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Traffic fumes ‘wipe out’ benefits of walking for older people
 The over-60s should stick to green spaces and parks when they go for a walk and avoid the city streets, according to a groundbreaking study that says air pollution from traffic fumes largely wipes out the health benefit from the exercise.

Walking is often recommended for older people, but the study from Imperial College London and Duke University in the USA suggests that the over-60s and those with lung and heart problems should steer clear of urban areas with heavy traffic. The negative effect may well be the same in younger people, say the authors, and it reinforces the urgency of reducing emissions in city streets.

The research compared walking for two hours in Oxford Street with strolling in Hyde Park, which registers some air pollution but far less than in the heart of the capital city’s shopping district.

The researchers recruited 119 people who were either healthy, had stable heart disease or stable COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) which damages the lungs. They were randomly allotted to walk either in the west end of Oxford Street which is restricted to taxis and buses emitting diesel fumes and which has frequently breached air quality limits set by the World Health Organisation, or a traffic-free area of Hyde Park. Some weeks later they did the other walk. The findings were published in the Lancet medical journal.

Noise and pollution levels were significantly higher on Oxford Street, including increased levels of black carbon, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter. All the participants benefited from a stroll in the park, with lung capacity improving within the first hour, and a significant lasting increase for more than 24 hours in many cases. By comparison, a walk up and down Oxford Street led to only a small increase in lung capacity in participants – far lower than recorded in the park.

Blood flow also increased after exercise, with decreases in blood pressure and an increase in heart rate. Arteries became less stiff in those walking in Hyde Park, with a maximum change from baseline of more than 24% in healthy and COPD volunteers, and more than 19% in heart disease patients.

This effect was drastically reduced when walking along Oxford Street, however, with a maximum change in arterial stiffness of just 4.6% for healthy volunteers, 16% for those with COPD and 8.6% for heart disease.

These findings are important as walking is frequently recommended for older people. “For many people, such as the elderly or those with chronic disease, very often the only exercise they can do is to walk,” said Kian Fan Chung, professor of respiratory medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial and lead author of the study. “Our research suggests that we might advise older adults to walk in green spaces, away from built-up areas and pollution from traffic,” he added.

Chung said traffic pollution might also affect younger people doing their shopping in the heart of a city.

“I think it might well do. The only difference is that young people are much more resilient,” he said. A study in younger people should be done, he said.

Other scientists said the study was important evidence of the harms of air pollution, although they would not advise people to stop walking in the city streets, because the benefits for healthy people were reduced but not completely lost.

Ian Colbeck, professor of environmental science at Essex University, said the paper highlighted the risks to health by walking along polluted roads, for the over-60s with specific pre-existing medical conditions.

“We know from other research that for the vast majority of the population the benefits of any physical activity far outweigh any harm caused by air pollution except for the most extreme air pollution concentrations,” he said. “It’s important to that people continue to exercise. In the UK physical inactivity is the fourth largest cause of disease and mortality and contributes to around 37,000 premature deaths in England every year.”

Prof Stephen Holgate from Southampton University and special adviser to the Royal College of Physicians on air quality, said: “The observation that air pollution encountered on a high street in London removes any health protection produced by exercise outdoors is yet another demonstration that pollution is eroding the health of ordinary people. More than this, it would seem that pollution, in large part related to traffic emissions, has an immediate adverse effect on those with chronic diseases such as COPD and cardiovascular diseases.

“While medication for cardiovascular disease apparently protects against acute pollutant effects, is this the way we should be dealing with the problem? I would say no. This important study mandates action to radically reduce pollution at source to enable our cities and towns to be safe places to live in and move around.”

Output: Air pollution from traffic eradicates the benefits of walking for over-60s, according to research by Imperial College London and Duke University in the US. The study recommends that older people, and those with heart and lung problems, should avoid areas of heavy traffic and walk instead in green spaces. The fumes may also have a similar impact on younger people. The study analysed results from 119 people walking for two hours either on London’s Oxford Street or in Hyde Park; lung capacity increased and arterial stiffness reduced far more after exercising in the park than on Oxford Street.


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Mayors signing ‘Chicago Climate Charter’ receive Obama's praise
 CHICAGO — Former president Barack Obama on Tuesday praised American mayors, business leaders, and academics as being the "new face of American leadership on climate change" now that President Trump has abandoned an international climate accord that Obama helped forge during his presidency.

The comments from Obama came at a gathering in Chicago of mayors and municipal officials from the U.S. and around globe to discuss climate change in light of Trump’s declaration earlier this year that he will withdraw the U.S. from the landmark Paris Agreement.

As part of the North American Climate Summit, the mayors signed a pledge dubbed the “Chicago Climate Charter” — a non-binding pact in which the cities agree to continue working toward the goal of reducing greenhouse emission as set out by the Paris accord.

"In this environment right now, it's easy sometimes to feel discouraged, and feel as if people are talking past each other," said Obama, who did not mention President Trump by name in his 14-minute address to the summit. "This is where the particular talents of mayors come in. Because first of all, you are used to dealing with folks who can sometimes be unreasonable. You are accustomed to having to deal with the realities in front of you and take action, not just talk about it."

Trump announced in June that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the climate accord. Under terms of the agreement — which was negotiated during Obama’s tenure in the White House — nations can’t officially give notice of their departure from the non-binding agreement until November 2019. Syria announced last month that it would join the accord, leaving the U.S. as the only country out of the agreement once it can formally withdraw — a fact that Obama called "difficult to defend."

Trump criticized the Paris Agreement, which sets the goal of holding global warming below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, as an example of a deal “that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries.”

One part of the Paris Agreement that big cities won’t be able to duplicate: contributing billions of dollars that the U.S. (during the Obama administration) and other governments pledged to help developing countries transition to cleaner forms of energy.

The ex-president made the case to the friendly crowd that curbing carbon emissions and promoting economic growth are not mutually exclusive.

Obama noted that his administration pushed for new regulations limiting the amount of carbon pollution existing power plants could release in the air, promoted wind and solar energy and set new fuel economy standards for vehicles.

"We met resistance every step of the way," Obama said. "There were skeptics who said these actions would kill jobs and depress growth. Instead after we took these actions, we saw the U.S. economy grow consistently, we saw the longest streak of job creation in American history by far. It's a streak that continues, by the way."

Obama quipped about his economic record, "Thanks, Obama."

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who signed the mayor's pact, said that Trump’s decision to back out of the accord has been damaging to the United States reputation worldwide and has the potential to hurt the American economy.

“Mayors like me around the country have no choice but to step up to the plate and send a message to people in our communities, around the country and around the globe that we are not going to give up our role in sustainability or fighting climate change,” Stanton said. “We understand that clean energy is our economic future, and we can’t build an economy by looking backwards.”

More:Forget Paris: U.S. mayors sign their own pact after Trump ditches climate accord

More:Chicago Climate Charter, explained: What cities say they'll do to reduce greenhouse gases

More:The U.S. is now the only country not part of Paris climate agreement after Syria signs on

Output: Mayors from across the world met in Chicago this week to discuss environmental issues and to sign “The Chicago Climate Charter”, a non-binding pledge that their cities will continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.  Former US president Barack Obama addressed the meeting, describing mayors, academics and business people as the "new face of American leadership on climate change" in the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Accord.


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Sea level rise predictions may be too high: Greenland study
 Feeder streams 300 FEET Darker ice Snow covering an old channel This river drains an area of about 24 square miles Collector lake Researcher’s camp Here the river is about 60 feet wide and up to 6 feet deep. Moulin Feeder streams 300 FEET Darker ice Snow sometimes covers old channels. This river drains an area of about 24 square miles Collector lake Researcher’s camp Here the river is about 60 feet wide and up to 6 feet deep. Moulin 300 feet wide This river drains an area of about 24 miles Collector lake About 60 feet wide and up to 6 feet deep. Moulin

On Greenland’s vast ice sheet, meltwater flows in rivulets as sunlight and warm air heat the surface ice.

Surface variations create thousands of low-lying areas where meltwater collects and eventually drains.

The rivulets drain into larger rivers that carve natural paths across the ice sheet.

Over years, impurities in the ice become concentrated, making it darker. Those areas absorb more sunlight, causing more melting.

Underneath the surface, the ice develops holes, like swiss cheese.

This river reached a large depression in the ice and formed a lake.

The lake fed another fast-moving river on the opposite side.

That river disappeared down a hole in the ice, called a moulin.

Sea level rise depends on how much water drains from the ice sheet into the ocean, and how fast.

New research suggests that more of the water may be trapped inside the ice sheet than previously thought.

On Greenland’s vast ice sheet, meltwater flows in rivulets as sunlight and warm air heat the surface ice.

Surface variations create thousands of low-lying areas where meltwater collects and drains.

The rivulets drain to larger rivers that carve natural paths across the ice sheet.

Over years, impurities in the ice become concentrated, making it darker. Those areas absorb more heat, and cause greater melting.

This river reached a depression in the ice and formed a lake, which fed another river on the opposite side.

