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Over 16,000 sign scientists’ letter warning of threat to planet
 Story highlights Scientists send warning to the public to fix environmental problems now The letter has been so popular, hundreds more have signed it since it came out Monday

CNN —

More than 16,000 scientists from 184 countries have published a second warning to humanity advising that we need to change our wicked ways to help the planet.

In 1992, 1,700 independent scientists signed the “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.” The letter warned that “human beings and the natural world are on a collision course” and if environmental damage was not stopped, our future was at risk.

That letter made headlines 25 years ago, but the world still faces daunting environmental challenges. So environmental scientist William Ripple and his colleagues decided to create a new letter that has also struck a nerve. Since it was published in the journal BioScience on Monday, hundreds more scientists have signed on to the letter.

The letter essentially says that if there is not a groundswell of public pressure to change human behavior, the planet will sustain “substantial and irreversible” harm.

“This is not about some natural phenomenon that is removed from humans,” said Ripple, a distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University. “If we don’t have a healthy biosphere, as it is called, if we continue to have major environmental problems and climate change problems, then this goes directly to the welfare of humans. People need to understand that we are trying to save ourselves from catastrophic huge misery.”

Though there have been a handful of positive changes, current data show that many environmental problems have gotten “alarmingly” worse since the last letter was penned.

Climate change

Future global warming

Since 1970, carbon dioxide emissions have increased sharply, by about 90%. About 78% of that comes from fossil fuel combustion, such as through the use of coal to heat our homes and driving cars that use gas, and through basic industrial processes and human activity which accounts for the majority of the total greenhouse gas emissions increase from 1970 to 2011, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

That human activity has helped raise the global average temperature. 2016 was the warmest year on record, according to NASA. In fact, the 10 warmest years on the 136-year record have occurred since 1998, according to the most recent data available.

Though the Trump administration has said climate change programs are a “waste of your money” and that climate change itself is an “expensive hoax,” the data suggest that temperature increases will probably cause a shortage in the world’s food crops. The weather will become more damaging, with more intense storms. Sea levels will rise and threaten coastal cities like Miami and New Orleans.

Dead zones

The Dead Zone

The new letter lists data showing a 75% increase in the number of ocean dead zones since the publication of the first letter. Dead zones are the areas in oceans, large lakes and rivers where marine life either dies or is driven away because the zone lacks sufficient oxygen.

Although dead zones can occur naturally, they are created largely by excessive nutrient pollution from human activities like farming and industrial pollution, according to the National Ocean Service. There are many along the US East Coast and in the Great Lakes, and the second largest in the world is in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists believe there are at least 405 dead zones worldwide, including near South America, Japan, China and southeast Australia.

That’s not merely bad news for the fish that live there; it is bad news for the humans who eat the fish and other seafood that need the fish to survive. The dead zone in the Chesapeake Bay, for instance – which measures 1.89 cubic miles, or nearly the volume of 3.2 million Olympic-size swimming pools – results in the loss of tens of millions of fish, which both humans and crabs eat. It threatens the oysters there, too.

Despite the challenges there, the proposed Trump budget would cut cleanup funds for the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes and other bodies of water with dead zones.

Fish in trouble

Seafood - Something For Everyone

There has been an increasing appetite for fish, but it is getting harder to catch them. The recent revision of the US dietary guidelines urged Americans to eat more fish for heart health and weight control. More people have started to see the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, which also emphasizes fish over meat.

The fishing industry has upped its efforts, but there has been a large drop in the harvest of wild-caught fish. In fact, a 2006 study found that all species of wild seafood could collapse within the next 50 years if more isn’t done to protect these populations. About 2,300 species of fish are listed as endangered or threatened according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In earlier research, scientists also predicted that this drop could compromise people’s need for protein and for micronutrients, particularly in developing nations. Already, 45% of deaths among children under age 5 is due largely to health problems caused by undernutrition according to a 2013 study.

Fresh water threatened

Protecting Water Quality for People and the Environment

Earth has seen a 26% reduction in the amount of fresh water available per capita since the 1992 letter. If conservation efforts and industry levels of pollution don’t change, UNESCO predicts that the world will face a 40% global water deficit by 2030.

Population growth, industrialization, urbanization and an increase in water consumption have threatened our freshwater sources significantly, research shows.

Currently, 20% of the world’s aquifers are being over-exploited.

Investment in water infrastructure has gone up globally and in the US, but some scientists question whether that investment will be enough.

Forests threatened

CNN Explains: Deforestation 02:22 - Source: CNN

Between 1990 and 2015, the world has lost 129 million hectares of forest land – an area about the size of South Africa.

Most deforestation has happened in tropical areas, but the US has also lost significant forest land. Studies have projected that with US population growth continuing as predicted, the country could lose 50 million more acres by 2050.

Trees aren’t merely pretty; they help clean the air and water, provide lumber for construction, create habitats for animals and help mitigate the impact of climate change.

There is some hope when it comes to forests though, as studies have shown that deforestation has slowed and more forests are better managed globally, suggesting that if humans put their minds to it, negative environmental trends can change.

Unsustainable population spike

Population growth across Africa 00:56 - Source: CNN

There has been a 35% increase in the human population since the 1992 letter, putting a strain on the increasingly limited number of available natural resources. That trend is not expected to change any time soon.

Researchers predict that there will be nearly 10 billion people living on Earth by 2050, according to the United Nations, with much of the population growth occurring in developing nations with the highest fertility rates but also the lowest food security.

Progress has also been seen when it comes to slowing growth, in the form of increasing education for women and girls and concentrated family planning efforts.

Animals disappearing

He can hear species disappearing 05:40 - Source: CNN

There has been a nearly 29% collective reduction in the number of animals in the world since the 1992 letter. Scientists say we are living in the sixth mass-extinction event, which means three-quarters of all species could disappear in the coming centuries.

A 2017 publication also looked at a well-studied group of 177 mammal species and found that all of them had lost at least 30% of their territory between 1900 and 2015; more than 40% of those species “experienced severe population declines,” meaning they lost at least 80% of their geographic range during that time. Put another way: This particular extinction is “more severe” than previously thought.

Some progress

Antarctic ozone layer is healing 01:20 - Source: CNN

In the past 25 years, ozone depletion is the one significant positive trend.

There had been a steady decline in the Earth’s ozone layer, caused in part by gasses released by aerosol spray cans and refrigerants, reducing the ozone layer’s ability to absorb ultraviolet radiation.

After 1987, when the world’s governments came together to craft the United Nations Montreal Protocol, emissions of ozone-depleting gasses decreased significantly. The ozone is expected to see a significant recovery by the middle of the century.

The effort to help the ozone is one example, Ripple said, that when people come together to work on something, they can make a huge impact. That’s what he hopes the new letter will accomplish.

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In addition to seeing more scientists sign the letter after its publication, Ripple has been overwhelmed by the number of other people who have reached out, some sending poems and songs that they have created about the environment, and pledged to help.

Ripple and his co-authors aren’t sure what the next steps will be, but like many a manifesto writer before him, he is hopeful, despite the dire tone of the letter.

“I’m an optimist,” he said. “My hope is that this letter triggers a worldwide conversation about these environmental and climate trends and perhaps more fundamentally that it can raise people’s awareness of the seriousness of global environmental problems so we can come together. It is so important to work together as a human race to make a sustainable future on planet Earth.”

Output: More than 16,000 scientists from 184 countries have issued a warning to humanity about the consequences of climate change. The statement is a follow-up to the 1992 World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, signed by 1,700 individuals, which stated that environmental damage could threaten our survival. The new letter argues that the planet will experience “substantial and irreversible“  harm unless public pressure results in behavioural change. The scientists cited data that showed environmental problems have got much worse since the first letter was published.


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India to introduce clean fuels two years early due to smog
 Measures aimed at slashing vehicle emissions will be introduced two years early, the Indian government has announced in its first major policy response to the Delhi smog crisis.

As the haze improved slightly on Wednesday – albeit to levels still considered “very poor” – the Indian petroleum ministry said it would introduce Bharat VI fuels from April next year, instead of April 2020 as originally planned.

The Bharat standards govern the volume of toxic materials permitted in the fuels that power the estimated 10 million cars that operate in the Indian capital and contribute significantly to its dangerously poor air quality.

The new fuels will have one-fifth the sulphur count of the existing standards, and 1,000 times less sulphur than fuels used in 1995.

Polash Mukherjee, an air pollution researcher at the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said the fuel standards would need to be paired with equally stringent technology standards to be fully effective. The combination of the two could reduce particulate matter from diesel vehicles by 90%, and petrol vehicles by around 60%, he said.

The technology standards are scheduled to be implemented in 2020, but Mukherjee said lobbying efforts were under way to bring them forward.

Vehicle emissions make up around a fifth of the total pollution load in Delhi. Studies suggest road dust thrown up by vehicles contributes another 35%. The two combined result in gaseous fumes forming secondary particles that bond with the thick dust and linger in the air.

