DOHA TODAY PAGE | 07 PAGE | 14 MES Principal receives Asianet Jwala Women’s Award 2020 MONDAY 9 MARCH 2020 Email: [email protected]Your health first 2-3 ‘Your Health First - Sahtak Awalan’ has evolved into a multifaceted public health campaign. The program is fully inclusive and targets at all segments of society – young and old, nationals and expatriates. SPONSORS Want to tour the world for a year? Here’s how to save, prepare, travel and re-enter
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COVER STORY02 DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
‘Your Health First’ reflects QF’s commitment in promoting healthy and active lifestyles
FAZEENA SALEEM
THE PENINSULA
This year marks the 10th anniversary of ‘Your Health First – Sahtak Awalan’, and over the last decade, the initiative has grown, both in terms of
its scope, its profile, and its impact. ‘Your Health First - Sahtak Awalan’ is the flagship
program of Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar, a partner university of Qatar Foundation (QF).
Hamad S Al Shaiba, Sports Programming Specialist at QF, shared with The Peninsula, about a decade of ‘Your Health First - Sahtak Awalan’ and the initiative’s impact within the community.
QF, along with a number of other local entities, is a strategic partner of the initiative that aims to encourage people to lead healthy lives. The goal is to educate the community about healthy living, sustaina-bility, exercise and nutrition so that they can make informed decisions about the foods they buy, the importance of a balanced diet, and the way they live their lives. The program is fully inclusive and targets at all segments of society – young and old, nationals and expatriates.
“Your Health First – Sahtak Awalan has evolved into a multifaceted public health campaign consisting of a variety of activities and initiatives that aim to educate the community about the importance of healthy choices and living an active life, create awareness about the need to make wellbeing a focus of our lives, and encourage positive behaviors from a young age,” said Al Shaiba.
The benefits of ‘Your Health First – Sahtak Awalan’ stretch beyond the sphere of health. Its programs and activities nurture skills and values that are beneficial in all aspects of life – such as interpersonal skills, decision-making and problem-solving abilities, cre-ative thinking, mindfulness, and assertiveness.
This is how the initiative helps to foster behavioral change – the type of behavioural change which ben-efits both individuals and the community as a whole.
“We are seeing the positive effects of the program right here at QF. Last year, Khayr Qatarna – part of the Project: Greenhouse program – gifted state-of-art greenhouses to hundreds of schools across the country, including three at QF. These children are being tasked with growing their own food, which is helping highlight the importance of food security, environmental sustainability, and healthy eating,” said Al Shaiba.
“We also host the Torba Farmers Market in Edu-cation City, which runs throughout the winter months in EC’s Ceremonial Court and provides access to locally-grown food and homemade products, sup-porting agricultural and other food producers around the country,” he added.
Your Health First reflects QF’s commitment to promoting healthy and active lifestyles, and to empha-sising that well-being is essential to a strong society
03DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
Hamad S. Al Shaiba
Dr. Ravinder Mamtani
and is something that everybody can engage with and make part of their lives.
QF’s focus on sport, wellbeing, active lifestyles, and fostering a healthy community aligns with a nationwide priority. QF’s own National Sport Day cele-brations, which are open to all, aim to foster social engagement while showcasing the opportunities within Education City that everyone can enjoy.
“That’s because we are an accessible, inclusive organisation that welcomes people of all ages, cultures, backgrounds, and interests, and because community development, is at the heart of everything we do.”
“At QF, our aim is to effect positive change, and we believe this can be done through education, sharing knowledge, and providing opportunities for everyone. This includes the opportunity to enjoy sport and physical activity, and to join together as a community in building a healthier, more active nation. And as we mark our 25th year, we plan to ensure this com-mitment continues into the future,” said Al Shaiba.
“Behavioural change has always been a goal of Your Health First; our mission is to change unhealthy behaviours into healthy habits through education. Research found that following the introduction of Project Greenhouse and Khayr Qatarna into schools, students’ habits have shifted towards healthier eating rituals,” he added.
Separately, Dr. Ravinder Mamtani, Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research at WCM-Q, said, “Growing your own food is empowering and it undoubtedly encourages children to taste the natural food they have grown. Your Health First helps educate and influence people to make their more informed healthy choices and take control of their own health and that of their families.”
The benefits of ‘Your Health First – Sahtak Awalan’ stretch beyond the sphere of health. QF’s focus on sport, well-being, active lifestyles, and fostering a healthy community aligns with a nationwide priority.
COMMUNITY / CAMPUS04 DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
AMUAAQ shares social message through beach clean-up
The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association Qatar (AMUAAQ), an associate organisation of ICBF, under the aegis of the Embassy of India, conducted
a cleaning activity at Al Wakrah Family Beach.The activity was carried out in coordination with the
Ministry of Municipality and Environment under the theme ‘Protect and Preserve the Natural Environment and Keep the Marine Habitat Safe and Trash-Free’. It was coordinated by the managing committee of AMUAAQ, which is presided over by Jawed Ahmad.
AMUAAQ is actively engaged in promoting social welfare, health, education, sports and professional activ-ities in Doha and India.
Fawaz Bader Ali Al Saada from the Ministry of Munic-ipality and Environment spoke during the activity. He mentioned that sustainability is the overall goal of the municipality and Qatar Green Building Council.
Everyone is working within the same system for the deployment of all the aspects of the culture of sustaina-bility by spreading awareness and knowledge. He appre-ciated AMUAAQ President Jawed Ahmad and his com-mittee for organising beach clean-up activity with other important awareness briefing session like ‘Coronavirus and National Address registration.
Jawed Ahmad, President of the AMU Alumni Associ-ation Qatar, gave the welcome address including a brief about Beach Clean-up.
It was an effort to spread awareness about the impor-tance of protecting the marine life and educating the community about the need of the hour.
