Elon Musk unveils Tesla robot that would do hard work for humans
Josh K. Elliott 2 hrs ago

© Tesla A Tesla Bot concept is shown.

A billionaire inventor plans to build a line of artificially intelligent robots that could replace humans as physical labourers in the future.

What could go wrong?

Elon Musk announced on Thursday that he's working on a humanoid robot at Tesla, which he said could have a "profound" impact on the economy in the future.

“It’s basically going to start dealing with work that is boring, repetitive and dangerous," Musk said at Tesla's AI Day event on Thursday night.

Read more: Elon Musk reveals new family photo with Grimes, baby X Æ A-Xii

The so-called Tesla Bot will stand five feet eight inches, weigh 125 pounds, and move at roughly eight kilometres per hour, which is the equivalent of a brisk walk. Each one will be capable of lifting up to 45 pounds, and will feature a display screen in place of its face — if Musk can make it a reality.

He added that the robot would be meant for doing jobs that people "least like to do," and that physical labour would eventually become a "choice" for humans.

A concept video depicts the robot as a faceless black-and-grey humanoid. It looks vaguely like a cross between the unskinned robots from Westworld and the stick figure that appears on men's restroom signs.

Musk said the robots would navigate using eight cameras and Tesla's AI computer chip, which is currently used to run the car company's smart vehicles.

He said he hopes to have a prototype ready sometime next year, although he did not share a timeline beyond that. He also stressed that he does not want it to be "super expensive," because he wants to see them in widespread use in the future.

Musk is well-known for making big promises about a science-fiction-like future, though he doesn't always deliver on the hype.

His Tesla cars, for example, are currently under investigation by U.S. safety authorities after 11 collisions with emergency vehicles were linked to its Autopilot system over the last three years.

Read more: Elon Musk crowns himself ‘Technoking of Tesla’ in official filing

His otherworldly ambitions with SpaceX have also occasionally blown up in a series of launchpad disasters.

Nevertheless, Musk hopes to one day send humans to Mars via SpaceX, which has already developed its own reusable rockets and capsules for transporting people into orbit.

Artificial intelligence has come a long way in recent decades, but it’s still fairly limited in terms of what it can do in physical environments.

Humanoid robots remain largely the stuff of science fiction, which often portrays them as rebellious creations and killers such as the Terminator, Marvel's Ultron and the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica.

The sci fi-loving Musk said he's well aware of the dangers of AI, and that's why he's trying to design the robots with reasonable limits.

“We’re setting it such that it is at a mechanical level, a physical level, that you can run away from it,” Musk said. “And most likely overpower it.”

In other words, humanity should be able to outrun and outmuscle the robots during a Tesla-powered AI rebellion ... most likely.

Elon Musk says Tesla's robot will make physical work a 'choice'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company will have a prototype of a

 humanoid robot by next year.

After dominating the electric vehicle market and throwing his hat into the billionaire space race, Tesla boss Elon Musk announced the latest frontier he's aiming to conquer: humanoid robots.

The irascible entrepreneur said Thursday he would have an initial prototype of an androgynous "Tesla Bot" by next year.

Based on the same technology as the company's semi-autonomous vehicles, the robot will be able to perform basic repetitive tasks with the aim of eliminating the need for people to handle dangerous or boring work, Musk said at an online event on Tesla's advances in artificial intelligence (AI).

"Tesla is arguably the world's biggest robotics company because cars are semi-sentient robots on wheels," he said. "It kind of makes sense to put that into a humanoid form."

Tesla's touting of its automation technology comes as the carmaker faces increased scrutiny over its driver-assistance system, with safety regulators in the United States launching a probe after a series of crashes.

Tesla is accused of misleading motorists into believing the so-called Autopilot vehicles can drive themselves, though Musk has defended the system.

The Autopilot controversy was not discussed at Thursday's two and a half hour online conference, or brought up during questions from the audience.

Instead, Musk pledged that his future robot would be a benign presence.

He said the Tesla Bot, which will have five-fingered hands and come in black and white, is intended to be "friendly" and built such that "you can run away from it and most likely overpower it."

"Hopefully that won't happen, but you never know," he joked.

Musk, the second richest person in the world according to Forbes, told the conference he believes robots will phase out physical labor for people.

"I think essentially in the future physical work will be a choice," he said.

As CEO, Musk has transformed Tesla from a fledgling startup into a pacesetter in the electric car industry, with the company last month reporting its first-ever quarterly profit above $1 billion on record deliveries.

His company SpaceX is also competing in the booming commercial aerospace market, while Neuralink aims to develop brain implants to connect humans and computers.

But the self-described "Technoking" has also repeatedly clashed with regulators over everything from his use of social media to discuss Tesla's operations to local coronavirus health protocols affecting his factories.

The company has had a rocky record with its human workforce, including allegations of unfair labor practices and firing a union organizer.

Electric car leader Tesla left out of White House event

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© 2021 AFP

New solar telescope in Hawaii aims to open in 3 months


HONOLULU (AP) — The project director of a new solar telescope in Hawaii that will be the most powerful of its kind hopes scientists will be able to start observations at the facility in three months.

