These measures of volatility represent how much traders are paying to hedge against downside moves for the respective indexes. As expectations for volatility rise, it gets more expensive to buy insurance against a potential fall. The Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 volatility measures differ by 7.5 as of July 3.

The strategist shared his key reasons why Nasdaq volatility levels are rising versus S&P 500 and why it may foreshadow a tech sell-off in an email.

He noted that investors are rotating to value stocks and away from growth stocks. "As we start Q3, growth continues to lose leadership," he also said in his report.

During the first half of this year, 41 stocks in the Nasdaq 100 rose 30 percent or more. Further, he said in the email, there was a connection between bond prices and the rise in the Nasdaq 100, and now they are going down together. His conclusion: "Valuations are insane" in the Nasdaq 100.

McDonald warned his clients that technology may under perform in the coming months and recommended investors trade ahead of the potential decline.

"Getting out in front of the rotation is more important than valuation as capital flows out of highly concentrated trades it has to go somewhere in a bull market. It's a growth into value tsunami," he wrote.

View post:

Investors are increasingly worried about a coming drop in technology stocks - CNBC

An Israeli company that affordably extracts water from thin air signed a memorandum of understanding to bring its proprietary technology to India.

Rishon Lezion based Water-Gen and Indias SUN Group announced their collaboration in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, agreeing that the latter will be responsible for distributing the formers technology in the Indian market. The partners are focusing on providing a potable water solution to the Indian military, official institutions and government agencies in particular, according to the memorandum.

The partnership announcement coincided with the arrival to Israel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his accompanying business delegation among whose members is the vice chairman of the SUN Group, Shiv Vikram Khemka. The signing took place at an event held by the Manufacturers Association of Israel.

We are a business company, but our vision is a humanitarian one, said Water-Gen executive chairman Maxim Pasik. In the 21st century, there is no reason for any society to suffer shortage of water.

The agreement with the SUN Group is one of many recent such collaborations cemented by Water-Gen around the world. Most recently, the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens announced that it would launch a pilot program using the companys system.

Water-Gens technology first made waves at the AIPAC Policy conference in Washington at the end of March, when Prof. Alan Dershowitz presented the companys device on stage and pulled water out of the air. Trapping humid air on-demand, the device cleans and dries the air and extracts clean water.

The company claims to offer a far more affordable option than other systems that have tried to extract water from air, as the heat exchanger in the device is made from plastic rather than from aluminum. Generating 1 gallon (3.79 liters) of water requires only 1 kW of energy, according to the firm.

Water-Gens system is available in three sizes: a small home appliance, a medium-scale model and an industrial water generator with a capacity of up to 6,000 liters of water per day.

The company stressed the importance of bringing its solution to India, which is the second-most populous country in the world and suffers from a chronic water shortage. In rural areas, where 74% of the population resides, only about 21% of the people have access to good sanitation and only 84% benefit from a regular water supply, the firm said. In urban areas, where the situation is better, just 54% of residents have access to good sanitation and 96% enjoy a regular water supply, the company said.

Globally, more than a million children under the age of five die every year from diseases related to water shortages or water contamination, added Pasik.

In this sense, the technology Water-Gen has developed is a humanitarian one, and we see it as a moral obligation to distribute it as much as possible where it is needed, he said. It is no secret that there is a need for technology like Water-Gens in India, and this is why we are so happy about the memorandum of understanding signed yesterday between us and an Indian company sharing this vision.

Share on facebook

The rest is here:

Israeli technology to help solve India's water shortage - The Jerusalem Post

Williams has used its Formula One technology to come up with a hi-tech carrier for critically ill new-born babies needing emergency transportation.

The dubbed "Babypod 20" is being built by Williams Advanced Engineering -- a sister business of the F1 team and part of the Williams Group -- to provide a safe environment for new-born infants that require transporting to hospital either by car, ambulance or helicopter. The firm has been working on the new design alongside Advanced Healthcare Technology (AHT), a company which has produced transport systems for babies for several years.

Constructed using materials and techniques used to build Williams' F1 cars, the sleek carbon fibre transport device will be able to withstand a 20 G-force crash, while offering a more cost-effective and lightweight option -- weighing just 9.1kg (20lb) -- as oppose to heavier, cumbersome incubator alternatives used in the past.

Williams Advanced Engineering managing director, Craig Wilson, said: "The parallels between a Formula One car and transport device for babies may not be immediately apparent, but both demand a lightweight and strong structure that keeps the occupant safe in the event of an accident, and can monitor vital signs whilst remaining easily transportable and accessible.

"We have taken the existing Babypod product and worked with AHT to create a device that is not only more compact and user-friendly but, crucially, can be scaled up in its production so that more hospitals can benefit from this Formula One-inspired technology."

Mark Lait, the design director of Advanced Healthcare Technology, added: "As a UK company we are particularly pleased to have the opportunity to work with the designers and engineers at Williams, to develop this 'next generation' of BabyPods, and to harness their knowledge and skills to make this new model available.

"This design, with reduced weight and increased strength, has also delivered improved features of protection against vibration and noise and of course the dangers related to impact, which inevitably sometimes occur with medical vehicles traveling at speed."

The manufacturing process will take place at Williams' Grove-based headquarters alongside its F1 operations. The pod, which costs 5,000 per unit, will be used by the Children's Acute Transport Service (CATS) of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London initially, though plans are in place to market it much more widely.

CATS operational manager, Eithne Polke, says greater flexibility and manoeuvrability in the new design will make a significant difference to her team's transportation process.

"The new Babypod has an adapted design that allows for greater flexibility and manoeuvrability when moving critically ill infants from one mode of transport to another," Polke explained. Not only is the environment controlled at a constant temperature, but the visual opportunity afforded by the redesigned cover allows the baby to be constantly monitored and for better accessibility.

