Chemicals Contaminate Deep-Ocean Creatures
June 22, 2016 - A new research has revealed the degree of destruction caused by man-made pollutants, which have now entered the deep oceans as well. The research reveals that chemical contamination has polluted the creatures dwelling at a depth of up to 10,000 meters in the ocean have been. The revelation was made at a deep-ocean exploration conference organized at Shanghai on June 8, 2016.
The disclosure was made by a deep-ocean researcher Alan Jamieson of the University of Aberdeen. He stated that startling levels of man-made organic pollutants have been discovered by his team in amphipods, crustaceans similar to shrimps. The team had captivated the deep-sea creatures during their two international expeditions in 2014 from two deep-ocean trenches.
The creatures were captured from the Kermadec Trench offshore New Zealand and the Mariana Trench that is situated in the western Pacific Ocean and is known to be the deepest trench in the world. Deep-ocean trenches play a significant role as carbon sink and are essential for the regulation of climate and global temperature. However, these trenches, like the Mariana and Kermadec, are exposed to high amounts of pollutants that are washed from large factory waste.
This is because these pollutants have no other disposal system and eventually seep deep inside and accumulate there. During the expeditions, both the trenches were found to have high accumulation levels of the carbon-based compound persistent organic pollutants, which are utilized during the production of plastics and flame retardants. Polychlorinated biphenyl was among the chemicals detected in the crustaceans.
"Toxic chemicals are accumulating in marine creatures in Earth's deepest oceanic trenches, the first measurements of organic pollutants in these regions have revealed," according to a news report published by Scientific American.
"We often think deep-sea trenches are remote and pristine, untouched by humans," says Alan Jamieson, a deep-ocean researcher at the University of Aberdeen, UK. But Jamieson and his colleagues have found man-made organic pollutants at high levels in shrimp-like crustaceans called amphipods that they collected from two deep-ocean trenches, he told a conference on deep-ocean exploration in Shanghai on 8 June.
Before this work-which has not yet been published-the study of pollutants in deep-sea organisms had been limited to those that live at depths of 2,000 metres or less. The latest research tested for levels of organic chemicals in amphipods collected at 7,000-10,000 metres depth, from the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean-the world's deepest trench-and from the Kermadec Trench near New Zealand.
According to a report in Nature World News by Julla Gonzalez, "In a deep-ocean exploration conference in Shanghai on the 8th of June, deep-ocean researcher Alan Jamieson of the University of Aberdeen revealed that his team had found alarming levels of man-made organic pollutants in amphipods (shrimp-like crustaceans). These deep-sea creatures were captured from two deep-ocean trenches, the Mariana Trench located in the western Pacific Ocean (also known as the world's deepest trench) and the Kermadec Trench off the coast of New Zealand in two international expeditions in 2014."
Identified as an important carbon sink and vital in regulating climate and global temperature, deep-ocean trenches such as the Mariana and Kermadec are also prone to higher levels of pollutants washed from large factory waste as they have nowhere else to go but deep down and will eventually build up. High chemical concentrations of the carbon-based compound POPs (persistent organic pollutants) used to make plastics and flame retardants were found in both trenches, although one had particularly higher concentrations than the other for both compounds.
This "fascinating" discovery, says deep-sea microbiologist Douglas Barlett of the San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography, shows that the "trenches are not that remote" as first though of, and that "the world is connected."
Originally published in the NewHampshire Voice June 22, 2016
June 22, 2016 - The Obama administration earlier this week named Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy as the regional manufacturing hub of a new $140 million federal manufacturing institute, which will focus on factories of the future, leading to improvement through innovation and technology.
The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which will be headquartered in Los Angeles, will help the manufacturers in the United States to use sensors, software, digital controls, data and the industrial internet to make their factories more efficient which in turn will cut costs and boost the output. The institute will get $70 million from the Department of Energy and the same amount from private investment. The effort by the Obama administration is to make U.S manufacturing companies better in global competition at the same time trim energy requirements and give out less pollution.
The Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition in Los Angeles will be the ninth among the fifteen "manufacturing hubs" which the current President plans to set up all through the country.
As the U.S. manufacturing sector grows, it adds jobs and since 2010 February, 800,000 jobs have been added by the sector.
President Obama said, "The world is smaller than it used to be because of innovation. That is something that can work for everyone if we do it right."
Universal Robots ,June 22, 2016 - Universal Robots, the Danish pioneer of human-robot collaboration, has announced the launch of Universal Robots+, a showroom of plug & play applications, offering a new level of simplicity for Universal Robot customers when installing a new robot application.
Universal Robots+ offers accessories, end-effectors and software solutions meaning both distributors and end users can save weeks and even months in the integration process from concept to operation of the UR cobots. URCaps, accessory components that extend the UR robots’ capabilities, can be customised hardware components, software plug-ins or a combination of both.
The aim of Universal Robots+ is to reduce costs and implementation periods, as well as increase user satisfaction and experience.
As part of the new solution, Universal Robots is also launching +YOU, a free developer programme, offering a marketing and support platform for UR-robot application developers. “With Universal Robots+, everyone can benefit, including our developer community, our distribution partners and our end customers,” explains Esben H. Østergaard, CTO and co-founder of Universal Robots.
“Participants in our developer programme +YOU will receive free support when developing URCaps. By integrating the accessory components showcased at the Universal Robots+ showroom, our distribution partners and end users reduce spending on application development and testing when they deploy the URCaps as simple plug & play solutions.”
How developers and distributors will benefit
“When developers have received our approval for designing within Universal Robots+, we will support them via our local subsidiaries by providing robots for testing and optimising URCaps. On request, robots can also be purchased at a reduced price, given that they will be used exclusively for the development and testing of new UR-related components,” says Stefan Tøndering Stubgaard, Manager of Universal Robots’ Corporate Technical Support.
After completion of a URCaps prototype, the developer will send it to Universal Robots for examination. Tøndering Stubgaard explains, “Before a new product can be presented in our showroom, we verify its quality. In comprehensive functionality tests, we test whether the URCap can be implemented and operated easily and if the product conforms to Universal Robots’ quality requirements.”
In addition, developers can also get their URCaps certified by Universal Robots. In order to receive this additional quality certificate, developers must document that their solution is already operating in a real application and used successfully by a customer.
Having capabilities featured in the Universal Robots+ showroom is free of charge for developers. In providing this, Universal Robots offers all developers a professional marketing platform granting them access to an ever expanding, global customer network. Sales of all products and capabilities revolving around the UR-robots’ universe will continue to be provided through Universal Robots’ established network of distribution partners. In this way, distributors also benefit from this central platform, where they can both offer and access applications developed specifically for the use with UR robots. Universal Robots+ is the toolbox that tailors optimal solutions for their individual customer needs.
Entering the Universal Robots+ Community
To have their application solutions featured in the Universal Robots+ showroom, developers must complete a free registration in the +YOU community forum where developers can submit their application ideas.
After meeting registration criteria, the developers will receive access to the +YOU online forum, where they can exchange questions and ideas. In addition, all members of the community will receive access to the company-internal developer support, which will assist (if necessary) in developing a market mature application. Additionally, the URCaps Software Development Kit can be downloaded free-of-charge.
Software release reduces implementation time
Coinciding with the launch of Universal Robots+, a new update for the robot arms’ operating software has been published. The new release (Software Version 3.3) includes updates such as the Profinet IO device functionality. The new compatibility with Profinet protocols opens up numerous additional areas of deployment and activities for robots. “A key feature of the update supporting the Universal Robots+ platform is the ability for providers to now offer solutions that interface seamlessly with the UR software,” says Østergaard.
Until now, the software enabling communication between developer applications and the UR robot arms had to be implemented by using relatively complex script code, which is time consuming and a difficult task for the majority of end users to handle. As the Software Version 3.3 now consists in parts of open source software, the developers can implement their software as an add-on, reducing the time needed for implementation at the end customer’s premises significantly, thus reducing both price and potential risks.