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, at the summit of Haleakalā volcano on Maui, was supposed to open last fall. But Thomas Rimmele told Hawaii Public Radio on Wednesday that COVID-19 travel restrictions set back construction on its critical systems.

He hopes the current schedule won’t be affected by newly surging coronavirus cases and any additional restrictions. Rimmele was expecting to return to Maui as early as this week.

“November 15 is what we’re shooting for. We just had a big review, the final construction review that was conducted by the National Science Foundation,” Rimmele said. ”(The scientists) are getting really anxious to get their observations and data done.”

The telescope has received about 100 proposals from researchers for an initial observing window of two-and-a-half months. Picking which scientists get to go first depends heavily on atmospheric conditions and what objects are visible on a given day.

Video: Canadian-made space telescope to search for distant planets, explore ‘origins of life’ (Global News)

He said one quarter or even a fifth of the proposals may be approved for the first cycle.

“We are highly oversubscribed and people will have to submit proposals again for the next cycle,” he said. “That’s just how it works.”

The telescope is to be the largest and most powerful of its kind in the world. The National Solar Observatory said the Inouye telescope will be able to reveal features three times smaller than anything scientists are able to currently see on the Sun.

The Hawaii Supreme Court in 2016 affirmed a permit for the solar telescope’s construction.

The next year, more than 100 protesters tried to block a construction convoy heading to the telescope site, citing the sacredness of Haleakala’s summit. Maui police arrested six people.

Protests against another telescope planned for a different mountain and island — the Thirty Meter Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island — have prevented construction crews from working on that project.

The Associated Press

NDP Leader Singh brings campaign to residential school grave site in Saskatchewan

OTTAWA — New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh focused the federal election campaign Friday on the hardships facing Indigenous communities in Canada amid the horrific discoveries of unmarked burial sites near former residential schools. 

Singh was to make the campaign's first stop in an Indigenous community with a visit to the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, which announced in June a preliminary finding of 751 unmarked graves at the location of a former residential school.

Singh plans to visit the grave sites.

Late last month, Singh became the first federal leader to meet with Indigenous chiefs at the site of the former Kamloops Indian School after the discovery of what are believed to be the remains of 215 children.

The leaders of the two largest parties were forced to address the issue as they converged in Winnipeg on Friday to make announcements on other subjects.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau reiterated his support for reconciliation, as he kicked off the day with an announcement of new funding to support the safe return to work and school amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said Justice Minister David Lametti continues to work with Indigenous stakeholders "to look for consequences and to seek accountability in every possible way" for what has occurred at residential schools.

But Trudeau stressed that work is being done by police and prosecutors who are independent of the political process.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole highlighted his own visit to Cowessess last month as he accused Trudeau of not acting decisively enough to pursue reconciliation.

"Mr. Trudeau, I know cares, but he never acts. With a Conservative government we will have more than just words, we will have action," said O'Toole, who was also in the Manitoba capital, where he was highlighting a promised hiring incentive in his party's platform.

"We will deliver what Mr. Trudeau promises but never delivers."

Trudeau defended his government's record, saying "what took generations and in some cases even centuries to break will take more than a few years to fix."

He said more work needs to be done to ensure higher-quality education for Indigenous children, settling land claims and moving forward on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

"There have also been far too many continued tragedies and continued hardships. And that's what we continue to work on. It is not an easy journey towards reconciliation we are on, but is one that we are on strongly, firmly, resolutely," said Trudeau.

O'Toole said if he forms a government it will work with Indigenous leaders to restore trust that he characterized as lacking.

"At the core of reconciliation is restoring trust between Indigenous people and the federal government. And when you make a promise with no plan to get there, you're eroding trust."

On Thursday, the leaders battled over the right prescription to help the country's health-care systems and how much more funding provinces require to meet their needs during and after the pandemic.

O'Toole said he would boost federal funding for provincially run health-care systems by six per cent annually. Speaking in French at a stop in Ottawa, O'Toole left the door open to offering more money if the national economy grows faster than expected, which would give federal coffers extra cash to potentially splash around.

Speaking in Victoria, B.C., where he outlined plans to improve wages and conditions in long-term care facilities, Trudeau said the country needs to invest more in health care and that his government would be there to increase provincial transfers, although he did not detail when or by how much.

Singh took aim at Trudeau over the Liberal government's track record on health-care spending during a campaign stop in Edmonton where he highlighted his party's pledge for a $250 million fund to help train and hire 2,000 nurses.

The NDP leader said the Liberals criticized the previous Conservative government for cutting funding to provinces in 2014, only to turn around and maintain funding increases at that level once in office.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2021.

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press

Tsleil-Waututh Nation member becomes first Indigenous chancellor of Emily Carr University

As a young girl, Carleen Thomas of səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation would sit and listen intently to her grandfather talk and share knowledge.

Her late grandparents’ home, which she now lives in, is right on the Dollarton Highway. She recalls she and her grandfather would sit at the kitchen table and look out the front window and he'd point out the Burrard Inlet and, across the way, Capitol Hill and Burnaby Mountain to the east and the City of Vancouver to the west.

“My grandfather would say, 'They're [non-Indigenous] not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere; we have to find a way to coexist. It doesn't mean our ways are better, or their ways are better. We have to find a way to work together,’” Thomas said.

