The Foreign Post - FPI

Swedish kids take the plunge in icy lake survival lessons

Good Health

Sollentuna, Sweden-

The frigid water under the frozen Ravalen lake north of Stockholm doesn't intimidate Elton as the 11-year-old schoolboy takes the plunge to the applause of his classmates.

Forty pupils are taking part in an "isvaksovning", or a hole-in-the-ice exercise, part of their school's physical education class to learn what to do if they ever fall through the ice on one of Sweden's many lakes or out in the archipelago.

Every day for three weeks, 750 pupils in Sollentuna municipality will take turns jumping into the hole in the ice, which measures about two by four metres (6.5 by 13 feet).

Courses like this are common in the Nordic country.

For the students taking part on this day, it's optional if they want to jump in -- but all of them do.

Holding his head above the one degree Celsius (34 Fahrenheit) water, Elton grabs two small ice picks hanging around his neck, jabs them into the ice and drags himself out onto the snow-covered lake.

Many Swedes would not think of stepping out onto the ice without a pair of picks.

Without them, it's extremely difficult to get back onto the ice without slipping back into the chilly water.

"It was much colder than I thought it would be," Elton tells AFP, as he warms himself around a fire pit together with his classmates.

"But I still managed to stay in for 30 seconds".

His mother, Marie Ericsson, who works in IT, came to film the scene.

"It's super important. It's really good knowledge and it feels safer for us, because they are always playing around lots of lakes," she tells AFP.

The kids are fully clothed when they jump in wearing winter bonnets, mitts, shoes or boots and all.

They have big backpacks strapped on, which also help them float, and are attached to a safety rope held by gym teacher Anders Isaksson.

- Outdoor way of life -

Some of the kids shriek when they land in the cold water.

"Good! Breathe calmly", Isaksson reminds them as they slither out onto the ice.

Most of the kids look apprehensive before it's their turn.

But once they're done most seem surprisingly unfazed, albeit freezing and soaked. They run to shore to change into dry clothes, and gather around a fire pit.

The classes gained importance in recent years amid a rise in ice accidents after declining for decades.

According to the Swedish Life Rescue Society, 16 people died in Sweden after falling through the ice in 2021 -- mostly elderly people -- compared to 10 the previous year.

Around 100 incidents were reported.

"This is important because this is a country where outdoor activities are a big part of people's lives," PE teacher Anders Isaksson notes.

For some, the plunge also offers an opportunity to test their mettle.

When Siri Franzen, 11, jumps in she endures a full two and a half minutes before dragging herself up.

"I am very proud of her," her mother Louise tells AFP. "She has just beaten her brother's record from four years ago."

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Generation Z finding time for second-hand luxury watches

Business

ZURICH: Swiss watches are in high demand these days, but sales of second-hand timepieces are also booming, driven by Generation Z buyers who want luxury goods but are also sustainability-minded.

The global second-hand watch market is estimated at nearly 20 billion Swiss francs ($21.7 billion) and could reach 35 billion francs by 2030, according to a study out in October by the auditing and consulting giant Deloitte.

Historically the province of collectors scouting for rare watches at auction, the second-hand market is turning increasingly professional with the proliferation of online sales sites that verify authenticity — with even the watch manufacturers themselves getting involved.

"Nowadays, there is a realization that we need to consume more responsibly," said Fabienne Lupo, the former head of the Foundation High Horology, who organized a second-hand luxury watch salon in Geneva in November.

The event was attended by the online auction giant eBay, the watch sales platform Watchbox, and Swiss brands such as Zenith.

Never say new again

Lupo said the craze for second-hand watches could be explained by the consumer choices of Millennials (born between 1980 and the late 1990s) and Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2010) who are "very concerned about the future of the planet, and no longer want to buy new."

There is also the fashion for vintage objects "that you can't find everywhere," she said.

And furthermore, buying certain Swiss luxury watches new is getting harder, as the booming market means longer waiting lists.

Swiss watch exports hit a new record in 2022, climbing 11.4 percent year-on-year to 24.8 billion Swiss francs, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry announced Tuesday.

