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Popular 90s supermodel makes iconic return to runway

<p dir="ltr">Vendela Kirsebom, a Norwegian-Swedish model, has made a stunning return to the runway almost three decades after she rose to fame.</p> <p dir="ltr">Kirsebom became the face of <em>Elizabeth Ardern</em>, appeared in seven editions of <em>Sports Illustrated</em>, and graced the cover of<em> Vogue</em> during the peak of her career.</p> <p dir="ltr">In recent years she chose to take a break from the spotlight, until now.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 56-year-old returned to the catwalk for <em>Sports Illustrated’s</em> Swimsuit Runway Show in Miami this week.</p> <p dir="ltr">She oozes confidence as strutted the runway in two different swimmers including a white one-piece with a plunging neckline, and a purple bikini set, both from her own brand Vendela Wear.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following the show, Kirsebom took to Instagram to thank her followers for their support.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Thank you for all the cheers, love and nice feedback,” she captioned the photo with the hashtag "embrace your beauty”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Her 119,000 followers flooded the comment section with a string of adoring responses.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Words can't describe how proud I am of you. Time stood still when you were on the stage,” wrote her husband, Norwegian TV celebrity Petter Pilgaard.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You are a fantastic role model for us adult ladies. You deserve a lot of happiness with your nice new collection,” wrote one fan.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You’re a superstar, you look incredibly great,” commented another.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Back on the catwalk, you look great,” wrote a third.</p> <p dir="ltr">Aside from her impressive modelling career, Kirsebom was also an actress who appeared in several movies including <em>Batman and Robin </em>in 1997, and <em>The Parent Trap </em>starring Lindsay Lohan in 1998.</p> <p dir="ltr">In 1996 she was rumoured to have dated the most eligible bachelor of that time, George Clooney, after the pair were spotted together multiple times.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Legendary model Christie Brinkley talks body image ahead of her 70th birthday

<p>Christie Brinkley may be pushing 70 but she’s showing no signs of switching up her sensual public image.</p> <p>The 69-year-old Vogue model will still be donning bikinis for social media and says she feels as good as she did 40 years ago.</p> <p>“I feel strong,” Brinkley told <em>People</em>, “I pretty much feel, as I'm approaching 70, the same way that I felt when I was approaching 30. I feel good.”</p> <p>She spoke to the outlet while hosting Pet Life Unlimited’s Forever Young senior dog adoption event at the Animal Haven shelter in New York City.</p> <p>“I feel like the number doesn't match my spirit, so I may as well just keep spiriting on,” she added. She will turn 70 on February 2, 2024.</p> <p>“I think they all signal to us certain things,” she said.</p> <p>“I've been shocked by not feeling the way I thought I was supposed to be feeling at that age,” she explained.</p> <p>“I don't believe that focusing on age is going to make you feel any better about it.” And her advice for looking young was, “I think curiosity in the world around you and just wanting to do something with each day, that is what keeps you young and going.”</p> <p>The 69-year-old shared that her family keeps her grounded. She has two daughters, Alex Ray, 37, and Sailor, 24, and one son Jack, 27.</p> <p>“I just love any time I have any family and friends around, just being able to sit and laugh — I think laughter heals everything,” she continued.</p> <p>In 2022, Brinkley spoke about her figure. She was seen in a crop top and shorts while stretching on the beach and offered some solid advice.</p> <p>“When you eat too much, it’s not as easy to lose the weight, so here’s a tip that’s tried and true, that will make you feel like your best you,” she said.</p> <p>She also advised, “avoid the sugar and do exercise, it’s not about the size of your thighs.”</p> <p>“Vibrant good health will be your prize! Reminder this month when you buy a bottle, you’ll put planting trees into full throttle!” she said.</p> <p>The mum-of-three was spotted in a light blue swimsuit while walking on the shore in the Caribbean and took to Instagram to reveal to followers what she eats to stay in shape.</p> <p>She broke down her healthy diet tips and tricks that don’t skimp on flavour but rely heavily on freshly picked fruit.</p> <p>In one post she uploaded an image of freshly cut papaya sprinkled with greens.</p> <p>“My neighbors grew this papaya! Look at the rich color! I'm planting the seeds from this papaya!”she wrote.</p> <p>Another post showcased her breakfast which appeared to consist primarily of fresh fruit.</p> <p>“Today's breakfast! Chia seeds really fill you up fast, great source of fiber and quercetin an antioxidant that can reduce your risk of developing several health conditions including heart disease!”, she wrote.</p> <p>Another post saw blueberries and raspers over chia seeds mixed with a “milk replacement” and pecans on top.</p> <p>“Easy to make too just put 2 tablespoons of chia seeds for every half cup of your milk replacement of choice. I love it made with coconut milk or Oatmilk, Just pop it in the fridge and it will puff up. Ta Da!</p> <p>“Add fruit dribble with honey if you have a sweet tooth.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>

Body

Robert Irwin launches modelling career

<p>Robert Irwin has sent the internet into a frenzy after appearing in a new modelling campaign. </p> <p>The wildlife warrior features in a new advertisement for Aussie clothing brand Hard Yakka, which he shared to his Instagram page on Sunday and has racked up over 200,000 likes. </p> <p>A brooding Irwin is featured taking part in a series of activities including surfing and biking, while discussing how his family helped him develop his relationship with the great outdoors. </p> <p>“I’ve always been about the ocean from a really, really young age,” Irwin said in the video.</p> <p>“It has always been my dad who had that strong connection to the sea. So now I feel very lucky I get to follow in those footsteps."</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CogBmmyOe8A/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CogBmmyOe8A/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Robert Irwin (@robertirwinphotography)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“I still use some of his old surf boards. I get out there every morning into the water. I am definitely most at home when I’m next to the ocean.”</p> <p>While explaining his passion for being outside, he said that his work at Australia Zoo is still the biggest part of his life. </p> <p>“It’s my passion, not just what I do, it’s who I am. So, it becomes all about giving everything 100 per cent. Having that passion and enthusiasm for what you do is so important,” he said.</p> <p>The video was shot as part of a Hard Yakka series called Meet the Legends and Irwin had fans swooning as he modelled the brand’s clothing range.</p> <p>“Worlds most eligible Bachelor. So handsome and well behaved,” one wrote on Instagram.</p> <p>“Is there anything he CAN’T do? 😍👏 his dad is so proud,” another added.</p> <p>“I have the worlds biggest crush on you,” another fan stated simply.</p> <p>“I’ve never wanted to purchase a product more in my entire life. This was fantastic to watch,” a fourth chimed in.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram</em></p>

Beauty & Style

The Galactica AI model was trained on scientific knowledge – but it spat out alarmingly plausible nonsense

