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AMMAN — First launched as a 2013 model and discretely improved since then, the Renault Zoe is among the world’s best-selling plug-in electric vehicles (EV). A regular sight on Jordanian roads where EVs benefit from substantial duty exemptions, the Zoe is fashionably designed, practical, user-friendly and conveniently compact city car, whichsits at the opposite end of the EV market compared to Tesla’s large, luxurious and expensive offerings. The Zoe sits somewhere between other electric hatchbacks like Fiat’s 500e and Volkswagen’s e-Golf, which have all gained recent popularity in Jordan.

Modern and minimalist

Though a technologically modern EV under its skin, both the Zoe’s driving interface, as well as its interior and exterior designs, are uncomplicated and minimalist in spirit. With a uniquely chic French styling ethos, the Zoe features smooth and uncluttered surfaces with more gentle curves and flowing character lines. Meanwhile its adornment is also minimalist, with a large and bold diamond-like Renault emblem taking centre stage, reflected in similarly high-set diamond-shaped rear light clusters with clear casing and a subtle blue background. 

Smooth and rounded in the front, the Zoe’s low air intake is framed by slim arcing running lights, while thin high-set headlights extend to almost a third of the fascia’s width on each side. A 5-door hatchback with a discreet rear tailgate spoiler and slim 195/55R16 tyres, the Zoe’s clean surfaces also benefit from blacked out pillars and rear door handles that are integrated into the door frame. Short, narrow and tall, the Zoe’s shape makes it maneuverable in the city and allows for terrific visibility, but this to an extent is also determined by its heavy 290kg batteries being situated under the floor.

Near silent and smooth

Powered by a forward-mounted electric motor driving the front wheels and a 22kWh positioned for a low centre of gravity and balanced with-wheelbase weight distribution, the Zoe’s ZE20 battery is the the French manufacturer’s entry-level variant EV. Producing 87BHP at 3,000-11,300rpm in one vast and high revving band and a more sizeable 162/lb/ft torque throughout 250-2,500rpm, the Zoe ZE20, like most EVs uses a single-speed automatic gearbox and is more torque-biased in its delivery. The result is an eager off the line response and initial acceleration, as well as confident pulling power from lower cruising speeds and on inclines.

Near silent, but for a distant whine, the Zoe ZE20 is quick enough to achieve town driving speeds, but with a weight of 1,468kg, takes 13.5-seconds to reach 100km/h from standstill. Capable of a 135km/h maximum, the Zoe’s rate of acceleration does however trail off slightly by around 110km/h. Quick enough to keep up with similar combustion engine cars, the Zoe does, however, feature an Eco mode for enhanced efficiency, in which power is reduced. The result is a marked improvement of driving range, but at the cost in acceleration, power and responsiveness.

Settled and balanced

Capable of fully recharging its batteries in eight-nine hours or three-four hours on a single phase domestic charger at 3kW, 16a or 7kW, 32a, the Zoe’s 80 per cent recharge time is however reduced to 60-minutes when using a public 22kW, 32a charger and 30-minutes with a much rarer 43kW, 63a high capacity charger. Driving range is rated at 210km in the more generous NEDC cycle. In the real world, faster speed, quicker acceleration and steeper inclines reduce range somewhat, but when driving at very low speeds and with a light load, the Zoe’s range improves considerably. 

It also recuperates some electricity from its regenerative brakes. Regenerative brakes help slow the Zoe down and reduce stress on its front disc and rear drum brakes, but are not set to be too aggressive when they operate on lift-off, to ensure more fluent and intuitive driving. Its accelerator pedal is, however, not as pinpoint precise or intuitive as similar petrol engine cars. Settled and reassuring at speed, the Zoe’s low centre of gravity lends it a buttoned down feel through corners as well, where it benefits from balanced and centralised weighting, good body control and tidy handling. 

Agile EV

A tighter handling car when driven at the edge of its grip and handling abilities than some other small and heavy EVs, the Zoe feels eager and sharp into a corner and agile and nimble throughout. Zipping through switchbacks with fluency and maneuverability, the Zoe’s somewhat thin tyres communicate grip limits well, while hints of understeer when entering a corner too hard are more progressive and intuitive than its rival, Chevrolet Bolt. The Zoe’s steering meanwhile is very light and quite quick, but more importantly has some feel for the road while remaining refined and effortless. 