The initiative is the first long-term policy step to be taken by the central government since pollution levels reached “hazardous” levels last week and doctors declared a public health emergency.

00:31 Delhi smog declared public health emergency – video

Narendra Modi’s government has been accused of failing to take the crisis seriously, while some measures announced by Delhi authorities have been held up by courts and criticised as quick fixes.

On Wednesday the Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, met his counterpart in Haryana, a neighbouring state that also has dangerous air pollution levels. In a joint statement with Manohar Lal Khattar, Kejriwal said the pair had agreed “on many measures aimed at preventing its re-occurrence in the winter of 2018”.

Kejriwal has been critical of the states that surround Delhi for not cracking down on the annual burning of hundreds of acres of crop waste, which sends toxic smoke billowing across north India. However, state leaders including the Punjab chief minister, Amarinder Singh, have said their farmers cannot afford to clear their fields any other way, and need financial incentives to do so.

“Farmers cannot be expected to give up crop residue burning completely till the time they are provided viable solutions,” Singh said on Tuesday.

Meteorologists have predicted the “very poor” conditions will last for the foreseeable future.

Output: India is to introduce measures designed to reduce vehicle emissions two years ahead of schedule, the country's government has announced. The move is a response to the current smog crisis in Delhi. The country’s petroleum ministry will introduce Bharat VI fuels, which have one-fifth of the sulphur count of existing fuels and 1,000 times less sulphur than fuels from 1995, from April 2018, instead of April 2020. Vehicle emissions are responsible for 20% of total pollution in Delhi, which has an estimated 10 million cars, with road dust contributing a further 35%.


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Brazil planing fire-sale of oil reserves, claim environmentalists
 Brazil is planning a fire-sale of its oil resources before shrinking global carbon budgets push down demand and prices, environmental groups have warned.

The focus of concern is a government proposal for up to $300bn in tax relief to companies that develop offshore oilfields that opponents claim would use up 7% of humanity’s emission budget if global warming is to be kept below 2C.

Climate Observatory, WWF, Greenpeace and other groups say the subsidies could spark a get-it-out-of-the-ground race with fossil fuel rivals such as the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway and the UK.

The accusations contradict Brazil’s position at this week’s climate talks, where the country’s negotiators have urged the world to be more ambitious in cutting carbon emissions.

“The country is doing the exact opposite – increasing emissions and opening itself up to big oil with billionaire subsidies at a time when the country still tries to recover from its worst recession,” said Carlos Rittl, executive secretary of Climate Observatory.

The pre-salt fields are believed to contain oil and gas equivalent to 176bn barrels of crude, or 74.8bn tonnes of CO2. This is 7% of the carbon budget for 2C and 18% for 1.5C, according to calculations by Climate Observatory

Extraction is already under way, but the administration of Michel Temer, who seized power in an impeachment plot against former president Dilma Rousseff last year, is keen to accelerate the process.

It has proposed a bill – known as MP 795 – that would slash taxes up until 2040 for firms that win auctions to develop the oil fields. The subsidy would give the government one of the lowest revenue shares in the world of each barrel extracted, effectively undercutting the competition.

“This is a terrible signal,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International. “With this bill, Brazil will make the global responsibility to reduce emissions even more difficult than it already is.”

Congress is due to vote on the bill before 15 December. Opposition congressmen say the subsidies for oil are unjust at a time when health and education budgets have been frozen for 20 years and payments for forest protection have been slashed.

The government says the measure is necessary to ensure the success of future auctions which will generate revenue to help an economy that is only slowly emerging from its worst recession in a century. It has earmarked 70.5% of all energy investment until 2026 (pdf) to be spent on fossil fuels.

Brazil’s carbon emissions surged 8.9% last year – the biggest rise since 2008 – largely as a result of increased deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado.

This threatens the lead-by-example role that Brazil’s skilled diplomats have long played at climate talks.

Officials point out that many developing countries are also promoting oil and coal and that in some cases, such as Germany, their emissions are also rising. By comparison, they say, Brazil gets 74% of its energy from renewables (mostly hydropower dams) and that the pace of deforestation slowed by 16% this year after a two-year uptick that pushed the country off course from its climate goals.

José Antônio Marcondes, Brazil’s chief negotiator for climate change, urged developed nations to pick up the pace. Photograph: Kiara Worth/ENB/IISD

The country’s chief climate change negotiator, José Antônio Marcondes, insisted Brazil was doing its part and urged developed nations to pick up the pace by taking action over the next three years.

“If we are to reach the goals set out in Paris, we cannot delay action until 2020. Ambition and actions should not be postponed,” he said. “If we do not meet the deadlines, if things become even harder on the discussions – which we are doing everything to avoid, we must not, we cannot run the risk of repeating Copenhagen when the world failed to agree on action.”

It was exactly the sort of stirring and positive argument that has enabled Brazil to push past negotiations forward and bridge the gap between rich and poor countries. However, when asked about proposals back home for fossil fuel subsides, he was far less assured.

“We are of course following the legislative discussions around any possible fiscal measures. However, it should not be overlooked that we adopted in the Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets that are among the most ambitious in the world – across both developed and developing countries – and these targets are on top of the dramatic reductions already achieved,” he said.

Output: Brazil is planning to hold a fire-sale of its oil resources before prices fall due to decreasing global carbon budgets, according to environmental groups including Climate Observatory, Greenpeace and WWF. The country’s government is proposing up to $300bn in tax relief for firms that develop offshore oilfields that campaigners argue would use up 7% of the total emissions budget if the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement are to be achieved. The areas that would be included in the sale are believed to hold oil and gas equivalent to 176 billion barrels of crude, or 74.8 billion tonnes of CO2.


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UK publishers need more details on how GDPR law will be enforced
 The scramble to get businesses ready for the enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation in May has led to a whirlwind of internal committees and strategy meetings. Legal teams are being wheeled out to explain the finer nuts and bolts of the new law, while publishing execs crane their necks to see what peers are doing.

But developing concrete plans of action is tough. That’s largely because there are still so many areas of the law that can be widely interpreted. The Information Commissioner’s Office is releasing details and guidance on the areas that are still vague, but in a piecemeal fashion. Some publishers and ad tech businesses feel like they’re in limbo, unable to push the button on action plans while they await details on how the law will be enforced. It’s a concern already voiced by the marketing side of the industry.

“It’s very hard to strategize before the next [ICO] guidance is out because we don’t know what the permissions are going to be,” said a publisher for a national newspaper who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Companies like Google and Facebook are making a big PR play of being compliant, but we don’t know what that looks like yet. We need to go about getting those permissions [for consumer consent] without obliterating our user base,” this person said.

The ICO has recently released additional guidance on areas like user profiling and under what conditions consent will be required. But it has yet to issue further guidance on other areas where consent will be needed and what kinds of data processing will be acceptable under the new law. The final guidance is expected in December — leaving little time to implement.

That’s not to say publishers are sitting on their hands. As News UK’s chief data privacy officer Robert Streeter said in September at Rubicon Project’s Automation event, waiting around for additional guidance from the ICO isn’t the best move — there are other ways to push forward. Many have appointed chief privacy officers, and some publishers are already looking at messaging which would be used to inform users about consent.

“As long as you can demonstrate you have an audit trail that shows compliance plans, that’s the main thing,” said Charles Yardley, gm for strategic partnerships for Forbes Europe. “Everyone is in the same boat with this.”

But for some, the GDPR has become a bit of a hot potato, with vendors passing the compliance buck back to publishers. One bone of contention stems from the fact that a publisher will share liability if a vendor within its digital ad supply chain passes on that publisher’s data without the vendor itself having obtained consumer consent. In turn, some vendors are not taking much action, believing the onus is on the publisher to “fix it” and incorporate consent for the third-party vendors they use.

“It is all rather confusing now, as no one is fully sure how it should be interpreted. There’s a lot of uncertainty,” said another publishing exec.

Ensuring compliance throughout the supply chain is just one element that needs to be addressed. Publishers are also whiteboarding scenarios in which they must create totally different technology infrastructures and digital offerings that are appropriate for people who say they don’t want to give consent for their data to be used in exchange for personalized news. Publishers will need to come up with more vanilla, less personalized news services.

Some publishers have expressed concerns that they’ll be out of step with the rest of the industry in their interpretation of the law. Some may interpret the law strictly and switch off all their marketing, wipe their cookies, start over with a clean slate and then ask users politely for consent. Others could explore ways to get automated consent and then allow users to opt out easily. “Because of how broad the interpretation is, you could find you end up going one way and the industry going in another,” said a publishing exec.

Output: Publishers are waiting for guidance from the UK government about how they should implement the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which takes effect in May. In particular, they are concerned about the lack of detail over what they will be able to do with customers' data and when they are required to seek consent to use it. However, the Information Commissioner's Office has released partial information on user profiling and consent conditions, and more details about data processing are expected this December. Publishers are also concerned about shared liability with vendors for data misuse when vendors haven't obtained consumer consent.