Universal Robots+ and the +YOU forum are now accessible online. The first URCaps are already on display in the Universal Robots+ Showroom.
Applications pay for themselves before having to be paid for says agent Simon Ganley
22 June 2016 - The Banking Ombudsman Scheme has told government agencies and the finance sector about a complaint it investigated recently in which a New Zealander was caught out trying to use cheques from bogus UK bank ‘WeRe Bank’.
The complaint was against a New Zealand bank for refusing to honour a cheque presented by a customer wanting to use it to pay off her credit card.
“The customer was upset the bank wouldn’t honour the cheque and the relationship deteriorated to the point the bank closed the customer’s account. We were asked to look at whether the bank’s decision to refuse to bank the cheque was legal and if it could end the relationship it had with her.
“In short, our investigation revealed the ‘cheque’ was not actually a cheque because the issuing ‘bank’ was not actually a bank,” Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden said.
WeRe Bank was set up in the United Kingdom last year as a ’common law bank’. Customers send the bank a promissory note (an IOU) of £150,000 and then pay membership fees of £10 a month for an account. It deals in its own currency called the Re, apparently a unit of energy used to pay debt.
WeRe Bank supplies the customer with a cheque book to write ‘cheques’ drawn against the promissory note to pay debts. The cheques are not legal tender so debts aren’t paid. WeRe isn’t a registered bank or even a company, but is run online by one person and with a mobile phone number.
“This is the first complaint involving a New Zealand customer that we are aware of. Canada and the United Kingdom have dealt with cases. Because WeRe cheques are worthless, customers’ attempts to repay debt with these cheques are not successful and so people face all the risks of late payment, from additional charges to repossession.
“There will be no joy for anybody who thinks they are on to a winner with a WeRe bank cheque book. It sounds too good to be true, because it is.”
“We also determined the bank had the right to decide to end its banking relationship with its customer and had followed the correct process for doing so,” Ms Sladden said.
See our Quick Guide on Common scams targeting bank customers or for scam alert information: www.dia.govt.nz, www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/scams, www.fma.govt.nz, www.netsafe.org.nz
UK Financial Conduct Authority Warning about WeRe BankUK Financial Ombudsman Service WeRe Bank decisionCanadian Court of Queen’s Bench Alberta WeRe Bank decision
A press release from the Banking Ombudsman Scheme June 22, 2016
Stainless steel fabricator, NDA Group, have added to their operations in the United States in purchasing World Wide Exchangers (WWE) who are based in the state of Oklahoma. WWE are providers of heat exchangers to the gas processing and compression markets in North America and will complement NDA's existing operations in the region. Mark Eglington, CEO of NDA Group, told DEMM magazine, "WWE has an excellent reputation for innovative, cost effective designs delivered on time. These are critical drivers of the gas processing and compression markets. This innovative business is a great acquisition and a significant strategic step into an attractive new market." - June 21, 2016
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Communications Minister Amy Adams today, Tuesday 21 June 2016, welcomed a report showing the technology sector’s value to the New Zealand economy.
The report, Digital Nation New Zealand: From Tech Sector to Digital Nation, provides analysis of the nature and size of the technology sector and its impact on the New Zealand economy.
“The technology sector is a vital and rapidly growing part of the New Zealand economy and the information in this report underlines the role the sector is playing in transitioning New Zealand into a leading digital nation,” Mr Joyce says.
“I am pleased to see that the thriving digital sector has been identified as an increasingly important source of growth for GDP and exports. The report also makes a compelling point that each four per cent productivity improvement in the tech sector is estimated to deliver an additional $2.7 billion in GDP.
“This is one of the motivations behind the Government’s Digital Economy Work Programme as part of the Business Growth Agenda, which aims to accelerate the smart use and uptake of technology across all businesses - leading to increased innovation and growth in our exports.”
“The Government’s substantial telecommunications investment helps make all of this happen. The Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) rollouts mean that more than 1.2 million New Zealanders can now connect to faster and more reliable internet, and make the most of the digital economy,” Ms Adams says.