That river disappeared down a hole in the ice, called a moulin.

Sea level rise depends on how much water drains from the ice sheet into the ocean. New research suggests there may be more water trapped in the ice than previously thought.

Output: Sea-level rise predictions may be too high, according to international research which measured the meltwater runoff from ice in Greenland. Scientists found that less meltwater flows through the ice sheet, and to the ocean, than previously estimated as some is retained in porous ice. Greenland is losing an average of 260 billion tonnes of ice each year, which would lead to sea level rises of two inches by the end of the century. Additional research will now try to determine the amount of water retained within the ice.


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EU, UK mull bitcoin secrecy curbs on laundering, tax-dodge fears
 The UK and other EU governments are planning a crackdown on bitcoin amid growing concerns that the digital currency is being used for money laundering and tax evasion.

The Treasury plans to regulate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to bring them in line with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financial legislation. Traders will be forced to disclose their identities, ending the anonymity that has made the currency attractive for drug dealing and other illegal activities.

Under the EU-wide plan, online platforms where bitcoins are traded will be required to carry out due diligence on customers and report suspicious transactions. The UK government is negotiating amendments to the anti-money-laundering directive to ensure firms’ activities are overseen by national authorities.

The Treasury said: “We are working to address concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies by negotiating to bring virtual currency exchange platforms and some wallet providers within anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulation.”

Q&A What is bitcoin? Show Bitcoin is a 'cryptocurrency' – a decentralised tradeable digital asset. Invented in 2008, you store your bitcoins in a digital wallet, and transactions are stored in a public ledger known as the bitcoin blockchain, which prevents the digital currency being double-spent. Cryptocurrencies can be used to send transactions between two parties via the use of private and public keys. These transfers can be done with minimal processing cost, allowing users to avoid the fees charged by traditional financial institutions - as well as the oversight and regulation that entails. The lack of any central authority oversight is one of the attractions. This means it has attracted a range of backers, from libertarian monetarists who enjoy the idea of a currency with no inflation and no central bank, to drug dealers who like the fact that it is hard (but not impossible) to trace a bitcoin transaction back to a physical person. The exchange rate has been volatile, with some deeming it a risky investment. In January 2021 the UK's Financial Conduct Authority warned consumers they should be prepared to lose all their money if they invest in schemes promising high returns from digital currencies such as bitcoin. In practice it has been far more important for the dark economy than it has for most legitimate uses. In November 2021 it hit a record high of more than $68,000, as a growing number of investors backed it as an alternative to other assets during the Covid crisis. Bitcoin has been criticised for the vast energy reserves and associated carbon footprint of the system. New bitcoins are created by “mining” coins, which is done by using computers to carry out complex calculations. The more bitcoins that have been "mined", the longer it takes to mine new coin, and the more electricity is used in the process. Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.

The rules are expected to come into effect in the next few months. The Treasury said digital currencies could be used to enable and facilitate cybercrime. It added: “There is little current evidence of them being used to launder money, though this risk is expected to grow.”

The bosses of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have criticised bitcoin as a vehicle to commit fraud and other crimes. But Sir Jon Cunliffe, a deputy governor of the Bank of England, last week said the digital currency was too small to pose a systemic threat to the global economy. He also cautioned that bitcoin investors needed “to do their homework”.

Bitcoin was trading at $11,566 on Monday. It hit a fresh record high of $11,800 on Sunday but fell to $10,554 on news of the regulatory crackdown.

The Labour MP John Mann, a member of the House of Commons Treasury select committee, suggested MPs would look into the regulation of virtual currencies.

He told the Daily Telegraph: “These new forms of exchange are expanding rapidly and we’ve got to make sure we don’t get left behind – that’s particularly important in terms of money laundering, terrorism or pure theft.

“It would be timely to have a proper look at what this means. It may be that we want speed up our use of these kinds of thing in this country, but that makes it all the more important that we don’t have a regulatory lag.”

Stephen Barclay, the economic secretary to the Treasury, set out the government’s plans in a written parliamentary answer in October. “The UK government is currently negotiating amendments to the anti-money-laundering directive that will bring virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers into anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulation, which will result in these firms’ activities being overseen by national competent authorities for these areas.

“The government supports the intention behind these amendments. We expect these negotiations to conclude at EU level in late 2017 or early 2018.”

Output: European governments including the UK are seeking to strengthen the regulation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in an effort to prevent them being used for money laundering and tax evasion. The anonymity of the virtual currencies has made them popular with drug dealers and other criminals seeking to transfer funds for illegal activities without leaving a trace. Proposals have been drawn up for action to be taken across the European Union, requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to comply with existing regulations by carrying out due diligence on users and reporting suspicious transactions.


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South Korea mulling new bitcoin tax, regulatory code
 Kim Dong-yeon, South Korea’s deputy prime minister and the minister of strategy and finance, revealed earlier this week that the government is investigating various methods to better regulate the local Bitcoin market and tax Bitcoin users accordingly.

While the South Korean government and its local financial authorities are actively discussing the possibility of enforcing a policy on Bitcoin taxation, at a press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Kim stated that the government does not intend to include any Bitcoin taxation policy in 2018’s amendment of the tax law.

South Korea likely to follow Japan’s taxation policy

Since the beginning of this year, the South Korean government has introduced light regulatory frameworks for Bitcoin businesses and investors that are structurally similar to that of the policies imposed by the Japanese government and the Japan Financial Service Agency (FSA).

Currently, cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms have the freedom to operate in both regions, with minimal government interference and oversight.

As a part of a major initiative to facilitate the growth of the Japanese cryptocurrency market, the Japanese government eliminated the eight percent consumption tax on Bitcoin in July, with the intent of sustaining the rapid growth rate of the Japanese Bitcoin industry and growing demand from the traditional finance sector.

It is likely that the South Korean government will implement a similar Bitcoin tax policy to that of the Japanese government, given that most of the regulatory frameworks provided by the South Korean financial authorities in 2017 focused on providing freedom and flexibility to businesses, like Japan.

Discussion on centralization of trading

Several agencies, Bitcoin communities, and government officials have expressed their concerns with the centralization of trading within South Korea. Bithumb, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency trading platform behind Bitfinex, accounts for nearly 70 percent of South Korea’s Bitcoin trades.

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance will explore potential methods of distributing cryptocurrency and Bitcoin trading volumes across a wider range of cryptocurrency trading platforms within the market.

Banks are testing Bitcoin

Additionally, some of the country’s largest and most influential financial institutions such as Shinhan, South Korea’s second-largest commercial bank, have already begun testing Bitcoin wallet and vault systems, with a long-term strategy to provide a safe and insured platform with which Bitcoin users can store funds.

Shinhan emphasized that a vault service for Bitcoin users, especially large-scale investment firms and institutional investors, is necessary, given that Bithumb was hacked twice this year.

However, it is also important to consider the structure of the Bitcoin network and its decentralized nature. Because the Bitcoin network exists on a peer-to-peer protocol, the safest way to store Bitcoin is on non-custodial wallet platforms, wherein the user obtains absolute control of private keys and funds.

Overall, it is highly optimistic that the South Korean government has started to acknowledge the rapid growth rate of Bitcoin and drafted several solutions to standardize the South Korean Bitcoin industry.

Output: The government of South Korea is considering how best to tax users of bitcoin and regulate the market more effectively. Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon said such a move was under active consideration, but would not be included in amendments to tax law in 2018. South Korea has minimal oversight of bitcoin users, and is likely to follow the lead of Japan, which lifted an 8% consumption tax on bitcoin earlier this year.


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US to Senate bill S.1241 to criminalise hidden ownership of cryptos
 The US Senate Judiciary Committee is currently tackling bill S.1241 that aims to criminalize the intentional concealment of ownership or control of a financial account. The bill also would amend the definition of ‘financial account’ and ‘financial institution’ to include digital currencies and digital exchanges, respectively. According to ranking committee member Senator Dianne Feinstein, the proposed bill is needed to modernize existing AML laws.

Changing definitions

The bill would amend the definition of ‘financial institution,’ in Section 53412(a) of title 31, United States Code, to include:

“An issuer, redeemer, or cashier of prepaid access devices, digital currency, or any digital exchanger or tumbler of digital currency.”

If passed, the bill would likely have far-reaching effects for users of digital currencies both in the US and abroad.

Industry opinions

Several industry commentators have issued their opinions on the proposed law. Tone Vays claimed that he expects a confrontation between the Bitcoin team, including the holders and users, and the US government.

“It’s bad…I think it’s gonna end in a very confrontational way between Bitcoin—even Bitcoin holders and users—and the US Government.”

In his testimony during the hearing, John A. Cassara claimed that the issue of virtual currencies is interesting:

“Senator, I’m just glad I had my career when I did because I don’t know what I’d do trying to follow the money when it comes to digital currencies, it’s extremely, extremely challenging…I think if you look at the metrics, the metrics suggest today [that] digital currencies are a small fraction of the threat that we face. That’s not to say it’s gonna be the case in 5-10 years from now. We’re right at a crossroads, and it’s going to be very, very interesting to see what goes forward.”

