World

Paris Olympics: with 365 days to go, will this mega-event clinch a sustainability gold medal?

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 26, 2023

This is perhaps because when we think about environmental sustainability, we tend to weigh up how individuals, households, or even industries might be polluting the planet.

Key Points: 
  • This is perhaps because when we think about environmental sustainability, we tend to weigh up how individuals, households, or even industries might be polluting the planet.
  • However, mega-events are striking examples of the complex phenomenon of sustainability, mostly due to the impact of collective behaviour on the environment.
  • Host cities and organisations typically look to draw attention on the intended positive outcomes, including economic benefits and fan satisfaction.

The challenges of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games

    • As problematic as the Qatar World Cup was, organising the Olympic Games is perhaps even more challenging.
    • Even without the Olympics, Paris holds the title of the most-visited city in the world, bringing with it many sustainability-related challenges.
    • The question then becomes, how can the Olympic Games in Paris be more sustainable?

The “sustainable games” plan

    • Such ambitions are inherently paradoxical, in that they can create socio-economic value even while destroying environmental value.
    • Yet, the plan provides few specifics such as dates or further operational details, with some decisions still in the process of being taken.
    • To achieve this goal, Paris 2024 is applying what is called the ARO approach, which is an abbreviation to avoid, reduce and offset.
    • It will serve to inform employees and participants and help them measure and slash their personal and professional carbon footprint.
    • The initiatives, designed by a dedicated committee of nine experts and government representatives, are extensively explained in a report.

From plan to reality

    • Although the sustainability plan is innovative, ambitious, and promising, greenwashing has been seen in other recent mega-events.
    • Expectations are not facts until the Paris Olympic Games are over, of course, and to this date, most of the activities are nothing but plans.
    • According to the organisers, 13 million tickets are expected to be sold and 4 billion television viewers should watch the event.

STIs are on the rise – here's how to navigate telling a partner if you've got one

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 25, 2023

The number of gonorrhoea diagnoses recorded in England was in fact the highest since annual records began.

Key Points: 
  • The number of gonorrhoea diagnoses recorded in England was in fact the highest since annual records began.
  • On one hand you are being honest, responsible and respectful to your partner (or partners), and protecting their health.
  • The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.
  • Letting sexual partners know if you have an STI is essential to the prevention, treatment and control of these infections.

Honesty is the best policy

    • For example, a single course of antibiotics will often clear chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and “trich” (trichomoniasis).
    • It’s totally normal to be anxious about your partner’s response and the potential effect on your relationship, whether casual or long term.
    • It’s also important to disclose if you have an STI before starting a sexual relationship with someone new.

What if a partner discloses that they have an STI?

    • When asking these questions, try to be mindful of the language you use, and avoid placing blame.
    • An early STI diagnosis is the best opportunity for effective treatment, and prevention of health complications and further transmission.
    • If you do decide to have sex, it’s advisable to use a physical barrier such as a condom or dental dam to protect your partner.

Make this an opportunity

    • Whether it’s you or your partner who have an STI – or both – use this opportunity to do some research on sexual health.
    • The COVID pandemic has also shown us the crucial role of early detection, rapid testing, and importantly, public health communication and education.
    • Overcoming STI stigma, much like COVID stigma, requires education, improving access to STI testing and treatment, and the promotion of inclusive conversations about sexual health.

Nigeria's food insecurity: declaring a state of emergency isn't a real solution - here's what is

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 24, 2023

Data compiled by the World Economic Forum show that the average Nigerian household spends about 56% of its income on food.

Key Points: 
  • Data compiled by the World Economic Forum show that the average Nigerian household spends about 56% of its income on food.
  • Three other African countries that spend a high percentage of income on food are Kenya (46.7%), Cameroon (45.6%) and Algeria (42.5%).
  • Nigeria’s situation is so dire that President Bola Tinubu has declared a state of emergency on food insecurity.
  • My view as an economist is that fixing Nigeria’s food inflation goes beyond declaring a state of emergency.

Why emergency declaration is not enough


    Parts of Tinubu’s emergency plan have been tried in the past. For example:
    • The goal is to use them for agricultural production, housing and other socially beneficial projects.
    • But they won’t be useful to increase food production if the country’s young people aren’t interested in making a living through agriculture.

Learnings from India

    • One is India, which in the 1950s and 1960s experienced food shortages so severe that it became known as a “begging-bowl” nation.
    • By making food self-sufficiency its top economic and foreign policy priority in the 1960s, India jettisoned that image and became a major exporter of food.
    • Programmes under the Green Revolution included pro-agriculture economic policies, land reform and investment in rural infrastructure and agricultural technology.
    • Land reform: Land reform gave rural people access to agricultural land, supported by government-provided irrigation systems, rainwater catchments and extension officers.
    • Transport network: Perhaps the greatest boost to food production in India was the inexpensive and extensive transport network in the country.

