Latest news with #JacquesPiccard
Arab News
05-07-2025
- Science
- Arab News
Turning ocean preservation into an economic windfall
In 1960, my father, Jacques Piccard, reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench, almost 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) below sea level. The mission was not to make headlines, but to disprove a dangerous misconception. Some experts had claimed that no life could survive in the crushing darkness of the ocean's depths, and that assumption had led to proposals to use the deep sea as a dumping ground for nuclear waste. But my father and his team encountered living fish — a discovery that prevented a potentially catastrophic mistake. My father's mission underscores what exploration has always meant to my family. It is not about conquest and domination, but rather curiosity and understanding. Studying nature expands not only the frontiers of our knowledge, but also the scope of our responsibility as planetary stewards. Today, the ocean is under greater threat than ever. Despite decades of warnings, mankind continues to treat the ocean as an inexhaustible resource and a bottomless dumping ground. We are suffocating it with plastic, heating it with emissions, poisoning it with chemicals, and depleting it by overfishing. But the biggest danger is subtler: As was true in 1960, there is a glaring gap between what we know and what we are doing. While we speak of binding treaties and ambitious targets, our actions remain fragmented and insufficient. Even as the ocean's degradation accelerates, governments often take refuge behind the complexity of global consensus-building, using it as an excuse for inaction. As a result, fishing vessels engaged in illegal practices, such as destructive bottom trawling in marine protected areas, are still permitted to sell their catch freely in ports and markets. Although regulations exist, enforcement is weak, sporadic, or simply absent. But we cannot afford to wait for the perfect implementation of perfect treaties. Nor should we use others' failure to address the problem as an excuse for our own inaction. After all, we already know the solutions, and we have the tools to pursue them. What is missing is the will. The spirit of exploration must guide us toward regeneration, not exploitation. Bertrand Piccard At the Solar Impulse Foundation, we have identified more than 1,800 clean and profitable strategies and tools that reconcile economic growth with environmental preservation. Many focus on strengthening regenerative and sustainable practices in the blue economy — from technologies that track illegal fishing and monitor vessel movements from space, to innovations in low-carbon shipping, plastic waste prevention, and regenerative aquaculture. Our recent Ocean Opportunity Guide, mapping ocean-focused innovation, shows just how broad and mature these solutions are. From bio-enhancing concrete that supports marine life to seaweed-based alternatives to single-use plastic and traceability platforms that eliminate greenwashing in seafood value chains, these are not theoretical models; they are real tools already being deployed around the world. Behind them stands a growing ecosystem of entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers. Equally, new financial mechanisms are emerging to bridge the gap between innovation and scale. Blended finance structures, results-based payments, and de-risking vehicles are beginning to unlock capital for nature-based solutions and sustainable aquaculture, particularly in vulnerable coastal economies. These developments show that diverse stakeholders, when aligned, can build an innovation ecosystem capable of solving one of the world's most complex challenges. The solutions we highlight are tested, scalable, and economically sound. They do more than protect ecosystems; they also create jobs, stimulate new markets, and reduce long-term operational risk. Clean innovation in the ocean economy is already generating competitive advantages for forward-looking companies and countries. Financial instruments that de-risk nature-based investments are helping to stabilize coastal economies and expand access to new forms of capital. And circular-economy solutions like seaweed-based packaging and marine-life-friendly infrastructure are not only reducing environmental harm, but also lowering material costs and strengthening supply-chain transparency. In short, ocean preservation is becoming an engine of industrial renewal and geopolitical resilience. As an economic development strategy, it is both future-proof and inclusive, and it appeals to investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers alike. But to unlock this potential, we must change the narrative. Sustainability is not about sacrifice; it is about modernization, innovation, and efficiency. Far from an environmental constraint, ocean preservation is a catalyst for a more dynamic, resilient global economy. As such, it should be recognized as the new frontier of exploration. Our task is to discover not uncharted depths, but better systems. Like the entrepreneurs featured in the Ocean Opportunity Guide, we should all be questioning what we have built and considering how it could be improved. The spirit of exploration must guide us toward regeneration, not exploitation. It must inspire us to stop waiting for others, and to start demonstrating the leadership that this moment demands.
