Nearly 273,000 people have applied to take part in the event which will see a 216-metre-long red-and-white chequered rug cover the picnic ground and feature free packed meals from organisers' eight partner restaurants.

Around 4,000 people have been selected to participate in the "le grand pique-nique", with each guest invited to bring up to six additional people and choose one of two sittings, at noon or 2:00 pm.

The "world's largest tablecloth", made from 25 pieces of recycled fibre, will be assembled on site by 150 people, the organisers said.

The aim of the event was to show that the Champs-Elysees, famous for its expensive boutiques and restaurants, was not only good for shopping, said Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of the organiser, the Champs-Elysees Committee.

"It's a way of telling Parisians: 'Come back to the Champs-Elysees'", he said.

In 2023, the association transformed the avenue into an open-air mass "dictation" spellathon, pitting thousands of France's brainiest bookworms against one another.

With 1,779 desks laid out on the boulevard, organisers had sought to break the world record for a dictation spelling competition.

A top tourist attraction, the avenue has been gradually abandoned by locals in recent years.

The historic UGC Normandie cinema, which opened in 1937, is set to close in June due to decline in business.

On Monday, the Committee was due to present a 1,800-page study of possible ways to reinvent the Champs-Elysees.

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Conan, a six-month-old stray, joined the security team of the Worldwide Corporate Center in the capital Manila several months ago.

He is one of the lucky moggies unofficially adopted by security guards across the city, where thousands of cats live on the street.

While the cats lack the security skills of dogs -- and have a tendency to sleep on the job -- their cuteness and company have endeared them to bored security guards working 12-hour shifts.

Conan was rescued when he was a few weeks old by a housekeeper who found him wailing in the building's car park.

He accidentally landed the role of security cat after his predecessor, Mingming, died -- reportedly from gum disease, not in the line of duty.

Grieving guards wanting another furry friend to liven up their shifts decided to appoint Conan as Mingming's replacement.

"If Conan isn't around then I'm not motivated," security guard Aljon Aquino, 30, told AFP.

"He takes away my stress."

Photos of Conan wearing his vest emblazoned with "security" and lying on a desk next to a life-size cardboard picture of Mingming have been shared thousands of times on Facebook.

He is among more than a dozen strays living in the commercial and corporate building, where they are allowed to roam.

Employees pitch in to buy food for them.

Despite living his best life, Conan shows little interest in helping his human colleagues perform their security duties, such as searching bags of shoppers and workers as they enter the building.

Instead, he prefers to sleep, laze in front of the nearby Starbucks or chase balls across the tiled floor, much to the delight of passers-by.

"Sometimes people will just randomly carry him because he's really friendly," said Aquino, playfully poking Conan with his baton.

"He enjoys the work."

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The 15-second meow-vie featuring an orange tabby named Taters is the first to be streamed from deep space, and demonstrates it's possible to transmit the higher-data-rate communications needed to support complex missions such as sending humans to Mars.

The video was beamed to Earth using a laser transceiver on the Psyche probe, which is journeying to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to explore a mysterious metal-rich object. When it sent the video, the spaceship was 80 times the distance between the Earth and Moon.

The encoded near-infrared signal was received by the Hale Telescope at Caltech's Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, and from there sent to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.

"One of the goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video across millions of miles. Nothing on Psyche generates video data, so we usually send packets of randomly generated test data," said Bill Klipstein, the tech demo's project manager at JPL.

"But to make this significant event more memorable, we decided to work with designers at JPL to create a fun video, which captures the essence of the demo as part of the Psyche mission."

Space missions have traditionally relied on radio waves to send and receive data, but working with lasers can increase the data rate by 10 to 100 times.

- Giant pounce for catkind -

The ultra-HD video took 101 seconds to send to Earth at the system's maximum bit rate of 267 megabits per second -- faster than most home broadband connections.

"In fact, after receiving the video at Palomar, it was sent to JPL over the internet, and that connection was slower than the signal coming from deep space," said Ryan Rogalin, the project's receiver electronics lead at JPL.

So why a cat video? First, there's the historic connection, said JPL. When American interest in television began growing in the 1920s, a statue of Felix the Cat was broadcast to serve as a test image.

And while cats may not claim the title as man's best friend, few can dispute their number-one position when it comes to internet videos and meme culture.

