عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Astra Is Yellow, Pfizer Is Green - Hungarian Pastry Shop Offers Vaccine-Themed Treats

COVID-19 vaccine themed desserts are seen in a cake shop in Veresegyhaz, Hungary, April 16, 2021. Picture taken April 16, 2021. (Reuters)
COVID-19 vaccine themed desserts are seen in a cake shop in Veresegyhaz, Hungary, April 16, 2021. Picture taken April 16, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Astra Is Yellow, Pfizer Is Green - Hungarian Pastry Shop Offers Vaccine-Themed Treats

COVID-19 vaccine themed desserts are seen in a cake shop in Veresegyhaz, Hungary, April 16, 2021. Picture taken April 16, 2021. (Reuters)
COVID-19 vaccine themed desserts are seen in a cake shop in Veresegyhaz, Hungary, April 16, 2021. Picture taken April 16, 2021. (Reuters)

A Hungarian pastry shop has launched a range of COVID-19 vaccine-themed sweet mousses as a light-hearted antidote to angst over the different types of vaccines and the implications of receiving one or another of them.

At the Sulyan family’s patisserie in the small town of Veresegyhaz, northeast of Budapest, the choice is between a selection of layered mousses with colorful jelly toppings, presented in small glasses, with decorative syringes on top.

Each color of jelly represents a different COVID-19 vaccine: citrus yellow for AstraZeneca and a slightly darker yellow for Sinopharm, matcha green for Pfizer, orange for Sputnik V and a vivid blue for Moderna.

These sweet offerings from the Sulyan family come at a time when millions of Hungarians are being asked to go through a registration process to sign up for vaccination, whilst debating the merits of the different vaccines being rolled out.

People are not being given a choice of shots but rather receive whichever one is available from their family doctor. In recent weeks, thousands have joined Facebook support groups to connect with others who have received the same shots as they have.

“Here people have a choice, there is no registration, there are no side-effects,” said confectioner Katalin Benko at the Sulyan patisserie, adding that the intention was not to campaign for or against vaccination or in favor of one shot or another.

“Anyone can try these as the only possible side-effect would be a little smile on their face,” she said as she carefully spread orange jelly on top of some mousses.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Rights Group Slams Treatment of Viral Japanese Monkey 

This photo taken on February 19, 2026 shows a seven month-old male macaque monkey named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, sitting with a stuffed orangutan toy at Ichikawa City Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chiba Prefecture. (AFP/Jiji Press)
This photo taken on February 19, 2026 shows a seven month-old male macaque monkey named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, sitting with a stuffed orangutan toy at Ichikawa City Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chiba Prefecture. (AFP/Jiji Press)
TT
TT

Rights Group Slams Treatment of Viral Japanese Monkey 

This photo taken on February 19, 2026 shows a seven month-old male macaque monkey named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, sitting with a stuffed orangutan toy at Ichikawa City Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chiba Prefecture. (AFP/Jiji Press)
This photo taken on February 19, 2026 shows a seven month-old male macaque monkey named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, sitting with a stuffed orangutan toy at Ichikawa City Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chiba Prefecture. (AFP/Jiji Press)

The plight of a baby monkey in Japan who has become an internet sensation shows the cruelty of zoos, an animal rights group said, as sales of the plush IKEA orangutan the animal clings to boomed.

Punch, a baby macaque abandoned by its mother, shot to stardom after being pictured getting bullied by other monkeys and seeking comfort from the orangutan toy at Ichikawa City Zoo outside Tokyo.

"Zoos are not sanctuaries -- they are places where animals are confined, deprived of autonomy, and denied the complex environments and social lives they would have in the wild," said People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

"What some are calling 'cute' is actually a glimpse into the trauma of a young, highly social primate coping with isolation and loss," the group's Asia director, Jason Baker, said in a statement.

"Until facilities stop treating sentient beings as attractions, animals like Punch will continue to suffer in captivity," Baker said, calling for Punch to be moved to a "reputable sanctuary, where he could live in a more natural environment".

Spurned by its mother, Punch was raised in an artificial environment after being born in July, and began training to rejoin his troop last month.

Punch's predicament sparked huge interest online, spawning a devoted fanbase under the hashtag #HangInTherePunch, as large crowds thronged the zoo.

Meanwhile, Swedish interior furnishings giant IKEA, the maker of the orangutan soft toy, said it was seeing "unprecedented" interest and "significantly" higher sales than usual.

"As a result, the product is currently out of stock in some markets, including Japan and the United States," Ingka Group, the holding company controlling most of IKEA's stores, told AFP by email.

Over a long holiday weekend in Japan, fans queued for up to an hour to catch a glimpse of Punch, the Ichikawa zoo said in a post on X, with more than 5,000 visitors recorded on Monday.

The zoo said it had set up a "restricted zone" around part of the monkey enclosure to reduce stress for the animals.

A large number of people have asked how they can donate cash or goods, it added.

In an update on Punch's plight on Sunday, the zoo said he "was meticulously groomed by two monkeys and is steadily fitting into the group".

