Air pollution with a high level of PM2.5 forms a haze of smog at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong last year.Chan Longhei/ For China Daily A team of researchers in Hong Kong is working on an application that will draw on artificial intelligence and big data to guide people away from air pollution hot spots, as Sylvia Chang reports. With more than 1,700 deaths blamed on air pollution in the past year, Hong Kong is badly in need of help. It is on its way in the form of an air pollution map produced with artificial intelligence. However, it will take about five years for the application, designed by researchers at the University of Hong Kong, to emerge from the city's miasma of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and ozone. The map, capable of producing real-time readings or predictive analysis, will reveal where concentrations of toxic emissions are, and where they are likely to go. The app will not solve the pollution problem but it will allow people to see what they are getting into, and let them know if it would be better to change their plans. The readings will show the concentration of pollutants right down to the level of the street they are on. Badly polluted air can make outdoor exercise a health hazard, because tiny particles 30 times smaller than a human hair, known as PM2.5, can find their way deep into the lungs. The app will allow someone training for a marathon, children with physical education classes scheduled and people suffering from asthma to check PM2.5 levels and stay away from high concentrations, or even postpone training or going out that day. According to the Hedley Environmental Index designed by the School of Public Health at the university, known as HKU, air pollution was responsible for about 1,780 deaths in Hong Kong in the past year. Like a smartwatch, the system will be able to track a person's fitness and activity level. But, more important, it will also read the air quality and even forecast it for the next hour or next day. That means it will be able to advise individuals about suitable activities based on both air quality and their personal health and fitness. Researchers say it will provide estimates of PM2.5 concentrations for any geographical area in Hong Kong, down to the hectare level. It's like weather reporting, on a real-time basis, to the street level, said Victor Li On-kwok, chair professor of information engineering at the university's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, who is leading the team studying the system. livestrong braceletfabric braceletsballer bands24 wristbandswide rubber bandspersonalized rubber bracelets
File photo shows Nepali mountain climber Min Bahadur Sherchan, 85, who will attempt to climb Everest to become the oldest person to conquer the world's highest mountain, performs yoga in Kathmandu, Nepal April 12, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] KATHMANDU, Nepal - Family and supporters on Sunday honored an 85-year-old Nepali man who died trying to regain his title as the oldest person to climb Qomolangma (known in the West as Mount Everest), while officials stressed the need to limit the age for such a daunting physical challenge. The death of Min Bahadur Sherchan has revived concerns about allowing elderly people to attempt to scale high peaks. Nepali law requires Qomolangma climbers to be at least 16 but there's no upper age limit. It is very necessary to immediately bring that age limit law. If there had been a limit, the loss of life could have been prevented, said Ang Tshering, head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. The association is planning to push the government to limit the age of climbers to at least 76, he said. Sherchan died on Saturday evening at Qomolangma base camp. Another Nepali man, Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, died in 2011 at age 82 while attempting to scale the mountain. Dinesh Bhattarai, who heads the Tourism Department, said that the government is seriously discussing an upper age limit. Sherchan's body was flown by helicopter to Kathmandu on Sunday. The cause of death was still unclear and the autopsy result will be available in a few days. Sherchan had first scaled Qomolangma in May 2008 when he was 76 at the time becoming the oldest climber to reach the top. But his record was broken in 2013 by 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura. Meanwhile, a South African attempting to climb Qomolangma alone and without a permit has been ordered off the mountain, had his passport confiscated and will be fined $22,000, an official said on Monday. Ryan Sean Davy, 43, told officials at base camp that he had climbed alone as far as camp two - 6,400 meters - to acclimatize ahead of a summit push before he was caught. Foreigners have to pay the Nepal government $11,000 for permission to climb the 8,848-meter peak. AP - AFP