He urged the participants and well-wishers to join
hands together to support the community and stand with Qatar. Ahmad mentioned that AMU Alumni Association Qatar is an affiliated organisation and is functioning in line with the laws and local regulations.
P N Baburajan, President of ICBF and Chief Guest of this event, in his address said that all members should come together to fulfil the AMUAAQ mission towards community and alma mater and wished that AMUAAQ should continue with the same mission towards social welfare and other social activity. Rajan appreciated the president and his team for organising the Beach Cleanup event.
Over 110 participants gathered at Al Wakrah Family Beach for the activity. Officials from the Qatar Municipality and Environment (MME) was present at the site and supported the AMU Alumni Association Qatar participants.
Participants of AMUAAQ were seen across the beach along with MME officials equipped with garbage bags to collect trash from the beach to protect marine life and keep the Qatar’s coastline safe and pristine.
Participants and their fam-ilies, said: “ It was a really fun and a creative event too, where
people learned how important it is to take care of our oceans, marine life and environment.
One of the kids who attended the activity, said: “Today, we had a great time cleaning up the beach with so many participants and we also realised the kind of litter pollutes these beaches. All the participants enjoyed it and felt good helping the environment and working together as a community.”
Participants felt proud in the work of cleaning the beach, to contribute the preservation of the environment through community work. Participants picked up litter and trash along the shoreline. —The Peninsula
05DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
Beats & Tunes to host reigning young maestros ‘Trichur Brothers’
World renowned Carnatic Musicians, Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan will perform in Doha on March 13. Popu-
larly known as ‘Trichur Brothers’, the duo will perform their tour de force Album this time.
They will be accompanied by Mohan Trichur R on Mridangam, Sai Rakshit on Violin and Venkata Sub-ramaniam on Ghatam. Beats and Tunes Events is hosting “Trichur Brothers.
The Mohanans had their training under Madurai Shrimati Balamani Eswar. They were trained further by Shri Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboothiri. Later
for nearly a decade they were fostered in the nuances of Advanced Carnatic Music, with emphasis on Man-odharma singing, by Late Professor Neyyattinakara Mohanachandran. Currently the brothers are under the tutelage of Padma Bhushan Shri P S Narayanaswami.
For more than a decade now, the Trichur Brothers have been performing far and wide across the globe. The duo began their professional journey in the late 90s and within a very short span of time, started performing in various cities within India for well-known Sabhas and Organisations.
Their very first overseas concert was for the Indian community in Jakarta, Indonesia. They have also participated in the famous Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. Trichur Brothers regularly tour North America and have presented concerts in more than 30 cities across the United States of America and Canada.
The brothers have also toured the Middle East. The brothers were invited to sing in the Sydney Music Festival in the year 2015 and also toured New Zealand in the same year. The duo is performing in Doha for the second time. —The Peninsula
New Georgetown student club puts science into social science: Qatar Foundation joins Starfleet
The effort to expand nuclear science knowledge in order to improve public policy is the focus of a new
student club at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q). The “SFS Hoya Star-fleet” student club, recently launched by Ayesha Iqbal, a second year student majoring in International Politics, serves to merge the disciplines of natural science and governance policy to high-light the importance of having scientific knowledge for future leaders and policy makers, and represents the first club of its kind at the university.
The club is mentored by Dr Kai-Henrik Barth, GU-Q’s Senior Assistant Dean for Research Support and the Pro-fessor teaching the university’s first required natural science course this aca-demic year. The class gives students majoring in international affairs an introduction to the science behind nuclear weapons and an understanding of why that knowledge matters for anyone working on policy matters, not just scientists.
Ayesha, who enrolled in the course
last semester, wanted to find a way to continue the discussion of science and society outside of the classroom. The idea for how to do that came to her, she said, while watching an episode of Star Trek. “I’ve always been fascinated by the level of technology involved in the organisation of empires and planets in the science fiction realm, and I thought that would be a great way to think about our own world as well. I immediately took the idea to Dr. Barth, who told me he had long waited for a student to take this initiative.”
In the tradition of Star Trek fandom, club members are given rankings, with the faculty mentor serving as the Admiral, Ayesha as Captain, and GU-Q classmate Mariam Hassan as First Officer. “Mariam and I both love science, took the same nuclear physics course together, and have often talked about finding ways to encourage students to explore the link between science and physics in an engaging way.” Although it just started, the club has been steadily growing. Their inaugural event, which allowed participating students to dig-itally simulate and assess the fallout of a nuclear event, drew a large crowd of members and non members alike.
After graduation, Ayesha hopes to continue her studies in nuclear physics, and ultimately plans to pursue a career in security studies and defense policy. Dr Barth, who has provided mentorship in planning her academic path, is working to expand natural science offerings to students, and spearheads a collaboration between GU-Q and the Qatar Ministry of Defense’s National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW) to raise student awareness about the dangers of nuclear and chemical weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
—The Peninsula
Ayesha Iqbal, a second-year student majoring
in International Politics
The Tribe brings Qatar’s biking community together to celebrate 6th anniversary
The Tribe Motor-cycle Club Qatar celebrated its
6th anniversary with over 200 motorcy-clists from 23 motor-cycle clubs in Doha. The club, formed in 2013 with just four members, has grown in strength over the years to 40 members today.
The riders rode along the Doha Corniche to Farggi Café on Grand Hamad Street for the anniversary celebrations which included an exclusive Victorinox watch exhibition for the riders, breakfast, and felicitations for the participating clubs. The chief guests for the event were Ahmed Hassan Al Jufairi and Ali Hassan Al Jufairi from HBH Al Mulla & Sons.
The club officials expressed appreciation for the support provided by Bat-abit-Qatar Centre for Motorcycles and the Ministry of Interior Traffic Department.
