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Greencoat UK raises £340m to pay to expand portfolio
 Greencoat UK Wind Plc (LON:UKW) has raised gross proceeds of GBP 340 million (USD 450.6m/EUR 381.7m) from the first offering under its latest share issuance programme, announced in September.

The firm sold 290.6 million new ordinary shares at a price of GBP 1.17 apiece, Greencoat UK Wind announced on Wednesday. Both new and existing shareholders took part in the oversubscribed offering.

The fund that invests in UK wind farms will use the proceeds to pay down debt and “take advantage of an attractive pipeline of opportunities,” said chairman Tim Ingram. After paying borrowings under its revolving credit facility, the fund will have outstanding borrowings of GBP 65 million under the revolver and GBP 100 million under its long-term debt agreement.

Greencoat UK has a portfolio of 24 wind farms with a net generating capacity of 617 MW, the combined output of which is enough to meet the electricity demand of over 560,000 households. The fund will look to expand this portfolio with more high quality assets, according to the statement.

Greencoat UK Wind will apply to list the newly-issued stock on the London stock exchange’s main market with effect from October 27.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.325/EUR 1.123)

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Output: Investment company Greencoat UK Wind intends to expand its 617 MW portfolio of 24 wind farms after securing £340m ($447m) during a recent share issuance. The oversubscribed offering saw 290.6 million new ordinary shares sold, while chairman Tim Ingram said the proceeds would used to pay down debt and take advantage of an "attractive pipeline of opportunities".


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Saudis, Softbank look to develop 3 GW solar/storage facility
 Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and SoftBank Vision Fund (SBVF) are plotting to develop about 3 GW of solar power generating capacity, coupled with energy storage, in the Kingdom next year.

The pair seeks to do so through Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), according to a SEC statement on Tuesday. Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SBVF that outlines the plan.

The MoU, which is non-binding and subject to due-diligence, stipulates that the parties involved would evaluate SBVF taking a “significant equity stake” in SEC. They would also seek to build solar power and energy storage manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia.

In any case, the government of Saudi Arabia would continue to control SEC.

The move would be part of a so-called New Solar Energy Plan 2030. The parties expect to conclude due diligence under the MoU by February 28, 2018.

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Output: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has signed a memorandum of understanding with SoftBank Vision Fund (SBVF) to develop around 3 GW of solar power-generating capacity and storage in the country in 2018. The venture, part of its Vision 2030 initiative to generate 9.5 GW of renewable power a year, would be carried out by the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), and would involve both PIT and SBVF taking a stake in SEC, though the utility would continue to be state-controlled. Due diligence on the agreement is set to be completed by the end of February next year.


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PV manufacturer Tongwei opens unmanned solar cell production line
 China-based integrated and merchant PV manufacturer Tongwei Group recently opened its completed high-efficiency solar cell plant (S2), which includes the world’s first technically unmanned monocrystalline solar cell production line under the intelligent manufacturing term, 4.0.

The S2 plant in Chengdu, China has an initial nameplate capacity of 2GW, which brings Tongwei’s monocrystalline cell capacity to around 3.4GW. The company also has around 2GW of multicrystalline solar cell capacity. The 4.0 cell line is completely unmanned to test intelligent fully automated manufacturing tools and software systems.

Tongwei chose to officially launch the new facility in tandem with a massive ceremony celebrating the company’s 35 years of business operations.

The company has also recently completed a 5,000MT polysilicon plant expansion, bringing nameplate production capacity to 20,000MT. However, the company is also undertaking the construction of a new 50,000MT polysilicon plant.

Recently, GCL-SI (GCL System Integrated Technology) established a module assembly workshop that was completely unmanned to test intelligent fully automated manufacturing tools and software systems under its own manufacturing 4.0 initiative.

Output: Chinese photovoltaic solar cell manufacturer Tongwei Group has unveiled its S2 plant, which boasts the first unmanned monocrystalline solar cell production line in the world. The company chose its 35th anniversary to unveil the facility, which has a starting nameplate capacity of 2 GW and will bring Tongwei's monocrystalline capacity to about 3.4 GW. Rival firm GCL System Integrated Technology also recently established a facility to test 4.0 fully automated manufacturing.


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JinkoSolar achieves PERC efficiency record of 22.78%
 Several weeks ago, the Chinese PV group said that it had reached a conversion efficiency of 22.04% with its P-type multicrystalline silicon solar cells. And its latest announcement comes mere days after rival PV module supplier Longi Solar revealed that it had achieved a 22.71% conversion efficiency record with its mono-PERC cells, as certified by Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE CalLab.

Kangping Chen, the chief executive of JinkoSolar, said that the company remains committed to R&D. It scored its latest P-type PERC advancements by utilizing a number of advanced methods, including P-type silicon wafer and bulk passivation technologies, selective emitter technologies and fine-finger metallization technologies.

“Among the various techniques utilized, the application of the selective emitter structure and fine-finger metallization significantly minimized the energy losses caused by recombination,” the company said in an online statement. “The open circuit voltage and conversion efficiency of the solar cell was also greatly improved as a result. The utilization of advanced multi-layer ARC technology, an innovation developed by JinkoSolar, made further contributions to the efficiency increase.”

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The Shanghai-based group recorded a net profit of about $7 million in the second quarter of 2017, as revenue hit $1.17 billion. It shipped roughly 2.9 GW of solar panels in the April-June period, up 68.1% year on year. A recent report by China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) showed that the company is now competing with Longi Solar for the title of China’s leading PV module supplier this year, based on shipment data from the first half.

Output: The battle between Chinese photovoltaic firms Longi Solar and JinkoSolar is hotting up after the latter firm recorded a conversion efficiency of 22.78% from its P-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells. The announcement followed Longi Solar's achievement of 22.71% conversion efficiency with its mono-PERC cells mere days ago. In a statement, JinkoSolar attributed the increased efficiency to various techniques, including "the application of the selective emitter structure and fine-finger metallisation". The company recorded net profits of around $7m in Q2 2017, and shipped 2.9 GW of solar panels in the same period, an increase of 68.1% over the previous year.


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FORESEA to support six ocean energy projects
 Six ocean energy demonstration projects will be financed under the third call of the FORESEA (Funding Ocean Renewable Energy through Strategic European Action) programme.

The announcement was made today by Scottish energy minister Paul Wheelhouse at the Ocean Energy Europe 2017 Conference and Exhibition in Nantes. Three of the six projects will be tested at Scotland's European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). These are led by technology developers Blackfish, Bombora and Scotrenewables. The test centre SEM-REV in France will host two projects, led by Ideol and Interdrones. The remaining project, led by Kornwerderzand BV, will be carried out at the Dutch Marine Energy Centre in the Netherlands.

The EUR-11-million (USD 13m) FORESEA programme, financed by the the Interreg North West Europe programme, is designed to help commercialise offshore renewable energy technologies by providing their developers with free access to a network of test centres. Its fourth call was launched earlier this month.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.178)

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Output: The six renewable energy projects comprising the third call of the €11m ($13m) Funding Ocean Renewable Energy through Strategic European Action (FORESEA) programme have been announced. Blackfish, Scotrenewables, which specialises in floating tidal stream and run-of-river turbines, and Bombora, which develops high power wave energy converters that operate on the sea floor, will lead projects at Scotland's European Marine Energy Centre. France's SEM-REV test centre will host project leaders Ideol, a floating wind turbine company, and Interdrones, while Kornwerderzand BV, which integrates tidal power facilities into sea defences, will head a project at the Netherlands' Dutch Marine Energy Centre. FORESEA's fourth call was launched in October.


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Enel buys EV charging station firm in flexible grid push
 Enel has acquired eMotorWerks, an intelligent EV charging station (EVSE) manufacturer and operator of the JuiceNet EV charging network.

The move speaks to the coming of age of electric vehicles and the infrastructure required to support them as major market players across various segments shape up efforts to move into the space in a big way. eMotorWerks has one of the leading intelligent EVSEs on the market, which allows customers to bill for charging. It also has the powerful JuiceNet platform, which ties the EVSEs to the eMotorWerks cloud and allows for some truly mind-bending capabilities.