Small and easy to maneuver in small confined parking garages, through busy traffic and when making three-point turns, the Zoe also offers good visibility and a reversing camera for added help. Somewhat minimalist and modern in its interior design, the Zoe’s controls, trim and console seem to take inspiration from smartphone aesthetics, colours and textures, and retain a fresh look despite the use of hard plastics. Front seating is high, alert and comfortable with generous headroom, but slightly narrow and could benefit from improved lumbar support for long journeys. Rear space is fine for most, but not particularly suited for larger and taller adults, while its 338-litre luggage room is well-packaged, and expands to 1,225-litres.

Renault Zoe

Engine: Front-mounted synchronous electric motor

Gearbox: single-speed automatic, front-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]:87 (88) [65] @3,000-11,300rpm

Power-to-weight: 59.2BHP/tonne

Torque lb/ft (Nm): 162 (220) @250-2,500rpm

Torque-to-weight: 149.8Nm/tonne 

0-48km/h: 4-seconds

0-100km/h: under 13.5-seconds

Top speed: 135km/h (estimate)

Driving range, NEDC: 210km 

Charging time, 3kw / 7kW / 22kW / 43kW: 8-9-hr / 3-4- hr / 60-min (80%) / 30-min (80%)

Battery: Lithium-ion, 22kWh

Battery weight: 290kg

Length: 4,084mm

Width: 1,730mm 

Height: 1,562mm

Wheelbase: 2,588mm

Track, F/R: 1,511/1,510mm

Overhang, F/R: 839/657mm

Unladen weight: 1,468kg

Headroom, F/R: 904/826mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1,365/1,320mm

Cargo volume, min/max: 338-/1,225-litres

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Lock-to-lock: 2.73-turns

Turning circle: 10.56-meters

Suspension F/R: MacPherson struts / torsion beam

Brake, F/R: Ventilated discs 258mm / drums 228mm

Tyres: 195/55R16

Price, on-the-road: JD27,500 (2018 model)

People who live in neighbourhoods with more green spaces may have less stress, healthier blood vessels and a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes than residents of communities without many outdoor recreation areas, a small study suggests. 

At the population level, residential green space has long been linked to a lower risk of death from heart disease and respiratory problems, as well as a lower risk of hospitalisation for events like heart attacks and strokes, researchers note in the Journal of the American Heart Association. But there is not as much evidence showing whether this connection holds true for individuals. 

For the current study, researchers tested for a variety of biomarkers of stress and heart disease risk in blood and urine samples from 408 patients at a cardiology clinic in Louisville, Kentucky. They also used satellite data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to estimate the extent of greenery where each person lived. 

Compared to people in areas with the least amount of green space, residents of the greenest neighbourhoods had lower urinary levels of the hormone epinephrine, indicating lower stress levels, the study found. They also had lower urinary levels a marker of oxidative stress known as F2-isoprostane. 

In addition, people in greener areas had a higher capacity to maintain healthy blood vessels than residents of places without much green space. 

“Both the magnitude of the effect and the pervasiveness of the influence of greenery on health are surprising,” said senior study author Aruni Bhatnagar of the University of Louisville. 

“If the results of this study bear out, it would mean that frequent interactions with nature may be one way of decreasing risk of heart disease,” Bhatnagar said by e-mail. 

Participants in the study were 51 years old on average, most were overweight, and many had high blood pressure or high cholesterol. The majority lived in areas with limited green space. 

Beyond its small size, the study also was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how green space might directly reduce stress or improve heart or blood vessel health. 

However, the connection between residential greenery and a lower levels of certain markers of heart problems held up even after researchers accounted for other factors that can independently influence the risk of heart disease like age, sex, ethnicity, smoking status, patients’ use of statins to control cholesterol, neighbourhood poverty and proximity to pollution from traffic fumes. 

“While it is true that in most US cities, those of higher socio-economic status live in greener areas, in our study, we statistically adjusted for income and education within that neighbourhood, so it seems that the effect of greenness is independent of socioeconomic status,” Bhatnagar said. 

It is possible that green space might encourage more physical activity, and a higher density of trees and shrubs may also improve air quality by reducing levels of some pollutants, said Annemarie Hirsch, an environmental health researcher at Geisinger in Danville, Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study. 