Shammi Mohan, the activity officer of The Tribe said: “This is a proud moment for the Tribe and we wouldn’t have been who we are today if it wasn’t for the love and support we have received from these passionate riders and the staggering number of riders today was the true example of that passion. We love riding in Qatar in all the seasons and we ensure to do that every year.”
The anniversary was held in conjunction with the Victorinox Ride II 2020, organised by Victorinox Swiss Army watches. The event commenced with the Victorinox toughest watch challenge where the riders witnessed two heavy motorcycles, a 4X4 GMC truck and an 18-ton construction truck that were driven over the watch. Barring a few scratches, the watch survived the weight of the trucks. —The Peninsula
DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
COMMUNITY06
The annual Indian Community Cricket Fiesta, a cricket match between the Ambassador’s XI and Community XI, was held on February 29 at the
West End Park Cricket stadium, the only cricket ground in Qatar to host international cricket matches.
The Ambassador of India to Qatar, H E P Kumaran, was the chief guest of the event and Managing Director of Gulf Lights, A R Sanaullah, was the guest of honour and chief sponsor for the event.
Leading the Ambassador’s XI, H E P Kumaran elected to bat after winning the toss. After some spirited batting performance by the middle order, the Ambas-sador’s XI posted a competitive total in the allotted 15 overs. Batting at number five, the Ambassador himself steadied the innings, after quick fall of first four wickets with only 38 runs on the scoreboard. His balanced innings ensured that no further wickets fell while the scoreboard kept ticking.
He was ably supported by Surinder Bhagat and Captain Kapil Kaushik and the trio ensured that at the end of 15 overs, the Ambassador’s XI posted a decent total of 99 runs. While Zohaib bowled extremely well and took three wickets, the captain of the Community XI, Sanaullah also impressed everyone with his tight spell.
With 100 runs to win in 15 overs, the Community XI started their innings well and put up 39 runs for the loss of one wicket in five overs with Faisal and Prajesh maintaining good pace and length. The Community XI received a boost when Adnan led the charge in the sixth over and hammered three towering sixes. Zohaib also
played well and hit two huge sixes which helped the com-munity XI to reach 74 runs after ten overs.
The Ambassador Captain Kapil Kaushik and Surinder Bhagat bowled some good overs, with measured slow pace and precise line and length, making the match very interesting in the slog overs. With seven runs to win in the last eight balls, Community XI reached the target with a tow-ering six by Adnan and six balls to spare.
His Excellency, the Ambas-sador was adjudged as the best bowler, Adnan of Com-munity XI was adjudged as the best batsman and Zohaib of Community XI was judged as the best all-rounder.
The Ambassador thanked ISC for organising the festival match and congratulated all players for putting up a spirited performance. He also thanked the Qatar Cricket Association for their unwavering support and help. Habibun Nabi, General Secretary ISC, thanked QCA Umpires Shivani Mishra and Narendra Singh , commentators Jashmeer and scorer Kedar.
Apart from the office bearers of the Indian Sports Centre, other dignitaries present for the match included Manzoor, General Secretary Qatar Cricket Association,
Hassan Raza, Technical Manager QCA, Shakeel, ground manager QCA and P N Babu Rajan, President ICBF.
Officiating President of ISC, Sharaf P Hameed, wel-comed the gathering and E P Abdul Rehman, Vice-President, ISC presented the vote of thanks. Sanaullah, Managing Director Gulf Lights, thanked the Ambas-sador for taking out time from his busy schedule and leading the Ambassador’s team in the match.
The QCA General Secretary, Manzoor, noting the excellent relations between the Embassy of India and Qatar Cricket Association, also thanked the Ambas-sador for providing the necessary impetus and encour-agement for all community sports events.
—The Peninsula
Community XI wins the ISC-Gulf Light Cricket Festival match 2020
DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
07
Hapondo website launched to give users best real estate experience A Qatari tech start-up announced the official
launch of a new website that will redefine the way people in Qatar search for a new home to
rent. Hapondo is a platform that connects real estate brokers to customers, with a focus on residential rental properties.
The platform already has more than 1,500 listings, and aims to provide the best user experience possible and to improve the quality of listings of real estate in Qatar.
“Hapondo was born to fill the gap we saw in the market. It’s 2020 – people are fed up with looking at low quality photos or poor descriptions of properties. We want to help connect tenants looking for a new home with brokers who have quality offerings” said Abdulla Al Fadhala, CEO of Hapondo.
Al Fadhala and his partners, Haajerah Khan, Abdulaziz Al Yazeedi, and Ahmad Al Khanji, co-founded this venture after realising how difficult and frustrating the process was to actually find a new home in Qatar.
For the Hapondo team, it was important to create a product that was for the Qatari market by those who understand it. Besides being a platform built
specifically for Qatar, Abdulaziz Al Yazeedi, Chief Sales Officer of hapondo, elaborated on other unique aspects of Hapondo, “Our goal for this platform is to provide a good user experience, which is why we have been focusing on the speed of our site.
The broker’s portal was designed to simplify the content uploading process, with a particular focus on the quality of content. Also, we have phased our approach of product development in a way that allows us to collect feedback from our clients and users so we can create a product that is truly for them.”
With the launch of the platform, the Hapondo team is proud to be part of Qatar’s Tech SME ecosystem, helping contribute towards the country’s economic development. hapondo is part of QSTP’s Incubation Center, which has given the company access to resources that have helped accelerate hapondo’s devel-opment in the past months.
With a very strong goal in mind, and the proper
support, Hapondo seeks to make a lasting impact in the real estate scene in Qatar. Al Yazeedi stated: “We want Hapondo to help elevate the overall quality level of online marketplaces in general in the country. It’s simple, tenants should be able to find what they are looking for, and brokers should be able to readily display their quality properties. With our unique algo-rithm and interface, Hapondo will make that happen.”
