Latest news with #ETXDailyUp
The Star
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Actress Eva Green develops new sake with a lower alcohol content
French actress Eva Green has developed her own low-alcohol sake. – Photo: Seiun/The Green Wolf, via ETX Daily Up You might not expect to find sake among the latest trendy low-alcohol drinks, given its deep-rooted traditions, which are even recognised by Unesco. However, there is now a sake with an alcohol content of just 8%, and the name of its creator may surprise you. After beer, gin and other spirits, wine and even champagne, the range of low-alcohol drinks seems almost complete. The latest addition to the list of options is sake. Increasingly featured on restaurant menus, this Japanese rice wine has gained a new reputation in recent years. The Japanese drink is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran, and has an alcohol content around 14° – just like a red wine from the Rhône Valley. This is the case of Junmai, ie, sakes to which no alcohol has been added. Only alcohol resulting from the fermentation produces the desired effect. The alcohol content can rise to around 16% for Ginjo, a category corresponding to sakes in which the rice has been polished more (to 60%) and extra distilled alcohol has been added. This rises to 20% for Genshu, where no additional water has been added after fermentation. Sake is also being rethought as people look for lower-alcohol alternatives. However, few have tried and tested the concept. It is important to note that this rice-based alcohol is deeply rooted in both Japanese traditions and customs. Just as it would be impossible to define France's culinary heritage without its baguette, sake is an essential part of the Japanese way of life. The expertise required to produce it was added to Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage list last December. However, the idea of crafting a low-alcohol version is not without merit. And the initiative is likely to cause a buss because it is led by the French actress Eva Green. Fascinated by Japanese culture, the former Bond girl embarked on this venture alongside her childhood friend, Hadrien Wolff. Both trained in France and Japan in the art of rice wine production. They eventually chose a 200-year-old brewery in Osaka, Kuninocho, to develop their own sake. Its distinctive feature is that it is only 8% alcohol by volume. This feat is achieved in the same way that some winemakers use to market low-alcohol wines: the fermentation process in vats is deliberately interrupted. The second fermentation is stopped by pasteurisation. Slightly sparkling on the palate, this new creation is best enjoyed chilled. It is called Seiun, which means "nebula' in Japanese. To market it, Eva Green and Hadrien Wolff set up the company The Green Wolf. The sake is currently available for pre-order at a price of €45. For the time being, deliveries will only be made in France and Belgium. As a special feature, each bottle will have a QR code linking to a playlist of the songs that were played during fermentation. These are spatial sounds, at various frequencies, which were emitted into each tank to stimulate the action of the yeast. Music may indeed have beneficial effects at this crucial stage in the wine-making process, according to scientific research conducted by researcher Stefano Cervigni on a vineyard in Tuscany. Other studies of this kind have been conducted and have reached similar conclusions, according to the specialist website, Grands Vins Privés. – AFP Relaxnews
Daily Express
21-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Express
How screen use can create a vicious cycle for some children and teens
Published on: Saturday, June 21, 2025 Published on: Sat, Jun 21, 2025 By: ETX Daily Up, FMT Text Size: Children's screen time and socioemotional problems fuel each other over time, an Australian study finds. (Envato Elements pic) PARIS: It has long been known that screens are harmful to children. Excessive exposure has been linked to cognitive development delays, as well as learning, language and memory disorders. In adolescents, excessive screen use may cause manic symptoms, such as mood disorders and sleep disturbances. But a new Australian meta-analysis highlights a lesser-known problem: excessive screen use can exacerbate socioemotional problems in children, such as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and aggression – in turn driving them to screens to cope with these issues. This vicious circle mainly affects children aged six to 10 and seems to be more prevalent in boys than in girls. Conducted by researchers at the University of Queensland, the findings, published in the journal Psychological Bulletin, examined around 100 studies involving more than 292,000 children from around the world. Most of the cases included in this study were conducted in the United States (41 studies), Canada (13), Australia (11), Germany, and the Netherlands (7 each). The researchers found that video games are associated with higher risks of developing behavioral disorders compared to other screen-based content, including those intended for educational or recreational purposes. 