Straits Times
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Arts Picks: Ocean dive, Tang Da Wu, Altenburg Arts new season
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Ocean: Diving Into The Unknown is at Alliance Francaise de Singapour. Ocean: Diving Into The Unknown The race to space during the Cold War is well established in popular consciousness, but less familiar is the competition into the deep. In 1960, oceanographers Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh reached the then deepest-known part of the oceans aboard the vessel Trieste, setting a new record at 10,916m below sea level. Since then, humanity has inched a mere 11m farther. Visitors can discover this pioneer achievement and others at Alliance Francaise's second-floor gallery exhibition, Ocean: Diving Into The Unknown. Alliance Francaise de Singapour cultural manager Mathieu Gomez says: 'There was a race to both ends. It was thanks to this early dive that institutions could develop autonomous prototypes that can be guided remotely and specifically.' A collaboration between the French organisation and the Paris National Museum of Natural History, the small-scale exhibition seeks to revive the allure through the lens of myth-making. Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea is an early science-fiction classic, and a manatee model reminds visitors that these were the prototype mermaids. Dappled blue lights submerge the rooms. Two virtual-reality sets, when worn, transport visitors into real footages of deep sea excursions, anemones wriggling underfoot. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Singapore Over 40% of Singaporean seniors have claimed SG60 vouchers: Low Yen Ling Singapore $1.46b nickel-trading scam: Ng Yu Zhi's bid for bail midway through trial denied by High Court Singapore Man to be charged after he allegedly damaged PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day Asia 4 dead, 38 missing after ferry sinks on way to Indonesia's Bali Singapore Pedestrian-only path rules to be enforced reasonably; focus on errant cyclists: Baey Yam Keng Singapore Jail for 'sugar daddy' who gave minor cash for sex, threatened to post her explicit videos online Singapore Train service resumes across Bukit Panjang LRT line after power fault led to 3-hour disruption The 130 sq m space means artefacts are few, though two shark jaws on loan from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum intimidate, chosen as their species were discovered by Frenchmen. Gallery assistant Claire Canceil busts the myth of the anglerfish: 'One thing Finding Nemo got wrong was that females measure just 20cm and males 3cm. It unnecessarily traumatised generations of kids.' Where: Level 2 Alliance Francaise de Singapour, 1 Sarkies Road MRT: Newton When: Till Aug 30; Tuesdays to Fridays, 1 to 7.30pm; Saturdays, 9am to 5.30pm; guided tour timings, film screenings and talks on website Admission: Free Info: Who Care? 1&2, You & Me Performance artist Tang Da Wu rehearsing for his show. PHOTO: COMMA SPACE Performance art rock star Tang Da Wu has a new solo exhibition at independent art gallery Comma Space in Bishan. The 82-year-old continues his preoccupation with mud and his penchant for the ephemeral gesture. Details of his exhibition are scant, though in the lead-up to the weekend, he was building a ladder in preparation for a site-specific presentation. Paper and plaster are used to fashion boots and sacks that he heaves onto his back. He is expected to fling mud directly onto the gallery walls, as when he live-painted a snake constricting a boat at ShanghART Gallery in 2023. One of Tang's recent outings was during Singapore Art Week 2024 at Gillman Barracks. The pioneer artist directed 20 young volunteers to enact a performance involving woven threads and fighting over parental milk, inspired by the Teochew opera image of a goat kneeling before its mother. This time, he focuses on the issues of what it means to care and, more fundamentally, who the people who care are. He remains driven by the ethos of 'Don't make art, make questions' – insisting that art returns to its primary function not as wall decoration, but a force for reflection. Where: Comma Space, 04-02, 51 Jalan Pemimpin MRT: Marymount When: July 5 to 12; July 5, 6 and 12, 1 to 6pm; July 8 to 11, by appointment only; July 5, 3 to 4pm (performance) Admission: Free Info: , RSVP Altenburg Arts New Season American pianist Kit Armstrong. PHOTO: JEAN-FRANCOIS MOUSSEAU Independent classical music presenter Altenburg Arts has launched the first half of its 2025-2026 season, with five piano recitals by international artists spread across the next six months. On July 6, American pianist Kit Armstrong takes to Victoria Concert Hall to play the lyrical dance music of French composer Camille Saint-Saens. The immersive large-scale concertos have been distilled into miniature gems by the protege of Austrian pianist and poet Alfred Brendel. This whirlwind tour will kick off with the fiendish Danse Macabre. The other pianists scheduled are Russian Zlata Chochieva, Briton Benjamin Grosvenor and legendary South Korean maestro Kun-woo Paik, the latter proving that excellence can be built only on mastery of the basics with the 'easy' Sonata In C Major by Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It culminates in December with a concert played by the winner of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. The competition is held in October.