It’s a teaching she’s held onto tightly through her varied career across education, reconciliation, community development, and environmental and land protection. And, one she will continue to teach as her grandfather did.

This month, the 60-year-old was appointed chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art + Design. It’s the first time an Indigenous person has held the position at the school, which was founded in 1925.

“Honestly, my first reaction was, ‘Wow. But why me? What have I done for this honour?’” Thomas said.

“But I guess what really, you know, hit home for me was when the president said I would be an ambassador for the university. And I thought, ‘Oh, yeah, I can do that. I can be an ambassador … because that's what I've been doing my whole entire adult life is building relationships and making connections.”

Names of potential candidates for the position of chancellor were sought from all members of the Emily Carr community – including students, staff, faculty and alumni – before being reviewed by members of the alumni association board and the school's board of governors.

“After a thorough search process that engaged the Emily Carr community, we were proud to nominate Carleen Thomas as our new chancellor,” says Patrick Christie, president of the school's alumni association.

“I believe her appointment will encourage us to reflect on our responsibilities to this land and to each other and to foster transformation within the university.”

As chancellor, she’ll be the ceremonial head of the university and sit as a member of the board of governors and the senate, as well as acting as an ambassador. The chancellor also presides over major ceremonies, including convocation, and confers degrees to graduating students.

Thomas’ journey with education started from a young age. She had always enjoyed working with children and her first jobs were babysitting and working at a day camp. When she graduated high school, not feeling confident to go straight to university she did a program run by the University of British Columbia called the Native Indian Teacher Education Program.

From there she’d go on to work for the North Vancouver and Burnaby school districts as a district resource teacher in Indigenous education for around 10 years. In that role, she said she felt like she was “the bridge that connected folks.” As her passion for education grew, she also completed a bachelor's degree in education at UBC.

On top of her new role as chancellor, Thomas is the special projects manager for the treaty, lands and resources department at the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Before taking on that position, she served eight two-year terms as an elected council member for the Nation, in which she held the community development portfolio covering health and education and was part of the team that helped bring a community health clinic to the Burrard Inlet reserve.

She also currently sits on the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee, a federal advisory committee made up of 13 Indigenous and six senior federal representatives that provides advice to regulators and monitors the Trans Mountain expansion project and existing pipeline.

Her connection with Emily Carr University grew through presenting classes over the years on the history of the Tsleil-Waututh people. “We lovingly call it TWN 101,” she said. “It's like a backgrounder, a history, a story of the Tsleil-Waututh people, mostly, from the perspective of our treaty, lands and resources department. My presentation speaks mostly about our connection to the land and waters and the work we do to protect them.” She said it was important to understand and realize that Indigenous oral history is just as important or as informative, as history that's written in the books.

Thomas touched on the Nation’s history and how her people had endured a lot, from waves of smallpox decimating their populations to the rules enforced on them by colonizers.

“We survived all that,” she said. “I think what I most want our next generation to know is that we're still here as Tsleil-Waututh people.

“When I was a kid growing up, I kind of felt ashamed, because I didn't know my culture. And as my grandparents healed and as my parents healed, I've come to understand that it's not our fault that we don't know some things.

“But what we do know is that we are Tsleil-Waututh, we are people of the inlet and we are still here.”

When it comes to others teaching Indigenous history, she encouraged teachers to get to know the First Nations in their area and to build relationships in a respectful way.

“It's all about relationships, and that's what my parents always taught,” Thomas said.

“It's really important to know people in order to work with people.”

As for Thomas, she said she was honoured to be able to continue building her own new connections in her role at Emily Carr University.

“I feel, from our teachings, artists are revered in our communities,” she explained. “In our culture we're taught that they connect this human world to the spirit world. They’re our conduit, they’re our bridge, they’re our connection.

“I have a high regard for artists, and I'm really excited. I don't know what I bring, honestly. But I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and work with people and build those important relationships.”

While Thomas may not be quite convinced on why she was chosen for the position, the university thinks otherwise.

"Carleen has demonstrated extraordinary leadership through her decades of service to the Tsleil-Waututh Nation,” said Dr. Gillian Siddall, Emily Carr's president and vice-chancellor.

“We’re grateful to have someone with her knowledge and expertise join Emily Carr University, especially as we work to decolonize and Indigenize our campus and meaningfully engage with the host nations on whose land we work and study."

Thomas will be formally installed as chancellor at a ceremony this fall and will initially serve a three-year term, which can then be renewed for another three years.

Elisia Seeber, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News

Bad romance: Sea snakes are mistaking scuba divers for mates

Cheryl Santa Maria 

Venomous olive sea snakes are known to attack scuba divers in unprovoked incidents that sometimes involve biting and chasing.

Now, a new study published in Scientific Reports finds the snakes may just be trying to say "hello" and possibly spark up a romance.

Upon analysis of data collected between 1994 and 1995 by Tim Lynch, one of the study's authors, while diving in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, researchers found the encounters were more frequent during mating season.

Attacks involving males occurred immediately after unsuccessfully pairing with a female or after an incident with a male rival. Females tended to approach divers after chasing off a male snake.

