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Caroline Chaptini Set to Break a World Record With Largest Lebanese Flag

The huge flag is made out of plastic
The huge flag is made out of plastic
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Caroline Chaptini Set to Break a World Record With Largest Lebanese Flag

The huge flag is made out of plastic
The huge flag is made out of plastic

Plastic poses an environmental threat that reflects negatively on people’s health, leaving repercussions that cannot be underestimated, especially since it requires hundreds of years to decompose. Lebanon is among the counties considered to have a massive excess of plastic bottles and containers. Today, it is incurring immense costs to recycle or dispose of 280 tons of it.

To alleviate the situation, the artist Caroline Chaptini decided to launch an initiative to reduce the damage resulting from plastic by incorporating used bottles and containers in her designs. Her first step project is erecting the world’s tallest Christmas tree. At 28 meters tall, it breaks the record that had previously been set in Mexico City. Her second work was designing the world’s largest crescent, which she made with used plastic lids and bottles. Both pieces entered in the Guinness Book of World Records, replacing Japan with her crescent made with recyclable plastics.

Today, Chaptini is preparing for a new project with which she hopes to break another world record. This time, she chose the Lebanese flag as a theme and she decided to design and manufacture it from plastic containers and lids. In an interview with Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, she said: “ Lebanese Independence Day, November 22, is very nearly upon us. On this occasion, I would like to give a gift to my country, in the hope that it demonstrates its real role in the region, a cultural beacon that will never fade."

She adds: “The Beirut explosion and the catastrophe it caused compelled me to think of a positive contribution, through an artwork, that would alleviate some of the sadness caused by this disaster.

Chaptini searched for the Guinness Book of Records’ entry for the largest flag made of plastic, and when she found there was no such entry, she decided to make one. “I liked the idea, and I started preparing for it with young volunteers who are always ready to help with collecting the many plastic bottles, containers, and caps that I use in my designs. Currently, I am in the final stages of designing the flag.

"I have used materials that suit the flag’s colors, red and white, with green in the center, thousands of plastic and metal water bottles and lids used for candy containers and others."

It took about three weeks to design and make the flag, currently placed in a wedding venue in north Lebanon.

With the help of the two young men Yusef Masoud and Rabih Mahfoud, she made a 15-meter-long and 20-meter-wide flag. Its total size is around 300 square meters.

On breaking yet another record, Chaptini says: “I am very close to entering (Guinness) for a third time, especially since the concept has never been done before. After the final touches on the flag, I will film the work with a drone and send it to the encyclopedia."

On why no representative from the encyclopedia could come to Lebanon and examine the piece, she says: “Unfortunately, I do not have the budget. The cost of bringing a (Guinness) representative to our country is about $10,000. No official or private entity showed interest in supporting me financially. Until today, I am paying for my artistic works myself. I receive modest support from an environmental association (Go Green), which provides me with a limited amount of adhesive, no more."

Chaptini added that the proceeds of her work go to charitable organizations such as Kids First, which cares for children cancer patients.

She blames the officials in Lebanon for the lack of support for youths’ innovations, saying: “Unfortunately, in my two previous works, I caught the attention of other countries and no attention whatsoever from the Lebanese officials. I call upon all those associations and institutions concerned with preserving the environment in Lebanon and abroad to provide support for such works.

On her future projects, she adds: “I have many ideas for designs connected to the capital, Beirut. I am thinking of a work that focuses on sports, the youths, and our athletic achievements.”

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Varieties

Orange Frog Size of Pencil Tip Discovered in Brazil Forests

Tiny toadlet measuring less than 14 mm in length (Luiz Fernando Ribeiro)
Tiny toadlet measuring less than 14 mm in length (Luiz Fernando Ribeiro)
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Orange Frog Size of Pencil Tip Discovered in Brazil Forests

Tiny toadlet measuring less than 14 mm in length (Luiz Fernando Ribeiro)
Tiny toadlet measuring less than 14 mm in length (Luiz Fernando Ribeiro)

Scientists have found a new orange toad species in Brazil that is so small it fits on the tip of a pencil, highlighting the need for more conservation efforts in the country’s mountainous forest areas.

