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Psychedelics Make an Impression at Prohibition Partners LIVE | INN – Investing News Network

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Curious investors were able to hear firsthand about the burgeoning psychedelics industry during the first Prohibition Partners LIVE event.

At the inaugural Prohibition Partners LIVE event, psychedelic drugs made a big splash.

Prohibition Partners is a research group that publishes reports on the latest developments in the cannabis industry. And while cannabis dominated the online forum, the business potential of psychedelics created conversations around this new space.

Adele Byrne, senior analyst with Prohibition Partners, kicked off the discussion around psychedelics by confirming the groups interest in the market with upcoming studies dedicated exclusively to the space.

Those will follow the groups initial March report examining the psychedelics industry, and Byrne said the team will continue to work on their market analysis for the sector.

The talks at the event included some of the established early leaders in the psychedelics market one of the biggest guests was Bruce Linton, former CEO of Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC,TSX:WEED). He is now an advisor for Mind Medicine (MindMed) (NEO:MMED) and an investor in the psychedelics sector.

Linton has been a vocal supporter of the psychedelic drug industry, and is a larger figure commanding attention from investors given his role in the augmentation of the Canadian cannabis public markets.

Its always an allocation game, and I think being an investor in the market right now is a very good idea I think that its a good time to be an investor, but its not a good time to put all your investments in today, you need to be able to follow up with some, Linton said.

The ex-cannabis executive said hes interested in the psychedelics industry given its potential to provide alternative treatments for health issues that arent being met with appropriate relief.

One of the most unique organizations in the psychedelics industry is the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit group that is responsible for putting together one of the most advanced studies in the entire sector.

Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of MAPS, explained the US Food and Drug Administration is open to engaging with the psychedelic drug maker industry given the medical potential these drugs have.

Doblin said the federal agency is willing to put science over politics when it comes to psychedelics, which is evidenced by the medical authoritys engagement with clinical studies.

JR Rahn, founder and CEO of MindMed, spoke at length with Stephen Murphy, group managing director with Prohibition Partners, about his involvement with the industry and the transition process he underwent originally coming from a tech investing background.

As one of the first big debuts in the capital markets, MindMed launched on the NEO Exchange in March, and Rahn pointed to the key benefits that going public has brought to his company.

When asked about the path for the adoption of psychedelic medicines once trials are successful, Rahn said that theres a long educational process ahead for both patients and doctors to combat the stigma associated with psychedelic drugs.

In a panel conversation, Doblin explained that it will be important to train and prepare medical workers so that they are ready for psychedelic drug demand.

Kevin OLeary, a Canadian investor and a judge on the business show Shark Tank, signed up as an early stage backer of MindMed and has pointed to the medical-only approach the company is taking as the key reason it obtained his money.

The decision to go public was motivated by MindMeds plan to build out a robust portfolio of clinical trials investigating the medical benefits of psychedelic drugs, Rahn said.

Going public, to me, was not even a question, the MindMed executive said. We needed to do it, we needed to build a platform that could develop these medicines and get them to patients.

As part of the conversation around public listings, Champignon Brands (CSE:SHRM,OTCQB:SHRMF) CEO Dr. Roger McIntyre said investors need to be ready for a rush of company pitches and available deals. He warned there will be shady players attempting to pass off as experts on the industry, and investors need to be aware not to fall for just any opportunity.

Market participants often point to the medical benefits of psychedelic drugs as a top reason why supporting this industry will be valuable. But for one executive its also a personal effort.

Rahn was candid about the path that led him to the industry during a panel at the online event. He told the audience about his own struggles with addiction and mental health and how these challenges were the foundation that eventually took him to launch MindMed.

There needed to be a company that could take this broader approach to how we look at mental health and not just look at a single mental illness like depression or anxiety as a one-off.

How do we look at creating a new paradigm and a new approach to how we deal with these issues? Thats really what motivates me, looking at the interconnectedness of mental health solutions and how we get those and deliver those to the world.

Dont forget to follow@INN_LifeSciencefor real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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Psychedelics Make an Impression at Prohibition Partners LIVE | INN - Investing News Network

MagicMed Industries unveils C$1.5 million offering to expand its molecular psychedelic derivatives portfolio – Proactive Investors USA & Canada

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MagicMeds Psybrary is a molecular derivatives library designed to be a key platform for the psychedelics industry to develop new patented products

said Monday it is planning to raise up to C$1.5 million to fund development of its portfolio of psychedelic derivative molecules.

The private company is working with Mackie Research Capital Corporation in the offering, which will consist of up to 6 million shares priced at C$0.25 each.

MagicMeds Psybrary is a molecular derivatives library designed to be a key platform for the psychedelics industry to develop new patented products.

The Psybrary will initially focus on psilocybin, but MagicMed expects to expand its scope to other psychedelics like MDMA, ketamine, Ibogaine, Mescaline, and Ayahuasca on an opportunistic basis. MagicMeds approach is to partner with pharmaceutical and other companies who can use thePsybrary as a building block to develop new patented products.

Under the term sheet, MagicMed will pay Mackie a cash commission equal to 8% of the aggregate gross proceeds of the offering in addition to a work fee and certain expenses.

A portion of the proceeds will also be used to expand MagicMeds scientific team, according to a statement, with additional funds earmarked for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Calgary-based company recently filed a provisional patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) related to the composition of matter, drug formation and the process of preparation for novel psilocybin derivatives, the first in a series of applications that together are designed to protect the Psybrary.

The offering is expected to close by August 14.

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MagicMed Industries unveils C$1.5 million offering to expand its molecular psychedelic derivatives portfolio - Proactive Investors USA & Canada

Psychedelic Therapists Petition Government For Permission To Dose Themselves In Order To Better Treat Patients – Marijuana Moment

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As a group of terminally ill patients in Canada awaits word from the minister of health on whether they can legally access psychedelic mushrooms for end-of-life care, their team of clinicians has tacked on an additional request: The therapists want to be able to dose themselves, too.

The group behind the request, Victoria, B.C.based TheraPsil, a nonprofit that aims to expand access to psilocybin-based psychotherapy in Canada, says the additional step of providing safe access for therapists will ensure they gain firsthand experience into the psilocybins effects and its applications to psychotherapy.

The fundamental reason to expose therapists to their own experiences with psychedelics is that, unless you have visited these realms, you are unlikely to understand their importance.

Part of ensuring a very high-quality psychedelic treatment for patients is to ensure high-quality training for therapists, Spencer Hawkswell, TheraPsils executive director, told Marijuana Moment in an interview. Its greatly beneficial if therapists have had psychedelic therapy themselves.

Few people, he offered by analogy, would advise going to a sex therapist whos never had sex before.

TheraPsil, founded by clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Bruce Tobin, has been fighting for expanded access to psilocybin end-of-life care for years. In 2017, the group first filed a petition to exempt patients with certain terminal conditions from Canadas ban on psilocybin. It was reportedly the first time a therapist had asked the Canadian government for such an exemption.

It wasnt until this past January that TheraPsil finally heard back, Hawkswell said. After three years of back-and-forth, they got back to us and said, Were going to be rejecting this application. The agency said there was no obvious medical necessity for the psychedelics.

TheraPsil was undaunted. They say theres no necessity, Hawkswell said. Maybe its because they havent met that person yet.

In April, the group helped four more people with terminal illnesses file petitions with Health Canada and Health Minister Patty Hajdu seeking exemptions that will allow them to access psilocybin. In an interview with Marijuana Moment, Hawkswell said patients had gone months so far without a word from Hajdu, who with a stroke of a pen could allow the patients to access the drug.

What we are working on right now is ramping up our messaging, Hawkswell said. We are going to try everything we can to get to the minister to make sure she sees these patients and responds to them.

Efforts to allow TheraPsils clinicians to use psilocybin themselves are more recent. Dr. Sean OSullivan, an emergency room physician and psychotherapist who serves on TheraPsils board of directors, said the exemptions are necessary so that therapists can be better trained and more familiar with how psychedelics work in a therapeutic setting.

The fundamental reason to expose therapists to their own experiences with psychedelics is that, unless you have visited these realms, you are unlikely to understand their importance, OSullivan told Marijuana Moment. The point is to allow therapists to understand the field theyre plowing in.

Therapists need to be alert and able to recognize how psychedelic experiences manifest themselves in therapy, OSullivan said. Patients might bring up material having to do with their own birth, a traumatic experience or interactions with otherworldly beings. If youre not attuned to this possibility, not aware of this possibility, then its just going to slide by you, he said.

Its a bit like describing Beethovens Fifth, OSullivan added. You can describe it all you like, but at some point you have to play the music.

As psychedelic therapy is more widely sought by patients, OSullivan said, demand for qualified therapists is likely to go up. We are expecting that as we get more permission for patients to access psilocybin at the end of life, he said, that there will be an increase in demand for therapists that have had that psychedelic experience.

