#so 70 per cent of the planet is covered in water and almost all of that is the ocean

[travelaussie]

Best Places to Visit in Asia

Asian countries have a special attraction for tourists from all over the world. Westerners accustomed to tedious winter or dry weather do not hesitate to run away from Asia to reach the warm and humid climate of Asia. The climate, people and culture are all here to bring them something new. Westerners usually come to Asia to taste a little heated and spicy, no matter the environment, people, nature or food. Asia has never deceived them. Asia has repeatedly captured the minds of Westerners with its unlimited variety. Visit Our Website: 

Asian countries

have a special attraction for tourists from all over the world. Westerners accustomed to tedious winter or dry weather do not hesitate to run away from Asia to reach the warm and humid climate of Asia. The climate, people and culture are all here to bring them something new. Westerners usually come to Asia to taste a little heated and spicy, no matter the environment, people, nature or food. Asia has never deceived them. Asia has repeatedly captured the minds of Westerners with its unlimited variety. Asia is the biggest and most populated continent in the world. It has a population of about 4.5 billion people and covers one-third of the total landmass of the planet. If we look back two centuries ago then trips to this continent were reserved for wealthy traders, ambassadors and other rich people who could afford expensive voyages. But now it has become a famous tourist destination for visitors from all over the world because travel costs are now affordable to many people.  If you want to take a tour of places in Asia and don’t have savings then nowadays you can also apply for a travel loan or a personal loan. Here are some popular tourist destinations where you can go and feel the natural beauty, history and culture of Asia.

1. Hong Kong:

Hong Kong is one of the many reasons why Asia is regarded as the leading cause of making Asia known at the base of the globe. The previous British colony may be called the gateway to China. But even though the Chinese people have an influence on the people and their culture, it is very distinct from the Chinese. Being in the British Empire for a long time, their journey from eating, to living, to almost every aspect of life can be noticed in the West. Making the whole Hong Kong city in many forward and planned ways. The area of ​​the population is small but due to adequate planning, there is no traffic jam or any other interruption. There is no corruption, dirty environment of insecurity. If you want to experience the more natural surroundings of Hong Kong, you have to attend the islands to be surrounded by it. Here you will find many wonderful beaches and all kinds of modern amenities.

Some interesting facts about Hong Kong

Hong Kong comprises of 212 islands, including Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, and Kowloon Peninsula.

It is the fourth most populated area in the world. Prime on the list is Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Although densely populated, there is 25% place for urbanization and 40% place for park and pleasure. The rest of the area is entirely forested.

Hong Kong citizens are called Hong Kongers.

There are two kinds of Chinese (Cantonese) and English.

The average life expectancy of people in Hong Kong is one of the longest in the world. The average life expectancy of men is 81.2 years and women are 86.9 years.

Hong Kong is known as Skyscraper City. If construction is more than 14 floors, they are called skyscrapers. As such, Hong Kong has the largest number of skyscrapers.

2. Maldives:

This amazing island in the Indian Ocean is located far away from civilization. This magnificent country is made up of about 120 islands. Almost every island here has a wonderful blend of white sandy beaches, coral reefs and clear swimming pools. The

Maldives

is also termed as Asia's second-best tourist destination. Fourth Comfort Beach is a flourishing area and the fifth honeymoon destination! The beaches are perfect for scuba diving and snorkelling, which will fill your mind with a thrilling experience.

Some interesting facts about the Maldives

The Maldives was established by an exiled king. The king of Kalinga became angry with his son, Aditya, and banished him to the Maldives. Thereafter King Aditya established his empire there.

There are around 1190 corals in the Maldives.

The Maldives is the deepest ground in the world. It is also the flattest land in the world.

The Maldives is the smallest Muslim nation in the globe.

The Maldives is a very safe place to holiday.

The literacy rate in this country is 98% which is one of the largest in the world.

The world's first underwater council meeting was held in the Maldives.

3. Tokyo:

Tokyo is called the third most attractive city in Asia. Not only Asia but also the largest and most advanced city in the world is called Tokyo. As well as being the capital and main city of the nation, the population and resources are very high here. The roads are crowded. From that point on, it can be difficult for new tourists at times to create some troublesome situations. But to endure a city like Tokyo, you must accept this challenge. The whole of the city is actually very beautiful. In addition, you will have the rare occurrence of visiting many sights such as the Jukizi Market, Tokyo National Museum and Meiji Strain.

Some interesting facts about Tokyo

To live here, you have to follow many rules. For example, the bus stand, elevator, or Khabar must also hold the line, help others, do not disturb anyone. These are considered to be fairly laws.

People in Japan are very gentle and humble.

As you walk down the street you will see a lot of interesting street symbols.

The people here are fashion freak. They make a lot of tattoos, cut and colour their hair in Western-style.

The food here is much more affordable and healthier. And you will obtain it very easily at hand.

Japanese boys and girls are very glad about hair. When you get out on the street, different hairstyles and colours will show you that.

4. Phuket:

Phuket is said to be Asia's fourth most famous city for tourists. The major attraction here is its lovely beaches and the lush green waters that surround it. Here you will find all the tall boats made of ancestral wood. Take a look around and see the magnificent all-natural picture of Limestone. All these scenes are enough to make you mentally stimulated. Apart from this, the total viewing range of ​​the Cape, Big Buddha and No Horn beach is amazing.

Some interesting facts about Phuket

Phuket is the biggest island in Thailand. Its size is almost equal to that of Singapore.

Phuket sounds like a mountain treasure.

There are 36 beaches in whole. Of these, Patang is the most important.

On the island of Phuket, a movie about the James Bond series "The Man with the Golden Gun" was executed. From then on the name of the island converted to  James Bond Island.

In Phuket, there is a statue of a Buddha which is 148 feet (45 meters) high which is really worth viewing. It is considered the jewel of Phuket.

Every year there is a Vegetarian Festival in Phuket for 3 days. It's a big part of Thai history.

The hill range is the top 70 per cent of Phuket.

Many famous personalities, including Naomi Campbell, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kevin Spacey, often come to Phuket.

5. Bali:

Even those who have not gone to Indonesia they also know its reputation. Bali is the fifth most

attractive destination in Asia

. Bali is so fascinated by the innate beauty that they have given it a name. This is "Heaven on Earth”. The mind-blowing Rainforest, an eye-catching hill range, a valley surrounded by sugary and green, is able to meet all the needs of a tourist. And not to consider white sandy beaches. The sandy beaches are one of the most attractive in the world for its clear aquamarine waters, which will make your eyes glow. The rest of the readers can easily imagine.

Some interesting facts about Bali

Bali is actually understood to involve three islands. Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nisa Kenninggan are made up of three biceps of debris.

The use of ice on the sand islands is regulated by the government. Tap water is not very safe for cooking. So purified water comes and has to be kept on the side.

If you sit down to dine with the locals, you will end up with some food at the end of your meal. Don't eat it all. That's the custom here. This is done to show that the person who has eaten has enough food.

A town festival called Nepi is held every year in Bali. On one of the festivals, the airport is closed with sand that day. Likewise, other services, including beaches and boats, are closed.

Bali has the largest amount of spas in the world. Its number is more than 1200.

6. Chiang:

Many people may not be as close to the name Chiang Mai. However, those who went to Chiang Mai for office work or family will say in one sentence the excellence of it. Asia's sixth most popular Thai town for tourists, the city is situated in wonderful surroundings. There are more magnificent Buddhist temples. Each one is located on top of several hills. Hiking there is also a challenge. And the challenge is the real pleasure to travel! Rain forest will also be an adventure.

Some interesting facts about Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is the capital of northern Thailand.

Its weather is quite warm and cosy.

Chiang Mai is traditionally strong. It has more than 700 years of culture and history.

There are more than 50 genetic parks.

There are 50 elephant protection and rehabilitation centres.

There are more than 320 temples.

There are many large shopping centres which are very amazing and one of the largest in Asia. These cover Night Market, Malin Plaza Night Market, Saturn Day Night Market, Sun Day Walking Street, Waro Rat Market, etc.

There is an excellent internet and Wi-Fi everywhere in the area.

There are also many cafes, restaurants and art galleries to visit.

[watchilove]

Oris is delighted to announce the Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, the second limited edition diver’s watch made in partnership with Coral Restoration Foundation, the world’s leading coral restoration organisation. By the end of this year, the foundation will have outplanted over 30,000 corals on Florida’s Carysfort Reef, a golden moment Oris is proud to join it in celebrating.

Oris is committed to raising significant funds for Coral Restoration Foundation. The independent Swiss watch company will donate three 18-carat yellow gold watches from the run of 50 limited edition pieces to the non-profit organisation, which will auction numbers 02/50, 03/50 and 04/50 at a series of events this spring. The purpose of this special gold edition is to raise as much as possible in support of the foundation’s pioneering activities.

Oris has been working with Coral Restoration Foundation since 2014 as part of its mission to bring Change for the Better. That year, the organisation’s founder, Ken Nedimyer, was recognised as Oris’s Sea Hero of the Year and given a grant to help further the foundation’s work. The first watch collaboration followed in 2017 and proved to be a huge success in raising funds and awareness for the foundation. Oris is thrilled to be able to step up its support again for the organisation’s vital work.