Earlier reports also indicate that the White House is actively monitoring cryptocurrencies which could only mean more attempts to regulate the world’s first successful decentralized monetary system. With the growing involvement of Wall Street and the ever escalating media attention, it is not surprising that governments are stepping up their attempts to regulate digital currency.

Output: It could soon be a criminal offence in the US for citizens to conceal their ownership of cryptocurrencies. Under the terms of bill S.1241, currently being considered in the US Senate, the definitions of "financial account" and "financial institution" could be amended to include digital currencies and exchanges alongside traditional financial assets and markets. Senators backing the changes say they are necessary in order to modernise existing anti-money-laundering laws. Some industry experts warn the move could provoke a confrontation between bitcoin owners and the US government.


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Buildup raises $7m for construction sector task management tools
 Missed the GamesBeat Summit excitement? Don't worry! Tune in now to catch all of the live and virtual sessions here.

Buildup, a task management and collaboration platform aimed at the construction industry, has raised $7 million in a Series A round of funding from Tel Aviv-based TLV Partners, UpWest Labs, 01 Ventures, Abstract Ventures, and Check founders Guy Goldstein and Ahikam Kaufman.

Founded in 2013, Palo Alto-based Buildup targets contractors, developers, and property managers with cross-platform software for identifying and fixing tasks and issues related to a job. It includes features such as punch lists, automated task sequencing, quality control tools, subcontractor performance analysis, and more. Ultimately, it’s all about bringing handwritten lists and printed documents into a central cloud-based location.

Prior to now, Buildup had raised $1.6 million in seed funding, and with its latest cash influx the company said that it plans to expand its engineering, sales, and marketing teams.

Inefficient

The global construction market is reportedly worth around $10 trillion, but the industry isn’t renowned for its efficiency, with some reports suggesting that the sector is among the lowest in terms of productivity — partly due to its lack of digitization.

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“The construction industry lags behind other markets in the overall productivity of its workers,” noted TLV Partners managing partner Eitan Bek. “Buildup addresses the longest phase of a construction project: building. The management team has executed extremely well, with limited resources, and has managed to achieve significant customer adoption in a challenging market.”

And it’s against this backdrop that the tech industry has seen myriad construction-related launches and investments around the world.

Back in September, BuildingConnected raised $22 million to grow its bid procurement platform for building contractors, and “Airbnb for construction” startup EquipmentShare raised $20 million to grow its marketplace for selling and lending equipment.

Elsewhere, Emagispace raised $4.2 million for its modular building block technology, Belgian startup Aproplan raised around $6 million for its “Salesforce for construction” platform, and Zillow acquired New Home Feed to help builders market new properties. Notably, Netscape creator Jim Clark recently launched CommandScape, which is touted as a state-of-the-art building management system for premium properties.

Buildup said that it has worked with ENR-ranked top 50 companies such as Turner Construction, Whiting Turner, AvalonBay, and Greystar, among others.

“Our customers have used Buildup to make job sites more efficient and collaborative, while also gaining newfound insight into critical and timely data during the execution stage of construction projects, when most of their budget is spent,” added Buildup CEO and cofounder Oren Cohen.

Output: California firm Buildup has raised $7m in series A funding from investors including Abstract Ventures and TLV Partners, bringing its total funding to $8.6m. The company has developed cloud-based software for the construction and property management industries that replaces paperwork with a digital alternative. The sector has slowly begun to adopt digitisation and investors are keen to back firms embracing the technology. Buildup's new funding followed rounds by BuildingConnected, EquipmentShare and Aproplan, which raised $22m, $20m and $6m respectively.


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PwC study shows shift to online plan purchases
 According to PwC, nearly half of UK small businesses bought their most recent business insurance online and they are increasingly looking to interact with customers digitally, though just one in ten have cyber insurance

Almost half (43%) of small businesses bought their most recent insurance online. They also want to interact more with their customers online, but only one in ten (12%) has cyber insurance.

A new PwC survey of 2,100 small businesses from across the globe shows the insurance market for SMEs is likely to completely transform to match the digital transformation within the next decade.

The survey, which included 300 firms from the UK, also showed that small businesses in the UK are more digitally savvy than their peers across the world when it comes to interacting with their insurance providers online, with almost half (46%) saying they have purchased insurance online, versus 24% worldwide.

The survey made these conclusions:

43% of UK small businesses bought their most recent business insurance online

More than two thirds (68%) of UK small businesses who plan to switch insurance providers in the next two years say they want to do so online

Just one in 10 (12%) UK small businesses have cyber insurance and 14% do not have liability cover

60% of small companies under five years old say they want to purchase business insurance online - this drops to 44% of more established companies aged over ten years, who tend to have deeper relationships with brokers and agents

As well as this, over a third also say they would be willing to use sensor technologies in their businesses if it would bring down their insurance premiums.

UK insurance leader at PwC, Jim Bichard said:

“The UK insurance market has always been seen as one of the most mature, but our survey shows we can also be the most innovative. Taking a lead from the digital transformation seen in personal lines, UK insurers are now leading the way on how they interact online with small businesses.”

Despite this, he believes there is still much room for improvement, and outlined how insurers can achieve that:

“Using technology; insurers can also reinforce the value they bring through providing greater coverage for current & emerging risks.

“In order to make the most of this growth opportunity, insurers need to focus on understanding the varied and complicated ways the UK’s small businesses function, as well as investing in ways to deliver a full range of products that will meet their needs.”

PwC says the insurance industry needs to act now to meet these growing demands from small businesses.

Output: Professional services firm PwC has released a study that found that 43% of UK small businesses last purchased their business insurance online. Despite a strong interest in wanting to interact more with customers online, only 12% have cyber insurance and only 14% have liability cover. The research from 2,100 small businesses globally found that UK small businesses are more digitally aware than their worldwide counterparts, with 46% purchasing insurance online, as opposed to 24% globally. Of those which planned to switch insurance provider in the next two years, 68% wish to do so online.


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Smart Ag develops autonomous farming technology
 Dive Brief:

Agriculture technology firm Smart Ag has developed what it calls AutoCart software to automate existing ag equipment, which can help alleviate labor shortage issues farmers are facing, according to Food Manufacturing. The automatic grain cart system enables one person to do what typically requires two skilled operators.

Though still in the pilot stage, testing of a driverless John Deere tractor and grain cart began this fall at MBS Family Farms in Iowa. AutoCart uses navigation technology adapted from the aerospace industry. It allows the tractor pulling the grain cart to chart an efficient path to wherever the combine operator sends it. The cart is programmed only to go where the combine has already been, thus preventing it from going into an area that hasn't yet been harvested.

"It looks like the headless horseman when the tractor's out there without an operator in it," Mark Barglof, chief technology officer for Smart Ag, told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. "It takes a little bit to get used to, but once you do get used to it, you can see the future is really in front of you."

Dive Insight:

The combination of fewer new workers entering the workforce and a lack of skilled laborers could have a profound impact on the future of food companies and plant processes. Farmers face similar hurdles — harvesting processes for fruits and vegetables have become increasingly challenging due to agricultural labor shortage and lack of experienced machine operators on the farm.

Producers have said they struggle to find the labor they need to package meat and tend to livestock or pick strawberries, flowers, tomatoes and other crops. In some cases, produce is left to rot in the field, potentially hurting the nation's abundant food supply and risking the possibility of higher prices that consumers pay at the grocery store.

"For decades we've been limited on farms to about 1,000 acres per full-time equivalent [employee]. If we're going to break out of that and drive more efficiency, it's probably easier to automate than to train unskilled labor," Allen Lash, CEO of Family Farms Group, told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

Companies will need to think outside the box to close labor gaps, and many are likely to turn to automation and new technology like the machine being tested by Smart Ag. Robots are already being used in retail warehouses to pick and sort products. Stores such as Walmart and Ahold Delhaize are deploying robots to support tasks like scanning shelves and counting stock.

It’s not much of a stretch to imagine robots and other automated technology penetrating food manufacturing facilities, processing plants and farms. According to Boston Consulting Group, today’s robots, food-related or otherwise, only automate about 10% of the tasks that machines can perform, though that number is expected to increase to about 25% in the next decade.

If this trend holds, and the automated ag equipment and technology pans out, this could solve the agricultural industry’s headaches over employment gaps, though it also could cause disruption for existing laborers and young workers looking to enter the sector.

But the owner of MBS Family Farms told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls publication that the technology is not about replacing any of its 20 workers. “I want to be clear that our excitement around this technology isn’t about replacing any one of those 20,” Mehmen said. “It’s about bringing more on... We see this as something that can help with that significantly."

Automated farming systems like this one could impact the whole food system. Despite having to cover R&D costs and expenses related to the new technology, food prices could actually go down because it costs less to get it to market. But if this does eventually happen, it could take some time before shoppers notice any meaningful impact on their wallet.

