These were never an accepted ideas among scientists.

They are not saving a wild population by releasing GMO wolves that will hybridize with the wild types, to the contrary this contributes to extinguish the wild population.
As an example, you don't save a population of wild cats or wild dogs by sending them domestic mates, to the contrary hybridization of vulnerable populations with domestic or modified populations is exactly what nature conservationists fear the most as it destroys the characteristics of the wild population.

We only need to preserve habitats and biodiversity happens on its own.

You could start with a trip to the right places and eat elephant burger.

Most people care at least a little bit about others. But even if you're extremely self-centred and really only care about yourself, think that any strain on health services will increase insurance and healthcare costs for all of you fools.

It is not necessarily reckless driving. It could be a mechanical failure, a software upgrade that went bad, or it could be you threw yourself into the building wall to avoid a loose baby carriage. You're still civilly liable for the damage to the building (then your insurance company will claim the money back from the person or company at the origin of the problem but that's not your business).

Maybe (not true in my area but fair point, it's the case for most areas), but it's actual corridor talk right now in the world outside of the US, people think twice before travelling. I have a collaboration where students can be offered a stay at a top US university and I now see students losing interest and refusing something that used to be a dream offer.

I travelled to conferences in the US early 2000s. I had to fill that paper saying I'm not a Communist so I can enter the country. "First they came for the Communists, and I said nothing, because I am not a Communist." But now my news say that from February 2026, visitors will be asked to provide social media login to check the posts, list of phone numbers used in the past 5 years, list of email addresses. And that's simply no, and absolute and definitive no, whatever the reason for the travel.

You could have misread something. The stupidly cheap plastic cups were already banned 5 years ago, and France and the EU have been using the coated and folded paper cups for this whole time, the same you are arguing are too expensive! The thing that happened today is the cup industry is allowed to temporarily continue producing the waxed and folded paper cups instead of phasing out the wax entirely, because the paper industry hasn't yet readied pure paper solutions that can handle coffee temperatures; but they are expected to do so within 4 years, hence a delay.

But the plastic straws were effectively banned despite (according to your explanation) being cheaper to manufacture. Differences are: 1) coffee cups are exposed to boiling-hot water while paper straws only experience cold beverages, so the coffee cup would degrade much faster; 2) a failing straw (becoming too soft due to contact with mouth or the beverage) can easily be replaced by a new one; while a coffee cup that fails is not acceptable at all as a product.

Biodegradable plastic and plastic-coated cups are also subject to the EU ban. Plastic lining makes the cardboard difficult to recycle, and even at a sub-10% in mass, it's still microplastics if they go to the sea. Remember the biodegradable plastic bags we have for some years (that broken into pieces on their own after a few months), that we hoped would solve the turtle-choking problem. They were banned as well in the end, because even biodegradable means a whole lot of harmful microplastics during the degradation length of time.

Your theory doesn't explain why, if the waxed cups (coated with unmodified natural polymers, outside of the scope of the EU ban) were possible to manufacture at scale, the companies who make them were not lobbying to keep the ban for next week and make a fortune.

You're wrong, but that's not entirely your fault, the summary is inaccurate. The plastic cups were already banned in France in 2020, following a EU Directive from 2019. Currently available are plastic-lined cardboard cups. From 2020 to 2024, 15% of plastic contents was allowed, then 8% since.

Those decisions rely not on politicians, but on technical reports established by agency staff, who are technically competent. The report that the government based its decision on, presents the different technologies and their maturity level. The report assesses that three techniques: polymer grafting, sol-gel coatings and cellulose microfiber coatings, are in advanced development and should reach market within 4 years, enabling the 2030 ban.

The report (pdf, 11 pages; in French): https://www.consultations-publ...

The PDF metadata says the report was written (or signed off) by "Jennifer Cosson", whose biography ( https://viadeo.journaldunet.co... ) shows she owns a Master's degree in management of environmental risks, and occupied several positions of toxicology expert in particular for the the food safety agency before joining the ministry of Environment.

I would prefer a better outcome, but just dismissing by complaining about politicians is not supported by the facts. The minister made a decision based on a technical report that said earliest we can do is 2030.

There were exactly two helicopter landings ever on the Everest summit, and the sole purpose was setting a world record. The helicopter was stripped down to reduce weight so I guess taking down significant amounts of waste would be out of question. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Adding an example to your arguments. I own an alpha 7, one of those "covered in buttons and dials with a bulky grip and a big lens" (no plastic though in this price range). What annoys me a bit is what a review I checked at the time called "esoteric menus". It's impossible to remember which dial to rotate to navigate the menu, which arrow key moves in which direction (it's *that* confusing). I'm just back from picturing sunset in the city, and it took me minutes again to set the right ISO and white balance and whatnot to the right settings, because the menu navigation on Sony cameras is so confusing.
Now, if you go to the Sigma BF homepage and check the video, it goes into lengths on showing how navigating the menu is easy with the single dial.

It ends up in studios who rent them to photographers for like 500 € a day. Photographers will charge their customers who insist on being shot on fancy brands.

It does not say fine arts. She studied in a "college of arts" and is looking for an internship in "product design". Fine art is decorative while design is functional.