The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition is the first Oris Aquis model produced in solid gold. The case is cast in 18-carat yellow gold, complemented by a solid 18-carat gold bezel with a black and blue ceramic insert. The automatic mechanical watch has a GMT function and can show the time in three time zones simultaneously using the 24-hour scale laser-engraved into the bezel.

An iconic coral reef

Coral Restoration Foundation is based in Florida and has become the world’s leading expert on coral restoration. Its reef restoration methods, which reintroduce coral to damaged reefs, have been adopted by a growing number of enterprises around the world, including the Reef Restoration Foundation, which Oris partnered with last year for the Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition III.

The name Carysfort is taken from the Carysfort Reef, a coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary near Key Largo, Florida. Carysfort is part of the Florida Reef Tract, which is the third largest barrier reef in the world and the only barrier reef in the USA.

The foundation has been working to restore Carysfort Reef since 2014 and has already made significant strides towards securing its future. This year, its restoration programme is accelerating. So far, the foundation has returned nearly 25,000 corals to the reef, a figure that will rise to at least 30,000 by the end of 2020. It’s a remarkable achievement, and the result of incredible vision, energy and commitment.

The scale of the problem – and why it matters

Carysfort is one of the world’s most iconic coral reefs. ‘The reefs of the Florida Keys, including Carysfort Reef, were the epicentre of the early recreational dive industry in the 1950s and 1960s,’ says Martha Roesler, Coral Restoration Foundation’s Chief Development Officer.

But over the last 40 to 50 years, the reef has been severely degraded. Coral populations in the Keys have declined by around 98 per cent. ‘There’s now a critical need for coral restoration on a massive scale to restore Carysfort to a healthy, thriving reef system,’ Martha explains.

Why does this matter? Coral reefs are among the Earth’s oldest and most biodiverse ecosystems. While they cover just 1 per cent of the Earth’s surface, they support at least 25 per cent of all marine species.

The health of the oceans is vital to all life: they produce 70 per cent of the world’s oxygen. ‘Coral reefs are a critical part of a healthy ocean and provide essential ecosystem services,’ says Martha. ‘They’re important for human subsistence, supporting fisheries that provide protein for billions of people. They also form natural barriers that protect shorelines and infrastructure from wave energy and storm surges.’ It’s estimated that coral reefs have a global value of close to $10 trillion.

The real threat of climate change

The threat to coral reefs has been mounting over the last 40 years and has now reached critical status. The foundation is clear on the main cause. ‘Climate change is the biggest threat to coral reefs around the world,’ says Martha. ‘It’s impacting our oceans through the increase of sea surface temperatures, increasing ocean acidification, sea-level rise, changes in storm patterns, changes in precipitation, and altered ocean currents. Coral reefs are now experiencing higher ocean temperatures and acidity than at any time in the last 400,000 years. But the reefs in the Keys have also experienced decades of local stressors – things which we can control.’

Because of these negative changes, many reef-building stony corals, such as staghorn and elkhorn corals, are now endangered species. ‘As individual coral colonies die, the reef ecosystem degrades,’ Martha says. ‘If too many stony coral colonies die, then the reef itself reaches a tipping point, leading to its complete deterioration and death. Coral reefs are now the most endangered ecosystems on the planet,’ she continues. ‘Humanity has never before faced the extinction of an entire ecosystem, yet we have lost 50 per cent of the world’s coral reefs in the last 30 years. In the next 80 years, without direct action, all shallow coral reefs could become extinct.’

New hope

All is not lost, though. ‘There is every need to continue to work to restore damaged coral reef ecosystems,’ says Martha. ‘Despite the ongoing threat to coral reefs from climate change, there is still hope. By mitigating local impacts, and ensuring coral populations persist in the wild, we have a chance of turning the tide and helping corals to adapt and survive into the future.’

The foundation has developed coral restoration techniques that allow them to restore reefs on a massive scale. Corals can propagate from cuttings (asexual reproduction) and over the last decade, the foundation has experimented with growing coral fragments. Its Coral Trees (pictured previous page and above) are now widely accepted as one of the most effective methods for growing corals in the ocean.

‘If coral populations in specific areas are restored to historical levels, we can jump-start the reefs’ natural recovery processes,’ says Martha. ‘And by restoring strategically important reefs with the most critical species, we create a series of ecological stepping stones, like parks, that act as seeds and begin to knit the entire system back together.’

Oris helps raise funds for a vital mission

The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition has the potential to make a huge difference to the Foundation’s work. Auctions of the three pieces donated by Oris to the foundation will be held in February, March and April at a series of events in the USA, the last of which is the foundation’s own Raise the Reef gala. Funds raised by sales of the remaining limited edition pieces will also help support its work.

Those funds will go directly to supporting the foundation’s ongoing project to restore Carysfort Reef. Over the next three years, the foundation is planning to restore an area of the reef measuring almost 100,000m2 throughout the Florida Reef Tract, roughly the size of 17 American football fields. By the end of 2020, it will already have returned at least 30,000 corals to Carysfort Reef alone.

The foundation’s vision is that Carysfort will be the world’s first reef to experience successful, ecosystem-level recovery. And, thanks to support from partners such as Oris, it’s extremely confident this can be achieved.

Later this year, Oris will introduce a steel version of the Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, also in support of the foundation’s work. ‘The collaboration with Oris allows us to raise critical funding, as well as to increase awareness for our organisation and our mission by helping us reach an international audience,’ says Martha.

‘This partnership is central to our continuing mission to bring Change for the Better,’ says Oris Co-CEO Rolf Studer. ‘Through the Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, we’re really stepping up our ambitions and our contribution to returning the world’s corals to their original state. It’s a hugely imprtant project and we’re excited by everything Coral Restoration Foundation is achieving through it.’

The first Oris diver’s watch in solid 18-carat gold

The Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition is based on Oris’s high-performance Aquis diver’s watch and features the same standard specifications, including water resistance to 300 metres. But it is the first Oris diver’s watch produced in solid 18-carat yellow gold – the case, bezel, crown and crown protectors are all made of the precious material. Its hands are yellow-gold-plated and filled with luminescent Super-LumiNova®, including the ‘lollipop’ central seconds hand.

The automatic mechanical watch has a GMT, or second-time zone function, indicated by a central hand that makes a full tour of the dial once every 24 hours. A second-time zone can be read off against a 24-hour chapter ring on the dial, while a laser-engraved 24-hour scale on the bi-directional rotating bezel can be used to indicate a third-time zone. The bezel insert is made of scratch- and fade-resistant black and blue ceramic, designed to indicate day and night time for an additional time zone.

The watch has a sapphire crystal over a gradient blue dial that darkens towards the edge, and a date window at 3 o’clock. The solid gold case back has a sapphire crystal inlay decorated with the limited edition number and a special motif celebrating Coral Restoration Foundation’s milestone of 30,000 corals planted. It’s set on a blue leather strap with a rubber coating, and each of the 50 pieces made will be presented in a special wooden box.

Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition Technical Specification and Price

Ref. no. 01 798 7754 6185 – Set, Limited to 50 pieces

Case

Material: Multi-piece solid 18-carat yellow gold case with a bi-directional rotating bezel with black and blue ceramic insert and laser-engraved 24-hour scale

Size: 43.50 mm, 1.713 inches

Top glass: Sapphire, domed on both sides, antireflective coating inside

Case back: Solid 18-carat yellow gold with a sapphire crystal inlay printed with the limited edition number and a special Carysfort Reef motif

Operating devices: Solid 18-carat yellow gold screw-in security crown

Water resistance: 30 bar/300 m

Interhorn width: 24 mm

Movement

Number: Oris 798, base SW 330-1

Dimensions: Ø 25.60 mm, 11 1/2’’’

Functions: Centre hands for hours, minutes, seconds and 24 hours, date window at 3 o’clock, instantaneous date, date and 24-hour corrector, fine timing device and stop-second

Winding: Automatic

Power reserve: 42 hours

Vibrations: 4 Hz (28’800 A/h)

Jewels: 25

Dial

Design Blue, 24-hour time zone indicator

Luminous material Hour markers and hands filled with Super-LumiNova®

Strap

Dark blue leather and 18-carat yellow gold pin buckle

Special wooden presentation box

Swiss retail price CHF 17’900, availability April 2020

Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition Oris is delighted to announce the Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, the second limited edition diver’s watch made in partnership with Coral Restoration Foundation, the world’s leading coral restoration organisation.

