle of water, calling for help in case of a fall or organising a video call with family and friends.

‘We must get there’

In the Garmisch laboratory, Steinebach sat down at a table equipped with three screens and a joystick as he got ready to test the robot’s progress.

At the other end of the room, a researcher designated as a test model took his spot in front of Garmi, which poses a stethoscope on his chest — an action directed by Steinebach from afar via the joystick.

Medical data immediately appear on the doctor’s screen.

“Imagine if I had had that in my old practice,” Steinebach said, while moving the joystick. 

Besides the retired doctor, other medical practitioners also visit the lab regularly to offer their ideas and feedback on the robot.

“It’s like a three-year-old child. We have to teach it everything,” Naceri said.

It’s anyone’s guess when Garmi might be ready on a commercial scale.

But Naceri is convinced that “we must get there, the statistics are clear that it is urgent”. 

“From 2030, we must be able to integrate this kind of technology in our society.”

Question of trust

And if it is indeed deployed one day, residents of the Sankt Vinzenz retirement home in Garmisch, a partner of the project, will likely see Garmi whizzing down the corridors.

Just thinking about it made Mrs Rohrer, a 74-year-old resident at the home, smile.

“There are things that a robot can do, for example, serve a drink or bring meals,” she said as Eva Pioskowik, the director of the home, did her nails. 

Pioskowik, who battles with staffing shortages on a daily basis, said she did not expect the robot to take the place of health workers. 

“But it could allow our staff to spend a bit more time with the residents,” she said.

For Naceri’s team, one of the major challenges is not technological, medical or financial. 

Rather, it remains to be seen if most patients will accept the robot.

“They need to trust the robot,” he said. “They need to be able to use it like we use a smartphone today.”