—The Peninsula
MES Principal receives Asianet Jwala Women’s Award 2020
Principal of MES Indian School, Hameeda Kadar was awarded the prestigious Qatar Stories
‘Asianet Jwala Women’s Award 2020’ in recognition of her exceptional
service in the field of education for nearly three decades, philanthropic initiatives for the Indian community in Qatar and being instrumental in inspiring lives, especially women with
her benevolent gesture. It was announced yesterday on
Asianet television channel about the recipients of Qatar Stories ‘Jwala Women’s Award’ for the year 2020. An embodiment of selfless dedication for the cause of societal development, Hameeda Kadar has been a constant source of inspiration for hundreds of students, teachers and others who are keen to scale the height of success and for upholding values of empathy.
Being a driving force for organising large-scale humanitarian programmes, Hameeda Kadar helps to foster the importance of imbibing the noble quality of empathy among students.
A string of innovative ventures for the students such as the famous Water Bell session, that allows stu-dents to get themselves replenished with the intake of water during the class hours in the presence of the teacher at a specified time of the day and the green venture initiative of the kitchen garden on the campus maintained collaboratively by teachers and student volunteers.
The kitchen garden popularity was the talk of the town with its bounty harvest which included a colossal 30kg
pumpkin and endless other variety of green and root vegetables. With a team of students, she organised a visit to the inpatients at a Center for Cancer Care & Research and extend humanitarian help thus moulding young minds towards assisting those who deserve care and help.
Conducting Iftar dinner for blue-collar workers during the holy month of Ramadan and mobilising disaster relief fund are some of the philan-thropic endeavours of Hameeda Kadar, which were well acclaimed besides leaving indelible impression among students about cultivating the feeling of oneness with the disadvan-taged lot.
She leads her life by example for others, especially the youngsters to emulate by way of sowing the seeds of love and compassion that are quintes-sential for building a peace-loving society with a humanistic approach. “In fact, the announcement came as a surprise. I am honoured to accept this special recognition instituted for the women who are championing the cause of the development of the society,” opined the principal.
—The Peninsula
NATURE08 DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
Losing wildlife triggers collapse of ecosystem
With all species of the world are connected through complex systems such as food webs, losing wildlife would bring on the
collapse of the entire ecosystem, according to an expert.
“As we lose wildlife, we lose these connections, and the web begins to collapse. The loss of one species causes the loss of another species that depends on it,” Jennie Miller, senior scientist at the U S-based conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife, said.
Speaking on the occasion of World Wildlife Day celebrated on March 3 under the theme of Sus-taining all life on Earth, which encompasses all wild animal and plant species as key components of the world’s biodiversity, she said the world cannot be imagined even without bees, wolves or coral.
“In many places, these species are already gone, and we can measure the gaps: less pollination, so less fruit; more deer and more vehicle collisions; lifeless tropical reefs with collapsing fisheries.” On Dec. 20, 2013, at its 68th session, the UN General Assembly proclaimed March 3 as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness for the world’s wild animals and plants. World Wildlife Day has become the most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife.
Habitat loss, over-harvesting, and climate change are the top three threats the wildlife is
facing today, Miller said.Human beings, who Miller says is the main
threat to the wildlife, have caused all three by excessive hunting and fishing, as well as by pro-ducing too much greenhouse emission.
This is why, she said, the world is in a “period of the Anthropocene” as scientists say, referring to humanity’s “greatest” influence on the planet and environment.
Defending the claim that the earth is now entering the sixth mass extinction, Miller stressed that as many as one million species on the planet are at risk of extinction due to human pressure.
“Our wildlife disappears and our planet’s climate transforms. We will live in a completely different world, with fewer wildlife, who live mixed up in different communities and different locations,” she said, referring to the worst-case scenario if the ongoing threats continued to cripple wildlife.
She went on to say that how the worst-case scenario would affect people and how they would be able to survive is “very uncertain”.
Even in the best scenario, where people live now, ecosystems have large gaps of missing species, and people have to step in to provide the missing connections, Miller stressed.
“But there’s a message of hope here: If we choose, we humans can wield our intelligence and technology to recover wildlife,” she said.
Touching on a possible solution to prevent further loss of wildlife and to recover the eco-system, Miller said there are so many things eve-ryone can do to help wildlife such as avoiding plastics that pollute the world and harm wildlife.
“Transform your home and community space into a wildlife-friendly area. Replace lawns with native gardens with plants that support pollinating insects, birds, and mammals. Learn about the species in your backyard by watching wildlife, and serve as a citizen scientist by submitting your data on eBird and iNaturalist.” eBird, launched in 2002, is an online database of bird observations that provide scientists, researchers, and naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution. Founded in 2008, iNaturalist is a citizen science project built on the concept of mapping and sharing observa-tions of biodiversity across the globe.
Miller also suggested that people should speak to government officials and authorities about their concerns over wildlife as well as sharing their con-cerns through an organisation.
“By protecting wildlife, we safeguard ourselves by protecting the ecosystems that create the vital resources we depend on,” she concluded.
The special place of wild plants and animals in their many varied and beautiful forms as a com-ponent of the world’s biological diversity will be celebrated as part of this year’s World Wildlife Day, according to its official website. —Anatolia
HEALTH 09DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
Researchers have found that social isolation and lone-liness could be associated with increased inflam-mation in the body, though loneliness and isolation should neither be used interchangeably nor grouped
together.For arriving at the findings, published in the journal Neu-
roscience & Biobehavioural Reviews, researchers analysed 30 previous studies to investigate the link between social iso-lation and loneliness with inflammation in the body.