[ameliaattar]

xNaked fashion: The new sustainable fashion revolution By Safia Minney 2011: New internationalist publication LTD Oxford ‘Fashion is more than simply a passion. It is a tool… the power to change the world with style.’ ‘We are told constantly that todays mainstream fashion industry is all we might desire and all we should expect… there are some startling holes in the claims of the worlds biggest fashion brands that they offer unparelled opportunity for both consumers and developing world workers. ‘ People Tree and Safia minney:‘Their approach is unashably producer-centric and with a long term view of the planet and its citizens. All of which means that when you embrace this sort of fashion and creativity you do more than design, write about or a buy a vest-top or a pair of jeans. You support communities, protect indiginious textile weavers and designers, help to realsise mellenium development goals such as getting girls into eduction and boldter eceological resilience.  ‘Fair trade fashion brings genuine and measurable results to some of the worlds most vulnerable communities.’ – Emma Watson  Examples of sustainabity forward designers:·      Terra plana·      From somewhere  Conventional economics and consumerism are stripping land and natural resources away from farmers and fisherfolk and concentrating it all into the hands of a few business owners, investors and their army- the adverisers, creatives and marketeers who make consumotion so seductive, even at the cost of our planet and our sanity.  From rural villages in bangledesh to ‘upcycling’ ateliers in London and Melbourne and boutiques in newyork, tokyp and paris, sustainable fashion pionerrs, creatives and consumers are demanding a fashion industry free of worker exploitation. They are talking about a new industry that sustains this planet, that looks at real role models and does not exploit our insecurtities through ‘body fashism’ (prejudice or discrimination based on a person's weight and appearance.) The price tag on fashion you buy rarely covers the real social and environmental costs…In bangledesh clothing exports account for 70% of GDP and the industry employs over three million workers, mostly women.  The last 3 decades have made subsistence living and farming a struggle, with governments, advertised by national and multicultural businesses, shifting the terms of trade to favour large and intensive farms. With farm produce prices hitting an all time low , farmers struggle to cover their production costs, and are increasingly at the mercy of seed and cemical companies, work that once earnt a decent living has become sull of economic insecurity, and climate change is pushing the farmer closer to the edge.  Fact: 100,000 farmers have commited suicide in india in the last 10 years.  Some governments are beginning to take the initiative in promoting accountability, transparency and better trading practice. Consumers are demanding better practice from the brands they love, and the pressure on businesses to put content behind their codes of conduct is forcing atleast some of them to reorganise the way their teams buy and sell products.  ‘if you pay a little more, we can live a little better’ Its not about withdrawing completely form places like bangledesh/ india/ china. As it would be the death on thousands of people who rely on that wage. Its about creating a fair system where these people get paid a living wage that’s more than £40 a month. Companies need to step up and make changes. Be more transparent but not only this but to take accountability for their actions. making  24 cents per garment – an item that will eventually sell for $140 or more. Where is the justification in that. ( https://brandongaille.com/36-shocking-sweatshop-statistics/ )  Fashions environmental impact at the moment is unsustainable. The british Clothing and textiles sector alone currently produces around 3.1 million tonnes of CO2, two million tonnes of waste and 70 million tonnes of waste water per year. This means that we each throw away 30 kilos per year. WE need to consume less fashion and wear our clothes for longer, while the fabrics and clothes that we do buy need to have more ‘value added’ ( upcycling) – benefiting not only the farmers but also as many artisans as possible in its transformation to clothing.  Fair trade can make a big difference… takes a long term view, working in partenership with producers and enabling communities to ‘invest’ in envirometnal initiatives and diversify. It recognises that if farmers are given half a chance they will protect the environment.  Why would people whos lives are so dependant on the resources of their natural surroundings, destroy their environment? The answer is that they only do so when driven to it by low prices, unfair terms of trde and the insecurity that comes from not knowing where your childs next meal will come from. They only do it when there seems to be no alternative.  Fair trade, social businesses and new economics are leading the way in showing how we can protect the environment and helpb the poor feed themselves.  Polyester the most widely used manufactured fibre, is made from patroleom. The manufacture of this and other synthetics fabrics is an energy intensive process requiring large amounts of crude oil and releasing millionsof tonnes of Co2. With oil supplies dwindling, we have to find alternatives to oil intensive farming methods now before its too late.  Organic farming takes 1.5 tonnes of co2 per year per acre  out the atmosphere. Coventionary grown cotton is one of the most water dependant crops to be grown. It takes over 2,000 litres of water to produce the average tshirt with conventional cotton. Organic and fairtrade cotton has helped reduce water consumption by over 60 per cent in the Indian state of gurjarat, by supporting farmers who ivenst in drip irrigation.  WWW.Parlement.co.uk// Publication and records Using hmrc figures it has been estimated that 1,130,000 tonnes of clothing was purchased in the uk in 2016, an increase of 200,000 since 2012.  An increase of 10% of thrifiting could deliver environmental improvement, decreasing carbon emmitions by 3% and water by 4%.  Increasing garment life times is one of the most effective ways of reducing their environmental footprints. Extending clothing life to an extra 9 months can reduce waste, carbon footprints and water footprints by 20-30%. The role that schools and colleges could play in both raising sustainability awareness and posting the skill and habits nessesary to create, mend and care for clothes. Fiscal reform- used to encourage the repair and maintenance of clothing by phasing out employers national insurance contributons and zero ratinf VAT. Value of fashion report New landmark report reveals fashion industryworth £21 billion to the UK economy. Fashions wider contribution to the economy (known as the indirect, induced and spillous effects) in influencing spending in other industry ranging from IT to Tourism is calculated as more than £16 billion. Including this, the fashion industries total contribution to the UKs eceonomy is the estimated to stand at over £37 billion.  The industries direct economic contribution to UK GDP was collected by analysing the industries profits and wages.  (GVA) Across a wide range of fashion prodcuts and items- including womens wear and mens wear, through to handbags and shoes plus the contribution of fashion education, fashion marketing and fashion media.  Fashion is much more than the profits made by the high street stores. The industry stretches far and wide from design to marketing to teaching.   Factors behind the growth of the fashion industry cited in this report include:-       The desire and demand created by the top designer sector and its influence on and diffusion the mainstream ie. Highstreet retailers and super markets. -       The expansion of fashion brands into other products lines beyond clothing (ie, pufume, accessories and home)   Uk fashion industry employs:-       816,000 people directly, the highest employment rate for creative carears-       15th largest industry (out of 81) in the UK-       Is evolving and innovating- due to the online market and sustainability -       Drives tourism -       Best employees and creatives  H and M Recycle clothing points, - £5 voucher for unwated material or clothing.Sharing the story/ where are your clothes made- impacts on the planetFactory map, large data base explaining where everything has been made etc- mainly china and bangledesh One supplier in the uk.High air miles before it even enters the stores or countrues where its boughtLots of recycled and or raw materials Suppliers must be sustainabily certified.  Marketing fashion- strategy branding, promotion- harriet posner “when clothes leave the factories where they are made, they are meely ‘garments’ or ‘apparel’. Only when the marketers get ahold of them do they magically become fashion.” “marketing operates at every level of the fashion system and effects the entire business industry supply chain from product development through to retail; it is as relevant to couture, luxary labels and designer brands as it is to independent nieche labels or to the mass market and volume appareal bisiness marketing is the common denominator that ties it all together.” The presentation of self in the everyday-Erving goffman “if unaquanted with the individual observers can glean clues from his conduct and appearance which allows them to aplly their previous experience with individuals roughly similar to the one before them or more important to apply untested sterotypes”            Edge expo- fashion industry stats: -       Global appareal market is values at £3 trillion and is 2% of the worlds GDP-       Almost 7% is concentrated in Europe, usa, china and japan-       Second to oil, clothing and textile is the second largest polluter on the world-       United nations climate change news states, the fashion industry contributes 10% of global green house gasses due to the long supply chains and energy intensive production-       The us us the largest umporter of gardnents in the world; nealy 40% of the appearl production sold in the us from china.  Waste:-       Nearly 20% of the global water waste is producted by fashion-       Cotton production is responsible for 24% of inpesticides and 11% of pesticides, despite using 3% of worlds arable land-       20,000 litres of water is needed to produce 1 kg of cotton ( 1 tshirt)-       Textile industry is one of the top 3 water wasting industries in china. 2.5 billion tonnes of waste per year.-       15% of material intended for clothing ends up wasted and on the floor-       Daily in hong kong, there are 253 tonnes of textiles sent to landfill per day which is 92,345 per year. Just in hong kong Recycle-       Consumers throw away shoes and clothing on average of 70 pounds per person a year-       A few companies have textile recycling orograms, about 85% of this waste goes to landfills. And clothing occupies 5% of landfill space-       Up to 95% of textiles that are landfilled each year can be recycled-       Landfill space is expensive and hard to find -       Using recycled cotton can save 20,000 litres of water per KG of cotton  Used clothing-       The US is the largest exporter of second hand clothing, it exports over 1 billion pounds of used clothing each year-       Over 70% of the worlds population use second hand clothing-       Consumers in the UK have sn estimated £46.7 billion worth of clothes in their closet.   Thoughts:for just 1 t-shirt, 20,000 litres of water is used in the making process. That is the equivwlent of 175 10 minuite showers or could can keep someone hydrated for 7142 days on 2.8litres per day. In a world where people don’t have easy or any acess to clean drinking water, why are we wasting it on creating new clothes when there are other options which are more sustainably viable.  Fashion: Fast fashion issue 6, vouge new York volume 108 “Americans want clothing that is quick and easy. The gap made a billion giving it to them” “the gap unlike ralph lauren has made good taste affordable and acessable to the masses; those who previously have been denied well designed, well made classic clothing for reasons wither financial or georapgical… you can pop in to their nearest gap, without much commitment and walk out looking like they were born with taste”                     Naked fashion: The new sustainable fashion revolution By Safia Minney 2011: New internationalist publication LTD Oxford ‘Fashion is more than simply a passion. It is a tool… the power to change the world with style.’ ‘We are told constantly that todays mainstream fashion industry is all we might desire and all we should expect… there are some startling holes in the claims of the worlds biggest fashion brands that they offer unparelled opportunity for both consumers and developing world workers. ‘ People Tree and Safia minney:‘Their approach is unashably producer-centric and with a long term view of the planet and its citizens. All of which means that when you embrace this sort of fashion and creativity you do more than design, write about or a buy a vest-top or a pair of jeans. You support communities, protect indiginious textile weavers and designers, help to realsise mellenium development goals such as getting girls into eduction and boldter eceological resilience.  ‘Fair trade fashion brings genuine and measurable results to some of the worlds most vulnerable communities.’ – Emma Watson  Examples of sustainabity forward designers:·      Terra plana·      From somewhere  Conventional economics and consumerism are stripping land and natural resources away from farmers and fisherfolk and concentrating it all into the hands of a few business owners, investors and their army- the adverisers, creatives and marketeers who make consumotion so seductive, even at the cost of our planet and our sanity.  From rural villages in bangledesh to ‘upcycling’ ateliers in London and Melbourne and boutiques in newyork, tokyp and paris, sustainable fashion pionerrs, creatives and consumers are demanding a fashion industry free of worker exploitation. They are talking about a new industry that sustains this planet, that looks at real role models and does not exploit our insecurtities through ‘body fashism’ (prejudice or discrimination based on a person's weight and appearance.) The price tag on fashion you buy rarely covers the real social and environmental costs…In bangledesh clothing exports account for 70% of GDP and the industry employs over three million workers, mostly women.  The last 3 decades have made subsistence living and farming a struggle, with governments, advertised by national and multicultural businesses, shifting the terms of trade to favour large and intensive farms. With farm produce prices hitting an all time low , farmers struggle to cover their production costs, and are increasingly at the mercy of seed and cemical companies, work that once earnt a decent living has become sull of economic insecurity, and climate change is pushing the farmer closer to the edge.  Fact: 100,000 farmers have commited suicide in india in the last 10 years.  Some governments are beginning to take the initiative in promoting accountability, transparency and better trading practice. Consumers are demanding better practice from the brands they love, and the pressure on businesses to put content behind their codes of conduct is forcing atleast some of them to reorganise the way their teams buy and sell products.  ‘if you pay a little more, we can live a little better’ Its not about withdrawing completely form places like bangledesh/ india/ china. As it would be the death on thousands of people who rely on that wage. Its about creating a fair system where these people get paid a living wage that’s more than £40 a month. Companies need to step up and make changes. Be more transparent but not only this but to take accountability for their actions. making  24 cents per garment – an item that will eventually sell for $140 or more. Where is the justification in that. ( https://brandongaille.com/36-shocking-sweatshop-statistics/ )  Fashions environmental impact at the moment is unsustainable. The british Clothing and textiles sector alone currently produces around 3.1 million tonnes of CO2, two million tonnes of waste and 70 million tonnes of waste water per year. This means that we each throw away 30 kilos per year. WE need to consume less fashion and wear our clothes for longer, while the fabrics and clothes that we do buy need to have more ‘value added’ ( upcycling) – benefiting not only the farmers but also as many artisans as possible in its transformation to clothing.  Fair trade can make a big difference… takes a long term view, working in partenership with producers and enabling communities to ‘invest’ in envirometnal initiatives and diversify. It recognises that if farmers are given half a chance they will protect the environment.  Why would people whos lives are so dependant on the resources of their natural surroundings, destroy their environment? The answer is that they only do so when driven to it by low prices, unfair terms of trde and the insecurity that comes from not knowing where your childs next meal will come from. They only do it when there seems to be no alternative.  Fair trade, social businesses and new economics are leading the way in showing how we can protect the environment and helpb the poor feed themselves.  Polyester the most widely used manufactured fibre, is made from patroleom. The manufacture of this and other synthetics fabrics is an energy intensive process requiring large amounts of crude oil and releasing millionsof tonnes of Co2. With oil supplies dwindling, we have to find alternatives to oil intensive farming methods now before its too late.  Organic farming takes 1.5 tonnes of co2 per year per acre  out the atmosphere. Coventionary grown cotton is one of the most water dependant crops to be grown. It takes over 2,000 litres of water to produce the average tshirt with conventional cotton. Organic and fairtrade cotton has helped reduce water consumption by over 60 per cent in the Indian state of gurjarat, by supporting farmers who ivenst in drip irrigation.  WWW.Parlement.co.uk// Publication and records Using hmrc figures it has been estimated that 1,130,000 tonnes of clothing was purchased in the uk in 2016, an increase of 200,000 since 2012.  An increase of 10% of thrifiting could deliver environmental improvement, decreasing carbon emmitions by 3% and water by 4%.  Increasing garment life times is one of the most effective ways of reducing their environmental footprints. Extending clothing life to an extra 9 months can reduce waste, carbon footprints and water footprints by 20-30%. The role that schools and colleges could play in both raising sustainability awareness and posting the skill and habits nessesary to create, mend and care for clothes. Fiscal reform- used to encourage the repair and maintenance of clothing by phasing out employers national insurance contributons and zero ratinf VAT. Value of fashion report New landmark report reveals fashion industryworth £21 billion to the UK economy. Fashions wider contribution to the economy (known as the indirect, induced and spillous effects) in influencing spending in other industry ranging from IT to Tourism is calculated as more than £16 billion. Including this, the fashion industries total contribution to the UKs eceonomy is the estimated to stand at over £37 billion.  The industries direct economic contribution to UK GDP was collected by analysing the industries profits and wages.  (GVA) Across a wide range of fashion prodcuts and items- including womens wear and mens wear, through to handbags and shoes plus the contribution of fashion education, fashion marketing and fashion media.  Fashion is much more than the profits made by the high street stores. The industry stretches far and wide from design to marketing to teaching.   Factors behind the growth of the fashion industry cited in this report include:-       The desire and demand created by the top designer sector and its influence on and diffusion the mainstream ie. Highstreet retailers and super markets. -       The expansion of fashion brands into other products lines beyond clothing (ie, pufume, accessories and home)   Uk fashion industry employs:-       816,000 people directly, the highest employment rate for creative carears-       15th largest industry (out of 81) in the UK-       Is evolving and innovating- due to the online market and sustainability -       Drives tourism -       Best employees and creatives  H and M Recycle clothing points, - £5 voucher for unwated material or clothing.Sharing the story/ where are your clothes made- impacts on the planetFactory map, large data base explaining where everything has been made etc- mainly china and bangledesh One supplier in the uk.High air miles before it even enters the stores or countrues where its boughtLots of recycled and or raw materials Suppliers must be sustainabily certified.  

