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BMW proposes AI-managed electric bike roads to ease traffic
 In some cities, the most common electric vehicles are likely to be two-wheelers like bikes and motorcycles. But cities aren't really designed for them -- you have to compete with cars on the road and at charging stations. BMW and Tongji University think they can do better: they've developed a concept, Vision E3 Way, that gives e-bike riders their own roads. The paths would be safer and reduce traffic congestion, as you might expect, but they'd also take advantage of the electric nature of the vehicles to make two-wheel riding more accessible.

The routes would typically sit above regular roads, and would be decidedly cozier thanks to covering and a cooling system driven by purified rainwater. An automatic speed limit (in the concept, about 15.5MPH) and AI-driven traffic management would prevent the faster vehicles from crashing into scooters. And you might not even need to own a machine to use it -- BMW envisions a rental system where you'd pick up a bike at an access point if you need to get across town in a hurry.

You won't necessarily see something like this in markets where cars dominate, like North America. A system like Vision E3 Way could be very useful in countries like China, however. It's not just that many more people ride bikes in these areas -- it's that high population densities could necessitate separate, automated roads to keep traffic flowing. The challenge is getting cities to take up the idea. Even if these roadways don't cost much to build, it's no mean feat to significantly alter the urban landscape.

Output: BMW has developed plans for an elevated roadway for electric bikes to help reduce road congestion, make riding safer and reduce air pollution in cities. The Vision E3 Way concept has been developed in association with Tongji University in Shanghai, and is thought to be most suitable for adoption in Chinese cities. The new roadways would be situated above existing roads, and use artificial intelligence (AI) traffic management to regulate speeds and prevent accidents. The proposal includes the provision of rental bikes to increase accessibility to the lanes.


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Sugar industry accused of manipulating research like tobacco
 New evidence shows the sugar industry suppressed scientific research that linked sugar to heart disease and bladder cancer in rats.

The Sugar Research Foundation, the group funding the studies, cut the project short and didn't publish the results.

Nutritionists caution that sugar, not fat, is largely to blame for many of the problems in our modern diets.

For decades, sugar lobbyists have been taking aim at studies linking sugar and cancer.

When a study last year found that mice on sugar-heavy diets were more likely to develop breast cancer, the Sugar Association, one of the biggest sugar lobbying groups in the US, called it “sensationalized.” The group insists that “no credible link between ingested sugars and cancer has been established.”

But doctors and researchers claim the sugar industry may have been intentionally keeping research about that link from getting published. A new study in the journal PLOS Biology reveals how the Sugar Association worked to suppress scientific findings on the harmful effects of table sugar on rodents nearly 50 years ago.

The report details the results of two unpublished studies, known as Project 259, which were funded by the sugar lobby in the late 1960s. Both involved research on the effects of feeding sugar to rats.

In the first study, one group of rats was fed a balanced diet of cereal, beans, fish and yeast, while the other rats were given a high-sugar diet. The researchers found that the sugar eaters were at greater risk for strokes, heart attacks and heart disease, and had higher-than-normal levels of fat (triglycerides) in their blood.

The second study compared sugar-fed rats with starch-fed rats and found that the sugar-eating rodents were more likely to have elevated levels of an enzyme associated with bladder cancer in humans.

None of that rodent research saw the light of day, though. The Sugar Research Foundation cut Project 259 short and didn’t publish any of the results.

"Our study contributes to a wider body of literature documenting industry manipulation of science," the researchers, who hail from the University of California San Francisco, wrote in their report.

In a statement, the Sugar Association denied that allegation, saying the new study is just "a collection of speculations and assumptions about events that happened nearly five decades ago, conducted by a group of researchers and funded by individuals and organizations that are known critics of the sugar industry."

"We reviewed our research archives and found documentation that the study in question ended for three reasons, none of which involved potential research findings: the study was significantly delayed; it was consequently over budget; and the delay overlapped with an organizational restructuring," the group said.

But this is not the first time we’ve learned that ‘big sugar’ has gotten in the way of science. Last year, some of the same researchers found that the Sugar Research Foundation — the former name of the Sugar Association — paid off three Harvard scientists in 1967 to make sugar seem less unhealthy and suggest that fat was the problem in our diets instead.

"The kind of manipulation of research is similar to what the tobacco industry does," study co-author Stanton Glantz said in a release.

Decades of research on sugar since Project 259 have linked sugar consumption to a glut of serious health problems, including high cholesterol, heart disease, and kidney disease, to name a few. Recent research also suggests that sugar may play a role in tumor growth, but scientists don't think it makes cancer grow faster, and still aren't certain whether sugar consumption has any link to cancer formation.

After years of fueling up on high-sugar, low fat foods, consumers are finally becoming wise to the problems with sugar that were hidden for so many years. And the US Food and Drug Administration is, too — by 2021, all nutrition labels will have to include the percent daily value of added sugars for the first time, while the "calories from fat" column will get scrubbed.

Output: The US Sugar Research Foundation (now the Sugar Association) intentionally kept research from the 1960s linking sugar and heart disease and bladder cancer in rats, from being published, claim researchers from the University of California San Francisco. They likened the manipulation of research to practices used by tobacco firms. Some of the researchers also claimed last year that in 1967 the lobby group paid three Harvard scientists to portray fat as the problem, not sugar. The Sugar Association denied the allegations of the new study, which it said was conducted and funded by known industry critics.


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China Merchants gets approval to buy Brazil's lucrative port TCP
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Output: Brazil's competition regulator has given unrestricted approval for China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH) to buy its port operator TCP Participações. CMPH was looking to buy a 90% stake in TCP, which is Brazil's most profitable container terminal, for $887m as part of a Latin American expansion. CMPH is also planning to invest up to $1.12bn in developing and running a major port in Sri Lanka. As we highlighted in July, China is investing heavily in overseas ports to increase its maritime power and open up new shipping routes.


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Alibaba's Taobao online auctions finally shift Boeing 747s
 Fancy an airplane to go with your clothes, toys and groceries? Chinese online shopping platform Taobao just sold two.

Three Boeing 747 cargo aircraft went under the hammer this week on the popular site, which is owned by Chinese internet behemoth Alibaba (BABA).

Chinese logistics giant SF Express bought two of the planes for a combined total of more than 320 million yuan ($48.3 million), an Alibaba spokeswoman told CNNMoney. The third 747 went unsold in the online auction, as only one interested buyer signed up.

Related: $24 billion in 24 hours: World's biggest shopping day sets new record

Six offline auctions over the last two years had apparently failed to unearth buyers for the aircraft, but they were quickly snapped up after being listed with Taobao on Monday.

The sale comes as Boeing (BA) winds down production of the 747 -- once the world's largest passenger plane -- citing low demand. It has already stopped making new passenger versions of the jet, but will continue making cargo planes for at least a few years.

Alibaba said the three jets previously belonged to Jade Cargo International, a freight carrier that filed for bankruptcy in 2013.

They were listed on a special section of Taobao where bankrupt companies can auction off assets. Potential buyers were asked to shell out a 6.7 million yuan ($1 million) deposit to take part in the auction.

Related: It's not just Amazon: Chinese tech giants are selling groceries too

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this appears to be the first time an aircraft of this size has been sold on Taobao. Back in 2013, the platform began selling light aircraft online.

In recent months the company has been pushing into new lines of business, such as selling groceries at traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

While impressive, the Boeing 747 sale doesn't come close to matching a record set by eBay (EBAY), one of Alibaba's big global rivals, more than a decade ago. A 405-foot pleasure boat known as the "Gigayacht", was sold for $168 million on the site in 2006.

-- Steven Jiang contributed to this report.

Output: Three Boeing 747 cargo aeroplanes went up for auction on Alibaba's Taobao online platform this week, with Chinese logistics company SF Express buying two of them for a total of CNY320m ($48.3m) and the third going unsold. Over the past two years, six offline auctions failed to shift the aircraft; however, they were quickly bought once listed on the popular online platform. As we have highlighted, Alibaba has been moving into new areas of business over the past few months, such as buying up bricks-and-mortar retail shops.


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China pursues Myanmar peace role to protect its investments
 The world's second-largest economy raised its hand this week to help halt the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. But it's not just altruism: China has an eye on ensuring stability for its hefty investments in the region.

In the wake of rising brutality against Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, China proposed a three-point plan to resolve a crisis that threatens to bring a return of U.S. sanctions to the former military dictatorship.

The proposal involves a cease-fire, repatriation of refugees from neighboring Bangladesh and talks for a long-term solution to improve economic prosperity in the northern Burmese state of Rakhine, where the Rohingya are largely based. As one of Myanmar's poorest provinces, Rakhine is also the site of a special economic zone currently being built by a China-led consortium.

Based in Kyaukpyu, one of Rakhine's major towns, the zone includes a $7.3 billion deep sea port, oil and gas pipelines that will run from Rakhine's coast to China's Yunnan province and a $2.3 billion industrial park.

It's not unusual for Beijing to intervene in Burmese domestic affairs — China has previously played a mediating role in Myanmar's Kachin and Shan states, areas also struck by ethnic strife. But the Asian giant's latest diplomatic initiative has a clear business agenda, analysts said.

