Month: July 2018

New Zealand’s Rocket Lab to Open Second Launch Pad in US

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

Rocket Lab, a Silicon Valley-funded space launch company, planned to open a second launch site in the United States to complement its remote New Zealand pad, the firm said Wednesday.

Rocket Lab said it was considering four sites on both the East and West coasts and would make a final decision in August.

Founder and Chief Executive Peter Beck said in an emailed statement that launching from the United States “adds an extra layer of flexibility for our government and commercial customers.”

The Auckland and Los Angeles-headquartered firm has designed a battery-powered, partly 3-D-printed rocket and has touted its service as a way for companies to get satellites into orbit regularly.

Its successful launch of a rocket that deployed satellites in January after years of preparation was an important step in the global commercial race to bring down financial and logistical barriers to space.

Rocket Lab counts the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as well as earth imaging firm Planet and global data and analytics company Spire among its customers.

American sites being considered were Cape Canaveral in Florida, Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Rocket Lab said.

The firm expected its first launch from the United States would take place in the second quarter of 2019.

Rocket Lab operates the world’s only private orbital launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula in northwest New Zealand, Beck’s home country.

The island nation is well-positioned to send satellites bound for a north-to-south orbit around the poles, whereas the United States is better for satellites flying west to east.
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Rescued Thai Boys Could Face Anxiety Disorders, Other Mental Health Problems

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

With the trauma of being trapped in the flooded Tham Luang cave complex behind them, the young members of the Wild Boars soccer team are facing a new challenge – dealing with lingering emotional and psychological stress. As Faith Lapidus reports, mental health experts are assessing how their terrifying experience could impact their lives.
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Fossils of Early Giant Dinosaur Discovered in Argentina

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

Scientists have unearthed in northwestern Argentina fossils of the earliest-known giant dinosaur, a four-legged plant-eater with a medium-length neck and long tail that was a forerunner of the largest land animals of all time.

Researchers said the dinosaur – named Ingentia prima, meaning “the first giant” – was up to 33 feet (10 meters) long and weighed about 10 tons, living about 210 million years ago during the Triassic Period.

Ingentia was an early member of a dinosaur group called sauropods that later included Earth’s biggest terrestrial creatures including the Patagonian behemoths Argentinosaurus, Dreadnoughtus and Patagotitan.

“We see in Ingentia prima the origin of gigantism, the first steps so that, more than 100 million years later, sauropods of up to 70 tons could come into existence like those that lived in Patagonia,” said paleontologist Cecilia Apaldetti of the Universidad Nacional de San Juan in Argentina, lead author of the study published on Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Unlike later sauropods, Ingentia’s legs were not pillar-like. Its neck also was shorter than later sauropods, which possessed among the longest necks relative to body length of any animals ever.

Dinosaurs first appeared earlier in the Triassic Period, roughly 230 million years ago. The first ones were modestly sized, a far cry from the immense dinosaurs of the subsequent Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Scientists had previously believed the first giant dinosaurs appeared roughly 180 millions years ago.

Apaldetti called Ingentia not only the largest dinosaur but the biggest land animal of any kind up to that point in time. It was at least twice as large as the other plant-eaters that shared the warm, savannah environment it inhabited. The biggest predators there were not dinosaurs, but large land-dwelling relatives of crocodiles.

“Gigantism is an evolutionary survival strategy, especially for herbivorous animals, because size is a form of defense against predators,” Apaldetti said.

The scientists identified important traits related to gigantism in Ingentia. It possessed a bird-like respiratory system, related to the development of air sacs inside the body that gave it large reserves of oxygenated air and kept it cool despite its large size.

While later giant dinosaurs grew in an accelerated yet continuous manner, an examination of its bones showed that Ingentia grew seasonally rather than continuously, but at an even higher rate.

Ingentia, known from two partial skeletons, was discovered in Argentina’s San Juan Province.
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Charlie Puth Charts His Own Course With Album, Tour

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Charlie Puth is done playing by the rules.

 

“I’ve wanted to make music like this for a very, very long time, but I almost wasn’t, dare I say, allowed?” Puth said of his recently released sophomore album, “Voicenotes.” “No one wanted to hear too much jazz in pop music.”