Uploaded before launch, the clip shows Tabby, the pet of a JPL employee, chasing a laser light on a couch, with test graphics overlayed. These include Psyche's orbital path and technical information about the laser and its data bit rate.

While laser transmission has been demonstrated in low Earth orbit and as far away as the Moon, the Psyche mission is the first time it's been deployed in deep space. Aiming a laser beam from millions of miles away requires extremely precise "pointing," a major technical hurdle engineering teams had to solve.

The technology demonstration even needs to compensate for the fact that in the time it takes for light to travel from the spacecraft to Earth, both the probe and the planet will have moved -- so the uplink and downlink lasers need to adjust for the change accordingly.

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Skocak heads Croatia's first ever independent Gen Z electoral list of 12 candidates all aged between 19 and 30.

"This is an experiment to see if it's even possible, no one has ever done it," Skocak told AFP.

The 26-year-old's expertise goes way beyond the 1940s fashion she regales her quarter of a million followers with on TikTok and Instagram.

A journalism and political science graduate with a masters in European politics, she began as an intern in the European Parliament in 2022.

She now works promoting Europe's Horizon research programme for scientists trying to make major breakthroughs.

Skocak announced her candidacy on social media and her followers helped her quickly gather the 5,000 signatures needed to register.

"We didn't use traditional methods," she told AFP.

"Instead, we went to cafes and bars and collected signatures there. People came to have a drink and to give us a signature," the influencer said.

Eventually her Gen Z list gathered 8,500 signatures, which was their first major success.

"Young people today prefer their own channels to traditional party structures," Skocak added.

"We need to create different platforms and methods to engage them."

As you would expect, Skocak's campaign leverages her social media presence, engaging with her audience through pop quizzes, but she also gets out to meet people at flea markets and direct communication in bars frequented by youngsters.

She is not the first to try their new campaigning methods, said Marijana Grbesa, a political science professor at Zagreb University.

"There will be more of this since the key message from young people is, 'We don't want you talking about us, we want you to talk to us,'" she told AFP.

For Grbesa the perception that young people are not interested in politics is only partially true.

"They are not interested in politics in a way that politicians talk to them," she insisted.

- Youth view lacking -

Skocak -- who is polling in single digits -- said her campaign is as much about education as getting elected.

Her videos try to explain the electoral process and urge her followers to participate in shaping the political landscape.

In the comments many of her followers thank her for finally explaining how it all works and say that thanks to her they will definitely vote for the first time.

"Skocak speaks the language young people speak. It is a big plus," said Grbesa.

"She tries to mobilise young people," she added.

Young Croatians have one of the lowest levels of understanding of the EU, according to surveys.

Seventy-one percent said they understand little or nothing about the EU while the European average is 55 percent, according to a Flash Eurobarometer survey for the European Parliament in 2021.

Skocak believes that young people are interested in the European elections but are frustrated with traditional politics and need some encouragement.

Currently, only three MEPs are under 30 and Skocak sees a need for change.

"Young people bring a different viewpoint in policy-making. This is definitely lacking," she argued.

Her Gen Z list of seven women and five men is the youngest in the European elections.

Their manifesto focuses on youth involvement in politics, internet safety, sustainable policies and women's rights.

Determined to show that young people, especially young women, have a place in politics, Nina's independent list aims at countering the right-wing shift in Croatia's politics.

They advocate lowering the voting age to 16 years and having youth quotas in the European elections.

Croatia -- which joined the EU in 2012 -- will elect 12 MEPs on Sunday.

Skocak stressed that social media can mobilise people in a day.

"Maybe only a hundred people will turn out to vote, or maybe a hundred thousand will."

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The event, to be attended by 500 hand-picked guests in the glitzy Place Vendome, comes midway through Paris Fashion Week's menswear and haute couture shows.

Here's what we know about the event in this summer's Olympic host city:

- The concept -

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour told AFP back in February that the outdoor show will be "a mixture of fashion show, entertainment and performances... and a few surprises."

The date was not chosen at random, June 23 being International Olympic Day.

The idea is to match different sports -- such as cycling, gymnastics, tennis, taekwondo and breakdancing -- with eras of French fashion since 1924, the last time the Games were held in Paris.

There have been two Vogue World events in the past -- a New York street fair in 2022, and a homage to London's theatre scene in 2023.

With Vogue's magazine business struggling to stay relevant in the online world, Wintour is looking to entertainment spectacles to keep the brand alive.