“Green spaces can also increase the sense of social cohesion, a factor that has been associated with health and well-being, by facilitating interaction with neighbours,” Hirsch said by e-mail. 

More greenery might also make it easier for people to be in a better mood. 

“Green space may also provide a barrier to stressful environmental features, including traffic noise and displeasing structures,” Hirsch said. “At the same time, green space has been described as restorative, blocking negative thoughts and feelings and thus reducing stress.” 

Coping with Uncertainty: Youth in the Middle East and North Africa

Edited by Jorg Gertel and Ralf Hexel

London: Saqi Books, 2018, 380 pp

This book is the product of a project undertaken by Germany’s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in partnership with the University of Leipzig and other research institutes in Germany and the MENA region. 

It presents the results of a 2016-17 survey of 9,000 young people aged 16-30 in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen, as well as Syrian refugees in Lebanon. 

The study was oriented towards two overarching questions: “What does the situation look like for the youth six years after the so-called Arab Spring? And how do young people deal with the new insecurities and uncertainties of their everyday lives?” (p. vii)

The motivation for such extensive interviews was to fill a gap: Although there has recently been discussion of the “youth bulge”, and the problem of high youth unemployment, according to the editors, reliable, comprehensive, concrete data on youth was lacking.  

In this book, clearly delineated charts show the answers to the detailed survey questions in a way that allows comparison by country, gender, age group, marital and socio-economic status, as well as other criteria, while scholars interpret the statistical data in 15 articles.

“The analytical focus of this study concentrates on the situation of young people after severe societal disruptions, including the financial crisis (2007-8), the Arab Spring (2010-11), and the more recent migratory and refugee movements triggered by armed conflicts in Syria, Libya and Yemen. These developments emphasise the meshing of global dynamics anew.” (p. 33)

The respondents were asked questions about their expectations, priorities, values, religiousness, use of social media, attitudes towards changing gender roles, family, politics, civic engagement and more. 

While it is undisputable that this generation is on average much more educated than their parents, the prospects of them finding viable jobs and attaining economic security are significantly reduced due the structural adjustment plans imposed over the last several decades, which entailed privatisation, drastic cut-backs in the government sector and public services, as well as increasing global inequality. Thus, coping strategies that worked in the past are no longer successful: “The increasing instability of working conditions and enforced precariousness of an ever better-educated generation is striking.” (p. 154)

While some of the young respondents’ answers are fairly predictable, there are also some big surprises. The crucial role of family has not diminished; nor has religiosity, but for the majority it is unconnected to political Islam. 

“Rather, it is a personal decision to trust in God. This leads, as evidenced in the qualitative interviews, to a kind of optimism that is remarkable in the face of insecure living conditions, armed conflict and uncertain prospects for the future.” (p. 64) 

Also, contrary to the impression one gets from the media, “a remarkably small number of young Arabs intend to migrate, a surprising find against the backdrop of the multiple crises they are experiencing… more than half of the surveyed youth, with the exception of Tunisians, categorically rule out the option of migration for themselves; between 48 and 71 per cent, depending on the country”. (pp. 198 and 204)

Moreover, it is counted as “a remarkable finding that women from the upper-middle and highest economic stratas stated that having a good marriage is less important than securing a good job”. (pp. 106-7)

Not surprisingly, young people in Jordan, along with Bahrain and Tunisia, felt the most secure.

The survey also reflected youth’s views on the debate over the allegedly collapsing middle class, what kind of political system they prefer and to what degree they will mobilise to change things for the better.

The tone of the book is strictly objective, however the sections on food security, and the connection between hunger and violence are still heartbreaking. The study surveyed people in Yemen and Palestine, especially Gaza due to the Israeli blockade, as well as Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The authors connect local food shortages to the global food chain and point out that in war, “famines do not just ‘happen’, they are caused intentionally”. (p. 184)

Hopefully, this book will be read by government officials, people working in developmental aid organisations and others trying to address socio-economic issues related to youth in the MENA region. Because it is so concrete, so well researched and carefully evaluated, this study could be a large help in going beyond platitudes to find tangible solutions for the precarious status of youth today. 

The study is also published in Arabic by Dar al Saqi, of Beirut, and in German by Verlag J.H.W. Dietz, Bonn.