<p>Earlier this month, Meta announced new AI software called <a href="https://galactica.org/">Galactica</a>: “a large language model that can store, combine and reason about scientific knowledge”.</p> <p><a href="https://paperswithcode.com/paper/galactica-a-large-language-model-for-science-1">Launched</a> with a public online demo, Galactica lasted only three days before going the way of other AI snafus like Microsoft’s <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist">infamous racist chatbot</a>.</p> <p>The online demo was disabled (though the <a href="https://github.com/paperswithcode/galai">code for the model is still available</a> for anyone to use), and Meta’s outspoken chief AI scientist <a href="https://twitter.com/ylecun/status/1595353002222682112">complained</a> about the negative public response.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Galactica demo is off line for now.<br />It's no longer possible to have some fun by casually misusing it.<br />Happy? <a href="https://t.co/K56r2LpvFD">https://t.co/K56r2LpvFD</a></p> <p>— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) <a href="https://twitter.com/ylecun/status/1593293058174500865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>So what was Galactica all about, and what went wrong?</p> <p><strong>What’s special about Galactica?</strong></p> <p>Galactica is a language model, a type of AI trained to respond to natural language by repeatedly playing a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/magazine/ai-language.html">fill-the-blank word-guessing game</a>.</p> <p>Most modern language models learn from text scraped from the internet. Galactica also used text from scientific papers uploaded to the (Meta-affiliated) website <a href="https://paperswithcode.com/">PapersWithCode</a>. The designers highlighted specialised scientific information like citations, maths, code, chemical structures, and the working-out steps for solving scientific problems.</p> <p>The <a href="https://galactica.org/static/paper.pdf">preprint paper</a> associated with the project (which is yet to undergo peer review) makes some impressive claims. Galactica apparently outperforms other models at problems like reciting famous equations (“<em>Q: What is Albert Einstein’s famous mass-energy equivalence formula? A: E=mc²</em>”), or predicting the products of chemical reactions (“<em>Q: When sulfuric acid reacts with sodium chloride, what does it produce? A: NaHSO₄ + HCl</em>”).</p> <p>However, once Galactica was opened up for public experimentation, a deluge of criticism followed. Not only did Galactica reproduce many of the problems of bias and toxicity we have seen in other language models, it also specialised in producing authoritative-sounding scientific nonsense.</p> <p><strong>Authoritative, but subtly wrong bullshit generator</strong></p> <p>Galactica’s press release promoted its ability to explain technical scientific papers using general language. However, users quickly noticed that, while the explanations it generates sound authoritative, they are often subtly incorrect, biased, or just plain wrong.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">I entered "Estimating realistic 3D human avatars in clothing from a single image or video". In this case, it made up a fictitious paper and associated GitHub repo. The author is a real person (<a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertPumarola?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlbertPumarola</a>) but the reference is bogus. (2/9) <a href="https://t.co/N4i0BX27Yf">pic.twitter.com/N4i0BX27Yf</a></p> <p>— Michael Black (@Michael_J_Black) <a href="https://twitter.com/Michael_J_Black/status/1593133727257092097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>We also asked Galactica to explain technical concepts from our own fields of research. We found it would use all the right buzzwords, but get the actual details wrong – for example, mixing up the details of related but different algorithms.</p> <p>In practice, Galactica was enabling the generation of misinformation – and this is dangerous precisely because it deploys the tone and structure of authoritative scientific information. If a user already needs to be a subject matter expert in order to check the accuracy of Galactica’s “summaries”, then it has no use as an explanatory tool.</p> <p>At best, it could provide a fancy autocomplete for people who are already fully competent in the area they’re writing about. At worst, it risks further eroding public trust in scientific research.</p> <p><strong>A galaxy of deep (science) fakes</strong></p> <p>Galactica could make it easier for bad actors to mass-produce fake, fraudulent or plagiarised scientific papers. This is to say nothing of exacerbating <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/28/ai-students-essays-cheat-teachers-plagiarism-tech">existing concerns</a> about students using AI systems for plagiarism.</p> <p>Fake scientific papers are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00733-5">nothing new</a>. However, peer reviewers at academic journals and conferences are already time-poor, and this could make it harder than ever to weed out fake science.</p> <p><strong>Underlying bias and toxicity</strong></p> <p>Other critics reported that Galactica, like other language models trained on data from the internet, has a tendency to spit out <a href="https://twitter.com/mrgreene1977/status/1593649978789941249">toxic hate speech</a> while unreflectively censoring politically inflected queries. This reflects the biases lurking in the model’s training data, and Meta’s apparent failure to apply appropriate checks around the responsible AI research.</p> <p>The risks associated with large language models are well understood. Indeed, an <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3442188.3445922">influential paper</a> highlighting these risks prompted Google to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/google-timnit-gebru-ai-what-really-happened/">fire one of the paper’s authors</a> in 2020, and eventually disband its AI ethics team altogether.</p> <p>Machine-learning systems infamously exacerbate existing societal biases, and Galactica is no exception. For instance, Galactica can recommend possible citations for scientific concepts by mimicking existing citation patterns (“<em>Q: Is there any research on the effect of climate change on the great barrier reef? A: Try the paper ‘<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0041-2">Global warming transforms coral reef assemblages</a>’ by Hughes, et al. in Nature 556 (2018)</em>”).</p> <p>For better or worse, citations are the currency of science – and by reproducing existing citation trends in its recommendations, Galactica risks reinforcing existing patterns of inequality and disadvantage. (Galactica’s developers acknowledge this risk in their paper.)</p> <p>Citation bias is already a well-known issue in academic fields ranging from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447395">feminist</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqy003">scholarship</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01770-1">physics</a>. However, tools like Galactica could make the problem worse unless they are used with careful guardrails in place.</p> <p>A more subtle problem is that the scientific articles on which Galactica is trained are already biased towards certainty and positive results. (This leads to the so-called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/science-is-in-a-reproducibility-crisis-how-do-we-resolve-it-16998">replication crisis</a>” and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-edit-science-part-2-significance-testing-p-hacking-and-peer-review-74547">p-hacking</a>”, where scientists cherry-pick data and analysis techniques to make results appear significant.)</p> <p>Galactica takes this bias towards certainty, combines it with wrong answers and delivers responses with supreme overconfidence: hardly a recipe for trustworthiness in a scientific information service.</p> <p>These problems are dramatically heightened when Galactica tries to deal with contentious or harmful social issues, as the screenshot below shows.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498098/original/file-20221129-17547-nwq8p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Screenshots of papers generated by Galactica on 'The benefits of antisemitism' and 'The benefits of eating crushed glass'." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Galactica readily generates toxic and nonsensical content dressed up in the measured and authoritative language of science.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/mrgreene1977/status/1593687024963182592/photo/1">Tristan Greene / Galactica</a></span></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>Here we go again</strong></p> <p>Calls for AI research organisations to take the ethical dimensions of their work more seriously are now coming from <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26507/fostering-responsible-computing-research-foundations-and-practices">key research bodies</a> such as the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. Some AI research organisations, like OpenAI, are being <a href="https://github.com/openai/dalle-2-preview/blob/main/system-card.md">more conscientious</a> (though still imperfect).</p> <p>Meta <a href="https://www.engadget.com/meta-responsible-innovation-team-disbanded-194852979.html">dissolved its Responsible Innovation team</a> earlier this year. The team was tasked with addressing “potential harms to society” caused by the company’s products. They might have helped the company avoid this clumsy misstep.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195445/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em>Writen by Aaron J. Snoswell </em><em>and Jean Burgess</em><em>. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-galactica-ai-model-was-trained-on-scientific-knowledge-but-it-spat-out-alarmingly-plausible-nonsense-195445" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Technology

Leo DiCaprio scolded by fans after "predictable" split with model girlfriend

<p>Leonard DiCaprio fans everywhere are having the last laugh as the famed actor has ended his four-year relationship with model girlfriend Camilla Morrone.</p> <p>Having a track record of exclusively dating women under 25, the 47-year-old ended his relationship quietly, earlier this summer, according to a source close to the couple.</p> <p>DiCaprio and Morrone began dating in 2017 when she was 20 years old, making their awards show debut at the 2020 Oscars.</p> <p>Morrone at the time defended their 23-year age difference, telling the Los Angeles Times in 2019, “There’s so many relationships in Hollywood — and in the history of the world — where people have large age gaps. I just think anyone should be able to date who they want to date.”</p> <p>This recent widely publicised breakup has only reinforced predictions made that the relationship wouldn't last much longer, after Camilla celebrated her 25th birthday in early June.</p> <p>Of course the breakup sent social media into a frenzy as fans couldn’t wait to post jokes about the couple's "doomed" relationship.</p> <p>One fan tweeted: "3 things are certain in life: - death, - taxes, - Leonardo Dicaprio breaking up with his girlfriend before her pre-frontal cortex has fully developed."</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">3 things are certain in life:<br />- death<br />- taxes<br />- leonardo dicaprio breaking up with his girlfriend before her pre-frontal cortex has fully developed <a href="https://t.co/5bw3uLWlQ3">https://t.co/5bw3uLWlQ3</a></p> <p>— Erin Brockobić (@erinbrockobic) <a href="https://twitter.com/erinbrockobic/status/1564744270950633472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>"Leonardo DiCaprio is actually dating all the under-25s he possibly can to spread the word about climate change to those who will be the most impacted," another user joked.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">leonardo dicaprio is actually dating all the under-25s he possibly can to spread the word about climate change to those who will be the most impacted</p> <p>— flamin nora (@katierpacker) <a href="https://twitter.com/katierpacker/status/1564888223205269505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>A third added: "there's no phenomenon on this planet more reliable than leonardo dicaprio breaking up with his girl by age 25, the stats are breathtaking".</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">there's no phenomenon on this planet more reliable than leonardo dicaprio breaking up with his girl by age 25, the stats are breathtaking <a href="https://t.co/A9czRJo56Q">https://t.co/A9czRJo56Q</a></p> <p>— no (@zedonarrival) <a href="https://twitter.com/zedonarrival/status/1564730774485704704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>Meanwhile, others have tried to figure out how DiCaprio might have ended the romance as one stated: "i need to know how leonardo dicaprio conducts these breakups. does he start picking fights months before they turn 25 to be less conspicuous?"</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">i need to know how leonardo dicaprio conducts these breakups. does he start picking fights months before they turn 25 to be less conspicuous? do they wake up on their birthday to a note that says “sorry i can’t don’t hate me” someone pls investigate</p> <p>— megan (@weganmilliamson) <a href="https://twitter.com/weganmilliamson/status/1564756315276279808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>Other A-list women DiCaprio has dated who were 25 or younger at the time of their relationships include Kate Moss, Helena Christensen, Naomi Campbell, Bar Refaeli, Nina Agdal and Gisele Bündchen, who he dated for six years.</p> <p>What a complete Morrone!</p> <p><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

Relationships

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: Is inclusive objectification something to celebrate?