Formally, the acquisition of eMotorWerks was executed under Enel’s US-based subsidiary EnerNOC, which was only recently acquired by Enel itself, in August 2017. EnerNOC is an energy software company that, similar to the eMotorWerks functionality through JuiceNet, consolidates distributed grid demand resources and offers dynamic demand response capability to utilities.

At the beginning of the year, Enel also acquired Demand Energy Networks, which builds intelligent energy management software that “enables real-time optimisation of energy management, with the potential to revolutionise the way electricity is generated, stored and consumed.” These moves make it clear that Enel sees renewables mandating grid-level flexibility so that operators can easily balance intermittent solar, wind, and hydro with utility-scale storage and distributed storage. Demand response has the potential to play a key role in the mix and Enel wants to own the space.

As we shared last year, eMotorWerks’ JuiceNet pulls together the distributed loads that thousands of EVs utilizing its chargers represent, which can then be dynamically throttled to balance the grid. That functionality was validated last month with the announcement that eMotorWerks is partnering with utility EDF to tie JuiceNet into EDF’s grid management network.

Enel clearly sees that the future of transportation is electric and the future of grids is dynamic. As such, it is moving aggressively to build the infrastructure required to make that vision a reality.

“Electric vehicles have the potential to be one of the most disruptive technologies the modern electricity grid has faced in the last one hundred years,” said Francesco Venturini, Head of Enel’s Global e-Solutions division. “The electric mobility revolution is leading utilities, grid operators, and consumers to rethink traditional business models, invest in new infrastructure, and roll out new solutions to provide flexibility and resiliency to the grid. Our mission is to be on the cutting edge of this paradigm shift, where consumers can play a more active role in energy generation and use. This acquisition enriches our e-mobility offering and integrates a highly sophisticated smart EV charging solution within our portfolio of grid flexibility services, which includes the world’s largest demand response network, distributed energy management systems and battery storage solutions.”

The Enel announcement shared that JuiceNet also has the ability to aggregate distributed storage facilities “including but not limited to electric vehicle batteries” to balance the grid, meaning they are exploring vehicle-to-grid functionality as well as non-EV storage units.

This is an exciting move in the world of EVSEs and shows both the visionary work done by the team at eMotorWerks to build functionality to use EVs to balance the grid and the potential for innovation to solve the challenges faced by utilities in light of the influx of renewables.

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Output: Italian utility Enel is pushing to further e-mobility and grid flexibility, buying intelligent EV charging station firm eMotorWerks in the US. Through its JuiceNet platform, eMotorWerks operates and manages the distributed loads of thousands of EV chargers to balance the grid. JuiceNet can also aggregate distributed storage facilities beyond EV batteries, suggesting that Enel may be looking into non-EV storage as well as vehicle-to-grid functionality. The acquisition was made via energy software firm EnerNOC, another recently-acquired Enel subsidiary.


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Global Infrastructure Partners looks to acquire Equis Energy
 Global Infrastructure Partners' $40 billion portfolio includes the Edinburgh Airport, the Port of Melbourne, a leading shipping container terminal operator, and the largest rail company in Australia.

It will soon include one of the largest Asian renewable energy developers, too.

GIP plans to acquire Equis Energy for $5 billion -- a record-high acquisition price for the renewables sector. The agreement was announced early Wednesday morning.

The purchase will give GIP a strong presence in the Asian market. The infrastructure investor owns coal, natural gas and oil assets all over the world. It is increasingly pushing into renewables, most recently by acquiring a 50 percent stake in a 330-megawatt offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

According to GTM Research, Equis has nearly 5 gigawatts of wind and hydro assets under operation. It also has a growing queue of solar projects across the Asia-Pacific region.

"The company has focused less on solar PV developments to-date, but has a significant project pipeline, including one of the largest projects in Australia, the 1-gigawatt Wandoan South project. Equis has late-stage solar PV project developments totaling almost 1.5 gigawatts and an additional 4 gigawatts of early-stage potential projects," said Tom Heggarty, a senior analyst for global solar markets at GTM Research.

That makes Equis Energy the 11th largest global solar developer, said Heggarty.

"Equis Energy is a unique success story in the APAC region, as it has systematically executed its growth strategy since its founding five years ago," said Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman of GIP, in a statement.

According to Equis, it has more than 11 gigawatts or project in operation or under development.

The chart below shows where Equis' expanding solar pipeline is located.

The transaction is also notable for its size. At $5 billion, it's the single-biggest renewable energy acquisition in history. Bloomberg New Energy Finance confirmed the record size in its deal tracker.

It's also yet another signal that traditional energy and infrastructure companies are forcefully pursuing renewables. They're not just experimenting anymore.

In September, Shell bought MP2, a Texas-based company with 1.7 gigawatts of solar, wind, landfill gas and natural gas projects. MP2 also has 550 megawatts of demand response assets under management. Shell now invests $200 million per year in renewables, according to Wood Mackenzie, GTM's parent company.

The French oil major Total is also getting deeper into renewable energy and efficiency, by setting up a solar development arm and making strategic equity investments. Last year, it bought battery-maker Saft for $1.1 billion. It also owns a majority stake in SunPower.

Large global utilities, including Enel, Engie, Centrica and EDF, are also investing in distributed energy platforms across the U.S. Most recently, Enel bought the demand response company EnerNOC for $250 million.

Heggarty said that many leading energy companies were eyeing Equis as an acquisition target.

"This is a really significant transaction for the renewable energy industry. Alongside Global Infrastructure Partners, it had been rumored that a number of the world's largest energy companies, including Shell, Engie and Adani, were looking to acquire Equis," he said. "Equis was also a particularly attractive proposition due to its portfolio of recently commissioned Japanese solar projects with generous 20-year feed-in tariffs."

Expect more of this kind of activity in the coming months.

"Solar and wind developers with strong project pipelines, particularly in key emerging markets like Australia and Southeast Asia, could be future acquisition targets for some of these players," said Heggarty.

Output: Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is set to make the renewable sector's biggest-ever purchase, with the $5bn acquisition of Singapore firm Equis Energy. The sale includes $1.3bn of liabilities and is set to close in Q1 2018. Equis Energy's 11 GW of renewable assets include solar, wind and hydroelectric power operations, notably featuring one of Australia's largest solar plants, which is still currently under development. Insiders have speculated that, as governments replace existing tariff structures, scale will be a determining factor in ensuring the renewable sector remains profitable.


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Blockchain-based energy companies spike in popularity
 This week a South African blockchain startup called Sun Exchange raised $1.6 million in seed funding to launch a solar power crowdsale platform. It is hardly unique, though.

Recent weeks have seen new blockchain-based energy hopefuls cropping up like mushrooms after the rain. Here are 15 of the top names making headlines.

Conjoule

Conjoule offers a blockchain platform designed to support peer-to-peer trading of energy among rooftop PV owners and interested public-sector or corporate buyers. The company was hatched in Innogy’s Innovation Hub in 2015 and pulled in $5.3 million in funding from Tokyo Electric Power Company and others in July. Conjoule has been running a pilot in Germany for the past year.

Drift

Seattle-based Drift is leveraging distributed ledger technology, machine learning and high-frequency trading to create a differentiated competitive retail energy provider. It raised $2.1 million in May and is currently operating in New York City.

Greeneum

Greeneum revealed this month it is running test nets and pilots for its peer-to-peer energy trading platform “in Europe, Cyprus, Israel, Africa and the U.S.” It expects to have a viable product platform out by mid-2018.

UPDATE: GTM originally reported that Greeneum is being developed by the same team as SolarCoin, which is incorrect. On October 25, the SolarCoin Foundation issued a statement clarifying that Greeneum is a stand-alone project and that none of SolarCoin's founders "has a role or formal knowledge of the project specifics." Previous statements suggested otherwise.

Grid+

In one of the most hotly hyped launches in the energy blockchain world, Grid+ last month raised $29 million through its token pre-sale, which will fund the development and launch of its blockchain-based competitive retail provider in Texas. The hype was partly a result of Grid+’s origins: It was created by top New York blockchain shop ConsenSys.