 

His response: “Let me prove to you that it’s possible.”

 

While perched behind a piano — one of dozen or so keyboards stacked up in every corner of his cozy home recording studio in Beverly Hills — Puth recalled his humble beginnings as man on a mission.

“The hardest thing was just getting people on board, convincing people that I did write good music. Granted, I mean, just four years ago my music was not nearly as — in my opinion — good as it is now,” said the 26-year-old. “So I don’t blame A&Rs for looking at their phones while they were in meetings with me and half listening to the songs.”

 

So Puth, a YouTube star who rocketed to fame with the 2015 Wiz Khalifa collaboration “See You Again,” perfected his craft.

 

His 2016 debut album, “Nine Track Mind,” offered a slew of hits including the Meghan Trainor-assisted doo-wop “Marvin Gaye” and the Selena Gomez duet “We Don’t Talk Anymore.” He was also busy behind-the-scenes creating hits for the likes of Liam Payne, Maroon 5, Pitbull, Jason Derulo and Trey Songz.

 

“It just took a couple years for me to get better at producing and get better at writing,” he said. “And then I didn’t have to try to explain it to them anymore. I would just say, ‘Here’s the three-minute MP3 proving that you can put jazz chords into a pop record and it could do really well on the Billboard chart.'”

 

Puth recently invited The Associated Press into his tranquil, mid-century style home to chat about his 2018 Honda Civic Tour with pal Hailee Steinfeld, which kicks off this week, how he catches concerts these days and why Hawaiian punch is the secret to his success.

 

AP: First concert?

 

Puth: James Taylor.

 

AP: You two collaborated on the track “Change” on “Voicenotes.” Talk about a full circle moment.

 

Puth: That is pretty crazy! Second concert was the Beach Boys, which was pretty cool, too. Yeah, I started off right at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

 

AP: How often do you get to see live music now?

 

Puth: I’m a casual concertgoer. I’m not looking at tickets and waiting outside the Roxy per se because nowadays I truly can’t do that. But I will go to concerts casually if my friends happen to be going and the situation is easy. Like, “Oh someone else is driving? Perfect!”

 

AP: Who do you like to go with?

 

Puth: With a large group of people that are going to surround me if I don’t have security because it’s weird, people run up to me. Nowadays with social media they think they can just jump on me. I tried to go out the other day and this person literally almost tackled me.

 

AP: You seem to take it in stride. Is that unnerving?

 

Puth: No, I don’t care. It’s fun. I’m glad they’re so passionate. At the end of the day I look at myself in the mirror and I’m like, “I’m a kid from New Jersey. What’s the big deal?”

 

AP: Can you experience concerts the same way now that you’re famous?

 

Puth: I can. The most important thing for me is I don’t want to make it about me if I’m seeing one of my friends. …I was in London, I saw Harry (Styles) play and I stood behind the projector and nobody knew I was there. His show was amazing!

 

AP: You were trying to blend into the background?

 

Puth: More like hiding.

AP: You’re launching your first headlining tour — what do you want fans to experience?

 

Puth: I want everyone to lose their mind. …I treat the show as I treat a three-minute song when I’m producing it out. There’s no chance that anybody can get bored while listening to a three-minute song on the radio when I put it out because I just won’t allow it. I won’t allow you to change that dial. I want you to be hooked every second that you’re listening to it and that goes for the hour and a half show as well.

 

AP: Any post-show rituals?

 

Puth: Hawaiian Punch, Kool-Aid, every bad drink you can think of. Every time I get offstage I’m just like electric, like, “Let’s make seven songs on the bus right now! Let’s stay up till 7 a.m.!” So I usually cater to that by drinking sugary drinks. That’s something my trainer would not like to hear.

 

AP: How do you prepare to go onstage?

 

Puth: Doing those goofy vocal warm-ups and putting on Stan Getz, Gilberto, Brazilian music, something really relaxing because I get really nervous before shows still, so I like to put myself in like a different place. Like, oh, I’m at a Brazilian cuisine restaurant and I’m just hanging out with my friends — 10 of them so I don’t get tackled.
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As Technology Advances, Women Are Left Behind in Digital Divide

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

Poverty, gender discrimination and digital illiteracy are leaving women behind as the global workforce increasingly uses digital tools and other technologies, experts warned Tuesday.