Still, don’t expect these kinds of advancements to take the farming community by storm anytime soon. Automation, technology and robots could be just a bit too progressive for many small mom-and-pop farms operating along the nation’s countryside. The price tag also turn off cash-strapped producers, many of whom have already seen their income sharply reduced due to a prolonged drop in corn, soybean and other commodity prices.

Output: Iowa-based agtech Smart Ag has unveiled its Autocart software for automating existing farming equipment. The software is still under development and uses navigation technology to chart the most efficient pathways for farming machinery. Autocart is intended to control some of the tasks done by tractors and combine harvesters. Extensive labour shortages are predicted in the farming industry and automation is expected to be necessary to augment the workforce.


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EBRD offers funding for 45 MW Jordanian wind farm
 A 45-MW wind project in Jordan proposed by UAE-based Shobak Wind Energy PSC will get USD 52 million (EUR 43.7m) in debt financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The financing will consist of two USD-26-million A and B loans, one funded by the Europe Arab Bank (EAB). The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) has provided the remaining USD 26-million portion of the required funds.

Construction on the USD-104-million Shobak project is expected to start by the beginning of next year, Daniel Calderon, co-founder and CEO of Alcazar Energy said. The latter is the owner of Shobak Wind Energy, which is partnering in the scheme with US-based power developer Hecate Energy.

EBRD noted it has supported 350 MW of renewable energy projects in Jordan, investing more than USD 1 billion.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.840)

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Output: UAE firm Shobak Wind Energy will receive $52m in debt financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a 45 MW wind project in Jordan. The funding will be provided in two loans of $26m, split between the Europe Arab Bank and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector. The project, a $104m partnership between Alcazar Energy's Shobak Wind Energy and power developer Hecate Energy, is due to start by early 2018. EBRD has previously provided $1bn of funding for 350 MW of renewable energy projects.


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Reuters uses AI to mine Twitter for stories
 Nevertheless, news agencies such as the Associated Press have moved ahead with automated news writing services. These report standard announcements such as financial news and certain sports results by pasting the data into pre-written templates: “X reported profit of Y million in Q3, in results that beat Wall Street forecasts ... ”

So there is significant pressure on other news agencies to automate news production. And today, Reuters outlines how it has almost entirely automated the identification of breaking news stories. Xiaomo Liu and pals at Reuters Research and Development and Alibaba say the new system performs well. Indeed, it has the potential to revolutionize the news business. But it also raises concerns about how such a system could be gamed by malicious actors.

The new system is called Reuters Tracer. It uses Twitter as a kind of global sensor that records news events as they are happening. The system then uses various kinds of data mining and machine learning to pick out the most relevant events, determine their topic, rank their priority, and write a headline and a summary. The news is then distributed around the company’s global news wire.

The first step in the process is to siphon the Twitter data stream. Tracer examines about 12 million tweets a day, 2 percent of the total. Half of these are sampled at random; the other half come from a list of Twitter accounts curated by Reuters’s human journalists. They include the accounts of other news organizations, significant companies, influential individuals, and so on.

The next stage is to determine when a news event has occurred. Tracer does this by assuming that an event has occurred if several people start talking about it at once. So it uses a clustering algorithm to find these conversations.

Of course, these clusters include spam, advertisements, ordinary chat, and so on. Only some of them refer to newsworthy events.

So the next stage is to classify and prioritize the events. Tracer uses a number of algorithms to do this. The first identifies the topic of the conversation. It then compares this with a database of topics that the Reuters team has gathered from tweets produced by 31 official news accounts, such as @CNN, @BBCBreaking, and @nytimes as well as news aggregators like @BreakingNews.

At this stage, the algorithm also determines the location of the event using a database of cities and location-based keywords.

Output: News agency Reuters is using artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically identify breaking news stories. The company's research and development team has created a system called Reuters Tracer, which uses Twitter to monitor news events as they happen. The system automatically selects the most relevant and writes a headline and summary, which are then sent around the company's global distribution channels. The software analyses around 12 million tweets a day, half of which come from accounts curated by Reuters journalists, and half of which are randomly sampled. The company claims the system has worked well in tests, generating accurate alerts quickly.


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Input:
Noodle raises $14m for expansion into online learning courses
 As more nonprofit colleges and universities bet their futures on online offerings, many are turning to for-profit companies to help create and advertise their new digital degree programs.

One of the newer players to step into that online program manager (OPM) space, Noodle Partners, got a boost this week: $14 million in Series A funding led by edtech venture capital firm Owl Ventures. The announcement comes about a year after the startup raised $4 million in a seed round from Osage Venture Partners and New Markets Venture Partners, bringing Noodle Partners’ total raised to about $18 million.

Backdrop to the raise is a growing market and demand for online courses. Nearly 12 percent of all undergraduate students, and about a quarter of graduate students, are enrolled in full time online degree programs, according to the 2017 The Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE) report.

Meanwhile, research by Eduventures shows the number of online programs offered at 2- and 4-year higher-ed institutions more than doubled between 2011-2015. And the number of schools working with OPMs to help create and deliver those programs increased at an even higher rate, growing 133 percent over the same period.

It’s a market that John Katzman, CEO of Noodle Partners, knows well. Prior to founding Noodle Companies in 2010, the holding company for Noodle Partners and three other organizations, he started 2U, a provider of OPM services for colleges. There, he helped 2U raise nearly $100 million, and left shortly before the company went public.

Now, Katzman is raising funds again, this time as a direct competitor to his previous endeavor. But he says his plans for fundraising and revenue are different this time around. For one, “I don’t need to raise the way we did at 2U,” Katzman tells EdSurge.

That’s because the online program market he sees today is strikingly different from the one that 2U found its roots in. “A decade ago, the cost to build a program was very high, and there was substantial risk,” says Katzman.

In those days, he says schools often lacked the in-house expertise to create and sell an online program from scratch, and looked to OPMS to provide, among various services, technology support, recruiting and marketing, and instructional design. Other OPM providers, including 2U, still use that all-in-one model.

Noodle is far from being the only company helping colleges create online degree programs. According to The Atlantic, just five companies—2U, Academic Partnerships, Bisk, Pearson Embanet, and Wiley Education Services—control nearly half of the OPM market, which is estimated at around $1.1 billion.

A decade ago, the cost to build a program was very high, and there was substantial risk.

John Katzman

To vie for colleges and clients, Katzman offers a different, “pick and choose” approach with Noodle Partners. Unlike some OPM providers that sell an entire package of services, he believes in letting schools decide which features to outsource or build in-house. (Another OPM, Wiley Education Services, offers a similar model.)

The flexible option to purchase instructional design, marketing and student support services was one of the reasons why Tulane University chose Noodle Partners, even after having built some online programs in-house.

“We can elect to use those services or not, and that was attractive to be able to decide internally as we scale,” says Jamie Northrup, senior associate vice president of strategy at Tulane.

Still, Katzman doesn’t think colleges can take any shortcuts to creating their online programs. It’s “not a la carte,” he says. “All of the things I did at 2U have to be done. You need to fund the program and market it and recruit students, and you need instructional design and everything else. Our feeling is some universities have substantial capacity [to do some components in-house] rather than allowing an outside firm to do it.”

In addition to Tulane, Noodle Partners has signed on nearly a dozen universities like American and New York University.

As colleges bring more services in house, Katzman is betting that they will not want to pay for expensive all-in-one services. On average, OPM providers get a 60 percent revenue share for around a decade, according to the Eduventures report.

Noodle offers a flat fee-for-service option, without long-term revenue-sharing contracts, and claims those fees can be as little as 3 to 5 percent of student tuition dollars. Combined with the services offered by its partner vendors, however, Noodle’s fees more typically costs 30-35 percent of student tuition, Katzman says.

We can elect to use those services or not, and that was attractive to be able to decide internally as we scale.

Jamie Northup

Still, experts are skeptical that fee-based services will replace the revenue-sharing model that currently dominates the OPM deals in place today, Inside Higher Ed reports.

Noodle is similar to its competitors in some ways, too, and has its own revenue-sharing option. In those arrangements, the company uses it own funds to build and market the program in exchange for 60 percent revenue for about three years, before switching to the fee-based payment plan.

In the push to dominate the OPM race, Noodle Partners will face another challenge: client saturation. According to the CHLOE study, boosting student enrollment tops the list of reasons for colleges investing in online learning, “with other objectives, such as student completion gains and cost reduction, trailing far behind.” And as more OPMs offer colleges the ability to extend their footprint on a national and global scale, those reaches may overlap.

Of course, many online programs still attract local students. (Some have been criticized by faculty for cannibalizing in-person courses.) But to compete effectively, Katzman thinks online programs will have to integrate with specialized in-person offerings to win over prospective students.

“Differentiation will be the key online. It’s what kind of students do we serve and what are we teaching them, and where are we placing them?” he says. “As geography matters less, how you position your school will matter a lot.”

