Author: Ben Debski

Agreement reached to limit airline CO2 emissions

Posted on by Ben Debski

A global agreement capping the carbon emissions generated by the international aviation industry hopes to minimise the impact of commercial flights on the planet. The policy seeks to fill the gap left by the Paris climate agreement made at the COP21 forum last year.

Members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation – the United Nation’s regulator of the commercial aviation industry – reached the agreement at a meeting held in Montreal this week. The deal will see emissions capped at the levels reached in 2020, with any airline exceeding these levels forced to purchase carbon-offset credits. The compliance system will be voluntary for signatories in 2021, with a view to becoming mandatory by 2027.

Speaking to the BBC, UK Aviation Minister, Lord Ahmad, praised the deal: “This is an unprecedented deal, the first of its kind for any sector. International aviation is responsible for putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year than the whole of the UK, and yet until now, there has been no global consensus on how to address aviation emissions.”

Since international flights cross borders, they were omitted from last years’ Paris climate agreement. Many of the world’s biggest aviation markets have now agreed to the new deal – with India and Russia the only notable exclusions.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the deal has taken a long time to be negotiated. While the European Union and some larger airlines have been urging for a cap on emissions for some time, other developing countries and airlines have opposed the deal.

There is hope that the deal will encourage a similar agreement within the shipping industry, which was also exempted from the Paris deal.

ExxonMobil consortium fined $74bn by High Court of Chad

Posted on by Ben Debski

A consortium led by the US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil has been ordered to pay a $74bn fine by a court in Chad. The record figure, which relates to alleged underpaid royalties, equates to around seven times the African nation’s gross domestic product ($10.11bn). The ExxonMobil-led oil partnership also comprises Chevron and Malaysia’s state-owned oil firm Petronas.

On October 5, the country’s High Court ruled that the consortium had failed to meet its tax obligations, owing $819m in overdue royalties. However, no explanation was given as to how the court arrived at the multi-billion-dollar penalty figure.

“We disagree with the Chadian court’s ruling and are evaluating next steps”, ExxonMobil media advisor Todd Spitler told Reuters. “It is vital for all parties to honour the terms of a contract and abide by applicable law in order to achieve the long-term benefits envisioned when projects begin.”

While it appears unlikely that the fine will be collected in full, any significant payment fee would prove vital for Chad

Exxon began sourcing crude oil from Chad in 2003, exporting up to 120,000 barrels a day via a pipeline that runs through neighbouring Cameroon. Oil has since become a mainstay of Chad’s economy, accounting for over 80 percent of the country’s total exports. The collapse in oil prices has thus hit the landlocked nation hard, causing the GDP growth rate to fall dramatically from 6.9 percent in 2014 to just 2.6 percent in 2015.

While it appears unlikely that the fine will be collected in full, any significant payment fee would prove vital for Chad, which remains among the poorest countries in Africa in spite of its successful oil industry. Since 2000, Chad has increased its military spending by over 600 percent, as it battles internal conflicts and an emerging Boko Haram insurgency in the west. In addition to its worsening security conditions, the past decade has seen Lake Chad’s water area decrease by 90 percent, putting the nation’s agriculture industry under strain and sending rural poverty rates soaring.

The extortionate fine, which is far larger than BP’s penalty for its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is somewhat indicative of the Chadian Government’s entrenched and pervasive levels of corruption. While Chad struggles to emerge from recession, ExxonMobil’s plans to dispute the fine suggest that the US oil giant won’t be delivering a financial boost to the country any time soon.

Utrecht is leading the way in terms of healthy city living

Posted on by Ben Debski

Cities are at the heart of today’s environmental challenges and solutions. With 72 percent of Europeans living in urban areas, a number of social issues will have to be addressed by the cities of the future. CO2 emissions and pollution are rising, underlining the need for cities to opt for clean energy and thermal storage, while increased urban populations will enhance the need for access to clean water, jobs and new mobility solutions. Cities will also have to confront demographic challenges, such as diversity and the issue of ageing populations. For example, by 2030, people over the age of 65 will form a quarter of the Dutch population. This will bring challenges related to healthcare provision. Medical care is one side of this: prevention is the other. In effect, we need to create a sustainable and healthy urban environment so citizens remain healthier for longer.

The Utrecht way
Since Roman times, Utrecht has been at the crossroads of new ideas and talent. It provides a vibrant, creative and inspirational environment for innovation, making it not only the fastest growing city in the Netherlands, but also the country’s healthiest city. Together, the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Utrecht region form the economic axis of the country, with four million inhabitants.