UPDATE: Initial reports show that Grid+ raised $40 million through its token pre-sale. However, the firm said it actually raised $29 million from the pre-sale, which amounts to 36,422,909 GRID tokens. GTM has updated this story to reflect the correct dollar amount.

Grid+ acknowledged it made some errors in its pre-sale calculations, but they had no bearing on the total dollar amount raised. With the pre-sale complete, that leaves 53,577,091 GRID tokens for sale in Grid+'s public token sale taking place October 30.

Grid Singularity

Grid Singularity is an Austrian startup developing a blockchain purpose-built for the energy industry, backed by a team of experienced energy market professionals and leading blockchain and smart contract developers, according to its website (see also: Energy Web Foundation).

Electron

U.K. startup Electron began with a blockchain-based solution to help customers in the U.K. switch energy suppliers, but has since been communicating a vision of leveraging its platform to support broader energy trading and grid-balancing solutions. Last month, with help from Siemens and National Grid, it won U.K. government support to scale up its platform.

Energy Web Foundation

Established in February by Grid Singularity and the Rocky Mountain Institute, Energy Web Foundation is not so much a startup as an alliance body aimed at introducing an open-source blockchain designed for the electricity market, identifying use cases and helping build an ecosystem of participants. Big-name energy firms pumped $2.5 million into the foundation in May.

ImpactPPA

While most energy-based blockchain players offer a token for trading, Manhattan Beach, California-based ImpactPPA has two: one to fund projects and one to consume energy. The company is targeting the estimated 16 percent of the world population that lacks a reliable source of energy.

LO3 Energy

As well as backing Electron in the U.K., Siemens last year announced a tie-up with New York peer-to-peer blockchain developer LO3 Energy. The promising startup this month pulled in an unspecified amount of funding from Braemar Energy Ventures and Centrica Innovations.

MyBit

MyBit is designed to help crowdfund solar panels by distributing the ownership of each system across several owners. The company raised the equivalent of around $2.7 million in a token sale in August.

Power Ledger

Australia’s star energy blockchain player, Power Ledger, had pulled in more than $24 million from around 15,000 supporters by the time it completed a token generation event earlier this month. The company is rolling out pilot projects for its blockchain platform, built to support a broad range of energy market applications, in Australia and New Zealand.

SolarCoin

SolarCoin was launched in 2014 as a rewards program for solar electricity generation, with one of its coins equaling a megawatt-hour of production. The scheme is set to reward 97,500 terawatt-hours of generation over 40 years, but for now its value remains low.

Sun Exchange

Sun Exchange’s motto is “solar-powered money.” Founded by U.K. utility-scale solar pioneer Abraham Cambridge, the company aims to let supporters around the world crowdfund PV down to the level of an individual solar cell and lease them to schools and businesses in Africa. The company's marketplace is focused on funding and building new generation systems, rather than trading power. Sun Exchange has been operational for several years and has successfully funded four solar projects. The company recently raised $1.6 million in seed funding, which will go towards expanding its business and global capabilities.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this article stated that Sun Exchange is a "peer-to-peer solar energy trading platform." This entry was updated to clarify that Sun Exchange does not trade power, and is focused instead on funding new solar projects.

Veridium Labs

Veridium is a financial technology firm aiming to create a new asset class called “EcoSmart Commodities.” “Veridium will provide a new vehicle for corporations to embed environmental replacements into the cost of their products,” co-founder Todd Lemons told GTM.

WePower

WePower is developing an Ethereum-based platform to fund renewable energy projects through the sale and trading of the “tokenized” energy produced by those systems. The company is looking to raise $30 million from an ICO next month.

--

GTM will host an entire panel session on Blockchain at the first annual U.S. Power & Renewables Conference in November. You'll get an in-depth look at how the renewable energy market will interact with the U.S. power market, and how those interactions can impact overall industry development and market growth. Curated by GTM Research, MAKE, and Wood Mackenzie energy analysts, we’ll take an expansive view of key issues and timely topics, bringing together a diverse group of energy experts and stakeholders to discuss demand dynamics, economics and business model shifts, and policy and regulatory implications.

Output: The number of energy start-ups developing and marketing blockchain solutions is growing, with companies across the globe finding funding. South African outfit Sun Exchange recently secured $1.6m in seed funding, while the much-hyped Texan start-up Grid+ raised $40m from a token sale. UK firm Electron and New York-based LO3 Energy have both been backed by Siemens, while Australian company Power Ledger's October token sale raised $24m.


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Climate change damages health of millions
 The health of hundreds of millions of people around the world is already being damaged by climate change, a major report has revealed.

Heatwaves are affecting many more vulnerable people and global warming is boosting the transmission of deadly diseases such as dengue fever, the world’s most rapidly spreading disease. Air pollution from fossil fuel burning is also causing millions of early deaths each year, while damage to crops from extreme weather threatens hunger for millions of children.

The findings, published in the Lancet journal, come from researchers at 26 institutions around the world, including many universities, the World Health Organization, World Bank and the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO reported on Monday that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere made a record jump in 2016 to hit a concentration not seen for more than three million years.

“Climate change is happening and it’s a health issue today for millions worldwide,” said Prof Anthony Costello, at the World Health Organization and co-chair of the group behind the new report. It follows a related report in 2009 that warned that climate change was the biggest danger to global health in the 21st century, an assessment repeated in the new report.

But Costello said acting to halt global warming would also deliver a huge benefit for health: “The outlook is challenging, but we still have an opportunity to turn a looming medical emergency into the most significant advance for public health this century.”

“Our scientists have been telling us for some time that we’ve got a bad case of climate change. Now our doctors are telling us it’s bad for our health,” said Christiana Figueres, who as the UN’s climate chief negotiated the Paris climate change agreement and also co-chaired the new report.

“Hundreds of millions of people are already suffering health impacts as a result of climate change,” she told the Guardian. “Tackling climate change directly, unequivocally, and immediately improves global health. It’s as simple as that.”

One of the most striking of the 40 indicators assessed by the researchers was a huge increase in the number of people over 65 exposed to extreme heat. This rose by 125 million between 2000 and 2016 and worries doctors because older people are especially vulnerable to heat.

“There is no crystal ball gazing here, these are the actual observations,” said Prof Peter Cox, at the University of Exeter, UK. He said the 70,000 deaths that resulted from the 2003 heatwave in Europe looked small compared to the long-term trends: “We were alarmed when we saw this.”

Most of the increase in exposed people resulted from rising temperatures, but the number of older people is also rising, creating a “perfect storm”, Cox said. The report also found that hotter and more humid weather was increasingly creating conditions in which it is impossible to work outside. In 2016, this caused work equivalent to almost a million people to be lost, half in India alone.

The report also found that climate change has increased the ability of dengue fever to spread, because the mosquitoes and the virus they carry breed more quickly. Dengue is also known as “breakbone fever” due to the pain it causes and infections have doubled in each decade since 1990, now reaching up to 100m infections a year now. Dengue was used as an example in the report and the researchers suggest global warming will also increase the spread of other diseases such as schistosomiasis.

Patients queue for treatment following an outbreak of dengue fever in Bhopal, India this month. Photograph: Sanjeev Gupta/EPA

Air pollution is known to cause millions of early deaths every year but the new report highlights the 800,000 annual deaths related solely to coal burning. The good news here, said Prof Paul Wilkinson, is that coal production peaked in 2013 and is now falling. “We are seeing the first turn [in the trend] but we have a long way to go,” he said. “It is a health dividend we are ignoring if we do not act.”

The impacts of climate change are not limited to poorer nations, said Dr Toby Hillman, at the Royal College of Physicians, but also affect developed nations like the UK. He said air pollution kills about 40,000 in the UK each year and criticised low government funding levels for cycling and walking. Hillman also noted other impacts, such as sharp increases in mental health problems after extreme weather events like flooding.

The new report highlighted imminent threats as well, such as the loss of crops to increasingly hot and extreme weather. “We are going to see millions more undernourished children as a result of that,” said Prof Hugh Montgomery, at University College London (UCL).

Montgomery said the potential benefits of climate change appeared to be small in comparison to the damages: “We are not ducking the potential benefits, we just find it hard to see what they are.”

