Tiny plankton snacking on plastic is a big problem for the food chain
In a video that shows the dangers of marine pollution, tiny zooplankton can be seen ingesting plastic microbeads.
The effect of plastic microbeads, as found in toothpaste and exfoliants, on microscopic marine life is unknown -- but we know now that the substance is likely ingested by zooplankton along with their diet of phytoplankton, thanks to a video by a team of filmmakers led by Verity White of Five Films.
The footage was part of a short film by Norwegian filmmaker Ren Kyst about litter and coastal cleanups that won Atkins CIWEM Environmental Film of the Year from the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management in the UK.
An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic makes its way into the oceans every year, according to a study conducted by researchers at the UC Santa Barbara National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, published in the journal Science early this year. Somewhere between 6,350 and 245,000 metric tons of tha plastic is floating -- which means the rest of it ends up somewhere beneath the surface.
And it's not all plastic bottles, six-pack rings and fishing nets. A lot of the plastic that ends up in the ocean comes from the plastic microbeads found in body wash and other personal care products. Other discarded plastics degrade pretty quickly, eroding into very small fragments. And, while it is estimated that plastics cause the death of over a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year, the effect it has on life under the ocean is difficult to gauge.
The Plymouth Marine Laboratory in Plymouth, England is studying the impact these microplastics have on marine life, with a particular focus on zooplankton. It was at the PML that White and her team shot the film.
The action takes place in a single drop of water over the course of about three hours, condensed down into less than a minute of footage, reports New Scientist. Several copepods -- a type of zooplankton -- were surrounded by microscopic fluorescent polystyrene beads.
Copepods feed by moving their legs to direct food towards their mouths. While they can reject the wrong type of phytoplankton (algae), the film clearly shows some of the beads get caught up and ingested by the animals.
This can cause problems for the zooplankton, as the plastic can remain in their bodies for up to seven days. This negatively impacts the rate at which the zooplankton can consume algae, which in turn could impact their ability to survive.
This, according to the film, is a cause for concern not just for the zooplankton, but for other species as well. Zooplankton are at the bottom of the food chain, so if zooplankton populations drop, the animals that eat zooplankton will have a harder time finding food. Moreover, what zooplankton ingest often ends up ingested by their predators, all the way to the top of the food chain.
The Plymouth Marine Laboratory has released this week a suite of videos and other educational materials on the impact of microplastics on the ocean. You can find them online here.
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Finding an edge: Gold medalist Lindsey Vonn talks tech
From CNET Magazine: Olympic Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn is competitive, focused and determined to make a difference -- and not just on the slopes.
Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, one of the greatest female skiers in US history, admits she's a techie who embraces everything from fitness trackers to wearable cameras to help her train. She's also keen on social media, which lets her connect with fans, including kids asking how she overcame the severe knee injuries that kept her off the competitive track for two years before her record-breaking comeback during the 2014-2015 winter season.
"There are lots of girls who have written me -- a lot of injured kids who have asked me for advice about what I can give them to help them through," says Vonn, who in February set up the Lindsey Vonn Foundation to help girls "achieve their dreams."
But Vonn, a 30-year-old Minnesota native who began "carving the local hill" when she was just 3 years old, says there's one technology she doesn't want her rivals to get their hands on anytime soon: virtual reality. That's because Vonn considers her ability to visualize a ski run a competitive edge.
"If everyone were given that opportunity to train -- to virtually train all the courses -- then it wouldn't be an advantage for me," she says with a laugh. "So I prefer if they wait a couple of years on that."
Vonn spoke with Connie Guglielmo, editor in chief of CNET News, about using tech to track her health, sleep and diet; how GoPro cameras have changed her skiing; and why she hopes people will think of her as more than just a skier.
Here are a few excerpts from their conversation.
What's your overall take on technology? Does it actually help you train?
It's changed a lot about how I train. It makes everything more accurate, and you have a lot more information you can use to improve on what you're doing. There's nothing I can do that can't be tracked. ... If I was tired on this day or didn't sleep well, I can see what I [ate] the day before or what I did. And then I can make changes.
It's changed a lot about how I train. It makes everything more accurate, and you have a lot more information you can use to improve on what you're doing. There's nothing I can do that can't be tracked. ... If I was tired on this day or didn't sleep well, I can see what I [ate] the day before or what I did. And then I can make changes.
Sometimes it is a little intrusive because you have so much information that you are giving to your trainer or your coach. But at the same time it's a lot easier to do that than to have them come to your house or do blood work to see if you are sleeping, if you're rested. ... We used to do a lot of tests at long training camps. They would test my blood to see how much muscle breakdown I had. That was a good indicator if I was overtraining. Now with all that information, I don't have to do that. So while it may seem more intrusive, it's actually less intrusive.
What specific technology do you rely on?
I use Armour39, which is the Under Armour heart-rate monitor. I actually record my workouts, and I can send them to my trainer. I use the Jawbone just as a basic tracker -- I like using it mostly for sleep. I also use a lot of GoPro [cameras]. We track a lot of my skiing, and [it] helps me analyze skiing from a different perspective. Sometimes we put it on the ski. We can see how the ski responds -- if it is vibrating too much and things like that. I use a lot of technology in pretty much everything that I do.