The so-called “digital divide” has traditionally referred to the gap between those who have access to computers and the internet, and those with limited or no access.

But technology experts say women and girls with poor digital literacy skills will be the hardest hit and will struggle to find jobs as technology advances.

“Digital skills are indispensable for girls and young women to obtain safe employment in the formal labor market,” said Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke, founder of Women’s Worldwide Web, a charity that trains girls in digital literacy.

She said “offline factors” like poverty, gender discrimination and gender stereotypes were preventing girls and women from benefiting from digital technologies.

Globally, the proportion of men using the internet in 2017 was 12 percent higher than women, says the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency.

There are also 200 million fewer women than men who own a mobile phone, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a March report.

“Women are currently on the wrong side of the digital skills gap. In tech, it’s a man’s world. We have a global problem, we have an urgent problem on our hands,” said Nefesh-Clarke at a gender equality forum run by Chatham House in London on Tuesday.

According to a 2017 study by the Brookings Institution, a U.S. think tank, the use of digital tools has increased in 517 of 545 occupations since 2002 in the United States alone, with a striking uptick in many lower-skilled occupations.

“The entire economy is shifting, and we need new skills to be able to cope with that new economy,” said Dorothy Gordon, a technology expert and associate fellow with Chatham House.

“So when we look at the jobs that women are in today, what are the skillsets that they will need to acquire to be able to be competitive in that job market as we move forward?” she said.

Even with new jobs emerging through online or mobile platforms, such as rideshare apps Uber or Lyft, domestic services or food couriers, women are still faring worse than men, research shows.

A U.S. study by the National Bureau of Economic Research in June found the gender pay gap among Uber drivers was 7 percent.

“Many of the challenges that come through digital work are, frankly, old wine in new bottles,” said Abigail Hunt, a gender researcher at the British-based Overseas Development Institute, referring to the Uber study.

She said safety concerns, gender bias and discrimination contributed to how much women could earn in the so-called “gig economy.”

“Discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, geographical location, age — it’s the same issues we’ve always seen that are discriminating against women,” Hunt said.
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American Airlines to Eliminate Plastic Straws from Cabins, Lounges

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

American Airlines on Tuesday said it plans to no longer offer plastic straws and stir sticks in its lounges and onboard its flights, amid a broader global push to abandon one-time use plastics.

Starting this month, American said drinks in its airport lounges will no longer come with plastic utensils and will instead feature biodegradable straws and wooden stir sticks. The phase-out onboard its planes will begin in November, with plastic straws and stirrers to be replaced by environmentally friendly bamboo.

“We’re cognizant of our impact on the environment and we remain committed to doing our part to sustain the planet for future generations of travelers,” Jill Surdek, vice president of flight service, said in a statement.

 

The carrier will also transition to “eco-friendly” flatware in its lounges.

American said that the move will eliminate more than 71,000 pounds (32,200 kg) of plastic each year.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier joins rival Alaska Airlines, which announced in May its plans to replace plastic straws with more environmentally friendly alternatives.

On Monday, Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, said it would no longer offer plastic straws at its 28,000 locations by 2020.
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‘Indiana Jones 5’ Delayed Again, Until 2021

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Harrison Ford’s big screen return as adventurer Indiana Jones has been pushed back until 2021, Walt Disney Co. announced on Tuesday, two years after the fifth movie in the action franchise was first scheduled to be released.

The film was originally scheduled for release in 2019 but that date was later pushed back to 2020. The new delay follows reports last week in Hollywood industry publications that the script had not been finished and that a new writer was being brought in to polish it. Disney did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday on the delay.

The film will reunite Ford with director Stephen Spielberg in the “Indiana Jones” franchise created by filmmaker George Lucas, that has grossed nearly $2 billion at the world box office with four films and amassed a global fan base. Disney said in 2016 that it was going ahead with a fifth installment.

The delay means Ford will be 79 when he appears as the Fedora-wearing archeologist in theaters. His age has been a running theme in the films since an often-quoted exchange in the first movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1981.