Nearly 700,000 persons have been internally displaced in Somalia as a result of the drought and food crisis, reports say. Photograph: Peter Caton/Mercy Corps

Cox said it was not clear that global warming will actually reduce winter cold spells, which cause early deaths in higher latitude countries, because changes happening in the Arctic can exacerbate cold snaps. Prof Georgina Mace, also at UCL, said the evidence for a warmer climate increasing food production was often very localised and short term: ”Overall the overwhelming pattern is negative.”

Clare Goodess, a climate researcher at the University of East Anglia and not part of the Lancet report, said: “The indicators reveal some stark warnings for human health, as well as some glimmers of hope, [and] the key messages appear robust. The attribution of [climate change] temperature trends to human activities is now unequivocal, so the urgency of addressing the issues raised by this report is not in doubt.”

Output: Climate change is already harming millions across the globe, according to international research published in The Lancet. The study reaffirms the claim put forward in a 2009 report that climate change constitutes the worst danger to global health this century. The number of people over 65 exposed to extreme heat, to which they are vulnerable, has risen by 125 million between 2000 and 2016, according to the report. Dengue fever is also spreading more easily due to increased mosquito breeding, air pollution is causing millions of premature deaths, and hunger is set to increase due to crop damage.


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UK supermarkets sell salmon 20 times over sea lice limit
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Scottish salmon sold by a range of supermarkets in the UK has sea lice up to 20 times the acceptable amount.

The maximum number of the parasites is expected to be no more than one louse per farmed fish but data obtained by the Salmon and Trout Conversation (S&TC) Scotland shows that there was an average of at least three lice per farmed fish at Salmon farms.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Co-op are among those who have stocked salmon from the worst affected farms and Co-op’s supplier, The Scottish Salmon Company, recorded lice numbers that exceeded acceptable levels at six of its 10 farms, for an entire year.

At one of the farms, each fish was found to have 23 sea lice for a period of seven weeks.

Tesco salmon supplier Grieg Seafood Shetland was found to have an average of 22 lice and Marine Harvest, Sainsbury’s supplier was also on the list.

Those fish who are infected pose no risk to consumers as they are either discarded or treated with pesticides.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 / 50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Guy Linley-Adams, Solicitor for S&TC Scotland, told the Daily Mail: “We now call upon Scottish ministers to rethink radically their approach to the salmon farming industry, to end the knee-jerk support of the industry in the face of frankly awful environmental performance, and to stop trying to protect it from legitimate criticism.

“We have shared our ideas for change with Marine Scotland and hope Scottish ministers will now work with environmental and conservation bodies to map out a sustainable future for the industry that no longer damages the precious Scottish marine environment and the species within it.

“We also call upon the industry itself to end both its tobacco-industry style denials about the damage it causes and the "tit for tat" accusations it repeatedly makes, in favour of embracing the positive change that must now come.”

Output: Scottish salmon carrying up to 20 times the acceptable amount of sea lice are being sold in UK supermarkets, including the Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Each farmed fish is expected to carry no more than one louse, but data from the Salmon and Trout Conservation Scotland indicates that most farmed fish carry an average of at least three lice. Suppliers known to exceed lice limits include Grieg Seafood Shetland, Marine Harvest and the Scottish Salmon Company. The infected fish pose environmental risks, but are no threat to consumers.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
City regulator the FCA moves backwards on diversity targets
 The FCA has set a target of 45% of its senior leadership team identifying as female by 2020 and 50% by 2025 as part of its commitment to the Women in Finance charter. Progress towards the target is reported annually as at 31 March. For 2017 the FCA’s senior leadership team is 36% female, which has fallen from 39% in 2016.

Under new legislation organisations must publish gender pay gap information on an annual basis. Using the required legislative calculation, the FCA’s mean gender pay gap is 19.28% and the median gap is 20.91%. This reflects relatively fewer women in more senior technical and managerial roles and the higher proportion of women at administrator level. This is not an equal pay issue; the FCA’s clear position is that women and men who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value are paid equally.

The FCA has set a target of 8% of its senior leadership team identifying as Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) by 2020 and 13% by 2025. As of 31 March 2017 the FCA’s senior leadership team is 2% BAME which is down from 3% in 2016.

Since March 2017 the FCA has been making better progress towards its targets and anticipates this will be reflected in the 2018 figures.

Christopher Woolard, Chair of the FCA’s Executive Diversity Committee said:

‘Having a diverse workforce helps us make better decisions and judgements as a regulator and it is important that as a regulator we reflect the society which we represent. People who join us say our strong commitment to diversity and inclusion is a major reason for wanting to work at the FCA.

‘We are obviously disappointed that the number of people identifying as female and BAME in senior leadership roles fell slightly in the year ending 31 March 2017. However, we are taking positive steps to ensure that we achieve a better balance across the organisation. This includes improving our gender balance throughout the organisation which will help reduce the gender pay gap.

‘We already know that recruitment to our senior team is beginning to increase the representation of women and BAME colleagues. We have set an ambitious aspiration for greater diversity in the FCA and are determined to meet it.’

The FCA has set out a number of actions that the organisation will take in order to achieve its targets. These steps include:

all senior leaders have an objective around the promotion of diversity and inclusion

senior leaders are focusing on ensuring that diversity and inclusion is considered when allocating work

expecting hiring managers and agencies to produce balanced shortlists which will give the FCA the best candidates for all roles

training sessions demonstrating the importance of diversity and inclusion to the organisation. Those taking part will make a commitment to change by taking positive action through their management decisions

establishing a number of mentoring schemes which include an internal mentoring scheme for women and participation in the 30% Club mentoring scheme and Race for Opportunity Cross Organisational Mentoring Circles

The FCA will report again in 2018 on its progress towards its targets.

Christopher Woolard has also today given a speech to City and Financial LGBT event discussing the important of diversity.

Notes to editors

Output: UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has moved further away from achieving its own diversity targets. The body’s senior leadership team was just 36% female at the end of March, down from 39% in 2016. The regulator’s average gender pay gap was 19%. The proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic staff on the senior leadership team also fell from 3% last year to 2%. The FCA has set a goal of 45% of its senior leaders identifying as female by 2020, rising to 50% by 2025 under its commitment to the Women in Finance charter.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
UK supermarkets sell salmon infested with lice
 Leading supermarkets have been called on to stop selling salmon reared by Scottish farms, where sea lice infestations are up to 20 times the recommended levels.

Co-op, Tesco and Sainsbury's all stock salmon from the worst affected farms, as revealed in new data obtained by the Salmon and Trout Conservation Scotland (S&TCS).

Salmon farms are expected to keep numbers of the parasite - which can cause loss of fins, scarring, secondary infections and death - to no more than one louse per farmed fish.

Leading supermarkets have been called on to ban salmon reared by Scottish farms, where sea lice infestations have been revealed as up to 23 times the recommended levels (file picture)

Data obtained by S&TCS lists the farms that reported an average of at least three lice per farmed fish.

Co-op supplier, The Scottish Salmon Company, recorded lice numbers that exceeded acceptable levels at six of its 10 farms, for 52 weeks.

At the firm's Furnace Quarry farm, each fish was found to have 23 sea lice for a period of seven weeks.

Meanwhile fish at Score Holm farm, run by Tesco salmon supplier Grieg Seafood Shetland, were found to have an average of 22 adult female lice.

Marine Harvest, which supplies Sainsbury's, was also named on the list.

Fish infested with sea lice are discarded or treated with pesticides and pose no health risk to consumers.

S&TCS had asked the Scottish government repeatedly since last year to make public the farms that had breached recommended sea lice levels, before the Scottish Information Commissioner agreed to their request last month.