No quick fixes

    • There are no quick and easy fixes for Nigeria’s food crisis.
    • It is doubtful that the mere declaration of a national emergency, with a long wish-list, will succeed in ensuring food security in Nigeria.

65 years of NASA – an astrophysicist reflects on the agency's legacy

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 24, 2023

Sixty-five years ago, in 1958, several government programs that had been pursuing spaceflight combined to form NASA.

Key Points: 
  • Sixty-five years ago, in 1958, several government programs that had been pursuing spaceflight combined to form NASA.
  • From John Glenn’s first flight into orbit to the Hubble telescope, the agency’s legacy has inspired generations of scientists.

First flight into orbit

    • My first grade teacher, Ms. Ochs, told the class that we would be doing something different on that day.
    • When the rocket got high enough, Glenn in the Mercury capsule – the cap – would separate from the rocket and go into orbit around the Earth.
    • My class then sat and listened to the historic launch of Friendship 7 carrying Glenn, which was the first U.S. mission to send a man into orbit around the Earth.
    • The program proved that NASA could put a manned spacecraft in orbit and bring it back safely to Earth.

A two-person spacecraft

    • In 1965, NASA planned to launch the two-person Gemini spacecraft, and I moved on to the fifth grade where my teacher, Mrs. Wein, was also a space enthusiast.
    • This was the first time that two piloted spacecraft performed what is called a rendezvous maneuver, where they meet up in orbit.
    • Orbital maneuvers like this require very precise calculations and a spacecraft in which astronauts can make path changes in orbit – which is what the Gemini capsule was designed to do.

On to the Moon

    • The Apollo 11 Moon landing happened in July 1969.
    • In December 1972, when I was a senior in high school, Gene Cernan became the last person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission.
    • Like many of us who witnessed the Apollo missions, I listened to Cernan’s final words from the Moon, where he challenged young people to continue what NASA had begun.

After Apollo

    • For one, the ability to guide unmanned robotic spacecraft anywhere in the solar system was a byproduct of the technologies necessary for the manned Apollo missions.
    • Perhaps the most ambitious of these is the Mars Perseverance Rover, which looks for chemical evidence of past or present life on Mars.
    • The Hubble Space Telescope and its newly launched cousin, the James Webb Space Telescope, have allowed astronomers to get large telescopes above Earth’s optically hazy atmosphere.

Looking ahead

    • I hope that today there are elementary teachers like Ms. Ochs and Mrs. Wein who will nurture the wonder and excitement of spaceflight in their students.
    • They can watch livestreams, like those of launches of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy in 2018 and NASA’s Artemis I in November 2022.
    • When the students I teach today near my age, I wonder what amazing things – about which we can only dream – they will look back on.

WHO expert cancer group states that the sweetener aspartame is a possible carcinogen, but evidence is limited – 6 questions answered

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 21, 2023

The World Health Organization declared on July 14, 2023, that the widely used synthetic sweetener aspartame could be a “possible” carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent, on the basis of “limited evidence for cancer in humans.” But the agency also concluded that the currently available data does not warrant a change of the acceptable daily intake of aspartame at this time.

Key Points: 
  • The World Health Organization declared on July 14, 2023, that the widely used synthetic sweetener aspartame could be a “possible” carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent, on the basis of “limited evidence for cancer in humans.” But the agency also concluded that the currently available data does not warrant a change of the acceptable daily intake of aspartame at this time.
  • The Conversation asked chronic disease epidemiologist Paul D. Terry, public health scholar Jiangang Chen and nutrition expert Ling Zhao, all from the University of Tennessee, to put these seemingly contradictory findings into perspective based on the available scientific evidence.

1. Why is aspartame being classified as ‘possibly’ cancer-causing?

    • Because it is approximately 200 times sweeter than table sugar, smaller amounts of aspartame are added to foods, and they contribute considerably fewer calories.
    • NutraSweet and Equal are well-known brand names for aspartame sold in packages for individual use.
    • The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an entity within the WHO, evaluated findings from both human and animal studies of aspartame and cancer.

2. What are the current guidelines for aspartame consumption?

    • This amount of aspartame per day translates to approximately eight to 12 cans of soda, or approximately 60 packets of aspartame, for a person weighing 132 pounds (60 kilograms).
    • For a child weighing 33 pounds (15 kg), it translates to between two to three cans of aspartame-sweetened soda per day, or approximately 15 packets of aspartame.

3. Does the WHO’s new stance change that recommendation?

    • Independently of the expert panel on cancer, the food safety group also evaluated the available evidence and concluded that there was no “convincing evidence” from either animal or human studies that aspartame consumption causes adverse effects within the currently established daily limits.
    • It is important to note that people with the rare inherited disorder called phenylketonuria, or PKU, should avoid or restrict aspartame intake.