Output: Edtech firm Noodle Partners has raised $14m in a series A funding round to help it expand into the online programme manager (OPM) market. Online learning courses are a growing market, with 25% of postgraduates using them, with Noodle operating as both a creator and advertiser for OPMs. The firm offers a bespoke system that allows educational institutions to determine which aspects to keep in-house and which to outsource. The funding was led by edtech venture capital firm Owl Ventures and brought Noodle's total funding to about $18m.


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Input:
Snapchat creates first sponsored bitmoji with McDonald's feature
 When it comes to Snapchat users messing around with their bitmojis, McDonald’s is hoping they’re loving it.

McDonald and Snap have partnered for the platform’s first sponsored bitmoji. The augmented reality feature, which rolls out today, aims to promote its McCafe products and lets users have their 3D Bitmoji steal a coffee cup from them. In an almost elfish manner, the character mischievously runs around the cup before running off the screen—McCafe and all.

The feature was created with We Are Unlimited—a Chicago-based agency that runs McDonald’s social, digital, retail and data marketing in the U.S.—along

Output: Snapchat has created its first sponsored personalised emoji in the form of an augmented reality (AR) feature to promote McDonald's coffee. The so-called bitmoji was created by Chicago-based digital media agency We Are Unlimited, and shows a 3D character stealing a McCafe coffee cup. The feature took four weeks to design. While it's Snapchat's first sponsored bitmoji, the firm has previously worked with brands including Budweiser and Warner Brothers.


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Input:
No Brexit deal reached but 'progress made': Theresa May
 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he is “surprised and disappointed” the British government was unable to conclude a deal he believed had been agreed on Irish Border after Brexit.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he is "surprised and disappointed" the British government was unable to conclude a deal he believed had been agreed on Irish Border after Brexit.

At a press conference in Brussels with British prime minister Theresa May, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said there had been no agreement during talks on Monday.

It is understood the British prime minister met fierce resistance from the DUP, which is propping up her Conservative government, to proposals which would have ruled out a hard Border and aligned Northern Ireland’s regulations with the Republic.

British prime minister Theresa May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told a press conference in Brussels this afternoon of failure to achieve a deal on Monday on key Brexit issues. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP Photo

Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney make a statement on Brexit negotiations on Monday evening at the Government Press Centre in Dublin. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

Ireland wants to move to next Phase of Brexit talks. Some progress today, and still time to conclude things before December 14th. — Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) December 4, 2017 https://t.co/5nlq7r9tBO pic.twitter.com/iFSY5Rst1C — DUP (@duponline) December 4, 2017 .@simoncoveney: I suspect the border will look much like what it looks today. We have lanuguage now that gives us the safeguards we need and reassurance that hard border will not re-emerge. — Fine Gael (@FineGael) December 4, 2017

After news of the proposed deal leaked on Monday, DUP leader Arlene Foster had said: "Northern Ireland must leave the EU on the same terms as the rest of the UK.

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"We will not accept any form of regulatory divergence which separates Northern Ireland economically or politically from the rest of the United Kingdom. "

Speaking in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said he been told that a deal had been struck. He said he had sought a written guarantee that there would be no hard Border on the island of Ireland which “has been to the absolute forefront of Ireland’s concerns” since the Brexit referendum last year.

Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney make a statement on Brexit negotiations on Monday evening at the Government Press Centre in Dublin. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

"We don't want an Irish Sea border any more than we want one between Newry and Dublin," he said. He said he had contacted Mr Juncker and European Council president Donald Tusk and confirmed there was agreement over the text.

“I acknowledge that Theresa May is negotiating in good faith. My position is unequivocal. Ireland wants to proceed to phase two. We cannot agree unless there are firm guarantees on the lack of a hard Border in any circumstances. I still hope this matter can be concluded in the coming days.”

When asked by a reporter about the difference between the terms “regulatory convergence” and “regulatory alignment”, he said the two things “mean the same in our view. We are happy to accept either.”

‘Just one party’

Regarding the role of the DUP, he said listening to the DUP is important, but that they were just one party in Northern Ireland, “we need to have regard to all the parties”.

"That's always been our approach in this. The motivation of the Irish Government is to try to maintain the status quo in Ireland, allowing people to continue with their normal lives, cross the Border as they do now. We don't wont to pick a row with anyone, there's no hidden agenda here."

He said it was never the Irish Government’s role to ensure the DUP was onside. “We engaged in negotiations in good faith with EU and UK. We agreed a text this morning, we believe it stands, but we believe the prime minister needs more time.”

The Taoiseach refused to ascribe blame for the failure of a deal. “I don’t think pointing fingers would allow us to get where we want to get in this.” He refused to be drawn on what DUP leader Arlene Foster’s role was in the issue.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney added: "Negotiating teams have been in place for weeks now, the issues were also raised in Westminster, it's through that negotiating structure that we have worked up a draft that we were able to conclude this morning, agreed with the president of the Commission and Council." The "deal was done", he stressed.

“The Taoiseach and I are at one on this. We had a deal today in relation to a wording that in our view would provide reassurance over a hard Border in Ireland. We don’t want that.

“We need a credible way in which he could ensure that could be avoided.

“We want to ensure that wording remains intact. If we are going to move on to phase two we need to ensure there will be no hard Border in Ireland.”

Earlier, in Brussels, Mr Juncker said Ms May was a tough negotiator who had defended the UK’s point of view, and “despite best efforts it was not possible to reach a complete agreement today”.

“We stand ready to resume the negotiations”, he said, adding “I have to say we are narrowing our positions”.

“I’m still confident that we can reach sufficient progress before the European Council [meets] on 15th of December.”

Ms May said the sides have had a constructive meeting, and that “it is clear that we want to move forward together”. She said there would be further negotiation and consultation. “We will reconvene before the end of the week. We will conclude this positively.”

Mr Juncker concluded saying neither party would be taking questions.

Earlier, Mr Coveney had said he suspected the Border in the future will “look much like what it looks today” and will be “largely invisible”, with no barrier to trade.

“We have language now that gives us the safeguards we need and reassurance that a hard Border will not re-emerge,” he said.

The Tánaiste added the Irish Government was “in a much better place than we have been at any point in the Brexit negotiations”.

British prime minister Theresa May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told a press conference in Brussels this afternoon of failure to achieve a deal on Monday on key Brexit issues. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP Photo

Sources suggested the compromise had involved the UK agreeing to maintain “regulatory alignment” in customs regulations and trade practices between the North and South of Ireland. Originally, Ireland had sought a commitment to “no divergence” in these areas.

News of the earlier deal, raising the prospect of starting Brexit trade negotiations in the coming weeks, lifted sterling earlier.

Irish Government sources had said the deal would guarantee “regulatory alignment” between Northern Ireland and the Republic in all Brexit eventualities.

A British government source suggested there was “a significant difference” between the phrase “continued regulatory alignment” and “no regulatory divergence” between the two parts of Ireland.

A draft of the agreement between Britain and the EU is reported to commit to “continued regulatory alignment” on the island of Ireland if Britain leaves the EU without a trade deal.

The phrase offers more flexibility, implying that regulations could be distinct but equivalent, rather than obliging Northern Ireland to retain EU regulations.

DUP

Reacting to reports that the UK has agreed there will be no regulatory divergence on the island of Ireland on the single market and customs union post-Brexit, DUP chief whip Jeffrey Donaldson MP said: "That is not our understanding of the UK government's position."

DUP MP Sammy Wilson told BBC Talkback the British government had made clear the UK will leave the EU in its entirety and is committed to no economic or territorial divergence.

“I am not going to let Irish Government leaks lead me down the road of speculation,” he said.

Mr Wilson said there are difficulties with what is being suggested, claiming it is “impossible to guarantee convergence as many powers rest with Stormont”.

He suggested the Irish Government was “trying to bounce” the British government into something they like. “They are doing their best to undermine the unionist position,” he added.

Former UUP leader Lord David Trimble told BBC Radio 4 the proposed Border deal was "a thoroughly bad idea".

Output: No deal was reached during today's Brexit negotiations between Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker relating to the Irish border. Juncker said that "despite best efforts, it was not possible to reach a complete agreement today". In an amicable but short press conference, the pair said they would reconvene before the end of the week. Neither party was able to take questions from the press, as Juncker said that May had a commitment with Donald Tusk.


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Input:
Qualys takes over NetWatcher to expand its security solutions
 Video: Four reasons for moving to cloud computing

Qualys has announced plans to acquire NetWatcher assets to improve the firm's cloud security offerings.

Earlier this week, the Foster City, Calif.-based firm said that it has entered an asset purchase agreement with network security company NetWatcher to purchase specific technologies.

NetWatcher offers network security monitoring software which combines vulnerability management, intrusion detection, behavioral monitoring, security information and event management (SIEM), threat intelligence and monitoring in real-time.

Qualys hopes that this technology, which also picks up on weak password use, unsafe behavior and outdated software, will improve the firm's cloud platform and incident response.

The agreement will be made through a cash transaction. Further financial details have not been disclosed.

In a press release, Qualys said the NetWatcher service is expected to be fully integrated into the Qualys cloud platform within the next 12 months.