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Aspiring lithium miner Altura plans Pilbara expansion
 J & R Optimum, the major shareholder in Altura, and Lionergy each have binding offtake agreements for a minimum of 100,000 tonnes a year of spodumene concentrate for an initial five-year period.

Mr Brown said the two significant players in Chinese lithium battery market had encouraged Altura to pursue the production expansion to 440,000 tonnes. Despite their interest Altura was keeping its funding options open.

The positive in-house scoping study was based on the recently-revised Mineral Resource estimate of 44 million tonnes at 1.00 per cent lithium oxide and the revised ore reserve estimate of 34.2 million tonnes at 1.04 per cent.

The study canvassed introducing 24-hour-a-day operations to boost production with mine life remaining at greater than 10 years and further mine resource extension drilling planned for 2018.

The Altura share price has more than doubled since early last month when it completed a $26 million institutional placement a 19¢ a share to help pay for the expansion study. Just under half the placement was taken by US asset manger BlackRock, which has also built a position in Pilbara Minerals.

The placement came soon after Altura locked away a $US110 million debt facility that was the final piece of funding for the first stage of the Pilgangoora project.

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Lionergy is building a lithium carbonate/lithium hydroxide plant in China for a consortium which includes J & R with completion expected to coincide with first production for Altura.

Altura has an option to take equity in the plant and Mr Brown confirmed it would consider that option after achieving initial production targets.

Altura executives will travel to Inner Mongolia in the next few weeks to inspect progress on the plant, which has the capacity to absorb all the production from Stage 1 of Altura's Pilgangoora mine.

Mr Brown said the size of the spodumene resources around Pilgangoora meant Altura along with others coming into production in Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources could consider localised lithium processing consortium in the future.

"The downstream opportunities are very much in their infancy and at the moment I think we are all focused on production first," he said.

Altura and Pilbara Minerals have a formal co-operation agreement, which sees them share some costs, including an access road to the adjoining mines about 120 kilometres from Port Hedland.

The reporter was a guest of Altura Mining Limited.

Output: Altura Mining is preparing to raise production of spodumene concentrate from 220,000 tonnes a year to 440,000 tonnes at its $170m Pilgangoora lithium project in Western Australia's Pilbara. Commissioning is scheduled for the Q2, 2018, with first lithium concentrate sales in the Q2. J&R Optimum, the major shareholder in Altura, and Lionergy each have binding offtake agreements for a minimum of 100,000 tonnes a year of spodumene concentrate for an initial five-year period. Two significant players in the Chinese lithium battery market had encouraged Altura to pursue the production expansion to 440,000 tonnes.


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Landlords and tenants unaware of rights and obligations: survey
 Millions of tenants and landlords across the UK are unaware of the laws governing the rental sector with landlords even unsure about responsibilities regarding being safe and fair, new research has found.

Some 37% of UK tenants and 16% of landlords do not know that renters must be given at least two months’ notice if a landlord wishes to evict them and 34%, or 5.8 million people, do not realise they have the right for their deposits to be placed in a Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme.

The research from online letting agent LetBritain, also found that 43% of tenants and 19% of landlords have no idea that tenants can challenge any excessive charges made by a landlord via an ombudsman while 28% of tenants did not know a landlord should provide 24 hours’ notice before entering their property.

Some 34% were unaware that a landlord must provide an Energy Performance Certificate and 50% of tenants are uninformed that the rent charged by a landlord should be comparable to similar properties in the area or can be challenged while 27% of landlords did not realise this either.

The firm says the lack of knowledge is worrying. The research also found that 14% of landlords do not realise it is their responsibility to arrange and pay for any repairs to the exterior of a property.

‘It is clear that a huge proportion of UK renters, a population growing in size, do not truly understand the legislation and regulation in place to protect them. Likewise, a concerning number of landlords are also in the dark about exactly what rights and responsibilities they have,’ said Fareed Nabir, chief executive officer of LetBritain.

‘Such a lack of awareness increases the risk of renters and landlords being exploited and it must be addressed and lettings agents certainly have a duty to better inform all their customers about the vital legislative framework governing the rental sector,’ he added.

Output: A "huge proportion of UK renters" and a "concerning number of landlords" are badly informed about the regulations governing the rental sector, according to a study by online letting agent LetBritain. Among the results it found were 37% of tenants and 16% of landlords were unaware an eviction requires two months' notice, while half of tenants and 27% of landlords did not know rent charged must be comparable to that of other similar, local properties. Fareed Nabir, the CEO of LetBritain, said more needed to be done to ensure everyone in the rental sector was better informed.


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Suite of acquisitions could signal the end of Agtech startup boom
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In the past few months there has been a flurry of acquisitions of agtech startups by major players in the industry. Let’s look at a short and hardly complete list of a few of these recent acquisitions:

With startups like these all being recently purchased and absorbed into the larger framework of the digital ag platforms of some major players, one has to wonder if the agtech startup boom is ending.

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It almost feels like this is becoming a game of musical chairs, and what companies are going to find themselves without a seat in one of these large digital ag platforms when the music stops?

Of the startups that do remain, one has to wonder about their survival without either new investment dollars coming in past their B and C investment rounds or a sound enough business plan to get them in the black on their own. I speculate that some of these startups that are lacking in those two areas will either go belly up soon or get purchased for a song by a major player.

As for the rest of the agtech space, there are some very large digital ag platforms being assembled by major players in the industry. Monsanto with Climate FieldView and Dow/DuPont with their combination of Encirca, Granular, and AcreValue are both very robust digital ag platforms with a lot of capabilities that are only going to increase over time.

Little guys with a product with a narrow focus have got to be concerned. Sure, a lot of growers like to deal with companies independent of their seed and chemical manufacturers, but logging on to 15 different websites and transferring all of your data to all of them is a real pain and overwhelming to update the information on a regular basis. We’re at a point where we expect all of this stuff to just flow together with minimal effort. Growers expect that maybe there is some work upfront, but it should be easy on an ongoing basis since that was half the point in doing this anyway. This is where the large digital ag platforms have a huge advantage.

Farmers Edge seems to be filling the independent segment of the market as they also appear to be developing into a digital ag platform, but what are the realistic chances of a new startup coming in and entering this space? When you think of the deep pockets they are up against, do new startups really stand a chance at this stage of the game?

0 1 5 Is the Agtech Startup Boom Over?

Output: The recent spate of acquisitions involving big corporations snapping up agtech start-ups leaves the future in doubt for smaller players and newcomers to the space, according to Ben Johnson, precision farming coordinator at Ag View FS. In a company blog post, Johnson cited John Deere's purchase of Blue River Technology, DuPont's acquisition of Granular, and Premier Crop Systems being snapped up by Syngenta as examples of large corporations with deep pockets snuffing out potentially disruptive competition.


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AI chatbot tested in end-of-life care strategies
 patients might be more inclined to share their symptoms or ask questions when no other human is present.

Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Chatbots are used for a variety of tasks: ordering pizza, getting product suggestions via Facebook Messenger and receiving online customer support. But can they cope with death? A three-year clinical study with financial backing of more than $1 million from the National Institutes of Health is exploring whether a chatbot can help terminally ill, geriatric patients with their end-of-life care. Over the next three years, Northeastern University professor Timothy Bickmore and Boston Medical Center doctor Michael Paasche-Orlow will distribute Microsoft Surface tablets preloaded with a chatbot to about 360 patients who have been told they have less than a year to live. Designed in consultation with experts from Boston Medical Center and programmed by Bickmore and other Northeastern University researchers, the chatbot — which takes the form of a middle-age female digital character — is preloaded with a number of capabilities. These include clinical ones — such as gauging a patient's level of pain and keeping tabs on whether medication is being taken — as well as ones to improve a patient's quality of life. There are modules for talking about stress management and promoting exercise, a social chat feature if patients are just looking for someone to talk to, and even a module for spiritual counseling. What Bickmore and Paasche-Orlow expect is that geriatric patients going through palliative care near the end of their lives will get use out of a tablet-based chatbot, and that having such a service available to hospitals and clinics will be valuable to patients long before they're in hospice care. "Primary-care physicians don't think to call in palliative-care services until patients are incurable, when in fact the patient might have been in pain or could've used some kind of intervention beforehand," said Bickmore, associate dean for research in Northeastern University's College of Computer and Information Science. Today about 90 million Americans live with a serious illness, according to the Center to Advance Palliative Care. This number is expected to double over the next 25 years as the baby boomer generation ages.