Public opinion in Canada generally supports allowing access to psilocybin therapy for the terminally ill, TheraPsil says. A poll released by the group last month found that 59 percent of Canadians support legal access. Including respondents who said they were ambivalent, TheraPsil said, acceptance increased to 78 percent.

Whats unreasonable is the political decision to deny patients access to psilocybin, Hawkswell argued. Its not a scientific one, its not a democratic one. Its political.

Patients facing their imminent death often experience feelings and fears that psychedelics can help to ease, he said. Among them are demoralization, anxiety and depression. Existing treatment includes pharmaceuticals, talk therapy and occasionally inpatient treatment.

Psychedelics play a role in treatment by inducing what Hawkswell and others refer to as a mystical experiencea collection of psychoactive and sometimes spiritual events that accompany a psychedelic journey. The experience can reorient a persons way of thinking, dissolving barriers between an individual and the world around them.For end-of-life patients, he explained, it can help them embrace that death is naturaljust as natural as being born.

Practitioners note that psychedelic therapy doesnt work the same way as many other pharmaceutical drugs, such as antidepressants or even medical marijuana. Patients usually take those substances under their own supervision and allow them to work in the background. With therapeutic use of psilocybin and other psychedelics, patients typically take the drug and undergo guided psychotherapy. Psychedelics unusual, sometimes disorienting effects are believed to allow patients to better approach and engage obstacles, then emerge with a fresh perspective.

Another psychedelic therapy group, Field Trip, which uses ketamine in therapy, describes the treatment on their website as a way to press reset on your mental health.

The emerging promise of psychedelics in recent years have caught the attention of academics, public policy reformers and even the U.S. government. Last month, the University of North Carolina (UNC) announced a $27 million project funded by the department of defense to research and develop psychedelics-inspired drugs.

That projects researchers seem to believe they can separate psychedelics from what they describe as disorienting side effects, despite what Hawkswell and others say about the importance of a mystical experience.

Although drugs like ketamine and potentially psilocybin have rapid antidepressant actions, their hallucinogenic, addictive, and disorienting side effects make their clinical use limited, said Bryan L. Roth, a professor of pharmacology at UNC School of Medicine and the research teams leader. The government partnership, UNC said, aims to create new medications to effectively and rapidly treat depression, anxiety, and substance abuse without major side effects.

In September of last year, Johns Hopkins University announced the launch of the nations first-ever psychedelic research center, a $17-million project to study the use of psychedelics to treat conditions such as opioid use disorder, Alzheimers disease, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Meanwhile, activists in the United States have advocated for state- and local-level reforms to research, decriminalize and in some cases even legalize psychedelics themselves.

At the municipal level, Denver became the first U.S. city to enact such a reform, with voters in May 2019 approving a measure to effectively decriminalize possession of psilocybin mushrooms. Soon after, officials in Oakland, California, decriminalized possession of all plant- and fungi-based psychedelics. In January of this year, Oakland activists unveiled plans to allow go further and legalize the commercial sale of natural entheogenic substances. That same month in nearby Santa Cruz, the City Council effectively decriminalized psychedelics by voting to make the enforcement of laws against them among the citys lowest enforcement priorities.

Reformers are now pushing for similar changes in other jurisdictions. In Washington, D.C. this month, Decriminalize Nature D.C. submitted signatures to qualify a measure for Novembers ballot that would decriminalize all natural psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin, ayahuasca and ibogaine.

Other reform efforts are ongoing in Oregon, where voters later this year will decide whether to legalize psilocybin therapythe very therapy TheraPsils patients are pushing Canadian Health Minister Hajdu to allow. Oregon voters will also see a separate measure to decriminalize the possession of all drugs and expand access to treatment for problem use on their November ballot.

Lawmakers in Hawaii earlier this year approved a plan to study psilocybin mushrooms medical applications with the goal of eventually legalizing access.

In Canada, for now, psilocybin remains illegal. Hawkswell of TheraPsil, however, believes a constellation of other national policiesincluding medical marijuana, safe injection sites, and physician-assisted dyingsupport extending psilocybin access to patients in palliative care. And Canada already permits certain religious groups to use ayahuasca as religious sacrament, Hawkswell noted.

At this point psilocybin is a reasonable medical choice for these individuals, he told Marijuana Moment. This is about the minister being compassionate and using her ministerial abilities to help give patients access to something thats going to help them.

Patients waiting to hear back from Hajdus office, he said, dont have time to wait for lengthy, bureaucratic processes. Were not just going to keep waiting, he told Marijuana Moment. We do have a legal team prepared, but thats all Ill say.

Psychedelics Decrim Activists Mark First Anniversary Of Denvers Historic Psilocybin Mushroom Vote

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Workman

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Psychedelic Therapists Petition Government For Permission To Dose Themselves In Order To Better Treat Patients - Marijuana Moment

Profound psychedelic journeys brought peace to this Holocaust survivor – The Jewish News of Northern California

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After his father disappeared to a forced labor camp in 1942, when George Sarlo was just 4 years old, it left a traumatic wound that would not heal for the next 70 years.

Then, when he was in his 70s, Sarlo had a life-changing experience. After ingesting a psychedelic native plant in a Mexican fishing village, Sarlo says he had an encounter with his dead father, who finally provided an answer to the question that had plagued his son for so many years: why hed left without saying goodbye.

That experience eight years ago has today made Sarlo, a successful San Francisco venture capitalist and philanthropist, an unlikely advocate for the use of psychedelic drugs to treat trauma, addiction, and the fear and anxiety that can accompany a diagnosis of terminal illness.

Sarlo, 82, shared his story last November at Congregation Emanu-El, explaining how his father leaving without saying goodbye had haunted him for 70 years nearly his entire life. Many of those listening were brought to tears.

Born in 1938 in Budapest, Sarlo was one of two children; his sister was seven years older. When the Hungarian government began passing anti-Jewish laws, Sarlos father lost his job as a clerk in a textile mill. Friends allowed him to buy remnants of fabric from the mill, and he and Sarlos mother, a talented seamstress, began sewing womens lingerie that his father would sell to dealers. They earned a decent living, until his father had to report for deportation to a labor camp. He left early one morning and never returned.

For the next three years the family moved around, living in fear and dread that the Nazis could deport them something that happened to their entire extended family, none of whom survived.

To make sure the same did not happen to her small family, Sarlos sister risked her life, sneaking out of the house to the Spanish Consulate, where she obtained lifesaving documents. Issued Spanish passports and papers, they spent the last three months of the war in a Budapest apartment with some two dozen others under the official protection of the Spanish government. Sarlo calls his sister the hero of the family.

When the war ended, Sarlo remembers a box arriving with warm clothing, Hersheys chocolate and chewing gum. It came from the Joint Distribution Committee.

My mother could not believe that somebody who didnt even know us sent us all this, said Sarlo. The idea of philanthropy was never explained to us. Being the beneficiary of such philanthropy at a pivotal point in his life would have great influence years later, when he was in the position to give back himself.

After liberation, Sarlos family stayed in Hungary and Sarlo entered the Technical University of Budapest in 1956, the year of the short-lived Hungarian revolution against Soviet control. Sarlo took part in the conflict, putting himself and his family in danger. His mother advised him to flee the country with his sister, his sisters husband and their 2-year-old son. She had remarried another survivor and they would stay in Hungary.

Its the bravest thing Ive ever heard. She said go, he said.

Sarlo carried his 2-year-old nephew during much of the escape. His backpack and a scarf from his mother that he wore while sneaking through a minefield and around electric-charged fences are now in an exhibit on refugees at the Smithsonian Museum.

They made it to Vienna, where they hired someone to smuggle Sarlos mother and husband out of Hungary, and eventually the whole family made it to America, where they were received by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Sarlo was 18, and the very next day he was working as a draftsman at an engineering firm.

Sarlos trajectory is a real immigrant success story. He attended the University of Arizona on a full scholarship and then went to Harvard Business School. He made his first million dollars within three years, working on Wall Street. He was a founder of the first venture capital firm investing in Silicon Valley and in 1973 founded his own firm, Walden Venture Capital.

It was good timing. My whole life was good timing, he said.

His first foray into philanthropy was with the International Refugee Committee, as Sarlo identified strongly with the plight of refugees, having been one himself. He also remembered the JDC box his family received in Hungary, and he eventually joined its board as well.

There are some difficult times coming, and Im not even sure that the species can survive without some change.

For many years Sarlo remained distant from his Judaism, but the connections began to build.

In the early 1990s, he accepted an invitation from local philanthropist Warren Hellman to join a Torah study group.

In 1992, he founded the George Sarlo Foundation and asked Phyllis Cook, then endowment director of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund at the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation, to sit on his board. In time, she asked him to start a fund with the Federation.

The George Sarlo Foundation primarily funds mental health initiatives, with a major focus on addiction and early childhood trauma. Another focus, on psychedelics, brought Sarlo some notoriety after he was featured in an article in the New York Times last fall talking about funding research of psilocybin and MDMA. Given his own experiences, he has come to believe that even one guided experience with psychedelics as an adult can heal trauma or PTSD.