"And then there is the digitalization which has accelerated with the pandemic," Lupo told AFP.

The growth in the pre-owned watch market is such that the British online platform Subdial has developed an index tracking the 50 most-traded models.

The average price fell from a record 45,000 Swiss francs in February 2022 to 35,000 francs in September, which Deloitte called a "correction" rather than a sign that the market was shrinking.

Sales platforms for certified pre-owned (CPO) watches are multiplying online, with the sector still attracting new entrants, including the US site Bezel, which counts former Disney president Michael Ovitz, comedian Kevin Hart and singer John Legend among its investors.

The luxury giant Richemont — which owns the Cartier, IWC and Piaget brands — entered the field as early as 2018, buying the British platform Watchfinder.

Rolex also took the plunge in December, pulling the rug from beneath the counterfeiters by launching a CPO program with the Swiss retailer Bucherer, which authenticates the watches.

The program is set up in six countries, including Britain and France, with the aim of extending it to the United States in the future.

Watch your image

"Watch manufacturers typically have been worried about the secondary market as it was closely associated with the grey market, where discounted watches could be found," said Jon Cox, an industry analyst with the Kepler Cheuvreux financial services company.

"However, they realize there is a halo effect of having strong secondary prices, enhancing the brand value of the primary watches," he told Agence France-Presse.

For top-end luxury brands like Richard Mille, where average watch prices exceed 260,000 Swiss francs, second-hand timepieces are even a way of enhancing their image.

"We might have a client who tells us, 'there was a limited edition of 100 watches; it was always my dream to buy one and now I have the money — but you no longer make them and they are almost impossible to find'," said Alexandre Mille, who took over from his father who founded the brand.

Mille said his teams can seek out the sought-after timepiece.

Deloitte's study found that buying a cheaper watch was the main motivation for 44 percent of respondents.

But Cox also noted that second-hand watches were a "store of wealth", being "worn and shown off for years but still retaining value to be resold so another watch can be bought in its place."

Ukrainian activists rally outside the German embassy in Tibilisi demanding Germany send Ukraine Leopard battle tanks

Spot on: Ukrainian campaign for Leopard tanks goes fashion

Lifestyle

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – The hundreds of people posting Instagram selfies in leopard-print outfits in recent days launched fashion into geopolitics for Ukraine's successful campaign to get Germany's powerful Leopard battle tanks.

Just moments after Germany finally agreed to deliver 14 Leopard tanks on Wednesday, Presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak joined in posting the same number of leopard emojis.

Berlin also granted approval for other European countries to send tanks from their own stocks.

The move came after days of international pressure on Germany to sign off on the deliveries to Kyiv, which included a viral campaign from the Ukrainian government.

"Put on your favourite leopard clothes and post a selfie with #FreeTheLeopards," Ukraine.ua, the country's official account, posted on Instagram Sunday.

"Let's bring Leopard tanks to Ukraine!"

Ukraina.ua was taking up a hashtag that appeared a few days prior and gained traction as pressure on Germany spilled over onto social media.

The video on Ukraine.ua featured an iconic scene from the movie "Fifth Element" with Ruby Rhod (played by Chris Tucker) prancing in a leopard-print jumpsuit and tanks covered in the same pattern.

The video received around 78,000 likes and triggered a flood of photos: people boasting matching nail designs, swimsuits or even furry overalls.

A photoshopped portrait of Ukraine's iconic 19th century poet Taras Shevchenko also made the rounds, his dark coat and hat covered in animal print.

"Now it's official: Leopards will come to Ukraine," Ukrainian MP Yevgeniya Kravchuk, dressed in a leopard turtleneck, trumpeted on Facebook after Wednesday's announcement.

Kyiv is working to ensure Berlin's green light encourages other countries to send over more high-grade weapons.

"Let's keep working. Let's start dressing up like F-16 and ATACMS," said young philosopher Sergey Koshman on Facebook, referring to the fighter planes and long-range American missiles that Ukraine has been requesting for months.