It turns out that patients were very happy to talk with a computer about it. They were very explicit in telling us, 'The doctor never asked me about these things.' Michael Paasche-Orlow Boston Medical Center doctor

The interactions patients are having with these chatbots are monitored continuously by nurses, who can activate care if a patient tells the chatbot they're experiencing symptoms. The nurses will also alert a family member if patients are telling the chatbot they're thinking about making end-of-life decisions, like completing a last will and testament. "If a patient rates their nausea or pain a little higher, we ask them if they've taken medicine for that and then try to figure out and troubleshoot that experience," Paasche-Orlow said. "With a lot of these types of things, humans just forget to follow up on them, so there's a lot of lost opportunities to support people in different ways." More from Modern Medicine:

Nobel-winning research says don't take your phone into bed

FDA testing human organs-on-a-chip

Scientists invent a pen that detects cancer in 10 seconds For a decade Bickmore and Paasche-Orlow have collaborated on health IT projects that make use of conversational artificial intelligence, or what Bickmore calls relational agents: computer agents designed to simulate face-to-face conversations with other people, as well as pick up on gesticulations, facial expressions and body posture. Their latest endeavor began with a call for technologies that could potentially assist older patients in the last stages of a terminal illness. These would be issued by a number of high-level institutes, such as the NIH, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Aging. In the medical world, conversational artificial intelligence elicits a mixed response. It's a potentially transformative technology, and something against which doctors and patients should guard themselves. Research around chatbots being used for mental health patients published in 2016 in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that some patients are more likely to display true emotions when they think they're talking to a computer, an insight that could lead to further deployment of conversational agents as a means to automate and lower the costs of clinical treatments. But there are risks of "ineffective care and patient harm," as the JAMA research said. In particular, researchers singled out digital voice assistants of the kinds created by large tech companies, like Apple , Google , Microsoft and Samsung . Certainly, those voice assistants are not intended to act as de facto doctors, but the JAMA research found that when people asked their digital voice assistants questions related to their mental health, responses were "inconsistent and sometimes inappropriate." "There's a growing number of chatbots or characters out there that pretend to be a health oracle," Bickmore said. "That's a real setup for safety issues for patients." Users of the tablet-based chatbot in the palliative-care study are prevented from giving open-ended responses. Whenever it's a patient's turn to say something to the chatbot, they're given prompts on the screen, multiple-choice style. "We know exactly what their intent is, and they can't go off topic or talk about something we hadn't considered," Bickmore said.

The palliative care chatbot in use at Northeastern University and Boston Medical Center only allows patients to use multiple choice responses to keep communication focused, and keep it from going off topic. Northeastern University

Now in year two of a five-year project that began in 2016, the chatbot project has received $1.3 million, with more funding contingent on the success of the clinical trial that began this year.

An emotional support for seniors

Output: Doctors from Northeastern University and Boston Medical Center in the US are testing the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot as part of a palliative care strategy for terminally ill patients. The $1.3m study, which is in the second year of a three-year cycle, has seen about 360 patients with less than a year to live handed computers featuring the chatbot. Different modules embedded within the technology perform medical and social tasks, including monitoring pain medication and offering spiritual counselling. All interactions are monitored by clinical staff and results suggest patients are comfortable asking the chatbot questions.


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'Starshades' for space telescopes to help search for planet life
 Nineteen different subscale versions of a light-blocking "starshade" were tested recently in the Nevada desert.

The next step in the exoplanet revolution may be an in-space "starshade" that lets alien worlds step out of a blinding glare.

Researchers are testing designs for a starshade, which would fly in formation with a future space-based telescope. The starshade, also known as an "external occulter," would block the light from a star while allowing the scope to spot emissions from much dimmer orbiting planets.

Scientists are conducting desert tests of the technology on Earth. They're using the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona to model a starshade's ability to help future instruments find and characterize rocky, Earth-like alien worlds. [10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life]

A starshade may be used on NASA's potential Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), a space-based instrument that would feature a primary mirror 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide, the same size as that of the agency's iconic Hubble Space Telescope.

Several years ago, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) donated two space telescopes to NASA. In 2013, the space agency announced it hoped to use one of these scopes for WFIRST. That move spurred anticipation in the U.S. astronomical community for Hubble-quality imaging over an area of sky 100 times larger than that viewed by Hubble. This version of the mission is called WFIRST-AFTA (for "Astrophysics-Focused Telescope Assets").

The WFIRST-AFTA mission would carry out exoplanet exploration, dark energy research, and galactic and extragalactic surveys.

Desert and mountaintop testing

Small-scale versions of starshades have undergone nighttime desert testing in Nevada and California and, more recently, at the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope site.

How a starshade works. The concept is telescope-agnostic and could find use on NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) project. (Image credit: Northrop Grumman)

The sites selected for evaluating starshade designs each have pros and cons, but collectively the evaluations are complementary and help to validate optical modeling of the idea, said Steve Warwick, Starshade program manager at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

"We can't do everything we can do in space on the ground in terms of optics, but the tests add a lot of confidence to how the starshade will work on orbit," Warwick told Space.com.

McMath operators said testing sharshades with the telescope, which was dedicated in 1962, was the craziest way that anyone had used the facility to date, Warwick said.

"They were extremely helpful and excited to see what we could do with their facility," Warwick said of the McMath team. Starshade testing at the Arizona site has been done twice so far, in late March and then in June.

The hope is to return to that location in the November-December time period; the exact timing will depend partly on other McMath users' schedules, Warwick said.

A mix of NASA funding and Northrop Grumman funding has enabled the starshade test program to move forward.

Planet light

So what's the big deal about starshades?

The technology — a flower-shaped screen that flies at a considerable distance from a space telescope —blocks starlight to create a high-contrast shadow. This shadow is so dark that only planet light enters a space telescope for examination by onboard instruments.

NASA's proposed Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is an orbiting telescope with a 2.4-meter primary mirror — the same size as the Hubble Space Telescope mirror. Work is underway to fly a starshade in concert with WFIRST to enable exoplanet studies. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)

You can think of it as your big thumb blocking out blazing beams of light from the sun.

Tackling technology gaps

But a starshade in space has never seen the light of day, so to speak. While starshade engineers are drawing upon a successful track record of fielding large, deployable antennas in space, they must also beat back what are called "key technology gaps," Warwick said.

"For there to be a starshade launch with any telescope," Warwick said, "we obviously need a lot of confidence that we're going to get the science that we want to get."

Both the desert trials and McMath mountaintop testing address a key technology gap — "that the optical models are trustworthy … that the models agree with what we measure," said Warwick. He added that he thinks these gaps can be filled relatively soon.

"For me, where I sit, what excites me is the idea of being able to fly along with WFIRST," he added.

Technicians have made use of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona to assess and validate optical models of starshade designs. (Image credit: Northrop Grumman/Robert Brown)

Given the potential 2024-2025 launch of that instrument, a decision about whether to include a starshade on the mission could come in the next two to three years, Warwick said.

There are other possibilities beyond WFIRST as well. For example, the proposed 33-foot (10 m) Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (LUVOIR) telescope and the projected Habitable Planet Explorer, or HabEx for short, could also incorporate starshades, Warwick said. [Next-Generation Space Telescopes Could Look for Aliens (Video)]

Snagging spectra

There is growing general support for WFIRST to include technology demonstrations of both a coronagraph (a light-blocking instrument that's built into the space telescope) and a starshade (which flies separately), Warwick said.

"From our point of view, that's a very exciting opportunity," Warwick said. Such technology may enable spectra to be examined of some planets located in the "habitable zone" around their stars, where liquid water could exist on a world's surface.

"A starshade with WFIRST could give us indications about habitable planets … but there's a huge difference between 'habitable' and 'inhabited,'" Warwick cautioned.

A larger telescope with a larger starshade could inform scientists about biosignatures from exoplanets, Warwick said, "and that would give us an indication of inhabited planets."

But again, Warwick said, any biosignatures detected would not necessarily identify intelligent alien life. Rather, such signs would indicate some type of biological activity that has changed the planet's atmosphere.

In pondering the larger cosmic picture, Warwick said he sees a starshade or something similar revealing that Earth life is not alone in the universe.

"I'll take a bet that we will find signs of life outside of our solar system before we find it inside our solar system," Warwick concluded.

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is former director of research for the National Commission on Space and is co-author of Buzz Aldrin's 2013 book "Mission to Mars – My Vision for Space Exploration" published by National Geographic with a new updated paperback version released in May 2015. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

Output: Scientists are testing "starshades", flying screens that block out starlight enabling orbiting telescopes to process only dimmer planetary light. Following night-time tests at the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, the team hopes to fly a starshade with Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, which is set to launch in 2024 or 2025. It's believed a starshade could allow telescopes to accumulate more precise data on the "habitable zones" of stars, where planets with liquid water might exist.


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Developers building micro homes to reach affordability quotas
 In my previous article “The Tiny House Craze: Zoning Laws Could Be a Tiny Impediment” I discussed the popular new “tiny house” trend in residential housing options. Along with the “tiny house” craze, another new and growing trend in housing options, particularly in urban areas, is the increasing popularity of the “micro unit.” Whether the popularity and demand is being driven by economic factors and the need for more affordable housing, or by peoples’ preference to downsize to a more simplified lifestyle, “micro units” are becoming more popular and common. The “micro unit” has become very popular in urban areas, and seems to have particular appeal to “millennials” and “empty nesters” looking to downsize. Developers are answering the demand by including more “micro unit” options in multi-family buildings projects.