Karen Allen, playing Jones’s love interest Marion, says “You’re not the man I knew 10 years ago” and Ford responds with a line that has since become famous: “It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.”

Spielberg also has a slate of other projects he is currently working on, including a remake of musical “West Side Story” and religion drama “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.”

The as yet untitled fifth “Indiana Jones” film will come 13 years after “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” in which Ford’s Jones reunited with his former love Marion, again played by Allen, and discovered he had a grown son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). The film received mixed reviews.

Ford’s most recent movie appearances were in last year’s “Blade Runner 2049” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” when he reprised his role as swash-buckling adventurer Han Solo. The 2015 film went on to take more than $2 billion at the global box office and become the third biggest release of all time.
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Doctors Say Breast Milk, Not Formula, Is Best

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

You would never think there could be a dispute about breastfeeding, especially since decades of research show that breast milk is better for babies than formula. But after The New York Times reported the Trump administration opposed a U.N. resolution calling for countries to encourage this practice, health officials the world over responded.

The administration called the Times report “fake news.” Both the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services issued statements saying the U.S. is not anti-breastfeeding. The State Department said the original resolution “called on states to erect hurdles for mothers seeking to provide nutrition to their children.” Both agencies defended bottle feeding with infant formulas and issued statements saying that “not all women are able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons.”

Some women don’t have enough milk. Others may take medication that prohibits breastfeeding. And breastfeeding does not always come naturally for both newborns and mothers. Many doctors think these hurdles can be worked around. They also say if a mother can’t produce enough breast milk, what she can produce is still far better than formula.

Dr. Dennis Kuo heads the general pediatrics unit at the University of Buffalo Medical Center. As both an academic and a practicing pediatrician, he agrees that some women may need to use formula; but, he says the majority of women can breastfeed if they are supported by their doctors, families, communities and employers even before they give birth.

Infant formulas have improved with the addition of fatty acids and better quality proteins. Abbott, a formula manufacturer, says it can replicate prebiotics – nutritional ingredients – found naturally in breast milk. Prebiotics promote the growth of beneficial or “good” bacteria in the baby’s gut.

But even doctors who work in the formula industry acknowledge that breast milk is best. In a company press release in 2016, Rachael Buck, an Abbott researcher, was quoted as saying, “Nothing can replace breast milk. But for those moms who need or choose to use formula, we are committed to providing the most scientifically advanced nutrition.”

Doctors support mothers having a choice, but with caution. Kuo said if government and community policies support breastfeeding, the number of women who cannot provide mother’s milk to their babies will be very low.

Breastfeeding is best even for babies in developed countries. Dr. Joan Younger Meek of the Florida State University College of Medicine said women need a choice, but breast milk is best.  

“We know right after birth, when the mother puts the baby to breast, the baby gets the colostrum – the early milk that the mother produces. And it’s very high in immunoglobulins that protect the baby from infection, so that milk is critically important for babies. And that exclusive breastfeeding continues to support those health benefits for the baby.”  

Meek says in developed countries such as the United States, women need social support so they can breastfeed when they are in public. In the U.S., women have been discouraged, and in some cases prohibited, from breastfeeding at airports, restaurants and other public places. They are often asked to breastfeed in restrooms. Many women find this request offensive and demoralizing.

In low- and middle-income countries, breastfeeding is even more important. In these nations, not all women have access to clean water – a must for mixing formula. The water that goes into the formula has to be clean, along with the bottles, nipples and spoons used to measure formula. If not, the baby can get diarrhea, which can be fatal, since babies don’t have strong immune systems. Breastfed babies get help in avoiding disease from their mothers’ immune systems.

What’s more, formula is expensive. If a mother tries to dilute it to stretch it out, the baby will not get enough to eat and may suffer from malnutrition as well as diarrhea.

The largest and most detailed analysis of the benefits of breastfeeding worldwide was published two years ago in The Lancet medical journal. The study showed that millions of babies around the world would thrive if only they received mother’s milk for the first six months of life – or even longer.

Breastfed babies have fewer ear infections and fewer digestive problems. They grow differently. Breast milk even protects children from obesity later in life.