<p>The last two weeks of May generated a flurry of celebratory media commentary about the diversity of models in the <a href="https://swimsuit.si.com/model-years/2022">2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue</a>. It was praised for “<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/lifestyle/sports/si-swimsuit-issue-maye-musk-breaks-barriers-cover-model-at-74">breaking barriers</a>,” “<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220516005285/en/Kim-Kardashian-Ciara-Maye-Musk-and-Yumi-Nu-Are-Revealed-as-Sports-Illustrated-Swimsuit%E2%80%99s-2022-Cover-Models">empowering women</a>” and “<a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/style/story/sports-illustrated-swimsuit-2022-maye-musk-kim-kardashian-84748799">trailblazing</a>.”</p> <p>This year’s firsts included: Ashley Callingbull (<a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/3492947-indigenous-first-nations-woman-featured-in-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-edition-for-first-time/">the first Indigenous model</a>), Yumi Nu (<a href="https://swimsuit.si.com/swimsuit/model/yumi-nu-2022-si-swimsuit-photos">the first Asian American curve model to appear on the cover</a>), Maye Musk (<a href="https://people.com/style/maye-musk-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-2022-cover-at-74-something-i-could-never-dream-up/">the first woman in her 70s</a>), Kelly Hughes (<a href="https://www.thecut.com/2022/05/a-model-with-a-c-section-scar-is-in-sports-illustrated.html">the first swimsuit model to show her C-section scars</a>) and Katrina Scott (<a href="https://swimsuit.si.com/swimnews/katrina-scott-first-visibly-pregnant-woman-in-si-swimsuit">the first visibly pregnant model</a>).</p> <p>In recent years the magazine has highlighted more diversity, including <a href="https://swimsuit.si.com/swimnews/halima-aden-si-swimsuit-2019-model-kenya">Halima Aden in a burkini</a>, more <a href="https://parade.com/1381969/allienelson/athletes-sports-illustrated-swimsuit/">athletes</a>, trans models like <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20/1018381498/sports-illustrateds-swimsuit-issue-trans-model-leyna-bloom">Leyna Bloom</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/07/10/valentina-sampaio-becomes-first-trans-model-in-sports-illustrateds-swimsuit-issue/">Valentina Sampaio</a> and more <a href="https://swimsuit.si.com/swimsuit/model/hunter-mcgrady">curve models like Hunter McGrady</a>.</p> <p>But most of the models are still stereotypically young, thin and white.</p> <p>With the celebration of firsts, an important question falls by the wayside: Is including a broader range of women in the pages of a magazine issue whose sole commercial purpose is to present them as sexual objects for a mostly straight male readership a good thing?</p> <p><strong>‘Properly feminine’</strong></p> <p>I am a feminist philosopher who works on <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/moral-responsibility-in-collective-contexts-9780199782963">responsibility in oppressive social contexts</a> and co-founder of the blog <a href="https://fitisafeministissue.com/">Fit Is a Feminist Issue</a>. In society, where sexist structures and attitudes are abound, women’s value — and by extension, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-a-womans-glam-appearance-affects-her-career/11671912">range of opportunities — is frequently determined by their attractiveness and sexual desirability to straight men</a>. So I question whether expanding the field of women who are sufficiently sexy and, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Femininity-and-Domination-Studies-in-the-Phenomenology-of-Oppression/Bartky/p/book/9780415901864">to borrow the words of philosopher Sandra Bartky</a>, “properly feminine” to “merit” inclusion in the swimsuit issue, constitutes overall meaningful progress for women.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/mayemusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mayemusk</a> joins us to talk about her <a href="https://twitter.com/SI_Swimsuit?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SI_Swimsuit</a> cover, what it was like juggling multiple jobs and more. <a href="https://t.co/bR5B2gHLu4">pic.twitter.com/bR5B2gHLu4</a></p> <p>— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) <a href="https://twitter.com/HodaAndJenna/status/1531645368659849217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>Granted, there is something to be said for <a href="https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2019/12/20/one-size-does-not-fit-all-the-rise-of-diverse-fashion-models/">challenging the stereotypical esthetic ideals of normative femininity with diverse models</a>. And even though <a href="https://www.shape.com/celebrities/news/kate-upton-body-attention-criticism">model Kate Upton expressed discomfort about the public scrutiny and discussion of her body</a>, others, including Yumi Nu, describe appearing in the swimsuit issue as <a href="https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3179391/sports-illustrated-swimsuits-first-asian-plus-size-cover">a validating experience</a>.</p> <p>Yet the swimsuit issue continues to promote sexual attractiveness as women’s main currency. As <a href="https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en.html">women fight to be taken seriously</a>, repeating this message <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2009/12/05/appearance-work-pay-forbes-woman-leadership-body-weight.html">is harmful</a>.</p> <p><strong>Sex does sell</strong></p> <p>When <a href="https://fitisafeministissue.com/2022/05/28/inclusive-objectification-anyone/">I wrote a blog post about this</a>, readers on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/feministfitness">the blog’s Facebook page</a> mostly agreed with me in comments writing: “yay, now us fat girls can be objectified too” and “even in ‘inclusivity’ the goal of the swimsuit issues is still policing feminine bodies.”</p> <p>But some said “sex sells: get over it” and “where’s the harm?” Others argued my view throws a wet blanket over a beach party where finally (finally!) women of diverse shapes and sizes are not just welcome but considered sexy and beautiful.</p> <p>Sex does sell and it’s too bad that the sexualization of women is a multi-billion dollar industry in which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/business-facts-about-the-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-issue-2013-2">the swimsuit issue trades</a>.</p> <p>The swimsuit issue is a setback for women and models are engaging in what philosopher Shay Welch, in her book <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498505413/Existential-Eroticism-A-Feminist-Approach-to-Understanding-Womens-Oppression-Perpetuating-Choices"><em>Existential Eroticism</em></a>, calls “oppression-perpetuating choices.” She defines “existential eroticism” as women’s oppression through beauty and sexuality.</p> <p>Basically, some women’s choices contribute to conditions of oppression for women as a group even if we can understand why women make them.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ced0FcSgm3t/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ced0FcSgm3t/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@si_swimsuit)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>While we would be better off without the swimsuit issue (we’d be better off without lots of things), I’m not suggesting it be censored or banned. Nor is this an objection to the display of bodies, even skimpily clad bodies. But is there a different way of going about it?</p> <p>Look to <em>ESPN</em>’s <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/27400369/the-body-issue">The Body Issue</a>, which depicts a diversity of athletes (not only women and not only non-disabled), nude and often in action shots that display their athleticism within their chosen sport.</p> <p>It presents a completely different esthetic of physicality, based in athleticism. Athleticism isn’t the only dimension along which to appreciate bodies, but it’s not clear how the swimsuit issue, the very essence of which is to represent a particular type of sexualized bodies, could morph into something that celebrates the body in a different way.</p> <p>Swimsuit issue editor-in-chief <a href="https://swimsuit.si.com/swimnews/sports-illustrated-swimsuit-2022-cover-models-kim-kardashian-ciara-maye-musk-yumi-nu">MJ Day says</a>, “We encourage readers to see these models as we see them — multifaceted, multitalented and sexy while they’re at it.” As multi-dimensional as these women may be, their suitability for the swimsuit issue ultimately depends on being sexy.</p> <p>We should be wary of uncritically accepting the sexual objectification of women for the sake of inclusion and diversity. When we do, we’re celebrating the swimsuit issue as something empowering for women and praising it for “breaking barriers.” Given its context and target-audience — straight, cisgender men — doing so perpetuates the pernicious idea that women (all women) need to be sexy-to-men to be acceptable.</p> <p>We can promote inclusion and celebrate the beauty of diverse bodies without piggybacking on that relentless message about what makes women worthy.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184211/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tracy-isaacs-967042" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tracy Isaacs</a>, Professor (Philosophy), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-university-882" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Western University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-illustrated-swimsuit-is-inclusive-objectification-something-to-celebrate-184211" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Images: Sports Illustrated</em></p>