4. How can two consensus groups reach different conclusions?

    • It is not uncommon for scientific consensus groups to differ in how they classify risk based on the results of published studies, even if more than one of those consensus groups is affiliated with the same agency or parent organization.
    • Whereas the WHO’s expert cancer group’s stance may appear to be more worrisome than that of the committee on food safety, in fact, the latter’s “no convincing evidence” is consistent with the cancer group’s “limited evidence” classification.

5. How does aspartame compare to other sweeteners?

    • But, like aspartame, many of these sweeteners have been implicated in developing cancer.
    • This list includes acesulfame potassium, or Ace-K – a synthetic calorie-free sugar substitute – as well as sugar alcohols and even simple sugar.

6. So what should consumers do?

    • And, as noted by the Mayo Clinic, artificial sweeteners may play a beneficial role for some people who are seeking to manage their weight or control their sugar intake.
    • One thing is clear: Scientific studies on aspartame consumption will continue, and it will be important for both consumers and the research community to continue weighing potential risks.

Good news for 'weekend warriors': people who do much of their exercise on a couple of days still get heart benefits

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 21, 2023

The World Health Organization recommends adults do a minimum of 150–300 minutes of moderate or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity each week.

Key Points: 
  • The World Health Organization recommends adults do a minimum of 150–300 minutes of moderate or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity each week.
  • This can include active transport from place-to-place, exercise for fun and fitness, energetic housework or physical activity at work.
  • It may be more feasible to squeeze most physical activity and exercise into a few days.

What the new study found

    • Those who did less than the WHO recommended 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week were considered inactive.
    • For heart failure, weekend warriors had a 38% lower risk than inactive people, while regular exercisers had a 36% lower risk.
    • Irregular heartbeat risk was 22% lower for weekend warriors and 19% lower for regularly actively people.

Not so fast. Some study limitations

    • Some people may have been active on Saturdays and Sundays, others might have chosen Wednesday and Friday – or different days each week.
    • In that sense, the study examined a “pseudo-weekend warrior” pattern.

What other research in this area says

    • There have been several questionnaire based studies in this area in the past 20 years.
    • Our 2017 study, for example, combined data from 63,591 adults from England and Scotland and tracked them over 12 years.
    • Our more recent studies used activity trackers and emphasised the flexibility of activity patterns that benefit the heart and circulation.

What it means for you and your routine

    • That said, there are benefits in being regularly physically active on most days of the week.
    • But confirmation that we can be flexible about how physical activity is accumulated across the week for heart health benefits is encouraging.

Good news for weekend warriors: people who do much of their exercise on a couple of days still get heart benefits

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 21, 2023

The World Health Organization recommends adults do a minimum of 150–300 minutes of moderate or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity each week.

Key Points: 
  • The World Health Organization recommends adults do a minimum of 150–300 minutes of moderate or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity each week.
  • This can include active transport from place-to-place, exercise for fun and fitness, energetic housework or physical activity at work.
  • It may be more feasible to squeeze most physical activity and exercise into a few days.

What the new study found

    • Those who did less than the WHO recommended 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week were considered inactive.
    • For heart failure, weekend warriors had a 38% lower risk than inactive people, while regular exercisers had a 36% lower risk.
    • Irregular heartbeat risk was 22% lower for weekend warriors and 19% lower for regularly actively people.

Not so fast. Some study limitations

    • Some people may have been active on Saturdays and Sundays, others might have chosen Wednesday and Friday – or different days each week.
    • In that sense, the study examined a “pseudo-weekend warrior” pattern.

What other research in this area says

    • There have been several questionnaire based studies in this area in the past 20 years.
    • Our 2017 study, for example, combined data from 63,591 adults from England and Scotland and tracked them over 12 years.
    • Our more recent studies used activity trackers and emphasised the flexibility of activity patterns that benefit the heart and circulation.

What it means for you and your routine

    • That said, there are benefits in being regularly physically active on most days of the week.
    • But confirmation that we can be flexible about how physical activity is accumulated across the week for heart health benefits is encouraging.

The Football Ferns’ historic win in the World Cup opener scores another goal for all women’s sport in New Zealand

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 21, 2023

The opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Auckland was a historic moment for women’s sport in New Zealand – and not just because the Football Ferns upset highly-ranked Norway to win one-nil.

Key Points: 
  • The opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Auckland was a historic moment for women’s sport in New Zealand – and not just because the Football Ferns upset highly-ranked Norway to win one-nil.
  • The previously most-attended football game in New Zealand was between the All Whites and Peru in 2017.
  • So the World Cup win by the Football Ferns signals an important milestone in New Zealanders’ relationship with the game – and women’s sport in general.