THE SEA LICE THREAT The tiny parasite can cause loss of fins, scarring, infectionc and ultimately death Sea lice belong to a group of tiny crustacenas called copepods, and have colonized almost every aquatic habitat on Earth. Its like cycle is a series of molts - at the 'napulii' stage the sea louse is free swimming, relying on its own internal yolk reserves. But at its intermediate copepod stage, the lice use their hooked atennas and frontal filaments to arrach themselves to fish; they are still too small to cause any real damage as they feed on the young salmon. As the lice near the adult stage, they attach to the fish by suction and can become lethal. They're able to move on the host fish's body, targetting the head, back and perianal areas - preferring to feed on mucusm blood and skin. There are two species found on salmon, Caligus elongates and Lepeophtheirus salmonis. The former affects many types of fish, while the latter is found only on salmon and related fish. Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->

Guy Linley-Adams, Solicitor for S&TC Scotland, said: 'We now call upon Scottish Ministers to rethink radically their approach to the salmon farming industry, to end the knee-jerk support of the industry in the face of frankly awful environmental performance, and to stop trying to protect it from legitimate criticism.

'We have shared our ideas for change with Marine Scotland and hope Scottish Ministers will now work with environmental and conservation bodies to map out a sustainable future for the industry that no longer damages the precious Scottish marine environment and the species within it.

'We also call upon the industry itself to end both its tobacco-industry style denials about the damage it causes and the "tit for tat" accusations it repeatedly makes, in favour of embracing the positive change that must now come'.

He added: 'The data that Scottish Government didn’t want anyone to see shows that salmon farms have been permitted to operate with breathtakingly high lice numbers for weeks or months on end.

'To date, no meaningful enforcement action, such as the ordering of culls or immediate reductions in fish-farm biomass, has been taken against serial offenders.

'The Scottish Government has a legal duty to protect and conserve wild salmon and sea trout, but this data shows it is failing to rein in the biggest threat [them].”

A Scottish government spokesman said it would work alongside the aquaculture industry to tackle 'major problems' including disease and sea lice.

Scotland is not the only affected region, as parasitic sea lice are disrupting salmon farms around the world.

The lice are actually tiny crustaceans that have infested salmon farms in the US, Canada, Scotland, Norway and Chile, major suppliers of the high-protein, heart-healthy fish.

Experts say defeating the lice will take a suite of new and established technology, including older management tools such as pesticides and newer strategies such as breeding for genetic resistance.

The innovative solutions in use or development include bathing the salmon in warm water to remove lice and zapping the lice with underwater lasers.

Farmers worldwide consider sea lice the biggest threat to their industry and say the persistent problem is making the fish more expensive to consumers.

The lice can grow to about the size of a pea and lay thousands of eggs in their brief lifetime.

Atlantic salmon have held their own with sea lice in the wild for centuries, and fish farmers managed them in aquaculture environments for many years.

The price of salmon has rocketed as sea lice has become a problem for farms around the world

Farmers in Canada identified the lice as a problem around 1994, said Jonathan Carr, executive director of research and environment with the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

Feeding fish a pesticide with the active ingredient of emamectin benzoate became the tool of choice to control lice.

But around 2009, the lice appeared to become resistant to the pesticide, and they have spread globally since.

The worldwide supply of salmon fell almost 10 percent last year, with Norway, the largest producer in the world, especially hard hit.

Output: Co-op, Tesco and Sainsbury's have been found to be selling salmon from Scottish farms where sea lice infestations are up to 20 times accepted levels, according to Salmon and Trout Conservation Scotland. Furnace Quarry farm, which supplies Co-op, Score Holm farm, run by Tesco supplier Grieg Seafood Shetland, and Marine Harvest, which supplies Sainsbury's, are on the list of premises that carry a major infestation. The Scottish government has been accused of playing down the problem. Salmon and trout farmers globally have said sea lice is now the biggest threat to their business.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
China plans around 1,800 electric car charging points
 PTI

About 1,800 charging ports for electric cars would be set up in Chinese capital as part of a study to work out a plan to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles. About 1,615 of these 1,895 charging ports will be installed in the area of administration offices in Beijing citys Tongzhou District, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

By 2020, Tongzhou plans to build a charging port every two kilometers to provide better service to electric vehicles in the suburban district of Beijing. Currently, Tongzhou has 53 charging stations at expressway service areas and shopping malls, and another two for the districts 510 electric taxies. Beijing will move many of its administration offices out of the city center to the eastern suburbs, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning in 2016.

Building the new administrative center will draw approximately four lakh urban residents from the city center to the suburban district, the commission said.

The Chinese capital has sought to address its severe "urban diseases", such as congestion and pollution, by curbing population growth and moving facilities to nearby regions.

Earlier a Chinese official said China, the worlds top automobile market, wants to ban the manufacturing and sales of cars running on traditional fuels as done by the UK and France.

Xin Guobin, Chinas vice minister of industry and information technology said that Beijing had started research on a timetable to phase out production and sales of fossil fuel cars.

While Xin gave no details on the timeframe, he said, "the measures would surely bring profound changes to the sectors development". Many Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have already imposed severe restrictions on sale of new cars to contain air pollution and to restrict traffic congestion. The ministers statement followed similar moves of several countries to end the era of gas-powered vehicles to cut emissions and reduce pollution.

In July, French Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot announced that France would end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of the countrys plan to meet its targets under the Paris climate accord. The same month, the British government followed suit with a similar plan eyeing 2040 as a deadline to stop sales of new fossil fuel cars. China has been implementing a slew of measures, including tax exemptions, discounts for car purchases and an order for government organisations to buy more new energy vehicles (NEVs).

Last year, China sold 507,000 NEVs, an increase of 53 percent year on year. Sales of pure electric vehicles surged 65.1 percent year on year to 409,000, accounting for 80 percent of new energy vehicle sales, the report said.

An earlier guideline by the State Council said China would build more than 12,000 new charging stations before 2020 to fulfil the demands of over 5 million NEVs. According to a roadmap compiled by the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, the share of NEVs sales should reach more than 40 percent of total auto sales by 2030.

Output: Almost 1,900 electric vehicle (EV) charging ports will be installed in Beijing over the next three years, with more than 1,600 of those located in the city's Tongzhou District, as part of a study looking at the phasing out of fossil fuel-dependent cars. China wants to follow France and the UK in banning the manufacturing and sale of petrol and diesel cars, but has no timeline for such a ban. In 2016, China sold 507,000 new energy vehicles, a rise of 53% since last year, while sales of pure EVs rose 65.1% to 409,000.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
BrainCo to use brainwave data measuring student engagement
 If Blade Runner had a classroom scene, it might look something like the promotional video by BrainCo, Inc. Students sit at desks wearing electronic headbands that report EEG data back to a teacher’s dashboard, and that information purports to measure students’ attention levels. The video’s narrator explains: “School administrators can use big data analysis to determine when students are better able to concentrate.”

BrainCo just scored $15 million in venture funding from Chinese investors, and has welcomed a prominent Harvard education dean, who will serve as an adviser. The company says it has a working prototype and is in conversations with a Long Island school to pilot the headset.

The headband raises questions from neuroscientists and psychologists, who say little evidence exists to support what the device-and-dashboard combination aims to do. It also raises legal questions, like what BrainCo will do with students’ biometric data.

BrainCo has some big ideas. The company’s CEO has said that BrainCo aims to develop a tool that can translate thoughts directly into text, or “brain typing.” To support that work, the company plans to use data collected from students using its headsets to compile “the world’s largest brainwave database.”

Theodore Zanto, a professor of neurology at the University of California at San Francisco, had two words when he first read through the company’s website: “Holy shit.”

The brains behind BrainCo

The founder and CEO of BrainCo is Bicheng Han, a PhD candidate at the Center for Brain Science at Harvard University. In 2015, his Somerville, Mass.-based startup was incubated in the Harvard Innovation Lab, and last year the company received $5.5 million in seed funding in a round led by the Boston Angel Club, with participation from Han Tan Capital and Wandai Capital, to develop BrainCo’s first product: Focus 1.

Teachers have an innate ability to know when their students are engaged, but we want to give them a superpower so they can track and quantify that over time. Max Newlon

Max Newlon, a research scientist at BrainCo, adds the company is also studying if the headset could help students and families “train their brain” to improve attention skills. Focus 1 is a headband that aims to detect and report brain activity through EEG, or electroencephalography, which measures in the brain. To advertise the device to schools, BrainCo packages the headset as Focus EDU, which essentially is the headset plus a dashboard where teachers can view all of their students’ EEG data. According to the video, a high numerical score for the EEG signal suggests that a student is paying attention; a low score is interpreted as a distracted or unfocused student.