Beauty & Style

"This is the devil's work!": Nun pulls apart female models sharing a kiss

<p dir="ltr">A shocked nun caused quite a stir in the streets of Italy when she pulled away two female models who were kissing for a photoshoot.</p> <p dir="ltr">The nun was dressed in a white habit and rushed to stop Serena de Ferrari and Briton Kyshan Wilson who had locked lips in a Naples backstreet as they posed for a photo for Not Yet magazine.</p> <p dir="ltr">“What are you doing? This is the devil's work,” the nun shouted at them as they giggled.</p> <p dir="ltr">She looked around at the cameramen and crossed herself before saying: “Jesus, Joseph and Mary”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Make up artist Roberta Mastalia, who was on the shoot, said they had to ask the nun to leave thinking she was just joking.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We were on location in the Spanish Quarter in Naples, in a little sidestreet with the two models when all of a sudden the nun walked past,” he said, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11027633/Italian-nun-splits-two-female-models-kissing-photoshoot-calling-devils-work.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Mail</a> reported.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She asked us if we had been to Mass that day and when we said 'No' she started blaming young people for Coronavirus and then she saw the two models posing up ready to kiss and that's when she ran forward to split them up.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our first reaction was we were all stunned. They took it as a bit of a joke and you can see from the video the two girls are laughing.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We then had to ask the nun to leave as we explained we had work to do and she slowly walked off.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Both Serena and Briton shared clips of the incident to their social media with the caption “God doesn’t love LGBT”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Local priest Father Salvatore Giuliano The Church is constantly updating its views but some of the older generation have not yet accepted it.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Travel Trouble

“I am grateful”: Linda Evangelista returns to modelling

<p dir="ltr">After sharing the story of the “nightmare” beauty procedure that left her “brutally disfigured” earlier this year, Linda Evangelista has made her return to modelling for a special occasion in the world of fashion.</p> <p dir="ltr">On Sunday, Evangelista took to Instagram to share a photo of her upcoming collaboration with Italian luxury fashion house Fendi with her fans.</p> <p dir="ltr">In the photo, the Canadian supermodel is holding two silver Fendi Baguette bags, wearing a grey top, pink-rimmed sunglasses and multiple pink caps.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-eaab2c67-7fff-6c51-3c61-e36ca2970887"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“On September 9 2022 Fendi will host a special fashion show in New York City to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fendi baguette … and two years since Kim Jones joined the Maison as artistic director of couture and womenswear,” Evangelista captioned the photo, adding that she was “so grateful” to those involved in the photoshoot.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CgE3cyTLoFN/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CgE3cyTLoFN/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Linda Evangelista (@lindaevangelista)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The collaboration marks the first time Evangelista has modelled after a fat-freezing procedure she had several years ago went horribly wrong, and comes several months after she went public with her story.</p> <p dir="ltr">After a CoolSculpting procedure, Evangelista experienced Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia (PAH), a rare side-effect that she said left her with hard, fatty lumps all over her body.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9b071cc8-7fff-92f5-037e-cc70fda09dd1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers’ careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured by Zeltiq’s CoolSculpting procedure which did the opposite of what it promised,” she shared on Instagram in September 2021.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaDMK_RJx3-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaDMK_RJx3-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Linda Evangelista (@lindaevangelista)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">In <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/beauty-style/linda-evangelistas-first-photoshoot-in-five-years" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview with <em>People</em></a><em> </em>earlier this year, the 57-year-old said she was “done hiding in shame”, having lived reclusively in New York for several years.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I can't live like this anymore, in hiding and shame. I just couldn't live in this pain any longer. I'm willing to finally speak," she told the publication.</p> <p dir="ltr">Evangelista has filed a lawsuit against Zeltiq Aesthetics, the parent company of CoolSculpting, for $50 million in damages, claiming she has been unable to work since undergoing the treatment between 2015 and 2016.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e7029d66-7fff-af38-d230-87482b4cc4a0"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @lindaevangelista (Instagram)</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Model dies after battle with mental illness

<p dir="ltr">Model and influencer Niece Waidhofer has died following a long battle with mental illness, something she was very vocal about to her 4.2 million followers.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 31-year-old was found dead in her home in Katy, outside of Houston, in May 2022 after a concerned family member raised the alarm. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Sadly, Niece took her own life after a long battle with mental health issues,” a family member told TMZ.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She was very open with her followers about her struggles, even wanting to help followers who also suffered.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbht9HduDhj/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbht9HduDhj/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Niece Waidhofer (@niecewaidhofer)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The influencer rose to fame in 2015 after starting the popular 'Roast Me' trend on Reddit and had fans worried after deleting almost all of her Instagram posts except for three. </p> <p dir="ltr">Her final posts include a selfie complimenting her new blonde hair, a video playing with her pet dog, and the engagement photo with her ex. </p> <p dir="ltr">In her Niece’s honour, the family will be creating a non-profit organisation for mental health awareness which looks to give grants into mental illness research. </p> <p dir="ltr">It will be called “Peace from Niece”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram/TikTok</em></p>

Caring

Elon Musk’s mum becomes oldest ‘Sports Illustrated’ model

<p dir="ltr">Maye Musk has made history at the age of 74, becoming the oldest model to appear on the cover of <em>Sports Illustrated</em>’s swimsuit edition.</p> <p dir="ltr">Musk appeared in the edition along with Kim Kardashian, musician/fashion entrepreneur Yumi Nu and Grammy-Award-winning singer Ciara as part of the magazine’s efforts to celebrate women no matter their age, life stage or job title.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The journey we’ve been on - to break out of the mould the world puts us in - may sound familiar,” Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editor-in-chief MJ Day <a href="https://swimsuit.si.com/swimnews/meet-your-cover-model-2022-maye-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d1363065-7fff-a846-84ae-e5c83dddbacf"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s certainly familiar to the women we’ve chosen to be our cover models: Maye, Ciara, Yumi, Kim. So in this issue, we encourage readers to see these models as we see them: multifaceted, multitalented - and sexy while they’re at it.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdoC4UBO1ll/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdoC4UBO1ll/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@si_swimsuit)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“The world may label them one way, but we want to focus our lens on all the ways they see themselves and how they own who they are,” she added.</p> <p dir="ltr">“No matter your age, whether you’re a new mom, partner, sister, entertainer, athlete, entrepreneur, advocate, student, mentor, role model, leader or dreamer - or all of the above - we want to celebrate these women, their evolution and the many dimensions of who they are.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The longtime model, author, activist and registered dietician-nutritionist took to Instagram to share the news with fans, writing of her appearance: “It’s about time!”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am so excited to be on the cover of @si_swimsuit at the age of 74,” she continued in her caption.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-142a2780-7fff-fd26-c3ec-4f39143a5383"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking to <em>People </em>magazine, Musk admitted the opportunity was something she never dreamed would happen.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdqTWnSrn4f/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdqTWnSrn4f/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Maye Musk (@mayemusk)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“My first reaction was, I could never dream up something like that because why would anyone have a 74-year-old on their cover, especially in a swimsuit,” she told the publication.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I do think it’s going to make women feel more comfortable in their seventies when they swim, as well as women in their twenties and thirties.</p> <p dir="ltr">“When women go to the beach, we’re kind of shy about our bodies, but men will walk around, looking terrible and they don’t care…</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think we have to not care that much!”</p> <p dir="ltr">Musk, who lives by the motto ‘#ItsGreatToBe74’, appeared on the cover in a burnt-orange and beige Maygel Coronel one-piece with a ruffled neckline and accessorised with chunky palm tree earrings, in one of four outfits she wore for the magazine feature.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-562c5fdd-7fff-5772-a71a-61983f79099d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Model’s tiny mole turns out to be cancer