"Overall, we're delighted with the updated Babypod design and safety features and believe it has made a big difference to our transportation processes."

Go here to see the original:

Williams Formula One technology creates 'Babypod' carrier - ESPN

July 4, 2017 Associate Prof. Barry Zink with (left to right) Devin Wesenberg, Alex Hojem and Rachel Bennett. Credit: University of Denver

New research from a team of DU physicists has the potential to serve as the foundation for next-generation computer technology.

In the quest to make computers faster and more efficient, researchers have been exploring the field of spintronicsshorthand for spin electronicsin hopes of controlling the natural spin of the electron to the benefit of electronic devices. The discovery, made by Professor Barry Zink and his colleagues, opens a new era for experimental and theoretical studies of spin transport, a method of harnessing that natural magnetization, or spin, of electrons.

"Our approach requires a fundamentally different way of thinking about the nature of how spin moves through a material," Zink says.

Computers currently rely on electrons to process information, moving data through tiny, nano-sized wires. These electrons generate heat, however, as they travel through the wires. This heat, along with other factors, limits computer speed.

Past research has successfully demonstrated spin transport using crystalline, or ordered, materials as magnetic insulators. In Zink's new study, recently published in Nature Physics, the team was able to demonstrate spin transport through a synthetic material that is notably amorphous, or non-ordered, both magnetically and structurally.

The discovery is significant because manufacturing this amorphous synthetic material, known as yttrium iron garnet, is easier than growing the silicon crystals currently used in computer processors.

"The existing materials known to have this type of spin transport are difficult to produce," Zink says. "Our material is very easy to produce, simple to work with and potentially more cost-effective."

Dean Andrei Kutateladze of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics emphasizes the significance of the team's findings.

"This spectacular result from the Zink research group amply illustrates the vibrant research environment in the division, where teacher-scholars create new knowledge working hand-in-hand with students," he says. "It also underscores the critical importance of support for fundamental research. Just as basic research in Bell Labs in the '50s and '60s paved the way for smartphones and other wonders of the current technological revolution, physicists such as Dr. Zink are building platforms for the next great technological leap."

The research team includes Davor Balzar, chair of DU's Department of Physics and Astronomy, graduate students Devin Wesenberg and Rachel Bennett, newly minted doctorate holder Alex Hojem and colleagues at Colorado State University. The scientists carried out their research using custom-designed micromachined thermal isolation platforms in DU's physics laboratories. The team's next step is to undertake more testing and verification.

"We're looking to see if we can reproduce this in different types of amorphous materials, as not a lot is known about such materials," Zink says. "Twenty years from now, they could be an important part of how computers work."

A core mission of DU's Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics is to offer students unprecedented access to research opportunities. By working alongside distinguished faculty mentors in state-of-the-art facilities, undergraduates and graduates are able to apply their newfound knowledge to research that changes lives and challenges ideas.

Explore further: Spinning electrons open the door to future hybrid electronics

More information: Devin Wesenberg et al. Long-distance spin transport in a disordered magnetic insulator, Nature Physics (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nphys4175

A discovery of how to control and transfer spinning electrons paves the way for novel hybrid devices that could outperform existing semiconductor electronics. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at ...

An electron carries electrical charge and spin that gives rise to a magnetic moment and can therefore interact with external magnetic fields. Conventional electronics are based on the charge of the electron. The emerging ...

Modern computer technology is based on the transport of electric charge in semiconductors. But this technology's potential will be reaching its limits in the near future, since the components deployed cannot be miniaturized ...

Computers process and transfer data through electrical currents passing through tiny circuits and wires. As these currents meet with resistance, they create heat that can undermine the efficiency and even the safety of these ...

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have made a discovery that could lay the foundation for quantum superconducting devices. Their breakthrough solves one the main ...

It doesn't happen often that a young scientist makes a significant and unexpected discovery, but postdoctoral researcher Stephen Wu of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory just did exactly that. What ...

By gently prodding a swirling cloud of supercooled lithium atoms with a pair of lasers, and observing the atoms' response, researchers at Swinburne have developed a new way to probe the properties of quantum materials.

New research from a team of DU physicists has the potential to serve as the foundation for next-generation computer technology.

Researchers at the University of Southampton have cast doubt over established explanations for certain behaviours in pulsars - highly magnetised rotating neutron stars, formed from the remains of supernovae.

Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have designed a new nano material that can reflect or transmit light on demand with temperature control, opening the door to technology that protects astronauts in space ...

A new technique allows researchers to characterize nuclear material that was in a location even after the nuclear material has been removed a finding that has significant implications for nuclear nonproliferation and ...

Researchers at the University of Melbourne have demonstrated a way to detect nuclear spins in molecules non-invasively, providing a new tool for biotechnology and materials science.

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

More:

Physicists put new spin on computer technology - Phys.Org

Are tablets an asset in the classroom or a distraction? Photograph: Getty Images/Hero Images

From interactive whiteboards that aid language learning to virtual reality headsets that demonstrate Newtons laws of motion, technology has the potential to yield strong results in the classroom. And yet the benefits are far from universal. Some teachers struggle to get the most out of expensive gadgetry, meaning schools risk investing thousands of pounds in hi-tech apparatus that fails to deliver, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2015.

Meanwhile, school technology budgets are falling. The average ICT budget for 2017-18 is forecast to be 13,800 for a primary school, a 4% decline year on year, and 58,230 for secondaries, a 7% fall, according to the British Educational Suppliers Association (Besa).

So how should schools prioritise to ensure this money is spent on the most useful technology?