“Our results suggest loneliness and social isolation are linked with different inflammatory markers. This shows how important it is to distinguish between loneliness and iso-lation, and that these terms should neither be used inter-changeably nor grouped together,” said study researcher Christina Victor, Professor at Brunel University in UK.
According to the researchers, inflammation is the body’s way of signalling the immune system to heal and repair damaged tissue, as well as defending itself against viruses and bacteria.
Inflammation can eventually start damaging healthy cells, tissues and organs and lead to an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease.
Researchers found that social isolation, the objective state of being isolated from other people, was associated with the presence of C-reactive protein, a protein substance released into the bloodstream within hours of a tissue injury, and increased levels of the glycoprotein fibrinogen, which is con-verted into fibrin-based blood clots.
Interestingly, researchers also identified that the link between social isolation and physical inflammation was more likely to be observed in males than females.
Further work is needed to clarify why this might be, but previous work suggests that males and females might respond differently to social stressors, the said.
“The evidence we examined suggests that social isolation may be linked with inflammation, but the results for a direct link between loneliness and inflammation were less con-vincing,” said study researcher Kimberley Smith, Professor at the University of Surrey in UK.
“We believe these results are an important first step in helping us to better understand how loneliness and social isolation may be linked with health outcomes,” Smith added.
—IANS
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Loneliness may increase inflammation in body
Researchers found that social isolation, the objective state of being isolated from other people, was associated with the presence of C-reactive protein, a protein substance released into the bloodstream within hours of a tissue injury, and increased levels of the glycoprotein fibrinogen, which is converted into fibrin-based blood clots.
TECHNOLOGY10 DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
PETER HOLLEY
THE WASHINGTON POST
On the Starship Enterprise, replicators were devices that were used “to dematerialise matter and then reconstitute it in another form,” according to Startrek.com.
For Captain Picard’s hungry crew, in particular, that usually meant nostalgically reconstituting meals on demand to appease a sudden craving.
Though we remain a long way away from being able to transmogrify matter into a chocolate sundae on command, a team of real-life researchers has created a 3-D printer that can create entire objects simultaneously instead of creating them one painstaking layer at a time like most printing techniques. The new approach - known as Computer Axial Lithography (CAL) - carves an object out of a synthetic resin that solidifies when it comes into contact with particular patterns and intensities of light.
Using a device dubbed “the replicator,” researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and the Law-rence Livermore National Laboratory used the technique
to create tiny airplanes and bridges, copies of the human jaw, a screwdriver handle and minuscule copies of Rodin’s Thinker.
The team’s work was published last month in the aca-demic journal Science.
“This is an exciting advancement to rapidly prototype fairly small and transparent parts,” Joseph DeSimone, a chemist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Nature.
The CAL process involves more than just light and gooey resin. Researchers write that the printing begins with a computer model of a 3-D object, which is fed into a digital video projector. The machine beams the images into a rotating cylinder that is full of the synthetic resin, the article states.
The video projections are perfectly synchronised with the cylinder’s rotation, the article states.
“As the container rotates, the pattern that’s projected changes, so over time the amount of light that each point receives can be controlled,” Hayden Taylor at the Uni-versity of California at Berkeley told the Guardian. “Spots
that receive a lot of light solidify, while those that do not remain liquid.” The CAL printing process requires only two minutes to complete, researchers say. Though still in its infancy, they say the technique could be used to create “patient-specific medical devices” and “aerospace components,” according to the article published in Science. Unlike conventional 3-D printing, which can leave tiny ridges on the side of objects, researchers report that their technique produces “exceptionally smooth surfaces.” “The CAL approach has several advantages over conventional layer-based printing methods,” the article states. “Printing 3-D structures around preexisting solid components is also possible with our approach. CAL is scalable to larger print volumes, and is several orders of magnitude faster, under a wider range of conditions, than layer-by-layer methods.” Researchers told the Guardian that the machine’s ability to print around other objects means the technique may one day result in customized handles for tools and sports equipment, as well as sophisticated contact lenses that contain electrical circuitry.
A new 3-D printing technique creates solid objects using rays of light
FOOD 11DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
ELLIE KRIEGER
THE WASHINGTON POST
Here, four contrasting elements come together, and they result in a stunning salad that brims with fresh, exciting flavour.
At its base is Little Gem lettuce (or romaine, if Little Gem is unavailable), which is so crisp and cool, it prac-tically quenches your thirst as you bite into it. The leaves are slathered in a gorgeous pale-green and luxu-riously creamy (but healthful) dressing made by blending cilantro or basil with scallion, avocado, yogurt and a splash of vinegar.
Once plated, the dressed leaves are topped with juicy, tart-sweet red grapefruit segments (blood orange or Cara Cara segments would work here as well) and zingy quick-pickled red onions, which can be prepared in the time it takes to pull the salad together, or made ahead.
Crisp, juicy, creamy, tangy and tart with beautiful hues of pink and green, it’s a salad that brings a bright ray of light to any meal in need of a little sunshine. While it pairs well with just about any soup, stew or sheet-pan dinner, this salad is my absolute go-to with a hearty bowl of chili.
GEM SALAD WITH GRAPEFRUIT, PICKED ONIONS AND AVOCADO DRESSING
20 minutes4 servings
In this salad, cool, crisp lettuce leaves are tossed
with a luxuriously rich (but healthful) avocado, yogurt and herb dressing, then topped with juicy grapefruit segments (you could substitute orange segments, if you prefer), and a crunch of zingy quick-pickled onions. It’s a stunning salad that is not only bursting with fresh flavour but also pairs well with soups, stews, roasts or chilis.