"It is fair to say that commercial interests are at play, China has significant investments in Rakhine state, the center of the crisis," said Nick Marro, China analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Output: China is stepping in to try and halt the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Myanmar's Rohingya minority, primarily to ensure stability for its major investments in the region. "It is fair to say that commercial interests are at play," said Nick Marro at The Economist Intelligence Unit. "China has significant investments in Rakhine state, the center of the crisis." The Myanmar government has brutally suppressed the minority muslim group in the country's north. China has proposed a three-point strategy to put an end to the crisis and stop any threat of a return of US sanctions to Myanmar.


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Nebraska reassess active/passive asset mix
 Nebraska Investment Council, Lincoln, restructured the overall equity portfolio in the defined benefit plan and cash balance plan it oversees, moving to 100% active management in global equities and 100% passive management in international equities, said Michael Walden-Newman, state investment officer, in an email.

The council, which oversees $26.2 billion in assets including the $11.8 billion defined benefit plan and $2.1 billion cash balance plan, approved changes to those plans' equity allocations at its meeting Monday. The council increased global equity to 19% from 15%, and decreased domestic equity to 27% from 29% and international equity to 11.5% from 13.5%. The overall target allocation to equity remains unchanged at 57.5%.

Global equity will change to a 100% active portfolio from its current 75% active/25% passive construction. In council meeting materials, a presentation from investment consultant Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting said staff and the consultant "believe that global mandates provide a more fertile hunting ground for 'alpha' than region-specific (e.g., 'international' or 'emerging market') mandates."

International equity, meanwhile, will change to a 100% passive portfolio from a 57.5% passive/42.5% active mix because "staff and AHIC do not believe that active management in non-U.S. is the most efficient use of our active risk," according to the presentation. Domestic equity will remain unchanged at 90% passive/10% active.

No new managers are being hired as a result of the changes. Despite the additional assets being allocated to active global equity, the council will not hire additional managers. The meeting materials said fewer active managers "reduces the potential that managers will take off-setting active positions, thus creating a 'closet index' with active management fees."

In global equities, the council is terminating BlackRock from its $502 million passive global equity portfolio and reallocating to the four existing active managers: Arrowstreet Capital to $864 million from $602 million; Dodge & Cox to $610 million from $301 million; MFS Investment Management to $801 million from $401 million and Wellington Management to $267 million from $201 million. The remaining additional funding for the active managers is from the international and domestic equity reductions.

In international equities, the council is terminating active managers Baillie Gifford and Gryphon International Investment from their respective portfolios of $316 million and $452 million and increasing BlackRock's passive portfolio to $1.54 billion from $1.04 billion.

In domestic equities, BlackRock's passive portfolio is being decreased to $3.25 billion from $3.49 billion and Dimensional Fund's Advisors' active portfolio to $361 million from $388 million.

Output: Nebraka Investment Council has restructured its equity portfolio. The council's defined benefit will now cover all of its global equity holdings in actively managed strategies and all of its international holdings in passive offerings. The institution is not hiring any new investment managers despite the changes. Previously, passive management accounted for 25% of Nebraska's global equity strategies. Active management previously accounted for 42.5% of the firm's international stock exposure. Nebraska has 90% of its domestic equity exposure in passive strategies.


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Amazon to take 122,000 sq ft at WeWork's NYC Herald Square site
 Amazon agreed to sign a membership deal for all desks in the WeWork space at 2 Herald Square, a Midtown office building that has been on the brink of foreclosure, sources told The Real Deal.

The e-commerce giant is taking over the full 122,000-square-foot space and some employees have already begun working there, sources said. WeWork, which has the address of 950 Sixth Avenue on the eastern side of the 11-story, 354,000-square-foot building, signed a lease there late last year.

Multiple sources also said Amazon is negotiating to lease part of the building’s retail component. Avison Young has been marketing 59,000 square feet of vacant retail space there. Victoria’s Secret is the building’s only retail tenant.

Sitt Asset Management and more than 80 investors own the property, which has been facing a flurry of troubles – a family ownership dispute, a defaulted senior mortgage and the long-delayed sale of the leasehold. Paramount Group, which has a preferred-equity position in the building, has held off on its plans to take control of the leasehold, even as foreclosure looms.

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SL Green Realty, which owns the $250 million leasehold mortgage, was expected to begin foreclosure proceedings in October. Sources said the real estate investment trust is still planning that move.

WeWork declined to comment, and Amazon and Avison Young could not be reached.

WeWork struck a similar deal earlier this year with IBM, which signed for an entire WeWork building at 88 University Place.

Amazon, meanwhile, is growing rapidly in New York City. The company, which has a market cap of nearly $550 billion, signed a 15-year lease for 359,000 square feet at Brookfield Property Partners’ 5 Manhattan West and struck a deal for a 855,000-square-foot distribution warehouse on Staten Island.

Output: Amazon has closed on a membership deal for all the available desk space at the WeWork facility at 2 Herald Square, a New York midtown building that had been at risk of foreclosure. The 122,000 sq ft premises was leased to WeWork in 2016. Amazon is also said to be in talks to lease 59,000 sq ft of retail space in the building. At present, the sole tenant is Victoria’s Secret. The building is owned by Sitt Asset Management, alongside more than 80 investors.


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Signs of flowing water on Mars likely to be false
 Two years ago, NASA made a big splash when it announced the discovery of flowing water on the surface of Mars. But it turns out, the space agency might have been wrong. The surface features that NASA thought were made up of liquid water may actually be flowing grains of sand instead, according to new research from the US Geological Survey. And that could decrease the chances of microbial life living on the Red Planet.

The features in question are dark streaks that show up periodically on Martian hills, known as recurring slope lineae, or RSLs. When one of NASA’s spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, studied these lines more closely, it found that the RSLs were made up of hydrated salts — meaning they were mixed with water molecules. At the time, NASA thought that was significant evidence that flowing liquid water caused these bizarre streaks.

“Mars still has water now, it just might be in fewer accessible places.”

But researchers at the USGS say these features look identical to certain types of slopes found on sand dunes here on Earth. Those slopes are caused by dry grains of sand flowing downhill, without the help of any water. It’s possible the same thing is happening on Mars, too. Since liquid water is key for life here on Earth, many thought these strange lines of flowing water may help support life on the Martian surface. But now these RSLs may not be the best place to look for life anymore.

Of course, it’s still possible that life could exist on Mars, but researchers may want to focus on other places, like under the surface. It’s thought that liquid water exists underground, where it’s a bit warmer and easier for water to stay a liquid. “Mars still has water now, it just might be in fewer accessible places,” Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, tells The Verge.

Recurring slope lineae on the walls of Garni Crater on Mars. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

The RSLs seemed to contain water because of the weird way they behave: the streaks seem to seep down the hills, a bit like water trickling downward. That, and they grow thicker in the warmer months. While Mars is pretty frigid, its temperatures can exceed -9 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer, making the surface a bit more accommodating for water. In fact, water on Mars is thought to contain a type of salt called perchlorates that can make it easier for water to exist as a liquid at colder temperatures. Scientists thought that maybe the warm summers allowed this salty water to flow.

But the USGS thinks there’s another explanation for how the streaks form: researchers studied the shapes of 151 RSLs and found that all of them are located on slopes steeper than 27 degrees. But the flows appear to stop when the slopes become less steep — which water wouldn’t do. Instead, the RSLs all seem to form at slopes similar to what you’d find with piles of sand on Earth, according to lead study author Colin Dundas. Plus, the dark streaks seem to flow out of the tops of the hills, but water probably wouldn’t sprout out of the the tops of slopes at these angles, he says. Instead, the water would probably start flowing out somewhere farther down the slope.

“This suggests there isn’t a large amount of liquid water associated with RSLs.”

Researchers still think that what the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found is solid, and that hydrated salts are involved. But they’re probably not as wet as NASA originally thought. “This suggests there isn’t a large amount of liquid water associated with RSLs,” Dundas, a research geologist with the USGS, tells The Verge. “There may be a small amount of liquid water involved... but this is pointing to a relatively dry mechanism.”

Output: Images thought by NASA to show flowing water on the surface of Mars may actually show a torrent of flowing sand, reducing the likelihood of life taking root there, according to research from the US Geological Survey. “Mars still has water now, it just might be in fewer accessible places,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. “There are lots of things that speak to Mars at least having the potential for life early on”, said Meyer. “And if it did happen, it has the potential for life hidden deep down below the surface”.


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Apple admits China students were illegally overworked on iPhone X
 High-school students hired to assemble iPhone X devices by Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn — rushing to meet holiday demand for the new smartphone — illegally worked overtime hours at a plant in China, Apple has acknowledged.

According to a report Tuesday by the Financial Times, at least six students from a group of 3,000 from a vocational school sent to work at the iPhone X factory in Zhengzhou, China, said they worked 11-hour days, in violation of local labor laws barring students from working more than 40 hours per week.

In a statement, Apple said, “During the course of a recent audit, we discovered instances of student interns working overtime at a supplier facility in China. We’ve confirmed the students worked voluntarily, were compensated and provided benefits, but they should not have been allowed to work overtime.”

The tech company also said, “Apple is dedicated to ensuring everyone in our supply chain is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. We know our work is never done and we’ll continue to do all we can to make a positive impact and protect workers in our supply chain.”