The Utrecht region is extremely well placed in terms of market opportunities in the field of healthy urban living. It is the Netherlands’ most rapidly expanding region, and faces the task of organising this expansion in a smart and future-proof manner, with a view to creating and promoting a healthy living and working environment. Consequently, Utrecht is keen to serve as both a test bed and a prime example to other cities in the field of healthy and sustainable development.

Utrecht is the European frontrunner in policies and solutions for air quality, smart mobility, sustainable urban planning, social inclusivity, renewable energy, green public spaces and urban biodiversity. The Utrecht region is also world-leading when it comes to research into smart, sustainable cities, as well as healthcare innovation, particularly in terms of active ageing and long-term care. Likewise, Utrecht is a global leader when it comes to research into public health, with a focus on cardiovascular research, food and health, and translational neuroscience. Regenerative medicine and the biology of stem cells is a speciality of the region, with the city being responsible for the first 3D-printed skull implantation in 2015.

Innovative ecosystems
We are building ecosystems that are dedicated to healthy urban living, bringing a variety of stakeholders together, including suppliers, users, the business community and citizens.The Economic Board of Utrecht (EBU) is a regional network. The EBU brings together businesses, public authorities and knowledge institutes with the aim of forming new coalitions which invest in issues related to healthy urban living. Effecitvely, the EBU is an enbabler, with the ability to offer access to capital.

We have the lowest CO2 emissions per person in the Netherlands, and Utrecht is one of the three largest cycling cities in Europe

Utrecht-based consultancy and innovation agency BeBright and cooperative bank Rabobank have started a national network for open care innovation. This ecosystem, consisting of stakeholders including public and private parties and universities that wish to contribute towards innovation, was conceived with the objective of bringing into reality innovative ideas that have the ability to contribute to a vibrant society, both in terms of quality of life and economic vitality.

Healthy mobility
In Utrecht, we believe healthy urban living makes people happier. Utrecht is at the intersection of water, rail and road infrastructure; every day, 285,000 travellers pass through Utrecht Central Station. Maintaining good access, while improving air quality and reducing noise pollution, is an ongoing challenge. This focus has made Utrecht a leader in innovative connectivity management. We have the lowest CO2 emissions per person in the Netherlands, and Utrecht is one of the three largest cycling cities in Europe. Cycling innovation is provided in Utrecht and abroad by companies such as PROOV, Ecofys and Royal Haskoning DHV.

Cycling highways have been built to accommodate the 100,000 cyclists who ride through the city every day. Electric vehicles – including boats – deliver goods and pick up waste in the city centre, and the world’s first smart solar charging station with vehicle-to-grid system has been installed in the Utrecht district of Lombok. This latter innovation enables the storage of solar energy in electric cars through bidirectional charging. By implementing the vehicle-to-grid project on a regional scale, Utrecht has created a living lab for innovative smart grid solutions. The companies Lomboxnet, Stedin, Nissan, Renault and General Electric are all involved in this innovation.

The innovation mile
Physically, innovations and ecosystems will find a home in the Jaarbeurs Innovation Mile (JIM), located near Utrecht Central Station. At the JIM, parties can collaborate on nutriton, logisitcs and infrastructure projects. The key point to note about the JIM is it is set to become an innovation breeding ground, where cross-pollination occurs, focusing on extradisciplinary and supra-spatial connections. It is a place that puts passionate entrepreneurs in touch with science, technology and education, and gives peers a place to meet one another. The idea is the resulting interaction will lead to innovative products. The JIM focuses on how we can combine increasing urbanisation with attention to care, energy, technology, data, nutrition, logistics and infrastructure.

Smart sustainability
The Utrecht Central Station area is part of one of the most significant transformation projects in the country. The objective is to establish the area as another living laboratory, which should provide further solutions for urban issues. The plan is also in line with the Smart Sustainable Districts initiative, a European programme in which various cities cooperate in the sustainable transformation of city districts. Utrecht Central Station area and Queen Elizabeth Park in London jointly launched
the programme in 2015.

In order to truly benefit from the opportunities healthy urban living offers, the Utrecht region must be able to forge smart and fast connections with other national and international regions, such as Eindhoven and the surrounding area, the Amsterdam region, and also regions abroad – those regions that posses knowledge and expertise in the field of healthy urban living, which could have a huge economic and social impact on the rest of the country if it is shared. Our aspiration is to render healthy urban living second only to water management as the Netherlands’ trademark.