“By better understanding the sector’s contribution we are well positioned to seize new opportunities and drive forward the next phase of our digital economy. Making the most of the digital economy by encouraging more effective use and uptake of ICT is a key part of the Innovation stream of the BGA.”
Related Documents
Fact-sheet - Government Initiatives to support a Digital New Zealand.pdf (pdf 217.24 KB)
A press release from the Beehive, June 21, 2016
Wellington, 21 June 2016 – The tech sector and Government should combine forces to start creating a position of New Zealand as the high tech capital of the world, an incubation nation and a world class digital nation, NZTech recommended today.
The national tech organisation today released a landmark first-ever in-depth study report on the actual state of New Zealand’s technology. NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says that while New Zealand has a large and dynamic tech export sector it is not evident in the positioning of New Zealand globally.
“Go to Silicon Valley and talk about agri-tech and everyone says Israel, yet we have a globally respected agri sector. Go to the United Kingdom and mention ed-tech and they say the United States, yet we have a globally respected education sector.
“Ask anyone overseas what they know about New Zealand, and if they know anything at all, it is usually sheep, hobbits and nice scenery. None of this is particularly helpful if you are trying to export high tech products.
“The small size of our domestic market constrains the potential for New Zealand businesses to grow without trading. New Zealand is not going to get rich by selling to itself. The ability for businesses to sell their goods and services to customers in overseas markets is critical.
“For a geographically isolated country like New Zealand, global connections are critical. Falling travel costs and greater connectedness due to technology have reduced the negative impacts of being far from global markets and created new opportunities for trade in many diverse sectors, Muller says.
New Zealand’s exports are predominantly primary products with more than half of all exports in the year to June 2015 from primary products ($35.7 billion). While natural resources will remain the basis of our competitive advantage for years to come, there are natural limits to the growth of the primary sector and a need to ensure sustainability by working within environmental constraints.
Ultimately, for New Zealand to diversify its export base, technology will play a critical role in creating new exports and higher value niche products that complement our existing national specialisation in agriculture. There is also scope to use technology to improve value-add in agricultural exports, the report says.
Since 1990, exports from New Zealand’s high tech manufacturing sector have grown from under $100 million to $4.4 billion in 2015. Exports of high-tech goods and services from the ICT sector have grown to $1.9 billion in 2015. In total, the tech sector generated $6.3 billion of exports, making it the third largest export sector for New Zealand.
A combination of factors may be contributing to the growth of New Zealand tech exports. As well as the growing scale of a number of tech exporters there is also growing breadth. For example, exports from New Zealand video game developers exceeded $100 million in 2015, up from $80 million in 2014. Tech export successes are also being built off global technologies as local ICT firms find ways to add value to international products and leverage off their channels to market.
Muller says one shining example is Auckland start-up Hapara. Inspired by teachers at Point England school in Auckland, Hapara developed a piece of cloud based software that lets teachers see what students have on their screens when using Google Apps in the classroom. Now only five years old, Hapara tools are used by schools in every US state and in more than 30 countries opening them up to a global edtech market worth $US100 billion. There are scores of examples like this coming out of the New Zealand tech sector.
A press release from the New Zealand Technology Industry Association
Henkel’s newly opened Composite Lab in Heidelberg, Germany, is a state-of-the-art test facility. Here automotive customers can team up with Henkel experts to develop and test composite parts and to figure out the best production process condition to make their ideas market-ready.
As a global leader in adhesives, sealants and functional coatings for the automotive industry, Henkel is always striving to create a competitive advantage for its customers along the entire value chain of car manufacturing. It works closely with its industrial customers to create tailor-made, integrated solutions for automotive OEMs and suppliers, particularly related to cost efficiency and suitability for high volume production. Henkel’s products make vehicles quieter, lighter and more durable, while providing comfort, strength and safety.
Continue to the full Henkel press release - January 20, 2016
In this true story a favour was swept up into a curse
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242