The iPhone is Apple’s most critical product line, representing 55% of revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The company beat Wall Street forecasts for the period thanks to a bump in iPhone sales.

Apple said demand for the iPhone X, which began shipping this month, was “off the charts” but according to several reports it was forced to cut the expected number of units produced in 2017 by as much as half. The iPhone X — priced starting at $1,000, it’s Apple’s most expensive smartphone ever — has a nearly full edge-to-edge 5.8-inch screen, an advanced camera system, and a new facial-recognition feature used to unlock the device.

“We couldn’t be more excited as we begin to deliver our vision for the future with this stunning device,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said about the iPhone X (with the “X” pronounced “ten”) on the company’s quarterly earnings call.

Apple and its suppliers have come under fire multiple times in past years for mistreatment of workers at Chinese manufacturing facilities, with reports of overcrowded factory dorms and excessive labor hours.

In 2010, Foxconn experienced a wave of suicides and suicide attempts among its workforce, and in 2011 an explosion at Foxconn’s iPad plant in Chengdu, China, killed four people. In 2014, a BBC investigative report found Apple’s standards for protecting workers at Chinese facilities were being violated.

Pictured above: An ad for the iPhone X in Beijing, where the smartphone went on sale Nov. 3.

Output: Apple has admitted that student interns hired in China by sub-contractor Foxconn to assemble its iPhone X were illegally overworked. The students toiled for more than 11 hours a day in the Zhengzhou factory, in breach of local labour laws that prohibit them from working more than 40 hours a week. The company and its suppliers have come under scrutiny multiple times before over mistreatment of Chinese workers, facing accusations of overcrowding and excessive work hours.


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Indian police mull firing chilli powder from drones to quell mobs
 AURANGABAD — A team of four police constables-turned-drone operators, led by inspector Hemant Todkar, in Aurangabad’s cyber crime department will form India’s first anti-crime dedicated drone squad when it formally launches in few weeks in this Maharashtra city.

Aurangabad police isn’t the first to use drones in policing globally or in India but a unique Indian use case developed by the squad – the proposed sprinkling of concentrated chilli powder through drones to control unruly mobs – is a first. It is perhaps patent-worthy, too, says Yashasvi Yadav, an IIT graduate who is the police commissioner of Aurangabad.

The drone squad will have four drones and will carry up to 2 kg of chilli concentrate. These drones will fly back to the command centre before their batteries drain out or there’s any other emergency, all controlled using software.

”Our officers will fly drones like pros playing video games. We have a back-to-home feature too, whereby drones will come back to the starting point if they run out of battery or there’s an emergency or they run out of chilli powder.” Yadav did not mention the name of the drones manufacturer but it is likely to be of Chinese make and will cost around Rs 15 lakh for four of them.

Yadav, who is betting on drones as the latest crime-fighting tool, says there are three immediate applications to be carried out when the drone squad formally launches in few weeks: monitoring and managing unruly mobs by spraying chilli powder, reaching the crime scene and relaying live imagery for identifying criminals, and traffic management.

“The biggest problem we are trying to solve is disbursal of unlawful assembly (of people). The problem in India is that for every small or big issues, there are agitations and marches and many of them turn violent. They make allegations against police, there are riots, damages done to public property and so on,” Yadav says.

The drones will be a deterrent, the commissioner says. “With drones watching and tracking, the mobsters will think twice before creating trouble.”

The video evidence, further, will be as good as it gets in a court of law, Yadav adds. “In a way, it will be unimpeachable evidence. Right now, we are relying on witnesses who sometimes turn hostile because of threats or even insensitivity.”

There are plans to add a dye solution to the drone payload, too, to identify the rioters. “We are going to be putting dye in chilli powder so that whoever is part of an unlawful assembly gets marked. Later, after arrest, that person cannot claim he was not part of the assembly,” Yadav says.

As reported by Times of India’s Aurangabad crime reporter Mohammed Akhef earlier this year, the drone experiments started in May itself.

Police teams in the US have been using drones for rescue and search operations, traffic management, crime scene analysis, crowd monitoring and so on, according to Dronefly. The instances of drones helping nab criminals in the US has prompted tech-savvy officers such as Yadav to explore newer applications in India.

In India, there have been efforts to track illegal fishing in national reserves and to catch sand mining smugglers.

“Policing in india has become a very herculean, difficult and complex task because of burgeoning population, multiple faiths and their festivals. Whenever we used to discuss these issues with our officers and experts, it was mostly about better infrastructure and the police to public ratio, which effectively means increasing the number of policemen,” says Yadav.

“Now india’s population is so huge that if you go by the western standards, we might have to increase the force by at least ten times from where we are today, which is impossible given the costs involved.”

“There’s also a human factor, which results in mistakes and other complexities; drones negate those issues.”

Aurangabad’s anti-crime drone squad is taking wings after India announced a draft policy framework for use of drones in the country that will encourage the commercial use of drones in areas as diverse as construction to agriculture, industrial monitoring to photography, disaster management to physical deliveries — potentially giving rise to a new industry that could generate millions of dollars in revenues and thousands of jobs.

The chilly drones

Commissioner Yadav’s love for drones goes back to the year 2015 when he was the superintendent of police in Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state. Back then, he used drones as part of a pilot to monitor crowds in festivals such as Muharram. But, the experiment only used mild pepper spray.

Facial recognition and automatic number plate capturing technologies were also deployed in Lucknow along with CCTV cameras resulting in a reduction of prevailing crime rates by over 60%, Yadav claims. “I’ve always thought that technology could be a good force multiplier.”

In August this year, Yadav and his team in Aurangabad piloted drones for monitoring and managing festive crowd during the “Ganesh Chaturthi” festival, during which idols of the Hindu God Ganesha are immersed in water bodies by crowds of devotees.

The chilli powder to be used in the drones is being developed at a chemical lab in Aurangabad.

“We concentrate chilli powder in a chemical lab, where effectiveness of the powder is increased by 3 to 4 times. The drones are going to be fitted with a pump which will spray chilli concentrate on unruly mob. It’s non lethal and no permanent damage is caused,” he says. “We have finished live experiments with drones, included on our own cops.”

During the pilot in August this year in Aurangabad, Todkar and his team used only two drones, primarily for monitoring crowd activity from 10 am to midnight on the day of idol immersion.

“There were no incidents and the drones were helpful in monitoring localised activities,” says Todkar, a mathematics graduate who’s been working in Aurangabad’s cyber crime department for one and half years.

For all the promised benefits in fighting crime using drones by police teams, sceptics are worried about the potential misuse and invasion of privacy by the handlers.

“Even with chilli powder concentrate, these are kind of weaponised drones. Who is going to be accountable, who will ensure their rightful use?” asks a former superintendent of police from Karnataka who had evaluated use of drones couple of years ago. He requested anonymity because he didn’t want to upset his former colleagues.

“Like with many surveillance tools, even drones can be used for visual snooping, perhaps much more effectively and mischievously than anything else,” he added.

For his part, Yadav sees drones as replacing conventional ways of managing unruly mobs in a “non-lethal” way.

“The only alternative for drones right now, is “lathi charge” because tear gas shells are totally ineffective. In fact, the rioters pick up the shells and throw them back at the cops. Also, for “lathi charge” to be effective, police should outnumber the mob, which is generally not the case and the cops get beaten when the crowd is bigger. Another option is to use rubber bullets, but it can be lethal. Third is using real bullets. Drones are a non-lethal replacement for all of them,” argues Yadav.

Aurangabad Police has a workforce of some 4,000 to police a city population of some 1.5 million.

Finally, drones can go where no cops can, at least at the speed at which they can respond. When someone calls the police helpline number, depending on the severity of a crime, the drone squad can be activated.

“A drone can reach fastest to a scene of crime. If there’s a robbery or dacoity complaint, drones can reach the crime scene, lock the target and follow them wherever they go, or escape. It will be on automated locking mode. We will know the exact location, vehicle details, unless there’s a big obstruction in the line of sight,” says Yadav.

Output: Police in the cyber crime department of India's Aurangabad city are mulling patenting a system to fire concentrated chilli powder from its new fleet of four drones to quell public uprisings. The drones will carry up to 2 kg of chemically engineered chilli concentrate and be controlled from a command centre. The vehicles will likely be provided by a Chinese manufacturer and used for monitoring and managing unruly gatherings, inspecting crime scenes, capturing live footage and managing traffic.


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InventoryBase aims to increase transparency for inspection checks
 A new petition, which has been created by the AIIC, aims to encourage the government to consider the benefits of mandatory inventory reporting as part of its plans to increase regulation of the Private Rented Sector.

An independent inventory ensures that there is no room for ambiguity during the check-in and check-out procedures, which in turn dramatically reduces the number of deposit disputes, according to InventoryBase, which provides cloud-based property inspection software.

InventoryBase has announced that it is supporting the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) in their bid for mandatory inventories for all private residential tenancies.

Alongside the ongoing high-profile consultation on the leasehold and management sector, there is currently a review into improving the quality of the sector being carried out by an all-party Communities & Local Government Select Committee of MPs.

