Category: Life & Style

Bhutan has emerged as a country with impressive net zero emissions. It has not only curbed its carbon footprints, but has also transformed into a carbon sink, absorbing more carbon dioxide (CO2) than releasing, said a report on August 15.

In addition to Bhutan, Comoros, situated in the Indian Ocean and Gabon in Central Africa have managed to control their carbon emissions. Comoros accomplished the feat by conscientiously managing its agricultural, fishing, and livestock sectors, and implementing rigorous environmental safeguards.

Bhutan is one among the 196 nations that committed to the Paris Agreement during the UN Climate Change Conference focused on restricting global temperature increases to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Experts suggest that Bhutan’s population of 8,00,000 and forest coverage of 70% to have played a major role in accomplishing the status of net zero emissions, besides its initiatives towards sustainability. The nation prioritises sustainable organic farming and forestry practices, relies on hydropower, and prudently manages its main economic driver, tourism. It also charges a $200 sustainable development fee per day to tourists. The nation has also embarked on pilot projects that explore sustainable timber construction, showcasing innovative solutions.

Microscopic plastic particles have been traced in the fats and lungs of two-thirds of marine mammals in a recent study on ocean microplastics. The presence of polymer particles and fibers in these animals suggests that microplastics can travel out of the digestive tract and lodge in the tissues of the animals. Plastic particles identified in tissues ranged on average from 198 microns to 537 microns.

Researchers said that these microplastics pose an extra burden in addition to other challenges the marine mammals face, such as climate change, pollution, and noise. While scientists have yet to determine the exact harms these embedded microplastics might cause to these animals, plastics have been implicated by other studies as possible hormone mimics and endocrine disruptors.

The samples in this study were acquired from 32 stranded or subsistence-harvested animals between 2000 and 2021 in Alaska, California and North Carolina. Twelve species are represented in the data, including one bearded seal which also had plastic in its tissues.

The details of the study done by a graduate student at the Duke University Marine Lab will be carried in the October 15 edition of Environmental Pollution. 

Prince Harry helped raise around $1 million (S$1.35 million) in charity by participating in the annual Sentebale charity polo match at the Singapore Polo Club on August 13.

While the British royal scored two goals, these were not enough to help his team, the Royal Salute Sentebale win the Sentebale ISPS (International Sports Promotion Society) Handa Polo Cup. The match with the Singapore Polo Club Team ended in a 7-7 draw and both teams shared the trophy. Argentinian polo player Nacho Figueras captained the Singapore Polo Club Team.

The match had about 260 guests, and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, appeared at ease. He exuded a commanding presence on the field playing as a forward and scored two goals over four chukkas, or periods of play, of seven minutes each. The other important attendees included rugby royalty and former New Zealand All Blacks star Dan Carter, who graced the event as an ISPS Handa ambassador.

The annual Polo Cup has raised more than £11 million (S$18.8 million) for Sentebale since 2010, when it was played in Barbados. Sentebale is a charity founded in 2006 by Prince Harry and Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso to provide psychosocial support for children in southern Africa who are living with HIV.

Director and co-writer Greta Gerwig’s film, Barbie has become the highest-grossing movie domestically in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 100-year history. With an approximate international gross of $660.6 million so far, the film stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Released on July 21, it totals roughly $1.192 billion worldwide. In the process, Gerwig has become the first female solo director to gross a billion dollars on a film.

Barbie, the fantasy comedy based on the iconic Mattel doll, has done better by the company’s 2008 film, The Dark Knight. According to trade reports, Barbie grossed $6.1 million in the North American box office on August 15, grossing a total of about $537.3 million domestically. The business raised the film’s rank from No. 18 on the domestic all-time chart to No. 16, surpassing both Disney’s 2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($533,539,991) and The Dark Knight ($534,987,076). These figures are not adjusted for inflation.

The film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was released on July 21. It totals roughly $1.192 billion worldwide. In the process, on August 6, Gerwig became the first female solo director to gross a billion dollars on a film. Disney’s two animated Frozen movies, which crossed that mark in 2013 and 2019, respectively, were co-directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.

Gerwig had broken the record for highest-grossing film by a solo woman director, Wonder Woman (2017), directed by Patty Jenkins. The 40-year-old Barbie director is a three-time Oscar nominee for writing and directing Lady Bird (2017) and writing the adapted screenplay for Little Women (2019).

The space tourism company of British billionaire Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic finally launched its first space tourists to the edge of the cosmos on August 10. The first flight of private space tourists, known as Galactic 02, took off shortly after 11am ET from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

The company’s reusable rocket-powered space plane VSS Unity successfully landed after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. The vehicle reached more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth’s surface – at an altitude the US government considers the edge of outer space. It reached supersonic speeds as it moved upward. At the peak of its flight, the space plane spent a few minutes in weightlessness, as it entered free fall and returned to the spaceport for a runway landing at 9:30 a.m. MT. The journey lasted an hour.

On board the flight were an 80-year-old British former Olympian, who has Parkinson’s disease; Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers, a mother-daughter pair from the Caribbean who won their seats through a charity drawing; two pilots, and Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor who trained the crew before the flight. The mission also marked the most women flown in a single mission to space.