"Built on open source components, NetWatcher has created a comprehensive cybersecurity and threat intelligence service that helps businesses of all sizes effectively manage cyber threats, provide incident response, and manage compliance across on-premise, hybrid and cloud environments," said Philippe Courtot, Chairman and Qualys CEO. "Native integration of Netwatcher into the Qualys Cloud Platform allows us to deliver its capabilities at enterprise scale, helping us expand our reach into the real-time threat intelligence market and strengthen our relationships with managed security service providers, who will offer and deliver this service to their clients worldwide."

Under the terms of the agreement, NetWatcher's team will be incorporated into Qualys, and NetWatcher CEO Scott Suhy has been appointed Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Business Development for Qualys.

NetWatcher founder and CTO Kenneth Shelton will become Vice President of Engineering for the Qualys Real-time Threat Correlation platform.

See also: AWS aims to accelerate IoT adoption with new services, OS

Existing NetWatcher customers will still be able to use the service, and the acquisition is not expected to impact future Qualys financials.

This week, Accenture snapped up a minority stake in quantum computing startup 1QBit, which develops machine learning algorithms and software for quantum computing.

Best gifts: Top tech for co-workers

Related stories

Output: Cloud security provider Qualys, which is based in California, has purchased network security company NetWatcher in order to acquire its range of services, which includes vulnerability management, threat detection and intrusion alerts. Financial details have not been disclosed but Qualys plans to fully integrate Netwatcher over the next 12 months.


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Vineyard robots set for increased use in European wineries
 Robots may soon have a bigger role in some of the world's most prestigious vineyards, after successful trials in Bordeaux and Portugal this year, including at Château Clerc Milon, owned by Baron Philippe de Rothschild.

Château Clerc Milon, under the same ownership as Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac, has tested a prototype vineyard robot named ‘Ted’ to help with soil cultivation and weeding in its vines.

The news comes amid growing reports about rising levels of automation in many business sectors.

Clerc Milon’s trial with ‘Ted’ took place earlier this year via a partnership with French group Naïo Technologies.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s MD, Philippe Dhalluin, said, ‘We see robotics as an effective solution for the future.

‘As well as helping to make our vineyard work less arduous and respecting the soil, it will reduce our dependency on fossil energies and the harm caused by traditional agricultural machinery.’

Baron Philippe de Rothschild said that it has been pursuing organic and biodynamic methods more generally in its vineyards and has cut chemical treatments by 30% since 2008.

Dhalluin, who is also MD at Mouton, told Decanter.com that he doesn’t anticipate robots replacing humans in the vineyard, particularly when it comes to picking and selecting grapes.

‘When working in the vineyards, we are first and foremost concerned by the well-being of our workers.

‘TED will be able to relieve them of some of the repetitive tasks but a robot will never replace the human hand [which is] essential for a perfect, high quality harvest.’

Separately, Port producer Symington Family Estates has also recently trialled a vineyard robot named ‘vine scout’, which can monitor vine health and alert winemakers to any problems, such as water stress. It uses GPS tracking to function autonomously in the vines.

The three-year project for ‘vine scout’ began in 2016 and is part-funded by the European Union, as well as private institutions.

Both trials in Portugal and Bordeaux are the latest examples of automation in vineyard management.

Drones are already being used in some areas of Bordeaux to monitor vine health, such as at Château Pape Clement owned by Bernard Magrez.

And new technology, such as optical sorting machinery, is credited with helping to reduce the proportion of poor vintages. However, winemakers would also argue that this is backed by a cultural shift towards lower yields, reduced reliance on chemicals and greater precision.

Output: A French vineyard has tested a robot called 'Ted' as the sector makes increasing use of technology to automate its processes. The experiment took place at Château Clerc Milon, one of the vineyards owned by Baron Philippe de Rothschild at Pauillac in the Bordeaux region. Ted is designed to help with soil cultivation and weeding, and was developed under a partnership with French tech firm Naïo Technologies. Other vineyards have also begun using robotics, including a "vine scout" which navigates autonomously and monitors the health of the vines.


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Input:
aWhere harnesses weather data for precision agriculture
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Some estimates suggest over half of growers’ activities are impacted by weather conditions, from field workability to fertility management to harvest timing. No wonder more companies are entering the weather data and analysis space, either with standalone products or by teaming up with other firms’ management and grower platforms.

The data and modeling here are challenging — one expert called weather data “unstructured and complex” — but here is a sampling of what companies are doing to help guide farmers’ and retailers’ weather-based decisions.

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Gathering The Data

All companies in this segment draw from large and varied sources of live, raw weather data that can include temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed, etc. Feeds can come from national — and increasingly, global — networks, public and private. Information is also tapped from radar, meteorological satellites, surface weather stations, rain gauge networks and forecast models.

No one data source can provide the depth of information needed for more intense agricultural use.

For instance, radar can show where rain is, but it measures moisture far above the ground. Those totals can differ quite a bit from what actually hits a field, points out Brad Colman, Weather Science Lead with Climate Corp. For its FieldView platform, the company combines the best data from radar networks (NOAA) with “as many rain gauges as we can get our hands on,” he says.

Climate Corp.’s rainfall data feeds come as an average precipitation measurement for a grid of roughly one-third of a square mile. “We then match those grids up to farmers’ fields. We receive our first estimate of precipitation 15 minutes after the hour; then, as more data is received, we update the readings with additional quality-controlled values,” he explains.

In fact, in 2017, Climate Corp. developed a novel method using “machine learning” to more intelligently incorporate rain gauge data into its model. This new method has improved previous issues by more than 45%.

Analyzing The Data

aWhere utilizes historical data as well as current conditions in its products. “We have a 10-year history across 1.5 million virtual weather stations worldwide. This allows us to analyze how weather happening today is different versus a long-term normal,” says Brian Soliday, Chief Revenue Officer.

To create those “virtual stations,” the company consumes weather information on a global scale and generates 8 billion data points per day, to basically create a weather-station’s-worth of data every 9 kilometers across the ag earth. “We use soil information and crop calendars as well, so we know where the crop is in its growth stage in a particular growing area,” says Soliday. “If something is happening in the environment (such as moisture stress), we know if it has a potential positive or negative effect on yield or production.”

Soliday sees a huge challenge going forward in the lack of perceived value of weather information, especially when data is so easily available for free via a multitude of sources.

“Weather information is important, but it’s the agronomic insight that we provide that adds real value,” he says. “It’s just a constant struggle for the end user to understand that value and what that means to them on a daily basis — that it helps them increase yields.”

Take a crop stress model, issued daily. Without it, growers look at rainfall and are encouraged that their fields got 15 inches of rain over a growing season, a normal range.

“That may be true, but if the precipitation this year was in three primary events, it wasn’t evenly distributed, and a lot of that ran off. That means the moisture in the soil column isn’t at the level it’s perceived to be,” says Soliday. “Plus the temperatures at night are higher, so the crops are experiencing evapotranspiration and respiration 24/7. This phenomena is not like what we would have seen in years past, where the night cooled down and crop moisture loss would be reduced.”

Joel Wipperfurth, Ag Technology Applications Lead with Winfield United, also sees the problem of charging for weather services, especially because there is a lot of publicly available data. Other service providers need to add contextual interpretations beyond radar and rainfall reports available on the free weather apps on consumers’ phones, he says.

Winfield United actually has weather stations at its 170 Answer Plots to gather data, to use real-time and historically. The company’s research team tracks the trials’ growing environments and generates data to try to predict products’ responses.

“We’re trying to add predictability to the places where the farmer invests,” he explains.

In the Answer Plots, he is now doubling the use rate of weather data that researchers are collecting, using it once to help explain how a hybrid performed and a second time to build a better crop model in the R7 Field Forecasting Tool.

Transferring Expertise

Both aWhere and Climate Corp. service agriculture exclusively, but other companies have entered the ag weather space from other industries.

Expert in the transportation and roadway management industies, Iteris has developed a unique weather and soil data analysis and forecast system specifically for agriculture that helps create a comprehensive, gridded database of atmospheric and soil conditions worldwide. It covers 1980 through 10 days into the future, says Jeff Keiser, Vice President, Strategic Sales and Marketing. The company delivers the information to agricultural companies and product manufacturers through its ClearAg Platform.

Historical data can be important in crop production, Keiser points out. For example, growers may want to compare ClearAg’s five-day forecast of weather and soil conditions to what has happened in the past in their field. Historical data from other sources may come from a station that may be dozens, to hundreds of miles away. That differenceis important, but it may not be clear if the data for both time periods are just presented in a table of numerical values, he says.

Agriculture is one of seven industries that Weather Decisions Technologies (WDT) serves. “Here our approach is to work with companies that are agronomic experts and provide them with the highest quality weather datasets for their platforms, dashboards, and analytics,” explains Richard Reed, Senior Account Executive, Agriculture.

Over the past two years, WDT has developed an answer to the common problem of rainfall on larger farms that have multiple fields spanning several miles. “The most accurate way to get actual precipitation data from the area is to install on-site precipitation gauges, but they can ultimately cost tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and communication costs,” points out Reed.