Aquinnah offers new hope for ageing brains

Posted on by Ben Debski

She was only 12, but she remembers the last time she saw her grandfather in the hospital. He was a great storyteller and always had wonderful bedtime stories, but those had stopped a while ago. Now she could see he had so much to say, but couldn’t speak. He could barely breathe. He mouthed the words “I love you”, and Stacy said “I love you too”. He had been so brave and never complained. She tried not to let him know she had been crying. What Stacy was too young to realise was that her grandfather was dying of ALS.

Looking back today, Stacy sees that, beyond the physical pain of this horrendous disease, she couldn’t imagine the kind of mental turmoil her grandfather faced. His mind was as sharp as ever, but he was trapped in a crumbling and unresponsive body. Stacy once overhead him say to her mother that he felt like he had been buried alive. But he never showed it, and just seemed grateful for every precious moment. She knew he had taught her more about life by dying than anyone ever had, and she would never forget him or the horror of ALS.

A diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in the US) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD), leaves patients with little hope. Even today, there are no approved treatments that can prevent, slow or reverse these devastating, progressive conditions. However, thanks to Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals, an innovative lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, there is real hope at last. Aquinnah has developed a completely new approach to ALS (as well as AD and other neurodegenerative diseases) that has the potential to arrest, and possibly even reverse, the effects of these conditions.

Looming epidemic
As the population ages, the incidence of neurodegenerative disease in the US alone will rise dramatically. For the first time in human history, there will be more people in the world over the age of 65 than under the age of five, according to the US National Institute of Aging. They will represent 16 percent of the world’s population. To put this in context, in 1950 they only represented five percent. This will have a profound effect on society and overall quality of life during old age.

Without any breakthroughs in treatment, it’s estimated the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease will nearly triple by 2050. The number of people with Parkinson’s will likely more than double from its 2005 level by 2025. According to a recent study in Nature Communications, ALS is also predicted to increase at a startling rate in the US – a 70 percent increase by 2040. Taken as a whole, this runaway growth will strain both family and healthcare systems, drive costs up significantly and, most tragically, increase human suffering.

Twin threats – ALS and AD
ALS is a progressive fatal disease, caused by the loss of motor neurons in the brain. These neurons control muscle movement and eventually shut down one’s ability to walk, talk, swallow and, finally, breathe. ALS progresses rapidly, killing over half of patients within three years of diagnosis. The only drug available, approved almost two decades ago, extends survival by just two to three months.

AD causes a gradual loss of memory and executive function, i.e. the ability to perform complex reasoning and decision making. Few other diseases create such fear; fear of getting it, fear of losing your identity and connection to loved ones, and fear of losing control of your life. Unsurprisingly, AD places significant pressure on both family structure and financial resources. The condition strikes one out of every 10 people aged over 65, with about 5.4 million individuals suffering from AD in the US alone at any given time. Despite a general decrease in fatalities for other major diseases over the last decade, Alzheimer’s deaths increased an incredible 71 percent, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The discovery
The discovery of the connection between stress granules – aggregations of protein in the brain – and neurodegenerative disease has opened up the possibility that ALS, AD and other neurodegenerative diseases can be arrested and potentially reversed.

Aquinnah’s innovative approach is one of the most promising discoveries today, and could offer amazing new hope for those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. Stress granules are the body’s way of repairing itself. For example, if you hit your head, your body immediately goes into repair mode and creates stress granules to make the repairs. Normally, when the damage is repaired, the stress granules disperse. This is a process that usually takes 10-15 minutes. But, if you have a mutation that makes them ‘stickier’, the stress granules build up and become persistent. This is the pathology that’s found in most neurodegenerative diseases. The location of the persistent stress granules determines the symptoms. Accumulation in the spinal cord results in motor dysfunction and ALS, while accumulation in the hippocampus of the brain causes memory loss and AD.

Aquinnah has discovered several compounds that measure up against the most exacting standards: they are potent, orally bio-available in small doses, and can get past the blood brain barrier

Dr Ben Wolozin is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Aquinnah and Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine. His lab was the first to show that the aggregates in ALS and AD are persistent stress granules. Like many great discoveries, this took place by accident. Wolozin happened to run into a colleague who was studying stress granules, unrelated to the brain. At the time, Wolozin wasn’t particularly interested, but the discovery of TDP-43, a key protein in stress granules in ALS patients by Drs Lee and Trojanowski, two of the most important researchers in the study of neurodegenerative disease, changed his mind.