Paris Fashion Week models can safely be called "icones de la mode" rather than "it-girls"

'Sac iconique': How France wants you to say 'it-bag'

Lifestyle

Paris, France - A commission that seeks to act as a guardian of the French language has published a string of recommendations for translations of shopping and style terms, to replace widely-used English ones.

Perhaps inspired by this month's Paris Fashion Week, the non-binding recommendations from the Commission for Enrichment of the French Language were published in Wednesday's Official Journal.

Instead of an "it-bag" -- defined as "a handbag in the latest fashion or that stands for a brand" -- ministries and businesses are encouraged to write "sac iconique".

An "it-boy" or "it-girl" can now safely be described as an "icone de la mode" and a "must-have" transforms into an "incontournable", while "try before you buy" becomes "essayer-acheter".

There are also more baffling business terms that may be unfamiliar to many native English speakers, like "digital native vertical brand" ("marque integree nee en ligne").

Set up in 2015, the Commission for Enrichment of the French Language aims to "provide French vocabulary appropriate to the need for communication that is clear and accessible to the greatest number of people", it said in the introduction to its 2021 annual report.

Led by a member of the Academie Francaise -- founded in 1635 under King Louis XIII to guard "pure" French -- the Commission says it "recalls to a broad audience the importance of having and using French vocabulary so as to keep our language functional".

Given the dominance of English in global business and technology, its terms are the most frequently targeted for translation into the language of Moliere.

"These days there's no invention, innovation or discovery that doesn't have its corresponding term, increasingly often in English," the Commission said in its report.

"The flow of new concepts that must be defined and named in French is therefore continuous."

The report cited fields including hydrogen power, the Covid-19 pandemic and malicious digital activities as recent areas to which its 20-odd expert groups have turned their attention.

Danny Cortes, a street miniature artist, shows his miniature of an ice box in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on December 19, 2022. With his nimble fingers and child-like enthusiasm, Danny Cortes re-creates in miniature the hip-hop-infused street scenes of a gritty New York. But what began as a hobby has since brought him fame in the rap community and profitable sales even at Sotheby's prestigious auction house.

New York artist turns tiny hip-hop street scenes into profitable business

Lifestyle

With his nimble fingers and child-like enthusiasm, Danny Cortes re-creates in miniature the hip-hop-infused street scenes of a gritty New York. But what began as a hobby has since brought him fame in the rap community and profitable sales even at Sotheby's prestigious auction house.

"We are adults, but we never stopped being kids," the 42-year-old artist tells AFP. "Who doesn't like toys? Who doesn't like miniatures?"

As he spoke from his workshop in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, he sat among recycled objects found on the streets.

On his table was a current project, the tiny replica of a worn and dirty building facade. Near a bricked-in window, a plastic bushel basket had been hung: a poor man's basketball hoop.

"This represents my childhood," Cortes said, putting touches to the model in his preferred medium, polystyrene.

"Everything looked like this: abandoned, empty, a lot of drugs in the area."

- From $30 to $10,000 -

One of his recent creations is a modest Chinese restaurant with a battered yellow sign and with its red-and-mauve brick walls covered with graffiti.

Standing outside the restaurant -- the real one -- Cortes, sporting a black jacket and a baseball cap over his round face -- smiles as he tells how New York rapper Joell Ortiz, who grew up in the neighborhood, insisted on buying the model, saying, "Yo, I need that."

The price?

"Ten thousand dollars," Cortes says, adding that "the first piece I sold was like $30, and I was so happy that I got $30."

The artist builds collectibles based on the most banal of urban scenes, "the little things that we pass by every day" and pay no attention to, but which collectively form the unique cityscape that is New York.

- 'It just took off' -

One of his first signature works was a rendering of a simple white commercial ice box -- the kind that sits outside corner groceries, the words "ICE" in block red letters on its side, and often covered in graffiti, which Cortes reproduces with meticulous detail.

His repertoire also includes a classic ice-cream truck like the one in Spike Lee's 1989 film "Do the Right Thing," its musical chimes guaranteed to bring young New Yorkers running.