Varieties

A Horse’s Neigh May Be Unique in the Animal Kingdom. Now Scientists Know How They Do It 

Horses are prepared for sale at Skaryszew's Horse Market in Skaryszew, east-central Poland, 23 February 2026. (EPA)
Horses are prepared for sale at Skaryszew's Horse Market in Skaryszew, east-central Poland, 23 February 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

A Horse’s Neigh May Be Unique in the Animal Kingdom. Now Scientists Know How They Do It 

Horses are prepared for sale at Skaryszew's Horse Market in Skaryszew, east-central Poland, 23 February 2026. (EPA)
Horses are prepared for sale at Skaryszew's Horse Market in Skaryszew, east-central Poland, 23 February 2026. (EPA)

Horses whinny to find new friends, greet old ones and celebrate happy moments like feeding time.

How exactly horses produce that distinctive sound — also called a neigh — has long eluded scientists.

The whinny is an unusual combination of both high and low pitched sounds, like a cross between a grunt and a squeal — that come out at the same time.

The low-pitched part wasn't much of a mystery. It comes from air passing over bands of tissue in the voice box that make noise when they vibrate. It's a technique similar to how humans speak and sing.

But the high-pitched piece is more puzzling. With some exceptions, larger animals have larger vocal systems and typically make lower sounds. So how do horses do it?

According to a new study, they whistle.

Researchers slid a small camera through horses' noses to film what happened inside while they whinnied and made another common horse sound, the softer, subtler nicker. They also conducted detailed scans and blew air through the isolated voice boxes of dead horses.

The whinny's mysterious high-pitched tones, they discovered, are a kind of whistling that starts in the horse's voice box. Air vibrates the tissues in the voice box while an area just above contracts, leaving a small opening for the whistle to escape.

That's different from human whistling, which we do with our mouths.

"I'd never imagined that there was a whistling component. It's really interesting, and I can hear that now," said Jenifer Nadeau, who studies horses at the University of Connecticut. Nadeau was not involved with the study, which was published Monday in the journal Current Biology.

A few small rodents like rats and mice whistle like this, but horses are the first known large mammal to have a knack for it. They're also the only animals known to be able to whistle through their voice boxes while they sing.

"Knowing that a ‘whinny’ is not just a ‘whinny’ but that it is actually composed of two different fundamental frequencies that are created by two different mechanisms is exciting," said Alisa Herbst with Rutgers University's Equine Science Center, of the study in an email.

A big lingering question is how horses' two-toned calls came to be. Wild Przewalski’s horses can do something similar, as can elks. But more distant horse relatives like donkeys and zebras can't make the high-pitched sounds.

The two-toned whinnies could help horses convey multiple messages at the same time. The differently pitched neighs may help them express a more complex range of feelings when socializing, said study author Elodie Mandel-Briefer with the University of Copenhagen.

"They can express emotions in these two dimensions," Mandel-Briefer said.

Varieties

Just Days Before Cesar Awards, French Movie Stars Warn AI Plundering Industry

An expressive image of the debate between French cinema industry and AI (Shutterstock)
An expressive image of the debate between French cinema industry and AI (Shutterstock)
TT
TT

Just Days Before Cesar Awards, French Movie Stars Warn AI Plundering Industry

An expressive image of the debate between French cinema industry and AI (Shutterstock)
An expressive image of the debate between French cinema industry and AI (Shutterstock)

Just days before France’s version of the Oscars, thousands of French actors and filmmakers have warned that AI tools are “plundering” talent across the industry.

“We are facing a profound upheaval in our profession with the arrival of artificial intelligence,” said the op-ed in Le Parisien, which was signed by some 4,000 artists.

The petition stated that the industry has already been struggling with unauthorized voice cloning, image scraping and undervalued AI licensing deals for some time.

Signatories included many French movie stars, such as Berenice Bejo, Léa Drucker, Swann Arlaud, José Garcia, Karin Viard, Franck Dubosc and Elodie Bouchez.

The op-ed, released ahead of the 51st edition of the French film industry’s Cesar Awards, warned of the rise of “unauthorized voice cloning,” which has taken the industry by storm.

“This tool, extraordinarily valuable for certain professions, is also a devouring hydra for the artists that we are,” the op-ed said, adding that “Not a week goes by without an artist sounding the alarm over the brutal competition AI is inflicting on their work.”

It stated that just recently, “an actor was offered a contract to use his image by AI for the creation of a new commercial for a major French group, simply replacing two days of filming. A Faustian pact... paid 250 euros!”

The op-ed also pointed to the hundreds of lesser-established actors, often lacking leverage, and who feel pressured to sign contracts granting AI rights, “despite the risks to their image and their future.”

As such, French actors said they demand “guarantees that no artist will be forced to give up their digital identity.”

“This organized plundering is not hypothetical — it’s happening here and now. It’s intolerable, and it’s taking place before our very eyes.” The artists called for a clear “legal framework” so that AI can “coexist with artistic work, with the protection of copyright and related rights.”

In recent months, the industry has introduced various initiatives to tackle the threat posed by AI and the flood of content replicating artists and their voices almost perfectly.

In January, eight French voice actors sent formal notices to two US companies that had cloned their voices without consent. Actors have also taken to the streets of Paris under the slogan “Touche pas à ma VF” (Hands off my French dub).

The debate goes far beyond France. Last week, Hollywood heavyweights accused the Chinese software Seedance 2.0, built by TikTok owner ByteDance, of copyright infringement after AI-generated videos, including of Tom Cruise brawling with Brad Pitt, went viral.