BrainCo is hardly the first company to sell so-called “brain-training”—or even EEG headsets. Similar devices include Muse, a “personal meditation” headband intended to guide relaxation based on real-time EEG readings. There are also Neurocore Brain Performance Centers, clinics that “empower you to train your brain” also using EEG readings. (Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is among Neurocore’s investors.)

Focus EDU, by contrast, is among the first EEG products that will be marketed directly to teachers and schools.

“We are trying to be the first company to quantify this invisible metric” of student engagement, says Newlon. “Teachers have an innate ability to know when their students are engaged, but we want to give them a superpower so they can track and quantify that over time.”

The idea was enough for BrainCo to win awards including “Most Innovative” at a pitchfest during the 2017 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) national conference.

But the company has also faced less enthusiastic reviews. At the 2016 CES conference, an electronics and consumer tech tradeshow, BrainCo’s Focus 1 device flopped in a live demo, which attempted to use human brainwaves detected by the headband to control a robotic hand. The Daily Dot called it the most “cringeworthy demonstration” at the event. “That’s a mishap that calls into question the overall function of the device,” the reporter wrote. “Was it ever actually reading the brainwaves at all?”

When BrainCo returned to CES in 2017, the company arrived with an even bigger robot—which the site WearableZone reported was a success—along with a strategic “pivot” towards education.

More recently, BrainCo has chalked up some big wins: It signed education superstar, James Ryan, Harvard’s dean of education, as an adviser. And now it’s closed a $15 million Series A funding round, bringing the the company’s total funding to nearly $20.5 million. The funding was led by Chinese investors Decent Capital and the China Electronics Corporation, which on its website describes itself as “one of the key state-owned conglomerates directly under the administration of central government, and the largest state-owned IT company in China.”

image credit: BrainCo

Making it ‘official’

Increasing engagement in class isn’t the only way BrainCo plans to sell its product. According to Newlon, the startup hopes to secure approval from the US Food & Drug Administration to use the headset for ADHD therapy.

BrainCo aims to rely on neurofeedback (using EEG metrics) to do “brain-training.” According to UCSF’s Theodore Zanto, brain-training involves repeating a specific task, such as playing a videogame, until the individual is considered focused. Advocates contend that improving focus on a specific task can help individuals better their ability to pay attention to other activities.

Even in resting EEG, there are different subgroups [of brain activity]. It’s not just ADHD; there is variability in normal kids. Sandra Loo

Companies that claim to offer similar brain-training options, like Neurocore, frequently cost more than $250 just for an evaluation. BrianCo wants to offer a cheaper, take-home version. “We are hoping to provide an alternative to lower the cost to make it happen in home,” says Newlon.Newlon says BrainCo is also working on a smartphone game that will rely on EEG measurements from the headset to help people improve focus. Students could play the game for 20- to 30-minute sessions and earn points when they are in a focused state.

Several scientists have concerns about at-home “brain-training,” however, as well as about asking teachers to use EEG to inform pedagogical practices.

Sandra Loo, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, says EEG technology is not sophisticated enough to accurately factor in important variables such as neurodiversity. That, she says, can yield misleading assumptions about how an individual student is doing or what he or she needs.

“Even in resting EEG, there are different subgroups [of brain activity]. It’s not just ADHD; there is variability in normal kids,” says Loo, who also directs pediatric neuropsychology at UCLA. “No one is paying attention to that, [instead] the approach is one-size-fits-all—’Do this and it will work for your child.’”

Zanto, who directs UCSF’s neuroscience program, doesn’t believe there is any physical danger in wearing the headset and administering EEG without a doctor present. What does concern him are errors in recording EEG signals—which are sensitive to muscle movement—as well as incorrect interpretations of the data.

“I haven’t seen any data indicating you can dissociate [in an EEG scan] if someone is paying attention to the teacher or their phone or just their own internal thoughts and daydreaming,” says Zanto. Students wearing the headset “might be incredibly focused, but focused on the wrong thing, and you could get the same EEG measures.”

Even if the EEG is accurate, Loo worries that teachers without medical training might not know how to analyze the data—something that could lead to improper uses of it. “Mental-health professionals undergo a lot of training to make an accurate diagnosis,” says Loo. “I wouldn’t go in and try to do what the teachers are doing without their training.”

image credit: BrainCo

Research questions

When EdSurge asked to see some of the scientific findings that BrainCo was using as evidence of their efforts, the company pointed to a meta-analysis (a study of other studies) suggesting neurofeedback can be an effective treatment for ADHD.

I haven’t seen anything indicating neurofeedback of this sort can improve outcomes [for people with] ADHD Theodore Zanto

“The scientific evidence doesn’t support neurofeedback as a treatment for ADHD,” says Loo. “I have done research on EEG and ADHD for my whole career, and we just don’t know yet.”To be sure, Zanto, Loo and other EEG experts who spoke with EdSurge say there is scientific evidence that correlates EEG activity with attention. But using EEG data to parse what a student is actually paying attention to or using neurofeedback to improve attention is more difficult to confirm. What’s more, there’s scant evidence that neurofeedback can be used to treat learning disabilities, say scientists.

“I haven’t seen anything indicating neurofeedback of this sort can improve outcomes [for people with] ADHD,” echoes Zanto. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility, but that just means more research needs to be done.”

Marketing claims related to neurofeedback products have attracted regulatory concern before: Last year, the Federal Trade Commission leveled a $2-million fine on Lumosity for "deceptive advertising" about the effectiveness of its brain-training games.

Researchers at BrainCo seem to be at least aware of the research gap. Included in the email with the meta-analysis, BrainCo shared a WebMD article noting “that we still need more research.”

Big data plans

BrainCo’s goal of treating ADHD—and helping educators in general—is related to another interest for company, as stated by its CEO in an interview that ran on the Forbes website in May. In the Q&A, Han said that the company wants to use artificial intelligence to create a brain typing tool—something that turns thoughts into text. Data collected from students using the devices would be key to informing the development of that technology.

BrainCo says that a company in China has ordered 20,000 devices already.

“Our goal with the first 20,000 devices, each of which will be used by multiple students in schools, is to capture data from 1.2 million people,” Han said in the interview. “This will enable us to use artificial intelligence on what will be the world’s largest database to improve our algorithms for things like attention and emotion detection.”

But BrainCo has not yet established any policies that guide (or prevent) the company from using data collected from U.S. students. The company intends to “use [headset] data for a number of different things,” according to Newlon.

“The hope is when we have this really big database, we will do some analysis that others haven't been able to do yet,” Newlon adds. “If we have a big database, we might do more interesting research along the lines of something like brain typing.”

Privacy unknown

The headband’s potential for ADHD therapy isn’t currently mentioned on BrainCo’s website. To date, the company hasn’t yet gone through a clinical trial to approve the product for medical purposes.

But a lack of transparency on the company website about data privacy policies could trigger other troubles.

For instance, Bill Fitzgerald, director of privacy review programs at Common Sense Media, points out that BrainCo does not have any publicly-available privacy statement, ethical review or any information about how students’ data will be stored or used. If a parent wishes to have their child’s information deleted, BrainCo doesn’t offer information on how that happens or how it will prove to families that the biometric information is indeed removed. There is also no public-facing process on how families will be notified if their child’s biometric data is breached.

Our goal with the first 20,000 devices, each of which will be used by multiple students in schools, is to capture data from 1.2 million people. Bicheng Han

Newlon says that BrainCo’s privacy policies are still being “ironed out.” He stresses that the company has not yet started collecting data—though it plans to do so.In many cases, safeguarding student privacy is required by law. Under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Emily Tabatabai, a privacy lawyer, says “a provider needs to have procedures in place to address the collection of data, the deletion of data, how it will be used and shared.”

While FERPA, the federal student privacy law, doesn’t mandate that privacy policies are posted on a company's website, some state laws do. Tabatabai says “at the very least, the company must have data protections in place and describe its privacy policies to the school.” The lawyer also underscores that determining which privacy laws may apply to any company is dependent upon factors such as whether or not information is collected online, or if a student's educational records are being shared with the company.