Front row tickets for the New York event cost $3,000. Prices have not been revealed for this week's show.

- The guests -

The guest list is also a secret, but the promotional video features top models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, and actress Isabelle Huppert, trying their hands at several sports.

Most of the 500 seats are reserved for A-listers, with the proceedings hosted by British model and actor Cara Delevingne, and directed by Sam Wrench, who has overseen Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.

It is a rare move for labels to present fashion shows alongside each other, but the event will see almost all the big names of French fashion at once: Balenciaga, Balmain, Chanel, Courreges, Dior, Fursac, Givenchy, Hermes, Jacquemus, Jean Paul Gaultier, Lacoste, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Marine Serre, Rabanne and Saint Laurent.

Pharrell Williams, hip-hop mogul and creative director for Louis Vuitton, told the press conference in February: "Taking over the Place Vendome I have to say is pretty legendary."

He added that the show would spotlight "true French style -- what we see on the podium, what we see in the boulevards -- in an inclusive spirit."

- Congestion -

Place Vendome, home to the French justice ministry, was an ideal location for the organisers since it is also known as the heart of high-end jewellery in Paris.

But police were reportedly less keen given that central Paris is already facing considerable congestion as a result of preparations for next month's Games.

Vogue World hopes to ease the burden by offering a one-million-euro donation to a charity, French Popular Relief, which tackles poverty and discrimination.

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From helping prevent famines to feeding astronauts in space, team leader and professor Hong Jin-kee believes his new so-called "meaty rice" could become an eco-friendly, ethical way for people to get their protein.

No animals were harmed in the creation of the dish, which looks like a regular bowl of rice -- albeit pink -- but it gives off a faint buttery aroma, the result of being packed with beef muscle and fat cell culture.

Using cultured meat, "we can obtain animal protein without the slaughter of livestock," Hong, of Seoul's Yonsei University, told AFP.

Companies worldwide have sought to commercialise meat alternatives, such as plant-based or cultured meat, due to ethical issues surrounding industrial livestock rearing, as well as environmental concerns linked to the greenhouse gas emissions from animal farming.

Hong, who has a background in organoids and biomedical sciences, chose rice for his research as the grain was already the top source of protein for people in Asia.

His process can be currently time-consuming: a regular rice grain is coated with fish gelatin to help with adherence, then individually injected with beef cells before being cultured in a petri dish for up to 11 days.

Rice possesses a "slightly porous structure", Hong said, and once the beef cells have been injected into the rice, the grain offers "an ideal structure for cells to grow uniformly from the inside out".

- Carbon footprint -

Hong's "meaty" rice contains eight percent more protein and seven percent more fat than regular rice.

Hong and his team are still working on how to scale the process, he said, but he hopes to get his creation approved as a relief food for emergency situations in two African countries.

"For those who are limited to... just one meal a day, a slight increase in (protein content), even by just a few percent, becomes incredibly important," he said.

South Korea has not yet approved any cultivated meat for consumption, but it announced in 2022 plans to plough millions of dollars into a "foodtech" fund, while separately identifying cell-cultured meat as a priority research area.

Cultivated meat is sold in Singapore and the United States, but Italy banned it last year citing a need to safeguard its livestock industry.

Some scholars say potential ethical concerns with cultured meat include the sourcing of the initial animal cells.

It is difficult to be "certain about the safety of the serum used in culture media, and the antibiotics and hormones added during the culturing process", Choi Yoon-jae, a former emeritus professor at Seoul National University, wrote in a column on the website Chuksan News.

According to Hong's team, their hybrid rice method significantly reduces protein's carbon footprint by eliminating the need to raise and farm animals.

For every 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of protein produced, it releases 6.27 kilograms (13.8 pounds) of carbon dioxide, he estimates -- eight times less than traditional beef production.

- Would you eat it? -

Cultured meat has long been "presented as a climate solution compared to traditional livestock", said Neil Stephens, a lecturer on technology and society at the University of Birmingham.

But the sector faces challenges such as needing to be "produced at scale, and cheap, with low energy needs and environmentally friendly inputs," he told AFP.

"The 'meaty' rice might have an advantage over some other cultured meat products", as it is a hybrid product "mixing animal cells with plant material -- the rice -- making cheaper and less energy intensive," he said.