The next step was for Wolozin to insert a gene for TDP-43 carrying a florescent marker into neuronal cells. Then, he and his team stressed the cells and discovered something they had never seen before. Wolozin wasn’t quite sure what it was, but he thought: “If I were a stress granule, I would probably look something like that.” And he was right – it was a stress granule.

After learning how these proteins, the building blocks of stress granules, worked, he realised they existed on the verge of aggregation, and were ready to go haywire if the body’s physiology shifted just a bit. That was the lightbulb moment. Wolozin knew chemical modifications control whether the stress granule proteins stick together, and hypothesised that if he could inhibit this process, he could prevent or reverse the accumulation of stress granules.

The breakthrough
The team tested over 75,000 different compounds and identified a small number that could eliminate stress granules. This discovery has the potential to change the course of neurodegenerative disease and give patients something close to their old lives back. While there is agreement among the scientific community that stress granule proteins are the cause of more than 90 percent of ALS cases and an estimated 50 percent of AD cases, Aquinnah is the only company doing drug discovery and development to eliminate persistent stress granules. This potential breakthrough is especially significant after years of disappointment in ALS and Alzheimer’s research.

Before the discovery of TDP-43 stress granules, researchers spent 20 years studying SOD1, the first gene discovered that caused ALS. The problem was SOD1 only occurs in two percent of patients with ALS. Despite many attempts, none of the trials targeting SOD1 was successful in finding an effective therapy for ALS.

For AD, the field has been focused on trying to break up the plaques that are thought to have a causal role. According to Wolozin: “Until now, we have only known the fact that plaques and tangles accumulate; we haven’t known how or why, or why they are bad. For the first time, the stress granule provides a manual for understanding the biology of how tangles form. With that, we can troubleshoot problems. We have a work plan for how to reverse-engineer the system.”

Experienced team
Dr Glenn Larsen, co-founder and CEO of Aquinnah, has assembled an elite team of award-winning scientists to take on the challenge of ALS and AD. His passion for finding a cure is born out of his commitment to help patients overcome these deadly diseases, and his belief that Aquinnah is on the verge of a major breakthrough.

Larsen has been a drug hunter all his life. He has a strong track record and has helped bring 15 drugs to clinical development and five drugs to market, with sales of over $10bn. He knows the ingredients for creating a successful drug because he has experience at major pharmaceutical companies in all facets of drug discovery and development. Larsen also brings a unique skillset to his role as CEO. With a PhD in biochemistry and a PMD from Harvard, he is well acquainted with the worlds of science and business, and understands how to marry the two. He brings a rare combination of basic science, pharmaceutical drug discovery and development, and clinical trial, regulatory, patent and business development experience.

Wolozin holds MD and PhD degrees, and has extensive research experience in this field. Despite tremendous advances in our understanding of the brain, he has been frustrated that so little can currently be done for patients. Wolozin identified one of the first molecular markers for the tangle pathology that accumulates in neurons in AD, and was the first to identify the link between the use of statins (a cholesterol-lowering drug) and reduced rates of AD. He has won multiple awards for his research, including the prestigious Zenith Fellows Award and the AE Bennett Award from the Society
for Neuroscience.

Like Larsen, Wolozin sees genetics as key to their success. Because mutations in stress granules cause ALS, Wolozin is confident they can develop a drug to target this gene: “Genetics is nature’s way of telling you what’s wrong. When you understand the machine, you can begin to repair it.”

Parameters of success
Aquinnah has discovered several compounds that measure up against the most exacting standards: they are potent, orally bio-available in small doses, and can get past the blood brain barrier – a critical factor that hasn’t always been tested by others in the field. Aquinnah has been awarded four peer-reviewed grants – two from the ALS Association, and one each from the National Institute of Health and the Massachusetts Life Science Center – in the past year. The firm’s approach has also garnered support and interest from major pharmaceutical companies, including Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

Aquinnah is the leader in this innovative new drug therapy for ALS and AD. The company is currently conducting animal trials, with human trials scheduled to begin in the next two to three years. Once in human trials, they should know in one year if the drug is effective, because ALS is such a rapidly progressing disease. Once the drug is proven successful in ALS patients, they will begin AD trials.