It was that 2012 trip to Mexico that convinced him of the healing power of psychedelics. At the recommendation of a fellow Hungarian Holocaust survivor and therapist friend, Sarlo went there specifically to take ayahuasca, a plant-medicine commonly used for rituals and healing by Indigenous people in Peru and other South American countries.

It was not a decision he made easily You want me to go where and do what? was his first response. But his friend, who had been using psychedelic therapy to treat addiction and trauma, made a persuasive argument.

In the second of two journeys with the substance, which is taken in a sacred ceremony led by a shaman, Sarlo says he had a conversation with his long-dead father, who told him that the reason he didnt say goodbye was because he thought he was clever enough to get out of any situation, and that hed return home by the time his son woke up.

Its a simple explanation and it fit, said Sarlo. Slowly, the low-grade depression I had experienced for most of my life lifted and never came back. And I decided I wanted to help give this incredible gift to as many people as I can manage.

Sarlo credits psychedelics with more than curing his depression. They also played a role in bringing him back to his Judaism.

During another psychedelic exploration, this time on psilocybin mushrooms, he had what he describes as a confrontation with God. In this particular vision, he saw God as male (though hes seen her as female too). God asked Sarlo why he had turned away, and Sarlo pointed to the Holocaust and the loss of his extended family.

The greatest gift I gave to humanity is free will, he says God told him. But then along comes Hitler. What was I supposed to do? Drown him? What about the runaway car about to hit a child? Am I supposed to save them all? You cant have it both ways.

Now thats an explanation I had heard before, but it didnt register, Sarlo said. This time, it registered.

Sarlo married and divorced twice and had two daughters. Neither wife was Jewish; he believes he subconsciously chose to marry non-Jewish women so his children wouldnt be Jewish and therefore would be safe though of course in the Holocaust that wouldnt have mattered.

In the end, both of his daughters married Jewish men. Two of his grandchildren had bnai mitzvahs and the third had a Jewish rite-of-passage ceremony.

Its hilarious, because it shows God has a sense of humor, is how Sarlo explains it.

George Sarlo had experienced this big healing within himself, a tikkun, said Rabbi Sydney Mintz, who moderated the conversation last fall at Emanu-El. He could have just done this and thought Its my own thing and Im healed, and that would have been acceptable, but he wants to share this with people; its transformed him into a teacher.

Sarlo has been working on a book to be published this summer with MAPS, the Santa Cruz-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, but the pandemic and the presidency of Donald Trump has made him feel a level of fear he had hoped never to feel again, he said. Hes now revising the original manuscript.

There are some difficult times coming, he said, and Im not even sure that the species can survive without some change.

But he seems to have found peace within himself. I think that because of my experiences, both in Judaism and with psychedelics, Im a much better father, he said. Im a much better grandfather and better friend. And Im better to myself.

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Profound psychedelic journeys brought peace to this Holocaust survivor - The Jewish News of Northern California

MCs, Stunts and Doing Keys: Behind the Scenes With Bad Boy Chiller Crew – VICE UK

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It's the tail end of 2019 and Bradford's Bad Boy Chiller Crew are setting the stage alight at Trance Party, a regular night at South London's Corsica Studios. Alongside electronic artists like Varg2 , Total Freedom and Lisa Pinup, the three of them stick out like a ket halo. But their frenetic topless bassline MCing quickly turns the crowd into instant fans PC Musics Danny L. Harle is at the front with his hands in the air, and the atmosphere is sweaty and full on. Afterwards, BBCCs Gareth Kelly otherwise known as GK heads to the green room, getting emotional. It's the biggest night they've ever played, he says, and it means a lot.

BBCC made up of GK, MC Clive and Kane are more than a crew. They're an autonomous media company. They've remixed UK garage tunes into Bradford-style bassline bangers. They've released branded music partnerships with a carwash. They've created their own universe of comedy characters online, based on their experiences growing up on council estates. And their Jackass-style skits have been getting serious organic numbers over 150 million, according to their manager Darren AKA Dr Google (his dad used to run an adult website, Go Ogle, hence the name.) In one video, Clive (the one with the mullet), puts a traffic cone to his mouth while the rest of them pour whatever drinks they can find down it, cans and all. I had to go and meet them for myself.

VICEs Tir Dhondy with S-Dog, Kane, GK and Scum.

Myself and VICE host Tir Dhondy wound up driving to Bradford to film BBCC and the West Yorkshire rapper S-Dog for a documentary about the trio, which you can watch below. Crowded into a small studio in someone's back garden, they came across like a hit-making machine; churning out two brand new belters in a few hours, with each MC taking turns to spit bars about doing keys, copping three Phantoms and local fiends robbing goldfish from Pets At Home.

Tir asked them why they chose to MC over bassline rather than something like drill. Kane shrugged. Its what we like. Its what we listen to, he said, simply. Its always been popular in Bradford, GK laughed, 'cause were still 20 years behind!

GK might be joking but he's got a point: breathing new life into forgotten genres is a rich tradition in regional scenes in the UK. BBCCs music and antics could be seen as belonging to a bygone era, one we recognise from the 2000s, but which now only exists in Facebook echo chambers. Their world is an irresistibly nostalgic jacuzzi bubbling with UK bassline, stunts, sesh culture and people calling each other charva. Even so, it seems to have built them an army of new young fans, and in quite a short space of time.

S-Dog, Kane & MC Clive in their mates studio in Bradford

After their studio sesh, Tir and I jumped in their BBCC branded van. They took us to a spot affectionately dubbed, Top O World a hill overlooking their estate so I popped off some stills.

MC Clive next to BBCCs branded van

A week later, we returned to Bradford to catch them performing a gig for their underage fans at a local social club ahead of their then-upcoming world tour, which before the coronavirus pandemic was supposed to take them to destinations as far-flung as China, according to Dr Google.

Outside the venue, legions of kids sporting MC Clives trademark mullet were hanging about in groups. Tir asked one of them if the mullet was a popular haircut in Bradford. Oh yeah, mullets and curtains are, he said, before going on to promo his own MC crew. These kids are barely in their teens, meaning they definitely wouldn't have been around for the first wave of UK bassline. It might be a stretch to claim that BBCC are kickstarting a bassline renaissance, but they're definitely ushering in a moment right now.

From left to right: GK, S-Dog, MC Clive and Kane.

A couple of the kids had bunked off school to get tickets and a glimpse of the crew. Do you actually do coke? one of them asked BBCC, followed by fits of laughter from GK and Kane. With lyrics like, Lines of the flake to get my heart pumping, and Put your guns in the air and get your keys out, it's not an off-topic question. Tir asked them why they mentioned drugs so much. Were just demonstrating what weve been brought up around, explained GK. We believe taxpaxers' money dont make Bradford go round, its white and brown powder. More fits of laughter followed.

MC Clive, Kane, S-Dog and GK at 'Top O World' in Bradford

As the gig kicked off, hundreds of kids started shouting along and even grabbing the mic themselves to perform their own renditions of their favourite BBCC tracks. The vibe had the same energy as the time I watched the Vengaboys at a Mecca Bingo in Southend-on-Sea euphoric, candy blasts of bassy pop where you unconsciously knew most of the words but had no idea why. (The lads also cite the Vengaboys as a major influence.)

After the show, Dr Google took to the stage to announce the winners of a raffle another way of generating income and we spoke to the lads for the last time IRL. Whats next for the Bad Boy Chiller Crew? asked Tir, congratulating them on their performance. Kane seemed hyped. Were goin on tour mush and were goin divvy, he replied, oblivious, like the rest of us, to the global pandemic which lay ahead.

Since COVID-19, the lads are having a Beatles-style Hamburg moment. They've relocated to Dr Googles permanent residence in Minsk, Belarus, to escape the UK, hone their craft and for GK to finally get the chest reduction surgery hes always wanted. In the meantime theyve been pumping out the social content, from GK documenting his hospital experience to bottle service club appearances with live snakes to MC Clive necking an entire bottle of voddy and shitting in Dr. Googles prosthetic leg.

Right before the documentary's release, I arrange a Zoom screening with BBCC and the London label House Anxiety, who released their recent single 450 ft. S-Dog and EP Full Wack No Breaks. The crew all answer the call topless while getting massages in their hotel room. Its probably the strangest screening Ive ever done, but I'm relieved to hear they enjoyed the film, with Dr Google giving us his seal of approval. I reckon thisll put VICE on the map, he says.

@avantgrant

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MCs, Stunts and Doing Keys: Behind the Scenes With Bad Boy Chiller Crew - VICE UK

Tisto to unveil VER:WEST at Tomorrowland’s Around The World – Dancing Astronaut

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by: Jessica MaoJul 14, 2020

Following a taste of his upcoming side project VER:WEST, Tisto has revealed he will debut the new alias at Tomorrowlands digital event, Around The World. The hotly-anticipated virtual festival will welcome an extensive selection of talent including Martin Garrix, David Guetta,Armin van Buuren,Charlotte de Witte,Tale Of Us, and the recently-announced Katy Perry, among many others. Around The World will take place the weekend of July 25-26.