Despite warnings that supplemental testosterone may raise the risk of stroke and heart attack, doctors continue to prescribe the hormone off-label to men with cardiovascular disease, a US study finds. 

After poring over 10 years of prescription data, researchers found that men with heart disease were no less likely than those without it to receive a testosterone prescription despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2014 that the hormone might increase cardiovascular risk, researchers reported in JAMA Internal Medicine. 

“Safety concerns began emerging in 2010,” said lead author Dr Nancy Mordon of the Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practice in Lebanon, New Hampshire. “We looked specifically at heart disease patients compared to those with no heart disease trying to find out if we were being careful with patients who are at the highest risk. It turned out that patients were more likely to get testosterone if they had heart disease.” 

One of the biggest problems is that testosterone hasn’t been shown to have significant benefits, Mordon said. “Physicians are part of the equation,” she added. “They are prescribing products in a gray zone where efficacy and safety are unclear and they are prescribing to a population at risk. The bottom line is that physicians should be having in-depth discussion with their patients.” 

A trial that looked at the impact of testosterone supplementation on sexual function “showed a tiny benefit, 0.2 points on a 13 point scale”, Mordon said. 

For the new analysis, Mordon and colleagues examined a large random sample of Medicare fee-for-service data collected between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2016. They looked separately at testosterone prescriptions for approved conditions and those that were off-label, meaning prescribed to treat a condition for which the drug has not been FDA-approved. 

The annual number of patients studied ranged from 1.8 million to 3.1 million, representing 10 to 20 per cent of fee-for-service male Medicare enrollees older than 50. The researchers found that testosterone use was consistently higher for men with heart disease compared to those without it. 

Harry Fisch, who wasn’t involved in the study, was not surprised. First of all, he said, men with cardiovascular disease tend to have lower testosterone levels. In addition, people with heart disease are often overweight and “people who are heavier tend to have lower testosterone”, said Fisch, a clinical professor of urology and reproductive medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. “The bigger the belly, the lower the testosterone.” 

A better solution for these men would be “diet and exercise”, said Fisch. “That will lower the belly fat.” 

Fisch said he never prescribes testosterone off-label for low hormone levels. Beyond safety issues, “there is not a study showing what symptoms are improved with testosterone”, Fisch said. 

A large, ongoing randomised trial — the Testosterone Replacement Therapy for Assessment of Long-term Vascular Events and Efficacy Response in Hypogonadal Men — should be completed in 2022, said Dr Erin Michos of the Ciccarone Centre for the Prevention of Heart Disease at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. “The results of that trial could be the tipping point that changes practice patterns.” 

Low testosterone “may be a marker of a poorer health state, so it’s not surprising that many men with coronary artery disease have low testosterone”, said Michos, who wasn’t involved in the current study. “Men with diabetes and [coronary artery disease] frequently have vascular erectile dysfunction, stemming from atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction. Blaming low testosterone levels may seem like an easy solution when actually the problem stems from a more complicated underlying vascular disorder,” she said in an email. 

“Additionally”, Michos said, “there might be a tendency to blame a lot of non-specific symptoms such as fatigue or lack of fitness on the low testosterone level whereas there might be other modifiable etiologies for those symptoms, such as obesity and sedentary behaviour”. 

WASHINGTON — Japan has made good on years of threats by bolting the International Whaling Commission, but its decision may also offer a way out of tensions that looked inextricable.

Japan, which calls whaling part of its cultural heritage, said on Wednesday it would withdraw from the seven-decade-old commission which since 1986 has banned commercial killing of the ocean giants.

But while Japan vowed to forge ahead with full-fledged commercial hunts off its coast, it put a halt to its most provocative whaling — annual expeditions to the Antarctic, which use an IWC loophole that permits whaling for scientific research.

Australia and New Zealand have been outraged by Japan’s incursions into waters they consider a whale sanctuary and activists harassed the whalers in often dangerous chases.

Patrick Ramage, a veteran watcher of IWC negotiations, called the announcement an “elegantly Japanese solution” that looks on the surface like defiance but will likely mean a much smaller hunt.