<p dir="ltr">A model who completely disregarded what she thought was a mole on her ankle has been diagnosed with cancer. </p> <p dir="ltr">Oceana Strachan would regularly get her skin checked to ensure she was safe from melanoma and was constantly given the green light. </p> <p dir="ltr">But she knew something was wrong when the tiny mark on her ankle was itchy and had risen a bit - raising the alarm as to whether or not it was something else. </p> <p dir="ltr">Doctors dismissed it as a mole but Oceana pushed for a biopsy to be done and it was found to be stage two melanoma. </p> <p dir="ltr">“My melanoma spot looked like a regular mole but I noticed changes like itching that raised a red flag for me,” she told <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/aussie-model-shares-warning-signs-after-tiny-find-led-to-sinister-diagnosis-c-6840204" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Going through melanoma, I didn’t know if I was going to survive. I didn’t know the outcome.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdnQNQ9JBWg/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdnQNQ9JBWg/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by OCEANA HEGYI 🤍 (@oceanastrachan)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Oceana underwent surgery in May 2021 where the affected skin was removed and saw the then 25-year-old back on her feet not too long after.</p> <p dir="ltr">A year later, Oceana spoke out about how early detection saved her life and cringed at not being sun safe. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I was 25 with olive skin... unfortunately melanoma doesn’t care how old you are or what type of skin you have,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Obviously it sucks that I’ve had to go through this but I am just one out of too many.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Image: Instagram</p>

Body

Lauren Hutton poses topless

<p dir="ltr">With a modelling career spanning six decades, Lauren Hutton is well aware of how youth is prioritised in the industry and has shared an insight into what it’s like to continue working at 78.</p> <p dir="ltr">The model and actress, styling a Gucci blazer and plants (and nothing else) on the May issue of <em>Harper's Bazaar</em>, spoke about her career, skincare routine and what it was like to jump back into modelling by snagging the biggest modelling contract in history.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was about to become 30, and I knew I was about to expire, and wanted to protect myself with a contract that would guarantee I kept working for years to come,” she told the publication.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b58eebf3-7fff-35da-1679-7d5a98b1ffa4"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“So I got a contract with Revlon. At the time, it was the biggest one in modelling history.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CcxqPN6uICx/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CcxqPN6uICx/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Harper's BAZAAR (@harpersbazaarus)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">When she began modelling again at 40 after taking a break for her career in film, she recalled telling her photographer, Steven Meisel, she wouldn’t “try and look younger”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“And he said, ‘I love that. That’s why I’m working with you’,” Hutton said.</p> <p dir="ltr">As for cosmetic procedures, Hutton said it’s “a real thin line”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There are people who I find hard to look at today. Their faces don’t look like the people I once knew,” she added.</p> <p dir="ltr">With that in mind, Hutton revealed that she doesn’t spend too much time on skincare.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The only beauty ritual I have is washing my face with soap and water,” she said. “It’s horrifying.” </p> <p dir="ltr">The few products she does use include <a href="https://www.priceline.com.au/strivectin-s-t-a-r-light-retinol-night-oil-30-ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">StriVectin S.T.A.R. Light Retinol Night Oil</a> ($155), and the leaves of her aloe plant, which she cuts open before putting on her face and “décolletage”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I put castor oil in my hair too,” she added. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I just put it on my fingertips and rub it all over my scalp, and it makes my hair a little less dry and nasty.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Though she still models, Hutton admitted “it’s embarrassing” to be in front of a camera now.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You feel strange. You become self-conscious. Modelling is like playing the violin: You have to practise every day,” she added, noting that she does have a way of working around it.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Now, when I look at the camera, I’ve learned to picture my lover’s face, my godkids’ faces, my friends’ - whoever I need there,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">To read the full interview with <em>Harper’s Bazaar</em>, click <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a39697802/0122-0129-lauren-hutton-on-going-your-own-way-may-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-78e397dd-7fff-523d-abc3-fb8d6a7fadf4"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @harpersbazaaraus (Instagram)</em></p>

Beauty & Style

5 things to know about foundation models and the next generation of AI

<p>If you’ve seen photos of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/technology/openai-images-dall-e.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a teapot shaped like an avocado</a> or read a well-written article that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/robot-wrote-this-article-gpt-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">veers off on slightly weird tangents</a>, you may have been exposed to a new trend in artificial intelligence (AI).</p> <p>Machine learning systems called <a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DALL-E</a>, <a href="https://openai.com/blog/gpt-3-edit-insert/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GPT</a> and <a href="https://ai.googleblog.com/2022/04/pathways-language-model-palm-scaling-to.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PaLM</a> are making a splash with their incredible ability to generate creative work.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">DALL·E 2 is here! It can generate images from text, like "teddy bears working on new AI research on the moon in the 1980s".</p> <p>It's so fun, and sometimes beautiful.<a href="https://t.co/XZmh6WkMAS">https://t.co/XZmh6WkMAS</a> <a href="https://t.co/3zOu30IqCZ">pic.twitter.com/3zOu30IqCZ</a></p> <p>— Sam Altman (@sama) <a href="https://twitter.com/sama/status/1511715302265942024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>These systems are known as “foundation models” and are not all hype and party tricks. So how does this new approach to AI work? And will it be the end of human creativity and the start of a deep-fake nightmare?</p> <p><strong>1. What are foundation models?</strong></p> <p><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.07258" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Foundation models</a> work by training a single huge system on large amounts of general data, then adapting the system to new problems. Earlier models tended to start from scratch for each new problem.</p> <p>DALL-E 2, for example, was trained to match pictures (such as a photo of a pet cat) with the caption (“Mr. Fuzzyboots the tabby cat is relaxing in the sun”) by scanning hundreds of millions of examples. Once trained, this model knows what cats (and other things) look like in pictures.</p> <p>But the model can also be used for many other interesting AI tasks, such as generating new images from a caption alone (“Show me a koala dunking a basketball”) or editing images based on written instructions (“Make it look like this monkey is paying taxes”).</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Our newest system DALL·E 2 can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language. See it here: <a href="https://t.co/Kmjko82YO5">https://t.co/Kmjko82YO5</a> <a href="https://t.co/QEh9kWUE8A">pic.twitter.com/QEh9kWUE8A</a></p> <p>— OpenAI (@OpenAI) <a href="https://twitter.com/OpenAI/status/1511707245536428034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><strong>2. How do they work?</strong></p> <p>Foundation models run on “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-neural-network-a-computer-scientist-explains-151897" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deep neural networks</a>”, which are loosely inspired by how the brain works. These involve sophisticated mathematics and a huge amount of computing power, but they boil down to a very sophisticated type of pattern matching.</p> <p>For example, by looking at millions of example images, a deep neural network can associate the word “cat” with patterns of pixels that often appear in images of cats – like soft, fuzzy, hairy blobs of texture. The more examples the model sees (the more data it is shown), and the bigger the model (the more “layers” or “depth” it has), the more complex these patterns and correlations can be.</p> <p>Foundation models are, in one sense, just an extension of the “deep learning” paradigm that has dominated AI research for the past decade. However, they exhibit un-programmed or “emergent” behaviours that can be both surprising and novel.</p> <p>For example, Google’s PaLM language model seems to be able to produce explanations for complicated metaphors and jokes. This goes beyond simply <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.02311" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imitating the types of data it was originally trained to process</a>.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457594/original/file-20220412-10836-vaj8rb.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457594/original/file-20220412-10836-vaj8rb.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457594/original/file-20220412-10836-vaj8rb.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457594/original/file-20220412-10836-vaj8rb.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457594/original/file-20220412-10836-vaj8rb.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457594/original/file-20220412-10836-vaj8rb.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457594/original/file-20220412-10836-vaj8rb.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A user interacting with the PaLM language model by typing questions. The AI system responds by typing back answers." /><figcaption><span class="caption">The PaLM language model can answer complicated questions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ai.googleblog.com/2022/04/pathways-language-model-palm-scaling-to.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google AI</a></span></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>3. Access is limited – for now</strong></p> <p>The sheer scale of these AI systems is difficult to think about. PaLM has <em>540 billion</em> parameters, meaning even if everyone on the planet memorised 50 numbers, we still wouldn’t have enough storage to reproduce the model.</p> <p>The models are so enormous that training them requires massive amounts of computational and other resources. One estimate put the cost of training OpenAI’s language model GPT-3 at <a href="https://lambdalabs.com/blog/gpt-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">around US$5 million</a>.</p> <p>As a result, only huge tech companies such as OpenAI, Google and Baidu can afford to build foundation models at the moment. These companies limit who can access the systems, which makes economic sense.</p> <p>Usage restrictions may give us some comfort these systems won’t be used for nefarious purposes (such as generating fake news or defamatory content) any time soon. But this also means independent researchers are unable to interrogate these systems and share the results in an open and accountable way. So we don’t yet know the full implications of their use.</p> <p><strong>4. What will these models mean for ‘creative’ industries?</strong></p> <p>More foundation models will be produced in coming years. Smaller models are already being published in <a href="https://openai.com/blog/gpt-2-1-5b-release/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open-source forms</a>, tech companies are starting to <a href="https://openai.com/blog/openai-api/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experiment with licensing and commercialising these tools</a> and AI researchers are working hard to make the technology more efficient and accessible.</p> <p>The remarkable creativity shown by models such as PaLM and DALL-E 2 demonstrates that creative professional jobs could be impacted by this technology sooner than initially expected.</p> <p>Traditional wisdom always said robots would displace “blue collar” jobs first. “White collar” work was meant to be relatively safe from automation – especially professional work that required creativity and training.</p> <p>Deep learning AI models already exhibit super-human accuracy in tasks like <a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-could-be-our-radiologists-of-the-future-amid-a-healthcare-staff-crisis-120631" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reviewing x-rays</a> and <a href="https://www.macularsociety.org/about/media/news/breakthrough-artificial-intelligence-ai-helps-detect-dry-amd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detecting the eye condition macular degeneration</a>. Foundation models may soon provide cheap, “good enough” creativity in fields such as advertising, copywriting, stock imagery or graphic design.</p> <p>The future of professional and creative work could look a little different than we expected.</p> <p><strong>5. What this means for legal evidence, news and media</strong></p> <p>Foundation models will inevitably <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-01/historic-decision-allows-ai-to-be-recognised-as-an-inventor/100339264" target="_blank" rel="noopener">affect the law</a> in areas such as intellectual property and evidence, because we won’t be able to assume <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/us-copyright-office-rules-ai-art-cant-be-copyrighted-180979808/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">creative content is the result of human activity</a>.</p> <p>We will also have to confront the challenge of disinformation and misinformation generated by these systems. We already face enormous problems with disinformation, as we are seeing in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/fake-viral-footage-is-spreading-alongside-the-real-horror-in-ukraine-here-are-5-ways-to-spot-it-177921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unfolding Russian invasion of Ukraine</a> and the nascent problem of <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-2-billion-images-and-720-000-hours-of-video-are-shared-online-daily-can-you-sort-real-from-fake-148630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deep fake</a> images and video, but foundation models are poised to super-charge these challenges.</p> <p><strong>Time to prepare</strong></p> <p>As researchers who <a href="https://www.admscentre.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study the the effects of AI on society</a>, we think foundation models will bring about huge transformations. They are tightly controlled (for now), so we probably have a little time to understand their implications before they become a huge issue.</p> <p>The genie isn’t quite out of the bottle yet, but foundation models are a very big bottle – and inside there is a very clever genie.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181150/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/aaron-j-snoswell-1331146" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron J. Snoswell</a>, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Computational Law & AI Accountability, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queensland University of Technology</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dan-hunter-1336925" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dan Hunter</a>, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queensland University of Technology</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/robots-are-creating-images-and-telling-jokes-5-things-to-know-about-foundation-models-and-the-next-generation-of-ai-181150" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: OpenAI</em></p>