I use Armour39, which is the Under Armour heart-rate monitor. I actually record my workouts, and I can send them to my trainer. I use the Jawbone just as a basic tracker -- I like using it mostly for sleep. I also use a lot of GoPro [cameras]. We track a lot of my skiing, and [it] helps me analyze skiing from a different perspective. Sometimes we put it on the ski. We can see how the ski responds -- if it is vibrating too much and things like that. I use a lot of technology in pretty much everything that I do.
I have Beats wireless headphones, which makes my life nicer because I can listen to music while I work out. ...
Everything pretty much revolves around skiing and training.
Before wearable cameras and fitness trackers, you had to rely on instinct for a lot of these things. Is there such a thing as too much technology for you?
Technology is a really great tool, but you also need to have that human aspect. You know you can't just go off of what your iPhone says or what your computer says. You have to know how your body is feeling, and obviously if you are tired, you need to take a break. ... The data may say that you can train today [but] you know your body and you should listen to that probably more than technology.
Technology is a really great tool, but you also need to have that human aspect. You know you can't just go off of what your iPhone says or what your computer says. You have to know how your body is feeling, and obviously if you are tired, you need to take a break. ... The data may say that you can train today [but] you know your body and you should listen to that probably more than technology.
I think training virtually would be a really amazing tool, but it would also give my competitors pretty big advantages as well. One thing that I feel I'm really good at is visualizing the course in my mind. I'm able to train [on] all the courses throughout the summer even though I'm obviously not skiing. If everyone [were] given that opportunity to train -- to virtually train all the courses -- then it wouldn't be an advantage for me. So, I prefer if they wait a couple of years on that.
What tech would you like to have that hasn't been invented?
I want a teleporter. I would like a device to teleport -- anything to make traveling easier. I travel so much that would be one thing that I would want people to do.
I want a teleporter. I would like a device to teleport -- anything to make traveling easier. I travel so much that would be one thing that I would want people to do.
But more realistically, I would like a wearable to track my skiing -- my speed -- with some sort of GPS that shows me when I'm accelerating and decelerating. ... They've tried to make apps and trackable GPS gear that syncs up your GoPro footage with GPS -- it kind of gives you a description of how fast or slow you are going in the turns. But I found that it's really not that accurate. So, hopefully in the future they can come up with something that will help me improve my training and be able to figure out what I can do better.
You've said you really like your Apple iPhone. Why?
Yes. I had the old Nokia brick phone and went straight to the iPhone. I've been using it since the first one came out. I've never used any other smartphone beyond the iPhone.
Yes. I had the old Nokia brick phone and went straight to the iPhone. I've been using it since the first one came out. I've never used any other smartphone beyond the iPhone.
It makes everything easier -- especially when I travel. The iPhone, with GPS, is really helpful when I'm traveling and you can't find the mountain or the village. You have the iPhone with your navigation. I'm traveling all the time so it makes my life easier to be able to have that.
What about an Apple Watch?
I'm a Rolex user. So I probably won't be able to use the Apple Watch, but my sister will probably test it out for me and tell me how it's going. I think there are some aspects that could be really cool -- it also tracks your sleep and [is] similar to the Jawbone. But we'll see.
I'm a Rolex user. So I probably won't be able to use the Apple Watch, but my sister will probably test it out for me and tell me how it's going. I think there are some aspects that could be really cool -- it also tracks your sleep and [is] similar to the Jawbone. But we'll see.
You tell a story about how you met one of your skiing idols, Picabo Street, when she visited your hometown. Now you use social media to reach your fans. What do you like about social media?
Social media is a really good platform to be able to communicate with fans. And especially since my last two surgeries, a lot of people have written me asking how they can recover better or rehab better from their injuries. And I know a lot of kids also say that, you know, "My career is over; I cannot be a skier anymore." I just like to write them back and give them a little bit of motivation and inspiration to try to get them back on their feet and smiling again. So I think social media is a really good way to communicate with fans that way.
Social media is a really good platform to be able to communicate with fans. And especially since my last two surgeries, a lot of people have written me asking how they can recover better or rehab better from their injuries. And I know a lot of kids also say that, you know, "My career is over; I cannot be a skier anymore." I just like to write them back and give them a little bit of motivation and inspiration to try to get them back on their feet and smiling again. So I think social media is a really good way to communicate with fans that way.
Everyone knows you as a skier, and you've been called one of the greatest female skiers in history. How would you like to be described?
I hope people recognize me as a great skier, but also as a good person: someone who tries to give back as much as possible. I started my own foundation, the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, in February. My goal is to empower young women -- so it's a whole other side of me that people don't necessarily know about.
I hope people recognize me as a great skier, but also as a good person: someone who tries to give back as much as possible. I started my own foundation, the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, in February. My goal is to empower young women -- so it's a whole other side of me that people don't necessarily know about.
I would hope people think of me as a determined and successful athlete and also someone who tries to give back. ... I'm not just a skier. I'm not just a skier.
This story appears in the summer edition of CNET Magazine. For other magazine stories, go here.