“What this provides is a face-saving way out of high seas whaling. And it is difficult to see that as anything other than good news for whales, and the commission established to manage and conserve them,” said Ramage, programme director for marine conservation at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Ramage said that the IWC, where Japan will now have observer status, can focus on increasingly serious threats to whales such as climate change, plastic pollution, ship-strikes and accidental net entanglement from the soaring fishing industry.

“It will be a net positive to allow the commission and its member countries to move beyond what has been a disproportionate and warping debate on whaling,” he said.

Norway and Iceland also hunt whales but remain within the IWC, instead formally registering objections to the ban.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which opposes any killing of whales and attempted to stop Japan’s fleet forcibly in the Antarctic, declared victory over Tokyo’s announcement but vowed not to accept any whaling by the three countries.

Mounting obstacles 

For Japan, which generally prides itself on its contributions to international organisations, whaling has been a rare space in which it confronts its usual Western allies, with Japanese officials at IWC meetings railing against what they see as cultural imperialism.

While whale meat is rarely eaten in modern Japan, whaling has become a matter of principle for the powerful fishing business and port cities such as Shimonoseki, the home base of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

But Japan’s whalers also faced serious obstacles outside the IWC. The Nisshin Maru, the world’s only remaining whaler factory ship and flagship in the “scientific” expeditions, is 31 years old and set for replacement.

Japan — adamant that it has always followed the letter of the law — also in 2014 lost a lawsuit filed by Australia at the International Court of Justice, which rejected Tokyo’s argument that its whaling was for science, although the narrow ruling allowed Japan to reconstitute its programme.

And CITES, the global conference that governs wildlife trade to protect endangered species, in October reprimanded Japan for shipments of meat of sei whales, the main type it kills on the high seas.

Japan’s coastal whaling is expected to focus on minkes, the smallest of the great whales whose stocks are widely considered healthy.

Latest shift for IWC? 

The Cambridge, England-based IWC was established after World War II to manage whaling, seeking to ensure meat for a hungry Japan and, less successfully, to contain the Soviet Union’s prolific slaughter of whales.

After the IWC voted for the moratorium, Japan sought to pack the commission with allies — often small developing countries with no whaling tradition — but has continuously failed to reach the two-third threshold it needed.

As one of the earliest results of international environmental diplomacy, the IWC has advocates who say it must be preserved.

Peter Stoett, a professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology who has written a book on the IWC, said Japan’s withdrawal marked a setback for the commission which will no longer have universal membership.

But he said Japan’s absence could reorient the IWC once again to focus on science and diplomacy to address climate change and other urgent threats to whales and other cetaceans.

“As dramatic as this is, the major threat to cetaceans today is not coming from harpoons,” Stoett said.

“The end of all whales could come, but that would be because the oceans are just too warm for the ecosystem support structure that they need,” he said.

Patients undergoing surgery do not often receive practical advice about what to do and what to expect during the recovery process, says a surgeon who has been on the giving and receiving end of post-op instructions. 

These directions need a more commonsense approach to rest, diet and pain, J. David Richardson of the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky writes in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 

“We give patients these catchphrases about how they’ll feel better, but that’s not always true,” Richardson told Reuters Health. 

After 40 years of practice as a surgeon, and having undergone 40 operations himself, Richardson sees the need for practical advice, especially as minimally invasive procedures become more popular, and patients are discharged from the hospital quickly to recover at home. 

“For a long time, surgeons have been happy with surgical outcomes as long as a big issue didn’t come up, such as an infection,” he said in a phone interview. “Patients are concerned about the small aspects of recovery, and we should be attuned to that.” 

One of the most important tenets of recovery, he writes in his commentary, is that it is not a progressive linear process. The advice that “You will feel better every day” is not true, for example, and it often makes patients uneasy when they do not recover as they believe they should. Instead, patients tend to have a “stuttering progression to wellness”, Richardson writes, which means three steps forward and two steps back. When patients are aware of this, they are less apprehensive and less discouraged when they have a “bad day”. Rather than measuring progress daily, he advises tracking progress from one on Friday to the next. 

“Some days just don’t go that well, which is the way the body functions,” he told Reuters Health. “Patients need to know that what they’re going through is normal”. 

Richardson also disagrees with the advice to recovering patients about activities, “You can do what you feel like doing.” Although it sounds practical, this often backfires or discourages patients as they go through the healing process. Some feel great after waking up but then have fatigue or adverse reactions later in the day. Those who try to drive, shop or return to work too quickly may “hit a wall”, he notes. 