Technology

Modelling the ‘superhighways’ travelled by First Australians

<p>Indigenous Australians have long pointed out that their ancestors have lived on and cared for this continent since time immemorial. Hampered by entrenched misconceptions and <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-spoke-about-dreamtime-i-ticked-a-box-teachers-say-they-lack-confidence-to-teach-indigenous-perspectives-129064" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">outdated curricula</a>, it’s only in recent decades – with <a href="http://www.visitmungo.com.au/mungo-lady-mungo-man" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">discoveries</a> like Mungo Man and Mungo Lady – that science has started to catch up.</p> <p>A new <a href="https://doi.org/Nature%20Communications%20doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21551-3%20Nature%20Human%20Behaviour%20doi:%2010.1038/s41562-021-01106-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) has attempted to map the peopling of Australia by using a simulation model. The model ran more than 120 scenarios to predict population sizes and growth rates on the mega-continent of Sahul, which joined Australia and New Guinea before <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-coastal-living-is-at-risk-from-sea-level-rise-but-its-happened-before-87686" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sea levels rose</a>.</p> <p>Because archaeological evidence of human arrival into Sahul is rare, the research team used real-world data about long-distance dispersal of people, human survival, fertility rates and the chance of natural disasters, in combination with anthropological, ecological and environmental data to build the model.</p> <p>Their findings have been published in two companion papers in <em>Nature Communications </em>and <em>Nature Human Behaviour.</em></p> <div style="position: relative; display: block; max-width: 100%;"> <div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="position: absolute; inset: 0px; width: 1049px; height: 590.062px;" src="https://players.brightcove.net/5483960636001/HJH3i8Guf_default/index.html?videoId=6250771043001" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> </div> <p class="has-text-align-center caption"><em>Credit: CABAH</em></p> <p>The scenario with the strongest support suggested that people arrived between 50,000 and 75,000 years ago, and that the population of Sahul may have reached up to 6.5 million.</p> <p>In order to clarify the pathways the First Australians took across the continent, the team – comprising archaeologists, anthropologists, geographers, ecologists, geneticists, geologists and computer scientists – built the most complete digital elevation model ever constructed for Australia, including areas now underwater.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p149463-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> <p>The model allowed the researchers to build a picture of what these early people would have seen, such as prominent land features in a relatively flat landscape.</p> <p>“If it’s a new landscape and we don’t have a map, we’re going to want to know how to move efficiently throughout a space, where to find water, and where to camp — and we’ll orient ourselves based on high points around the lands,” explains lead author, archaeologist and computational social scientist Stefani Crabtree from Utah State University, US.</p> <p>The team tested more than 125 billion possible pathways using computational analysis, comparing those pathways with the oldest known archaeological sites on the continent.</p> <p>The patterns that emerged suggest there were distinct ‘superhighways’ across the landscape, as well as tributaries of secondary, lesser-travelled routes. Several of the superhighways echo documented Aboriginal trade routes that transect the country, including the trade of pituri (native tobacco) from Cape York to South Australia via Birdsville.</p> <p>“In many Aboriginal societies, landscape features are believed to have been created by ancestral beings during the Dreaming,” says CABAH deputy director Sean Ulm from James Cook University. “Every ridgeline, hill, river, beach and water source is named, storied and inscribed into the very fabric of societies, emphasising the intimate relationship between people and place.</p> <p>“The landscape is literally woven into peoples’ lives and their histories. It seems that these relationships between people and Country probably date back to the earliest peopling of the continent.”</p> <p>The researchers suggest that in the future, the model could be used to map other epic migrations, such as the first waves of migration out of Africa – or to forecast future movements of human populations due to climate disruptions and sea-level rise.</p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=149463&title=Modelling+the+%E2%80%98superhighways%E2%80%99+travelled+by+First+Australians" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/modelling-superhighways-travelled-by-first-australians/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/amalyah-hart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amalyah Hart</a>. Amalyah Hart is a science journalist based in Melbourne. She has a BA (Hons) in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Oxford and an MA in Journalism from the University of Melbourne.</em></p> <p><em>Image: </em><em>Megan Hotchkiss Davidson/Sandia National Laboratories, Zoe Taylor, CABAH</em></p> </div>