Breastfeeding also has clear benefits for the mother, as well. For one thing, it reduces the chance that she will hemorrhage after giving birth.  

Doctors say women need to be encouraged and supported in their efforts to breastfeed so their babies can survive and thrive.

 
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Tesla Goes Big in China With Shanghai Plant

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Tuesday landed a deal with Chinese authorities to build a new auto plant in Shanghai, its first factory outside the United States, that would double the size of the electric car maker’s global manufacturing.

The deal was announced as Tesla raised prices on U.S.-made vehicles it sells in China to offset the cost of new tariffs imposed by the Chinese government in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to slap heavier duties on Chinese goods.

Musk was in Shanghai Tuesday, and the Shanghai government in a statement said it welcomed Tesla’s move to invest not only in a new factory in the city, a center of the Chinese auto industry, but in research and development, as well. China has long pushed to capture more of the talent and capital invested by global automakers in advanced electric vehicle technology.

Tesla plans to producing the first cars about two years after construction begins on its Shanghai factory, ramping up to as many as 500,000 vehicles a year about two to three years after that, the company said.

That would make Tesla’s Shanghai plant large by auto industry standards, where most factories are tooled to build 200,000 to 300,000 vehicles a year, and roughly equivalent to the planned annual production at Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California.

Tesla shares rose 1.5 percent in early U.S. trading, even as some analysts questioned where the money-losing company will get the capital required to build and staff such a large plant.

Musk has said Tesla will be cash-flow positive this year.

Analysts have predicted the company will raise capital to fund a list of new projects, including launching an electric semi truck, a pickup truck, a compact SUV and new battery and vehicle production facilities that Musk has proposed for China and Europe.

“I am sure that Tesla needs fresh money at the latest next year,” said Frank Schwope, an analyst with NORD/LB.

In its statement, the Shanghai government suggested it could help with some of the capital costs. “The Shanghai municipal government will fully support the construction of the Tesla factory,” the statement said.

Tuesday’s announcement will not impact U.S. manufacturing operations, which continue to grow, Tesla said.

Musk was talking about building a Chinese factory long before the Trump administration proposed punitive tariffs on Chinese goods. China until recently levied 25-percent tariffs on imported cars, and for decades automakers have been moving to build more vehicles in the markets where they will be sold to neutralize the risk of currency shifts and trade policy

reversals.

China is the largest market for electric vehicles, and most forecasters predict that electric vehicle sales in the country will accelerate rapidly as government regulation drives toward a goal of 100 percent electric vehicles by 2030.

China is the world’s largest auto market overall, with more than 28 million vehicles sold last year, and annual sales are forecast to top 35 million by 2025. That level would be more than double the current U.S. market, where new light vehicle sales run at about 17 million vehicles a year.

Still, the Chinese authorities’ decision to grant Tesla permission to move forward lands as President Trump is fighting to stop U.S. manufacturers from responding to his trade policy by shifting production overseas, as U.S. motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson said it would do last month.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The signing was held at Shanghai’s Fairmont Peace Hotel but media attendance was limited, a Shanghai government official who declined to give his name told Reuters. Tesla’s Chief Executive Elon Musk attended the signing, according to a Reuters witness.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that Musk will visit Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tesla has been in protracted negotiations to open its own factory in China to help bolster its position in the country’s fast-growing market for electric cars and to avoid high import tariffs.

Tesla hiked prices in China over the weekend to a level more than 70 percent higher than in the United States amid mounting trade frictions between Washington and Beijing that have seen several U.S. imports, including cars, become subjected to retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent.

Musk had previously criticized China’s tough auto rules for foreign businesses, which would have required it to cede a 50-percent share in the factory. The company was keen to maintain control of its plant and protect its technology.

It registered a new electric car firm in Shanghai in May after China announced that it planned to scrap rules on capping foreign ownership of new-energy vehicle (NEV) ventures by 2022.
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WhatsApp Launches Campaign in India to Spot Fake Messages

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

After hoax messages on WhatsApp fueled deadly mob violence in India, the Facebook-owned messaging platform published full-page advertisements in prominent English and Hindi language newspapers advising users on how to spot misinformation.