To discuss the way ahead, the Guardian held a panel debate, sponsored by technology provider Brother, called Technology: Money Saver or Money Waster? A panel of four experts in the field discussed the issue with an audience of educationists, teachers and technology specialists.

Weve gone through 10 years of device fetishism, said panellist Donald Clark, founder of technology in education company PlanB Learning. He said schools had been investing in tablets for their pupils, despite evidence indicating that they are poor teaching tools.

You have to look from a pedagogic and learning point of view, he added. Research shows that when children write on tablets they have a high error rate. It slows kids down, they resort to a truncated style and it is a disaster in terms of literacy also, you cant code. He said tablets should be seen as a consumer device rather than an aid for learning.

However, a member of the audience, art teacher Gill Jenkins, said she had successfully used tablets for an art project with year 10 pupils and they were really engaged in it.

Success depended on the context in which technology was used, said panel member John Galloway, an advisory teacher who used technology with children with special educational needs. If the iPad was used for the wrong activities such as writing or coding it would give poor results, he said. Used in the right way, however, it could be a powerful teaching tool. One of biggest barriers to technology adoption is teachers being given the time to be trained to use it, he added. Research published by Besa in January revealed that about 60% of teachers had made training in technology one of their key aims for this year.

Galloway added that some technology may not have worked originally but may yet become commonplace. Virtual learning environments (VLEs), for example, failed to take off in the UK when they were introduced 10 years ago but may have been ahead of their time, and Google Classroom has now picked up the baton.

Michael Mann, an educationist at the innovation lab at Nesta (formerly the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) a charity that promotes innovation believed educational technology was struggling to fulfil its potential. To address this, Nesta was giving grants to companies to measure the impact of classroom technology, and looking at ways to help teachers test out technology in their classrooms.

One of biggest barriers to technology adoption is teachers being given the time to be trained

Mann advocated small-scale trials of technology before making big investments. Do small-scale testing with a teacher passionate about it and they can show other teachers where it is relevant and where it isnt, he said. If they find out it doesnt work which is often the case a costly rollout can be avoided.

Naureen Khalid, a school governor and co-founder of @UkGovChat, a Twitter forum for school governors, said governors are demanding rigorous evidence before splashing out on new technology. Schools are poor and funding isnt going to get any better. We are custodians of public money and as a governor I cant commit to doing a trial and then writing it off.

The panel was split over whether teachers should be the arbiters of technology investment in schools. Clark argued against this, saying schools should rely on in-depth research into the educational effectiveness of the technology. If teachers tested out technology in their lessons, they risked wasting valuable teaching time and using pupils as guinea pigs. But others pointed out that much teaching was risky and experimental, with uncertain results, and technology was no different although more expensive if it failed. Furthermore, research reports may be paid for by the technology companies involved, making them far from independent.

From the audience, technology writer Terry Freedman doubted that research reports into classroom technology were much use for teachers, as they were often long, difficult to read and inconclusive.

Ultimately, anecdotal evidence is really good, he said. Teachers trying something in the classroom should ask what problem they are trying to solve, highlight the good bits and offer a five-minute evaluation.

Mann said Nesta was piloting an online funding platform called Rocket Fund, where teachers could pitch ideas relating to the use of technology in the classroom and connect with corporate and community donors. This was also helping to spread experiences and ideas among schools.

He pointed to online learning initiatives such as Third Space Learning which connected primary school pupils with tutors in India and Sri Lanka to provide lower-cost online tutoring as one scheme that had worked well.

The panel discussed whether a centralised procurement approach whereby an overall body collected evidence on the educational benefits of different devices could help streamline the process. But concerns were expressed that some teachers might struggle to trust technology recommended by another teacher and would insist on trying it out themselves.

Control groups, where the results of a class using specific technology were compared to those of a class without the technology, were also discussed. But Galloway thought this would be a messy approach as much depended on the teacher, their relationship with the class and the engagement levels of the students involved.

And what of virtual reality? Clark pointed out that VR headsets could be effective in teaching Newtons laws of motion and demonstrating weightlessness, while Galloway said VR had huge potential for children with special needs: a child in a wheelchair could experience the top of St Pauls Cathedral or the bottom of a mineshaft; a child with autism could take a virtual trip around the British Museum to prepare them for the real thing.

Galloway also pointed to eye-gaze technology, which helped people control computers through their eye movements, as a technology with useful applications. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence was touted as a powerful technology for transforming the classroom, with applications in marking and exams.

The panel agreed that teachers could benefit from taking part in ResearchED meetings. The body, which was founded by two teachers, brings together teachers, researchers and policymakers to share information on technology teaching tools.

From the audience, Ahrani Logan, co-founder of Peapodicity, an educational technology studio specialising in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, said tech startups could run evaluations of classroom technology, since they excelled in analytics.

Sandra Crapper, education adviser at Onefourseven, an educational advisory service providing professional development to primary schools, said teachers could learn about technology from pupils. Our job is to analyse where it might lead them in a positive and productive way, she said. The panel suggested that teachers could make use of the smartphones most children brought into classrooms, although there were problems of security and behaviour associated with this.

As schools face yet more budget cuts, governors and heads will have to make some stark choices but technology is certain to play a part in the classroom of the future. And while there was much debate on how decisions should be made, it seems that finding ways for teachers to share information about what works will be key.

Kate Hodge (chair) Head of content strategy at Jaywing Content and former Guardian Teacher Network editor

Michael Mann Senior programme manager, education team, innovation lab, Nesta

John Galloway Advisory teacher for ICT/SEN and inclusion

Donald Clark Founder, PlanB Learning

Naureen Khalid School governor and co-founder of @UKGovChat

Follow us on Twitter via @GuardianTeach, like us on Facebook, and join the Guardian Teacher Network for lesson resources and the latest articles direct to your inbox

Looking for a teaching job? Or perhaps you need to recruit school staff? Take a look at Guardian Jobs, the education specialist

Read this article:

Is technology delivering in schools? Our panel debates - The Guardian

(TNS) -- Ford is making "great progress" towards its goal of deploying its first fully autonomous car in 2021, says Ken Washington, Ford's vice president of research and advanced engineering and chief technology officer.