"This said, it would still need to prove its environmental credentials at scale -- and convince people to eat it. Both might be a challenge."

Global consultancy AT Kearney has predicted that by around 2040, only 40 percent of global meat consumption will come from conventional sources -- and the whole industry will be upended.

"Products such as milk, egg white, gelatin and fish can be created with similar technology," it said in a 2019 report.

Hong passionately believes that biotechnology can change the way humans consume food for the better.

For example, he said, an older person with sarcopenia -- muscle loss -- could eat lab-grown meat produced solely with muscle cells, not fat, to help ease their specific condition.

The world is on the cusp of an era where "more biological information becomes available and we need to meticulously control our food", he said.

This could mean, he said, that a future AI-infused kitchen could assess a person's health through a blood analysis, then instruct a robot to prepare the most suitable breakfast.

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Three years ago Huh, who has a Japanese mother and Korean father, gave up her Japanese citizenship and moved to South Korea to train. She barely spoke Korean at the time.

Huh, who won the world title in May at -57kg, discovered only after moving to South Korea that she was a descendant of Heo Seok, an independence activist who was imprisoned and died in 1920 fighting Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula.

"I was very surprised and it has made me want to work even harder," the 21-year-old Huh told AFP at the Jincheon National Training Center south of Seoul.

But her biggest motivation is her "very kind" late grandmother.

She was a key figure in the community of Koreans living in Japan and told Huh that she wanted her to compete for South Korea if she ever got to the Olympics.

"I am competing for South Korea because of what my grandmother told me, and it still makes me think of her," Huh said.

Huh divides her time between Tokyo's Waseda University, where she studies sports science, and South Korea's training centre for the nation's finest athletes.

She is a rising superstar in South Korea, where judo is popular but the country hasn't won women's Olympic gold in the sport since 1996.

- Balance, control -

At the world championships in Abu Dhabi, Huh dethroned double world champion Christa Deguchi, who was also born in Japan but competes for Canada. She too will be at the Paris Olympics.

"Before the world championships I had lost (to Deguchi) once, so I had been feeling a bit insecure," Huh told AFP, adding she believes she has an advantage over her rival when it comes to stamina.

"I won (in Abu Dhabi) and my self-confidence has grown significantly, so I feel like I can do well if I (compete against) her again."

Huh's biggest strengths as a judoka lie in her balance and control, said Kim Mi-jung, the coach of South Korea's women's team.

"Actually, Huh Mi-mi isn't technically the strongest," Kim, who won judo gold at the 1992 Olympics, said.

"But judo involves a lot of grappling and Huh's gripping and balance skills are so exceptional.

"If you watch her matches, you'll notice that it's very rare to see her get thrown and lose."

- Personal hero -

Huh has previously said her hero is An Chang-rim, another Japanese-born and raised judoka who competed for South Korea and won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

An has since candidly shared his experiences of facing discrimination both while growing up as a Korean in Japan and training as a Japanese-born athlete in South Korea.

Having relocated to South Korea at about age 20, he said it was not easy to get used to the culture and training.

An, who now works as a coach, told reporters that Huh -- known for her bubbly personality and positive attitude -- has managed to adapt well to life in South Korea despite hurdles such as the language barrier.

Huh is above all else mentally strong, An told AFP.

"She does what she needs to do, no matter who is watching. She concentrates on her own tasks without worrying about others," he said.

Huh's story in many ways mirrors An's, albeit she does not have an Olympic medal to show for it -- not yet.

For Huh, who started judo at age six, Paris has been a long time coming.

Going to the Olympics "has been my dream since I was really young, so I'm very happy", she said.

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The life-sized sculpture is a homage to thousands of emigrants who proudly returned home from Germany at the wheel of the ultimate status symbol.

Like many poorer areas across southeast Europe and Turkey, Imotski sent thousands of its sons and daughters to work in Germany as "gastarbeiters" or guest workers in the 1960s and 1970s.

And those that returned home driving a Mercedes-Benz were seen as having made it.

"It was a symbol of success, anyone who had one could have his pick of girlfriends, sit in the front row in church," said Ivan Topic, who worked in construction in Frankfurt for 18 years before returning to Imotski in 1997.

Topic came up with the idea for the monument, arguing that the rugged endurance of the ageless "Minika" -- as the classic 1960s W115 saloon is called here -- mirrors the qualities of the rocky region's people.