The long game

    • Women’s football has a long history in New Zealand, dating back to the first decade of the 20th century.
    • This growth might be attributed to the growing visibility of the women’s game globally.
    • But efforts by NZF and regional sports organisations have also made the game more accessible and exciting to a wider range of girls and women.

Top down and bottom up

    • We may also be seeing the fruits of significant government investment through the Sport NZ Women and Girls in Sport strategy.
    • This long-term initiative has sought to improve opportunities for girls and women to participate in sport, active recreation and play – and to improve conditions for women as athletes and leaders.

Building the legacy

    • In particular, the number of families with young children – girls and boys – who turned out to watch the Football Ferns dominate a former World Cup champion team suggests new generations will keep building the local game.
    • The historic opening match will undoubtedly encourage New Zealanders to fill stadiums in Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin over the coming weeks.
    • Read more:
      Will the Matildas and Football Ferns have a home ground advantage?

What the end of Nike's sponsorship means for Hockey Canada

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 21, 2023

Nike originally paused the relationship in October 2022, but now has permanently ceased it after nearly 25 years of working with Hockey Canada.

Key Points: 
  • Nike originally paused the relationship in October 2022, but now has permanently ceased it after nearly 25 years of working with Hockey Canada.
  • It joins a host of other sponsors that have also paused their support for Hockey Canada, including Telus, Tim Hortons, Bauer Hockey, Canadian Tire, Scotiabank, Esso and Sobeys.
  • The unique relationship between the two parties has additional complexities that make the end of this sponsorship especially notable.

A mutually beneficial departure?

    • Even though Nike is the one that ended its partnership with Hockey Canada, the decision could be a positive development for both parties.
    • In 2018, the Globe and Mail reported that a Nike Canada employee bought alcohol for Hockey Canada players prior to the alleged sexual assault in 2018.
    • In addition, Nike Canada is currently under investigation for the potential use of forced Uyghur labour in China.

Nike’s foray into hockey

    • Additionally, Nike ventured beyond uniform production into the business of hockey equipment at the end of the last century.
    • In 1994, Nike purchased Canadian hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer for $395 million and began its aggressive expansion into the hockey landscape.
    • For this reason, Nike’s decision to end their partnership with Hockey Canada could be reflective of their broader strategy to leave the hockey marketplace, as much as an ethical statement on the organization or its current state.

Hockey Canada’s future

    • While the impact of this decision appears to have grave short-term financial consequences for Hockey Canada, it’s important to consider the scale of Hockey Canada’s cash reserves.
    • However, the numbers from Hockey Canada have so far indicated that bankruptcy will not be imminent following Nike’s decision.
    • The answer to this question will not only dictate the nature of future relationships between Hockey Canada and its sponsors or donors, but the connection felt between Canadians and their national teams.

Mining the seabed for clean-tech minerals could destroy ecosystems. Will it get the green light?

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 20, 2023

That’s because this United Nations body has the power to permit – or deny – mining on the deep seabed, outside any nation’s exclusive economic zones.

Key Points: 
  • That’s because this United Nations body has the power to permit – or deny – mining on the deep seabed, outside any nation’s exclusive economic zones.
  • Developing Pacific nation Nauru has led the charge to open up the seabed for mining, seeing it as a new source of income.
  • The ISA has already missed its July 9 deadline to produce regulations governing seabed mining.

Why mine the deep sea at all?

    • Land-based mining usually involves processing vast volumes of rock, taking out the minerals you want and leaving the tailings behind.
    • The main area prospectors are eyeing off is the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an abyssal plain 4,000–5,000 metres deep east of Hawaii.
    • Read more:
      A rush is on to mine the deep seabed, with effects on ocean life that aren't well understood

But what about the environment?

    • While fishing trawlers already tear up large areas of seafloor to devastating effect, mining would open up even more of the seabed.
    • Opposition has come from many conservation organisations, civil society representatives, governments like Canada, Germany, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
    • They want a moratorium on seabed mining based on the precautionary principle – not acting until we know what impact it will have.

Should the ISA have the power to decide this?

    • The treaty is clear about how we should protect and use the seabed, as part of the “common heritage of mankind”.
    • The ISA was created to steward these commons, with the power to make rules in international waters.
    • The ISA is, like some other UN bodies, a complex bureaucracy and has been criticised for lacking transparency.
    • Even though all 167 nations which signed the law of the sea treaty are automatically ISA members, critical decisions can be made with far fewer.

So is it a done deal?

    • Two years ago, Nauru triggered a clause giving the ISA two years to produce a mining code and rules – a feat it had not previously managed.
    • Read more:
      Deep seabed mining plans pit renewable energy demand against ocean life in a largely unexplored frontier