Storage Notes: The pickled onions can be refrig-erated for up to 1 week. The dressing can be refrig-erated for up to 3 days.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE PICKLED ONION3 tablespoons hot water1 teaspoon honey1/4 cup vinegar1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion (half-moons)
FOR THE DRESSING1/4 cup fresh cilantro or basil leaves1 scallion, coarsely chopped1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted and peeled3 tablespoons vinegar2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (low-fat or full fat)2 tablespoons water1/2 teaspoon kosher salt1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus
more to taste
FOR THE SALAD2 red grapefruits
8 cups (4 ounces) lightly packed torn gem or romaine lettuce leaves
STEPSMake the pickled onions: In a small bowl, whisk
together the hot water with the honey until fully com-bined; then whisk in the vinegar. Add the onions and let sit at room temperature, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.
Make the dressing: In a small bowl of a food proc-essor, pulse the cilantro or basil with the scallion until finely chopped. Add the avocado, vinegar, yogurt, water, salt and pepper and process until smooth.
Make the salad: Cut the top and bottom off each grapefruit, then, resting the fruit on one end, remove the peel and pith by cutting down from top to bottom, following the shape of the fruit with your knife. While holding the fruit over a wide bowl, use a paring knife to remove each section of grapefruit from its membranes (this is called supreming the fruit), collecting the sec-tions in the bowl. Squeeze the juice from what’s left of the fruit into the same bowl.
In a large bowl, gently toss the lettuce with the dressing until evenly coated. To serve, place about 1 1/2 cups of the dressed lettuce onto each serving plate. Pluck 3 to 4 segments of grapefruit and place them on top of each salad serving (reserve the juice for another use -- or drink it) and several slices of the pickled onion. Serve, grinding more black pepper, to taste.
Avocado green dressing is the star of this crisp, bright salad
SCIENCE12 DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
ISS astronauts grow Earth-like fresh lettuce in space
The astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have managed to successfully cultivate salad crop -- red
romaine lettuce -- that is free of disease-causing microbes and safe to eat, and is at least as nutritious as Earth-grown plants.
This feat was achieved despite being grown under lower gravity and more intense radiation than on Earth. Apart from a welcome change in diet, fresh produce would provide astronauts with additional potassium as well as vitamins K, B1, and C - nutrients that are less abundant in pre-packaged rations and tend to degrade during long-term storage.
Additionally, growing crops would be espe-cially useful on long-distance space missions, like the upcoming Artemis-III missions (scheduled to land humans on the lunar South pole by 2024), the current SpaceX programme, and NASA’s first crewed mission to Mars, planned for the late 2020s.
“The ability to grow food in a sustainable system that is safe for crew consumption will become critical as NASA moves toward longer missions. Salad-type, leafy greens can be grown
and consumed fresh with few resources,” said Dr Christina Khodadad, a researcher at the Kennedy Space Center, in a study published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
Astronauts in space live on processed, pre-packaged space rations such as fruits, nuts, chocolate, shrimp cocktails, peanut butter and chicken, etc.
These have often been sterilised by heating, freeze drying, or irradiation to make them last and a key challenge for the US Space Agency NASA has been to figure out how to grow safe, fresh food onboard.
Between 2014-2016, lettuce was grown on board the ISS from surface-sterilised seeds within Vegetable Production Systems (nick-named “Veggie”), growth chambers equipped with LED lighting and a watering system, specif-ically designed to grow crops in space.
The crops grew undisturbed inside the Veggie units for 33 to 56 days, until crew members ate part of the mature leaves (with no ill effects).
The remainder was deep-frozen until transport back to Earth for chemical and bio-
logical analysis.Space-grown lettuce was similar in compo-
sition to the Earth-grown controls, except that in some (but not all) trials, space-grown plant tissue tended to be richer in elements such as potassium, sodium, phosphorus, sulphur, and zinc, as well as in phenolics, molecules with proven antiviral, anticancer, and anti-inflam-matory activity.
Further tests confirmed that the leaves never carried any dangerous bacteria known to occa-sionally contaminate crops, such as coliform E. coli, Salmonella, and S. aureus, while the numbers of fungal and mould spores on them was also in the normal range for produce fit for human consumption.
The authors said that lettuce grown in space-borne Veggie units is safe to eat.
“The International Space Station is serving as a test bed for future long-duration missions, and these types of crop growth tests are helping to expand the suite of candidates that can be effectively grown in microgravity,” said Dr Gioia Massa, project scientist at Kennedy Space Center. —IANS
BOOK 13DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
Kwame Onwuachi’s new memoir is a must-read on what it’s like to be a young, black chef in AmericaTIM CARMAN
THE WASHINGTON POST
The title of Kwame Onwuachi’s remarkable memoir, “Notes From a Young Black Chef,” riffs on the
name of a slim volume penned more than 15 years ago: “Letters to a Young Chef,” in which French farm boy-turned-Michelin man Daniel Boulud doles out advice to those with the nerve, masochism and heart to carve out a career in a professional kitchen.
The two books could be mirror images of each other: Boulud’s letters offer a kind of softcover mentorship, as a white elder statesman shares the hard lessons he has absorbed, in both muscle and mind, with the chefs who will succeed him. Onwuachi’s narrative, by contrast, confronts the hard realities of a world often stacked against him. Boulud assumes everyone who cracks open his book has an equal opportunity within the meritocracy of a fine-dining kitchen. Onwuachi assumes nothing, under-standing that seeming meritocracies can still be infected with the silent racism that holds back people of color.
If “Letters to a Young Chef” provides a sober perspective of what lies ahead for chefs, “Notes From a Young Black Chef” looks back on the difficult path that one tough kid from the Bronx took to reach his goal: becoming a chef in charge of a fine-dining restaurant, Kith and Kin in Washington, which has earned him the respect of critics and a new James Beard Award nomination for Rising Star Chef of the Year. Like Bou-lud’s book, Onwuachi’s memoir should be required reading, not just for future chefs, but for anyone who wants a glimpse into one man’s tale of what it’s like to be young, black and ambitious in America.