Unlike a “tiny house” which is a separate, detached dwelling unit, sometimes even built on a platform with wheels, a “micro unit” is a small, individual, attached unit making up part of a larger, high density multi-family housing building or complex. So, unlike a “tiny house” on a separate building lot, which must meet zoning regulations for minimum lot size, setbacks, density, and other zoning and building code requirements, a “micro unit” is part of a larger multi-family building or development, so the development and construction of an individual “micro unit” would be regulated as part of a larger plan, rather than as individual units.

The attributes and appeal of the “micro unit” are many. The smaller size and relatively smaller cost appeals to the affordability aspect. Where a one or two bedroom apartment or condominium unit may be over 1,000 square feet or more, and a typical “studio” apartment may be in the 400 to 600 square foot range, the new “micro units” typically contain only 300 to 400 square feet of living space. To make up for the smaller unit size, “micro units” tend to have a lot of built-in storage space or “pull down” options to allow for additional room when certain components are not being used. To make up for less space within the individual units, developers often provide more shared amenities, such as storage areas, laundry rooms, and fitness rooms.

From the developer’s perspective, another appealing aspect of the “micro unit” is that it may assist the developer in complying with any regulations requiring the developer to provide affordable housing. Some jurisdictions, such as the City of Frederick, have adopted moderately priced dwelling unit (“MPDU”) or similar ordinances, which require a certain percentage of affordable housing units to be built as part of any development over a certain size and density. Often MPDU ordinances allow the developer to pay a “fee in lieu” to develop the project without including the actual affordable housing units. The fee is paid into a fund which is then used to support other affordable housing options. Unlike a moderately priced single family home, which a developer may not find as easy to market for sale in a single family neighborhood of higher priced homes, an affordable micro unit included within a large apartment or condominium project does not present those similar concerns.

In addition to zoning and subdivision regulations, building codes, and MPDU ordinances, many jurisdictions, including both the City of Frederick and Frederick County, have also adopted “adequate public facilities ordinances” (“APFO”) which require that adequate public facilities and infrastructure are in place to support new development before the new development is approved and constructed. Public facilities to be considered under an APFO usually include a development’s impact on roads, schools, parks, and other municipal services and facilities, such as public water and sewer services. The developer is required to either provide the facilities at its expense or to pay fees for the resulting impact on existing facilities or new facilities. Jurisdictions will now need to consider how a “micro unit” impacts those public facilities.

Some jurisdictions have also adopted and implemented “impact fees” which are charged to the developer to pay the cost of the “impact” of any new development. Impact fees generally vary depending on the type of residential unit or structure. Jurisdictions would need to consider where a “micro unit” would fit into the impact fee scale based on the anticipated impact of a “micro unit” on public facilities and services, as compared with a standard sized apartment unit or condominium or other types of residential dwelling units.

As the demand grows, planners and elected officials will need to consider where and how “micro units” fit into their community. Real estate and land use attorneys and developers should stay updated on local zoning regulations which may be adopted to allow for “micro units.”

Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated. The information contained in this blog is general in nature and is not offered and cannot be considered as legal advice for any particular situation. The author has provided the links referenced above for information purposes only and by doing so, does not adopt or incorporate the contents. Any federal tax advice provided in this communication is not intended or written by the author to be used, and cannot be used by the recipient, for the purpose of avoiding penalties which may be imposed on the recipient by the IRS. Please contact the author if you would like to receive written advice in a format which complies with IRS rules and may be relied upon to avoid penalties.

[View source.]

Output: The increased construction of micro units, apartments of around 300-400 sq ft, is helping US housebuilders comply with affordable housing requirements, according to Anne Herbert-Rollins of law firm Miles & Stockbridge. Herbert-Rollins said moderately priced dwelling unit ordinances give developers the flexibility to either build affordable housing themselves, or pay into a fund that can be used by another firm to construct the homes.


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Space station sent 360-degree 3D movie camera to shoot VR film
 European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli will use a Vuze VR camera to document life on the International Space Station for a VR companion to National Geographic's upcoming series "One Strange Rock."

A cool new virtual reality camera arrived at the International Space Station today (Nov. 14) aboard Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The camera will be used to film a 3D, 360-degree cinematic virtual reality (VR) experience as part of National Geographic's upcoming series "One Strange Rock."

European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli will use the new camera to "lead us on a tour of the space station," Matt Zymet, National Geographic's executive director for advanced formats, said in a prelaunch teleconference with reporters. "The idea is to use all of that footage to document a day in the life on the space station."

The Vuze VR camera, created by a company called Humaneyes, is a compact and lightweight device with the dimensions of a typical four-sided sandwich. Its eight built-in cameras can record videos and shoot still images in 360 degrees and 3D with ultra-HD (4K) resolution. So, for those of us who have never been to the International Space Station, Nespoli's Vuze VR footage may be the closest we'll ever get to experiencing life in space. [Space Station Photos: Expedition 53 Mission Crew in Orbit]

"What is it like to live more than 200 miles above the Earth? Life for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station is unlike anything else — they are among the elite who have left the Earth and seen our home from space," National Geographic officials said in a statement.

Nespoli will serve as National Geographic's VR director and cameraman, "using the camera to tour the various modules, show the famous Cupola view of Earth and give viewers a sense of what it’s like to live on board," the statement said. "Throughout the course of filming, Paolo will be working with ground control to downlink footage back to Earth, where it will be incorporated into a VR short film that will accompany the premiere of National Geographic's "One Strange Rock."

Award-winning filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (director of "Requiem for a Dream") and the production company Nutopia are working together on this new global series, which will be filmed for 100 weeks around the world and in space.

"The series will use innovative micro- and macro-photography technology and bring cameras where they’ve never been before, to explore how the particularities of Earth’s unique history made it ideally suited as a cradle for life and to demonstrate how the planet’s biological, chemical and physical systems form an interdependent equilibrium, sustaining all the wonders of the living world we know," Nutopia officials said in a statement.

The virtual reality companion to the television series "will not only give you a sense of what life is like up on the space station, but through the stories that the astronauts who are on our show tell, will really give you a lens on what is amazing about our planet as seen through their eyes from space," Zymet said.

At the International Space Station, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli films the Earth through the windows of the Cupola observatory. (Image credit: ESA/NASA/ Twitter

"One Strange Rock explores how intricate, interwoven and fragile life as we know it is on Earth and how rare it may be in the universe," Aronofsky said in a statement. "The more we appreciate how awe-inspiring the development of life on this planet has been, the more likely we are to become inspired stewards of the home that sustains it."

The series is scheduled to premiere on the National Geographic Channel sometime in 2018. To see Nespoli's footage in 3D and 360 degrees, viewers will need to use a VR headset, Zymet explained, adding that the videos will mainly be distributed via Facebook, Oculus, YouTube and PlayStation VR platforms.

Editor's note: You don't have to be an astronaut to shoot amazing 3D, 360-degree VR videos and photos. The same Vuze VR camera kit that Nespoli will use to shoot footage for "One Strange Rock" at the International Space Station is available online from Vuze for $799.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Output: A Vuze virtual reality (VR) movie camera has been sent to the International Space Station to capture footage for a documentary series to be made by "Requiem for a Dream" director Darren Aronofsky. The VR camera, developed by Humaneyes, will record 360-degree, and 3D images, with ultra-HD (4K) resolution. Images will be downloaded to Earth to be included in a National Geographic film for its "One Strange Rock" series. The film is set to air in 2018.


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Cisco launches $1bn programme for global smart city development
 Cisco has announced a $1bn program to spur the development of smart cities across the world.

The City Infrastructure Financing Acceleration Program, as it is known, will seek to make it easier, faster and more affordable for cities to fund and adopt technologies that will help to transform their communities.

“Funding is a major stumbling block for municipalities beginning their smart city transformation,” said Anil Menon, global [resident of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities.

“With our partners, Cisco will bring the capital and expertise it takes to make smart city projects a reality. Digital Alpha, APG, and Whitehelm Capital bring a fresh perspective on investment in an area that has previously been perceived as too new and, therefore, too difficult to finance,” added Menon.

According to a statement, the funding will be facilitated through Cisco Capital in partnership with Digital Alpha Advisors, a private equity firm.

Pension and fund investors APG Asset Management and Whitehelm Capital will also collaborate.

The news comes after Bill Gates said he would be spending $80m to build a new smart city near Belmont in Arizona (US).

Output: Hot on the heels of Bill Gates' announcement that he will invest $80m in an Arizona smart city, Cisco has unveiled a $1bn programme to accelerate smart cities' global development. The City Infrastructure Financing Acceleration Program, facilitated via the company's financial arm Cisco Capital, in partnership with Digital Alpha Advisors, among others, aims to make it easier for cities to adopt community-transforming technologies, according to Anil Menon, global president of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities.