Before the discovery of TDP-43 stress granules, researchers spent 20 years studying SOD1, the first gene discovered that caused ALS. The problem was SOD1 only occurs in two percent of patients with ALS

Both Larsen and Wolozin are very optimistic about the future of neurodegenerative disease. The discovery that the molecules in stress granules are the building blocks of neurodegenerative disease provides a new foundation for not just one, but potentially many new therapies.

Larsen explained: “We like to think we’ve eliminated much of the risk that’s typically been associated with investing in a neurodegenerative drug development programme. We have a proven human genetic cause, validated human pathology of the same gene present in over 90 percent of ALS patients, initial proof-of-concept for drug candidates, and a highly experienced team of drug developers.”

Historically, of all branches of medicine, neurology has the most unknowns and the fewest treatments. However, Wolozin believes that is about to change: “Scientists have been studying the molecular mechanisms of these diseases for 30 years. We have to remember that progress moves in increments. It took a long time to go from the invention of the telephone to the iPhone. Drug development also takes time, but can make similar dramatic leaps forward. I believe neuroscience is on the cusp of a breakthrough. We are about to enter a golden age for neurodegenerative disease.”

Paris climate change agreement to officially come into effect

Posted on by Ben Debski

On October 4, the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change officially reached the necessary threshold to take force after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to ratify the treaty. In order to become operational, the deal required at least 55 countries representing 55 percent of the world’s emissions to confirm their commitment. With new pledges from the European Union, India, Canada and Nepal taking the treaty over this threshold – the Paris Agreement will now officially take effect from November 4.

The historic agreement, which marks the world’s first major global treaty on climate change, seeks to curb greenhouse gas emissions and limit the increase in global temperatures to “well below” 2°C. The world’s two largest emitters, the US and China, formally joined the Paris Agreement last month, demonstrating the importance of climate change to the global agenda. While the previous international climate change treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, took eight years to come into effect, the Paris Agreement has achieved ratification in just six months.

“Global momentum for the Paris Agreement to enter into force into 2016 has been remarkable”, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said in a statement.

“What once seemed unthinkable is now unstoppable. I urge all governments and all sectors of society to implement the Paris Agreement in full and to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse-gas emission, strengthen climate resilience and support the most vulnerable in adapting to inevitable climate impacts.”

While the deal marks a significant step forward in the global fight against climate change, the treaty does not legally require countries to cut their emissions. Instead, it demands that the 195 signatories make their targets and emissions reports public, and encourages member nations to establish their own initiatives to curb carbon pollution. The European Commission has already made headway in setting climate change targets, bringing forward the legislative proposals to comply with the EU’s commitment to reducing emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

“Today is a historic day in the fight to protect our planet for future generations”, said President Barack Obama. “Today the world meets the moment, and if we follow through on the commitments that this Paris Agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet.”

However, even if all signatories comply with the emissions recommendations of the Paris Agreement, scientists believe that the 2°C temperature limit will be breached. According to studies, global temperatures can be expected to rise by 3.5°C over the next century; with the guidelines set by the Paris Agreement likely to prove insufficient in reversing the adverse affects of climate change.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded for molecular machines

Posted on by Ben Debski

Sir Fraser Stoddart, Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Bernard Feringa have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating the world’s smallest machines. So small are the structures that they are around one thousand times slimmer than a strand of hair, and work on a molecular scale.

The trio won the £727,000 prize for their success in linking molecules together to design and build a miniscule lift, tiny artificial muscles and minute motors. The molecules developed by the team have controllable movements, meaning that they can perform tasks when energy is applied.

“The 2016 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have miniaturised machines and taken chemistry to a new dimension”, read the press release published on the official website of the Nobel Prize.

Such tiny structures could enter the human body to dispense medicines directly to cancerous cells from within

Sauvage took the first steps towards this incredible achievement in 1983, when he successfully linked a pair of circular molecules to form a chain – or catenane. Instead of sharing a covalent bond, which is usually how molecules are linked, they were connected by a mechanical bond. This development thus allowed both molecules to move relative to one another, which is how machines are able to perform tasks.

Then, in 1991, Stoddart developed a rotaxane, demonstrating that a molecular ring could move along a molecular axle. This work formed the bases of the design and construction of the molecular lift, muscle and computer chip that the three went on to create.

Another breakthrough was made in 1999, when Feringa became the first person in the world to create a molecular motor. He achieved this astonishing feat by making a molecular rotor blade spin continuously in a uniform direction. He then went on to design a nanocar in 2011. The press release likened Feringa’s development of the molecular motor to that of the electric motor in the 1830s; an innovation that would go on to create countless machines and equipment that we now interact with and rely upon daily.