But Washington said Ford's development team, which is working alongside start-up artificial intelligence company Argo AI, isn't caught up in the race to be the first automaker.

"I think we are extremely well-positioned because weve got a technology company working with us that understands how to build the robot," Washington recently told the Free Press. "And weve got an automotive manufacturer underneath us ....with more than 100 years of experience of systems integration."

Ford is relying on Argo AI a company co-founded last year by Google car project veteran Bryan Salesky and Uber engineer Peter Rander to take the lead on the development of the brains of its self-driving car. Ford acquired a majority stake in Argo AI in February.

"We dont worry too much about where the competitors are. What we are worried about is how do we bring this technology to market in a way thats a fit (for customers). And thats what we are focused on," he said on the same day that Ford offered members of the media rides in the company's self-driving Ford Fusion test car.

Washington has been a top executive at Ford since joining the automaker in 2014 who now is taking on even more responsibility under Ford CEO Jim Hackett. At Ford, Washington oversees the automaker's advanced research and engineering efforts and gained the additional title of chief technology officer in May.

That essentially gives Washington oversight of all of Ford's autonomous vehicle efforts as well as oversight of the development of a wide range of other new technology.

Before joining Ford, Washington was vice president of the Advanced Technology Center at Lockheed Martin and was one of the most prominent African-Americans in aerospace. Now he is one of eight top executives at Ford who reports directly to Hackett.

The Free Press spoke with Washington about his new role and Ford's autonomous vehicle programs. The following is edited for clarity and brevity, and includes some additional comments from Washington's recent blog post on Medium, which included an announcement that Ford is creating a new artificial intelligence research team.

Question: So, tell us about your new role, and what you will now be doing at Ford?

Answer: I kind of wear two hats for the company. I am the vice president of research and advanced engineering ... and that didn't change. And with Jim Hackett coming to our company as CEO, he really wants to put an emphasis on technology and its promise for enabling us to be a great business. And so he invited me to be the chief technology officer to help drive that vision. ... And so thats a new role. And in that new role, I am really just looking to do what naturally comes to any executive who oversees a group that does that kind of technology work."

Q: How do the various pieces of Ford's autonomous vehicle program fit together? You have Ford's own development team, Ford Smart Mobility and Argo AI. How does it all work?

A: We recently welcomed Sherif Marakby back to Ford (from Uber). Sherif owns autonomous vehicles at Ford, and so his job is to define for us where we are going to play in the market, and how we are going to bring autonomous vehicle technology to bear and put it into the market.

But building the autonomous vehicle has three parts three big parts. There is the virtual driver, and thats Argos job. Thats the part that replaces the driver with a robot. And that includes software and sensors.

Ford product development is building the vehicle and the autonomous vehicle team is part of that and we are working on the integration of the virtual driver into the vehicle.

Washington elaborated on the role of Ford's internal autonomous vehicle team in his Thursday blog post on Medium:

We are announcing the creation of the robotics and artificial intelligence research team as part of Ford research and advanced engineering. This move aligns multiple disciplines under one team for a more concerted effort as we increasingly come to understand the potential for robotics and artificial intelligence. The move also serves to further advance projects weve already presented such as our autonomous vehicle development program, and those we arent quite ready to reveal.

Q: It's only been a few months since Ford publicly stated its goal to commercially launch a fully autonomous vehicle by 2021 but can you tell us how that effort is going and how fast you are making progress?

A: They are going great, they are absolutely going great.... They have some fabulous momentum. Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander, the cofounders of Argo AI, have attracted a really great team already. Over 100 employees are already on board at Argo. So, I am excited about the path they are on. They are making great progress.

Q: It can be difficult from the outside to really know who is leading the race to develop driverless cars. Is Ford leading? Or have you fallen behind competitors like Waymo or even GM? And how much do you think it matters right now?

A: Well I would start by saying there is so much hype out there its hard to sort through it. And you said it well when you said it kind of doesnt matter. We dont worry too much about where the competitors are. What we are worried about is how do we bring this technology to market in a way thats fit. And thats what we are focused on.

2017 the Detroit Free Press Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Original post:

Ford's Chief Technology Officer Touts Autonomous Tech Progress - Government Technology

Login

If you are traveling to Chicago this month to convene with other higher education IT leaders at CT2017, here are 8 sessions worth attending.

This month, the annual Campus Technology Conference kicks off in Chicago (July 1720), bringing together higher education IT leaders for an exploration of technology's role in campus administration, infrastructure, teaching and learning, and more. Here are eight highlights not to miss:

Faculty Development: Lessons Learned and Innovations Ahead (WS3) In a hands-on workshop, Virginia Commonwealth University's Gardner Campbell will offer tactics for faculty development and supporting sustainable and effective change on campus. (See our recent interview with Campbell: "Informing the Mission for Institutions of Higher Learning.")

A Framework for Getting Value From Your Institutional Data (ILP2) James Kulich, director of the Masters in Data Science Program at Elmhurst College (IL), will explain how the CRISP-DM data mining standard can help ensure predictive modeling efforts will yield effective change and institutional value. I saw Kulich speak about IT change a few years ago at Educause, and his session generated a lot of valuable takeaways this time around is sure to be equally interesting.

Planning for a Career in Higher Education Technology Leadership(CIO3) Those aspiring to C-level positions in IT won't want to miss these insights from Joy Hatch, vice president for technology at Fort Hays State University, who will cover shifting to a leadership mindset, building skills and experience, forging a career pathway and more.