Domestic Travel

Model shares grisly injury from Paris Fashion Week

<p dir="ltr">A German model has shared brutal footage after she was injured from running into a pole during Paris Fashion Week.</p> <p dir="ltr">Caroline Duar took to TikTok to share her story, as well as footage and photos of her bruised and bloodied eye, in a series of videos from early March.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 27-year-old explained how she was “lost in thoughts” while on a run and slammed into a pole, knocking herself out.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b86902ee-7fff-055d-6317-8573e152aa79"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">After spending six hours in a Parisian hospital, she was forced to wear sunglasses to hide her injury at shows.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CanhDSIIx-C/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CanhDSIIx-C/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Caroline Daur (@carodaur)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“When I was running, and I was like lost in thoughts, I ran full speed into a pole… like full speed,” she <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@carodaur/video/7072017297556229381?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id7019154073816286722" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a> in one clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was knocked out on the floor and there was so much blood. I was in the hospital for six hours and got some stitches.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@carodaur/video/7071667008097619206?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id7019154073816286722" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another</a> video, she shared a series of photos of herself holding a napkin to her wounded eye from the hospital and with it looking swollen in the days after.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4faa4599-7fff-34a0-05e6-78b1aed085ff"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Her followers shared their shock and concern for her following the injury and wished the influencer a quick recovery.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca2xVgmoUyC/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca2xVgmoUyC/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Caroline Daur (@carodaur)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“I thought you had eyeshadow on at first,” one fan joked.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Glad you’re okay, that looks so intense,” another wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Awww I’m so sorry, I hope you heal quickly!” a third commented.</p> <p dir="ltr">Caroline went on to attend several fashion shows after her injury, covering up her eye with a pair of large dark sunglasses.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7d27021d-7fff-5767-1720-70ff94be871a"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: @carodaur (Instagram)</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Model drops over $100,000 on digital home

<p dir="ltr">A supermodel has joined the growing number of celebrities buying digital property in the metaverse.</p> <p dir="ltr">Sara Sampaio, a former model for <em>Sports Illustrated</em> and Victoria’s Secret, <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/supermodel-drops-110000-on-digital-island-in-the-metaverse-1119732/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has bought</a> a digital island getaway for a hefty price in The Sandbox metaverse.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to The Sandbox’s <a href="https://sandboxgame.gitbook.io/the-sandbox/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>, it is a “community-driven”, online platform where people can monetise games, art, and other digital assets to generate a passive income. </p> <p dir="ltr">In order to create these assets and earn money, people buy a piece of digital real estate in the online world using a digital currency called Ethereum (ETH).</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0644d906-7fff-a53c-d826-00da30651dad"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Sampaio paid 25 ETH for the non-tangible asset, which is equivalent to almost $118,000.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/metaverse-home.jpg" alt="" width="1396" height="785" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Sara Sampaio bought a digital island getaway in The Sandbox metaverse. Image: Exclusible</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Her new property was sold through the website <a href="https://exclusible.com/Exclusible/Exclusible-Private-Islands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exclusible</a>, which describes itself as a “premium, curated NFT website”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Sampaio’s island was one of 25 offered on the site’s exclusive archipelago, which is said to be close to rapper Snoop Dogg’s digital property that is also found in The Sandbox’s version of the metaverse.</p> <p dir="ltr">Although Sampaio spent a relatively small amount considering her million-dollar status, her latest investment comes after she made a loss on her (real-world) three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.</p> <p dir="ltr">Having spent $3.92 million on the flat in the fashionable area of East Village, Sampaio went on to sell it for a loss of $160,000.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-5dd69e5c-7fff-de2f-f0a4-954bd2549cbe"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @sarasampaio (Instagram) / Exclusible</em></p>

Real Estate

Model Sofia Jirau makes history

<p>24-year-old Sofia Jirau has made history after becoming the first model with Down syndrome to pose for Victoria’s Secret.</p> <p>Coming from Puerto Rico, she joins the fashion giant's roster as part of its inclusion campaign, the Love Cloud collection.</p> <p>"One day I dreamed it, I worked for it and today it's a dream come true. I can finally tell you my big secret,” an English translation of Sofia's post to her almost 200,000 Instagram followers said.</p> <p>“I am Victoria Secret's first model with Down syndrome.”</p> <p>The model and activist shared a snippet of the campaign video to her social media with an inspiring message.</p> <p>“We are 18 women who know no boundaries,” she wrote.</p> <p>“Thank you for seeing me as a model and making me part of the Love Cloud Collection inclusion campaign,” she wrote.</p> <p>“This is just the beginning, now it’s formed. Inside and out there are no limited.”</p> <p>The brand's Love Cloud Collection includes women of different sizes and backgrounds.</p> <p>It marks a major departure for the brand best known for its supermodel "Angels" and fashion show.</p> <p>In the show's 24-year history it has seen the likes of Heidi Klum, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Tyra Banks, Kendall Jenner, Gigi and Bella Hadid walk the runway as Angels and models. Miranda Kerr, Georgia Fowler and Shanina Shaik were among the Aussies who also walked the pink runway.</p> <p>Yet, after scrapping the iconic runway show in 2019, Victoria's Secret has progressed with a revamp of its image.</p> <p>"Love Cloud Collection is a major moment in the brand's evolution," Victoria's Secret head creative director Raúl Martinez said in a statement.</p> <p>"From the cast of incredible women that bring the collection to life, to the incredible inclusive spirit on set, this campaign is an important part of the new Victoria's Secret standard we are creating."</p> <p><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Self-cleaning bioplastic modelled on the lotus plant

<p>Researchers have developed a new <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/bioplastic-versus-plastic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="URL" data-id="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/bioplastic-versus-plastic/">bioplastic</a> that’s sturdy, compostable, <em>and </em>cleans itself, modelled on the miraculous qualities of the lotus leaf. </p><div class="copy"><p>The innovative plastic repels liquid and dirt, and then breaks down rapidly when buried in soil, according to studies published in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721077627?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Science of the Total Environment</em></a><em> </em>and <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsami.1c09959" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Applied Materials and Interfaces</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>Mehran Ghasemlou, lead author of the studies and a PhD researcher at RMIT University, says the new bioplastic could be ideal for use in fresh food and takeaway packaging.</p><p>“Plastic waste is one of our biggest environmental challenges but the alternatives we develop need to be both eco-friendly and cost-effective, to have a chance of widespread use,” says Ghasemlou. </p><p>“We designed this new bioplastic with large-scale fabrication in mind, ensuring it was simple to make and could easily be integrated with industrial manufacturing processes.”</p><p>The new research is a classic example of <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsfs.2015.0031" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bio-inspiration</a> – taking inspiration from the ingenuity of evolution to solve classic technological problems. </p><p>“We’ve replicated the phenomenally water-repellent structure of lotus leaves to deliver a unique type of bioplastic that precisely combines both strength and degradability,” says Ghasemlou.</p><p><strong>Compostable plastics?</strong></p><p>The new plastic is naturally compostable, which sets it apart from most mainstream bioplastics which require industrial processes to break down.</p><p>This bioplastic, on the other hand, breaks down quickly in soil.</p><p>“There are big differences between plant-based materials – just because something is made from green ingredients doesn’t mean it will easily degrade,” says Ghasemlou.</p><figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><div class="entry-content-asset"><div class="embed-wrapper"><div class="inner"></div></div></div></div><figcaption>A lotus inspired bioplastic that’s sustainable and compostable. Credit: RMIT University</figcaption></figure><p>“We carefully selected our raw materials for compostability and this is reflected in the results from our soil studies, where we can see our bioplastic rapidly breaks down simply with exposure to the bacteria and bugs in soil.</p><p>“Our ultimate aim is to deliver packaging that could be added to your backyard compost or thrown into a green bin alongside other organic waste, so that food waste can be composted together with the container it came in, to help prevent food contamination of recycling.”</p><p><strong>Lotuses: a lean, mean, self-cleaning machine</strong></p><p>Lotus leaves, among their many strange and mythic attributes, are almost impossible to get dirty. That’s thanks to their supremely water-repellent surface which, at the micro-level, is composed of tiny pillars topped with a waxy layer.</p><p>Any water that lands on a lotus leaf will remain a droplet, and simply roll off as compelled by gravity or wind. Those droplets sweep up any dirt from the leaf’s surface as they go, keeping it remarkably clean.</p><p>To make their self-cleaning plastic, the RMIT researchers synthetically engineered a plastic made of starch and cellulosic nanoparticles. The surface of the plastic was then imprinted with a pattern that mimicked the columns of a lotus leaf, before being coated with a protective layer of PDMS, a silicon-based organic polymer.</p><p>Tests found that the bioplastic not only repels liquids and dirt effectively, but also retains its self-cleaning properties after being scratched with abrasives and exposed to heat, acid and ethanol. That makes it particularly useful for the food industry.</p><p>Corresponding author Benu Adhikari says the design overcomes many of the challenges of starch-based plastics.</p><p>“Starch is one of the most promising and versatile natural polymers, but it is relatively fragile and highly susceptible to moisture,” Adhikari says.</p><p>“Through our bio-inspired engineering that mimics the ‘lotus effect’, we have delivered a highly effective starch-based biodegradable plastic.”</p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="height: 1px!important;width: 1px!important;border: 0!important" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=181548&title=Self-cleaning+bioplastic+modelled+on+the+lotus+plant" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></div><div id="contributors"><p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/materials/self-cleaning-bioplastic-modelled-lotus-plant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/amalyah-hart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amalyah Hart</a>. Amalyah Hart is a science journalist based in Melbourne. She has a BA (Hons) in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Oxford and an MA in Journalism from the University of Melbourne.</em></p><p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p></div>

