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Weekly Update: Jump in gas that causes global warming
LONDON: Climate experts cautioned on Monday that a reported consecutive annual jump in the quantity of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might be an anomaly, without ruling out it was a sign of rapid global warming.
For the first time carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rose by more than two parts per million for two years running, from 2000 to 2001, according to figures recorded by a US scientist and published in the British press.
Climate experts said that the figures may be an anomaly but that they raised the alarm that climate change may be happening faster than previously believed and that governments around the world should take notice.— APP
“Green” chocolate, noisy bread invented
PARIS: As nutritionists and health gurus worldwide ponder how to reverse growing global obesity, a rarefied handful of food designers believes “green” chocolate and bread that makes noises might be just the thing.
“The food industry needs new shapes, new textures, new styles”, said Edouard Malbois, who heads the world’s self-proclaimed first designer food consultancy firm, Enivrance.
After putting heads and tastebuds together, the food studio and four high-powered European chefs — a Briton, a Spaniard and two Frenchmen — have come up with designer green chocolate, stylized eggs, chickenleg-like vegetable “drumsticks”, and bread able to literally produce three different sound-bites.
“People today want to live in harmony with nature, with the plant world,” Malbois told AFP. “So we drew inspiration from the earth, the sea and the sky to develop concept foods that are industrially viable.”
“Green Chocolate”, the work of Barcelona master chocolate-maker Oriol Balaguer, is a chocolate block sprouting blueberries, sprigs of fennel, ginger and vanilla.
Known as “Sea Bread”, and described as “a dialogue between flour and seaweed”, the dune-coloured wave-shaped slice of bread is also a work-in-progress. After designer clothes and designer decor, France’s first designer food consultancy made its international debut at the last SIAL global food fair in 2002. —AFP
Man arrested after he wakes up from coma
SAN FRANCISCO: A Nevada man who recently emerged from a two-month coma was arrested after regaining consciousness and is now recovering in a county jail medical facility, officials said on Monday.
Richard Martin, 37, of Fernley, Nevada was arrested last week on attempted murder and kidnapping charges after police alleged he deliberately crashed his car with his wife on board, police in Washoe County, Nevada said.—Reuters
Australia to withdraw from Champions Trophy
SYDNEY: Hockey Australia (HA) defended their decision to withdraw the Olympic champions out of the Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan in December, saying security concerns had left it no choice.
HA’s decision was strongly criticised by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).
“They (Australia) have conveyed to us that they will not be coming and have cited the baseless security fears, which is not only disappointing but disturbing for us,” federation secretary Brigadier Musarratullah Khan told AFP.
The HA board issued a statement on Tuesday saying Australian Government travel advice had left it with no option but to pull out of the elite six-nation tournament, scheduled for December 4-12 in Lahore.
Khan told AFP that the other four teams - Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand and Spain - had confirmed their attendance.
Pakistan was originally to host the event in 2001 but security fears in the wake of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States forced the international body to relocate the tournament to Holland. Pakistan was later awarded the 2004 edition. — AFP
Dinosaur prints discovered in Swiss mountains
GENEVA: Hundreds of dinosaur prints dating back 152 million years have been discovered in the Jura mountains in the northwest of Switzerland, a Swiss paleontologist said on Monday.
More than 580 prints were found on a slab of limestone measuring 600 square metres at Chevenez in the Swiss canton of the Jura, said Wolfgang Hug, head of the paleontology section at the Jura office of culture.
The Swiss researchers want the dinosaur-rich area to be added to the United Nations list of worldwide heritage sites.
In total, almost 2,000 dinosaur prints have been found so far in this corner of Switzerland.
The latest group of prints, which are being preserved in resin casts, measure between eight and 20 cm long.
The tracks were made by four-legged herbivores between 15 and 20 metres long and 2.5 metres high, and smaller two-legged carnivores.
Hug said a commission would be set up to establish the scientific value of the discovery by the end of 2005.
“This will allow us to ask for UNESCO protection for these prints as part of the world’s heritage,” he said. —AFP
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