Terraforming the Academic Terrain (TLD3) Experts from the University of Arizona's Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Center will share apps and tools that help students with learning and attention challenges succeed. Topics will include audio note-taking, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, mind mapping and study/research apps.

Toward a Smart Campus: Implementing an Internet of Things Infrastructure and Applications (ITD5) Learn how Western Michigan University Libraries developed an Internet of Things environment to facilitate prototyping and implementation of IoT applications and services and the challenges faced along the way.

Making the Most of Multimedia (TLD5) Looking to incorporate video lectures, interactive modules, audio/video assignment feedback and other multimedia tools in your courses? A team from the University of Cincinnati will explain how to create more engaging course materials with audio, images and video.

Enterprise Mobile Apps: Buy or Build? We Chose Build (IMN3) A frequent speaker on mobile, makerspaces, ed tech trends and more, Kyle Parker, senior software engineer for developing technologies at Ball State University, will delve into his institution's experiences with mobile app development

Closing Keynote: The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life When Robots Rule the Earth Resist the urge to skip the final keynote: Robin Hanson, author of The Age of Em and associate professor of economics at George Mason University, will explore a future dominated by artificial intelligence technologies. His ideas run the gamut from virtual reality, wealth inequality, death and immortality to teleportation, religion, war and love. Plus, Gardner Campbell will join in to consider the takeaways for higher education.

About the Author

About the author: Rhea Kelly is executive editor for Campus Technology. She can be reached at rkelly@1105media.com.

View post:

What to See at Campus Technology 2017 - Campus Technology

Micron Technologies (NASDAQ:MU) stock has been on a rampage this year, outperforming all major market indices by far. Shares have more than doubled in 2016 and are up over 30 percent this year. The question now is whether this run still has legs or not to keep going.

In my opinion, as long as Micron keeps posting spectacular earnings and growth, there is no reason to question the run. However, it seems like the market sentiment is quickly shifting to a bearish stance on tech stocks. People are trying to hedge their positions and reduce their exposure in the tech sector due to fears about valuations. A lot of people think that there is a bubble currently with tech stocks. Now, while it is true valuations are a bit stretched, there is no logical reason to sell a fundamentally solid company backed by strong earnings just because of the sector it is in.

On Thursday, Micron posted another quarter which outperformed analyst expectations across the board. However, shares were down over 5 percent the next day. I believe this is due to hedge funds and other institutions locking in gains and limiting their exposure to tech stocks - the selling pressure probably drove share prices down. This creates the perfect opportunity for retail investors, though, who have more freedom when investing compared to institutions to pick up some shares in a fantastic company.

No matter how you look at it, this quarter did blow out analyst expectations in every conceivable way. Micron reported an EPS of $1.62 versus analyst expectations of $1.51 and a quarterly revenue of $5.57 billion versus analyst expectations of $5.41 billion. I think it is important for everyone to realize that revenue is 20 percent higher compared to the previous quarter and 92 percent higher year over year. Strong cash flows this quarter also allowed the company to strengthen its balance sheet and pay down $1 billion in debt.

This is the 8th straight quarter where Micron has been able to exceed analyst expectations, and there is no sign that the favorable earnings trend will stop anytime soon either. All its business units posted record-breaking revenues this quarter, and revenue from cloud customers alone was nearly 4 times higher year over year. Micron also projects that strong industry demand will continue to remain healthy and persist into 2018, and the company's portfolio of innovative and high-value products will be able to benefit very much from increasing demand. So far, we can see that it is taking full advantage of this broad industry trend and will not suddenly stop doing so anytime soon.

MU Price data by YCharts

Unfortunately, the price action after this earnings report was negative, and Micron shares traded down over 5 percent the following day. There is most definitely a rational reason for this - it can all be explained by looking at the current market state. People are scared and are trying to protect their gains in a bull market that has lasted over 8 years, and tech stocks have gained the most in these 8 years and are being sold off. Nasdaq has fallen 2 percent over the past month and is taking the brunt of criticism by many market bears. People think valuations are stretched and that the run has gone on for too long.

This type of thinking is often what causes people to miss out on investing in fantastic companies - the bottom line is no one has a crystal ball to predict when a sudden stock market crash will occur. As long as you diversify your holdings and adjust your portfolio positions on a regular basis, you will be fine. You cannot time the market and predict when it will fall. Retail investors who sold Micron after its earnings report will end up buying back at a higher price.

However, it makes sense why you would sell if you were a hedge fund or any other money managing institution. Hedge funds and other institutions like mutual funds have investors they need to appease regularly. They manage a lot of money and need to book profits. A lot of the selling we are seeing in the tech sector in general is due to institutions locking in profits. Most hedge funds and mutual funds also have to show all of their positions to investors at the end of the quarter, and with all of the negative sentiment towards tech, it makes sense why some institutions would reduce/sell their positions to make it seem like they are not too exposed to the tech sector. With Micron stock performing so well in the past few months, people had to take profits eventually. Turns out, Friday was that day.

A lot of analysts also upgraded Micron stock following their earnings report. Deutsche Bank raised their price target on Micron from $35 to $37 while maintaining their rating, and Goldman Sachs upgraded Micron's price target from $30 to $33. Stifel Nicolaus maintained their current buy rating and increased their price target by 50 percent, from $40 all the way up to $60 a share!