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Sounds of space orchestrated for Voyager 1's 40th anniversary
 Deep space probe, interstellar explorer, and envoy to alien civilisations, Voyager 1 has already racked up an impressive resume to which songwriter can now be added. Using data from the unmanned spacecraft, Dr Domenico Vicinanza, of Anglia Ruskin University and GEANT, and Dr Genevieve Williams, of the University of Exeter, have created a musical composition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the pathfinding mission.

In 1619, Johannes Kepler published his treatise Harmonices Mundi, in which he combined his astronomical data about the orbit of the planets with his ideas about the geometric harmony of the universe to create what is commonly known as the Music of the Spheres. On November 13 at the NASA Booth at the SC17 Supercomputing Conference in Denver, Colorado, a 21st century equivalent will make its world premiere.

The three-minute number was created using a process known as data sonification, where the data about protons, alpha particles, and heavier nuclei in space from Voyager's Low-Energy Charged Particle (LECP) telescope and spacecraft trajectory were used to create melody, harmony and orchestration. The information was collected by the probe from 1977 until this month with each 26-day period converted into one note. The composition includes the moment when Voyager entered interstellar space in 2012.

The solemn main melody played by the second violins is based on the cosmic ray count, which changes over to flute, piccolo and glockenspiel at the 2012 mark. Meanwhile, piano and French horns double the violins to mark the flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, where the cosmic ray count fluctuated as they passed close by the gas giants. The passage through the heliopause is a key change from C major to E flat major with an alternation of orchestration and harmony.

"Our orchestra score is more than just inspired by one of the most successful space missions of all time, it is shaped entirely by Voyager 1's incredible journey," says Vicinanza. "Data sonification can play an important role in helping to share scientific discoveries and we hope that by converting 40 years of data into music, listeners will be able to hear aspects of Voyager 1's journey that are perhaps not so obvious when looking at graphs of data."

Voyager 1 is one of the two deep space probes sent by NASA to study the outer planets and the frontiers of the Solar System. The 722 -kg (1,590-lb) spacecraft was launched on September 5, 1977 and is powered by three radiothermal generators. In 1979, it flew by Jupiter and in 1980 it visited Saturn. As it did so, the giant planets sent Voyager on a one-way slingshot trajectory toward interstellar space at a speed of 17.043 km/s (38,120 mph) relative to the Sun.

An excerpt of the Voyager 1 music can be heard in the video below.

Source: Anglia Ruskin University

Output: Scientists from Anglia Ruskin University, GEANT, the pan-European data network provider, and Exeter University have premiered a three-minute composition, based on data collected by the Voyager 1 spacecraft, at the SC17 Supercomputing Conference in Denver, Colorado. Using a process called data sonification, the team turned data deriving from sub-atomic particles in space into a musical score. The data was collected between 1977 and November 2017. Dr Domenico Vicinanza of Anglia Ruskin University said he hoped the piece would enable people to "hear aspects of Voyager 1's journey that are perhaps not so obvious when looking at graphs of data".


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Gene therapy could treat inherited vision problems
 Back in August, the FDA approved the first gene therapy for general use in the United States. That particular treatment, for cancer was beset by controversy due to its exorbitant price tag and potential side effects. Now another gene therapy is on the cusp of approval, this time to treat a form of hereditary blindness. If given the tick by the FDA, this therapy could pave the way for a whole host of treatments for genetically-based vision problems.

The gene therapy focuses on a rare inherited retinal disease called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), which is caused by a mutation in one of 19 particular genes. The therapy focuses in one specific gene called RPE65. A healthy version of that gene is attached to a genetically modified harmless virus and injected into a patient's eyes.

The treatment is currently undergoing final phase 3 clinical trials after nearly a decade of research and the early results have been excitingly positive. Data from the first phase 3 trial showed 93 percent of subjects (27 out of 29) displayed "meaningful improvements in their vision."

"These are kids who could not walk through a room in normal light, and who were absolutely paralyzed in dim light," says study leader Stephen Russell. "Now they're walking around markedly better."

The final FDA approval decision is hoped to come by January 2018, and back in October an advisory panel unanimously endorsed the efficacy of the treatment. The FDA doesn't have to follow the advice of this expert panel, but it traditionally does.

The gene therapy focuses on a rare inherited retinal disease called Leber congenital amaurosis paulistano/Depositphotos

While this particular therapy is not a complete cure, and it is targeted at a rare genetic disease, many hope it is the first in a new wave of gene therapies directed at a wide variety of ocular diseases. There are over 225 known genetic mutations that cause blindness, and the genetically modified virus used in this particular treatment can likely be used as a delivery mechanism in treatments for a great majority of those conditions.

If this therapy is ultimately approved it will certainly be a landmark for modern gene therapy. Unlike the prior cancer therapy approved in August, which concentrates on genetically modifying immune cells, this treatment will be the first to replace, or essentially fix, specific missing and mutated genes that directly cause disease.

The early trial results were published in the journal The Lancet.

Sources: University of Iowa, American Academy of Ophthalmology

Output: A gene therapy which offers "meaningful improvements" to the vision of an inherited retinal disease could be given US Food and Drug Administration approval by January 2018, following unanimous endorsement by an advisory panel in October. Early results of a study of the therapy, published in The Lancet, revealed 93% of participants suffering with rare inherited retinal disease Leber congenital amaurosis experienced improved vision after treatment. Medics leading the study hope it could open the door to future therapies for other ocular conditions.


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Smog grounds Delhi’s anti-smog helicopters
 An ambitious plan to use helicopters to fight Delhi’s air pollution has been grounded because the aircraft cannot operate in the thick smog, underscoring growing frustration at authorities’ inability to address the toxic haze engulfing the city.

Accusations that Narendra Modi’s government is failing to take the crisis seriously were further fuelled on Tuesday when the environment minister, Harsh Vardhan, urged residents to remain calm, saying only “routine precautions” were needed, even though air quality levels remain “severe”.

The city authorities had engaged a state-owned helicopter company to spray water over Delhi in the hope of settling the thick haze of pollutants. But on Monday administrators were told they would be unable to help dissipate the smog until the smog itself had cleared.

“Right now, with the prevailing smog, it is not possible for the helicopters to carry out operations,” the chairman and managing director of the company, BP Sharma, told the Indian Express. “We have communicated the same to the Delhi government. There was a meeting regarding this on Monday.”

The other hitch is that many parts of Delhi – particularly its southern quarters where parliament, the presidency and the prime minister are all based – are within a strictly policed no-fly zone.

A spokesman for the city government could not be reached but told the Indian Express: “There are a few issues and these will be worked out … All stakeholders are being consulted.”

A 2015 study found that 52% of the particulate matter in the city’s air was from dust kicked up by the tens of thousands of cars on its roads. Uncovered sand and soil from construction sites also contribute to the choking atmosphere.

In the last week, massive crop burning in neighbouring states and slow winds have also been a factor in sending air pollution levels in parts of north India to more than 30 times the World Health Organisation standards for daily exposure.

Doctors have declared a public health emergency in Delhi, but Vardhan was blasé, contrasting the pollution to the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal that killed at least 25,000 people.

Bhopal, he argued was “an emergency situation where you have to panic and you have to see what you have to do”, he said in an interview with CNN-18 news.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t do anything about it [the Delhi smog], everyone has to respond to what he is supposed to do. But there is no need to spread panic among the people.”

Public pressure has centred on the city’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, a populist former bureaucrat and engineer. His proposal to ration traffic according to the last digit of number plates – odd numbers one day, evens the other – has been blocked by judges since Friday.

Kejriwal wants to maintain a long list of exemptions to the odd-even rule, including single women, cars transporting children and two-wheelers. Even if implemented, studies of the last time Delhi attempted the measure have found its impact was “abysmally small”.

The sprinkling helicopter policy was also rubbished by experts who said it would make no difference.

Though Delhi gets the most attention, the haze has settled across the entire north Indian plain, including parts of Pakistan. A lasting solution would require a nationally coordinated response across state and international borders.

A study on Monday found the air quality in Varanasi, in Modi’s home constituency, had even worse air than Delhi. The Indian prime minister is yet to comment on the crisis.

Polash Mukherjee, an air pollution researcher from the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said there was a “sense of despondency” among the city’s residents, who were increasingly aware of the dangers associated with breathing dense particulate matter.

“They know it’s severe, and they know something should be done about it, but no one seems to be doing anything,” he said.

The head of the All-India Parents Association, Ashok Agrawal, said the government was “not sincere” about the issue. “It happened last year,” he said. “They could have taken steps so that it didn’t happen again, or so the density was lower.

“But they have done nothing to address the problem and it is a health emergency.”

With the city government unable to find the right steps, and the central one reluctant to take any, Delhi residents have been left to rely on the heavens. Drizzle has been predicted for Wednesday, when forecasters say the city’s air will “recover” – albeit to levels still classified as “very poor”.