Marketing fashion- strategy branding, promotion- harriet posner “when clothes leave the factories where they are made, they are meely ‘garments’ or ‘apparel’. Only when the marketers get ahold of them do they magically become fashion.” “marketing operates at every level of the fashion system and effects the entire business industry supply chain from product development through to retail; it is as relevant to couture, luxary labels and designer brands as it is to independent nieche labels or to the mass market and volume appareal bisiness marketing is the common denominator that ties it all together.” 

The presentation of self in the everyday-Erving goffman “if unaquanted with the individual observers can glean clues from his conduct and appearance which allows them to aplly their previous experience with individuals roughly similar to the one before them or more important to apply untested sterotypes”          

 Edge expo- fashion industry stats: -       Global appareal market is values at £3 trillion and is 2% of the worlds GDP-       Almost 7% is concentrated in Europe, usa, china and japan-       Second to oil, clothing and textile is the second largest polluter on the world-       United nations climate change news states, the fashion industry contributes 10% of global green house gasses due to the long supply chains and energy intensive production-       The us us the largest umporter of gardnents in the world; nealy 40% of the appearl production sold in the us from china.  Waste:-       Nearly 20% of the global water waste is producted by fashion-       Cotton production is responsible for 24% of inpesticides and 11% of pesticides, despite using 3% of worlds arable land-       20,000 litres of water is needed to produce 1 kg of cotton ( 1 tshirt)-       Textile industry is one of the top 3 water wasting industries in china. 2.5 billion tonnes of waste per year.-       15% of material intended for clothing ends up wasted and on the floor-       Daily in hong kong, there are 253 tonnes of textiles sent to landfill per day which is 92,345 per year. Just in hong kong Recycle-       Consumers throw away shoes and clothing on average of 70 pounds per person a year-       A few companies have textile recycling orograms, about 85% of this waste goes to landfills. And clothing occupies 5% of landfill space-       Up to 95% of textiles that are landfilled each year can be recycled-       Landfill space is expensive and hard to find -       Using recycled cotton can save 20,000 litres of water per KG of cotton  Used clothing-       The US is the largest exporter of second hand clothing, it exports over 1 billion pounds of used clothing each year-       Over 70% of the worlds population use second hand clothing-       Consumers in the UK have sn estimated £46.7 billion worth of clothes in their closet.   