© Provided by The Weather NetworkGIF collage created by Cheryl Santa Maria using public domain vectors and photos. Sea snake image credit: Richard Ling/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 | Diver image credit: Pia/Pexels

Past research suggests sea snakes have trouble identifying shapes in water, and they are likely mistaking the divers for potential mates or, in the case of females, as hiding spots.

Experts say the best way for a diver to avoid a sea snake attack is to remain still and allow the snake to investigate them.

Though venomous, sea snakes don't deliver toxins every time they attack. While their venom is strong enough to kill a human, fatalities are rare.

• Article
• Open Access
• Published: 19 August 2021

Mistaken identity may explain why male sea snakes (Aipysurus laevis, Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) “attack” scuba divers

• Tim P. Lynch, 
• Ross A. Alford & 
• Richard Shine 

Scientific Reports volume 11, Article number: 15267 (2021) Cite this article

• 144 Altmetric

• Metricsdetails

Abstract

Scuba-divers on tropical coral-reefs often report unprovoked “attacks” by highly venomous Olive sea snakes (Aipysurus laevis). Snakes swim directly towards divers, sometimes wrapping coils around the diver’s limbs and biting. Based on a focal animal observation study of free-ranging Olive sea snakes in the southern Great Barrier Reef, we suggest that these “attacks” are misdirected courtship responses. Approaches to divers were most common during the breeding season (winter) and were by males rather than by female snakes. Males also made repeated approaches, spent more time with the diver, and exhibited behaviours (such as coiling around a limb) also seen during courtship. Agitated rapid approaches by males, easily interpreted as “attacks”, often occurred after a courting male lost contact with a female he was pursuing, after interactions between rival males, or when a diver tried to flee from a male. These patterns suggest that “attacks” by sea snakes on humans result from mistaken identity during sexual interactions. Rapid approaches by females occurred when they were being chased by males. Divers that flee from snakes may inadvertently mimic the responses of female snakes to courtship, encouraging males to give chase. To prevent escalation of encounters, divers should keep still and avoid retaliation.

Introduction

Diverse and abundant in tropical marine waters, sea snakes of the subfamily Hydrophiinae are secondarily aquatic taxa derived from terrestrial elapid (front-fanged) snakes1,2. Laboratory studies suggest that the venoms of some species of sea snakes are highly toxic3; and worldwide, bites by sea snakes kill many people annually4,5. Although those fatalities generally involve fishermen rather than recreational or other users of the ocean6, SCUBA divers frequently report unprovoked “attacks” which can imperil divers through inducing panic, even if the snake does not deliver a bite7.

As described by Heatwole8, these “attacks” involve rapid jerky zigzag movements, easily distinguished from the leisurely swimming mode of curious snakes. Understanding the causes for such “attacks” is of interest from two perspectives. First, why would a free-ranging snake approach and bite a person that has not harassed it, is too large to be a prey item, and could readily be evaded in the complex three-dimensional world of a coral reef? Extensive studies on terrestrial snakes (including elapids) show that these animals would far prefer to escape than to confront an approaching human9, so why should sea snakes be so different? Second, understanding the context of these approaches might suggest how divers should respond to rapid approach by a potentially lethal snake. This may be of practical value to recreational dive and eco-tourism operators as well as commercial divers to mitigate this common human-wildlife interaction.

Anecdotal reports suggest that Olive sea snakes (Aipysurus laevis) are the most frequent “attackers”, and that this behaviour is manifested most frequently during the snake’s breeding season8,10,11,12,13. To explore those ideas, we quantified the seasonal timing and identity of “attacking” snakes in the course of a 27-month scuba-based behavioural study of sea snake ecology.

Mistaken identity may explain why male sea snakes (Aipysurus laevis, Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) “attack” scuba divers (nature.com)

Rain falls on Greenland's normally snowy summit for the first time on record

Emily Chung 12 mins ago

© Saul Loeb/Pool/The Associated Press Areas of Greenland are seen from the air on Thursday, May 20, 2021. Greenland saw an unprecedented weather event this week, when rain fell on its normally snowy summit for the first time on record.

For the first time on record, rain has been recorded on the summit of Greenland — a location where precipitation has previously always fallen as snow or ice.

"There is no previous report of rainfall at this location (72.58°N 38.46°W), which reaches 3,215 metres in elevation," reported the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center of the Aug. 14 event.

The rain began at 5 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) that morning, and was photographed by Alicia Bradley, the science technician at the National Science Foundation Summit Station, an hour later.

She and Zoe Courville, a polar engineer and snow scientist, were credited with the observation.

Temperatures peaked at 0.48 C at 8:40 a.m. local time.

It's only the fourth time the temperature has been recorded above freezing at that location. But in the previous instances in 1995, 2012 and 2019, there was no rain. Before that, the last record of above-freezing temperatures, based on ice cores, was in the 1880s.

The rain was accompanied by a massive ice melt of 872,000 square kilometres on Aug. 14.

Only two other melts, including one earlier this year (the other was in 2012), have been over 800,000 kilometres, and this is the latest in the year it has ever occurred, the NSIDC said.
Ice melts can lead to flooding

That led to massive loss of surface mass from Greenland's ice sheet — seven times higher than the mid-August average.