The toad species, measuring less than 14mm, was found deep in the cloud forests of the Serra do Quiriri mountain range in the southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest, according to the Independent.

Researchers have named the new species Brachycephalus lulai in honor of Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Cloud forests typically are found at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,500m and a layer of clouds at the canopy level is common year-round.

Until now, around two million animal species have been discovered in the world, with estimates suggesting that the Earth is home to around eight million of them, meaning at least six million remain yet undiscovered.

For decades, researchers have been combing the southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest to find and catalogue new species.

The region is known to be home to micro-endemic frogs and toads that are only found in small, restricted areas of the forest and are vulnerable to extinction.

In the latest study, researchers document the discovery of tiny frogs with a striking orange body and distinctive green and brown freckles.

The males were found to measure between 9 and 11mm, and females between 11 and 14mm.

They are among the smallest four-legged animals on Earth, capable of fitting fully on the tip of a pencil, researchers say.

Scientists identified the new species by its unique mating call, consisting of two short bursts of sound, unlike those of other known Brachycephalus in the area.

Researchers also conducted CT X-ray scans to look at the skeletal structure and DNA analysis to confirm what they had was indeed a new species.

Comparing DNA samples of the toad with those of other species, they found that it is most closely related to two species that live in the Serra do Quiriri.

Following the discovery, scientists immediately called for conservation efforts to protect the toad species and its relatives.

“Through this tribute (the act of naming a new species), we seek to encourage the expansion of conservation initiatives focused on the Atlantic Forest as a whole, and on Brazil's highly endemic miniaturized frogs in particular,” researchers wrote in the study published in the journal PLOS One.

Caption: Tiny toadlet measuring less than 14 mm in length (Luiz Fernando Ribeiro)

Varieties

'Extremely Exciting': The Ice Cores that Could Help Save Glaciers

A researcher cuts a slice from an ice core sample taken from a glacier in the Pamir mountain range in Tajikistan, at the Hokkaido University Institute of Low Temperature Science, in Sapporo, in northern Japan's Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
A researcher cuts a slice from an ice core sample taken from a glacier in the Pamir mountain range in Tajikistan, at the Hokkaido University Institute of Low Temperature Science, in Sapporo, in northern Japan's Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
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'Extremely Exciting': The Ice Cores that Could Help Save Glaciers

A researcher cuts a slice from an ice core sample taken from a glacier in the Pamir mountain range in Tajikistan, at the Hokkaido University Institute of Low Temperature Science, in Sapporo, in northern Japan's Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
A researcher cuts a slice from an ice core sample taken from a glacier in the Pamir mountain range in Tajikistan, at the Hokkaido University Institute of Low Temperature Science, in Sapporo, in northern Japan's Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

Dressed in an orange puffer jacket, Japanese scientist Yoshinori Iizuka stepped into a storage freezer to retrieve an ice core he hopes will help experts protect the world's disappearing glaciers.

The fist-sized sample drilled from a mountaintop is part of an ambitious international effort to understand why glaciers in Tajikistan have resisted the rapid melting seen almost everywhere else.

"If we could learn the mechanism behind the increased volume of ice there, then we may be able to apply that to all the other glaciers around the world," potentially even helping revive them, said Iizuka, a professor at Hokkaido University.

"That may be too ambitious a statement. But I hope our study will ultimately help people," he said.

Thousands of glaciers will vanish each year in the coming decades, leaving only a fraction standing by the end of the century unless global warming is curbed, a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change showed Monday.

Earlier this year, AFP exclusively accompanied Iizuka and other scientists through harsh conditions to a site at an altitude of 5,810 meters (about 19,000 feet) on the Kon-Chukurbashi ice cap in the Pamir Mountains.

The area is the only mountainous region on the planet where glaciers have not only resisted melting, but even slightly grown, a phenomenon called the "Pamir-Karakoram anomaly.”

The team drilled two ice columns approximately 105 meters (328 feet) long out of the glacier.

One is being stored in an underground sanctuary in Antarctica belonging to the Ice Memory Foundation, which supported the Tajikistan expedition along with the Swiss Polar Institute.