His work resonates with nostalgia, and he often incorporates tributes to mythical local rappers like Notorious B.I.G. and the Wu-Tang Clan.

Cortes was not always an artist -- he has worked in sales, construction, and at a homeless shelter.

But the pandemic changed his life, pushing him to take more seriously what had been an enjoyable pastime.

After he displayed his first creations on social media, his work "just took off," he said.

Artistic label Mass Appeal, which partners with rap legend Nas, commissioned him to do a model of a ghetto-blaster boombox for the cover of a mini album by DJ Premier ("Hip Hop 50: Vol. 1").

In March 2022, four of Cortes' works were sold in a hip-hop auction at Sotheby's. They included an ice-cream truck that went for $2,200.

And he has branched out, building a miniature replica of an Atlanta restaurant for its owner, the rapper 2 Chainz.

- 'A lot of change' -

But Cortes' heart remains in Brooklyn.

"He has really captured the grimy, gritty atmosphere that was the birthplace for a lot of the '90s style of hip-hop music," said Monica Lynch, former head of Tommy Boy Records and a consultant on the Sotheby's auction.

Through his work, Cortes said he wants to document a place where "there is a lot of change," particularly his Bushwick neighborhood. Now a trendy locale favored by artistic types, it is also a symbol of gentrification -- but Cortes said he's okay with that.

"I think it's good, I think it's safer, even though Bushwick is always gonna be Bushwick," he said. "There are more opportunities."

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France planning AI-assisted crowd control for Paris Olympics

Innovations

French authorities plan to use an AI-assisted crowd control system to monitor people during the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to a draft law seen by AFP on

The system is intended to allow the security services to detect disturbances and potential problems more easily, but will not use facial recognition technology, the bill says.

The technology could be particularly useful during the highly ambitious open-air opening ceremony with Olympians sailing down the river Seine in front of a crowd of 600,000 people.

French police and sports authorities faced severe criticism in May after shambolic scenes during the Champions League final in Paris when football fans were caught in a crowd crush and teargassed.

The draft law, which was presented to the cabinet on Thursday, proposes other security measures including the use of full-body scanners and increases the sentences for hooliganism.

Organisers and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin have both argued in favour of using so-called "intelligent" security camera software that scans images for suspect or dangerous behaviour.

The use of such a system during the Olympics is an "experimentation", the draft law says, but could be applied for future public events which face terrorism-related or crowd control risks.

"No biometric data is used, nor facial recognition technology and it does not enable any link or interconnection or automatic flagging with any other personal data system," the bill states.

The games' organising committee said on November 21 that it needed to lift its budget estimate by 10 per cent from 3.98 billion euros to 4.48bn euros, partly as a result of inflation.

Rather than opening the games in an athletics stadium as is customary, organisers have planned a ceremony on July 26, 2024 with a flotilla of some 200 boats sailing down the river Seine.

The banks of the river can accomodate 100,000 people who will have to buy tickets, while another 500,000 are set to watch for free from the street level, according to government estimates.

The draft law is expected to be debated in parliament in January where the minority government of President Emmanuel Macron will need support from opposition groups to pass it.

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From robot fireflies to okra plasters: 2022's nature-inspired solutions

Innovations

Even as animals and plants face widespread extinction from human-driven causes like climate change, the natural world continues to inspire scientific discovery in unexpected ways.

"Nature has spent hundreds of millions of years optimising elegant solutions to extremely complicated problems," said Alon Gorodetsky, a biomedical engineer at the University of California, Irvine.

"So if we look to nature, we can shortcut our development process and get to a valuable solution right away," he told AFP.

From squid-skin food warmers to a lubricant made of cow mucus, here is a selection of this year's scientific work inspired by nature.

- Okra plasters stop bleeding hearts -

Stopping the bleeding hearts and livers of dogs and rabbits without stitches may now be possible with a biodegradable plaster made of sticky okra gel.

Okra is a fuzzy green vegetable with a slimy texture that inspired Malcolm Xing from Canada's University of Manitoba to turn it into a medical adhesive.