WDT’s new precipitation analysis system, called SkyWise MetStorm Precision Precipitation Analysis, produces ultra-high resolution (250m2) 1-hour grids of precipitation estimates. There’s no need for in-field equipment.

DTN is known for its vast ag, oil and gas, weather, and commodity trading networks — and has been in the “weather insight” business for 35 years, says Matt Walsh, Vice President Agribusiness. But the company has gone a step further in agriculture by teaming up with partners such as co-ops to offer weather information to retailers’ grower customers.

It has also created DTN Ag Weather Station, an information network that harnesses more than 5,500 weather stations located on users’ farms across North America to report highly local data in real time. “Users have the option of adding their own on-site weather station and aggregating information from their own field,” says Walsh.

The units’ sensors also measure soil moisture, soil temperature, solar radiation and leaf wetness. “This delivers tremendously detailed field-level forecasts and insights for specific areas and geographic regions,” he adds.

Perhaps the largest company doing ag weather these days is The Weather Co., an IBM Business.” As for sheer numbers, the firm’s data platform is one of the largest IoT platforms in the world processing 400 terabytes of data every day from a variety of worldwide sources, serving up billions of forecasts a day globally. “It houses all our APIs and weather data, such as forecasts, observations, alerts and notifications, historical weather data, weather imagery and lifestyle data,” says Chacko Jacob, Agriculture Leader.

The Weather Co. is able to integrate forecasts, soil data, seasonal analyses and current weather conditions into a localized platform that delivers critical analytics for field analysis and crop planting, he says.

More On Soil

Some companies are going below the surface to gather soil information influenced by weather. Iteris has adapted a Land Surface Model with agronomic crop specifications to help generate field surface and sub-surface soil data. This approach goes two meters deep and divides soils into eight unique layers that impact crop production during critical periods such as tillage, seeding, fertilization and at maturity for harvest.

One example of this model at work: potatoes. As a root crop, they take on the temperature of the surrounding soil at the depth they mature. To minimize crop damage and manage crop storage and quality, growers often send out staff with soil thermometers multiple times during the day, says Keiser. One ClearAg user found that the platform’s soil temperature data nearly mirrored the measurements workers made, without trips to the field. The good news is now that grower can plan and schedule harvest operations plus field agronomy staff spend time on more important tasks such as soil testing and evaluating varieties.

Keiser gives other examples where tailored weather information benefits growers. It’s likely that certain seed hybrids or varieties germinate best under warmer soil conditions, whereas others can be successfully planted earlier when the ground is still marginally cool but soil moisture is sufficient.

Then too, some foliar crop protection product formulations may perform best when crop leaves are dry but the relative humidity is on the high side, in order to encourage leaf or stem surface adhesion characteristics, he says.

“These questions tend to modify the paradigm of using weather data from assessing the impact of what happened to the crop due to past weather events to using forecast data to drive business decisions on the most important actions to take next,” says Keiser.

Harnessing Weather In The Future

Experts PrecisionAg® Professional contacted suggested a few technologies that will impact — or be impacted by — advances in weather data.

Hybrid selection. Using reliable weather data, growers will match certain fields or field zones to specific seed genetic characteristics and thereby further increase crop productivity through multi-hybrid planters, predicts Iteris’ Keiser.

New crop protection tools. A whole new class of crop products is beginning to emerge, generally referred to as ‘biologicals,’ he says. These products often are affected by aspects of soil temperature and moisture and have the potential to impact overall soil and plant health.

Robotics. Broader use of autonomous vehicles or robots will be possible thanks to good data on current environmental conditions of both the crop and the field as they vary during the course of the day and the growing season.

Drones. WDT’s Reed says that as technology advances, companies will use drones to collect near-surface weather data over large-scale areas, which will help improve both weather forecasts and operational decision-making.

Remote sensing. aWhere’s Soliday sees a lot more collaboration with remote sensing firms — that offer high resolution satellite imagery or small footprint UAVs — in the future. A weather service platform that indicates stress in a field could direct a remote sensing partner to check it out visually.

“We call that kind of targeting ‘tipping and cueing,’” says Soliday. Growers can see areas they need to focus on and avoid wasting money collecting pixels on areas that are doing well.

Winfield United’s Wipperfurth made an observation about the future of rainfall predictions. Current forecasts begin to break down at the 15-day mark, and meteorologists often look back at data from 15 or even 30 years ago to fill in the gaps. He’s heard there’s a move now to only go back 10 years, because of recent climate shifts. Conditions from just 10 years ago might actually be a more accurate prediction of what’s going to happen with rainfall after 15 days out, he says.

0 1 5 Weather Services Advance Precision Agriculture

Output: US start-up aWhere combines historical data and current weather mapping to improve crop and soil management. The company pulls information from 1.5 million virtual weather stations to generate eight billion data points a day, before combining it with crop information to create precision farming plans. AWhere's chief revenue officer, Brian Soliday, commented: "Weather information is important, but it’s the agronomic insight that we provide that adds real value."


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
We don't agree to divergence between NI and the UK: Arlene Foster
 DUP leader Arlene Foster addresses the media on Brexit, saying that her party has made clear that "Northern Ireland must leave the European Union on the same terms as the rest of the United Kingdom." Video: Reuters

The Democratic Unionist Party has warned it will not countenance a Brexit deal which "separates Northern Ireland economically or politically from the rest of the United Kingdom".

On Monday, following reports the British government was close to agreeing a deal with the European Union that would allow for continuing regulatory alignment in customs and trade practices across the island of Ireland, DUP leader Arlene Foster said Northern Ireland must leave the EU on the same terms as the rest of the UK.

At a press conference at Stormont and in a subsequent statement to address the detail of the leaked text of draft documentation on a deal to allow movement to the next stage of Brexit talks, Ms Foster said British prime minister Theresa May's government, which her party is propping up through a confidence and supply agreement at Westminster, fully understands the DUP position.

Democratic Unionist Party’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson. File photograph: AFP/Leon Neal

"We will not accept any form of regulatory divergence which separates Northern Ireland economically or politically from the rest of the United Kingdom, " she said. "The economic and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom will not be compromised in any way.

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“The prime minister has told the House of Commons that there will be no border in the Irish Sea. “The prime minister has been clear that the UK is leaving the European Union as a whole and the territorial and economic integrity of the United Kingdom will be protected.

‘Spoke to Ms May’

“We want to see a sensible Brexit where the Common Travel Area is continued, we meet our financial obligations, have a strictly time-limited implementation period and where the contribution of EU migrants to our economy is recognised in a practical manner.”

About 20 minutes after making her public statements, Ms Foster spoke to Ms May by telephone. DUP objections to a deal on regulatory alignment, plus final arrangements on EU citizens' rights and the role of the European Court of Justice in any post-Brexit transition period are all thought to have contributed to the subsequent announcement by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels that "it was not possible to reach a complete agreement today".

Mr Juncker and Ms May have agreed to hold further negotiations before the end of this week, with the latter saying she is “confident we will conclude this positively”.

Taoiseach Leo Vardakar has said he is “surprised and disappointed” the British government was not in a position to conclude what was agreed on the Border on Monday but would not be drawn on finger pointing or attributing blame.

‘No economic or territorial divergence’

DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson MP accused the Irish Government of being "a bunch of political chancers" and of "doing their best to undermine the unionist position".

He also suggested Mr Varadkar was trying to “pursue his own republican agenda”.

Mr Wilson said the British government had made clear the UK will leave the EU in its entirety and is committed to no economic or territorial divergence.

Former UUP leader Lord David Trimble described the Border proposals as “a thoroughly bad idea”, and present UUP leader Robin Swann said they would be “wholly unacceptable and would fundamentally alter the relationship between Northern Ireland and Great Britain”.

However, Green Party leader Steven Agnew said “the provision would avoid the need for a hard Border” and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP “must move to act in Northern Ireland’s interest, not simply serve the their own interests”.

Sinn Féin Northern leader Michelle O’Neill wrote on Twitter: “After the day that’s been in it, nothing changes – we need to see special status for the North; that includes remaining in customs union and single market.”

Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson said special status for the North in the EU would provide the best protection for the Belfast Agreement and the rights of citizens. “We cannot have a situation where a minority are allowed to trample over the rights of the majority in the North who voted to remain in the EU,” she said.

Output: The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) will "not accept any form of regulatory divergence", either economic or political, between Northern Ireland and the UK after Brexit, Arlene Foster, the leader of the DUP, has said. Unionists are concerned any such divergence – known as "special status" – could create an unofficial border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The Conservative Party is reliant on the support of the DUP in a "confidence and supply" deal agreed between the parties after the general election earlier this year.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Bangladesh aims to lift energy security with LNG regas plant
 The state-owned North-West Power Generation Co. Ltd. (NWPGCL) in Bangladesh in early November announced plans to build a 3,600-MW regasification liquefied natural gas (LNG) combined cycle power plant in the Patuakhali district, on the heels of an earlier agreement to construct a similar 750-to-850-MW plant in Khulna.