Tisto first previewed VER:WEST on July 9, hinting at a return to his classic trance and progressive house roots, before sharing the project would be unveiled at Tomorrowlands forthcoming event. The Dutch DJ described the direction as melodic house, noting VER:WESTs sound as, a lot deeper and more chill, a very different energy than Tisto. The upcoming single 5 Seconds Before Sunrise, is slated for release July 17 via AFTR:HRS.

Featured image: Jordan Loyd

Tags: Around the World, festival, melodic house, tiesto, Tisto, tomorrowland, VER:WEST, virtual

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Tisto to unveil VER:WEST at Tomorrowland's Around The World - Dancing Astronaut

Back in the pool: the new rules of swimming – The Irish Times

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I missed swimming so much in lockdown; a bit for fitness, but mainly for its magical effect of processing a grumpy mood into a light one.

Everyone was raving about the sea, but while the endorphins from the cold water shock were welcome, two minutes was enough. And when a friend got bitten by a jellyfish I got wary.

Ben Dunne might want to close his pools but with 6.2 per cent of Irish adults swimming over 30 minutes weekly (according to a ESRI/Swim Ireland report) - there would have been a large cohort like me missing their fix.

I love the pool because I can zone out - after five minutes I go into a kind of trance thats really calming. I used to go three times a week - around 20 minutes swimming, a nip into the sauna followed by a splash of cold water in the shower - and I never realised, until it was gone, how much this routine enhanced my week.

But now its back.

My pool is in a gym, The Dartry Health Club, and while gym users cant shower, thankfully swimmers can as heading home in wet togs holds little appeal.

You have to book your slot a generous 75 minutes.

In the changing rooms every second and third locker is closed off to allow for two metres social distancing.

Apart from fewer people and no hair dryers even the machine that dries the swimsuits was off it was a lovely return to normality; lowering myself into the water the pandemic felt like a bad dream. Everything was clean and with reduced numbers there was no problem keeping a distance.

Manager Sen Gavin said demand was strong with the booking system going down well with aqua aerobics particularly popular (classes are now halved to 10 places) even though some attending this class are in their 70s and 80s.

Next on his agenda is figuring out where to put the family swims and to sort the kids swimming lessons.

I was sad to see the sauna closed and professor emeritus of epidemiology of infectious diseases at University of Nottingham Keith Neal told me this would be low down the reopening list. Although the heat and dryness of saunas mitigates against risk, the problem is distancing in a very enclosed space with multiple people.

The HSE has said coronavirus cant be transmitted in properly chlorinated water and Neal was unequivocal about the impossibility of picking up the virus in the water. The chlorine in swimming pools kills Covid-19. No ifs, no buts, it kills it. I think the big issue is the changing facilities and showers and maintaining safe distances and clean surfaces.

Pools could reopen on June 29th and while many did, large numbers of Irelands 398 pools (of which 35 per cent are public) will only open this week - with a few waiting later still.

The reason, according to Trish Mayon of Swim Ireland, is that initially pools were aiming towards phase four of the roadmap. Many of the bigger groups, such as Coral Leisure, which has nine pools around Ireland, were waiting until July 20th (as per) the initial announcement. The same for Gym Plus in Ashbourne, Drogheda and Newbridge, and Kingfisher in Galway and Waterford. There was just one weeks notice of the earlier date and it was insufficient to get facilities prepared, to bring staff off furlough, and in some cases, re-fill the pools.

She said 300,000 adults swim weekly so there will be many eager to get back this week, along with the thousands of children who swim regularly.

We have 160 swimming clubs around Ireland and its been a long, tough stretch though it could be worse with the 60 pools in Northern Ireland not allowed open until August 7th, she said.

Swim Ireland have detailed plans on their website offering advice on how to reconfigure changing rooms and safely give lessons such as the instructor remaining on deck and not giving out equipment but says, depending on size, there has been a mix of approaches to opening.

The Swan Centre in Rathmines in Dublin are members only for the moment. There is a one in, one out system with manageable numbers so far for family swims and lane swimming.

Lorcan Beggan is a swimming teacher who has been answering the phones until the lessons start again this week, and says so far theres been no need for a booking system but he is conscious that non-members are keen to get back.

UCD are also on normal hours with no need to book, though you might need to wait a few minutes at certain times. The lanes have been widened - instead of 10 there are five - with every second shower closed. They are now running the childrens swimming lessons that had been cancelled.

Dublin City Council runs seven pools. Ballyfermot and Markievicz have been open for weeks, with Crumlin and Coolock to open this week or shortly. Another three-Sean McDermott Street, Ballymunand Finglas - are closed for repairs.

The Markievicz is open to all, though non-members need to provide contact details. They are open as per pre-lockdown hours and run a coloured armband system to show what time you got in, with one hour allowed.

Robbie Murtagh says numbers have been steady with all the hardcores who come at 7am back.

In Ballyfermot you need to book your 45 minute slot, with the pool open just four days a week with a maximum of 16 people.

Duty manager Amy Heather says the over 60s have been especially keen, with their initial two hour slot increased to four hours. They close the pool to clean after each session, with just half of the 32 cubicles available. Its bonkers the demand. The customers missed it, we all did. Were delighted to see each other. Its been no issue getting them back in the door. Trying to get them to leave thats the problem.

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Back in the pool: the new rules of swimming - The Irish Times

INTERVIEW | Gautham Menon feels a big film is all that is needed to bring audience back to theaters – The New Indian Express

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Express News Service

Discovery Channels latest documentary, COVID-19: India's War Against The Virus, which is getting released today, comes at a time when the country is still battling the coronavirus pandemic. Extensively shot during the lockdown, the documentary is said to be shedding light on how technology is being used to combat the virus, and also on those working tirelessly behind the scenes to arrest the spread of this disease.

The Tamil voiceover for this show is lent by Gautham Vasudev Menon who is donning the hat of a narrator for the first time. I got a call from Discovery and agreed straightaway. I got to dub it with Mahesh along with whom Ive dubbed during the Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu days. The concept of the documentary convinced me to step out from the safety of my house, says Gautham, opening up about several topics, including the status of his films, through a video call.

What was it to be a part of a documentary about something as pressing and momentous?

It felt like a personal thing and thats why I agreed to do this. I ventured out just to recognise the war we are waging against the virus, and talk about people in the frontlines who have done their part, what the statistics say, and what progress we have made.

Even the Chennai floods was captured as a moving documentary. What should we expect from this documentary?

Theres a lot of work that has gone into it, and I could figure this from watching the rushes. Its not just a compilation of bytes. Painstaking effort has been taken amidst the lockdown to make this film. There are some great shots, and the film has everything from the PMs speeches to conversations with the people working in the health department, and front line people such as the police officers, doctors and nurses. It has also covered the whole transport system that has gone into gridlock, and covers migrants too. Every nuance is covered and its put out in a manner where it leaves you with hope in the end. Its telecasting at a time when we are in the middle of a war and I hope they come up with a part two of the documentary to tell everyone how we have won that war.

We know about your love for voiceovers but what is it like to offer your voice for a film you havent created?

I felt one with it. I was hoping that the script will take a personal narration approach instead of just an overall voiceover. This was done in a personal manner and I even get to say, I, Gautham Vasudev Menon, am going to take you through Indias war against the virus. I say this in Tamil obviously (smiles).

We see channels like Discovery and platforms such as Netflix, with whom you are working on a project as well, beginning to concentrate more on regional content.

We have always been on the map. As far as filmmakers that have come from here are concerned, I think its about time we were in all these platforms. Theatres are not going to be open about taking in every film... the small films dont get noticed at all. The way I look at it, we were always there, but now we are flooding these platforms.

We have seen you get into mainstream acting in films like Trance and Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal, and sing in films like Puppy and Takkar. Is this reinvention of your presence in the industry in a sense?

(Smiles) I dont look at it that way. Its just like how I write my scripts. I have no idea whats going to come up and sometimes, nothing comes up. But I love the process. I dont have plot points and I just let it meander as a river would. Whatever roles you have seen me playing are all that I felt like doing at that moment. I did Trance because of Anwar Rasheed (director) and Fahadh Faasil. I am a fan of Fahadhs work and I have heard so much about Anwars work. It was a wholesome enriching experience to watch them at work. Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal happened because Dulquer asked and there was a like-minded producer. For this documentary, I felt it would be right to be a part of it.

You recently released a song called Oru Chance Kudu single, a short film called Karthik Dial Seytha Yenn, and two singles from your upcoming film, Joshua Imai Pol Kaakha. The lockdown seems to have been productive for you.