“It’s clear the government is keen to increase regulation and professionalism in the letting sector and we see no reason why mandatory inventory reporting should not be a part of this movement,” said Danny Zane, joint chair of the AIIC.

Compulsory tenancy deposit protection was introduced in 2007, but there has never been any additional legislation concerning the documentary evidence required to enable adjudicators to adequately arbitrate on disputes.

Steve Rad, managing director of InventoryBase, commented: “We think it’s great that The AIIC have decided to take a step forward in making such a needed change within the industry. We deal with many different providers of lettings and see the importance every day of having reports of a good standard for the benefit of both tenant and landlord.”

You can review and sign the petition by clicking here.

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Output: InventoryBase, a provider of cloud-based property inspection software, is supporting the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks' (AIIC) bid for mandatory inventories for all private residential tenancies in the UK. While mandatory tenancy deposit protection was introduced in 2007, legislation hasn't been introduced regarding the recording of inventory. The AIIC hopes to capitalise on an ongoing review into the quality of the sector by a cross-party government committee. “We think it’s great that The AIIC have decided to take a step forward in making such a needed change within the industry", said Steve Rad, managing director of InventoryBase.


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German onshore wind tender sees price drop to €38.2/MWh
 Germany’s Federal Network Agency announced today it has awarded 1,000.4 MW of capacity in a heavily oversubscribed wind tender that saw the average price decrease to EUR 38.2 (USD 44.85) per MWh.

The network regulator, also known as the Bundesnetzagetur, approved a total of 61 onshore wind projects after receiving 210 bids for a total of 2,591 MW. About 98% of the successful bids came from citizens’ cooperatives.

The states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg got the largest number of successful bids -- 17 and 16, respectively. Each of the two states will see 270 MW of wind turbines be deployed.

This is Germany’s third onshore wind auction this year. The average successful bid in the second tender, held in August, arrived at EUR 42.9/MWh, while that in the first one amounted to EUR 57.1/MWh.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.174)

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Output: Germany’s Federal Network Agency has awarded 1,000 MW of clean energy capacity at an average price of €38.2 ($44.85)/MWh in its latest onshore wind auction, the third this year. The average price in the first auction was €57.1/MWh, falling to €42.9/MWh in the second one. Almost all of the 210 bids came from citizens’ co-operatives and the regulator approved 61 of them. More than half of the successful projects are in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg – 17 and 16, respectively, totalling 270 MW each.


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Investigation launched into Uber's $100,000 hack cover-up
 New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has opened an investigation into Uber’s concealment of a data breach in 2016, according to a report.

57 million riders and drivers were affected by a 2016 data breach, which Uber attempted to cover up by paying off the hackers to stay silent.

Usernames, email addresses, and phone numbers were all exposed by the hack.

“The revelation that Uber concealed a major 2016 data breach affecting 57 million users and paid hackers to destroy the evidence is yet another PR nightmare from Uber’s darkest era, but it’s also a major problem when it comes to state laws around data breach disclosure practices,” reported Tech Crunch on Tuesday. “In light of Bloomberg’s report, the office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman confirmed to TechCrunch that it has opened an investigation into the incident.”

Tech Crunch also added that Uber could face problems in their home state of California for the attempted data breach cover up.

“Given the New York Attorney General’s interest in the latest Uber scandal, it follows that Uber will likely be in the hot seat in its home state of California, where under Civil Code 1798.82 businesses are required to disclose data breaches affecting more than 500 state residents to the Attorney General ‘in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay’,” they explained.

In response to the incident, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi declared, “None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it. We are changing the way we do business.”

“At the time of the incident, we took immediate steps to secure the data and shut down further unauthorized access by the individuals,” he continued, adding, “We also implemented security measures to restrict access to and strengthen controls on our cloud-based storage accounts.”

The investigation is the latest in a string of bad news for Uber. There have been numerous claims of sexual assault and harassment by Uber drivers, and last week, a lawsuit filed against Uber by two women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by Uber drivers claimed “thousands of female passengers have endured unlawful conduct by their Uber drivers.”

Uber has previously attacked Breitbart News, demanding its advertisements be removed from the website and declaring that the ridesharing company wants “nothing to do” with Breitbart News and its readers.

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington and Gab @Nash, or like his page at Facebook.

Output: The New York State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has confirmed an investigation will be launched into the coverup of Uber's 2016 data breach, which affected 57 million users. The ride-hailing company paid $100,000 to silence the hackers. Uber has previously tangled with Schneiderman over the "God View" data abuse scandal, as well as over its failure to reveal a 2014 data breach. Uber is also set to face legal problems over the 2016 breach in California, where such events must be brought to the attention of the attorney general "in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay".


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Eye-tracking device Senhance approved for surgical robotics
 Minimally invasive surgery has gotten a boost with the approval of a new robotically assisted surgical device.

The Senhance System builds on traditional laparoscopic surgery with ergonomic improvements and technological advancements. New eye-sensing technology tracks surgeons’ pupils so they can pan throughout the surgical field using only eye movements. Surgeons also can zoom in or out by moving toward or away from the screen. Force feedback also helps surgeons feel whether the tissue they’re grasping with the robotic arm is stiff or flexible.

Output: TransEnterix has received approval for a robotically assisted surgical device that tracks the pupils of surgeons who are using it, enabling them to pan all over the surgical field using only eye movements. The Senhance System is the first new product in the abdominal surgical robotics market since 2000, said TransEnterix. The North Carolina firm carried out studies of 195 patients undergoing gynecological and colorectal procedures with the Senhance System in real-world settings. Outcomes were found to be comparable with the da Vinci Si Surgical System and thus met the approval criteria set by the Food and Drug Administration.


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Marketing firm Hypetap poaches talent from Pandora and Unruly
 The influencer marketing provider Hypetap has appointed its first Sydney hires with Nick Robson as its commercial director and Naz Fathi as sales manager.

Robson will set up a team in Sydney and head the company’s sales division with a focus on growing Hypetap’s current client portfolio, maintaining relationships with existing clients, as well as identifying partnership opportunities.

Prior to joining Hypetap, Robson was executive group sales director at ad-tech company, Unruly. He was the company’s first employee in Australia and responsible for the post-merger integration of Unruly’s sales teams with News Corp Australia when acquired in 2015. He’s held similar positions at Future Arts Media, a digital agency specialising in the creation of strategic content solutions and spent time on the media agency side, starting out with Dentsu Aegis.

Fathi joins from Pandora, and will be responsible for helping grow the Hypetap brand in the Sydney market.

The appointments follow a period of rapid growth for Hypetap, having doubled its team and it’s influencer network, as well as quadrupling revenue (416 per cent) over the past 12 months (FY 17 from FY 16). The company also recently closed a capital raise with big-name investors including the likes of Amanda Coote (Founder of Forever New), Joe Hanna and a prominent media family out of New York and their local partner.

The move expands Hypetap’s national footprint with a physical presence now in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Nick’s experience creating highly resonant data-driven content, background in growing sales teams and strong network in Sydney, makes him the perfect person to help propel Hypetap’s growth even further,” commented Detch Singh, co-founder and co-CEO, Hypetap.

“More brands are understanding the value of influencer marketing and now looking to implement more sophisticated and long-term campaigns. Having someone on board with Nick’s experience, as well as Naz, will allow us to continue this growth and ensure we’re delivering bigger and better campaigns for our clients.”

Robson said of his appointment, “It’s an exciting time to come on board. The company is growing extremely fast and making waves in the influencer marketing industry. Hypetap’s position as the premium provider, with its strong focus on data and technology is what really drew me to the company. I’m looking forward to growing the Sydney team and client portfolio so we can continue to deliver impactful campaigns for our clients.”

Output: In its first hiring moves in Sydney, the Victoria-based influencer marketing firm Hypetap has secured Nick Robson from Unruly and Nad Fathi from Pandora to come on board as commercial director and sales manager respectively. Robson, who was executive group director at adtech firm Unruly, will set up a team in Sydney and focus on acquiring new clients. Fathi will promote the visibility of the Hypetap brand in Sydney. Hypetap has grown rapidly recently, with revenues up by 416% since 2016.


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Air pollution shown to damage sperm quality
 High levels of air pollution are associated with poor sperm quality and could be partly responsible for the sharp drop in male fertility, according to a new study.

A team of scientists, led by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, studied the sperm of nearly 6,500 men and found a “strong association” between high levels of fine particulate air pollution and “abnormal sperm shape.”

The report, published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, said that although the effect is “relatively small in clinical terms” it might still lead to infertility for a “significant number of couples” given the extent of air pollution in cities around the world.

“We found a robust association between exposure to PM2.5 air pollution and low percentage of sperm normal morphology in reproductive-age men,” the researchers wrote.

“Although the effect estimates are small and the significance might be negligible in a clinical setting, this is an important public health challenge.”

Sperm counts among men have more than halved in the last 40 years although scientists are unsure of the cause. Fertility experts greeted the latest research with caution.

Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield, welcomed the report but said that although the findings “may seem quite interesting” the assessment of “sperm size and shape [sperm morphology] is one of the most difficult tests to carry out on sperm and therefore can be less accurate. Moreover, many doctors and scientists now believe that on its own poor sperm morphology is probably not as clinically relevant as we once thought it was.”