The body needs a physical recovery as much as a mental recovery, he notes, so he often tells patients to be cautious about performing mental tasks after a significant operation. Avoid “trying to work in a fog” or making important decisions in early post-operative stages, Richardson said. 

“Earlier in my career, patients were in the hospital for days and would come in the night before surgery to prepare and discuss more details,” he said. “There’s a time pressure difference now and an enormous push to get people out of the hospital.” 

Diet is another aspect that is often misrepresented, and the advice to “Eat what you feel like eating” can be too vague. Instead, a slower progression to a full normal diet could prevent nausea, vomiting, bloating, constipation and other gastrointestinal issues that occur during the early recovery phase. This is particularly true when patients are taking new pain medications, Richardson added. 

On a related note, pain management can also be misleading, he said. The opioid crisis speaks to the dangers of over-prescribing pain drugs, and points to the fact that pain is an individual response. Some patients require fewer doses, and others need heavy doses, but prescriptions are often given “by the book” where one size fits all. A more nuanced, individualised approach would help, taking into account previous pain medication use, psychotropic medication use and previous operation recovery experience. 

“Patients have little information about recovery in part because patients’ experiences are unique depending on their operation, fitness and psychology,” said Richard Kwasnicki of Imperial College London in the UK, who was not involved in the commentary. 

Kwasnicki studies how wearable sensors can help patients during post-operative care through reassurance and motivation to complete their rehabilitation goals. 

“When recovery is slow, it is often difficult to see the small incremental improvements,” he said in an e-mail. 

WASHINGTON — An American adventurer has become the first person to complete a solo trek across Antarctica without assistance of any kind.

Colin O'Brady, 33, took 54 days to complete the nearly1,600-kilometre crossing of the frozen continent from coast to coast.

In an Instagram post, he explained his journey ended upon crossing the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf: The point where Antarctica's land mass ends. It lies at the head of Ross Sea, a deep bay of the Southern Ocean.

"I accomplished my goal: To become the first person in history to traverse the continent of Antarctica coast to coast solo, unsupported and unaided," O'Brady wrote in an Instagram post after covering the final 124 kiliometre in 32 hours.

"While the last 32 hours were some of the most challenging hours of my life, they have quite honestly been some of the best moments I have ever experienced," he wrote.

"I was locked in a deep flow state the entire time, equally focused on the end goal, while allowing my mind to recount the profound lessons of this journey. I'm delirious writing this as I haven't slept yet."

His voyage was tracked by GPS, and live updates of the trip were provided daily on his website
colinobrady.com.

O'Brady and an Englishman, army Captain Louis Rudd, 49, set off individually on November 3 from Union Glacier in a bid to be the first to complete a solo, unassisted crossing of Antarctica.

In 1996-97, a Norwegian polar explorer, Borge Ousland, made the first solo crossing of Antarctica but he was wind-aided by kites on his voyage.

Finishing 'in one go' 

O'Brady and Rudd set off on cross-country skis dragging sleds called pulks which weighed nearly 180 kilogrammes.

O'Brady reached the South Pole on December 12, the 40th day of his journey.

He arrived at the finish point on the Ross Ice Shelf on the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday after covering a total of 1,482 kilometres.

Rudd is about a day or two behind.

O'Brady said he made the decision over breakfast to finish his journey in one continuous push — which he dubbed an "Antarctica Ultramarathon".

"As I was boiling water for my morning oatmeal, a seemingly impossible question popped into my head," O'Brady wrote on Instagram. "I wonder, would [it] be possible to do one straight continuous push all the way to the end?”

"By the time I was lacing up my boots the impossible plan had become a solidified goal," he said. "I'm going to push on and try to finish all 80 miles [129 kilometres]  to the end in one go."

The New York Times described O'Brady's effort as among the "most remarkable feats in polar history", ranking alongside the 1911 "Race to the South Pole" between Norway's Roald Amundsen and England's Robert Falcon Scott.

"To complete the final 77.54 miles [124 kilometres] in one shot — essentially tacking an ultra marathon onto the 53rd day of an already unprecedented journey — set an even higher bar for anyone who tries to surpass it," the Times wrote.