These are unfortunate times, but silver linings have been there. I spent a lot of time at home. Its sad that something like this has to happen for us to scamper home. The uncertainty is bothersome, as theatres are not opening and shooting too is not allowed. Its all about safety right now. Whatever you write, you realise you cannot go out and film, so your writing gets changed to what can be done right now and I feel that its not good. That said, so much time has given me the space to know people a lot more.

Whats on your plate now?

Karthik... was an excerpt from a script that I was writing and I thought it could be filmed and put out. I want it to serve as a reminder and a prologue for a film thats going to come up. I am writing that and I am waiting for a few things to fall in place. I also have something for Suriya and we are in alignment. Nothing is confirmed, but I hope it will be soon. I also have Joshua and Dhruva Natchathiram set for release. Both films have about a dozen days worth of work left. Post-production has been happening on full swing and we are working remotely.

Once the world returns to normalcy, how do you see the film industry being?

I think one big film here and in Mumbai will bring the crowd back to the theatre. Thats the passion that drove us to do films -- to put films out in the theatres. OTT is also a platform for people to put out different content and its a boon. Right now, everyone is seeing if we can film under safe conditions and a lot of discussion is happening on how safe we can make the sets. I dont think its as easy as wearing a face mask and going to shoot. At the same time, we are hoping for some miracle vaccine.

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INTERVIEW | Gautham Menon feels a big film is all that is needed to bring audience back to theaters - The New Indian Express

People who are easily hypnotized are more likely to be addicted to their smartphones, study finds – PsyPost

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New research published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that being absorbed by your smartphone might bear some resemblance to a hypnotic trance. A hypnosis experiment found that students with heightened smartphone addiction scores followed more hypnotic suggestions than their counterparts.

Study authors Jay A. Olson and his team were the first to explore the relationship between smartphone addiction and hypnotisability. They propose three features that problematic smartphone use and hypnosis have in common: absorption, time distortion, and automaticity. Heavy smartphone users tend to get absorbed in their screens, lose track of time spent on their phones, and feel a loss of control when using their phones behaviors that suggest a trance-like state.

If heavy smartphone use can resemble hypnosis, Olson and colleagues say, people who are more hypnotisable may also be more prone to problematic smartphone use, in which phone use interferes with daily life.

A sample of 641 university students with an average age of 21 took part in a hypnosis experiment. Students first listened to a 45-minute audio recording designed to induce hypnosis. Next, they heard 12 verbal suggestions, for example, a suggestion that the subjects head will fall forward or that they will be momentarily unable to open their eyes. Following the 12 suggestions, subjects were led out of hypnosis and asked to complete a questionnaire asking them how many of the prompts they had followed. They then completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale to assess how much their smartphone use disrupts their normal life, which included items like, I feel impatient and fretful when I am not holding my smartphone.

Results showed a positive correlation between participants scores on the Smartphone Addiction Scale and the number of hypnotic suggestions they followed.

The authors propose two underlying psychological constructs that might explain the relationship between smartphone addiction and hypnotisability. The first is dissociation, which is when a person disengages from the sense of self or the environment. Previous research has uncovered dissociative tendencies in subjects who are easily hypnotized and also in subjects who display problematic technology use. Another construct possibly linking the two behaviors is sociality. Hypnotisability, the authors say, may be related to ones tendency to respond to social cues, and using phones for social purposes has been linked to addictive behavior.

The prevalence of problematic cell phone use was particularly high in this study. The average score for participants was 31.41, which, as the researchers report, means that 51% of the women and 39% of the men would have a high risk of phone addiction.

Since developers stand to gain more data collection and advertising revenue by keeping users engrossed in their phones, smartphone technology is likely to become still more immersive. The authors suggest this may increase users problematic behavior. To reduce automatic interactions, Olson and team suggest, behavioural interventions could reduce the salience of the phone or make it more effortful to use, for example by keeping the phone further out of reach or limiting sporadic notifications.

The study, Hypnotised by Your Phone? Smartphone Addiction Correlates With Hypnotisability, was authored by Jay A. Olson, Moriah Stendel, and Samuel Veissire.

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People who are easily hypnotized are more likely to be addicted to their smartphones, study finds - PsyPost

Tomorrowland Around the World is happening this week! – Rave Jungle

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On Saturday July 25 and Sunday July 26, worlds best music festival, Tomorrowland is organising Tomorrowland Around the World, a spectacular entertainment experience open to people of all ages and places, unfazed by borders or boundaries a world premiere and a major step in the future of digital music festivals.

For its inaugural edition the team behind Tomorrowland Around The World will be bringing together more than 60 of the worlds most prominent artists in electronic dance music with spectacular special effects and astonishing 3D-technology.

Headlined by global pop superstar Katy Perry the two-day festival weekend, will include unique performances by the likes of Adam Beyer, Amelie Lens, Armin van Buuren, Charlotte de Witte, David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Klsch, Lost Frequencies, Martin Garrix, Paul Kalkbrenner, Steve Aoki, Tale of Us, Tisto, Timmy Trumpet and many more.

Check out the full lineup below!

Catering to all genres with an eclectic line-up, from trance to hardstyle, to house to dubstep and future bass, there is definitely something for everyone during the unprecedented two-day festival experience.

Tomorrowland Around the World will offer a packed schedule and is using the worlds best technology in 3D design, video production, gaming and special effects to bring together 8 different stages, including the iconic Mainstage that gives a first introduction into the magical world of The Reflection of Love Chapter 1, plenty of signature Tomorrowland stages such as Atmosphere, Core and Freedom Stage, joined by 3 new stages, which have been specially created and designed by the creative team and 3D artists behind Tomorrowland.

In an exclusive sneak preview, Tomorrowland is giving a very first look into the magical and newly created Tomorrowland location it has been building over the past few months, giving people across the globe a first taste of the dazzling world they will be able to navigate through during Tomorrowland Around the World, the digital festival.

Each stage will also premiere brand new music and video content from the worlds best artists and a large portion of the fireworks and laser shows characteristic of Tomorrowland.

As with the other editions of Tomorrowland, the festival always wants to offer its guests much more than music and spectacular shows. In these special times, the People of Tomorrow are discovering and creating new ways of living. During its digital edition, Tomorrowland Around the World will host a number of entertaining Inspiration Sessions by 16 internationally renowned thought leaders from different fields to offer people a substantial extra dose of positivity and inspiration, in addition to all the amazing musical content.

Unique role models and experts, including former NBA champion Shaquille ONeal, Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibert will share, from their homes, energizing messages that uphold Tomorrowlands core values Live Today, Love Tomorrow, Unite Forever. All Inspiration Sessions will be available to the visitors during the entire festival weekend.

Tomorrowland Around the World will welcome 16 international thought leaders from different backgrounds that will be hosting the Inspiration Sessions: Adrien Moisson, Arnoud Raskin, Ben Francis, Bethany Hamilton, Boyan Slat, Gaggan Anand, Guy Lalibert, Ida Engberg, Johan Ernst, Prince Ea, Ran Tellem, Shaun Ross, Shaquille ONeal, Sebastian Wussler, will.i.am and Yamashita Tomohisa. They will each share their stories with the world, from their homes, about passion, strength, creativity, solidarity, sustainability and more. Each session will last 10 to 15 minutes and will be available to all festival visitors during the entire weekend.

Tastes of the World and Netsky bring you four inspiring dishes and recipes to prepare you for the Tomorrowland Around The World festival. Get behind the cooking pots or fire up the BBQ and take your festival experience to the next level. Learn to cook some amazing food with world-class chefs with easy to follow videos and recipes to download. More info here.

Festival visitors will be able to navigate easily through a magical and newly created Tomorrowland location with a PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet you dont need special VR goggles and explore the entire festival site in an interactive way together with friends. Besides the performances there will be all kinds of interactive experiences to choose from, including inspirational webinars, games and workshops related to lifestyle, food, fashion and the Tomorrowland Foundation.

Together with the performances, Tomorrowland Around the World will be a full day/weekend experience between 15h0001h00 CEST. There will be a time-zone-friendly option for visitors from Asia and North or South America.

The People of Tomorrow are invited to experience this unique event together with friends: dressing up with your best festival outfit, putting up tents in your back garden to create your own DreamVille, setting up a big screen, inviting your beloved ones for a nice barbecue with music and an amazing festival experience, decorating your balcony or throwing a party in your living room this weekend is all about uniting through the power of music in a responsible and safe way.

Tickets forTomorrowland Around the Worldare now availablehere.

Day ticket costs 12.50. Weekend ticket costs 20.00 and includes a week of video-on-demand content to relive the entire experience. Special People of Tomorrow packages and Home Party packages are available. More info can be foundhere.

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Tomorrowland Around the World is happening this week! - Rave Jungle

Around the Bluhmin’ Town: Dog days of summer have arrived – Verde Independent

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Did it rain enough? Probably not. Is it hot enough?

Hmm, lately it feels as though we are in the midst of the dog days of summer. This phrase was originated in ancient Roman times, used to describe the intense heat of summer. The term has been widely used ever since.