The suborbital joyride came after nearly two decades of development work. The flight will now allow the company to begin clearing a backlog of about 800 ticket holders who are waiting for space rides.

Saudi Arabia has expanded its visitor eVisa programme to travellers from eight more countries, taking the total up to 57. Now, tourists from Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, South Africa, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan can apply online to travel to the country. South Africa is the first African country to be added to the list.

The multi-entry eVisa is valid for one year and allows travellers to visit the Gulf nation for up to 90 days at a time. The visa costs 535 Saudi riyals ($142) and includes medical insurance. The visa holders can use the document for tourism, perform Umrah, attend conferences and events, and visit friends and family living in the country.

The eVisa is easier to obtain than a traditional visa, requiring less paperwork and no in-person interview. It is limited to travellers over 18 years with passports valid for at least six months. Children under 18 can enter Saudi Arabia when travelling with a parent, grandparent or adult sibling with an approved eVisa.

Saudi Arabia launched its eVisa programme in 2019, and has since seen an increase in the number of international arrivals. In 2022, it recorded more than 93.5 million foreign and domestic visits, up by 93% compared to the previous year, when the country had international travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A massive pyramid from the Bronze Age and dating back 4,000 years to the 2nd millennium BC has been discovered after years of research and excavation in Kazakhstan. The discovered structure is located in the Kyrykungir complex in Toktamys, approximately 420 miles southeast of the country’s capital Astana.

Carved from stone with an extraordinary degree of sophistication and grandeur, the pyramid was unveiled by the L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University on August 8, 2023. The extraordinary steppe pyramid is carved from stone with an extraordinary degree of sophistication and grandeur. The newly discovered pyramid was unveiled by the L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University on August 8, 2023.

While the Kyrykungir monumental complex has been the site of excavations since 2014, the discovery of the pyramid adds to the ancient importance of the location. The pyramid’s symmetry and proportions also underline the meticulous geometric precision of its ancient builders. Comprising six sides, with each measuring around 42 feet in length, the ancient structure is a highly intricate and advanced complex. It features several circular elements at its core and shows various animals, particularly horses on the exterior.

The excavations at the site have also yielded artifacts, including pottery, gold earrings, and other jewellery, underlining the pyramid’s vital cultural and ceremonial importance during its era.

The global average temperature for July 2023 was the highest on record and likely for at least 120,000 years, the UN weather agency and partners said on August 8.

Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director at the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, said that the month is estimated to have been around 1.5 degree Celsius warmer than the average for 1815 to 1900, so the average for pre-industrial times.

Speaking to media in Geneva, Burgess noted that July had been marked by heat waves in multiple regions around the world. Based on data analysis known as proxy records, which include cave deposits, calcifying organisms, coral and shells, the Copernicus scientist added that the planet has not been this warm for the last 120,000 years.

Records were also broken for global sea surface temperatures, after unusually high temperatures in April that led to the ocean surface warming in July to some 0.51 degree Celsius above the 1991-2020 average.

Chris Hewitt, Director of Climate Services, UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest years, as per readings going back at least 170 years. He added that the long-term warming trend is driven by continued increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that have all reached record observed highs. 

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first ever pill for treating postpartum depression, called Zurzuvae (zuranolone).

The makers of the new pill, Sage Therapeutics and Biogen Inc. have said that the drug will be commercially available in the fourth quarter of this year, as soon as October.

A potentially life-threatening condition, postpartum depression affects hundreds of thousands of new parents across the US every year. It will have an impact on one in seven people who give birth in the weeks after delivery, and can seriously disturb the health of the parent and child. The only treatment available prior to Zurzuvae was Brexanolone, an expensive drug that had to be administered via IV for 60 hours. On the contrary, the new pill has to be taken once a day for 14 days.

Unlike antidepressants, Zurzuvae does not target neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. It is a derivative of progesterone that can be unbalanced in the body after birth. The pill was tested on people with severe postpartum depression, and not on milder cases.

The pill — to be taken once a day for 14 days — has shown promising results in two company studies, with some patients seeing benefits after just three days.

The Australian government has welcomed the draft decision from UNESCO not to list the Great Barrier Reef “in danger.” While a UNESCO heritage committee on August 1 stopped short of listing the reef in its danger list, it warned that the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem remains under “serious threat” from pollution and the warming of oceans.

The Great Barrier Reef contributes about A$6 billion ($4 billion) to the Australian economy and supports 64,000 jobs. Australia has been lobbying for years to keep the reef off the endangered list, as it could lead to losing the heritage status, affecting the number of tourists.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November said the reef should be put on the danger list after frequent coral bleaching events. However, in its latest report, the panel noted the commitments and initial actions by the Australian government to preserve the reef.

The Australian government has pledged A$1.2 billion to protect the reef, withdrawn federal funding for dams, and denied permission for a coal mine that it said could have affected the reef’s water quality.

The UN panel has asked the government to submit a progress report by February 2024.