The advertisements are the first measure taken by the social media company to raise awareness about fake messages, following a warning by the Indian government that it needs to take immediate action to curb the spread of false information.

 

While India is not the only country to be battling the phenomenon of fake messaging on social media, it has taken a menacing turn here — in the past two months more than a dozen people have died in lynchings sparked by false posts spread on WhatsApp that the victims were child kidnappers.

 

Ironically, the digital media giant took recourse to traditional print media to disseminate its message. The advertisements, which began with the line “Together we can fight false information” give 10 tips on how to sift truth from rumors and will also be placed in regional language newspapers.

 

They call on users to check photos in messages carefully because photos and videos can be edited to mislead; check out stories that seem hard to believe; to “think twice before sharing a post that makes you angry and upset”; check out other news websites or apps to see if the story is being reported elsewhere. It also warned that fake news often goes viral and asked people not to believe a message just because it is shared many times.

Internet experts called the media blitz a good first step, but stressed the need for a much larger initiative to curb the spread of fake messages that authorities are struggling to tackle.

 

“There has to be a repetitive pattern. People have to be told again and again and again,” says Pratik Sinha who runs a fact checking website called Alt News and hopes that the social media giant will run a sustained campaign. “That kind of fear mongering that has gone on on WhatsApp, that is not going to go away by just putting out an advertisement one day a year. This needs a continuous form of education.”

 

Some pointed out that although newspapers are popular in India, many of the users of the messaging platform, specially in rural areas, were unlikely to be newspaper readers.

The fake posts that have spread on WhatsApp have ranged from sensationalist warnings of natural calamities, fake stories with political messaging to bogus medical advise. The false messages that warned parents about child abductors were sometimes accompanied by gruesome videos of child abuse.

 

Experts said the that the need to curb fake news has also assumed urgency ahead of India’s general elections scheduled for next year — WhatsApp has become the favored medium for political parties to target voters. With about 200 million users, India is its largest market for the messaging service.
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Cuba Unfreezing Growth of Private Tourism Businesses

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

The Cuban government will allow new restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and transportation businesses by the end of the year, reopening the most vibrant sectors of the private economy after freezing growth for more than a year.

The government is unveiling a set of new regulations Tuesday meant to control the growth of tourism-related private businesses and collect more tax revenue from them. Private restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts boomed after U.S.-Cuba normalization in 2014 prompted rapid growth in tourism to Cuba.

 

Tax evasion and purchase of stolen state materials also boomed in the mostly cash-based private hospitality sector. Among other measures, the new regulations announced Tuesday require private businesses to move all their revenue through state-run bank accounts. Cuba froze new licenses for restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and other key business in August 2017.
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BMW to Make Electric MINIs in China

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

BMW Group and the biggest Chinese SUV brand, Great Wall Motor, announced a partnership Tuesday to produce electric MINI vehicles in China as global automakers ramp up development under pressure from Beijing.

The companies said they signed an agreement Monday during an event in Berlin attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

BMW and Great Wall said their venture, Spotlight Automotive Ltd., also will make electrics for the Chinese partner’s brand. Great Wall put total investment in the venture at 5.1 billion yuan ($770 million) and said it is aiming for annual production of 160,000 vehicles.

Automakers are pouring billions of dollars into creating electric models for China, the biggest market for the technology.

Beijing is using access to its market as leverage to induce global automakers to help Chinese brands develop battery and other technology.

Auto brands in China are required to make electric vehicles at least 10 percent of their sales starting next year or buy credits from competitors that exceed their quotas. Later, they face pressure to raise those sales in order to satisfy fuel efficiency requirements that increase annually.

Sales of pure-electric passenger vehicles in China rose 82 percent last year to 468,000, according to an industry group, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That was more than double the U.S. level of just under 200,000.

Other automakers including General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Nissan Motor Co. have announced similar plans with Chinese partners to produce dozens of electric models.

Great Wall, headquartered in Baoding, southwest of Beijing, sells more than 1 million SUVs a year.

“With our joint approach, we can quickly scale up production and increase efficiency,” said Klaus Frolich, a BMW board member, in a statement.