"At this point in the season, large areas of bare ice exist along much of the southwestern and northern coastal areas, with no ability to absorb the melt or rainfall," the report noted. "Therefore, the accumulated water on the surface flows downhill and eventually into the ocean."

Melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are expected to be the main contributors to sea level rise — an impact of climate change that can lead to dangerous and costly coastal flooding worldwide.

Studies in 2020 found the rate of melt matched the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's worst-case climate warming scenario, and Greenland's ice cap is melting faster than it has in 12,000 years.

The melt in Greenland and Antarctica could also have a major and underestimated impact on extreme weather in Canada, a 2019 study found.

Climate change: Study finds 'very concerning' 74% increase in deaths associated with extreme heat brought on by the climate crisis

A pair of new studies out Thursday find a "very concerning" rise in the number of climate-related deaths and paint a picture of world where people struggle with regular temperature extremes.

© Riccardo De Luca/AP A child refreshes herself at a fountain in downtown Rome, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. The ongoing heatwave will last up until the weekend with temperatures expected to reach over 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Italy. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

By Jen Christensen, CNN 14 hrs ago

One of the studies finds the number of deaths caused by high temperatures increased by 74% globally between 1980 and 2016. Deaths related to extreme cold increased 31% since 1990, a new report, the first of its kind, finds.

Human-caused climate change -- generated by carbon, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions from industry, transportation, and agriculture -- has led to a "new normal" with more days of extreme temperatures than in recorded history. The studies published Thursday provide more evidence that both hot and cold extremes can be deadly.

"The papers we publish today provide a strong scientific argument that the health dimensions of heat can no longer be overlooked," the Lancet, which published the twin studies, said in an editorial.

Heat-related deaths and illnesses are preventable, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and yet more than 600 people in the US alone are killed by extreme heat every year. This year has already seen hundreds of deaths related to an historic heat wave in the US West. By the end of the century, more than half of the global population is projected to be exposed to weeks of dangerous heat every year.

For this new study, the University of Washington researchers examined 64.9 million death records from nine different countries and determined that at least 1.69 million of those deaths could be attributed to extreme temperatures in 2019 alone. About 356,000 were linked to extreme heat and 1.3 million were related to extreme cold temperatures.

These are conservative estimates, they reported in the Lancet, and those numbers will continue to grow as the world experienced more extreme temperatures.

These extreme temperatures can linked to at least 17 causes of death, most related to heart trouble and breathing issues, but these excess temperature related deaths also include suicide, drowning and homicides.

Earlier studies have shown that exposure to extreme heat can also cause mental health issues, problems for pregnant women and poor birth outcomes. The elderly, people with chronic health conditions and children are at the highest risk for heat-related illnesses.

"Our analysis finds that the harmful effects of extreme heat can far exceed those caused by cold in places where it is already hot, such as Southern Asia, the Middle East and many parts of Africa," said study co-author Dr. Katrin Burkhart, with the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. "This is very concerning, particularly given that the risk of exposure to high temperatures appears to have been increasing steadily for decades."

Environmental epidemiologist Tarik Benmarhnia of the University of California, San Diego, said the CDC death numbers only reflect when a death certificate is explicit about heat being a cause of death. He said the new study accounts for the indirect deaths. "What a lot of people don't get, and what explains why the burden is huge is because heat becomes the, as you say in English, 'the straw that broke the camel's back,'" Benmarhnia, who was not involved in the research, told CNN.

"What is most problematic about heat is that this is a sneaky climate issue, because it kills many people, but it is not impressive like a hurricane or something. It's just happening all the time, so it is sneaky."

Pairing this study with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report from last week, which showed the earth is warming faster than previously thought, shows that "we face a pretty scary future" said Natural Resources Defense Council climate and health scientist Vijay Limaye. And keep in mind, he said, the figures in the study are a conservative estimate.

"Of course climate change is going to worsen all sorts of other health risks, but even thinking beyond heart and lung disease, this study suggests then we can expect to see pretty big jumps in these other external causes," Limaye, who was not involved in the research, told CNN. "We need to learn from studies like this as we shape our understanding and response to the climate crisis."

In a separate study, the researchers argue that as people struggle to stay cool, turning to air conditioning is expensive and adds to greenhouse gas emissions. People need more sustainable and affordable cooling options.

Evidence-based cooling strategies, such as battery-driven fans and accessible water to wet clothing to keep people cool, are more widely needed to prevent heat-related health problems, they argued. Urban areas need more green space, architects could use wall coatings to reflect heat from buildings, and governments need to take more proactive approaches to invest in research and create strategies that would minimize the impact of high temperatures on health.

Kristie Ebi of the University of Washington said the world needs two major strategic approaches to combat the problems that come with extreme heat.

First, the world needs to reduce its carbon emissions so that the planet does not continue to warm. Earlier research showed that if the world continues producing the same amount of carbon emissions, a child born in 2019 could be living in a world with an average temperature that's 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) warmer by their 71st birthday.

On any given day, a 7.2-degree difference might not sound like much, but as an average increase in temperature, it would be devastating for human health and in addition to disease, a warmer world means more famine and early death from natural disasters such as fire and heat waves.

The other strategy is to find and implement the appropriate response measures, particularly in parts of the world that don't have a lot of financial resources. These might include early warning systems and better systems to monitor and predict when these heat waves will happen, as well as science-based cooling strategies.

"Failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to develop and deploy evidence-based heat action plans will mean a very different future awaits many people and communities around the world," Ebi said in a statement.

Ebi added that regular summer activities like construction work outdoors and exercising will have to change dramatically. People are already experiencing these extreme temperatures.

"Extremely hot days or heat waves that were experienced approximately every 20 years are now being seen more frequently and could even occur every year by the end of this century if current greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated," Ebi said.

"These rising temperatures combined with a larger and older population, mean that even more people will be at risk for heat-related health effects."

The Cultural (and Racist) History of ‘Cleanliness’ in Canada
Tayo Bero 

When the news broke that Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis don’t bathe their children daily, my first thought was, “Wow, that’s gross.” And then I wondered, “Why are they telling us this?” 

© Image: Shutterstock

The Hollywood couple revealed their family’s bathing routine, or lack thereof, on a July episode of the Armchair Expert podcast. Their comments were followed by more white celebrities, like Jake Gyllenhaal and Dax Shepard, divulging their laidback hygiene habits. I recoiled in disgust at the thought that a living, sweating, adult person would not only actively choose to avoid washing themselves and their kids, but that they would feel safe enough to state this publicly.

There is an immense privilege that comes with being able to announce to the world that you and your children are dirty, without fear of stigma or ostracization. It’s a privilege that is never afforded to certain socioeconomic and racial groups—especially Black and Indigenous people.

How washing became routine

In Canada, this privilege is rooted in our own history of hygiene and cleanliness. Early European settlers were not accustomed to bathing regularly, as “the use of soap as an antiseptic procedure was unknown until the 19th century.” It wasn’t until the mid to late 19th century—when the link between a lack of proper sanitation and the spread of infectious diseases, like cholera, was recognized—that white settlers actually began to take hygiene seriously.

Although local health boards existed since the early 19th century, a widespread focus on cleanliness in Canada started with the development of this country’s public health apparatus, which began shortly after confederation in 1867. And as healthcare knowledge and infrastructure in the newly formed Dominion of Canada grew, so did the focus on hygiene as an important part of that equation.

The new conception of hygiene, cleanliness and health, however, was limited to Europeans and neglected the Indigenous people whose land they had come to occupy. Societal notions of cleanliness became a question of status (and race), only attainable by settlers. According to the Canadian Public Health Association, “if health concerns for Indigenous peoples were considered at all, it was by missionaries, traders and individual physicians.”

(Related: This Soap Brand Is Sharing the Healing Power of Inuit Tradition)

Personal hygiene practices are about more than physical cleanliness

For Black Canadians, the late 19th century was a time when slavery had been abolished, but the seeds of anti-Blackness had already been well-sown into the fabric of Canadian identity. During slavery, the association between dirtiness and Blackness was prevalent throughout the British empire, including Canada.

An exhibit at the Dalnavert Museum in Winnipeg showcases just how these notions of Black people as being dirty or unclean, were perpetuated through racist imagery and advertisements. According to the museum, “soap in the late 1800s represented more than the physical aspect of ‘getting clean.’ The Victorian idea of cleanliness became tied to the concept of imperialism and Victorian superiority.”

One example on display is the ad for Gold Dust washing powder from the late 1800s. The packaging depicts the “Gold Dust Twins,” a caricature of a pair of African American toddlers who were shown to be scrubbing and cleaning a house, a task far too dirty or demeaning for a white person to do themselves. The museum also highlights the notorious Pears’ Soap advertisements, one of which shows a child in a bathtub going from Black to white, a racist representation of what it means to go from dirty to clean.

 (These images are old enough to appear in a museum, but don’t be fooled—the racist associations between cleanliness and white skin are still seen in skin whitening and soap ads today.)

(Related: Reminder: Black Women Shouldn’t Have to Reach a Breaking Point to Deserve Wellness)

Who gets to be 'dirty'

In the decades that followed, what’s considered “hygienic” continued to be weaponized against Black people throughout North America. To this day, Black hairstyles like dreadlocks are stereotyped as dirty and unprofessional.

“The way people presented it to me was that if you had dreadlocks you were unkempt. You were dirty. You weren’t washed, and that was the stereotype that followed me for a very long time,” Vancouver business owner Christopher Boreland told CBC. Meanwhile the dirty hipster look, usually marked by long, messy hair, Hawaiian shirts and overgrown facial hair, is a trend sported by white celebrities like Justin Bieber and Post Malone and celebrated by fans.

This racist double standard is why it’s so irksome to hear white celebrities like Kutcher and Gyllenhaal casually talk about their bathing habits. It’s easy for wealthy, white people to be flippant about something as supposedly innocuous as showering, when they know they won’t be judged beyond a few social media jabs. Black people like me, on the other hand, know all too well that our perceived cleanliness can have serious social and systemic ramifications for us.

(Related: The Forces That Shape Health Care for Black Women)

As Stacy Lee Kong, writer and editor of pop culture newsletter Friday Things, points out during the recent hygiene debate, it was mainly celebrities of colour like Cardi B, Jodie Turner-Smith and Jason Momoa who all felt a need to state that they bathe regularly. Lee Kong further highlights the many reasons why people of colour may not be able to partake in expected hygiene rituals, including mental health struggles, poverty and lack of access to clean water—the latter being a serious problem that is unique to Indigenous Canadian communities.