'As a kid I loved video games – they give you a challenge and powerful feedback when you're doing a good job. For this reason, games are particularly tempting for children having problems and especially hard to get children away from,' said study senior author Michael Noetel, quoted in a news release. While it's true that some video games have an educational dimension – some of them have even been recognised as a vehicle for mental well-being among teenagers – excessive use can be counterproductive. Advertisement 'Parents and policymakers have long debated whether screens cause problems, or whether children with problems were simply drawn to screens,' the news release notes. 'Our review shows it's both,' Noetel revealed. 'If we only address one side of the equation – cutting down on screen time but overlooking anxiety or aggression that leads kids to screens – we risk leaving children stuck in a cycle.' However, the researcher tempers this by pointing out that the emotional and behavioral disorders mentioned can also be explained by other factors, such as exposure to alcohol and/or drugs. The '3-6-9-12 rule' In France, some health professionals now recommend keeping children under six away from screens entirely, which is three years longer than the current official recommendations. To help parents limit their children's screen time, French pediatrician Serge Tisseron has invented the '3-6-9-12 rule', designed according to children's age and stage of cognitive development. The rules are as follows: no screens before the age of 3; no personal consoles before age 6; no internet before age 9; and no internet without supervision before age 12. Other initiatives have recently emerged to encourage children and teens to 'detox' from digital devices, such as the challenge of spending 10 days without using any screens at all, in favour of activities that promote relaxation and creativity.
The Star
16-06-2025
- Science
- The Star
This new type of plastic can dissolve in seawater
Every year, millions of tonnes of plastic waste end up in the oceans. — Photo: Mario De Moya F/ Getty Images, via ETX Daily Up A team of Japanese researchers has successfully developed a new type of plastic that is strong, transparent and, above all, completely biodegradable, capable of dissolving in seawater in just a few hours. This is a major breakthrough at a time when marine plastic pollution is a major issue. This new plastic is actually made from ionic monomers commonly used in food processing, such as sodium hexametaphosphate and guanidinium sulfate. These ionic monomers are small molecules with an electric charge that bind together to form polymers with specific properties such as salt sensitivity or conductivity. The result is also non-toxic, non-flammable, and does not release CO2 when it decomposes. In seawater, the salt bonds responsible for the material's cohesion quickly dissolve, causing complete disintegration within a few hours at most. Unlike conventional plastics, this one does not generate any microplastics, and its components are largely recyclable. In fact, after dissolving the new plastic in salt water, researchers were able to recover 91% of the hexametaphosphate and 82% of the guanidinium in powder form. And that's not all: on land, the plastic degrades in less than 10 days, releasing essential nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, thereby helping to enrich the soil like a fertilizer! On paper, this solution is revolutionary, especially since it is as strong as petroleum-based plastics. This means that one day this type of plastic could be used for packaging and also as a material for 3D printing without ending up polluting the oceans or land. The arrival of such a plastic on the market could be one of the solutions to marine plastic pollution, given that millions of tonnes of it end up in the oceans every year. This new material, which is potentially compostable and circular, could therefore represent an innovative solution to reduce this threat, all while offering similar performances to conventional plastics. — ETX Daily Up
The Star
15-06-2025
- General
- The Star
Some bosses thrive on humiliating employees