"That car was way ahead of its time, and it's modern even today," he told AFP as he helped workers put the final touches to the statue in local white karst stone.

- Town full of Mercedes -

The people of Imotski remain huge fans of the brand. Half of the area's 16,000 registered vehicles are Mercedes.

As well as being a synonym of success, Mercedes-Benz has become deeply embedded in the identity of the region and its people, said Mislav Rebic, who came up with the design.

The poor agricultural area close to Bosnian border had been marked by emigration for decades, something that continues even today.

In the 1970s nearly a fifth of Imotski's population was working abroad with some 9,000 living in Germany alone.

"They left looking to work to buy a cow, a bicycle," Topic told AFP. But as the area's road network developed, they brought back cars.

"They would buy a Mercedes, drive it back home and leave it as an inheritance.

"Mercedes is something we bought and left to our children and they will leave it to theirs," he said.

Given the cult of the Merc, Topic said it was obvious to him that a statue of the iconic model would be the perfect show of gratitude for the sacrifices the region's migrants made.

He knows a thing or two about the cars. He owns several himself, including a 1929 model, and heads the Imotski Mercedes Club, which has an impressive 230 members.

- 'You've made it' -

But initially not everyone shared his enthusiasm and it took several years for the idea to build up speed.

However, as soon as work started interest in unusual monument quickly spread, even beyond Croatia's borders.

In February, several young sculptors from Croatia, Denmark and Slovenia came to work for a week on the monument.

Nediljko Djuka, a returnee from Australia, hailed the statue.

"Mercedes symbolises safety and our people, who emerged from this (karst) stone," he said.

Stipan Busic, who helped with the monument, said there is nothing else like it anywhere in the world.

"Here a Mercedes means everything. When you buy one, you can be at peace -- 'You've made it!'" said Busic, who has three himself.

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The town of just under 10,000 people is split in two, Baarle-Nassau (which is Dutch) and Baarle-Hertog (a Belgian enclave surrounded by the Netherlands).

The international border runs through the town, marked by a series of white crosses in the pavement that sometimes even bisects buildings -- including the town hall.

And come European election day, the Dutch parts of the town voted on June 6 whereas their Belgian neighbours have to wait three days later to cast their ballot.

"Anyone Dutch? Come and vote in here," cried a volunteer outside the "Stembureau" (polling station) when AFP visited on Dutch election day.

Literally a few metres across the road is Belgium, a snack bar offering "Fresh Belgian Fries".

Dutch and Belgian election posters stand a stone's throw apart with a completely different set of candidates and parties.

The town's split identity is much more complex than a single border line. There are several separate chunks of land scattered around the town belonging to one country or the other.

There are 22 Belgian enclaves in total, the smallest the size of half a football pitch, and six Dutch "counter-enclaves" within these Belgian enclaves.

This means the border snakes haphazardly around the town, resulting in a bizarre patchwork quilt effect on international maps.

Visiting every enclave would mean crossing the Dutch-Belgian border 60 times in a few kilometres (miles), explained Ad Tuijtelaars from the local tourist office.

- 'World's strangest border' -

Anecdotes abound about the pecularities of the town, which describes itself as "Europe in Miniature" or the "World's Strangest Border Situation."

Couples tying the knot in the town hall have to decide which country to get married in. Left side of the room: Belgium. Right side: Netherlands.

In one house split by the border, a 90-year-old woman lives on the Belgian side. Her son just down the corridor ... in the Netherlands.

People seize upon different laws and tax regimes, said Tuijtelaars, a 75-year-old retired Dutch businessman.

"Petrol is cheaper in Belgium. Cigarettes are cheaper in Belgium. But food tends to be cheaper in the Netherlands," he told AFP.

In the Netherlands, fireworks can only be purchased in the run-up to New Year, but all year round in Belgium, meaning people flock to Baarle-Hertog to stock up on bangers.

Different national closing times once meant diners at a restaurant split by the border had to move across to the other side of the room to finish their meals.

The border runs through one of the supermarkets with a sign promising Belgian mayonnaise 25 metres to the left, Hagelslag (Dutch chocolate sprinkles) 30 metres to the right.

Covid sparked pandemonium -- in Baarle-Hertog, masks were compulsory but in Baarle-Nassau, only on public transport.

Tuijtelaars, born and bred in Baarle, recalls walking to school -- crossing through Belgium several times along the way.