Thoughts:for just 1 t-shirt, 20,000 litres of water is used in the making process. That is the equivwlent of 175 10 minuite showers or could can keep someone hydrated for 7142 days on 2.8litres per day. In a world where people don’t have easy or any acess to clean drinking water, why are we wasting it on creating new clothes when there are other options which are more sustainably viable. 

Fashion: Fast fashion issue 6, vouge new York volume 108 “Americans want clothing that is quick and easy. The gap made a billion giving it to them” “the gap unlike ralph lauren has made good taste affordable and acessable to the masses; those who previously have been denied well designed, well made classic clothing for reasons wither financial or georapgical… you can pop in to their nearest gap, without much commitment and walk out looking like they were born with taste”                     

[topfygad]

Voyage to a White Mars

The mythologies of Antarctica mimic those of outer space.

  Being aboard a vessel in Antarctica is full of potentialities. One never knows when a gentoo penguin, or a large colony of them, might come into view. For the writer, travelling with Irish wildlife guide and ornithologist, Jim Wilson, meant understanding the continent in all its surprises and complexities. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

A lenticular cloud loomed. The wind swirled its stillness into the shape of a UFO, like a potter pinching, pressing, pulling her clay. Below, an iceberg emerged out of the blue. The wind chaffed its creviced sides, causing an infinitesimal inclination. At first, it wavered, then insisted on itself, tipping back in place.

A 105 years after Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole, I set sail from Ushuaia in Argentina, towards Antarctica on the Drake Passage, known colloquially as the Drake Shake or Drake Lake, depending on the state of the seas.

Watching the sea and the sky, I thought about the myth of the North, of Njörðr, the Norse god of ships and seafaring, and the fur-clad female warriors that came riding through the sky. But the South did not so easily yield such stories. In the absence of human life beyond the boat, I was left imagining the superstitions of the early explorers, whose journal entries began with scientific logs and ended with ruminations on being.

The ocean was infinite, vanishing points everywhere with no object in sight to give perspective or scale, save the occasional albatross or petrel swerving above. The waves lashed, 37 feet high and perpetual. For several days, life on our 450-foot ship was led at a 60º angle. It was laughable, till we adjusted to it. We sought balance without denying the tilt.

  Routine Surprises

In the starkness of Antarctica, a Zodiac raft stops in awe and passengers in their yellow jackets realise their scale against the breathing, blue ice. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

On the bridge, the ship’s control room where silence was mandatory, the stoic Romanian captain charted the wind, which was sinuous. Signals criss-crossed, buttons beeped, screens blinked, maps were uncreased, and binoculars lay on hand. The captain looked out with attention but let out a whisper a notch louder than was allowed. He had spotted a fin whale. Even after a decade of Antarctic travel, he could still surprise himself.

Then, the sun burned through the mist. Mountains rose from the ocean’s helm. When the first iceberg, almost a kilometre high from base to tip, emerged, I gasped. This would only be the overture. For the next 10 days, every iceberg seemed more spectacular than the last. I began to reckon with the history of the search for the continent from 300 B.C. when Aristotle hypothesised that a mythic southern continent must exist, based simply in the rationale of equilibrium. Antarctica was named by Aristotle, from Greek anti and arks, meaning ‘opposite the bear’, the name for the constellation under which the Arctic lay. Time here exists at scales that far transcend those we can grasp. The older, denser bits of ice were a piercing sapphire. I understood the captain’s joy: Even after 10 years of navigating the Antarctic, its stark intensity could not become customary.

And yet, life on the ship assumed a routine. Daylight dimmed and our clocks trudged on. After breakfast, we would head to the mud room, where our boots and jackets hung, and proceed to undertake the painstaking routine of covering our bodies—head to toe—in layers of warm clothing. My skin had become parched. We looked absurd, brushing against fleeces, scrambling for camera bags and yanking at the straps of our life vests. We would vacuum our clothes of any invasive particles and disembark onto Zodiacs (inflatable rafts) in groups of eight to explore a corner of the continent.

Once we stopped to see a seal eating another seal; another time we were suddenly surrounded by colonies of gentoo penguins. We spotted a shipwreck lodged in rock, and imagined the self-contained life of those posted at research stations pre-war. Everything was surreal, ungraspable, cosmic. On one landing, we saw a patch of green—Antarctic lichen—and it reminded us that we were on Earth. We hadn’t seen green in days.

  Disturbances at a distance

The writer at Deception Island, amid the remains of buildings and whaling equipment. Whaling began here since the early 1900s and continued till circa 1931. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

Later, when I visited my library to scour maps of Antarctica, the index read: “The World; Africa, Asia, Middle East, E. Asia, Europe, U.S.A., Pacific; Moon, Mars and Antarctica.” The continent has been called a “White Mars” and this is not an exaggeration: it is notoriously the coldest, driest, windiest landmass, 98 per cent of which is covered in ice. Even in the summer, the average temperature is -27°C. Its extremes manifest in its fauna as well: the largest terrestrial animal is a midge, a wingless insect that has the tiniest genome ever sequenced. There are no indigenous people, and therefore no government, culture, history or art.

In fact, the geopolitics of the continent are not dissimilar to outer space, its laws bound only to an indeterminate Antarctic treaty—the first arms control established during the Cold War—banning activity that causes “harmful interferences” and promoting “peaceful exploration.” At Concordia Station, doctor and researcher Alexander Kumar noted that, “We are completely alone and isolated here from February to November. The French refer to people who over-winter here as Hivernauts, but unlike astronauts, we have no ‘mission control’.”

It’s far away, it’s cold, it’s uninhabitable. So why do we care? For one, because the poles function as a thermostat: the Earth retains heat at the Equator and loses it at the poles. The Arctic and the Antarctic regulate the temperature of the entire planet. It is also the container of about 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water, while in the rest of the world, one person in eight does not have access to this resource. And also because its sublime beauty may be unlike anywhere else on Earth.

Like the realm of outer space, Antarctica is still being discovered. Its exploration is, in large part, funded by vested private interests looking for potential mines of diminishing natural resources. Climate change is causing a loss of land and sea ice, which will reveal new sources of oil, gas, minerals and arable land. Fishing for commercial purposes as well as for polar microbes that may be used in pharmaceuticals has begun. The acidification of the ocean threatens many species, including the stunning sea butterfly.

   Metaphor in motion

The Ocean Endevour ploughs through the Antarctic ice, with the occasional humpback whale gliding along the waves for company. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

Witnessing this fragile beauty under threat remains inaccessible to many travellers since it requires heavy resources and a will to leave only the lightest trace. When the treaty is renegotiated in 2048, Antarctica may depend entirely on the stories of a small handful of people: from the musings of the explorers’ logs and the measurements of a few scientists to the poet’s imagination.

One of those scientists was William Wales, an astronomer on James Cook’s Resolution, which crossed the Antarctic Circle three times in 1773. Wales later taught mathematics at Christ’s School in London, where the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a pupil. It is perhaps no coincidence that Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, set in the Antarctic seas, speculates about this mysterious, seemingly supernatural place. A rime is both a crust of ice, and an archaic spelling of rhyme—a play on words that points to the artist’s search for the clarity of meaning, emerging out of the fog of language.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts

Did send a dismal sheen:

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—

The ice was all between

Antarctica is a place where the scientific gives way to the metaphysical and beauty blurs with terror.

Perhaps it is like a poem: tipping reality ever so slightly, then the symmetry, then again.

ORIENTATION

The Drake Passage is the ocean between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Antarctic Peninsula is the northern tip of the Antarctic continent, which contains the South Pole.

GETTING THERE

British Airways has daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Buenos Aires, with a stopover in a European gateway city like London or Madrid. No transit visa is required if the traveller holds a U.S. visa.

From Buenos Aires, there are three daily flights to the southernmost city of Argentina, Ushuaia. A morning flight is preferred, so that you can purchase last minute gear items in Ushuaia before boarding the ship at the harbour to set sail late afternoon.

VISA

Indians can apply for visa at the Embassy of Argentina in Delhi (eindi.cancilleria.gov.ar/en) or the consulate office in Mumbai (https://ift.tt/2L8uyx0). The visa application form can be downloaded from eindi.mrecic.gov.ar/en. The application must be submitted in person, and an interview is mandatory. The visa is free for Indian tourists but the process takes about 21 working days.

STAY

Buenos Aires has a few small hotels in vibrant neighbourhoods and a few more business-ready five star hotels. Usually, the ship offers a package that includes the latter, but if you prefer something quaint at your own cost, head to The Clubhouse (clubhouseba.com) in the young, hip Palermo or the home (https://ift.tt/2MxkvVz), a French-Scandanavian inspired boutique hotel.