The bottom line is that it makes no logical sense for everyday retail investors to sell right now. The company's earnings were stellar and exceeded analyst expectations. Real investors do not buy/sell stocks based on the price action of stock, but rather on the fundamentals and earnings of a company. Micron Technologies has solid fundamentals backed by fantastic earnings numbers. It makes no sense for a company to suddenly be 5 percent less valuable after reporting earnings which exceeded expectations. Some people are saying it's because of Micron's valuation, though it only takes a little logical thinking to completely debunk this idea. When you value a company, you do not just look at the present cash flows and earnings - you look into the future, you look for growth. Growth for this quarter exceeded expectations, reaffirming the positive trajectory the company is going in, and the recent analyst upgrades following the quarterly results support this idea. We give Micron Technology a Buy rating and a conservative $36 price target.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in MU over the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Link:

Micron Technologies: Be Thankful For The Dip - Seeking Alpha

The White House is denying reports that the one division within the Office of Science and Technology Policy is now completely unstaffed.

CBS News reportedno staff members were left at the offices science division one of four such branches that comprise the OSTP after three employees from President Barack Obamas administration worked their final day on Friday. The OSTP advises the White House on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs, according to its website.

When asked about the alleged vacancies, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told HuffPost on Saturday the report was false.

This is not true, Sanders said in an email. Sadly, someone was more concerned about attacking [President Donald Trump] than getting their story straight.

A White House official familiar with the OSTP told HuffPost that there are 12 staffers currently working in the science division, despite the report that said otherwise. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter, also said there are 35 people total on staff in the OSTP.

The official said the work of previous science division workers had been passed on to new staffers who have expertise in similar areas of study.

The three science division staffers who finished up on Friday includedElle Celeste, who was previously a biomedical and forensic science expert for the White House. The White House official told HuffPost that Fridays departures were a matter of contract expiration.

After departing from the OSTP, Celeste tweeted her final goodbyes, along with a photo of the science division placard with text saying science division out. mic drop.

Kumar Garg, another former OSTP employee who left his job in January, tweeted that Fridays departures mean there are zero people left in the division. He was the OSTPs assistant director for Learning and Innovation when Trump took office in January.

The Trump administration has faced sharp criticism from the scientific community.In April, tens of thousands of people participated in an estimated 600 March for Science events across the country in protest of the administrations stance on various issues.

Trump, who hascalled climate change a hoax orchestrated by the Chinese, has proposed massive budget cutsfor federal programs including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, the Department of Energys office of science, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

After Trump revealed his 2018 budget proposal in March, Jeffrey Mervis, science policy reporter for Science Magazine wrotethat it confirms two things that U.S. scientists have long suspected: The new president is no fan of research, and his administration has no overarching strategy for funding science.

The White House has also yet to appoint one of the most influential science roles in federal government,the presidential science adviser, who heads the OSTP. When asked about that vacancy, the White House official familiar with the matter told HuffPost that several very promising candidates for OSTP director are under consideration.

Neither Celeste nor Garg immediately responded to requests for comment from HuffPost.

View post:

White House Denies Report That Part of Its Science And Technology Office Is Empty - HuffPost

COLUMBIA, Mo. Researchers trying to track bee activity to find areas where the bee population is declining could soon be using an acoustic system developed by a research team that includes scientists from Missouri universities.

Scientists developed an acoustic listening system to monitor bee activity in a specific area, The Columbia Missourian reported. The systems small microphone records the pitch and frequency of a bees buzzing and sends that information to data storage devices such as an iPad or USB drive.

The goal is to analyze bee activity for several years and give warnings if bee populations are declining in a specific area, said University of Missouri biology professor Candace Galen.

Which then could be a diagnostic or a warning sign that these are places where we need boots on the ground, people to go out and survey bees and see whos there and who isnt, Galen said.

The team also includes scientists from Webster University in St. Louis, Lincoln University in Jefferson City and Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

The research comes amid reports that bee populations have been declining in North America and Europe since the 1970s. The colony collapse disorder is related to mites, viruses, pesticides and other factors, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The decline of bees is important because bees pollinate a large percentage of the worlds food supply.

We as humans are very dependent on (bees and other pollinators), she said.

The system is cheaper than hiring observers to count and track bees. One device can pick up sound from roughly 9 to 16 feet away, which is more sensitive than the average human ear. The system also can record buzzing for about 96 hours before needing a recharge.

If I had a lot of money to spend on my field team, I could hire a lot of observers and send each of those observers out to different locations, but thats not nearly as efficient as having the little USB drives do this for us, Galen said.

The system can differentiate bees of different sizes and shapes in the same area, which is important for farmers because different crops rely on different bee pollination methods.

The team conducted its research in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, which has a relatively controlled environment with little urban noise, traffic or farm equipment.

The scientists published their study, Flight of the bumble bee: Buzzes predict pollination services, in PLOS One on June 7.

Because the team now knows the system works in simple conditions, it will be used in more complex situations with more noise and plants that require different pollination methods.

The acoustic listening system also allows scientists to track bees without using trap studies or destructive sampling methods, which are more accurate but that kill bees. Galen said destructive sampling is more of an issue because of the decline in some bee populations, with some being including on the endangered species list.

Shake off your afternoon slump with the offbeat or overlooked news of the day.

Originally posted here:

Missouri scientists create technology to track buzzing bees - STLtoday.com

Investors gravitate to technology stocks because of their exposure to the fast-paced innovative tech sector. Some of the best-known and best-performing stocks of all time have come from the technology industry, and many investors still believe that there's plenty of potential for even bigger gains going forward. Funds with good track records have attracted considerable assets, and that's why the following five technology mutual funds stand out among the elite of the industry.

Data source: Fund providers.

If you want exposure to the top technology stocks, then both the Vanguard and Fidelity technology mutual funds deliver. In both funds, you'll find the stalwarts of the industry among the top 10 holdings, and they make up a relatively large portion of the overall assets of the fund. For instance, more than 40% of the Vanguard fund's assets are tied up in five stocks, and two of those holdings are different share classes issued by the same company. You'll find some companies in adjacent sectors with technology leanings, but for the most part, the Vanguard fund's holdings are squarely within technology. Moreover, with expenses of just 0.10%, the price is right for this index mutual fund.