Richard Sharpe, an expert in male reproductive health and professor at the University of Edinburgh, said he was “thoroughly underwhelmed” by the findings.

“Sperm morphology is highly variable, both between men and within the ejaculate of an individual man … So changes of the order of magnitude reported here in association with exposure to fine particulate matter are unlikely to be of any great relevance to likely fertility, as the authors admit.”

Sharpe also questioned whether the study had made enough allowance for other factors such as socioeconomic status and diet.

The study looked at 15 to 49-year-old men in Taiwan between 2001 and 2014. It assessed sperm quality and measured the level of fine particulate pollution, which is caused by cars, dust from construction and wood burning, around participants’ homes.

The scientists found a strong association between PM2.5 exposure and abnormal sperm shape. It was associated with a heightened risk of being in the bottom 10% of normal sperm size and shape, after taking account of potential factors, such as smoking and drinking, age and weight.

The study acknowledged that it was unclear how air pollution, which is known to contribute to millions of deaths around the world each year, could impair sperm development. But researchers said many of the components of fine particulate matter, such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, have been linked to sperm damage in previous experimental studies.

The researchers acknowledged that this was an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and they said they were not privy to information on any previous fertility problems of those involved.

But Pacey said it was an important contribution to developing an understanding of the potential causes of male infertility.

“From this and other studies, I remain of the opinion that air pollution probably does have the potential to negatively influence male reproductive health.

“But the jury is still out about quite how and to what extent this impacts on male fertility, rather than measurable and small interesting changes in semen quality.”

Output: Air pollution is linked to poor sperm quality and could be a factor in the significant decline in male fertility, which has seen sperm counts more than halve in 40 years, according to research from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The study analysed sperm from almost 6,500 men and identified a “strong association” between high levels of PM2.5 fine particulate air pollution and “abnormal sperm shape”. The report concludes that although the impact is “relatively small in clinical terms” it could still cause infertility for a “significant number of couples” given pollution levels in cities across the globe.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Air pollution shown to damage sperm quality
 Air pollution has become the world’s largest single environmental health risk. Exposure to ambient air pollution was estimated to cause >3.7 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. 7 PM is the most important air pollutant and affects more people than any other pollutants. There has been a large volume of epidemiological studies examining air pollution and its various health outcomes including birth defects. However, only a few studies with small samples have investigated the health effects of ambient PM on semen quality in humans, and the results have been inconsistent. 8–15 In addition, most of these studies focused on the acute or short-term effects, despite the fact that people generally suffer from prolonged exposure. Chronic, low-dose exposure may contribute to significant spermatogenesis impairment. 16 Moreover, previous studies have generally estimated PM exposure using residential proximity to routine ground-level air pollution monitoring stations. The exposure is typically at the community (district, county or city) rather than the individual level, with the same exposure level assigned to all of a community’s. This limitation may mask the variation, or cause misclassification, thus leading to the inconsistent results of possible effects associated with PM air pollution. We therefore investigated the health effects of exposure (including long-term exposure and a spermatogenic cycle exposure) to fine PM— PM with an aerodynamic diameter of <2.5 µm (PM 2.5 )—on semen quality in Taiwanese men from the general population, using a spatiotemporal model based on satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) data to estimate each participant’s PM 2.5 exposure.

Infertility is a global public health concern. It was estimated that 48.5 million couples worldwide were infertile in 2010, 1 with men contributing >50%. 2 Environmental exposure to chemicals, including air pollutants, has been considered as one of the potential factors contributing to deteriorated semen quality, 3 although the biological mechanisms remain uncertain. Many of the components of ambient particulate matter (PM), such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), have been shown to have toxic effects on semen quality in animal experiments. 4–6 Oxidative stress induced by particles is also of the potential to disturb spermatogenesis.

We further performed subgroup analyses stratified by normal and abnormal semen parameters according to reference values from the WHO guidelines. 22 A total of 1524 participants were categorised into abnormal group because they had at least one of the four semen parameters lower than the following reference limits: 15×10 6 /mL for sperm concentration, 40% for total motility, 32% for progressive motility and 4% for normal morphology. Consequently, the other 4951 participants were categorised into normal group.

We used multivariable linear regression models to evaluate the associations between PM 2.5 exposure and each semen quality parameter. Sperm concentration was log-transformed for data analysis due to its skewed distribution. A crude model without adjustment and three adjusted models were developed with potential confounders added gradually: model 1 was adjusted for age (years), education (high school or lower, college or university and postgraduate), smoking status (never, former and current), alcohol consumption (less than once/week, 1–3 times/week and >3 times/week), exercise (<1 hour/week, 1–2 hours/week and >2 hours/week) and occupational exposure to dust and organic solvents (yes and no); model 2 was further adjusted for BMI (calculated as weight (kg) divided by the square of height (m)), systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and total cholesterol (all as continuous variables); model 3 was further adjusted for season (calendar season) and year of the medical examination (categorical variable). Short-term and long-term effects of PM 2.5 exposure were analysed separately for comparison. The effect estimates were calculated for an increment of every 5 µg/m 3 in average PM 2.5 concentrations. The potential effect modifications by age group (<35 years vs ≥35 years), smoking (never vs ever) and overweight (BMI ≥25.0 vs <25.0 kg/m 2 ) were examined by adding multiplicative interactions terms between PM 2.5 and these factors. Each potential modifier was examined in separate models.

Each participant’s address was geo-coded into latitude and longitude, and address-specific monthly and yearly average PM 2.5 concentrations were calculated afterwards. The estimated annual average concentrations in Taiwan and at the participants’ locations are presented in figure 1 . The south-western and middle-eastern areas were generally the most and least heavily polluted, respectively. Most of the participants lived in the western area with apparent gradients of exposure. Because a spermatogenic cycle is around 3 months, we calculated 3-month average concentration (based on the concentrations of the month of the medical examination and the 2 months before the medical examination) to assess the short-term effects. We also calculated 2-year average concentration (based on the concentrations of the year of the medical examination and the year before the medical examination) as an indicator of long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 air pollution.

A spatiotemporal model with high resolution (1×1 km) was developed based on satellite AOD data to retrieve ground-level PM 2.5 concentrations. The details have been described elsewhere. 17 This model was validated with ground-measured data from >70 monitoring stations in Taiwan from 2005 to 2014. (PM 2.5 data were only available for three monitoring stations from 2000 to 2004. Thus, validations were not conducted for this period.) The correlation coefficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.83 for yearly average PM 2.5 , and 0.70 to 0.81 for monthly average PM 2.5 in different years (see online supplementary figure 1 ).

All of the participants were required to be sexually abstinent 2–7 days before contributing semen samples. They were then instructed to collect semen samples in sterile containers by masturbation. If the sample was collected at home, the participant was required to mark down the time and send the sample to laboratory immediately. No assessments were conducted if the duration was longer than 2 hours after ejaculation. The semen samples were analysed at the MJ Health Screening Center’s central laboratory using standard protocols based on the WHO guidelines. 21 Sperm concentration, total motility (percentage of motile sperm), progressive motility (percentage of sperm with progressive motility) and morphology (percentage of sperm of normal morphology) were assessed by trained technicians. The assessment began as soon as the ejaculates had liquefied, and were completed within 1 hour of sample collection. An aliquot of the sample was put into a diluent solution and thoroughly mixed for the concentration assessment. A microcell counting chamber was used in six areas at a total microscope magnification of ×400. For the motility assessment, a 10 µL well-mixed sample from another aliquot was placed on a glass slide covered with a coverslip, and then examined at a total microscope magnification of ×400. Two hundred sperm cells were examined and classified into WHO motility categories A, B, C or D. The percentages of total motile sperm (A+B+C) and sperm with progressive motility (A+B) were calculated. Other smears were also prepared and air-dried, and then used for the morphology assessment. The WHO ‘strict’ criteria were used to examine 200 sperm cells and the percentage of morphologically normal sperm was calculated.

There were 1 58 542 male participants of reproductive age (15–49 years) 21 who participated in the programme from 2001 to 2014, when satellite AOD data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration were available for air pollution exposure estimation. During the study period, 6938 participants voluntarily selected a semen quality examination. Generally, participants receiving semen measurements were comparable with all the 1 58 542 male participants in terms of age, educational level, smoking habits and body mass index (BMI) (see online supplementary table 1 ). Only 211 participants (3.0%) had multiple visits with two or more semen tests, therefore, repeated-measures analysis was not conducted. A total of 463 participants with incomplete information were excluded (1 on anthropometric measures, 3 on blood test results, 174 on educational level, 236 on lifestyle factors and 49 on PM 2.5 exposure estimates due to missing address) and 6475 participants were ultimately included in data analysis. The 463 excluded participants had similar age and semen parameters (all p>0.05).

We studied male participants from a large cohort consisting of Taiwanese residents who participated in a standard medical examination programme run by a private firm (MJ Health Management Institution, Taipei, Taiwan). The details have been documented elsewhere. 17–19 All procedures of the medical examination programme are approved according to ISO9001. Information on the medical examinations and related quality control can be accessed in the Technical Report of the MJ Health Research Foundation. 20 In brief, the participants received a series of medical examinations including general physical examinations, anthropometric measurements and biochemical tests of blood and urine. They also completed a standard self-administered questionnaire survey. The semen quality assessment was voluntarily selected by the male participants. All of the participants gave written informed consent when they joined the programme.