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Is your shirt smarter than you?
From CNET Magazine: Hats, shirts, socks -- if you can wear it, there's a good chance it eventually will read your vital signs, show your stress levels and even tell you to cut back on your Thanksgiving turkey.
The tight black tank top beamed a signal to my smartphone, chronicling every data point about my breathing, heart rate and movement.
All while I slept.
By the time the sun came up, my phone had produced colorful charts showing every time my heartbeat quickened (interrupted sleep from 5:44 to 5:45 a.m.), the calories I burned tossing and turning (220) and the precise moment my breathing was most relaxed (4:28 a.m.).
These days, biometric sensors can be added to the fabric of just about everything we wear -- from shirts to shorts, hats to shoes, and everything in between. The smart shirt I slept in doesn't come cheap: The Hexoskin shirt and 2-inch-long power and recording module cost $400. For a lot of us, that makes the Hexoskin and products like it interesting novelties. But for other people, including professional athletes, the information may be worth the price.
"You buy this shirt because it gives you data about yourself that you can't get anywhere else," says Pierre-Alexandre Fournier, CEO and co-founder of Montreal-based Hexoskin.
Welcome to the world of sensor-enhanced clothing, which promises to put a whole new spin on dressing smart.
Ralph Lauren claims its Polo Tech shirt, available later this summer, will track distances, workout intensity and even promote muscle recovery. Rest Devices' Mimo onesie sends data showing your baby's breathing, temperature and sleep patterns to your smartphone. China's sports apparel maker 361 Degrees is developing kids shoes with GPS trackers.
And French company Emiota is working on Belty, a smart belt that automatically adjusts to accommodate changing waistlines. It even offers something called "waistline trend analysis," essentially shaming you for packing on the pounds. Companies are also fashioning socks that help people in physical therapy improve their gait and clothes that remotely monitor the vitals of elderly patients.
Intel touted an array of intriguing products in a "Make It Wearable" competition it held last year. And in January, the company showed off a jacket that helps a visually impaired employee sense what's around him.
Right now, the smart-clothing market is tiny, says market research firm IDC. That's expected to change within the next four years, jumping from 200,000 items shipped worldwide this year to 5.6 million items by 2019.
Well, well, well
Because smart textiles are worn next to your heart and lungs, they could produce more accurate -- and more kinds of -- data than smartwatches or smart eyewear (like Google Glass). That may make them ideal for monitoring our fitness and stress levels.
Hexoskin's biometric shirts, for example, have been used by Cirque du Soleil to check its artists' fatigue levels. NASA crew members wear them on simulated missions to Mars. Researchers find them useful for studying sleep and understanding the effects of air pollution. And athletes and sports teams turn to shirts made by Athos, OMsignal as well as Hexoskin to track workload and fatigue.
While health and wellness will likely be the primary reasons to put on smart shirts and hats for now, many companies hope to one day appeal to every kind of buyer.
"Our real passion and vision is to be seamlessly and non-intrusively woven into consumers' lives," says Omri Yoffe, CEO of LifeBeam, an Israeli maker of intelligent head gear, including bike helmets, hats and visors for consumers. It also makes biosensing helmets and gear for pilots, military special forces and emergency first responders.
But reaching the mainstream market won't be easy.
"Is it going to make its way out to mainstream USA for soccer moms and other people?" asks Ramon Llamas, an analyst with IDC. "Not anytime soon."
For starters, wearable gear isn't cheap. Such products also require bulky removable modules to power the sensors woven into clothing -- although those modules could eventually disappear when our movements or the sun take over power duties. And unlike smartwatches -- which can download new apps -- a piece of smart clothing isn't likely to get more intelligent after you've bought it.
"No one's going to download a Facebook app for their shirt," says Llamas.
And... action!
A few days after my data-filled snooze, I wore the Hexoskin shirt for a run around the neighborhood. The instant I accelerated from a walk to a jog to a run, my iPhone 6 lit up. A thin, red line cataloging my heartbeat snaked up a chart showing beats per minute: 80 beats, then 134 and on to 160 beats per minute. My breath rate and calories burned bounced higher, too. The red line kept rising as I ran, peaking at 172, until I slowed to a walk and watched my heartbeat take a leisurely slope back down to under 100 beats per minute.
I received a tidy set of stats after finishing my 12-minute run (I don't run much): 134 average heartbeats per minute, 30 average breaths per minute, 1,341 steps, 147 calories burned.
Another day, I wore both the shirt and LifeBeam's smart hat as I walked along a lakefront trail in Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Pleasantville, NY. I toggled between two smartphone apps tracking my every movement: Hexoskin's showed my heart rate, calories and breathing; the hat transmitted my heart rate to Apple's Health app.
It's not hard to imagine more people becoming interested in this kind of gear, especially if manufacturers can cut prices and shrink the size of the power sources. For now, smart clothing is like designer wear: pretty, expensive and maybe too precious for everyday wear.
But in the future, says Hexoskin's Fournier, "people are going to have smart clothing and they're not going to think about it."
This story appears in the summer edition of CNET Magazine. For other magazine stories, go here.
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