Output: Helicopters engaged to disperse smog in Delhi by spraying water in order to settle pollutants have been grounded because of the thickness of the haze. A further problem has arisen because many parts of the city, including where the government is situated, operate a no-fly zone. Doctors have declared a public health emergency in the city due to the poor air quality. Last week, extensive crop burning and slow winds caused air pollution levels in northern parts of the country to rise to over 30 times the World Health Organisation recommended limit for daily exposure.


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Tech companies offer concierge services in the workplace
 We are the global leader in commercial real estate services and investments. With services, insights and data that span every dimension of the industry, we create solutions for clients of every size, in every sector and across every geography.

Learn More

Output: Increasing numbers of landlords and companies, particularly in the tech sector, are turning to high-end concierge services to attract and retain corporate tenants, according to Erica Stricker, a managing director at CBRE. For a monthly fee, staff can get help with chores such as arranging childcare, picking up dry cleaning or arranging car repairs, with support from teams with experience in five-star hotels or boutique resorts. As well as reducing stress, concierge services can improve employee retention. Michigan-based Bronson Healthcare Group saw its staff turnover drop by more than half three years after introducing its service.


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Lidl is worst UK supermarket for food chain antibiotics control
 Most of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains are falling short on measures to reduce the use of antibiotics in the production of the meat and animal products they sell, campaigners have warned, with potentially harmful impacts on human health.

Lidl performed worst of the nine supermarket chains examined by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, a pressure group made up of several NGOs.

Lidl had no publicly available policy on the use of antibiotics in its farm supply chain, leaving consumers in the dark and with no publicly available evidence of any effort to curb the overuse of antibiotics of concern.

The supermarket told the Guardian it had been working on a policy, which would soon be published. The policy it sent to the Guardian is four sentences long and “encourages producers to optimise welfare, health, hygiene, husbandry and biosecurity” of their animals, using antibiotics “as little as possible and as much as necessary”, without containing any specifics on how this can be achieved or measured.

The overuse of antibiotics on farms is a major cause of the growing resistance in humans that is giving rise to superbugs, bacteria impervious to all but the strongest medicines and which pose a huge and growing threat to human health.

The UK’s chief medical officer has repeatedly warned that growing resistance to antibiotics could render even routine operations highly dangerous in a few years.

The best-performing supermarket was Waitrose, which not only has a clearly articulated policy on antibiotics in its supply chain, but also a strategy for reducing antibiotic use and a commitment to publishing the results, showing the amount of antibiotics used on the farms from which it is supplied.

The supermarket also bans the routine use of antibiotics on its farms, and the use of some of the strongest antibiotics, which the World Health Organisation has urged should be reserved for the use of human patients, not farm animals.

Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco were ranked next, while second from bottom were Asda and Aldi, which had publicly available policies on antibiotic use but few stringent measures associated with them, with the Co-op group also falling short on measures such as banning the strong antibiotic colistin and publishing data on antibiotic use.

Suzi Shingler, campaign manager at the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, said: “These findings show some supermarkets are finally starting to take the issue of antibiotic resistance more seriously. This is very welcome and has undoubtedly contributed to the recent reductions in use.

“Unfortunately, our survey also shows that some supermarkets have much more to do, and others have yet to take any significant action.”

All of the supermarkets in the report were contacted by the Guardian for comment. Some referred the Guardian to the British Retail Consortium, which represents major retailers. Andrew Opie, director of food policy at the trade body, said in a statement: “Retailers are aware of the challenges in relation to continued use of antimicrobials in the supply chain and advocate that medicines are used responsibly.

“This prevents unnecessary use while protecting against any negative effects on animal welfare. It is important that any decisions are supported by robust scientific justification. Significant reductions have already been achieved in UK food and farming and retailers are working collaboratively with industry partners to make sustained improvements.”

A herd of Friesian dairy cows feeding in a cattle shed. Photograph: Alamy

In addition, Asda said it would soon update its antibiotics policy.

Waitrose said: “Waitrose recognises the potential risks to human healthcare of the overuse of antibiotics in livestock supply chains. Within the Waitrose supply chain, all antibiotics are used carefully, under strict protocols and only in controlled circumstances; entirely healthy animals are not routinely given antibiotics, they are only used for treating ill animals or for those with pre-existing conditions.

“We maintain some antibiotics are important medicines to hold in the animal health armoury but must be used sparingly and only as a last resort.”

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics advises some basic measures to reduce antibiotic use on farms. These include leaving piglets with their mothers for a few weeks longer after birth, which drastically reduces the need for antibiotics to halt the diarrhoea associated with early weaning.

Fast-growing chickens, usually sent to slaughter only a month or five weeks from birth, can be replaced with slower-growing kinds less likely to fall prey to illness. Lower-stocking densities among indoor chickens also reduce antibiotic use substantially.

Among dairy cows, those raised indoors tend to suffer more from conditions such as mastitis, which requires antibiotic use. The Guardian recently found a large increase in the number of megafarms in the UK, where hundreds or thousands of animals are kept in large sheds, which has concerned antibiotics and animal welfare campaigners.

Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the Alliance, said: “Much greater cuts in use are urgently needed if we are to preserve our remaining antibiotics. Intensive livestock farmers have much to learn from the practices of more extensive farming systems, which often have minimal antibiotic use.

“Moving to later weaning of piglets, using slower-growing chickens, lowering stocking densities of animals kept indoors and keeping cattle on pasture are all essential and achievable measures which can lower antibiotic use.”

Output: Most of the largest UK supermarket chains are failing to adequately reduce the use of antibiotics in their meat and animal product supply chains, posing a potential risk to human health through antibiotic resistance, according to pressure group the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics. Of the nine chains investigated by the group, Lidl performed worst, with no publicly available policy on the issue. Waitrose performed best, having a clear policy on and strategy to reduce antibiotics use, with a ban on routine farm use. Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco were ranked next, with Aldi and Asda second worst.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
OnTheMarket loses more than 1,000 branches it took from Zoopla
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The number of estate agency branches that left Zoopla to join OnTheMarket when it launched in 2015 but have subsequently left OTM to rejoin ZPG has now reached more than 1,000.

Zoopla said yesterday that it now has over 14,750 agency branches.

It claimed that OTM’s branch numbers have fallen from a high of 6,500 to a new low of 5,500 branches.

The most recent agencies to rejoin ZPG include eleven Martin & Co branches, six Hurford Salvi Carr branches in London and five Andrew Milsom branches covering the Thames Valley and Chiltern Hills.

ZPG’s announcement came after it recently signed long-term listing agreements with Countrywide and Connells.

Mark Goddard, managing director of ZPG Property Services, said: “We are continuing to see agencies from around the country rejoining ZPG on a weekly basis as agents increasingly understand that they are at a competitive disadvantage when not partnering with us.”

In September 2014, before OTM’s launch, Zoopla had 16,373 branches listing.

This number fell to 12,902 at OTM’s launch towards the end of January 2015.

OTM implemented a ‘one other portal’ rule at launch, which it still operates today.

Zoopla’s membership figure did not pick up over OTM’s first year of operation – and in fact fell slightly, with 12,841 UK agency offices listing on Zoopla by January 31, 2016.

OTM has recently been quiet on its overall membership number, but has announced a five-year listing deal with the 100-branch Arun Estates group.

This is conditional on OTM’s stock market listing when the ‘one other portal’ rule will be dropped – meaning that Arun currently looks as though it will be the first major agent to be listing on all three major portals.

EYE has approached OTM for comment about Zoopla’s latest claims.

Output: More than 1,000 estate agency branches that abandoned Zoopla for rival OnTheMarket (OTM) have returned to the online giant, it said. Mark Goddard, managing director of Zoopla parent ZPG Property Services, said agents had returned because they "increasingly understand that they are at a competitive disadvantage when not partnering with us". Zoopla said it now has 14,750 agency branches. Arun Estates could become the first major agent to list on all three of the UK's major portals after recently striking a five-year deal with OTM.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Stamp duty changes could help older sellers downsize
 A report published today by the London School of Economics and The Family Building Society found potential downsizers cannot buy something that costs the same as their original house without spending large amounts of money on stamp duty - but they can stay where they are for free. It found those aged between 51 and 80 were most likely to say they intended to downsize. It said older retired people in big family houses who are looking to move to a more manageable property should be incentivised to do so, as it would be beneficial to their own wellbeing as well as improve the efficiency ...

Output: Changes to the UK's stamp duty land tax (SDLT) could help older homeowners downsize and improve the country's housing stock, according to a report by the London School of Economics and the Family Building Society. However, Chase de Vere certified financial planner Patrick Connolly said that while SDLT was a major problem, it wasn't the only barrier to older homeowners, and said finding "somewhere else to live that meets the criteria for their lifestyle" was also an issue. Chancellor Philip Hammond is not expected to scrap or change SDLT in next week's Budget.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Supermarket prices rose 3.4% in Q3 2017 due to weakened GBP
 The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks to 5 November 2017, show supermarket sales have increased in value by 3.2% year on year in the run up to Christmas.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Volume sales have increased by less than 1%, meaning it’s price rises keeping supermarket performance buoyant. Like-for-like grocery inflation now stands at 3.4% – its highest level since November 2013. With the average shop currently costing £18.26, consumers are now paying an extra 62 pence each time and over the course of a year it could add £143.70 to a typical family’s grocery bill.”