The results of the regression models are summarised in table 3 . Both short-term and long-term exposure had similar effects on sperm concentration and morphology. An increment of 5 µg/m 3 in PM 2.5 was associated with an increase in sperm concentration (1.02×10 6 /mL for short-term exposure and 1.03×10 6 /mL for long-term exposure) and reduced risk of decreased concentration (OR was 0.90 for both short-term and long-term exposure). In contrast, an increment of 5 µg/m 3 in PM 2.5 was associated with a decrease in normal morphology (0.83% for short-term exposure and 1.29% for long-term exposure) and increased risk of decreased normal morphology (ORs were 1.18 for short-term exposure and 1.26 for long-term exposure). There were no associations observed for progressive motility. Regarding the total motility, the association was not significant for short-term exposure in logistic regression analysis.

Distribution of PM 2.5 from 2001 to 2014; 3-month refers to the month of and the 2 months before the visit; 2-year refers to the year of and the year before the visit. Boxes cover the 25–75th percentile (IQR) with a centre line for the median concentration. Whiskers extend to the highest observation within 3 IQR of the box, with more extreme observations shown as circles. PM 2.5 , particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm.

PM 2.5 distribution among the participants is shown by year in figure 2 and locations of the study participants are shown in figure 1 . The PM 2.5 concentrations varied spatially among the participants within each year. The overall mean 3-month and 2-year PM 2.5 concentrations were 25.8 (SD: 8.5) and 26.1 (SD: 7.3) μg/m 3 , with IQRs of 7.9 and 5.9 µg/m 3 , respectively. The 3-month and the 2-year PM 2.5 concentration were highly correlated (correlation coefficient=0.81, p<0.001).

The semen characteristics by year are shown in table 2 . For all of the participants, the mean (SD) values for sperm concentration, total motility, progressive motility and normal morphology were 54.0 (41.3)×10 6 /mL, 65.3 (14.5) %, 46.8 (16.1) % and 67.4 (14.9) %, respectively. Linear regression models were used to investigate the trends in semen parameters over the study period adjusting for age. An increasing trend was observed for progressive motility (p<0.001) and no trends were found for other three parameters (all p>0.05).

Discussion

To our knowledge, this is the largest study investigating the health effects of PM 2.5 air pollution on semen quality. It is also the first study considering the effects of both long-term exposure and short-term exposure (in a spermatogenic cycle). We find it is highly correlated between long-term and short-term exposure in this population. Because air pollution is quite stable over the study period, we speculate the exposure in a spermatogenic cycle is similar to the long-term exposure, and the effects are more likely the reflections of long-term exposure. We find robust associations between PM 2.5 exposure and semen quality. Every increment of 5 µg/m3 in 2-year average PM 2.5 is associated with a decrease of 1.29% in sperm normal morphology and a 26% increased risk of having the bottom 10% of sperm normal morphology, after adjusting for a wide range of potential confounders. In contrast, every increment of 5 µg/m3 in 2-year average PM 2.5 is associated with an increase of 1.03×106/mL in sperm concentration and a 10% decreased risk of having the bottom 10% of sperm concentration. The associations remain robust in the analyses by taking into account a wide range of potential confounders, using different statistical methods (linear and logistic regression) and categorising participants into normal and abnormal groups.

The negative association between air pollution and normal morphology was also reported in the Teplice Program in Czech Republic,11 and in two recent studies in China and Poland.10 13 The average time course in these studies was 3-month concentration. However, long-term exposure was not taken into account. It is not clear it was a short-term exposure or a surrogate of long-term exposure. Three studies in the USA, which the average time ranged from daily to 3-month concentration, did not observe significant associations.8 9 12 Hansen et al attributed the non-association to the relatively low level of air pollution.9

The mechanism of how air pollution adversely affects sperm morphology is not fully understood. Air pollution-induced oxidative stress has been hypothesised to be one of the contributors to sperm dysfunction. A wide range of air pollutants, such as O 3 , NO 2 and particles, can induce increased oxidative stress,23 which is related to the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS and their metabolites can damage DNA, lipids and proteins, altering enzymatic systems and cell apoptosis and, ultimately, lead to decreasing semen quality.24 In addition, PM 2.5 may carry multiple trace elements and PAHs. The toxic effects of metals such as lead and cadmium on spermatogenesis have been well documented in animal models5 6 and confirmed in human studies.25 PAHs, a group of compounds that includes several endocrine disruptors, can also cause sperm alterations through its effects on the hypothalamic pituitary axis and testicular spermatogenesis.4

We observed a positive association between exposure and sperm concentration. This finding is not in line with previous studies, most of which have not observed significant associations between air pollution and sperm concentration.8 9 11 Sokol et al reported a negative association between O 3 and sperm concentration.12 A recent study by Zhou et al reported a positive association between sperm concentration and PM 10 ,13 which is similar to our study. Regarding motility, the associations also remain uncertain. Hammoud et al and Selevan et al observed a negative association,8 11 whereas no associations were observed in other studies.10 12 13 The reasons for the positive associations between exposure and sperm concentration in the present study need to be elucidated by further studies. We hypothesise that the slight increases in sperm concentration are a compensatory phenomenon. Numerous studies have demonstrated the hormesis phenomenon on chemical aerosol exposure and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH).26 Low-dose exposure may increase the levels of FSH and LH, which strengthen spermatogenesis, thus increasing sperm concentration. Further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanism.

We did not observe decline trends in semen quality over the study period. Although the trend of progressive motility was statistically significant, the figures fluctuated over time. The reported global downwards trend in semen quality has not been concluded because previous studies exhibit great heterogeneity due to geographical and/or ethnic variations and different study designs and methodological standards.27 In the present study, we adjusted for the year in the data analyses and the adjustment had few effects.

Compared with previous studies, our study has some important strengths. The large sample size enabled us to have sufficient power to detect the small effects by low-dose exposure. Furthermore, our participants were from a general population rather than being men from infertility clinics. The affluent information on a wide range of potential confounders and modifiers enabled us to consider the effects of these factors. Another advantage is that we used accurate, high-resolution satellite-based technology to estimate PM 2.5 exposure at the individual level. All of the previous studies estimated air pollution exposure at the community level, which may mask exposure variation and result in misclassification. This technology also enables us to obtain short-term and long-term exposure for comparison.

Output: Air pollution is linked to poor sperm quality and could be a factor in the significant decline in male fertility, which has seen sperm counts more than halve in 40 years, according to research from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The study analysed sperm from almost 6,500 men and identified a “strong association” between high levels of PM2.5 fine particulate air pollution and “abnormal sperm shape”. The report concludes that although the impact is “relatively small in clinical terms” it could still cause infertility for a “significant number of couples” given pollution levels in cities across the globe.


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MTV, Telegraph and Evening Standard test video for Amazon Alexa
 The Amazon Echo Show, the tech giant’s latest Alexa-enabled device complete with a 7-inch screen, launched last week in the U.K., with media companies like the BBC, The Telegraph and MTV adding video content to their audio skills.

Amazon has flooded the market with variations of its Echo products, such as the more compact Echo Dot, the Echo Spot for connected homes and the Echo Look style assistant, and is maintaining market dominance. Forty percent of U.K. households will have an Amazon Echo device by early next year, and 9 percent of households already do, according to research from Global and Radioplayer.

Yet the Echo Show, which retails at £199.99 in the U.K. and $230 in the U.S., is far from becoming a mainstream product, and monetization is mostly limited to sponsorship packages with brands. But that isn’t stopping publishers from experimenting with it.

Here’s what three media companies are creating for the Echo Show.

The Telegraph

The Telegraph’s editorial team picks five stories to run on its Echo Show daily bulletin, which can be updated throughout the day as further details unfold. The videos are a mix of animation, video clips licensed from news agencies and videos created specifically for the bulletin.

As Amazon made its Alexa personal assistant available on home sound system Sonos, the addition of the screen on the Echo Show signals Amazon is nearing further integration with smart TV manufacturers — or so publishers believe. “We were keen to be on it for launch because if it really takes off within smart TVs, it could very rapidly become a very substantial amount of people who have access to our brand,” said Chris Taylor, chief information officer at The Telegraph.

The Telegraph said it has significantly invested time, effort and resources to get video-centric skills ready for launch. It has hired six people dedicated to creating content for the device, who work in shifts throughout the week predominantly on Echo Show content. “We wouldn’t do that if it wasn’t going well,” Taylor said.

In the last few weeks, in anticipation of the Echo Show launch, the publisher stopped using Amazon’s preprogrammed voice to record audio skills, in favor of its staff reading the bulletins. That’s caused a spike in consumption, although Taylor wouldn’t specify exact numbers.

MTV UK News

MTV UK News has a team of seven people creating content tailored to different platforms like Facebook and Snapchat, and since early October, Amazon Echo. The team covers the top pop culture news and highlights, including fashion, music and YouTube stars, in Echo editions, creating a video to accompany the Echo audio for the Echo Show. Each edition is presenter-led with a different personality for each day of the week — Montana Brown from “Love Island” takes the Monday slot, for example — and contain MTV’s trademark colorful animations.