Seals find an unlikely resting spot amid the remains at Deception Island. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

NEED TO KNOW

�� The writer travelled to Antarctica with Ibex Expeditions (www.ibexexpeditions.com; 10-day expedition from $6,000/Rs3,90,390).

-The ship provides the vital outer shell—a thick water- and wind-proof jacket—and waterproof boots. Base and mid layers are for you to arrange. A good sun cream and polarised sunglasses are essential.

– Travelling in Nov-Dec is recommended for the lovely night skies, and Jan-March is a good time to see the whales.

– You cannot take luggage heavier than 15 kg each plus a handbag aboard, but you can leave a bag in Buenos Aires and consolidate.

– Natural soaps are recommended as the expedition is 100% Leave No Trace.

– Acupuncture sea bands and homeopathy is highly recommended for sea-sickness.

READ

Antarctica: Secrets of the Southern Continent, edited by David McGonigal is a large, coffee-table book so you can’t take it with you, but it covers everything from the place’s history to its current status and details of penguins, glaciers, and albatross.

We Mammals in Hospitable Times has some surreal poems that are a result of the six weeks Jynne Dilling Martin spent in Antarctica.

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, the youngest member of Scott’s expedition to the South Pole is a first-hand account of the ill-fated expedition. It’s lyrical, foreboding and written with an attention to storytelling.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing recounts the most famous Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton’s fatal journey to the South Pole.

(function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=440470606060560"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

source http://cheaprtravels.com/voyage-to-a-white-mars/

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article Feb 6th~12th

FEATURE

Future technology: 22 ideas about to change our world

Floating farms, brain wave passwords, and coffee-powered cars are just some of the incredible inventions and innovations that will shape our future.

Space drones

NASA has challenged designers to develop a conventional drone to work inside a space station, navigating with no ‘up’ or ‘down’. The winning design, ArachnoBeeA, would use cameras and tiny beacons to manoeuvre its way around. How popular drones would be in such a confined space is a different question.

760mph trains

Hate commuting? Imagine, instead, your train carriage hurtling down a tunnel at the same speed as a commercial jet airliner. That’s the dream of PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. His Hyperloop system would see ‘train’ passengers travel at up to 760mph through a vacuum tube, propelled by compressed air and induction motors. A site has been chosen with the goal of starting test runs in two years. Once built, the loop will ferry passengers between San Francisco and LA in 35 minutes, compared to 7.5 hours by train.

Coffee power

London’s coffee industry creates over 200,000 tonnes of waste every year, so what do we do with it? Entrepreneur Arthur Kay’s big idea is to use his company, bio-bean, to turn 85 per cent of coffee waste into biofuels for heating buildings and powering transport.

Drown forest fires in sound

Forest fires could one day be dealt with by drones that would direct loud noises at the trees below. Since sound is made up of pressure waves, it can be used to disrupt the air surrounding a fire, essentially cutting off the supply of oxygen to the fuel. At the right frequency, the fire simply dies out, as researchers at George Mason University in Virginia recently demonstrated with their sonic extinguisher. Apparently, bass frequencies work best.

The AI scientist

Cut off a flatworm’s head, and it’ll grow a new one. Cut it in half, and you’ll have two new worms. Fire some radiation at it, and it’ll repair itself. Scientists have wanted to work out the mechanisms involved for some time, but the secret has eluded them. Enter an AI coded at Tufts University, Massachusetts. By analysing and simulating countless scenarios, the computer was able to solve the mystery of the flatworm’s regeneration in just 42 hours. In the end it produced a comprehensive model of how the flatworm’s genes allow it to regenerate.

Although humans still need to feed the AI with information, the machine in this experiment was able to create a new, abstract theory independently – a huge step towards the development of a conscious computer, and potentially a landmark step in the way we carry out research.

Space balloon

If you want to take a trip into space, your quickest bet might be to take a balloon. The company World View Enterprises wants to send tourists into the stratosphere, 32km above Earth, on hot air balloons. Technically ‘space’ is defined as 100km above sea level, but 32km is high enough to witness the curvature of the Earth, just as Felix Baumgartner did on his space jump. The balloon flew its first successful test flight in June, and the company will start selling tickets in 2016 – at the bargain price of just £75,000 per person!

Breathalyser cars

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has developed devices that can monitor alcohol levels by sniffing a driver’s breath or scanning the blood in their fingertips via the steering wheel, immobilising the car if levels are too high. Drivers using the system could be offered lower insurance premiums.

Crowd-sourced antibiotics

Swallowing seawater is part of surfing. But now the scientists behind a new initiative called Beach Bums want to swab the rectums of surfers, to see if this water contains the key to developing new antibiotics. They’re searching for antibiotic resistant bacteria known as superbugs: by studying the samples from the surfers, they hope to learn more about these potentially dangerous organisms in the hope of producing new drugs to combat them.

Internet for everyone

After Tesla and SpaceX, PayPal founder Elon Musk is turning his attention back to the internet: he’s awaiting permission to send almost 4,000 small satellites into low-Earth orbit that would beam back a high-speed wireless signal to everyone on the planet. And things are moving fast: Musk hopes to launch a series of test satellites in 2016, with a view to completing the project by 2020. He has competition to get there first though, as British billionaire Richard Branson also wants to cover the world with wi-fi.

Personalities for robots

Google has obtained a patent on robot personalities, reminiscent of the ‘Genuine People Personalities’ of robots in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Owners could have a personality automatically chosen to match their needs, or select one based on a fictional character or even a loved one. Although the patent was announced suspiciously close to April 1, it does exist (US Patent 8,996,429), and with our natural tendency to anthropomorphism it seems a likely development.

Smart food labels

UK homes throw away 30 to 50 per cent of what we buy from supermarkets, says a 2013 report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The report claimed we’re guided by ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates on food packaging, which are kept conservative because they are driven by shops’ desire to avoid legal action. An invention called ‘Bump Mark’ could change all that. Originally developed for blind people, it’s a label that starts out smooth to the touch but gets bumpier as food decays. And since it decays at the same rate as any protein-based food within, it’s far more accurate than printed dates.

Human head transplants

Sergio Canavero , an Italian neurosurgeon, intends to attempt the first human head transplant by 2016, though no successful animal transplants with long-term survival have yet been made. Because of the difficulty of connecting the spinal cord, Canavero has suggested improvements in the process using a special blade and polyethylene glycol, a polymer used in medicine as well as in everything from skin cream to the conservation of the Mary Rose, can help start growth in spinal cord nerves.

Other experts say Canavero is wildly optimistic, but we can at least expect improved ability to repair damaged spinal cords over the next decade, restoring body function to some spinal injury patients.

Your brain print as a password

Could your brainwaves function as your computer password? A team at Binghamton University, New York, looked at the way volunteers’ brain signals changed as they read a list of acronyms. Each person reacted differently enough for the system to predict who was reading the list with 94 per cent accuracy. In future, a honed version of this idea could verify who is sitting at a PC.

Floating Farms

The UN predicts there will be two billion more people in the world by 2050, creating a demand for 70 per cent more food. By that time, 80 per cent of us will be living in cities, and most food we eat in urban areas is brought in. So farms moored on the sea or inland lakes close to cities would certainly reduce food miles. But how would they work? A new design by architect Javier Ponce of Forward Thinking Architecture shows a 24m-tall, three-tiered structure with solar panels on top to provide energy. The middle tier grows a variety of veg over an area of 51,000m2, using not soil but nutrients in liquid. These nutrients and plant matter would drop into the bottom layer to feed fish, which are farmed in an enclosed space.

A single Smart Floating Farm measuring 350 x 200m would produce an estimated 8.1 tonnes of vegetables and 1.7 tonnes of fish a year. The units are designed to bolt together, which is handy since we’ll need a lot of them: Dubai, for instance, imports 11,000 tonnes of fruit and veg every day.

The four-day working week

It turns out working less might mean more work gets done. A raft of studies have shown that with less time to work, less time is wasted – there’s less absenteeism and, in most cases, greater productivity. A more compact working week has also been shown to encourage employees to stay with companies for longer, and works as a recruitment tool. A shorter working week could even reduce global carbon emissions, with fewer commuters clogging the roads on certain days.

Pleistocene Park

Russian scientist Sergey Zimov hopes to recreate a 12,000-year-old environment in a wildlife park for herbivores like wild horse and bison, with extinct megafauna like mammoths replaced by modern hybrids. Zimov will study the impact of the animals on environment and climate.

[topfygad]

Voyage to a White Mars

The mythologies of Antarctica mimic those of outer space.

  Being aboard a vessel in Antarctica is full of potentialities. One never knows when a gentoo penguin, or a large colony of them, might come into view. For the writer, travelling with Irish wildlife guide and ornithologist, Jim Wilson, meant understanding the continent in all its surprises and complexities. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

A lenticular cloud loomed. The wind swirled its stillness into the shape of a UFO, like a potter pinching, pressing, pulling her clay. Below, an iceberg emerged out of the blue. The wind chaffed its creviced sides, causing an infinitesimal inclination. At first, it wavered, then insisted on itself, tipping back in place.