"Okra is a fantastic material," said Xing.

In the July study published in Advanced Healthcare Materials, researchers discovered that refining okra in a juicer and then drying it into a powder creates an effective bioadhesive that quickly creates a physical barrier and starts the blood clotting process.

The researchers plan to test this plaster on humans in the coming years.

- Cow mucus lubricant -

Snot may invoke feelings of disgust, but laboratory tests found that a lubricant made of cow mucus showed promise at curtailing the spread of certain sexually transmitted infections.

The study, published in Advanced Science in September, is very preliminary, however. It has not yet been tested on humans and should not replace other forms of protection, like condoms.

Researchers extracted the mucus from the salivary glands of cows and turned it into a gel that binds to and constrains viruses. Mucus is made of a protein called mucin that might have antiviral properties.

It is also both a solid and a liquid.

"Being a solid, it can trap bacteria or viruses in the body. Being a liquid, it can clear those pathogens from the body," said study co-author Hongji Yan from Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

- Robot fireflies -

Fireflies that light up the night sky inspired scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create tiny, bug-sized robots that emit light when they fly.

The glowing artificial muscles help the honey bee-sized robots communicate with each other, which may make them useful for search and rescue missions some day.

Though the robots can only operate in a laboratory environment so far, the researchers are excited at their potential future uses.

- Cancer-sniffing ants -

There are an estimated 20 quadrillion ants in the world, and researchers have discovered that one species might be able to sniff out cancer in human breasts.

In a study conducted at Sorbonne Paris Nord University and published on the preprint server bioRxiv, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, scientists used a sugar-water reward to train ants to smell the difference between mouse urine implanted with, and without, human tumours.

While dogs can be trained to use their super noses to detect cancer, this is expensive and takes time.

Ants might provide a cheaper, albeit less cute, alternative.

- Squid-skin tea cosies -

The strange skin of squids has inspired a packaging material that can keep coffee and food warm for as long, or as little, as wanted, according to a March study published in Nature Sustainability.

Squids have miniature organs called chromatophores that can drastically change size, and also help them change colour.

To mimic "these pigment-filled organs", study co-author Alon Gorodetsky, from the University of California, Irvine, said they developed "little metal islands that you could move apart" and contract.

The heat level can then be controlled by how much the material is stretched.

"If you put it around a warm object -- for example, a coffee-filled cup or a hot sandwich -- you can control the rate at which it cools down," he said.

"Nature really is the epitome of innovation and engineering," Gorodetsky added.

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TOPSHOT - This photograph taken on September 20, 2022 shows a solar-powered train built by students of Soshanguve technical high school in Soshanguve townshipn in the northern suburbs of Pretoria. The group of 20 teens have invented South Africa's first fully solar-powered train as for the past few years, students in a South African township have watched in frustration as their parents failed to use trains for daily commutes to work amid a crippling energy crisis.

S.Africa teens build solar train as power cuts haunt commuters

Innovations

Pretoria, South Africa-For years, students in a South African township have seen their parents struggle to use trains for daily commutes, the railways frequently hobbled by power outages and cable thefts.

To respond to the crisis, a group of 20 teenagers invented South Africa's first fully solar-powered train.

Photovoltaic panels fitted to the roof, the angular blue-and-white test train moves on an 18-metre-long (60 feet) test track in Soshanguve township north of the capital Pretoria.

Trains are the cheapest mode of transport in South Africa, used mostly by the poor and working class.

"Our parents... no longer use trains (because of) cable theft... and load shedding," said Ronnie Masindi, 18, referring to rolling blackouts caused by failures at old and poorly maintained coal-powered plants.

The state power company Eskom started imposing on-and-off power rationing 15 years ago to prevent a total national blackout.

The power outages, known locally as load-shedding, have worsened over the years disrupting commerce and industry, including rail services.

Infrastructure operator Transnet has struggled to keep rail traffic flowing smoothly since the economic challenges of the pandemic fuelled a surge in cable theft.