The racist ideas of "cleanliness," and associated stigma, can also have serious impacts on people's interactions within the healthcare system, particularly for people facing housing insecurity.

In Toronto, Indigenous people make up about 15 percent of those who are experiencing homelessness, despite only being 0.5 percent of the general population. Black people are also largely overrepresented in Canada’s homeless population. In Metro Vancouver for example, Black people make up for 1.2 percent of the population, but account for six percent of the city’s homeless.

In addition to facing race-based discrimination, homelessness has long been associated with being “dirty” and “deviant,” a moral failing on the part of the individual rather than seeing a victim of a much larger social problem. As a result, according to a 2020 Ontario study, many Canadians experiencing homelessness say discrimination is “common” when accessing healthcare, and they sometimes worry that “disclosing their housing status will result in stigmatization from care providers.” According to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, mounting evidence also indicates that racism, culture and stigma amplify stressors that lead to mental illness and homelessness.

This history and the larger social context around hygiene and cleanliness is important to consider because it forces us to think about who can shun basic hygiene conventions, and who society will demonize for stepping outside of those norms. The line separating those two groups is both class-based and highly racialized. And as we continue to have more nuanced conversations about the ways that race and class permeate every aspect of how we move through society, it’s clear that even seemingly meaningless topics, like how often people shower, deserve that context.

Next, read the story behind a misunderstood and often misdiagnosed heart condition that's affecting Canadian women.

The post The Cultural (and Racist) History of ‘Cleanliness’ in Canada appeared first on Best Health Magazine Canada.

Coastal First Nations take steps to protect wild waters of Great Bear Rainforest

A coalition of coastal First Nations has achieved a significant step towards protecting the wild shores and waters of the Great Bear Rainforest on B.C’s central coast.


The Heiltsuk, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Nuxalk and Wuikinuxv nations signed an agreement with Ottawa and the province of B.C. to do a feasibility study for a national marine conservation area reserve encompassing a significant section of the coast and offshore marine waters alongside the Great Bear Rainforest (GBR).

Heiltsuk Chief Marilyn Slett said the nation looked forward to collaborating on the study and developing a conservation approach and process that reflected its core values, practices, teachings, and principles.

“Our Gvi’ilas, the laws of our ancestors, (act) as the paramount principle to guide all resource use and environmental management,” Slett said in a statement Friday.

“Inherent in this is the understanding that all things are connected and that unity is important to maintain.”

A significant number of important cultural and spiritual sites, such as petroglyphs, burial boxes, and village sites — some which date back 14,000 years — are in the proposed conservation study area.

One of the largest tracts of temperate rainforest in the world, the Great Bear Rainforest is the size of Ireland and covers 6.4 million hectares, stretching the B.C. coast from the Discovery Islands in the south to the border of Alaska in the north.

A biodiversity haven, the region shelters the renowned Kermode “spirit” bear, famous for its white coat — as well as salmon, wolves, cougars, and grizzly bears. A total of 26 First Nations have territory in the GBR’s boundaries.

The proposed marine conservation reserve area in the Queen Charlotte Sound region would be wed to the shores of the Great Bear Rainforest. The proposed marine area is 14,200 square kilometres in size and features a coastline of steep-walled fjords and narrow channels, island archipelagos, estuaries, sandy beaches, shell-midden beaches, rocky shorelines, and open ocean.

The coastal region is a treasure, said federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

“British Columbia’s central coast is teeming with life and history,” Wilkinson said, “from countless marine species to the rich cultures and histories of First Nation communities.”

The isolated waters of the “Great Bear Sea” nourish some of the largest kelp forests along the West Coast, and harbour protected humpback whales, orcas, sea lions, and porpoises, as well as providing habitat for a host of endangered species, such as the marbled murrelet, sea otters, eulachon, and abalone.

The important step forward, in tandem with Indigenous knowledge and local stakeholders, will help Ottawa meet its international commitment to conserving 25 per cent of marine and coastal areas by 2025, and 30 per cent by 2030, he said.

“On top of helping to conserve biodiversity and cultural marine heritage, protecting marine areas also plays a critical role in mitigating the impacts of climate change,” Wilkinson said.

The proposed marine conservation area would compound the conservation values of the Great Bear Rainforest and reflect the holistic approach of Indigenous people, who see marine and terrestrial environments as unified and intertwined, according to Parks Canada.

The coastal nations’ announcement around the next step toward establishing a marine conservation reserve area builds on decades of marine planning along the entire Northern Shelf of the B.C. coast, said Erin Gray, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law.

“It’s a hugely important area,” said Gray, who is involved with marine planning for the legal non-profit.

“It’s exciting to see this initiated by the Indigenous nations, and being co-led by them along with the federal and provincial governments.”

If established, the central coast marine conservation area will become an important component of an even larger marine protected area network being planned for a vast section of the West Coast, from the top of Vancouver Island to north of Haida Gwaii, Gray said.

Consultation around the broader marine network in the Northern Shelf Bioregion is slated to begin in the fall and the goal is to complete the plan by June 2022.