A 105 years after Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole, I set sail from Ushuaia in Argentina, towards Antarctica on the Drake Passage, known colloquially as the Drake Shake or Drake Lake, depending on the state of the seas.

Watching the sea and the sky, I thought about the myth of the North, of Njörðr, the Norse god of ships and seafaring, and the fur-clad female warriors that came riding through the sky. But the South did not so easily yield such stories. In the absence of human life beyond the boat, I was left imagining the superstitions of the early explorers, whose journal entries began with scientific logs and ended with ruminations on being.

The ocean was infinite, vanishing points everywhere with no object in sight to give perspective or scale, save the occasional albatross or petrel swerving above. The waves lashed, 37 feet high and perpetual. For several days, life on our 450-foot ship was led at a 60º angle. It was laughable, till we adjusted to it. We sought balance without denying the tilt.

  Routine Surprises

In the starkness of Antarctica, a Zodiac raft stops in awe and passengers in their yellow jackets realise their scale against the breathing, blue ice. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

On the bridge, the ship’s control room where silence was mandatory, the stoic Romanian captain charted the wind, which was sinuous. Signals criss-crossed, buttons beeped, screens blinked, maps were uncreased, and binoculars lay on hand. The captain looked out with attention but let out a whisper a notch louder than was allowed. He had spotted a fin whale. Even after a decade of Antarctic travel, he could still surprise himself.

Then, the sun burned through the mist. Mountains rose from the ocean’s helm. When the first iceberg, almost a kilometre high from base to tip, emerged, I gasped. This would only be the overture. For the next 10 days, every iceberg seemed more spectacular than the last. I began to reckon with the history of the search for the continent from 300 B.C. when Aristotle hypothesised that a mythic southern continent must exist, based simply in the rationale of equilibrium. Antarctica was named by Aristotle, from Greek anti and arks, meaning ‘opposite the bear’, the name for the constellation under which the Arctic lay. Time here exists at scales that far transcend those we can grasp. The older, denser bits of ice were a piercing sapphire. I understood the captain’s joy: Even after 10 years of navigating the Antarctic, its stark intensity could not become customary.

And yet, life on the ship assumed a routine. Daylight dimmed and our clocks trudged on. After breakfast, we would head to the mud room, where our boots and jackets hung, and proceed to undertake the painstaking routine of covering our bodies—head to toe—in layers of warm clothing. My skin had become parched. We looked absurd, brushing against fleeces, scrambling for camera bags and yanking at the straps of our life vests. We would vacuum our clothes of any invasive particles and disembark onto Zodiacs (inflatable rafts) in groups of eight to explore a corner of the continent.

Once we stopped to see a seal eating another seal; another time we were suddenly surrounded by colonies of gentoo penguins. We spotted a shipwreck lodged in rock, and imagined the self-contained life of those posted at research stations pre-war. Everything was surreal, ungraspable, cosmic. On one landing, we saw a patch of green—Antarctic lichen—and it reminded us that we were on Earth. We hadn’t seen green in days.

  Disturbances at a distance

The writer at Deception Island, amid the remains of buildings and whaling equipment. Whaling began here since the early 1900s and continued till circa 1931. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

Later, when I visited my library to scour maps of Antarctica, the index read: “The World; Africa, Asia, Middle East, E. Asia, Europe, U.S.A., Pacific; Moon, Mars and Antarctica.” The continent has been called a “White Mars” and this is not an exaggeration: it is notoriously the coldest, driest, windiest landmass, 98 per cent of which is covered in ice. Even in the summer, the average temperature is -27°C. Its extremes manifest in its fauna as well: the largest terrestrial animal is a midge, a wingless insect that has the tiniest genome ever sequenced. There are no indigenous people, and therefore no government, culture, history or art.

In fact, the geopolitics of the continent are not dissimilar to outer space, its laws bound only to an indeterminate Antarctic treaty—the first arms control established during the Cold War—banning activity that causes “harmful interferences” and promoting “peaceful exploration.” At Concordia Station, doctor and researcher Alexander Kumar noted that, “We are completely alone and isolated here from February to November. The French refer to people who over-winter here as Hivernauts, but unlike astronauts, we have no ‘mission control’.”

It’s far away, it’s cold, it’s uninhabitable. So why do we care? For one, because the poles function as a thermostat: the Earth retains heat at the Equator and loses it at the poles. The Arctic and the Antarctic regulate the temperature of the entire planet. It is also the container of about 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water, while in the rest of the world, one person in eight does not have access to this resource. And also because its sublime beauty may be unlike anywhere else on Earth.

Like the realm of outer space, Antarctica is still being discovered. Its exploration is, in large part, funded by vested private interests looking for potential mines of diminishing natural resources. Climate change is causing a loss of land and sea ice, which will reveal new sources of oil, gas, minerals and arable land. Fishing for commercial purposes as well as for polar microbes that may be used in pharmaceuticals has begun. The acidification of the ocean threatens many species, including the stunning sea butterfly.

   Metaphor in motion

The Ocean Endevour ploughs through the Antarctic ice, with the occasional humpback whale gliding along the waves for company. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

Witnessing this fragile beauty under threat remains inaccessible to many travellers since it requires heavy resources and a will to leave only the lightest trace. When the treaty is renegotiated in 2048, Antarctica may depend entirely on the stories of a small handful of people: from the musings of the explorers’ logs and the measurements of a few scientists to the poet’s imagination.

One of those scientists was William Wales, an astronomer on James Cook’s Resolution, which crossed the Antarctic Circle three times in 1773. Wales later taught mathematics at Christ’s School in London, where the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a pupil. It is perhaps no coincidence that Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, set in the Antarctic seas, speculates about this mysterious, seemingly supernatural place. A rime is both a crust of ice, and an archaic spelling of rhyme—a play on words that points to the artist’s search for the clarity of meaning, emerging out of the fog of language.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts

Did send a dismal sheen:

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—

The ice was all between

Antarctica is a place where the scientific gives way to the metaphysical and beauty blurs with terror.

Perhaps it is like a poem: tipping reality ever so slightly, then the symmetry, then again.

ORIENTATION

The Drake Passage is the ocean between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Antarctic Peninsula is the northern tip of the Antarctic continent, which contains the South Pole.

GETTING THERE

British Airways has daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Buenos Aires, with a stopover in a European gateway city like London or Madrid. No transit visa is required if the traveller holds a U.S. visa.

From Buenos Aires, there are three daily flights to the southernmost city of Argentina, Ushuaia. A morning flight is preferred, so that you can purchase last minute gear items in Ushuaia before boarding the ship at the harbour to set sail late afternoon.

VISA

Indians can apply for visa at the Embassy of Argentina in Delhi (eindi.cancilleria.gov.ar/en) or the consulate office in Mumbai (https://ift.tt/2L8uyx0). The visa application form can be downloaded from eindi.mrecic.gov.ar/en. The application must be submitted in person, and an interview is mandatory. The visa is free for Indian tourists but the process takes about 21 working days.

STAY

Buenos Aires has a few small hotels in vibrant neighbourhoods and a few more business-ready five star hotels. Usually, the ship offers a package that includes the latter, but if you prefer something quaint at your own cost, head to The Clubhouse (clubhouseba.com) in the young, hip Palermo or the home (https://ift.tt/2MxkvVz), a French-Scandanavian inspired boutique hotel.

Seals find an unlikely resting spot amid the remains at Deception Island. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

NEED TO KNOW

– The writer travelled to Antarctica with Ibex Expeditions (www.ibexexpeditions.com; 10-day expedition from $6,000/Rs3,90,390).

-The ship provides the vital outer shell—a thick water- and wind-proof jacket—and waterproof boots. Base and mid layers are for you to arrange. A good sun cream and polarised sunglasses are essential.

– Travelling in Nov-Dec is recommended for the lovely night skies, and Jan-March is a good time to see the whales.

– You cannot take luggage heavier than 15 kg each plus a handbag aboard, but you can leave a bag in Buenos Aires and consolidate.

– Natural soaps are recommended as the expedition is 100% Leave No Trace.

– Acupuncture sea bands and homeopathy is highly recommended for sea-sickness.

READ

Antarctica: Secrets of the Southern Continent, edited by David McGonigal is a large, coffee-table book so you can’t take it with you, but it covers everything from the place’s history to its current status and details of penguins, glaciers, and albatross.

We Mammals in Hospitable Times has some surreal poems that are a result of the six weeks Jynne Dilling Martin spent in Antarctica.

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, the youngest member of Scott’s expedition to the South Pole is a first-hand account of the ill-fated expedition. It’s lyrical, foreboding and written with an attention to storytelling.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing recounts the most famous Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton’s fatal journey to the South Pole.

(function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=440470606060560"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2L1Cal3 via https://ift.tt/2NIqXKN

[topfygad]

Voyage to a White Mars

The mythologies of Antarctica mimic those of outer space.