The ancient astronomers noted that Sirius, the Dog Star, rose and set with the sun during July and August. It was then concluded that the Dog Star and the suns heat combined, caused the hottest weeks of the year. Hence, we are in those dog days.

Doggone it, I thought the phrase had something to do with feeling like sitting around and panting like a dog when it is an inferno outside. I must start looking upward, toward the sky and try and locate this Dog Star, Sirius. If he is the culprit for these heat waves, dust devils, lightning and wind, then Id like to have a few choice words with this dog. (Oops, I must remember that this is a family paper).

I hate to complain, after all, at least we arent living in Death Valley. A woman who just moved to Arizona, emailed me to say that she is trying to learn to appreciate the oppressive heat. She is keeping a watchful eye for all things special about blazing, hot days and has encouraged all of her friends and neighbors to do the same. Hmm, I did see a massive yellow wall of dust moving my way last week, as I was driving in Phoenix. Surely, a haboob has to qualify as special.

Whats so special about the dog days of summer? Actually its a time of great hope. Everyone I talk to is looking forward to something different or hoping to go someplace else. We dream of cooler days. Okay, so the pandemic has dashed many of our plans. But beaches are still beckoning. Family road-trips await. Camping in the pines sounds pretty thrilling. And cool, rainy days might be arriving soon.

Arizona seems to be getting hotter. Triple digits in Phoenix is always routine, but Prescott has seen 100 degrees! Ouch! Its as though we get through a hot spell in some sort of collective trance, just waiting for a break in the weather or a change of scenery. We are strong people in Arizona! We can endure a pandemic, stifling hot weather and still love this place. Dog Days? Bring them on! Who is afraid of a little heat?

Summer brings sunsets always worth watching. Lightning may be dangerous, but it sure is beautiful. And what could be more fun then standing outside in a rainstorm when it finally hits? (Some folks do this naked please dont). The Navajo claim that when the clouds look like sheep in the sky, rain is coming. I am always on the look-out for sheep. As the Hopi say, Monsoons bring magic.

Dear Readers, enjoy the magic! And just getting through the monsoons is a pretty special experience. Try to get wet! Look for sheep in the sky and think cool thoughts. Better days are coming.

Judy Bluhm is a writer and a local realtor. Have a story or a comment? Email Judy at judy@judybluhm.com.

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Around the Bluhmin' Town: Dog days of summer have arrived - Verde Independent

Caribbean Cruises 2020 (from $272): Compare Deals on …

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Why Cruise to the Caribbean?

Thousands of islands make up the Caribbean, a tropical region stretching across the Atlantic Ocean. Home to some of the most popular cruise ports in the world, the Caribbean offers variations on a theme: sun, white-sand beaches and fun with a local twist, depending on the port. From Dutch and French isles to U.S. territories, the destinations of the Caribbean have cultural experiences to spare that extend well beyond the tip of the umbrella in your fruity cocktail.

A cruise offers the chance to visit multiple islands within the span of a few days, providing visitors with a sampler of new places plus balmy sea breezes along the way. Caribbean cruises offer endless variety giving vacationers the chance to get away for a long weekend or two weeks. With so many departure ports, your ship to the Caribbean might be a short flight or even a drive away.

The Caribbean offers as much -- or as little as you want to do during your time ashore, making it an ideal cruise vacation for families or for couples.

Water sports are abundant in the Caribbean and anyone who likes spending time in the sea will enjoy snorkeling, diving, paddleboarding and swimming through clear, turquoise waters like the remote beaches of Bonaire. Or fly high through the sky on a number of active zipline courses, including the steepest zipline in the world in St. Maarten. Lazily lounging on the beach is almost always a fantastic option. Pair a beach day with a hike on a day trip from St. Thomas to Virgin Island National Park in St. John.

If you need a break from the sun, air-conditioned island tours, duty-free shopping trips and even scenic rail trips -- such as the one around St. Kitts -- provide wonderful ways to spend a day off the ship.

All-inclusive lovers will be able to pamper themselves with excursions to resorts, while those looking for a more local flavor will be able to learn from chefs, artisans and other experts for an authentic taste of each island's culture

Winter and spring are great seasons to travel to the Caribbean due to a slight reduction in crowds and moderate temperatures, though the warm weather holds year-round here.

Atlantic hurricane season, from June through October, means a higher chance of rain and possible storms, though summer is still one of the most popular times to visit the Caribbean. If you book a summer sailing in a Caribbean region within the hurricane zone, there's a chance nothing will happen -- but buying insurance and keeping a flexible schedule helps manage expectations.

Cozumel, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman and St. Martin/Maarten are some of the most common ports of call in the Caribbean. You could also experience Jamaica, Cuba, Aruba, Grand Turk or the Dominican Republic. Many Caribbean cruises also include stops at private islands, such as Royal Caribbean's CocoCay or Disney's Castaway Cay, located in The Bahamas.

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Caribbean Cruises 2020 (from $272): Compare Deals on ...

Collaboration is key to accelerate resilient solar projects in the Caribbean – Power Engineering International

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Collaboration amongst policymakers and regulators will help accelerate the resiliency and installation of solar projects across the Caribbean, according to a new report.

The report has been released by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the Clinton Foundation and the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

The study highlights how solar projects can help improve communities livelihoods, enable cost savings, build resilience, and reduce dependency on foreign oil.

By collaborating, Caribbean island nations can ensure the correct equipment is available, known practices are enforced and that solar projects are developed and built with the highest standards.

Related articles:Solar installations market slows in China and IndiaSunny weather brings solar record to EuropeGlobal corporate funding for solar energy declines by 25%

Key recommendations for collaboration presented in theSolar Under Storm for Policymakersreport include:

The release of the study comes at a time grid networks in Caribbean and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) continue to be affected by more frequent and intense weather events. Due to severe weather, critical infrastructure like hospitals and schools are without power and communities suffer deeply.

Although solar PV systems are a way to increase the resilience of the grid and greatly improve peoples access to reliable electricity, they are useless if they are not resilient to severe weather.

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Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu, high representative for the UN-OHRLLS, said: In the Sustainable Development Goals, the world committed to ensuring access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all. Many Small Island Developing States are emerging as frontrunners in the pursuit of renewable energy, with solar power leading the way. International support in the form of access to finance, investments and technology will be critical to accelerate their transitionand their resilience.

The study is the third in a series of reports by RMI and partners that focuses on installing hurricane-resilient solar systems. The firstSolar Under Storm guidediscussed the root causes of past solar failures focused on ground-mounted systems.Solar Under Storm Part IIexplored best practices for equipment and procedures for rooftop systems.

Read more about thereport.

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Collaboration is key to accelerate resilient solar projects in the Caribbean - Power Engineering International

July 20 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine – Bangor Daily News

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Another 24 cases of the coronavirus have been detected in Maine, health officials said Monday.

There have now been 3,711 cases across all of Maines counties since the outbreak began here in March, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats up from 3,687 on Sunday.

Of those, 3,287 have been confirmed positive, while 424 are likely positive, according to the Maine CDC.

No new deaths were reported Monday, leaving the statewide death toll standing at 117. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

Heres a roundup of the latest news on the coronavirus and its impact in Maine:

Even though the U.S. is planning to reopen schools as COVID-19 numbers across the country continue to rise, Maine is one of two states that recently has seen its number of cases decline. But rates of infection vary throughout the state, and sometimes from one neighboring school district to the next. And while there have been ample studies on how students benefit from learning in group settings, much about how the disease spreads among children even among those who dont show symptoms still is unknown. Eesha Pendharkar, BDN

Has the coronavirus made you late on housing payments? We want to hear from you. Michael Shepherd, BDN

The North Atlantic Conference, a Division III league that is home to five small colleges in Maine, announced Monday that it will not sponsor any fall sports competition in 2020. Pete Warner, BDN

Town clerks and state officials in Maine are turning their eyes toward November after a dress rehearsal that proved the state can run an election that relies much more heavily on absentee ballots. Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press

Daily Brief: How Maines delegation wants to continue virus aid as the Senate reconvenes Michael Shepherd and Caitlin Andrews, BDN

As of Monday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 3,816,427 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 140,879 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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July 20 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine - Bangor Daily News

Guidelines On How Colorado Schools Can Reopen During The Coronavirus Are Out. Here’s What They Say – Colorado Public Radio

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Officials noted several times that not all school buildings and communities are the same and encouraged school officials to think through what will work for your school building as far as decreasing congestion during passing periods, meal times, recess, using signage and staggering times of passing periods that work best for your school building, said CDPHEs Therese Pilonetti.

Staggered arrival times, eating and recess times are recommended, as well as frequent cleaning and disinfecting surfaces that get touched a lot throughout and at the end of the day.

Ventilation, air exchanges, filtration and pulling air away from people is also critical, due to the likelihood that the virus can be transmitted through the air. Officials said holding classes outdoors is likely to lower the risk of the viral spread. Officials will issue separate guidance on how to do ventilation well.