Stoddart, Sauvage and Feringa were given the most prestigious prize in chemistry not only because of how astonishing their innovations are, but because the possibilities of molecular machines could herald a new era in science, technology and medicine. To take just one exciting example, theoretically, such tiny structures could enter the human body to dispense medicines directly to cancerous cells from within.

Canatu’s flexible sensors allow for touch capabilities on any surface

Posted on by Ben Debski

When it comes to consumer electronics, design is by far the most important factor. Since the individual components of most products are often similar, how they are put together becomes the differentiating factor for consumers. Not very often is there a fundamental enough change in technology to allow for creative new designs. However, thanks to an innovation in flexible touch sensors from Finnish research company Canatu, the design possibilities for touchscreens will soon be almost limitless.

Canatu has produced and patented flexible touch sensor technology, allowing for touchscreens to be made curved and bendable. Erkki Soininen, Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Canatu, explained the design of mobile phones has been one area that has already undergone major evolution in the past, and is set for more in the future. “They were more rigid, heavier and had buttons”, explained Soininen. “Now they are easier to use. Instead of a small screen, the screen is over a larger surface and is more user-friendly. User experience design is the important thing today, and is an integral element of phones, tablets and any apparatus with a screen.”

Because of the stretchable, bendable and flexible nature of the carbon nanobud material, and the fact that it can be deposited on an array of substrates and materials, Canatu’s touch sensors offer touch possibilities on almost any surface

While mobile phones boasting large screens are now all the rage, Soininen noted the size of these devices is becoming an inconvenience. As people are not willing to settle for a device that doesn’t have a large screen, flexible screens can give customers both size and convenience.

“Bendable and foldable solutions offer consumers a user-friendly choice”, said Soininen. “Think about folding your screen and placing it in your pocket, or simply wrapping your mobile around your wrist when going to do something. With a flexible material, anything is possible.”

Carbon craft
Canatu has invented and patented carbon nanobud technology that allows touch sensors to be applied to material of virtually any shape. Carbon nanobuds are a hybrid of carbon nanotubes and fullerenes, a kind of ‘cage’ made up of carbon atoms, creating a bendable and stretchable material. Soininen explained that, unlike current touch sensor technology, Canatu’s sensors do not lose conductivity when bent.

“We do rigorous bending tests to prove this. With 100,000 bends, there is no loss in conductivity”, he said. “This is a real competitive edge, as the leading conductive film material used in displays currently, indium tin oxide, cannot be bent. It is a metal and, when bent, conductivity is broken. Indium tin oxide displays can only be flat.”

Carbon nanobuds, on the other hand, can be placed on a very thin underlying surface, meaning components can remain as small as possible. They also will not cause any more distortion of a screen’s image than current touch sensor technology.

“Because of the stretchable, bendable and flexible nature of the carbon nanobud material, and the fact that it can be deposited on an array of substrates and materials, our touch sensors offer touch possibilities on almost any surface”, said Soininen. “With a bending radius of one millimetre, compared to the typical six millimetres for other materials, touch can be used on the sharpest of edges.”

It’s not just smartphone makers who are interested in non-flat touchscreens, with any device that currently uses buttons now a candidate for touch technology. Soininen said carmakers are a good example. “Just as with other displays, the automotive industry is fast replacing outdated interiors with modern designs. Our 3D formable films and touch sensors enable many design possibilities. Not just flat surfaces, but functional and sleek interior designs with curved edges and built-in touch applications. Imagination is the only limitation to the endless design possibilities of carbon nanobud technology.”

Google enters the hardware sphere

Posted on by Ben Debski

Google has unveiled a range of consumer electronics products designed to compete with Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. The launch marks Google’s first serious attempt at breaking into the hardware market, and signals the company’s renewed focus on artificial intelligence.

At the Made by Google event hosted at Alphabet’s San Francisco headquarters, the company debuted the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Both are high-end devices designed to be direct competitors to both the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy ranges. Alongside the phone is a virtual reality headset called Daydream View VR. Similar to the Samsung Gear VR and seemingly a replacement for Google’s Cardboard headset, the device will play games and feature a digital cinema experience for services like Netflix and YouTube.

Also shown was the updated Chromecast Ultra, the latest version of Google’s streaming device that is now capable of displaying 4K video. Google Home was also shown; a speaker system that can answer questions and control smart home systems much like Amazon’s Alexa. Google Wi-Fi made an appearance too; it’s an expandable Wi-Fi system that can cover any size of home through the use of multiple signal boosters.