The Echo Show edition is between two and four minutes long. MTV claims MTV UK News has 150 million monthly video views across third-party platforms, a figure the Echo Show will soon contribute to.

“We want to be on every device the audience is. Voice platforms are going to be huge,” said Joanna Wells, vp of digital content for MTV UK. “You have to have a really good script. Having the different personalities of the presenters keeps it new and fresh.”

Evening Standard

The ESI Media news brand the London Evening Standard is using the Echo Show to showcase the “Going Out” section of its newspaper. This includes a daily edition of five of the top things to do in London, whether that’s shows, restaurants or exhibitions that its journalists have reviewed. Often fronted by journalist David Ellis, the video edition runs between 60 and 90 seconds. Most people have watched the entirety of the videos, according to David Tomchak, digital director for editorial at Evening Standard.

A team of journalists focused on the “Going Out” section create each edition for the Echo Show, which usually takes two people, including a presenter, and features stills and video content shot specifically for the device. Covering news was never on the cards for the Evening Standard, as it’s a crowded space.

“I’m not too bothered about the [audience] numbers right now,” Tomchak said. “It’s more about testing the use of voice command.” For the Evening Standard, listeners could eventually interrupt the skill to book tickets to an event, incorporating e-commerce revenue through ticket sales, for example.

Output: UK media companies have begun experimenting with Amazon's Echo Show device, which launched in the country last week. Newspaper The Telegraph now produces a daily bulletin for the device, and chief information officer Chris Taylor expects the technology, if it takes off, to substantially increase its audience. MTV UK News has added Echo Show to the several platforms it produces content for, while The London Evening Standard uses it to highlight the Going Out section of its paper.


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NHS reveals initial innovation centre tools
 The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is backing a slew of apps and wireless sensors that could help save lives and diagnose patients remotely. RespiraSense, for instance, is a small device that sticks to the side of the user's rib cage. A plaster-shaped sensor measures breathing through the chest and abdomen, before processing and transmitting that information through a small plastic capsule. It can help detect a number of life-threatening conditions including sepsis, a blood infection that causes the body to attack its own organs. Doctors can access the data on a tablet and receive alerts when a patient's breathing hits a dangerous threshold.

The NHS is also championing HaMpton, an app for pregnant women who might be at risk of pre-eclampsia. The condition, characterised by high blood pressure and protein in the urine, usually occurs 20 weeks into a pregnancy. HaMPton allows users to carry out their own blood pressure readings and urine tests at home; the results, along with a short survey, are then recorded in the app and processed by a hospital computer. The alternative — twice-weekly tests at a Maternity Assessment Unit — can be stressful for patients and increases the burden on stretched NHS hospitals.

Other highlights include Waitless, an app that tells patients with minor injuries the fastest way to be treated, and Dip.io, a home urine test that allows patients to check for chronic kidney diseases, urinary tract infections (UTIs) and pre-eclampsia. They all fall under the NHS Innovation Accelerator, a programme designed to increase innovation and use of technology in the healthcare sector. Selected projects have access to experts and mentors inside the NHS, workshops and webinars, and, crucially, bursaries to aid their development. They're all in a trial phase, but it's hoped the best will become standard NHS procedure some day.

Output: The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is offering support and mentoring to start-ups developing novel medical technology via its Innovation Accelerator. Among the firms are RespiraSense, which has developed a plaster-shaped sensor to measure breathing rates and help detect sepsis, and HaMpton, which allows pregnant women to test blood pressure and protein levels to detect symptoms of pre-eclampsia at home. In addition, Waitless offers speedy treatment suggestions for minor injuries, while Dip.io is a home urine test that allows users to check for kidney disease and urinary tract infections.


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Tencent sees UK's first WeChat Pay tills open in Camden Market
 Walk around Camden Market this weekend and you'll notice that many of the stalls now support WeChat Pay. The mobile payment platform — an extension of Tencent's messaging app WeChat — is big in China but almost unheard of in the UK (at least outside of the Chinese community). So why bother? Well, the north London market is popular with Chinese tourists. SafeCharge, a company that helps businesses process payments, took notice and has updated its point-of-sale (POS) software accordingly. Now, stall owners can accept WeChat Pay with a tablet and compatible till.

Camden is the first place in the UK to accept WeChat Pay at the point of sale. It's a small experiment, but one that could prove fruitful as Christmas draws near. SafeCharge has over 1,000 customers — many of which are based in the UK — and is now talking to other businesses, including department stores and luxury retailers, about similar support. That's not to say WeChat Pay will soon rival Google or Apple's platforms in the UK. But it could be a worthy rival for the Alibaba-owned Alipay, which recently launched a fresh marketing campaign on the London Underground.

Output: Payments technologies provider SafeCharge has updated its point-of-sale software in London's Camden Market to accept Tencent's WeChat Pay. It's the China-based e-commerce giant's first foray into the UK payments sector, and the north London location is a popular destination for Chinese tourists. SafeCharge, which has more than 1,000 customers, is also in talks with department stores and luxury retailers about rolling out WeChat Pay.


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Android devices covertly send location data to Google
 Many people realize that smartphones track their locations. But what if you actively turn off location services, haven’t used any apps, and haven’t even inserted a carrier SIM card?

Even if you take all of those precautions, phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet, a Quartz investigation has revealed.

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Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers—even when location services are disabled—and sending that data back to Google. The result is that Google, the unit of Alphabet behind Android, has access to data about individuals’ locations and their movements that go far beyond a reasonable consumer expectation of privacy.

Quartz observed the data collection occur and contacted Google, which confirmed the practice.

The cell tower addresses have been included in information sent to the system Google uses to manage push notifications and messages on Android phones for the past 11 months, according to a Google spokesperson. They were never used or stored, the spokesperson said, and the company is now taking steps to end the practice after being contacted by Quartz. By the end of November, the company said, Android phones will no longer send cell-tower location data to Google, at least as part of this particular service, which consumers cannot disable.

“In January of this year, we began looking into using Cell ID codes as an additional signal to further improve the speed and performance of message delivery,” the Google spokesperson said in an email. “However, we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID.”

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It is not clear how cell-tower addresses, transmitted as a data string that identifies a specific cell tower, could have been used to improve message delivery. But the privacy implications of the covert location-sharing practice are plain. While information about a single cell tower can only offer an approximation of where a mobile device actually is, multiple towers can be used to triangulate its location to within about a quarter-mile radius, or to a more exact pinpoint in urban areas, where cell towers are closer together.

The practice is troubling for people who’d prefer they weren’t tracked, especially for those such as law-enforcement officials or victims of domestic abuse who turn off location services thinking they’re fully concealing their whereabouts. Although the data sent to Google is encrypted, it could potentially be sent to a third party if the phone had been compromised with spyware or other methods of hacking. Each phone has a unique ID number, with which the location data can be associated.

The revelation comes as Google and other internet companies are under fire from lawmakers and regulators, including for the extent to which they vacuum up data about users. Such personal data, ranging from users’ political views to their purchase histories to their locations, are foundational to the business successes of companies like Facebook and Alphabet, built on targeted advertising and personalization and together valued at over $1.2 trillion by investors.

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The location-sharing practice does not appear to be limited to any particular type of Android phone or tablet; Google was apparently collecting cell tower data from all modern Android devices before being contacted by Quartz. A source familiar with the matter said the cell tower addresses were being sent to Google after a change in early 2017 to the Firebase Cloud Messaging service, which is owned by Google and runs on Android phones by default.

Even devices that had been reset to factory default settings and apps, with location services disabled, were observed by Quartz sending nearby cell-tower addresses to Google. Devices with a cellular data or WiFi connection appear to send the data to Google each time they come within range of a new cell tower. When Android devices are connected to a WiFi network, they will send the tower addresses to Google even if they don’t have SIM cards installed.

“It has pretty concerning implications,” said Bill Budington, a software engineer who works for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for digital privacy. “You can kind of envision any number of circumstances where that could be extremely sensitive information that puts a person at risk.”

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The section of Google’s privacy policy that covers location sharing says the company will collect location information from devices that use its services, but does not indicate whether it will collect data from Android devices when location services are disabled:

When you use Google services, we may collect and process information about your actual location. We use various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.

According to the Google spokesperson, the company’s system that controls its push notifications and messages is “distinctly separate from Location Services, which provide a device’s location to apps.” Android devices never offered consumers a way to opt out of the collection of cell tower data.

“It is really a mystery as to why this is not optional,” said Matthew Hickey, a security expert and researcher at Hacker House, a security firm based in London. “It seems quite intrusive for Google to be collecting such information that is only relevant to carrier networks when there are no SIM card or enabled services.”

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While Google says it doesn’t use the location data it collects using this service, its does allow advertisers to target consumers using location data, an approach that has obvious commercial value. The company can tell using precise location tracking, for example, whether an individual with an Android phone or running Google apps has set foot in a specific store, and use that to target the advertising a user subsequently sees.

Output: Mobile devices running Android software track owners' locations without consent, even when the device has no apps running or SIM card inserted. An investigation by Quartz found that devices connected to the internet have been sending addresses of nearby cell towers to Google, even when location services are switched off, since January 2017. The revelations have led to concerns about consumers' privacy, though Google said that the data was never used or stored, and that the practice will soon be terminated.