MINI’s first battery electric model is due to be produced at its main British factory in Oxford in 2019, according to BMW.

China is BMW’s biggest market. The Munich-based automaker said about 560,000 BMW brand vehicles were delivered to Chinese customers in 2017, more than its next two markets – the United States and Germany – combined.

China was MINI’s fourth-largest market in 2017, with 35,000 vehicles delivered, the company said.

The electrics venture with BMW is an important boost for Great Wall, which industry analysts warned would struggle to satisfy Beijing’s sales quotas due to its fuel-guzzling vehicle lineup and had yet to announce any significant electric plans.
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Egypt’s Inflation Rate Spikes in June Amid Price Hikes

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

Egypt’s annual inflation rate increased to 13.8 percent in June, the first time it has jumped in 11 months following a new round of austerity measures designed to overhaul the country’s economy, the official statistics agency said Tuesday.

The figure, announced by the Central Agency for Mobilization and Statistics, covers the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

The June rate compares to 11.5 percent in May, covering the period of June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018.

The agency attributed the increase to a hike in the price of some commodities, including vegetables (4 percent) and cereals and bread (2 percent).

Transportation fares increased by 27.8 percent. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel prices hiked by 8.1 percent in June, according to CAMS.

Inflation peaked last summer, hovering around 30 percent after the government cut fuel and electricity subsidies as part of broader economic reforms to meet demands by the International Monetary Fund for a $12 billion bailout loan. Egypt secured the loan in 2016.

In June 2017, the annual inflation rate was 30.9 percent, according to the statistics agency. Since then, inflation figures showed a steady monthly decline to reach 11.5 in May, the lowest level in around two years.

June figures came in the wake of recent steep price hikes for fuel, drinking water and electricity was introduced by the government in the recent weeks.

The hikes come as Egypt presses ahead with a broader economic reform program that has included slashing subsidies, imposing a value-added tax and a currency flotation. The tough austerity measures have won praise from economists and business leaders but have come as a heavy blow to poor and middle-class Egyptians.

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the architect of the economic reforms — which none of his predecessors dared implement — defended his government’s decision to slash subsidies. He urged Egyptians to be patient as the reforms take effect.

Egypt’s economy is still recovering from unrest following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

 
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China Pledges $20 Billion in Loans to Revive Middle East

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged a package of $20 billion in loans, and about $106 million in financial aid, to Middle East nations, as part of what he called an “oil and gas plus” model to revive economic growth in the region.

Beijing has ramped up engagement in the Middle East in recent years as Arab nations play an important role in Xi’s signature Belt and Road foreign policy plan for strong trade routes linking China with central and southeast Asia.

Development was key to resolving many security problems in the Middle East, Xi told a gathering with representatives of 21 Arab nations in the Chinese capital.

“We should treat each other frankly, not fear differences, not avoid problems, and have ample discussion on each aspect of foreign policy and development strategy,” he said.

China would offer aid worth 100 million yuan ($15 million) to Palestine to support economic development, besides providing a further 600 million yuan ($91 million) to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, he added.

A consortium of banks from China and Arab nations, with a dedicated fund of $3 billion, will also be set up, he said.

It was unclear what the relationship between the bank consortium, financial aid and the overall loan package would be.

The loans will fund a plan of “economic reconstruction” and “industrial revival” that would include cooperation on oil and gas, nuclear and clean energy, Xi said.

He urged “relevant sides” to respect the international consensus in the Israel-Palestine dispute, and called for it to be handled in a just manner, so as to avoid regional disruption.

China, which traditionally played little role in the Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite its reliance on the region for energy supplies, has been trying to get more involved in resolving long-standing disputes.

China says it sticks to a policy of “non-interference” when offering financial aid and deals to developing countries, which, coupled with development, can help resolve political, religious and cultural tension.

It applies this pattern of economic support, as well as a strict security regime, to its restive western region of Xinjiang. But rights groups have criticized the approach, saying the clampdown has further stoked, not eased, tension between the Muslim Uighur minority and the ethnic Han majority.

($1=6.6033 Chinese yuan renminbi)
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New Startup Brings Robotics into Seniors’ Homes

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

Senior citizens – adults 65 and older – will outnumber children in the United States for the first time by 2035, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.As their number increases, the demand for elder care is also growing.