  Being aboard a vessel in Antarctica is full of potentialities. One never knows when a gentoo penguin, or a large colony of them, might come into view. For the writer, travelling with Irish wildlife guide and ornithologist, Jim Wilson, meant understanding the continent in all its surprises and complexities. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

A lenticular cloud loomed. The wind swirled its stillness into the shape of a UFO, like a potter pinching, pressing, pulling her clay. Below, an iceberg emerged out of the blue. The wind chaffed its creviced sides, causing an infinitesimal inclination. At first, it wavered, then insisted on itself, tipping back in place.

A 105 years after Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole, I set sail from Ushuaia in Argentina, towards Antarctica on the Drake Passage, known colloquially as the Drake Shake or Drake Lake, depending on the state of the seas.

Watching the sea and the sky, I thought about the myth of the North, of Njörðr, the Norse god of ships and seafaring, and the fur-clad female warriors that came riding through the sky. But the South did not so easily yield such stories. In the absence of human life beyond the boat, I was left imagining the superstitions of the early explorers, whose journal entries began with scientific logs and ended with ruminations on being.

The ocean was infinite, vanishing points everywhere with no object in sight to give perspective or scale, save the occasional albatross or petrel swerving above. The waves lashed, 37 feet high and perpetual. For several days, life on our 450-foot ship was led at a 60º angle. It was laughable, till we adjusted to it. We sought balance without denying the tilt.

  Routine Surprises

In the starkness of Antarctica, a Zodiac raft stops in awe and passengers in their yellow jackets realise their scale against the breathing, blue ice. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

On the bridge, the ship’s control room where silence was mandatory, the stoic Romanian captain charted the wind, which was sinuous. Signals criss-crossed, buttons beeped, screens blinked, maps were uncreased, and binoculars lay on hand. The captain looked out with attention but let out a whisper a notch louder than was allowed. He had spotted a fin whale. Even after a decade of Antarctic travel, he could still surprise himself.

Then, the sun burned through the mist. Mountains rose from the ocean’s helm. When the first iceberg, almost a kilometre high from base to tip, emerged, I gasped. This would only be the overture. For the next 10 days, every iceberg seemed more spectacular than the last. I began to reckon with the history of the search for the continent from 300 B.C. when Aristotle hypothesised that a mythic southern continent must exist, based simply in the rationale of equilibrium. Antarctica was named by Aristotle, from Greek anti and arks, meaning ‘opposite the bear’, the name for the constellation under which the Arctic lay. Time here exists at scales that far transcend those we can grasp. The older, denser bits of ice were a piercing sapphire. I understood the captain’s joy: Even after 10 years of navigating the Antarctic, its stark intensity could not become customary.

And yet, life on the ship assumed a routine. Daylight dimmed and our clocks trudged on. After breakfast, we would head to the mud room, where our boots and jackets hung, and proceed to undertake the painstaking routine of covering our bodies—head to toe—in layers of warm clothing. My skin had become parched. We looked absurd, brushing against fleeces, scrambling for camera bags and yanking at the straps of our life vests. We would vacuum our clothes of any invasive particles and disembark onto Zodiacs (inflatable rafts) in groups of eight to explore a corner of the continent.

Once we stopped to see a seal eating another seal; another time we were suddenly surrounded by colonies of gentoo penguins. We spotted a shipwreck lodged in rock, and imagined the self-contained life of those posted at research stations pre-war. Everything was surreal, ungraspable, cosmic. On one landing, we saw a patch of green—Antarctic lichen—and it reminded us that we were on Earth. We hadn’t seen green in days.

  Disturbances at a distance

The writer at Deception Island, amid the remains of buildings and whaling equipment. Whaling began here since the early 1900s and continued till circa 1931. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

Later, when I visited my library to scour maps of Antarctica, the index read: “The World; Africa, Asia, Middle East, E. Asia, Europe, U.S.A., Pacific; Moon, Mars and Antarctica.” The continent has been called a “White Mars” and this is not an exaggeration: it is notoriously the coldest, driest, windiest landmass, 98 per cent of which is covered in ice. Even in the summer, the average temperature is -27°C. Its extremes manifest in its fauna as well: the largest terrestrial animal is a midge, a wingless insect that has the tiniest genome ever sequenced. There are no indigenous people, and therefore no government, culture, history or art.

In fact, the geopolitics of the continent are not dissimilar to outer space, its laws bound only to an indeterminate Antarctic treaty—the first arms control established during the Cold War—banning activity that causes “harmful interferences” and promoting “peaceful exploration.” At Concordia Station, doctor and researcher Alexander Kumar noted that, “We are completely alone and isolated here from February to November. The French refer to people who over-winter here as Hivernauts, but unlike astronauts, we have no ‘mission control’.”

It’s far away, it’s cold, it’s uninhabitable. So why do we care? For one, because the poles function as a thermostat: the Earth retains heat at the Equator and loses it at the poles. The Arctic and the Antarctic regulate the temperature of the entire planet. It is also the container of about 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water, while in the rest of the world, one person in eight does not have access to this resource. And also because its sublime beauty may be unlike anywhere else on Earth.

Like the realm of outer space, Antarctica is still being discovered. Its exploration is, in large part, funded by vested private interests looking for potential mines of diminishing natural resources. Climate change is causing a loss of land and sea ice, which will reveal new sources of oil, gas, minerals and arable land. Fishing for commercial purposes as well as for polar microbes that may be used in pharmaceuticals has begun. The acidification of the ocean threatens many species, including the stunning sea butterfly.

   Metaphor in motion

The Ocean Endevour ploughs through the Antarctic ice, with the occasional humpback whale gliding along the waves for company. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

Witnessing this fragile beauty under threat remains inaccessible to many travellers since it requires heavy resources and a will to leave only the lightest trace. When the treaty is renegotiated in 2048, Antarctica may depend entirely on the stories of a small handful of people: from the musings of the explorers’ logs and the measurements of a few scientists to the poet’s imagination.

One of those scientists was William Wales, an astronomer on James Cook’s Resolution, which crossed the Antarctic Circle three times in 1773. Wales later taught mathematics at Christ’s School in London, where the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a pupil. It is perhaps no coincidence that Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, set in the Antarctic seas, speculates about this mysterious, seemingly supernatural place. A rime is both a crust of ice, and an archaic spelling of rhyme—a play on words that points to the artist’s search for the clarity of meaning, emerging out of the fog of language.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts

Did send a dismal sheen:

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—

The ice was all between

Antarctica is a place where the scientific gives way to the metaphysical and beauty blurs with terror.

Perhaps it is like a poem: tipping reality ever so slightly, then the symmetry, then again.

ORIENTATION

The Drake Passage is the ocean between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Antarctic Peninsula is the northern tip of the Antarctic continent, which contains the South Pole.

GETTING THERE

British Airways has daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Buenos Aires, with a stopover in a European gateway city like London or Madrid. No transit visa is required if the traveller holds a U.S. visa.

From Buenos Aires, there are three daily flights to the southernmost city of Argentina, Ushuaia. A morning flight is preferred, so that you can purchase last minute gear items in Ushuaia before boarding the ship at the harbour to set sail late afternoon.

VISA

Indians can apply for visa at the Embassy of Argentina in Delhi (eindi.cancilleria.gov.ar/en) or the consulate office in Mumbai (https://ift.tt/2L8uyx0). The visa application form can be downloaded from eindi.mrecic.gov.ar/en. The application must be submitted in person, and an interview is mandatory. The visa is free for Indian tourists but the process takes about 21 working days.

STAY

Buenos Aires has a few small hotels in vibrant neighbourhoods and a few more business-ready five star hotels. Usually, the ship offers a package that includes the latter, but if you prefer something quaint at your own cost, head to The Clubhouse (clubhouseba.com) in the young, hip Palermo or the home (https://ift.tt/2MxkvVz), a French-Scandanavian inspired boutique hotel.

Seals find an unlikely resting spot amid the remains at Deception Island. Photo by Himali Singh Soin.

NEED TO KNOW

– The writer travelled to Antarctica with Ibex Expeditions (www.ibexexpeditions.com; 10-day expedition from $6,000/Rs3,90,390).

-The ship provides the vital outer shell—a thick water- and wind-proof jacket—and waterproof boots. Base and mid layers are for you to arrange. A good sun cream and polarised sunglasses are essential.

– Travelling in Nov-Dec is recommended for the lovely night skies, and Jan-March is a good time to see the whales.

– You cannot take luggage heavier than 15 kg each plus a handbag aboard, but you can leave a bag in Buenos Aires and consolidate.

– Natural soaps are recommended as the expedition is 100% Leave No Trace.

– Acupuncture sea bands and homeopathy is highly recommended for sea-sickness.

READ

Antarctica: Secrets of the Southern Continent, edited by David McGonigal is a large, coffee-table book so you can’t take it with you, but it covers everything from the place’s history to its current status and details of penguins, glaciers, and albatross.

We Mammals in Hospitable Times has some surreal poems that are a result of the six weeks Jynne Dilling Martin spent in Antarctica.

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, the youngest member of Scott’s expedition to the South Pole is a first-hand account of the ill-fated expedition. It’s lyrical, foreboding and written with an attention to storytelling.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing recounts the most famous Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton’s fatal journey to the South Pole.

(function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=440470606060560"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2L1Cal3 via IFTTT