"It was just normal for us as kids. It was only when I grew up and travelled abroad that I realised it was quite a unique situation," he said.

- 'No need for conflict' -

The geographical oddity, which attracts thousands of tourists every year from all over the world, has its roots in the Middle Ages.

The territory was first carved up in 1198 when Henry I, Duke of Brabant, handed some of his land to Godfried of Schoten, Lord of Breda.

The border question came to the fore in 1830 when Belgium became independent from the Netherlands and the issue was only finally settled in 1995.

Voting in the "Cafe in Holland", a pub-cum-polling station on the outskirts of the town, Theo van der Veerdonk, a 64-year-old lecturer, said Baarle offered lessons for Europe to come together.

"We have a town here of two nationalities and I think Europe should be one. You see in a town such as this that Europe actually isn't one at all. I think that's a pity," he told AFP.

"I want more Europe and more integration, to make Europe closer and better... Here we've got two town halls, two police services, two fire services... and that's completely crazy."

But Tuijtelaars said Baarle showed how neighbours can live together in harmony despite nationality and borders.

"If you live so close to each other, why should you quarrel? There's no need for conflict -- well, apart from when Belgium plays the Netherlands at football," he joked.

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Neo Px is a bioengineered plant capable of purifying indoor air at an unprecedented scale, the first in a potentially long line of such super-powered organisms.

"It's the equivalent of up to 30 regular houseplants in terms of air purification," said Lionel Mora, co-founder of startup Neoplants.

"It will not only capture, but also remove and recycle, some of the most harmful pollutants you can find indoors."

Five years ago, the entrepreneur met Patrick Torbey, a genome editing researcher, who dreamed of creating living organisms "with functions."

"There were plants around us, and we thought that the most powerful function we could add to them was to purify the air," said Mora, during a tour of a rented greenhouse in Lodi, California, two hours from San Francisco.

Protected from the elements, several thousand modified pothos plants, green speckled with white, awaited their turn to be potted, packed and shipped.

The French startup began selling its first products in the United States in April.

The United States was a particularly promising first market, since many Americans already widely use air purifiers.

"We do our best to send as many plants as possible every week, but it's not enough to meet demand for now," said Mora.

- Wildfires -

Americans have a keen appreciation for cleaner air given all the recent "problems associated with wildfires," which have become a "bigger and bigger" problem in the country, Mora said.

"One of the pollutants that comes from combustion is benzene, which we're targeting," he added.

Indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, mainly due to volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.

VOCs are gaseous pollutants that can accumulate indoors and negatively impact air quality and health.

Opening windows won't help much because the VOC pollution can come from solvents, glues and paints, and therefore could lurk in cleaning products, furniture and walls.

"These chemicals are associated with a range of adverse health effects, including cancer," especially for the young, the elderly and people who are already vulnerable, said Tracey Woodruff, a professor of reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

"They can bring respiratory related effects or reproductive health effects... like adverse pregnancy outcomes, preterm birth, miscarriages, as well as neurological disorders like Parkinson's," she said.

Neo Px does not itself absorb the chemicals. The plant is sold at a starting price of $120 with packets of powder that contain a microbiome, essentially a bacterial strain.

"This bacteria colonizes the plant's roots, soil and leaves," said Torbey, the company's chief technology officer, at its research lab in Saint-Ouen, France, just outside Paris.

- Bacteria powder -

The bacteria "absorbs the VOCs to grow and reproduce. The plant is there to create this ecosystem for the bacteria. So we have a symbiotic system between plants and bacteria," he said.

In the future, Neoplants plans to produce genetically modified plants whose metabolism will directly do the work of air purification.

And in the longer term, it hopes to tackle problems linked to global warming.

"We could increase the capacity of trees to capture CO2," Torbey said.

Or "develop seeds that are more resistant to drought," added Mora.

Their vision, coupled with the team's scientific expertise, led Google product manager Vincent Nallatamby to invest in the startup from the outset.

He now owns his own bacteria-boosted pothos plant, which sits unnoticed in his San Francisco living room, already well-stocked with houseplants of all sizes.

"It's more my wife who takes care of them, except this one. This one's me!" he joked, pointing to his Neo Px.

"I'm often seduced by technological objects and I want to bring them home," he said.

"This was one of the first times I had no trouble convincing my wife."

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