For the past 12 years, SenCura has been providing non-medical in-home care for this segment of the population in Northern Virginia.Company founder Cliff Glier says its services “include things as bathing, dressing, companionship, meal planning and prep and transportation, pretty much everything in and around the home that seniors typically need help with.” 

Hollie, one of SenCura’s professional caregivers, visits 88-year-old Olga Robertson every day for three hours.She cooks for her, takes her to appointments, plays some brain games with her and goes walking with her around the neighborhood or in the mall.

But when Hollie is not around, Robertson still has company: a robot named Rudy.“You can have a conversation with him,” Robertson says.”He’s somebody you talk to and he responds.”

He also provides entertainment, telling her jokes, playing games and dancing with her.

In addition to keeping her mentally and physically engaged, Rudy provides access to emergency services around the clock, keeps track of misplaced items and reminds her about appointments and when it’s time for her medicine.The robot stands a bit over a meter high, and has a digital screen embedded in its torso, for virtual check-ins with family and care-givers.

 

Robertson has actually introduced Rudy to her neighbors.“I kind of became famous in the neighborhood because of this robot.”

The caregiver who helps caregivers

Anthony Nunez is founder of INF Robotics, the startup that created Rudy.He says the idea behind the robotic caregiver was inspired by what his mother went through, when his grandmother got older and needed help.

“As I grew older, I realized we weren’t the only family facing this problem,” Nunez recalls.“There are thousands of families facing the same issue.Most cases are even worse where they have the loved one taking care of and the cost becomes an issue.So what we wanted to do was design a robot that’s easy to use, designed especially for seniors, but also affordable.”

Nunez says technology helps seniors age in place, well-taken care of.

“We’re leveraging the artificial intelligence within our platform to help seniors make better decisions, to allow them stay in their home,” he explains.“We’re also working on machine learning on a platform and some cognitive computing to identify patterns within the seniors’ daily habits that could lead to an adverse event, and identifying those ahead of time, then using our cloud computing on a platform to get that info to caregivers before something happens.”

Carla Rodriguez has been working with Nunez’s company since it was founded.She says Rudy’s simple design makes it easy to use.The company also consults their potential customers to decide which features they need most in a robotic caregiver.

 

“We always have seniors involved and every time we had some type of communication we would introduce it,” she says.“Seniors would give us their feedback, ‘We don’t like this, we don’t like that,’ we come in and change it.”

 

Cooperation vs. competition

SenCura’s Cliff Glier met Nunez and his team at an event more than a year ago.He became interested in introducing Rudy to his customers.

“We are dealing with older adults that are typically 80, 90, 100 years old,” he says.“So this kind of technology is very new to them, so there will be some closer looks at it.People, I would say, would be interested once they learn more, we have the opportunity to show them Rudy and its capabilities.”

 

Rudy is not competition for human caregivers, Glier says.“He’s around to help out, where the caregivers typically would come in, may help with bathing or dressing, things at this point Rudy can’t do, but beyond that, Rudy simply fills the growing gap.”

The robot supplements what in-home caregivers do for the growing population of seniors who prefer to age in place – with a little help from some friends.
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Doctors Say Breast Milk, Not Formula Is Best

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

World health officials were stunned when the U.S. opposed a resolution for countries to encourage breastfeeding, especially when decades of research have shown its benefits for both mothers and babies. VOA’s Carol Pearson spoke with two prominent doctors who fully support the U.N. resolution based on scientific studies and explain the benefits and risks of breast or bottle feeding.
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Glimmer of Hope in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

There’s a glimmer of hope in the fight against the deadly HIV virus that causes AIDS. A new vaccine has produced a favorable immune system response during a trial on nearly 400 people. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo has details from the recent study published in the Lancet medical journal.
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New Startup Brings Robotics into Seniors Homes

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

In this age of the smart machine, robots are increasingly playing roles in different fields, from construction and hospitality to the military and art. When it comes to caregiving for the elderly, which depends mainly on human interaction, it turns out robots can also help. But will they replace humans? Faiza Elmasry went searching for an answer. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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