The event marks a serious change of tack for Google’s hardware plans. While dominant in the software market, Google has traditionally struggled when it come to physical products. Its experimental devices like Google Glass failed to take off, and third-party companies have manufactured almost all devices running Google’s Android operating system. Google’s now-discontinued range of Nexus devices were built and branded by a range of different manufactures, such as LG and Huawei, leading to inconsistent designs.

The launch marks Google’s first serious attempt at breaking into the hardware market, and signals the company’s renewed focus on artificial intelligence

With the launch of the Pixel phone, Google is looking to take greater control over what people expect an Android phone to be. While the Pixel is manufactured by HTC, it only features Google branding and, Business Insider reported, the device contains custom Google hardware. This move should worry competing smartphone manufacturers, in particular Samsung, who currently makes the leading Android devices.

Google also showed its AI-powered Google Assistant, the software behind all of its new devices. Google Assistant features prominently in the Pixel phone and upgrades have expanded its capabilities to respond to more complicated requests and questions. While hardware is clearly a greater focus, the underpinning of AI in all of its devices shows Google is still aggressively developing its software products.

MasterCard launches ‘selfie’ payments for mobile shoppers

Posted on by Ben Debski

MasterCard has launched a new mobile application that allows online shoppers to verify their identities through facial recognition scans and fingerprints. The new technology removes the need for passwords in the payment process, making online purchases less time-consuming and potentially more secure.

When customers arrive at a digital checkout to complete their payments, users of the app will be greeted by a pop-up on their device, through which they can confirm their identity by either taking a ‘selfie’ photo or scanning their fingerprint. The selfie image is then mapped against a previously stored photo to ensure that the customer’s identity is correct.

“We are relentlessly focused on making the online payment experience near-frictionless, without making any compromises on safety and security”, said Ajay Bhalla, MasterCard’s President of Enterprise Risk and Security.

Users of the app will be greeted by a pop-up on their device, through which they can confirm their identity by taking a selfie

“This is a significant milestone in the evolution of payments. Shopping in person has been revolutionised thanks to advances like contactless cards, mobile payments and wearables, and now we are making Identity Check Mobile a reality for online shopping in Europe, and soon, the world.” The card-issuer’s biometric technology is now available in 12 European countries, following successful trials in the US, the Netherlands and Canada.

Emerging payment technologies have already transformed how customers pay for goods. Bolstered by the growth of ever-more-convenient apps and mobile retail sites, online shopping is now the world’s fastest growing payment channel, valued at around $1.5trn in 2015. It is anticipated that consumers will make 195 billion transactions using their mobile devices by 2019, while increased global internet and smartphone access will make online shopping available to a host of new customers in upcoming years.

Building on the success of its existing payment technologies, MasterCard hopes that its pioneering selfie service will allow it to increasingly tap into this blossoming market. As consumer demand grows for efficient and secure mobile processes, such biometric technologies may just set MasterCard apart from its digital payment rivals.

Global tech giants team up to create AI partnership

Posted on by Ben Debski

Five of the world’s most powerful technology companies have teamed up to create a new non-profit organisation, dedicated to conducting research into artificial intelligence. The Partnership on AI brings together industry experts from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and IBM, and intends to enhance public understanding of AI, as well as analysing privacy and ethics issues as they look to further incorporate the technology into their businesses.

Through advancing public understanding of AI and highlighting its potential benefits, the group hopes to dispel distrust of the technology

“AI technologies hold tremendous potential to improve many aspects of life, ranging from healthcare, education and manufacturing to home automation and transportation”, the partnership said in a statement.

“Through rigorous research, the development of best practices, and an open and transparent dialogue, the founding members of the Partnership on AI hope to maximise this potential and ensure it benefits as many people as possible.”

Through advancing public understanding of AI and highlighting its potential benefits, the group hopes to dispel distrust of the technology, while also seeking to firmly establish ethical practices in the sector. Initially, financial support for the project will come directly from the founding companies, but the partnership will be inviting potential shareholders, research groups, non-profit companies and user group advocates to participate in the future.

The partnership is to be co-chaired by Eric Horvitz, Microsoft Research’s Managing Director, and DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, while the organisation’s board will consist of academics, policy and ethics specialists and non-profit groups. A concrete plan for the partnership is expected to be announced within the next few weeks, with a launch event following later in the year.