Some managers use shouting and humiliation as tools to enforce compliance or assert their authority. — Photography AnVr / Getty Images, via ETX Daily Up You might think that abusive bosses act out of anger or stress. Think again. An American study reveals that some of them deliberately mistreat their teams to assert their authority or boost performance. And, contrary to what you might think, they feel no remorse. From offices to construction sites, toxic management poisons many professional environments with behavior like shouting, humiliation, inappropriate comments and more. However, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) is challenging our understanding of this phenomenon. This kind of abusive behavior does not always signal a loss of control, due to stress or tiredness, for example. Some managers use it as a carefully calculated strategy. This insight came to Szu-Han Lin, professor of management at UGA's Terry College of Business, while watching 'Hell's Kitchen.' In this television show, two teams of chefs compete for a position as head chef in a restaurant. This all takes place under the watchful eye and, above all, the harsh comments of British chef Gordon Ramsay. Over the course of the episodes, we see him yelling, humiliating, and sometimes even insulting the contestants. For hours on end. Millions of viewers watch this spectacle without batting an eye. Szu-Han Lin, however, saw it as a subject of study. Her team interviewed 100 supervisors from various sectors, including construction, nursing, and retail. Then, in a second phase, 249 other managers were monitored daily for two weeks. The question was simple: why do you mistreat your employees? And how do you feel afterward? When abuse becomes a management tool Their answers are disturbing. Some supervisors openly admit to using shouting and humiliation as management tools to enforce compliance or assert their authority. And unlike those who crack under pressure, these managers feel no guilt. Worse still, they feel a sense of satisfaction. "If they engage in these behaviors with a goal in mind, like boosting compliance or preserving their identity as leaders, they're satisfying an emotional need," explains Szu-Han Lin in a news release. This discovery challenges two decades of research on the subject. "We have been studying abusive behavior in the workplace for 20 years, and we have known it always has bad outcomes for performance and productivity," the researcher says. "But we also know that people keep doing it. I think we assumed that if managers engage in these behaviors, they'd feel bad, and it would always have a negative effect on them. But that's not the case." For Szu-Han Lin, this new awareness must change the way managers are trained. "It's important for leaders to recognize they may have motivations for acting abusively to help them find better leadership tools," she explains. "You may want your followers to listen to you, or you may want to make sure you establish your role as a leader. That's fine, but there are other ways to achieve that." Regardless of the motivations, managerial mistreatment remains counterproductive. It destroys motivation instead of stimulating it. "If you engage in abusive behaviors, it will always lead to negative outcomes. No one will be motivated at all," says Szu-Han Lin. A lesson that should give pause to anyone who thinks that authority goes hand in hand with brutality. – ETX Daily Up
Daily Express
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Express
How car seatbelts are about to get smarter
Published on: Friday, June 06, 2025 Published on: Fri, Jun 06, 2025 By: ETX Daily Up Text Size: Volvo's new multi-adaptive safety belt is designed to personalise protection for people in different scenarios. (Volvo pic) PARIS: Automaker Volvo has unveiled a new generation of multi-adaptive safety belts designed to better protect all vehicle occupants by adapting to their body shape and to changing traffic conditions. Volvo patented the seat belt that everyone knows today in 1959, ie, a three-point model with a lap belt and a diagonal shoulder belt. Advertisement The company decided to make the patent royalty-free, and other manufacturers quickly adopted it. Today, Volvo has decided to make the seat belt smarter. Its new model uses a wealth of data collected by internal and external sensors to truly personalise the protection of each occupant. For example, the seat belt adjustment will adapt to the physical characteristics of each individual, such as their height, weight, body type, and, most importantly, their seating position. In the event of a serious crash or sudden braking, a taller person will benefit from a higher tension setting to reduce the risk of head injury. On the other hand, in the event of a milder collision and if the occupant is smaller, the seat belt will be less strained, reducing the risk of rib fractures, for example. All this has been made possible by significantly increasing the number of load-limiting profile variations, which manage the force applied to occupants in the event of an accident. The manufacturer used a database of more than 80,000 occupants involved in real-world accidents to validate this innovation. As such, this new seat belt expands the load-limiting profiles from three to eleven, and increases the possible number of settings to respond to each situation according to occupants' profiles and the speed of the car. This multi-adaptive safety belt is expected to make its debut in the upcoming Volvo EX60, an electric SUV due out in 2026. Volvo also explains that the system will improve over time thanks to future over-the-air software updates.