By 2020, rail use among public transport users was down almost two-thirds compared to 2013, according to the National Households Travel Survey with many commuters turning to more expensive minibus taxis.

Masindi said they decided to "create and build a solar-powered train that uses solar to move instead of (mains) electricity".

The journey has not been without its challenges.

A lack of funding delayed production of the prototype locomotive, and the government later chipped in.

"It was not a straight line," said another student, Lethabo Nkadimeng, 17. "It was like taking a hike to the highest peak of the mountain."

The train, which can run at 30 kilometres (20 miles) per hour, was showcased at a recent universities innovation event.

For now, the prototype can run for 10 return trips on the track installed on the grounds of a school.

It will be used for further research, and eventually presented as a model the government could adopt.

Fitted with car seats and a flat-screen TV to entertain passengers, it took the students two years to build.

"What we have realised is, if we you give township learners space, resources and a little mentorship they can do anything that any learner can do around the world," said Kgomotso Maimane, the project's supervising teacher.

UAE's latest bet on tech: a ministry in the metaverse

Innovations

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -The United Arab Emirates, which already boasts the world's tallest skyscraper and has launched a bold Mars mission, now hopes to become a pioneer in the depths of the metaverse.

In a project launched at Dubai's gleaming Museum of the Future, it announced that the UAE's economy ministry was setting up shop inside the immersive virtual world that is now taking shape.

Those who don their virtual reality goggles or use other means to venture within will find a ministry open for business with companies and even ready to sign bilateral agreements with foreign governments, officials said.

The metaverse is an online world where users will eventually be able to game, work and study, its proponents say -- although it is still in a "test" phase, the UAE's economy minister conceded.

Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri was speaking at the inaugural Dubai Metaverse Assembly, held at the museum whose innovative ring shape decorated with Arabic calligraphy flanks the city's main thoroughfare.

Representatives of tech giants mingled with entrepreneurs and developers exploring the potential of the metaverse, a network of digital spaces intended as an extension of the physical world.

"In the last couple of years we've seen investments, we've seen companies move in, and with the changes of the (visa) regime... we see talent coming in," Al Marri told AFP in an interview.

"We trained our employees to really immerse themselves in the metaverse, use the metaverse and engage with the Generation Z that is going to come," he added.

The UAE, which has a history of bold projects including the 830-metre (2,723-foot) Burj Khalifa, hopes the metaverse can add $4 billion to annual GDP and 40,000 jobs to its workforce by 2030.

In its bid to become one of the world's top-10 metaverse economies, Dubai wants to attract 1,000 companies specialising in blockchain and related technologies, helped by eased visa rules for freelancers, entrepreneurs and creatives.

As the coronavirus pandemic pushed more people into the online world, "Covid really accelerated" the trend, Al Marri added.

"We thought the metaverse is a phase technology" that might take 10 to 20 years to emerge," he said. "Covid-19 really immersed us so fast and expedited the use of the metaverse."

- Virtual Mars trips -

Unlike the UAE's oil-rich capital, Abu Dhabi, crude represents just five percent of Dubai's economy which has pivoted towards business, tourism, real estate and new technologies.

The UAE has already introduced a law governing virtual assets and a regulatory body for cryptocurrencies, while welcoming major crypto exchange platforms.

One of the UAE's early private-sector metaverse projects is called 2117, named after the dream of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to colonise Mars a century from now.

Metaverse users can now buy tickets to join a virtual shuttle carrying settlers to the red planet.

"A lot of us won't live long enough to see this mission with our own eyes," said Amin Al Zarouni, founder of the Bedu start-up behind the virtual Mars trip.

"We'll try to replicate this experience in the metaverse."

Until now, use of the metaverse is niche and even its architects say widespread adoption is years away. How it will develop is unknown.

According to Meta, which owns Facebook and other social media titans, Analysis Group research has shown that the metaverse could add $360 billion to GDP in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey in 10 years, if it follows the growth pattern of mobile technology.

"We also know that when policy supports innovation, it accelerates the adoption of new technologies," the company said, when asked about Dubai's prospects of becoming a metaverse hub.