Technology

Sports Illustrated model stalked with Apple AirTag

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Supermodel Brooks Nader says she was stalked by a stranger using an AirTag, who followed her around New York City for five hours. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 26-year-old said she only realised she was being tracked when her iPhone alerted her to the fact that an “unknown accessory” was moving with her through the city.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The AirTag, which was first released in April 2020, is a coin-shaped device that acts as a key tracker, with users connecting the small device to their smartphone to track lost items. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the AirTag’s innovative technology, there have been numerous reports that the $45 device has been used by stalkers and thieves, to track people and their belongings without their knowing. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brooks Nader appears to be the latest victim of this tracking, as she shared her terrifying ordeal with her online following of 827,000 people. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This ‘device’ followed me for the last five hours to every location and (it belonged to) no one in my ‘network.’ It also wasn’t a phone or tablet, it was an ‘item,’” she explained.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The model subsequently shared a screenshot of an AirTag via Instagram Stories: “@Apple, did you take into consideration the danger and potentially fatal consequences this device has?”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She added, “For those asking, it’s not my AirTag, it’s someone randoms, who must have slipped it into my belongings while out. Thank you all for checking in and sending helpful articles. I want this to be a PSA to all my ladies to please please check your belongings.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to Apple, they have introduced a system to prevent stalking by notifying people if their smartphone detects an unregistered AirTag in their vicinity. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“AirTag is designed to discourage unwanted tracking,” the tech company states on its website. “If someone else’s AirTag finds its way into your stuff, your iPhone will notice it’s travelling with you and send you an alert.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The alert is what tipped Nader off to the fact an AirTag was in her coat pocket.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A spokesperson for Apple told </span><a href="https://nypost.com/2022/01/07/sports-illustrated-model-is-latest-victim-of-airtag-stalker/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The New York Post</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, “We take customer safety very seriously and are committed to AirTag’s privacy and security. AirTag is designed with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking – a first in the industry – and the Find My network includes a smart, tunable system with deterrents that applies to AirTag, as well as third-party products as part of the Find My Network accessory program.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Due to the safety concerns of AirTags, several Aussie retailers including Big W, JB Hi-Fi and Officeworks have banned the sale of the devices. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Instagram @brooksnader</span></em></p>

Technology

How Singapore’s water management has become a global model for how to tackle climate crisis

<p>Singapore is at the forefront of nearly all countries that have formulated a long-term plan for managing climate change and is steadfastly implementing that plan.</p> <p>The small island state of 6 million people was among the 40 nations invited by the US President Joe Biden to attend his leaders’ summit on tackling <a href="https://www.state.gov/leaders-summit-on-climate/">climate change</a> last April.</p> <p>Singapore is one of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/most-densely-populated-countries">most densely populated countries in the world</a>. It faces the twin challenges of ensuring sustainable water supply during droughts as well as effective drainage during intense rain seasons amid climate change.</p> <p>Much of Singapore is also as flat as a pancake and stands no more than <a href="https://www.nccs.gov.sg/faqs/impact-of-climate-change-and-adaptation-measures/">5 metres above the mean sea level</a>. This puts the country at risk from rising sea level due to climate change.</p> <p>But thanks to its water system management, Singapore has been a success story as a resilient and adaptable city.</p> <h2>Water-resilient Singapore</h2> <p>The country has to be prepared for when rights to draw water from Malaysia <a href="https://www.mfa.gov.sg/SINGAPORES-FOREIGN-POLICY/Key-Issues/Water-Agreements">end in 2061</a>. Singapore draws up to 50% of its water supply from the neighbouring country.</p> <p>For over two decades, Singapore’s National Water Agency, PUB, has successfully added <a href="http://bwsmartcities.businessworld.in/article/Harvesting-Every-Drop-The-Singapore-Water-Story/16-03-2017-114513/">large-scale nationwide rainwater harvesting</a>, used water collection, treatment and reuse, and seawater desalination to its portfolio of conventional water sources, so the nation-state can achieve long-term water sustainability.</p> <p>The agency has been collecting and treating all its sewage to transform it into clean and high-quality reclaimed water. As a result, the PUB has become a leading exponent of using recycled water, dubbed locally as NEWater, as a source of water.</p> <p><a href="https://www.pub.gov.sg/Documents/PUBOurWaterOurFuture.pdf">In 2017</a>, NEWater succesfully supplied up to 40% of the total water demand of 430 million gallons per day in Singapore. As the projected demand will double by 2060, the PUB plans to increase NEWater supply capacity up to 55% of demand.</p> <p>Under the plan, desalinated water will supply 30% of total demand in 2060 – a 5% increase from its share in 2017.</p> <p>The remaining share of the country’s water demand (15%) in 2060 will come from local catchments, which include 17 reservoirs, and imported water. The country does not have the land area to collect and store enough run-off despite abundant tropical rains.</p> <p>To increase the economic viability of these plans, much of the PUB’s current <a href="https://www.pub.gov.sg/resources/publications/research">research and development effort</a> is aimed at halving energy requirements for desalination and used water treatment.</p> <p>Other than that, reducing carbon emissions from water treatment and generating energy from the byproducts of used water treatment have become essential for Singapore.</p> <h2>Embracing ‘life and death’ matters</h2> <p>Based on this success story, the Singapore government applies the same approach of long-term planning and implementation to tackle threats of climate change, including rising sea level.</p> <p>In 2019, Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, described the country’s seriousness in treating climate change as <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/national-day-rally-2019-100-billion-needed-to-protect-singapore-against-rising-sea-levels">“life and death matters”</a>. The government estimates it will need to spend US$75 billion, around 20% of the country’s GDP, on coastal protection over the coming decades.</p> <p>The government has tasked PUB to lead and co-ordinate whole-of-government efforts to protect these coastal areas. The agency is working hard to ensure Singapore does not become a modern-day Atlantis, Plato’s famous sunken city.</p> <p>PUB’s first order of business is to develop an <a href="https://www.pub.gov.sg/news/pressreleases/2021pr001">integrated coastal-inland flood model</a>. This will allow it to simulate the worst-case effects of intense inland rainfall combined with extreme coastal events. PUB expects its flood model to become a critical risk-assessment tool for flood risk management, adaptation planning, engineering design and flood response.</p> <p>The agency has also undertaken coastline protection studies of different segments. The first study began in <a href="https://www.pub.gov.sg/news/pressreleases/2021PR003">May 2021 along City-East Coast</a>, covering 57.8km of the coastline. This section had been identified as prone to flooding and has various critical assets such as airports and economic and industrial districts.</p> <p>Other segments to be analysed are in Jurong Island, in southwestern Singapore, with the study to begin later this year, and the north-west coast, comprising Sungei Kadut and Lim Chu Kang, starting in 2022.</p> <p>Rather than mere adaption to coming crisis, protection measures will be designed for multi-functional land use. Nature-based solutions will be incorporated whenever possible, to create <a href="https://www.pub.gov.sg/news/pressreleases/2021PR003">welcoming spaces for living, work and play</a>.</p> <p>For sure, whatever Singapore does in climate mitigation will never move the global needle. But it is a very good example of what a country can do to successfully adapt to the dangers of climate change through good planning.</p> <p>If its policies are duplicated in other countries, these combined efforts will most certainly cause the needle to move significantly.</p> <p>After the United Nations High Level meeting on climate change, COP26, just completed this month in Glasgow, UK, Singapore can be considered to be a very good model of how countries can successfully adapt to the dangers of climate change in the coming decades.</p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asit-k-biswas-361607">Asit K. Biswas</a>, Distinguished visiting professor, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-glasgow-1269">University of Glasgow</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-singapores-water-management-has-become-a-global-model-for-how-to-tackle-climate-crisis-162117">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Swapnil Bapat/Unsplash</em></p>

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How Singapore’s water management has become a global model for how to tackle climate crisis