Onwuachi, 29, is the only son of a marriage that wasn’t meant to be. His mother, Jewel Robinson, became a chef and caterer after she lost her job as an accountant. His father, Patrick Onwuachi, is an architect whose own father was a respected professor at Howard University, prominent in the Pan-Africanism movement. Young Onwuachi’s life in the Bronx was a world of aromas - seafood gumbo and jam-balaya from his mom’s side of the family in Louisiana; egusi stew and jerk chicken wings from his father’s side in Nigeria and Jamaica; even South Indian
curries from a neighbor in the apartment building where he lived.
Onwuachi’s life was also filled with terror. After his parents divorced when he was young, Onwuachi sometimes spent the weekend with his father, who lived 20 minutes away. His father, Onwuachi writes, taped a poster board to a wall in the kitchen. Every time young Onwuachi committed an “infraction” - it could be as minor as sloppy handwriting - the child would have to mark an X on the chart. When Onwuachi “earned” enough infractions, his father would beat him with a wooden-handled whip that the elder bought in Africa.
“My father beat me on my arms until the braided leather lacerated the skin,” Onwuachi writes. “Once he beat me so hard, the whip broke, and he made me repair it with duct tape.”
The child kept the beatings private. He didn’t tell his mother about them. He thought it was normal. Instead, Onwuachi writes, he would return home from his father’s apartment and lock himself in a closet, which literally served as his bedroom. “No wonder I fought with everyone over everything,” Onwuachi reflects.
His father thought he wouldn’t amount to much, and the world around Onwuachi was only too happy to rein-force the idea. Teachers and cops viewed him with suspicion, and even-tually he seemed to fulfill their expecta-tions. He stirred up trouble, enough that his mother packed him off to live with his paternal grandfather, who had moved back to Nigeria, where he was an elder among the Igbo people. Robinson wanted her son to learn respect. Onwuachi learned respect, but he also learned about his ancestors, and how he
carries their spirit everywhere, even to America, where it is routinely devalued.
The general outline of Onwuachi’s life has been reported by countless pub-lications. The chef has been telling his story in broad strokes even before he opened Shaw Bijou, his much-hyped tasting menu restaurant that cratered in a matter of months, the result of naivete and underfinancing. There’s Onwuachi, the son who first learned to cook from his mother. There’s Onwuachi, the teenager who sold candy on the subway to fund his catering company. There’s Onwuachi, the “Top Chef” contestant who wanted to open the “best restaurant in Washington, DC” There’s Onwuachi, the chef who flamed out with his first restaurant but emerged from the ashes with Kith and Kin.
There were also missing pieces, as we would come to find out.
Credit journalist Joshua David Stein, co-author of “Notes From a Young Black Chef,” who spent a couple of years in Onwuachi’s orbit, learning, observing and teasing out anecdotes from a chef who had previously scrubbed the unflat-tering details from his story. In prose both hard and lyrical, we learn about Onwuachi’s flirtation with gangs as a teen. His drug dealing in college. His encounters with racism, including his stint at Eleven Madison Park, a three-star Michelin restaurant where the chef de cuisine apparently thwarted Onwuachi’s rise in the kitchen. We even learn the ugly details behind the collapse of Shaw Bijou.
Onwuachi names names, too, which has already generated industry dis-cussion, even though the memoir won’t officially drop until April 9. But Onwuachi is selective in calling out people. He provides the cloak of ano-nymity to a television producer who apparently told Onwuachi that America isn’t ready for a black chef who does fine dining.
The racism charges will generate headlines, of course, but these incidents are symptoms of larger systemic forces that Onwuachi has battled throughout his young life. What’s inspiring about Onwuachi’s story is his fierce belief in himself, and his path, even as people tried to break him or shape him in their preferred image. There is a spirit in Onwuachi, shaped by some potent com-bination of Bronx toughness, Igbo ancestors and a mother’s love.
TRAVEL14 DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
14
EMILY GILLESPIE THE WASHINGTON POST
Stranded at the Bolivian border with next to no money, no internet and severe flooding that pre-vented us from going anywhere, my husband and I took refuge in the only lodging available in the tiny
border town: a bunk bed in a cold, leaky cinder-block building behind a family’s home.
To warm our bodies and our spirits, we ordered a hot meal and ate dinner alongside a German couple who were also stranded. They shared their beverages and we shared our story about how embarrassingly unprepared we had been to cross from Chile into Bolivia. Without hesitation, they handed us the $150 we desperately needed for my visa.
The next day, the skies cleared, as did our misfortune. I nearly danced as we crossed into Bolivia. Again without money, we hunkered down on the side of the road, hoping to get a ride with a passing motorist. As if on cue, a scruffy dog curled up at my feet, providing unexpected comfort during the wait. When we were eventually
picked up, I left our last bit of food with our new companion.
This travel blunder is one of my fondest memories of the year my husband and I spent travelling the world. These situations - moments when all you can do is laugh and others when you discover the most tender parts of humanity - happened countless times. For me, they’re the best part about travelling.
By most standards, what we did is abnormal. Most 30-somethings wouldn’t quit their jobs (my husband had a full-time position in marketing; I was a freelance jour-nalist with a contract gig) to traipse the globe for a year. But in my opinion, we shouldn’t be the exception. It’s common for people to make longtime commitments to focus on their education or their careers or their families. For the entirety of 2019, my husband and I focused on our souls, as cheesy as that sounds.
We ate food we’d never heard of, explored places we’d seen only on maps and said “why not” to almost every opportunity presented to us. We soaked in every sunset, opted for the scenic route and ordered another
round when the conversation was good. We were truly present.