The project is the result of co-operation between the federal and provincial governments and 13 First Nations, as well as a variety of stakeholder agencies and groups.

“The central coast, which would be a part of that larger network, would be a really important piece of that network,” Gray said.

The central coast feasibility study will examine what areas within the marine conservation reserve boundaries would be subject to full protection, and what would be open to sustainable economic activity, like commercial fishing, she added.

“I believe bottom trawling is out of the question, but the rest is all to be determined by this process.”

The study and potential conservation area on the central coast are based on a new model of collaborative governance and management with area First Nations that would depend on traditional and scientific knowledge to protect biodiversity, manage sustainable fisheries, and preserve culture, traditions, and economies of the nations that have long been stewards of the surrounding lands and waters, Parks Canada said.

The results of the feasibility assessment will inform future decisions about whether the proposal will continue, including boundaries and zoning, the federal agency added.

The protection and sustainability of the waters of their traditional territory is a priority for the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation, said Chief Doug Neasloss.

“We look forward to collaborating with Canada and British Columbia on the feasibility assessment for a national marine conservation area reserve, and learning how best to protect the marine environment and the ecological, social, cultural, and economic values that it sustains.”

Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer

Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

What Is Chlorpyrifos, the Common Pesticide the EPA Is Now Banning From Food Crops?
Korin Miller

© boonchai wedmakawand - Getty Images

 Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide that’s often used in agriculture. The FDA has banned products using the chemical after finding a link to certain health risks.

Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Wednesday that the agency plans to ban the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on all food. The EPA said it will revoke all “tolerances”—an amount of a pesticide that is allowed on food—for chlorpyrifos.


The EPA also said in its announcement that it will cancel registered food uses of chlorpyrifos. The move was in response to a court order that directed the EPA to issue a final rule in reaction to a 2007 petition filed by Pesticide Action Network North America and Natural Resources Defense Council. That petition requested that the EPA revoke all chlorpyrifos tolerances because those tolerances were not safe. It’s important to note that the EPA’s ruling only impacts the use of chlorpyrifos on food—not other areas.

The EPA previously denied the petition in 2017 under the Trump Administration. “Today EPA is taking an overdue step to protect public health. Ending the use of chlorpyrifos on food will help to ensure children, farmworkers, and all people are protected from the potentially dangerous consequences of this pesticide,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a press release.
What is chlorpyrifos, exactly?

Chlorpyrifos is an insecticide, acaricide (meaning it’s poisonous to ticks or mites), and miticide (mite poison) used mostly to control pests that lurk on foliage or in soil, the EPA says. The pesticide works by interfering with nerve cell signaling, “causing [the] death of insects and pests,” says Jamie Alan, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University.

The substance has been used as a pesticide since 1965 in both agricultural and non-agricultural settings to kill bugs. Chlorpyrifos that aren’t used on food are sold in the form of liquids, granules, water-dispersible granules, wettable powders, and water-soluble packets, the EPA says.

Why is chlorpyrifos potentially harmful?

The main reason the EPA cited for the ban is that chlorpyrifos has been found to inhibit an enzyme that can lead to neurotoxicity (which alters the normal activities of the nervous system). It’s also been linked to potential neurological issues in children.

“Chlorpyrifos works by inhibiting an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase, causing an increase in acetylcholine in your body,” Alan explains. “Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that is critical for controlling bodily processes such as your heart rate. When you get too much acetylcholine, you get side effects like confusion, seizures, trouble breathing, excess drooling, and a slow heart rate.”

Research shows that chlorpyrifos exposure has been linked to lower birth weights, reduced IQs, and other developmental problems in children. “The EPA issued a 2016 report that found evidence of issues with cognitive development in exposed children, including links to attention difficulties, autism, intelligence declines, problems with the working memory, and increased odds of tremors,” Darin Detwiler, LP.D., associate teaching professor of food safety at Northeastern University and author of Food Safety: Past, Present, and Predictions.

Detwiler says that another concern is the health impact on farmworkers. He explains that those who routinely come in contact with pesticides like chlorpyrifos during pest management operations—as well as during general crop raising and harvesting activities— are at risk. Even if they’re using maximum personal protective equipment and engineering controls. “Their routine contact with pesticides may occur over an entire season or across many years,” Detwiler says.

The EPA has determined that the current agricultural exposures from the use of chlorpyrifos in food do not meet safety standards, leading the agency to say that the current threshold does not guarantee safety from the chemical. Hence, the move to ban the substance.
What products is chlorpyrifos used on?

Chlorpyrifos is usually used on soybeans, trees that grow fruits or nuts, broccoli, cauliflower, and other row crops, the EPA says. However, certain states like California, Hawaii, New York, Maryland, and Oregon have already restricted the use of the pesticide on food. It’s worth noting, however, that chlorpyrifos can get into drinking water “due to drift from spray applications,” Detwiler says.

Going forward, you should feel pretty confident that your food will be chlorpyrifos-free. However, buying organic produce and foods, if you have the means, is the best way to protect yourself from harmful chemicals in the food you eat, Detwiler says. Regardless of the type you buy, it’s still important to wash all produce thoroughly before eating. Check out the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s guide to washing fresh fruits and vegetables here.