The Christmas season has begun in earnest for UK retailers, marked by a flurry of festive adverts in recent weeks, accompanied by inventive product tie ups as grocers look to capitalise on their chosen themes. Fraser McKevitt continues: “Consumers have already been digging deep in preparation for the holiday season, buying 10.1 million packs of traditional Christmas biscuits in October alone. Alcohol sales have ramped up too, increasing by 5.3% year on year as shoppers parted with an extra £142 million on their favourite tipples. The British public is only just getting started when it comes to Christmas shopping, and is expected to shell out a whopping £28.7 billion at the grocers in the final 12 weeks of 2017.”

Lidl is Britain’s fastest growing supermarket for the fifth consecutive period, with sales up 15.1%. New store openings – and the opportunity they bring to attract new shoppers – have contributed to the impressive performance. Some 10.6 million households visited Lidl at least once during the past three months, boosting the grocer’s market share by 0.5 percentage points to 5.1%. Sales at Aldi – which attracted 11.9 million households during the same period – increased by 13.1%, advancing the retailer’s market share to 6.7%.

Meanwhile Sainsbury’s grew sales by 2.6%, attracting an additional 364,000 shoppers to become the fastest growing among the big four for the first time since April 2016. Fraser McKevitt explains: “Brands were the fastest-selling products at Sainsbury’s during the past 12 weeks – particularly in soft drinks and dairy – flying in the face of the market’s focus on own-label lines. The grocer’s strongest growth came from both its Local convenience stores and online sales. Despite a positive quarter, Sainsbury’s market share fell back by 0.1 percentage points year on year to stand at 16.2%.”

Tesco welcomed 76% of British households during the past 12 weeks, growing sales by 2.3% as its market share dipped to 28.0%: down 0.2 percentage points on last year. Morrisons saw sales increase by 2.1%, accompanied by a marginal fall in share – from 10.5% last year to 10.4% during the latest quarter.

Fraser McKevitt continues: “Asda has enjoyed its eighth consecutive period of growth – the longest run of sales increases the retailer has seen since March 2014. Both cheaper and more premium own label lines delivered an impressive performance to help increase overall sales by 1.5% year on year. Asda’s budget Farm Stores range grew by 88%, while sales of its Extra Special line were up 22%. The grocer will be looking to build on this growth over Christmas and well into the new year.”

Sales at Iceland increased by 1.1%, with share falling slightly to 2.0% – down from 2.1% last year. Nearly half of the retailer’s growth came from categories outside its core frozen ranges, such as alcohol, which grew by 23% thanks to increased listings of wine, lager and cider.

Fraser McKevitt continues: “Amid news that Nisa’s shareholders have backed Co-op’s takeover of the group, there is plenty of room for growth: convenience stores in all their forms currently account for 12.1% of grocery sales. Nearly 60% of UK households currently visit this type of retailer, spending £3.2 billion in smaller stores during the past 12 weeks. Co-op is already the nation’s most frequently visited grocer – shoppers pop in almost twice a week on average – despite having seen sales fall by 1.5% compared to the same period last year.”

Waitrose held market share steady year on year at 5.3%, seeing sales growth across the board: from convenience stores, larger supermarkets and online. Internet specialist Ocado increased sales by 6.8%, growing ahead of the overall online grocery market.

Download the full press release with data table through the link on this website.

Output: The price of groceries is rising at its fastest rate since November 2013, at 3.4%. The lower-value GBP has raised the costs of imports and pushed up the rate of inflation, causing grocery bills to now stand at an average of £18.26. This price increase amounts to an additional 62p per shop, adding £143.70 to a typical family’s grocery bill over the year. Prices have been rising steadily since Q4 2016.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Facebook carefully selecting AR partners from advertiser list

 Facebook is trying to drum up early support among advertisers for its push into augmented reality.

The recruitment pitch started three months ago, when a group of 30 advertisers and agencies, including Nike, StudioCanal and TSB, were given access to a closed beta program to create AR campaigns. Now, around 700 developers for advertisers and agencies, including British retailer John Lewis and digital production agency Stink Studios, are creating interactive photo and video effects for the new Facebook camera feature. Other agencies like Possible, We Are Social and Ralph are waiting to use the feature, as it seems Facebook is being selective about which partners it involves early on.

Agency executives who have seen the social network’s pitch say it is more interested in winning over partners that can do something innovative to generate public interest in the feature than it is in convincing its biggest media buyers. For example, the much-hyped John Lewis Christmas ad was viewed as a key opportunity to get as many people as possible to use the camera, which in itself is a step change in how people use the app. Rather than upload pictures to Facebook’s app, people must take pictures from it to use the AR feature, which in the case of John Lewis lets them take their own monster selfie resembling the ad’s cuddly monster character.

If AR is to become as big for Facebook as mobile and video have been, then it needs more examples like John Lewis in the early stages, said Matt Payne, head of creative technology and innovation at We Are Social. For Facebook, the key is in the implementation, added Charles Crotty, digital strategy lead for Publicis Media’s Spark Foundry. The social network has the user base, but Snapchat is more established in AR.

For advertisers who have early access to Facebook’s AR tools, the social network is offering developer support, even providing a private Facebook page where developers who have beta access can share what they’ve learned with one another. One source, who spoke to Digiday on the condition of anonymity, said they were surprised when Facebook appeared at their offices in the U.S. unannounced with a filter it had developed for the company.

“[Facebook] offered us a filter for an event we had in the summer, which didn’t have great exposure but was an interesting test,” said this person. “We’ve got access to the developer kit now and will be making our own.”

Facebook also sent a developer to StudioCanal’s headquarters two months ago to help the movie producer and its team of Havas agencies produce a filter for this week’s release of “Paddington 2.”

The filter places the Paddington Bear character’s signature red hat and blue coat on the user, which they can then share. Two days after it launched, the filter had been used over 26,000 times, said Jamie McHale, the digital marketing manager at StudioCanal. That number is as much as McHale and his team know about how the filter is being used, as Facebook has limited the metrics it shares with them. However, Facebook has assured McHale this will change over time.

“The reason I decided to do it [the AR campaign] with Facebook was the pure reach and scale of its platform,” McHale said. “It absolutely dwarfs Snapchat.”

That StudioCanal is already ready to back Facebook’s AR push over Snapchat’s more established AR offering is a testament to the work Facebook has done with brands directly. McHale said Facebook first floated the idea of an AR feature to him a year ago, months before founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed the tools for developers to build AR experiences in the Facebook app in April. Agencies, however, aren’t threatened by Facebook going directly to their clients, as it has asked to be kept updated on the brands already being pitched AR campaigns to avoid doubling up.

To date, anecdotal evidence on the performance of AR campaigns has been mixed. Advertisers and their agencies accept that AR on Facebook is more trial and error now than it is delivering real return. Most of the ad executives Digiday spoke to agreed it is too early to compare the performance of Facebook’s AR proposition to that of Snapchat’s. Facebook’s AR camera doesn’t have enough awareness yet, argued Melissa Ditson, executive creative director at 360i Europe, which developed an AR filter for TSB’s sponsorship of the Pride of Britain Awards. “We’re really pleased with what we’ve seen for the Pride of Britain filter so far,” she said.

Other marketers aren’t so quick to buy into the hype around Facebook’s AR ads just yet. Executives at King, Essence and DigitasLBi recently told Business Insider that Snapchat is way ahead of its rivals in the AR race. Tom Winbow, the strategy director at Ralph, said what he has seen of Facebook’s AR features has left him “cold”; Facebook is an “incredibly cost-effective” way to get both mass reach and engagement, but it’s “just not very fun.” Snapchat is where users naturally live through a lens and, therefore, is “still the most fun place for AR” when it comes to social experiences, Winbow said.

The biggest difference so far between Facebook’s AR pitch and Snapchat’s is that the latter is essentially a closed ecosystem. Brands and agencies mainly rely on Snapchat’s developers to build lenses and filters, whereas Facebook’s platform is open, albeit to a select group currently. Being hands-on might allow Snapchat to control the quality of AR activations, which could lead it to price itself out of the reach of most advertisers. There’s no fee attached to developing AR campaigns on Facebook beyond the advertiser’s or agency’s labor costs. On Snapchat, an ad agency would have to pass Snapchat’s development costs on to the client.

Output: Facebook is selecting partners from its list of advertisers to work on a potential augmented reality (AR) offering. The company offered a closed beta programme to 30 of its leading advertisers to test AR, and has now opened the floor to 700 ad developers to create interactive photo and video effects for its latest camera feature. Executives who've seen the company's pitch say Facebook appears keener to win over innovative partners to generate public interest in its AR than big media buyers.