In 2016, an English army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley, died while trying to complete an unassisted solo crossing of Antarctica. 

A new technology is making it more and more difficult to believe what we see on the web, and even on regular satellite TV channels. The Internet is already full of much audiovisual content that aims to deceive us. The next phase, however, may prove to be even more incredible.

Forget about fake news, made up videos and Photoshopped photos. This is nothing compared to the much more deceptive digital material that is coming your way.

And it is coming from Nvidia, the well-known US-based maker of computer graphic cards, (the graphic card inside your computer is the part that generates the image you see on the screen). The importance of that card, also called video card or more formally GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), cannot be overestimated.

Such cards range from simple to extremely complex, and consequently from inexpensive to very expensive, or from as low as $100 to as high as $1,800. Therefore, the GPU inside a computer that is intended for intensive work or advanced gaming may end up costing as much, if not more than a good laptop computer.

Nvidia recently released news that by building on a specific artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which began about five years ago, the company has shown virtual “human” faces that were completely generated by a system called “generative adversarial network”. These faces are so real that even a trained eye cannot say for certain that they are virtual.

In other words, these are faces of people who simply do not exist but who look absolutely, perfectly, like people who could exist; like real human beings. Those curious to see how exactly they look can go to this URL https://petapixel.com/2018/12/17/these-portraits-were-made-by-ai-none-of-these-people-exist/

Obviously, these portraits are nothing like the robotic or humanoid faces we often see in movies or games. The technology that Nvidia uses to generate them is complex and employs several powerful GPUs at one time to get the job done. The above web URL gives some information about the process. It uses a combination of real portraits and then several criteria, along with a description, to “construct” the new faces.

Understandably, Nvidia’s technology can be applied to generate not only human faces but also animals, objects and places that, again, do not exist but look perfectly believable, as being real.

As with any new, sensational technology, there will be legitimate use for it, alongside less legitimate. We can easily imagine for instance, how entirely fake Facebook accounts could be created this way just by using a rather attractive profile photo generated by Nvidia’s new phototechnology.

In addition to off-the-shelf laptop and desktop computers that use Nvidia GPUs, the company’s powerful graphics processors can be found in specialised, custom-built computers, like for instance those employed in the flying or driving simulators that are used in training. The Royal Automobile Club of Jordan operates a driving simulator that uses Nvidia’s powerful GPUs.

In countless cases, advanced digital computer technology is already making it hard to draw the line between the real and the virtual. This is nothing new. However, Nvidia’s new image generating technology is taking the challenge to new heights, to a new dimension in virtual imaging.

Who will use it in legitimate constructive applications, and who will use it for deception, remains to be seen.

There is also little doubt that other designers and manufacturers of graphics cards for computer will follow suit, like AMD with its Radeon GPUs.

I do not know how it is these days, but during my time, no student really liked being handed the annual report card at school— that official looking folder, you know, which communicated a pupil’s academic performance for the year. 

There was no joy in being told, especially by a stern looking bespectacled nun that one’s work was substandard and one could do better by putting one’s heart into it. 

How exactly to put your heart into solving unsolvable mathematical calculations, was never explained. It was just assumed that by rigorous practice and by repeated trial and error, one would somehow grasp the basics of Sine, Cosine, Tangent and Theta of trigonometry.

But, many of us never did manage that, and ended up avoiding anything involving arithmetic — for the rest of our lives. 

Childhood traumas take a long time to heal. I had a friend in South Africa who ran a successful restaurant business because he failed his 10th exam at school. Even after a span of three decades, he recounted the incident to me as if it had happened yesterday. 

Math was his weak subject, he said, so he had slogged doubly hard for it during his board examinations. He thought that he had done pretty well in the test, so when the results were to be announced he dressed in his favourite white shirt and trousers, and waited at the entrance of his house for his father to get the report card at home 

When his Dad got out of the car, my friend rushed towards him, hoping he would get a congratulatory hug, but as he got closer, his father swung around and gave him a tight slap! 

In those days, it was not illegal to smack your kids if they did badly at school, and my friend had failed miserably. 

He walked out of the house immediately following that event, asked around and got a job as a waiter in a coffee shop, and subsequently worked his way up to become one of the wealthiest restaurateurs on the continent. 