BrainCo declined to name the Long Island school that it says is considering to pilot its device. When EdSurge began reporting for this story, BrainCo claimed that the pilot was slated to begin on Oct. 31. Since then, the company has backed off that timeline and says the trial will be delayed.

Newlon wrote in an email: “We will not be running any pilot study without the proper data privacy procedures in place.”

Newlon also points out that the company is an Institutional Review Board (IRB) organization, which gives it permission “to review and monitor biomedical research involving human subjects,” according to FDA rules. But an IRB doesn’t make BrainCo immune to data breaches, or malpractice. “If they are looking at the details of a pilot and they don't have these [privacy] questions answered, they should stop every single thing they are doing until they do,” says Fitzgerald.

Loo, the psychologist at UCLA, adds that by using medical records—namely, EEG recordings made in a classroom—may also mean that BrainCo will have to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which lays out privacy regulations for medical data.

“Any time you have medical biological materials, a lot of safety measures come into play,” says Loo. “Is there confidentiality there? Can the company release [data] to insurance companies? Who knows.”

Blurry vision

Can the company release [data] to insurance companies? Who knows. Sandra Loo

Meanwhile, BrainCo’s CEO did not respond when asked in an email about the lack of privacy regulations in place. And when EdSurge asked to try out one of the Focus EDU headsets, BrainCo also declined.Ryan, the company’s adviser and Harvard’s dean of education, is aware that BrainCo wants to pilot Focus EDU on students. But as for any data and privacy protections underway at the company, he says “I don’t know, I haven’t had a conversation with Max [Newlon] about it.”

The wild ambition of selling brain-reading headbands to schools—which are charged with protecting students—seems to raise a range of concerns, including deeply philosophical ones. How far should schools go to “train” students?

Output: Edtech firm BrainCo has secured $15m in funding to develop headsets recording students' brainwave activity. The firm plans to monitor brainwave data to determine when students are most and least focused during lessons. BrainCo also says it plans to develop other functions for the headsets, such as software that would enable thoughts to be converted in to text. The firm also aims to use the headset for ADHD therapy.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Nestlé, Hershey and Mars 'deceived' customers over palm oil: RAN
 Nestlé, Mars and Hershey have been accused of breaking pledges to stop using “conflict palm oil” from deforested Indonesian jungles, just days before the annual Halloween confectionery frenzy.

The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) says consumers have been “deceived” by promises from the brands to clean up their supply chains which were subsequently delayed, revised or watered down.

Laurel Sutherlin, a spokesman for the group, told the Guardian: “For too many years, Nestlé, Mars and Hershey have cherry-picked their [palm oil] targets and then moved the goalposts when they don’t achieve them. There’s just no further room for error to prevent the extinction of tigers, orangutans and elephants.”

The last parcel of Sumatran rainforest in which these three species all roam – along with rhinos, clouded leopards and sun bears – is vanishing at a dramatic pace as lucrative palm oil plantations illegally eat into tropical forestland.

The brands source palm oil from this 2.6m hectare Leuser region, via complex supply chains, some involving traders linked to suppliers illegally logging in the region.

Nestlé promised to end deforestation in its supply chain by 2015 in response to Greenpeace’s KitKat campaign of 2010. After Ran’s “Snack food 20” report, this was upgraded to a pledge of “no sourcing from areas converted from natural forests after 1 February 2013”. The target was missed.

“Four years later we can now trace over 90% of our palm oil back to the mill of origin and almost two thirds back to the plantation level,” said Nestlé spokeswoman Peggy Diby. “Our ambition is to raise this figure to 100% by 2020, back to plantation.”

In July, Nestlé told the Guardian it could only source 47% of its palm oil to plantations, suggesting a big improvement in the last three months.

Hershey’s said in 2014 that it would source all of its palm oil back to the mill level by 2015, and to plantations by 2016. But its plantation level sourcing actually fell in 2016 from 27% to 14%, and the commitment has been deferred until 2020.

Greenpeace protestors dressed as orangutans demonstrate against palm oil harvested from rainforest destruction outside a Nestle shareholders’ meeting. Photograph: Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Jeff Beckman, Hershey’s communications director said: “While we remain deeply committed to pushing all stakeholders to accelerate traceability and bring full transparency to this supply chain along with our supplier partners, we realised it would take more time to achieve this goal than originally anticipated.”

Mars had promised to cut conflict palm oil out of its supply chain by 2015. A spokesperson said: “Our traceability levels remain high. In the year to date, 97% of our palm oil is traceable to mill level and 40% traceable to the plantation. The evidence of the challenge in Leuser is clear, and we are already taking steps toward action.”

Gemma Tillack, Ran’s campaign director said: “It is our view that the brands have deceived consumers by continually claiming to be tackling deforestation when they have not executed the actions required to achieve a moratorium on the forest frontlines of their global supply chains.”

Output: Hershey, Nestlé and Mars have been accused of breaking commitments to end their use of “conflict palm oil”, taken from deforested land in Indonesia, by the Rainforest Action Network.  The environmental group claims that the companies have “deceived” consumers by failing to improve their supply chains. Nestlé has not met its target of “no sourcing from areas converted from natural forests after 1 February 2013”. Hershey’s pledge to source all palm oil to plantations by 2016 has been deferred to 2020. Campaigners claim that Mars’ promise to stop using conflict palm oil by 2015 has also not been met.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
London needs to build 66,000 new homes each year: Mayor
 The mayor of London has accused property developers of constructing “too many luxury penthouses that only the very wealthiest investors can afford” and insisted the rate of affordable house building has to significantly increase.

In a new assessment of housing need, Sadiq Khan said the pace of construction should increase from 29,000 homes a year to 66,000, adding that 65% of these homes needed to be affordable, far higher than the current rate of 38%.

“The housing crisis is a major factor in the high cost of living in the capital, as well as putting home ownership out of the reach of many young Londoners who fear they will never get a foot on the property ladder,” Khan told the Guardian. “In the worst cases, it can affect social cohesion, cause poor health and plunge residents into poverty. I cannot overestimate how terrible a situation we inherited.”

City Hall calculates that a new approach will require a major shift in strategy, switching the emphasis from building blocks of luxury apartments in central London to constructing more family housing in the cheaper suburbs.

Between 1997 and 2016, London’s population increased by a quarter – an extra 1.7 million people – but only 370,000 homes were added to the stock. One result has been a rise in the number of families sharing with other families, which now affects 470,000 households.

The figures are contained in a stark assessment of housing need that will form the basis of the London Plan, a five-year planning strategy due to be published next month.

Khan said: “Successive prime ministers have failed to invest anywhere near enough in building new affordable homes. The previous mayor [Boris Johnson] stopped investing in homes for social rent altogether and cut the number of new affordable homes he funded to the lowest level since records began.”

Khan revealed that no homes for social rent – the cheapest available – were built in London in the last year of Johnson’s mayoralty. Just 29,000 homes a year of all types were built between 2013-14 and 2015-16.

The mayor is using the figures to pile pressure on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to include in next month’s budget a dramatic increase in state subsidies for affordable housing in the capital from £500m to £2.7bn a year.

The new strategy is set to focus on building more homes in outer London and will include a presumption in favour of development on small sites in suburban town centres. Khan is also pushing for greater powers from the government to force unused sites, including public land, into use for housing, including speeding up compulsory purchase orders.

Despite City Hall’s assessment that 65% of all new homes must be “affordable” – which Khan defines as being rented for no more than a third of average earnings, or under shared ownership schemes – insiders concede this is unlikely to be possible. Khan is expected to set the target for affordable housing at a more achievable, but still highly ambitious, 50% in the London Plan.

St George Wharf in Vauxhall. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

There has been a growing anger at the number of luxury developments, especially among people struggling to afford starter homes or to rent cheaply. One totemic example is the 50-storey St George’s Wharf tower beside the river Thames at Vauxhall where two-thirds of homes were last year revealed by the Guardian to be in foreign ownership, with a quarter held through secretive offshore companies based in tax havens.