The Fidelity fund goes a bit further afield, including some companies that aren't strictly tech stocks but that have cutting-edge applications in areas like electric vehicles. You'll pay up for management with this fund, but a greater exposure to companies with a global scope might be worth the extra cost for some tech investors.

Image source: Getty Images.

Two funds from T. Rowe Price make the list, and they have different ways to attack the tech sector. The Science and Technology Fund looks a lot like the Fidelity and Vanguard funds above, with many names from the top ranks of the tech sector. Yet the weightings are much different, with a greater emphasis toward the more innovative companies in the social networking, cloud computing, and internet services industries. You'll also find a greater exposure to high-technology healthcare names, especially those producing cutting-edge medical devices that have had dramatic impacts on the quality and sustainability of healthcare with certain applications. Even with this fund, an international exposure to the sector adds some diversification.

The Global Technology Fund goes a step further, casting its net across the globe in search of the best companies with high-technology aspirations. From pure cloud computing and internet services companies to consumer and industrial stocks with the know-how to bring transformative change to their respective industries, the Global fund makes a slightly different play on where tomorrow's leadership in technology will come.

Finally, the Columbia Seligman fund looks a lot different from its peers. Big tech stocks play a much less important role in this fund, with outsized bets on smaller stocks providing some differentiation from the crowd. That has earned the fund a five-star rating from Morningstar, and long-term performance has also been relatively impressive.

The downside of the fund is that it charges a sales load of up to 5.75%, and expenses of 1.35% per year for the Class A shares of the fund are quite high. That means that money will come out of your pocket when you first buy shares and never get invested into the fund at all, instead going directly to your financial professional.

These top technology mutual funds have attracted considerable amounts of assets, and they each take different tacks toward capturing returns from technology stocks. By looking more closely at these five stocks, you'll be able to pick the one that best fits your own particular investing strategy.

Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

See the article here:

5 Top Technology Mutual Funds for Cutting-Edge Investors - Motley Fool

Image: University of Sydney

Researchers at the University of Sydney (USYD) are building a new blockchain technology, dubbed Red Belly Blockchain, that they believe has the potential to revolutionise the global economy.

Named after one of Australia's most deadly snakes, the new system being developed by the university's School of Information Technologies is expected to allow secure and almost instantaneous digital transfer of virtual currencies across the world, touted as faster than the systems in place by the likes of card giant Visa.

"In recent testing, our blockchain achieved the best performance we have seen so far -- with more than 440,000 transactions per second on 100 machines," said USYD academic Dr Vincent Gramoli, who heads up the Concurrent Systems Research Group developing the blockchain.

"In comparison, Visa's network has a peak capacity of around 56,000 transactions per second and the Bitcoin network is limited to around seven transactions per second."

Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology originally conceptualised to facilitate the trading of the bitcoin cryptocurrency. In a nutshell, blockchain allows for the tracking of digital assets so that a level of trust and consensus can be established, and previous transactions agreed upon.

According to USYD, its Red Belly Blockchain is the first blockchain being built to work both in public and private contexts, allowing for the exchange to occur in a peer-to-peer fashion, as well as in an industrial environment restricted to certain users.

"As opposed to mainstream public blockchains, ours is not subject to double spending -- when an individual successfully spends their money more than once -- because its chain of blocks never forks," said Gramoli.

Gramoli said the university's blockchain is being developed in part to avoid common problems currently plaguing digital transactions, such as forking, when the blockchain starts to diverge into two or more potential paths forward.

"As opposed to consortium blockchains, it can treat hundreds of thousands of transactions per second coming from a potentially unbounded number of clients. It offers a performance that scales horizontally, which ensures the security of transactions," he added.

The next stage for the Red Belly Blockchain is to develop a recommendation system to automate the selection of the participants of a consensus instance which USYD hopes will ensure the security of the blockchain.

When delivering its 2017-18 Budget, the federal government announced it will be aligning the GST treatment of digital currency, including Bitcoin, with regular money as of July 1 2017, in a bid to promote the growth of Australia's fintech industry.

Australian corporates are also embracing blockchain technology. In October, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in partnership with Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton, claimed the first interbank trade transaction combining blockchain technology, smart contracts, and IoT.

In addition, a project using a shared, distributed ledger that can store complete transaction history has almost been completed by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The exchange recently said its blockchain initiative is on track for a final decision in the second half of 2017, with the prototype complete and the organisation moving to build an "industrial-strength solution" to use as its equity settlement, asset registration, and clearing platform. Its broader plan is to become the first exchange in the world to upgrade to post-trade services using the technology.

ASX group executive for operations Tim Hogben also said recently that blockchain is ideally suited for securely recording medical health information.

Similarly, the Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX) announced a project recently that would see it instantly settle trades using blockchain technology with the help of Sydney-based Bit Trade Labs.

Australia's incumbent telco carrier Telstra announced in September it was experimenting with a combination of blockchain and biometric security for its IoT smart home offerings.

Although the immutable record of transaction has found itself tangled up in a regulatory delegation-fest between government organisations in Australia, with eight different government bodies overseeing blockchain development to some degree in the country, Data61 recently said blockchain holds promise as a new foundation for transactions in society, in particular for voting, notarisation, supply chain, registration, and process coordination, in addition to payment-related services.

Continue reading here:

University of Sydney builds new Red Belly Blockchain technology - ZDNet

As the inevitable robot takeover looms, its nice to know we have one surprising weapon in our arsenal: kangaroos.