It’s an experience I can’t recommend enough, and it’s not as out of reach as you might think. Once you get over the mental hurdle of doing something society (or maybe just your family) doesn’t expect of you, the rest is as easy as getting on a plane.
Saving for the tripSurprisingly, saving up the funds to travel was the
easiest part of our preparations. First, you need a goal - a number highly dependent on how and where you plan to travel. After months of research and conversation, we decided on a goal of $50,000, which would allow a daily travel budget of $100, with an extra pot of money for some big excursions, eg, a week-long safari in Botswana and a multi-day trek to summit Kilimanjaro. That may seem like a small daily budget, but in places such as Peru you can find a dorm bed at a hostel as low as $3, and in India you can sleep like a king for $20 a night. It took about four years to meet our goal while maintaining a
Want to tour the world for a year? Here's how to save, prepare, travel and re-enter.
Simon Spencer and Emily Gillespie stand
at the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
15DOHA TODAYMONDAY 9 MARCH 2020
lifestyle we were still happy with.I’d recommend setting up an automatic monthly
bank transfer to a special account, perhaps one at a dif-ferent bank. Doing this will force you to take a hard look at your expenses and decide what you are willing to do without. We cancelled our cable, ate out less frequently, went to fewer shows and concerts. But during the approximately four years we saved up, we still travelled; we went on several international trips and spent many weekends away with friends.
Preparing for departureThough we saved for about four years, all of the prepa-ration happened in the 12 months before our departure. This made for a pretty complex year, filled with a list of things to do before we hopped aboard our first flight.
Decide where to goFor me, saving money sounded difficult but ended up being easy. The opposite was true, however, for deciding where to go. We wanted to see it all! Our budget helped us make some decisions. Because we wanted to keep costs low, we largely skipped Europe, and, though they were high on our wish list, Japan and Australia. Neither of us had been to South America, so we chose to spend our first four months bopping around that continent. Our next stop, we decided, would be Africa; my husband and I met in South Africa in 2009 and hadn’t been back since. We planned to start at the tip of the continent and snake our way north before ending our year in Southeast Asia.
Do your research on visas and always bring dollarWhile most visas can be figured out as you go, some require advanced planning. For example, to go to Brazil and India, you should apply online about a month in advance, and a visa to visit China has to be secured while you’re physically in the United States. Our Bolivia border fiasco taught us one important lesson in traveling: The US dollar is king. We eventually obtained more American currency, as it is required payment for several African visas. Many visas also require passport photos, so bring extras with you.
Get your banking in orderWhile saving for the trip, find a credit card that will earn you the most miles or points per dollar spent. Before we left for our year abroad, we had three credit cards, each loaded with 100,000 miles - enough for three pairs of ocean-hopping plane tickets. Also, set up your money in a bank that has no foreign transaction fees. Much of the world prefers dealing in cash; this way, you won’t get gouged with ATM fees.
Discard excess stuffThe question of what to do with all of our stuff was a tricky one. Using a storage unit would add a monthly cost to our travel budget, so we took a hard look at what we owned and Marie Kondo-ed our belongings. Luckily for us, both of our parents had room for a few items of fur-niture in their basement and a few dozen boxes in their garage. Buying a fire safe for our important documents also gave us some much-needed peace of mind.
Plan for the worstThis includes travel insurance, which acts as medical insurance and protects you for things like lost luggage
and unexpected trips home, such as a family emergency. Visit a travel clinic before you go to get all the vaccines and medications you’ll need to stay as healthy as possible (we left the country with 360 malaria pills!). This sounds morbid, but I would also recommend making sure you have a will that is up to date.
Pack lightPacking will depend on your destination. Keep in
mind that you can usually find anything you need on the road: We rented sleeping bags for our eight-day trek in Nepal, and I bought a pair of lightweight pants for dressing more conservatively in the predominantly Muslim countries. Items I wouldn’t leave home without include a clothesline, toothbrush cover, external battery and water filter.
The best part of travelling for an extended period is the freedom it allows to stay longer in places you like and get out of Dodge when you’re not feeling it. Being flexible will also make it less frustrating when things go sideways. Trust me: You will get sick and be forced to spend a few days lying low.
I highly recommend buying local SIM cards so you can make any kind of booking on the fly. Having the internet at your fingertips also allows you to download the local taxi apps, read restaurant reviews and quickly Google the proper tip for a Kilimanjaro porter. Travel blogs also help.
How to reenterThe best way to help with the return to your “old” life is to have a plan in place before you leave. My husband and I had saved up a cushion for the few months it would take to find work again. We also had
made plans to stay with my in-laws when we returned and had left a few boxes of clothes in some easy-to-access spots.
Be kind to yourselfIt takes time to come down from having a fun new place to explore every day and exciting activities forever on the horizon. You won’t find work immedi-ately, and you’ll have down days when you’ll day-dream about watching wildlife on an African savanna or scootering from beach to beach on a Greek island. Pick yourself back up by doing things you missed while abroad: Hike your favourite trail, cook up the meal you missed the most or meet a friend for happy hour.
Don’t talk too much about your tripPeople will say, “I want to hear about your trip,” but the hard truth is that most don’t really want to hear too much - less because they don’t care than because they can’t relate. Even starting off a sentence with “When we were in Turkey . . .” can make eyes roll.
Be open to change, and even living somewhere new
During your year of travel, you might learn some-thing surprising about yourself. Maybe you’ll realise you’re a much happier person in sunny weather or that you can breathe more easily in the fresh mountain air of Nepal. My husband and I learned we could be happy many places, but that for now, we wanted to return to the beautiful corner of the world we call home. We do, however, plan to build our lives in a way that allows for more travelling - and more living in the present.
Emily Gillespie and Simon Spencer
paragliding over Cape Town, South Africa.
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