Concern spread to the suburbs earlier this month when it emerged that the London borough of Redbridge had agreed to allow the supermarket firm Sainsbury’s to build 683 homes, only 4% of which are guaranteed to be affordable.

Last month, Theresa May announced an extra £2bn for council housing nationwide, but was accused of tinkering when it emerged that it would only result in an extra 5,000 homes a year being built.

In common with town halls across the country, Khan is lobbying for councils to be allowed to borrow to invest in homes. The communities secretary, Sajid Javid, said on Sunday that the government might authorise extra public borrowing to fund infrastructure to deliver more housing. According to some reports, his department believes £50bn is needed. However, Hammond told the Commons this was not government policy.

Andrew Boff, the Conservative deputy chair of the London assembly’s housing committee, warned that Khan’s approach of increasing the proportion of affordable homes needed in each development was putting developers off building any housing.

He believes increasing the whole housing supply would result in lower prices and therefore greater affordability. “He would see more homes built if he had a lower figure for affordable homes,” Boff said. “If you increase the number, the price will go down.“Despite the rhetoric, he has managed to start 20% fewer homes a year than his predecessor after 18 months in office. This directly goes against his promise in his manifesto that each year would be an increase in the number of homes being built.”

City Hall insiders point out that this is a result of the low number left in the pipeline by the previous Conservative administration.

Jonathan Seager, the executive director of housing at London First, the business lobby group, said: “These new figures show us that the housing crisis is worsening. It is now one of the most serious challenges facing business, preventing firms from recruiting and retaining the talent they need to grow and succeed.”

Output: London must increase the number of homes constructed each year from 29,000 to 66,000, with 65% of this stock being classified as affordable, compared with the current rate of 38%, according to the city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan. The plans would necessitate a change in focus from building luxury apartment blocks in the city centre to constructing higher numbers of family homes in suburbs. Analysts expect that Khan will ultimately set a target of 50% for affordable housing, defined as that which can be rented for a third of average earnings or which is available through shared ownership.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
The Economist attracts over 7 million Snapchat viewers a month
 This week, The Economist celebrated its one-year anniversary as a Snapchat Discover partner. The news heavyweight may stand out on the youthful social media app, but it has drawn over 7 million viewers per month, according to the publisher, with editions that educate readers on serious topics like globalization’s losers or the war on drugs.

Those editions are built by Lucy Rohr, a veteran digital producer and editor at The Economist. “I don’t think we’ve come up with the Economist Snapchat secret-sauce recipe yet,” Rohr said. “It would be boring if we had.” Here’s a lightly edited look at what Rohr does in a typical day.

6:30 a.m.: I wake up and resist the urge to check my email, and check the weather instead. I then head out for a run. Prospect Park never ceases to delight me, but I often catch myself thinking about work and ideas for editions while I’m running.

8 a.m.: On the way to work, I check my emails and take care of anything that doesn’t require too much thought. I read the Axios newsletter and, Wi-Fi permitting, look at the headlines elsewhere. I find it interesting to compare the front pages of The New York Times with what Fox has up.

8:30 a.m.: Our Snapchat team is based in Bucharest, Romania, and London, so I spend much of my morning in New York online with them before they log off. Today, I spend an hour or so fine-tuning Snaps with our animators and then speak with Charlie Wells, our Snapchat deputy, about a script on e-commerce that he’s working on. I check in with our designer and tell him I’ve decided to nix an edition we were thinking of doing on coal. We discuss what he’ll be working on instead.

10 a.m.: I have my weekly call with Tom Standage, one of The Economist’s deputy editors and the inexhaustible force behind our digital strategy. Tom is closely involved with the Snapchat team, a bit like an executive producer. We discuss how the current edition (on [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping]) is performing (middle of the road), a better treatment for the first three Snaps of a forthcoming edition on plastic and the Snapchat department’s content plan for the rest of the year.

10:40 a.m.: I hop on a call with the animators who have been frustrated with bottlenecks in our production process. We agree to experiment with a few changes that will hopefully improve things. I find these calls hard, but also essential for ensuring that everyone in the department feels like their voices are being heard.

11:30 a.m.: Charlie and I go over the video for the coming week’s edition, then talk more about the e-commerce script. Scripting is central to the success of an edition. Our audience on Snapchat is intelligent and discerning. If we don’t get the framing right, we tend to get punished for it. Scriptwriting isn’t just about writing copy for 14 Snaps. We read widely before putting together what we think is the most important and relevant content for this audience. Our Snaps vary. Some feature a simple question or statement written with the intention of compelling the viewer into swiping up to read an article. Others are “top-Snap only” content. These often have lots of text on them. They’re intended to be shareable/screenshot-able primers on a topic. We are thinking constantly about how design and other visuals will bring the Snaps to life.

Noon: Every second week we review the performance of our editions. Often, we focus on one particular detail. This week, we look at cover tile, the images and text that appear on the Discover front page. We’re interested in understanding the types of images and copy that have performed best and worst over time.

1 p.m.: I grab a shrimp poke bowl from Urbanspace. While I eat, I read the FT.

2-4 p.m.: Most of the team is now offline for the evening. I try and respond to any email I missed in the morning, and turn my attention to writing a script for an edition on globalization’s losers. Then, I write some feedback on Snaps that one of the animators has put up for my review. I jot down a few notes for an upcoming meeting on staffing.

4:30 p.m.: I meet someone from another news organization for a coffee. We talk about running marathons, Filipino food and challenges facing publishers as they try to adapt their content for different platforms.

6 p.m.: I go home and cook dinner. It’s my meditation!

8 p.m.: I do another pass of the script I’m working on, then email the team to confirm what they’ll be working on tomorrow before I get online. I look at my calendar for the following day to make sure I’m prepared for any meetings.

10 p.m.: In an ideal world, I am in bed with my book!

Output: The Economist has drawn more than seven million Snapchat viewers a month in the year since its launch on the social media app. The news publisher educates Snapchat's largely youthful audience with Snapchat Discover packages on serious topics such as the war on drugs. These editions are put together by New York-based Snapchat editor Lucy Rohr, along with teams in Bucharest and London.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Netflix and Snapchat team up for Stranger Things AR promos
 Netflix has teamed up with Snapchat to create a ‘first-of-its-kind’ World Lens to promote the launch of the highly-anticipated Stranger Things 2.

Snapchat has created a portal Lens, which enables users to walk into another world through their smartphone. This first use of the technology gives users the chance to enter the ‘upside down’ version of Joyce Byer’s living room.

Within the AR experience, Snapchatters can move around, encounter surprises, and see out the door back into the real world.

The portal World Lens is only available on iPhone 6S and above with iOS 11 installed. Those without an iPhone can turn their camera around to see Byer’s living room through an interactive ‘gyroscope’ Lens, meaning they can experience the portal without walking through the door.

All Snapchatters, regardless of phone or OS, will have access to a face Lens that mimics Eleven’s nosebleed, however.

As part of the campaign, Netflix and Snapchat have also linked up with Shazam for another first. Using Shazam, users can unlock the Lens by scanning the Stranger Things theme song whenever it plays.

Finally, a third Lens will be made available exclusively in the UK via a Snapcode at 8am today (27 October). This will coincide with Shannon Purser, who plays Barb, taking part in a Stranger Things binge watch party with fans at Topshop’s Oxford Street store. This World Lens will enable UK Snapchatters to place the swimming pool where Barb went missing in Season one onto the floor and walk around it.

Join us at the 2017 Effective Mobile Marketing Awards Ceremony, taking place in London on Thursday 16 November, to mix with the industry's best and brightest, and raise a glass to the year's best campaigns and solutions. To find out more, and to book your place, click here.

Output: Netflix and Snapchat have launched augmented reality (AR) experiences to promote the start of online TV series Stranger Things 2. Snapchat's portal Lens lets users enter an "upside down" version of the Byers' family living room. The pair have also teamed up with Shazam for a face Lens that mimics Eleven's nosebleed. In addition, users can activate the lens by scanning the Stranger Things theme tune. A third, UK exclusive, world Lens of the swimming pool where Barb went missing became available via a Snapcode on 27 October, which gives viewers the illusion of walking around the pool.