All staff will be required to have face coverings, except for individuals with other health problems that make wearing a mask less healthy. Masks will be required for students 11 and up, and encouraged for younger students. Students will not be required to wear masks while napping or sleeping. Alternative transparent barriers may be used in place of masks for students who are hearing impaired or language learners.

The guidance does not specify the size of the cohort because it is dependent on the physical size of the classroom.

Whatever the testing circumstances in Colorado, whether turnaround is instantaneous or whether turnaround is taking several days, cohorting is going to be the best way for schools and school boards and educators to approach limiting the disruptions caused by cases, said Erly.

State officials are working on an algorithm that specifies when an entire school would have to close as a result of an outbreak, but didnt offer additional details on what it would include.

Erly said the class schedule as usual might not be possible. Schools may have to implement, block scheduling, hybrid and in-person learning, and staggered schedules.

Cohorting is going to require a lot of creativity and adjustments on part of schools, he said.

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Guidelines On How Colorado Schools Can Reopen During The Coronavirus Are Out. Here's What They Say - Colorado Public Radio

Do some people have preexisting immunity to the coronavirus? – KARE11.com

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Mayo Clinic plasma cell researcher believes data shows we may be closer to herd immunity than many experts think

ROCHESTER, Minn On Meet the Press on Sunday, after saying just 7 or 8% of Americans have had COVID-19, Dr. Michael Osterholm delivered this ominous message:

"This virus won't slow down even, let alone stop transmission until we get to 50 or 60%," Osterholm said.

But looking at the world's coronavirus hot spots earlier in the pandemic, Dr. Vincent Rajkumar from the Mayo Clinic points out the virus did slow down

"These hot spots have had major decreases in coronavirus cases even though they are no where near that level," Rajkumar said.

Rajkumar is one of the world's leading researchers of plasma cells, which make antibodies. He points out antibody tests were done in COVID-19 hot spots after the cases dropped, presumably showing how many people had the disease.

In Lombardi, Italy, 15-20% of the population tested positive for antibodies. In Madrid, Spain, it was 10-15%. In Sweden, where no lockdowns have ever taken place serology studies find 10 to 20% positive.

And in New York City, where hospitals were overwhelmed in April, Rajkumar said, "The seroprevelance was only in the 20% range. Given that, you've seen the sharp drop-off of new cases in New York City. Many of the hospitals that were overflowing are almost back to normal."

How is it possible that COVID cases steeply dropped in all these places after just 20% of the population was infected? Can it strictly be explained by human behavior, such as social distancing and masking?

"The way it's playing out in places we know, suggests that more people are immune and that we are closer to herd immunity than we think we are," Rajkumar.

Dr. Rajkumar says immune response is more complex than just an antibody count. Studies suggest people who have not been exposed to the coronavirus have T cells that fight COVID-19. It's possible the preexisting immunity comes from exposure to other coronaviruses.

Another fascinating example, Rajkumar said, is a cruise ship that left South America for Antarctica earlier in the pandemic. After a passenger tested positive, everyone was quarantined to their rooms. In 10 of those rooms, one partner tested positive and the other never contracted the disease, despite spending 20 days alone in a room with their partner.

Rajkumar believes people still need to take precautions like masks and social distancing. But if he is proven right, it offers hope for many of America's current COVID hot spots.

"I don't know what will happen, but for the sake of the country, I would hope all of these places decline very very steeply like New York did," Rajkumar said.

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Do some people have preexisting immunity to the coronavirus? - KARE11.com

Texas coronavirus hot spots get help from U.S. Navy teams – The Texas Tribune

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Medical professionals from the U.S. Navy were deployed Sunday to aid hospitals in four cities across southern Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, according to Gov. Greg Abbott's office, as nearly half the state's counties have recently been designated "red zones" by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Early on in the pandemic, hot spots were mainly tied to outbreaks in enclosed spaces, like meatpacking plants and nursing homes. Health experts are increasingly seeing small outbreaks in the community from families and friends gathering to people congregating at summer tourist destinations.

Five U.S. Navy teams were sent to four locations across Texas southern region: Harlingen, Del Rio, Eagle Pass and Rio Grande City.

"The support from our federal partners is crucial in our work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our communities throughout Texas," Abbott said in a written statement.

As the state continues to see record numbers of people hospitalized with the virus, local hospitals particularly the Rio Grande Valley and the Coastal Bend are being pushed to their limit because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus in recent weeks.

Ambulance operators in the Rio Grande Valley area described wait times of up to 10 hours to deliver patients to packed emergency rooms. Doctors and nurses are working extra shifts and have had to label and save their face masks for reuse.

As of Saturday, the four-county region that includes Harlingen had just 24 ICU beds available for a population of about 1.4 million people, according to the latest state data.

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Texas coronavirus hot spots get help from U.S. Navy teams - The Texas Tribune

Five Years On, Ethereum Is the Minecraft of Crypto-Finance – CoinDesk – CoinDesk

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Camila Russo is the founder of The Defiant and author of The Infinite Machine, the first book on the history of Ethereum, which launches today. Read an extract here.

Almost five years ago on July 30, 2015, part of the Ethereum team had gathered in Berlin to see the network they helped build go live. A big screen overhanging their worktables served as the countdown clock for when the test network reached block 1,028,201. Thats the palindrome and prime number they picked as the key which would launch the mainnet. Others were waiting for the launch in Ethereum hubs in Amsterdam, Toronto, New York and Zug, Switzerland.

It was the culmination of months of work, where core developers did the heavy lifting on the technical side, but which also included designers, marketers, and community managers.Ethereans knew a distributed network with no community would fail.

Ethereum turns five on July 30, 2020. CoinDesk is marking five years of Ethereum with a series of retrospective stories and live-streamed Twitter conversations. There are even some Easter eggs for eagle-eyed readers. Tune in to our CoinDesk Live sessions July 27-31 at 4 p.m. Eastern each day or call +1 (661) 4-UNICRN.

Early Ethereum team members had also spent endless hours with lawyers leading up to the ether sale, some co-founders had gone through bitter fights, while many others had ravaged their savings working with no salaries towards one goal: Making the vision Vitalik Buterin laid out on a white paper in November 2013, a reality.

Its happening

When the test network hit the predetermined block at 4:26 p.m. in Berlin, a meme of Ron Paul, jubilant, with his arms up and surrounded in green laser beams and white block letters that read ITS HAPPENING, popped up on the monitor. The Ethereum team opened a bottle of champagne while rocket emojis filled chat rooms.

The Ethereum network quickly left other blockchain upstarts behind and has since grown to become the second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, with ethers market capitalization (as of writing) at just under $30 billion.

Minecraft of crypto-finance

But a better measure of success is to examine whether Ethereum builders achieved what they set out to do. Ethereum aims to be a fully-fledged, Turing-complete (but heavily fee-regulated) cryptographic ledger, which allows developers to build any application they can dream of on top, Vitalik wrote in the white paper, which inspired early team members to drop everything and join him in building it.

Rather than being limited to a specific set of transaction types, users will be able to use Ethereum as a sort of Minecraft of crypto-finance that is to say, one will be able to implement any feature that one desires simply by coding it in the protocols internal scripting language, he wrote. Minecraft is a sandbox-style video game, which gives players flexibility to explore and build whatever they want in the games virtual world.

Vitalik, who was 19 years old at the time, listed on the Ethereum white paper the applications he envisioned could be built on top of this generalized platform:

Sub-currencies representing assets such as USD or gold to company stocks and even currencies with only one unit issued to represent collectibles or smart property.

Financial derivatives, such as hedging contracts. He notes that financial contracts of any form do need to be fully collateralized; the Ethereum network controls no enforcement agency and cannot collect debt.

Identity and reputation systems where users can register their names in a public database alongside other data, for example, for domain-name systems.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, which replicate traditional companies but use blockchain technology for enforcement. The entity would have shareholders who collect dividends and decide how the corporation automatically allocates its funds, using either bounties, salaries or even more exotic mechanisms such as an internal currency to reward work.

Also listed were crop and generic insurance, decentralized data feeds, gambling and prediction markets, a full-scale on-chain stock market and an on-chain decentralized marketplace.

Five years later, all of the use cases envisioned by Vitalik have become a reality, though some with more success than others.

Sub-currencies success

What Vitalik called sub-currencies what we now know as tokens, stablecoins and NFTs have arguably been the most successful applications on Ethereum so far. Valued at over $33 billion, Ethereums ERC-20 tokens represent almost 13 percent of total cryptocurrency market capitalization, according to Etherscan. Together with ether, all of the Ethereum ecosystem is about one-fourth of crypto.

The innovation of entrepreneurs being able to issue their own coins and sell them to anyone in the world in fundraising rounds, which for the first time didnt need venture capitalists or banks, helped fuel one of the most spectacular speculative manias in 2017-2018. This past year, most growth has come from stablecoins, with tokens pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar trading at about $12 billion thats about three times stablecoin market cap a year ago, according to Messari data most of which is on Ethereum, due mainly to Tethers migration to the network.