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Samsung plans to establish AI research hub
 People walk past an advertisement for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone in Berlin, Germany.

Samsung is planning to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) research center, it announced Wednesday.

The center will be established between the mobile and consumer electronics businesses that form two of three of Samsung's major divisions.

The South Korean electronics giant said it was making these minor organizational changes in order to "quickly respond to market changes."

HS Kim, the head of the consumer electronics division, will head up Samsung Research. Samsung did not say where the AI center will be based.

The company also said that Young Sohn, Samsung's chief strategy officer, will have a "strengthened" role to look for new business areas for all the business groups. This includes mobile, consumer electronics, and device solutions, which contains the fast-growing semiconductor unit.

Sohn led Samsung's $8 billion acquisition of Harman last year.

The latest changes come after Samsung announced a shakeup of its leadership in October, where it replaced its CEO.

Output: Samsung has followed up on its leadership reshuffle in October with the creation of an artificial intelligence research centre. Led by HS Kim, head of the consumer electronics division, the as-yet-unlocated centre will be positioned between Samsung's mobile and consumer electronics divisions. The South Korean firm said the restructuring would enable it to "quickly respond to market changes". In addition, Samsung said it was strengthening chief strategy officer Young Sohn's position to support him in finding new business areas.


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YOPA removes estate agents comparison advert
 The online agency Yopa has removed an ad comparing its performance against other estate agents after complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The dispute centred on the Yopa website which featured a comparison table of different estate agents including the number of properties they listed and their average listing age.

Two complainants - who noted that the comparison was based on Yopa’s national figures against their competitors’ local figures - challenged whether the comparison was misleading.

A statement from the authority says: “We raised these concerns with the advertiser. Yopa confirmed that the ad had been removed and that they would not compare their national data with competitors’ local data.”

On that basis, the case was judged to be informally resolved.

Yopa - which earlier this month was listed by business media service LinkedIn as one of the top UK start ups of 2017 - has extensive financial investment from Savills, the Daily Mail general Trust and LSL Property Services.

Output: Yopa, an online estate agency based in the UK, has pulled an advertisement favourably comparing its prices with rivals'. The move comes in response to complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) questioning the legitimacy of the information. The ad compared Yopa’s national statistics with rivals' local figures, presenting a misleading conclusion. The ASA confirmed that the ad had been removed and Yopa, which counts Savills and the Daily Mail general Trust among its investors, would not repeat the error.


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US estate agents lobby Congress to keep homeowners' tax breaks
 For decades, the real estate industry has benefited from generous tax deductions that raise home values by making it cheaper for people to own property and shoulder their local taxes. Now, as the Republican tax plan makes its way through Congress, the industry is worried that the fallout will harm its business by making homeownership less valuable.

Around the country, real estate organizations are calling legislators, warning clients about their future tax bills and staging protests, all in an effort to keep homeowners as a favored class in the tax code. “We don’t consider ourselves to be Republicans or Democrats,” said Linda Jay, chief executive of the Bakersfield Association of Realtors in central California. “We are the Realtor party.”

Last week, Ms. Jay and other agents congregated in front of the local office of Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, holding signs and chanting, “Save homeownership.”

“We know he has a tough job to do,” she said. “But we certainly are not going to shy away from letting him know what our feelings are.”

Output: US estate agents are urging legislators not to cut mortgage interest deductions for local taxes for fear of prompting a fall in house prices. The Senate version of the Republican tax plan would remove the deduction for local property taxes, while the House version would cap it at $10,000, and both would increase the period of homeownership required before qualifying for capital gains taxes, a move estate agents worry would reduce transaction volumes. According to analysis from Moody's, the most expensive property markets, such as New York or New Jersey, could be the worst hit by the proposed measures.


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WeWork said to be looking at offering short-term retail sites
 WeWork is quietly setting the stage for the launch of a brick-and-mortar retail platform as it continues to branch out into new business lines ahead of an expected public offering.

Several sources told The Real Deal that work on retail concepts gained momentum over the past six months and is shaping up to be a priority for the firm. What WeWork’s retail business could look like is still unclear, but sources said extending the firm’s co-working model — furnished spaces on short-term leases — to retailers is a possibility. The firm is also considering the addition of WeWork-managed retail spaces in its buildings as a potential amenity for its office tenants, the sources said.

WeWork declined to comment.

In October, WeWork and its private equity partner Rhone Group announced the $850 million acquisition of the Lord & Taylor building in Midtown from retail giant Hudson’s Bay Company. As part of the deal, Rhone and WeWork’s joint real estate investment vehicle is investing $500 million in preferred shares in HBC. According to the Wall Street Journal, WeWork Property Advisors’ Eric Gross is getting a seat on HBC’s board.

“Retail is changing and the role that real estate has to play in the way that we shop today must change with it,” WeWork’s co-founder Adam Neumann said in a statement at the time. “The opportunity to develop this partnership with HBC to explore this trend was too good to pass up.”

Other signs point to WeWork’s growing interest in retail. Unnamed WeWork principals invested in retail technology startup Outernets, which produces intelligent advertising screens for storefronts, according to Outernets co-founder Omer Golan. Golan said he has been working with WeWork on retail concepts, but was instructed not to share any details.

Over the summer, several employees of the online electronics retailer Sharkk became employees at WeWork, according to their Linkedin profiles, and its founder, Dov Brafman, is now listed on LinkedIn as WeWork’s director of retail (In response to a query from TRD, WeWork said his title on LinkedIn was being changed). In an interview he gave to the K-Factor podcast earlier this month, the show describes him as an entrepreneur who sold his startup to WeWork.

The retail push comes as WeWork increasingly branches out into new business lines. The company opened its first Rise by We gym in Manhattan in October and acquired the coding school Flatiron School. It has also announced plans for an elementary school.

WeWork has plenty of money to fund its new ventures. In August, the company announced a $4.4 billion investment from Japanese conglomerate Softbank, reportedly at a $20 billion valuation, although much of that money is earmarked for the firm’s expansion into East Asia. The infusion made WeWork one of the five most valuable startups in the U.S.

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Hospitality is another potential new business line for WeWork, according to a source familiar with the company, although it has yet to disclose any specific forays into the space.

Neumann is an investor in the Panamanian hospitality company Selina Hostels, which runs hostels and co-working spaces in several Latin American countries, according to the source and a May report in the Mexican news outlet Cancunissimo. The Journal also reported that WeWork bought a stake in Wavegarden, a company that makes wave pools, in 2016.

WeWork has already dabbled in hospitality, renting out some rooms in its WeLive co-living space at 110 Wall Street on a nightly basis. Several high-level WeWork executives have a hospitality background. Michael Gross, the company’s vice chair, used to run Morgans Hotel Group. The firm’s head of co-working, Richard Gomel, is a former Starwood Hotels & Resorts executive. WeWork’s regional manager for Latin America, Pato Fuks, founded the hotel operator Fën Hoteles.

WeWorld

“It’s important to understand that our intent with our business from the beginning was to do multiple We-based businesses, for lack of a better term,” the company’s co-founder Miguel McKelvey said at a Cornell Tech at Bloomberg event this month. “When we made the first proposal for a building after Green Desk, it was a multi-use building that included WeLive, WeWork, a hotel concept, a restaurant concept, a barber shop, fitness concept and there was an education idea there too. So the premise from the beginning was that this is a multi-dimensional support system for people who think differently in the world.” McKelvey took issue with the description of his firm as a co-working company, saying he prefers community company.

WeWork’s expansion into retail, then, should not come as a surprise. It never made a secret out of its aspiration to become the “physical social network,” Facebook’s equivalent in the real world.

But the retail plans may also speak to the limits of scaling WeWork’s two original business lines, co-working and co-living.

Although WeWork continues to add new co-working locations at a rapid clip, competition has become fierce, particularly in its first market, New York. In September, Crain’s reported that WeWork offered tenants at rival flexible office-space provider Knotel 12 months free rent if they switch to one of its spaces — an indicator of how the fight for customers is squeezing revenues. Meanwhile Luxembourg-based IWG, whose Regus brand is a leading global provider of flexible office space, saw its share price plunge by 30 percent in a single day in October in the wake of disappointing earnings. WeWork has also hedged its co-working bets; it is the lead investor in a $32 million Series B round for the Wing, a women-only co-working space. And it’s had success with renting out entire spaces to blue-chip corporate tenants, such as IBM and Amazon.

WeWork’s co-living business has faced headwinds. The company once predicted it would have more than 30 WeLive spaces open by the end of 2017, but it currently has just two, with a third on the way. Industry sources said banks have been squeamish about financing co-living developments. At the Cornell Tech event, McKelvey blamed the complexity of new development.

“The cycle for ground-up development, to do it with partners, is so much longer,” he said. “So there are many projects that are in process but you just don’t hear about them yet.”

Output: Flexible workspace provider WeWork is looking at branching out into several new business areas, including managed retail spaces, some of which could be in its office space buildings, according to sources. WeWork opened a gym in Manhattan in October and also acquired a coding college, Flatiron School. It has also made initial moves into offering overnight accommodation.