"If we look at the context of Dubai, there's already a clear strategy and goals to accelerate metaverse adoption and investments in the building blocks of the metaverse."

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Young farmer Sotiris communicates with a weather station using his smart phone at his field in Platy near Thessaloniki, Northern Greece on October 18, 2022. Eyes glued to his cell phone, Sotiris Mournos pores over microclimate data from the weather station and humidity sensor installed in his fields at Platy, on the plain of Imathia in northern Greece. The weather station records data in real time, enabling to analyse and correlate the impact of weather conditions on 10-hectare cotton plantation that stretches as far as the eye can see.

Smart farming tech offers sprout of hope in Greece

Innovations

Eyes glued to his mobile phone, farmer Sotiris Mournos pores over the latest microclimate and humidity data about his fields on the plain of Imathia in northern Greece.

The high-tech farming techniques he uses are making slow progress in Greece's tradition-bound and struggling agricultural sector, but growers like him see them as key to their future.

Mournos, 25, employs a Greek smart-farming app to boost production of his family's cotton fields and fruit trees.

Using real-time data recorded by a weather station, he can analyse and correlate the impact of weather conditions on his 10-hectare (nearly 25-acre) cotton plantation.

"We've managed to reduce the use of fertiliser and irrigation... (and thereby to) increase the financial return" of the farm, said Mournos, who gave up studying computer science at university to devote himself to the family holding in the town of Platy.

Measuring the humidity or the nitrogen level in the soil helps to curb the excessive use of fertilisers and saves water, he notes.

As in many other southern European countries, Greece's agricultural sector is chronically short of water and smart farming could help deal with that problem.

- Boosting yields -

The sector has also lost a major share of its available labour in recent decades, as young people snub farm work for better-paid jobs in services such as tourism.

Agriculture now represents just five percent of Greece's GDP, half what it was 20 years ago.

The government has budgeted 230 million euros ($231 million) over the next three years to revive the country's farming industry.

Most of that derives from the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy innovation fund.

"Most young people in my village prefer other jobs and have given up working in the fields," Mournos told AFP.

But he is making a go at farming, aiming to work smart by using the farming app for several years now.

It means he uses 40 percent less fertiliser on his cotton field and can avoid using two pesticide sprays -- altogether saving 9,000 euros (about $9,000) -- without affecting production rates.

Analysts say the farming app is not widely used in Greece although interest is gradually picking up.

But persuading farmers who may be less technologically minded than Mournos to embrace it faces myriad challenges.

A key hurdle is the small size of Greek farms -- less than 10 hectares on average -- and the country's largely mountainous terrain.

Greek farms are often family businesses or involve rented fields, making investment in tools and practices less appealing.

- Convincing farmers -

Meanwhile, an "endemic" lack of cooperation among farmers prevents them sharing costs, says Aikaterini Kasimati, an agricultural engineer at the University of Agronomy in Athens.

As a result, Greece lags far behind other European states in the use of smart farming, says Vassilis Protonotarios, marketing manager of Neuropublic, a company specialising in digital agriculture.

He said farmers could benefit from new technology without having to invest in expensive equipment or have "specialised digital skills".

Then, there is the difficulty of convincing farmers to try something new.

Organic farmer Thodoris Arvanitis says his colleagues are not interested in new technologies because they don't know enough about them and prefer long-used conventional methods.

"Farmers won't go after technology when they don't have enough money for fuel," he added, at his farm in the small town of Kiourka, some 30 kilometres (nearly 20 miles) north of Athens.

Attitudes may change in time as climate change puts additional pressure on farm costs, says Machi Symeonidou, an agronomist and creator of the agricultural IT startup Agroapps.

The war in Ukraine and its impact on global food supplies also shows that it is increasingly necessary to produce food at a local level, said agricultural engineer Kasimati.

"We see a constant degradation of fields and a fall in yield," she said, adding that water was also becoming expensive.

"But as the technology becomes simpler and cheaper, these tools will see more use," she added.

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