Non-fungible tokens and their marketplaces had their biggest moment with CryptoKitties in late 2017, but the space is arguably one of the brightest spots for innovation within Ethereum, with use cases from in-game items to art and limited-edition fashion.

Dexs and derivatives

On-chain stock exchanges are todays decentralized exchanges. While they still represent a fraction of total volume traded on centralized crypto exchanges, growth has been staggering. Almost $5.7 billion have traded so far on DEXs this year, or more than twice the value trading hands in all of 2019, according to Dune Analytics. Beyond volume metrics, DEXs are delivering on the cypherpunk dream of seamless, global, non-custodial trading of cryptocurrencies.

Financial derivatives are also flourishing. Synthetic assets platforms such as Synthetix and UMA allow almost any assets to be represented on the Ethereum blockchain, while margin trading platforms such as dYdX have enabled futures trading, the most popular asset in centralized crypto finance.

Meanwhile, lending platforms including Compound and Aave allow users to gain interest on their crypto deposits, and tokenize those deposits so they can be simply bought on an exchange and held in users wallets.

DAOs started out early in Ethereum history as one of the strongest projects. The DAO attracted, at the time, the most capital ever for an Ethereum fundraiser, though we all know how that ended. After a traumatic experience, the Ethereum community steered clear of decentralized organizations for a couple of years, until 2019 ushered a DAO revival. Initially, these entities were focused on distributing donations, but that quickly evolved into for-profit DAOs, like The LAO and VentureDAO.

Ethereum has also given rise to applications in prediction markets, identity systems and insurance, but theyre lagging financial applications in terms of volume and adoption.

Internet of value

Financial applications have had the greatest success on Ethereum so far, arguably because it provides something that just cant be replicated by the current financial system, or by bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency. Its a global network thats built to transfer value, and it can also process computer programs to allow for more sophisticated financial transactions. Value held in these financial platforms has soared to more than $2 billion this year, a fivefold increase from a year ago.

Ethereum has successfully become the Minecraft of crypto finance, as Vitalik envisioned. But beyond becoming a platform that can support all these different kinds of applications, the biggest impact is its creating an actual internet of value. Its a network that enables fast, cheap, global value transfers and the ability to program that money to become anything from futures contracts to collectibles to derivatives pegged to stocks, forex and commodities. And its allowing users of this system to take charge of their own assets and data.

Almost any network metric will show there is demand for permissionless, trustless systems. Active addresses are near a record at just under 568,000, a stone throws away from bitcoins 745,000, according to CoinMetrics. Transaction fees paid to the networks miners have surpassed bitcoins, while daily transaction count is almost four times that of the biggest cryptocurrency at about 1 million, the data show.

A good problem to have

The question isnt whether theres demand for Ethereum, but whether the network will continue developing fast enough to meet that demand. The wait for ETH 2.0, which would allow Ethereum to scale, has been a constant in Ethereums history. A barebones proof-of-stake chain, which was slated to launch early this year, has been delayed and now its unclear whether it will launch this year at all.

But progress with Layer 2 solutions, which take transactions off-chain, has been encouraging. Teams working on Optimistic Roll-Ups are testing prototypes, while solutions using Plasma and Zero Knowledge technology are live right now and able to handle thousands of transactions per second. While the wait for ETH2.0 continues, the wait for Ethereum scaling is over.

The next five years will be about strengthening these scaling solutions and making these financial applications more robust and secure. It will also be necessary to create better crypto onramps and building apps in the less developed areas of Ethereum, like identity and insurance. The result will be this Minecraft of finance stops being an insiders secret and more players can join.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Analyst Says These Altcoins Could Gain Up to 40X on Bitcoin But Will They Challenge Ethereum? – The Daily Hodl

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Crypto analyst Nicholas Merten thinks savvy crypto investors should pay attention to whether alternative blockchain protocols can overtake Ethereum or at least grab a higher percentage of the market share.

Merten dubs the market competition the protocol wars, noting that all of the best-performing assets recently have either been enterprise blockchain or decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.

The host of DataDash notes that Cardano, EOS, Neo, Tezos and Cosmos are displaying promising metrics and should continue to perform well in the next year. The question, he says, is whether they can actually chip away at Ethereums protocol supremacy.

I have no doubt all of these crypto plays that we just looked at are probably going to have higher levels [compared] to Bitcoin [BTC] a year from now than where they are right now. Lets just get that off the table. Probably the vast majority.

Keeping that in mind though whether or not we can actually get some fundamental development on these chains is going to be the question we need to get answered in order to see if this is going to do a 2 or 3x against Bitcoin or if a variety of protocol plays are going to do a 10, 20, 30, [or] 40x.

Because this time around, its not just speculation. There needs to be a bit of fundamentals with it. There really does. Quite frankly, a lot of blockchain protocols simply have one thing missing that Ethereum has hand-in-hand, and that is a developer ecosystem.

Merten notes that while he appreciates the academic nature of Cardano, not much has been built on it. And EOS, he says, is probably in the second-best position in blockchain for DeFi, but he still hasnt felt a need to use any of the protocols DeFi apps.

This is a problem here. If you dont have a way to have the leverage of building a network effect, you can have a great blockchain, you can be much more scalable than Ethereum, but youre not going to be a better blockchain protocol in the long run.

From an investment perspective, Merten says he believes NEO, Tezos, and Cosmos are all potentially worth a look.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/camilkuo

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Analyst Says These Altcoins Could Gain Up to 40X on Bitcoin But Will They Challenge Ethereum? - The Daily Hodl

EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP Daily Tech Analysis July 15th, 2020 – FX Empire

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EOS

EOS rose by 0.55% on Tuesday. Following a 2.55% fall from Monday, EOS ended the day at $2.5609.

A bearish start to the day saw EOS fall to an early morning intraday low $2.5057 before making a move.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $2.4491, EOS rose to a late intraday high $2.5791 before easing back.

Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $2.6574, EOS slipped back to sub-$2.57 levels.

At the time of writing, EOS was up by 0.14% to $2.5645. A mixed start to the day saw EOS fall to an early morning low $2.5591 before rising to a high $2.5645.

EOS left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

EOS would need to avoid a fall through the $2.5486 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $2.5914.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for EOS to break out from Tuesdays high $2.5791.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $2.60 would likely cap any upside.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $2.5486 pivot would bring the first major support level at $2.5180 into play.

Barring another extended sell-off, EOS should steer clear of the second major support level at $2.4752.

Major Support Level: $2.5180

Pivot Level: $2.5486

Major Resistance Level: $2.5914

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $6.62

38% FIB Retracement Level: $9.76

62% FIB Retracement Level: $14.82

Ethereum rose by 0.49% on Tuesday. Following a 1.39% decline from Monday, Ethereum ended the day at $240.43.

Tracking the broader market, Ethereum fell to an early morning intraday low $236.66 before finding support.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $235.82, Ethereum struck a late intraday high $242.01.

Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $244.22, Ethereum fell back to $240 levels before ending the day at $240 levels.

At the time of writing, Ethereum was up by 0.28% to $241.10. A bullish start to the day saw Ethereum rise from an early morning low $240.4 to a high $241.18.

Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ethereum would need to avoid a fall through the $239.70 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $242.74.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break out from Tuesdays high $242.01.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $243 should cap any upside.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $239.70 pivot would bring the first major support level at $237.39 into play.

Barring another extended sell-off, Ethereum should continue to steer clear of sub-$230 levels. The second major support level at $234.35 should limit any downside.

Major Support Level: $237.39

Pivot Level: $239.70

Major Resistance Level: $242.74

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $257

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $367

62% FIB Retracement Level: $543

Ripples XRP rose by 0.10% on Tuesday. Following a 1.31% fall from Monday, Ripples XRP ended the day at $0.19924.

A bearish start to the day saw Ripples XRP fall to an early morning intraday low $0.19527. Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.1919, Ripples XRP rose to a mid-day intraday high $0.20024.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.2064, Ripples XRP slipped back to end the day at sub-$0.20.

At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was up by 0.34% to $0.19991. A mixed start to the day saw Ripples XRP fall to an early morning low $0.19918 before striking a high $0.19992.

Ripples XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ripples XRP will need to avoid a fall through the $0.1983 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.2012.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripples XRP to break out from Tuesdays high $0.20024.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Tuesdays high $0.20024 should cap any upside.

In the event of a breakout, Ripples XRP should test resistance at $0.21 before any pullback. The third major resistance level sits at $0.2082.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $0.1983 pivot would bring the first major support level at $0.1963 into play.

Barring another extended crypto sell-off, Ripples XRP should avoid sub-$0.19 levels. The second major support level at $0.1933 should limit any downside.

Major Support Level: $0.1963

Pivot Level: $0.1983

Major Resistance Level: $0.2012

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.3638

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.4800

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.6678

Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks, Bob

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EOS, Ethereum and Ripple's XRP Daily Tech Analysis July 15th, 2020 - FX Empire