The new plants are part of a concerted effort to increase generation capacity in a country that traditionally has relied on gas-fired power. Bangladesh’s ruling party, the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL), has said upgrading the country’s energy infrastructure is critical to increasing security and lessening the need to import power from neighboring countries. Officials are working with many countries, including Russia, on energy initiatives.

Analysts said the country had 15,821 MW of generation capacity as of November 2017, and the country’s Power Division has said capacity must be increased to 24,000 MW—a 52% jump—by 2021, according to its most recent Power Sector Master Plan. Analysts have said electricity demand in Bangladesh is likely to reach 30,000 MW by 2030. Senior government officials have said Bangladesh expects to import at least 25% of its electricity from India for the next few years.

Other large power generation projects underway in Bangladesh include the country’s first nuclear facility, a 2,400-MW plant at Rooppur, and a 1,320-MW coal-fired facility in Rampal, being built by India’s NTPC. The nuclear plant, expected to enter commercial operation in 2023, will utilize two VVER-1200 reactors (water-water energetic reactors), each producing the equivalent of 1,200 MW. It is being built by the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp.

In addition to adding coal, nuclear, and natural gas-fired generation, the country’s government also has a goal to produce at least 10% of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

Khurshedul Alam, NWPGCL’s managing director, said his group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s Siemens AG to build the Patuakhali facility. He said the site was chosen because it has a port into which the LNG can be imported.

Alam told the Dhaka Tribune in late October that NWPGCL already had agreements in place “to import around 125 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day equivalent of regasified LNG at [the] Bangladesh-India border through an offshore LNG terminal from India’s West Bengal to the plant in Khulna.” He said Bangladesh has “opted to import LNG as the country is reeling from an acute gas crisis because the current reserves are depleting very fast.”

The two NWPGCL projects are in addition to a 500-to-600-MW regasification LNG combined cycle power plant being built in Matarbari, in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Bangladesh. That project is a joint venture of Japan’s MITSUI and the Coal Power Generation Co. Bangladesh Ltd.

NWPGCL has three operating power plants in Bangladesh: a 360-MW dual-fuel facility in Bheramara that began operation in September 2017; a 225-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in Sirajganj that began commercial operation with 150 MW of generation capacity in December 2012, and was upgraded to 225 MW in July 2014; and a natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in Khulna that began commercial operation with 150 MW of generation capacity in 2013, and was upgraded to 225 MW in June 2016.

State-owned Petrobangla, also known as Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corp., in mid-October signed an agreement for the use of an LNG regasification terminal with a consortium of local Hong Kong Shanghai Manjala Power Ltd., Malaysia’s Global LNG, and Petronas LNG Ltd. The terminal—a floating storage and fixed jetty based regasification unit (FSRU)—will be set up by the consortium at Kutubdia Island in Cox’s Bazar.

1. Floating terminals will supply LNG. Texas-based Excelerate Energy is building a floating storage regasification unit offshore Bangladesh, one of three units currently planned to increase the amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported by the country. Courtesy: Excelerate Energy

It is the third LNG floating terminal planned to supply Bangladesh through Petrobangla. The first, being built by Texas-based Excelerate Energy, is a 500 million cubic feet per day FSRU (Figure 1) that is expected to begin service in April 2018. A second terminal with similar capacity is being built by Summit Group, a Bangladesh company headquartered in Dhaka; it is expected to come online by year-end 2018. Each terminal will import LNG from Switzerland, Oman, and Qatar.

—Darrell Proctor is a POWER associate editor.

Output: Bangladesh's North-West Power Generation aims to construct a 3,600 MW combined cycle power plant for the regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG), to be located in the Patuakhali district. The company has already agreed to another 750 to 850 MW plant, located in Khulna. Bangladesh hopes to augment its generation capacity as part of an energy infrastructure upgrade, reducing the need to import energy from abroad. The Bangladeshi Power Division aims to increase capacity from its current 15,821 MW to 24,000 MW by 2021, with an eventual aim of 30,000 MW by 2030.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Farming data analytics firm Uptake raises $117m
 Uptake, a data analytics startups that uses sensor data to optimize machinery including farming equipment, has raised a $117 million Series D round.

Baillie Gifford, one of the UK’s largest independent investment management firms, led the round, which also included GreatPoint Ventures and Revolution Growth, a Washington, DC-based VC helped by AOL cofounder Steve Case.

This brings Uptake’s total fundraising to $264 million, $130 million of which was raised in two rounds earlier this year, and it is now valued at $2.3 billion. Uptake is cash flow positive, according to TechCrunch, but said in a statement that the new funds will allow it to speed up its growth.

The company was founded by two cofounders of flash deal site Groupon on the idea that most commercial equipment comes outfitted with some sensors, but little use has been made of the data they produce. Using these sensors, plus additional sensors from outside partners in some cases, Uptake tracks the performance and usage of combines, carts, trucks, and semis, to name a few, in order to gauge optimal use and also machine performance. The software is able to make recommendations to optimize machinery expenses by minimizing downtime among other things.

Uptake uses machine learning and predictive analytics to anticipate needed servicing and prevent problems, allowing growers to optimize the timing of repairs and order parts in advance. The company says that using predictive analytics can also help to avoid safety concerns like combine fires, which cause 40 to 50 serious injuries and $20 million in property losses each year in the US, according to a study by the University of Minnesota.

“Utilizing machine learning we can figure out the least amount of machine downtime so that growers get the crop out expediently. Utilizing the sensor data from the [Controller Area Network] CAN-BUS, we can perform data analytics on the onboard sensors to find the subtle precursors which cause combine fires,” wrote Tim Marquis, agriculture lead for Uptake in PrecisionAg.

The company claims that machine learning allows them to work in multiple industries in addition to agriculture including rail, energy, mining, aviation, and construction.

The company’s website says its platform can help growers “understand field conditions before dispatching equipment and crews,” and “maximize asset efficiency by improving routes, fuel consumption, and operator productivity.”

“It comes to recommendations. For example, we’ve worked with imagery data in the past to demonstrate our capabilities in combining agronomic datasets, like historic yield and planting data from a combine, weather, and imagery, to create predictive yield models and planting date estimation,” said a company spokesperson to AgFunderNews.

The company’s site says that its capabilities can serve growers, food processing plant managers, equipment growers, precision agriculture product managers, and equipment manufacturers.

Also working with machine data analytics for agriculture is Brazilian company Solinftec, which received funding from alternative and renewable Technologies growth equity platform TPG ART in July.

Solinftec has a suite of technologies including proprietary hardware, a telemetry communications network, and a software-as-a-service platform. The hardware, which includes a proprietary onboard computer for tractors and can integrate with any machine brand, gives operations information about the status of their machines and their progress based on their positioning and what activity they’re undertaking.

Output: Uptake, an agriculture analytics firm,  has raised $117m in a series D funding round. The company uses sensors to track the performance of a range of farming machinery and uses machine learning to determine optimal usage and if repairs are needed. The round was led by the UK's Baillie Gifford, with US investors also involved, and has brought the company's total fundraising to $264m, valuing it at $2.3bn.


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Input:
Plans unveiled for £500m agritech facility in Cambridge
 A new £500 million AgriTech park designed to tackle global food security issues could be up and running in the UK by 2022.

The SmithsonHill-led project is seeking planning permission to construct the ‘world-leading’ facility, called Arc, in South Cambridgeshire.

“Between 2015 and 2016, the number of hungry people globally rose by 38 million. We are facing a global food production challenge and with the population estimated to rise by a further two billion by 2050, it is one that demands immediate attention. In order to overcome these issues, world-changing, innovative AgriTech spaces must be established where we can share ideas and learnings and where we can compete on a global scale with other countries,” said Emma Fletcher, Managing Director at SmithsonHill.

She continued: “Cambridge has firmly established itself as one of Europe’s leading destinations for technology and bioscience, but despite the regions strength in these sectors, the UK AgriTech industry has been woefully undersupplied until now. Our world-leading AgriTech park will fuse farming with science and technology, providing unmatched flexible space including laboratories, workshops, office accommodation and incubator units, as well as adjacent land critical for crop and technology trials. Our ultimate aim is to develop a unique environment in which businesses can thrive, and where we will develop and deliver ground-breaking innovations to assist crop production and yield, minimising both input and cost and reducing global food waste.”

SmithsonHill, a partnership initiative between Russell Smith Farms and Hill Commercial Investment, has submitted the proposals for the 1 million sqft site, which would employ 4000, with the local authorities. Construction is cited to begin in 2019, if it is given the go-ahead, with units available by 2022.

Output: Plans for a one million sq ft site in Cambridge that will combine agriculture and technology to find solutions to global food insecurity have been submitted for approval by SmithsonHill. The Arc facility is expected to cost £500m ($670m) and is the result of a partnership between Russell Smith Farms and Hill Commercial Investment. The facility would act as an incubator for companies aiming to combine farming with science to develop agricultural technology. SmithsonHill is planning to open the facility in 2022, with construction due to start in 2019, subject to planning permission being granted.