The other was shipped to Iizuka's facility, the Institute of Low Temperature Science at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, where the team is hunting clues on why precipitation in the region increased over the last century, and how the glacier has resisted melting.

Some link the anomaly to the area's cold climate or even increased use of agricultural water in Pakistan that creates more vapor.

But the ice cores are the first opportunity to examine the anomaly scientifically.
"Information from the past is crucial," said Iizuka.

"By understanding the causes behind the continuous build-up of snow from the past to the present, we can clarify what will happen going forward and why the ice has grown."

Since the samples arrived in November, his team has worked in freezing storage facilities to log the density, alignment of snow grains, and the structure of ice layers.

In December, when AFP visited, the scientists were kitted out like polar explorers to cut and shave ice samples in the comparatively balmy minus 20C of their lab.

The samples can tell stories about weather conditions going back decades, or even centuries.

A layer of clear ice indicates a warm period when the glacier melted and then refroze, while a low-density layer suggests packed snow, rather than ice, which can help estimate precipitation.

Brittle samples with cracks, meanwhile, indicate snowfall on half-melted layers that then refroze.

And other clues can reveal more information -- volcanic materials like sulfate ions can serve as time markers, while water isotopes can reveal temperatures.

The scientists hope that the samples contain material dating back 10,000 years or more, though much of the glacier melted during a warm spell around 6,000 years ago.

Ancient ice would help scientists answer questions such as "what kind of snow was falling in this region 10,000 years ago? What was in it?" Iizuka said.

"We can study how many and what kinds of fine particles were suspended in the atmosphere during that ice age," he added.

"I really hope there is ancient ice."

For now, the work proceeds slowly and carefully, with team members like graduate student Sora Yaginuma carefully slicing samples apart.

"An ice core is an extremely valuable sample and unique," said Yaginuma.

"From that single ice core, we perform a variety of analyses, both chemical and physical."

The team hopes to publish its first findings next year and will be doing "lots of trial-and-error" work to reconstruct past climate conditions, Iizuka said.

The analysis in Hokkaido will uncover only some of what the ice has to share, and with the other samples preserved in Antarctica, there will be opportunities for more research.

For example, he said, scientists could look for clues about how mining in the region historically affected the area's air quality, temperature and precipitation.

"We can learn how the Earth's environment has changed in response to human activities," Iizuka said.

With so many secrets yet to learn, the work is "extremely exciting," he added.

Varieties

Jane Austen Fans Celebrate the Author’s 250th Birthday in Britain and Beyond

One of the new British 10 pound notes is posed for photographs outside the Bank of England in the City of London, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (AP)
One of the new British 10 pound notes is posed for photographs outside the Bank of England in the City of London, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (AP)
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Jane Austen Fans Celebrate the Author’s 250th Birthday in Britain and Beyond

One of the new British 10 pound notes is posed for photographs outside the Bank of England in the City of London, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (AP)
One of the new British 10 pound notes is posed for photographs outside the Bank of England in the City of London, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (AP)

Fans of Jane Austen celebrated the acclaimed author's 250th birthday on Tuesday with a church service in her home village, festive visits to her house — and a virtual party for those paying tribute from afar.

Thousands of enthusiasts around the world have already taken part in a yearlong celebration of one of English literature’s greats, who penned “Pride and Prejudice," “Sense and Sensibility” and other beloved novels.

On Tuesday — to mark 250 years since she was born on Dec. 16, 1775 — Jane Austen’s House, in the southern English village of Chawton, hosted talks, tours and performances for dozens of visitors, with celebrations concluding with an online party for fans from all over the world.

“Regency dress strongly encouraged,” organizers said, adding that more than 500 people had signed up for the Zoom party.

The cottage, now a museum with Austen artifacts, was where the author lived for the last years of her life and where she wrote all six of her novels.

A church service featuring music and readings is held in Steventon, the rural village where she was born.

Fans, who call themselves “Janeites," have marked the anniversary year with Regency balls and festivals staged in the UK, US and beyond.

At the weekend, the city of Bath, where Austen lived for five years, hosted the Yuletide Jane Austen Birthday Ball, the finale of many grand costumed events held there this year.