Meanwhile, my personal annual report, documenting the year I have spent on Paradise Island in Mauritius is rather sketchy. I have succeeded in putting my house in order (took two months), clearing my car at customs (ten months), planting a flowery bush by the desolate front porch (took five months) and hanging the paintings and pictures on the appropriate walls (several months). 

What I have been completely unsuccessful in doing is figuring out the predictions of the weather-people, especially when he or she forecasts a cyclone. 

Cyclones are a regular feature here. Berguitta visited us in January while Alcide, Bouchra, Kenanga and Cilida made their presence felt during the next few months. 

In fact, Cyclone Cilida was supposed to cause severe devastation this weekend, with the metrological department raising the cyclone to a class 3. 

Accordingly, on Sunday I secured the doors and windows, kept a lot of candles handy, stored drinking water, followed the cyclone bulletins on TV and waited. Nothing happened!

“The sun’s shining brightly,” my husband announced.

“Must be the calm before the storm,” I told him. 

“It has stopped raining too,” he continued. 

I picked up my diary. 

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

“Making an annual report,” I mumbled. 

“What does it say?” asked my spouse. 

“Next year, whatever you plan,” I scribbled. 

“Never trust a weather man,” I read out. 

Isotretinoin, a drug for severe chronic acne, has long been linked to miscarriages, birth defects and other serious problems, but a research review suggests much of data on the drug’s safety, effectiveness and side effects may be unreliable. 

The analysis in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews concludes that the available evidence is of such low quality that it is hard to say for sure how well isotretinoin works or how dangerous it may be. 

“After 35 years of use, oral isotretinoin is widely accepted among dermatologists as the most effective available treatment for acne,” said a coauthor of the analysis, Edileia Bagatin of the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo in Brazil. 

“But lack of high quality evidence observed in this systematic review raises uncertainties regarding its real effectiveness and safety,” Bagatin said by e-mail. 

Almost a decade ago, Hoffmann-LaRoche stopped selling its brand-name version of isotretinoin, Accutane, in the wake of lawsuits over side effects and diminishing sales. Generic versions of isotretinoin are still prescribed for severe acne and carry a “black box” warning, the strictest issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), barring use by women who are or may become pregnant, because of the risk of birth defects. 

The FDA also warns that isotretinoin may increase the risk for inflammatory bowel disease and psychiatric side effects including depression, psychosis and suicidal thoughts. But the American Academy of Dermatology maintains that evidence for these risks is inconclusive and still supports use of isotretinoin for severe acne as long as doctors monitor patients for side effects. 

More than four in five teens eventually develop acne, Bagatin and colleagues note, usually on the face but sometimes also on the back and chest. Untreated severe acne has been linked to depression and other mental health problems. 

For the Cochrane analysis, researchers examined data from 31 previous studies with a total of 3,836 patients. Most were male. 

Three studies comparing oral isotretinoin to antibiotics for 20 to 24 weeks found no difference in the reduction of acne, but the researchers felt the evidence was low quality. 

Fourteen studies compared different doses of isotretinoin for 12 to 32 weeks and failed to detect serious side effects; again, researchers said the evidence was low quality. Less serious side effects, including dry skin, hair loss and itching, were assessed in 13 studies but researchers were uncertain whether there were any meaningful differences based on different doses of the drug. 

From clinical experience, however, doctors consider isotretinoin the “gold standard” for treating severe acne, said Felix Boon-Bin Yap of the University Tunku Abdul Rahman and Sunway Medical Centre in Selangor, Malaysia. 

“The studies included in this analysis are of low evidence and should be taken with a pinch of salt,” Yap said by e-mail. 

Although the Cochrane analysis found isotretinoin might not work better than antibiotics, long-term use of antibiotics can contribute to antibiotic resistance and make these drugs ineffective against infections, Yap, who was not involved in the Cochrane study, said by e-mail. 

If anything, the Cochrane review highlights the need for standardised research on acne, said Megha Tollefson of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. 

Most patients taking isotretinoin have tried antibiotics and other medications without success, Tollefson, who wasn’t involved in the Cochrane study, said by e-mail. 

“Isotretinoin is an excellent [both effective and safe] medication for the treatment of acne in the correct setting, and is very appropriate to use in patients including teenagers with moderate to severe acne,” Tollefson said.