Notably absent from the project’s line-up are AI pioneers Apple and OpenAI, as well as social media giants Twitter and Baidu. Apple has made considerable progress in the sector, primarily with its voice-activated personal assistant, Siri. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s OpenAI has successfully raised over $1bn in funding, positioning it as a potential leader in new AI research. Despite their absence from the group, both Apple and OpenAI are said to welcome the collaborative project, embracing its potential to both advance and better current AI technology.

While technology companies are driving the partnership, its ultimate goal is to expand the capabilities of AI beyond the tech world, in a way that is “beneficial to people and society”. With its sights set on education, healthcare, transportation and the media, this powerful new partnership on AI may prove monumental for the future of technology.

First successful birth from three-parent method confirmed in Mexico

Posted on by Ben Debski

In a medical first, a child has been born using the genetic material of three different people. While the technique is controversial, the process has allowed for the child’s parents to avoid passing on a rare genetic mutation.

As reported New Scientist, a US team operating in Mexico has successfully performed the technique on a Jordanian couple, resulting in the successful birth of baby boy, now five months old. The success of the process should result in significant progress in the field of embryonic research.

The technique removes the mother’s mitochondria and replaces it with the donor’s, resulting in the baby carrying the genetic material of three people

What prompted the parents to undertake the procedure was the discovery that the mother carries the genes for Leigh syndrome, a fatal condition that affects the nervous system. While the mother is healthy, her first two children passed away due to the condition. The DNA carrying the genes for Leigh syndrome are located in the mitochondria of cells, but not the nucleus, where the majority of genetic material is stored.

In order to prevent the condition from being passed on, John Zhang from the New Hope Fertility Centre in New York City removed the nucleus from one of the mother’s eggs and inserted it into a donor egg that had its nucleus removed. The resulting egg was then fertilised using the father’s sperm. This technique removes the mother’s mitochondria and replaces it with the donor’s, resulting in the baby carrying the genetic material of three people.

The technique was performed in Mexico because it is not approved for use in the US. It differs slightly from a similar method approved for use in the UK that involves fertilising both the mother’s egg and the donor’s egg, but discarding the donor’s fertilised nucleus and replacing it with the mother’s. This was not appropriate for the couple in question, as they opposed the destruction of two embryos.

The method remains controversial, as attempts to create an embryo from three people in the 90s resulted in some babies developing genetic conditions. Early have shown that this child is healthy, though scientists will have to wait for more births before the technique can be confirmed safe.

SolarCity sued over alleged intellectual property theft

Posted on by Ben Debski

SolarCity, the clean energy brainchild of business magnate Elon Musk, has been accused of intellectual property theft and misappropriating trade secrets in the development of its commercial solar panels.

On September 26, Cogenra Solar and its parent company SunPower filed a lawsuit, claiming that rival SolarCity had used Cogenra’s shingling technology to gain a competitive advantage in solar panel manufacturing. As part of the complaint, Cogenra accused SolarCity of sharing these confidential trade secrets with Silevo, a solar panel manufacturer that the energy giant has since acquired.

“It was only by misappropriating Cogenra’s proprietary technology, including its trade secrets and other intellectual property, that SolarCity and Silevo were later able to announce a claim that they set a new world record for solar energy efficiency”, Bloomberg reported Cogenra as saying.

While SolarCity prepares to defend its solar panel technology, it harbours its own intellectual property grievance against its accuser

SolarCity, however, maintains that it developed its own unique photovoltaic technology to create its highly efficient rooftop panels, including the manufacture of solar shingles. Shingling technology has been experiencing something of a boom in the solar energy market of late, as environmentally conscious consumers increasingly favour the minimalistic appearance of small shingle solar panels, which are designed to replicate the look of roof tiles.

While SolarCity prepares to defend its solar panel technology, it harbours its own intellectual property grievance against its accuser. Last week, the solar energy giant discovered that one of its former employees had illegally downloaded confidential SolarCity information and saved the data onto a personal hard drive, before leaving the company to accept a senior sales manager position at SunPower.

“Instead of taking responsibility and ensuring the return of our misappropriated trade secrets, SunPower subsidiary Cogenra raced to court to divert attention from its conduct by filing a meritless lawsuit”, SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass said in an email statement, according to Bloomberg.

With the solar rivals locked in a legal tit-for-tat over panel technology, any collaboration over low-cost solar cell data now seems unlikely, embittering the battle for the commercial rooftop market.