Volvo has confessed that the springy marsupials are throwing off the Large Animal Detection systems being developed for self-driving cars, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports.Those systems are meant to make sure the cars avoid animals along the road, such as deer or cattle.

binbeter via Getty Images

But the hopping of the kangaroos is messing with the detection, which uses the ground as a reference point, Volvo Australias technical manager David Pickett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Weve noticed with the kangaroo being in mid-flight ... when its in the air it actually looks like its further away, then it lands and it looks closer, he said.

Originally, Volvo tested out the detection software on moose in Sweden. Researchers have been working on the kangaroo problem for more than a year.

However, Kevin McCann, managing director of Volvo Australia,told The Guardian that researchers would be able to solve the problem before the driverless cars are commercially available in 2020. He noted that any driverless car maker working in Australia would likely run into similar issues.

Any company that would be working on the autonomous car concept would be having to do the same developmental work, McCann said.

The BBC points out that the problem would hardly be a trivial one for self-driving cars in Australia, since kangaroo collusions are a significant problem for regular cars. About 80% of vehicle collisions with animals in Australia involve kangaroos, adding up to more than 16,000 kangaroo-related collisions every year.

See original here:

Self-Driving Car Technology Foiled By Kangaroos - HuffPost

Innovation and technological developments in Hong Kong will be boosted under an agreement on the Greater Bay Area project signed by local and mainland officials on Saturday and witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The city will also continue to strengthen its role as the regions financial and shipping hub, according to the framework agreement. It also provided clarity and assurance to counter uncertainties in recent months on what role Hong Kong will play under the plan and how it will be executed.

The move came shortly after Xi announced at the new administrations inauguration that Beijing authorities would actively consider adopting concrete measures to make it more convenient for the people of Hong Kong to study, work and live on the mainland, and provide more opportunities for them.

The project, which covers Hong Kong, Macau and nine Pearl River Delta cities, was proposed by Guangdong officials several years ago, and grew into a strategic project with the endorsement of Premier Li Keqiang in March.

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects troubled HK$117 billion mega bridge on final day of Hong Kong trip

Saturdays agreement was signed by Hong Kongs new chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on, Guangdong governor Ma Xingrui and the chairman of National Development and Reform Commission, He Lifeng.

According to a statement released by the Hong Kong government, the agreement stipulated that the goals of cooperation would include consolidating and enhancing Hong Kongs status as a global financial, shipping and trade centre, as well as promoting Hong Kongs innovation and technology industries.

The agreement also set out how Hong Kong, Macau and mainland authorities should work together, such as convening regular meetings to resolve major problems arising from the integration scheme, and drawing up annual work plans.

The signing of the agreement was seen by commentators as another boost for the citys economic prospects after it was announced on Friday that a scheme called the Bond Connect will use Hong Kong as the staging point to access Chinas interbank bond market, one of several economic gifts that Beijing has bestowed on the city to mark the 20th anniversary of Hong Kongs return to Chinese rule.

Dont miss the boat: Xi warns of lost chances with Cantonese phrase

Local and mainland officials also agreed to cooperate on a series of goals, such as promoting infrastructure connectivity, enhancing the level of market integration and building a global technology and innovation hub.

After Xi left Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon, Lam, her predecessor Leung Chun-ying, and Chui attended a forum to further discuss the Greater Bay Area plan, along with business leaders and mainland officials.

My government will put in more resources for research and development in our universities

Chief Executive Carrie Lam

Lam said Hong Kongs strength will enable the city to play a key role in four main areas, including finance, logistics, trading, and innovation.

My government will put in more resources for research and development in our universities ... Hong Kong has a lot of technology experts. This important talent pool will help to power the Greater Bay Area continuously, Lam said.

Guangdong party secretary Hu Chunhua said the bay area concept will elevate cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau to a higher level.

We welcome companies ... and young people to go to the provinces to innovate and start their new businesses, Hu said.

Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, chair of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, said the concept will benefit technology companies.

Part of Hong Kongs strength is its international connection we can attract global talents to come to our city, Law said. But Hong Kongs market is small and we have a shortage of land, so if we can expand to the mainland, it will be very good.

Link:

Technology boost to reinforce Hong Kong's status as finance and trade centre in bay area plan - South China Morning Post

An official from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) told The Hill the department's science division is staffed, despite a report saying the last three employees of the division left last week.

However, an OSTP official told The Hill there are currently 35 employees in OSTP, and 12 employees in the department's science division, adding that the division is organized and divided differently under the Trump administration compared to the Obama administration.

"Science division out. Mic drop, former OSTP assistant director for biomedical and forensic sciences Eleanor Celeste said on Friday in a tweet.

science division out. mic drop. pic.twitter.com/RoYTJqLoXa

"By COB today, number of staffers in White House OSTP's Science Division = 0, Obama era OSTP staffer Kumar Garg tweeted on Friday.

By COB today, number of staffers in White House OSTP's Science Division = 0. https://t.co/o4dsn4y3hO

There were more than 100 employees in OSTP during the Obama administration.

Here is the original post:

WH refutes reports that Science and Technology office unstaffed - The Hill

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

An apple tree planted in 1978 shows its root stock, bottom, below the tree's trunk at Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

An apple tree planted in 1978 shows its root stock, bottom, below the tree's trunk at Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Young apple trees grown on Geneva root stock at Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Young apple trees grown on Geneva root stock at Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Peter Ten Eyck points out a young apple tree trunk, top, and its Geneva root stock, bottom, at his Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Peter Ten Eyck points out a young apple tree trunk, top, and its Geneva root stock, bottom, at his Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Peter Ten Eyck walks between rows of SnapDragon apple trees grown on Geneva root stock at his Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Peter Ten Eyck walks between rows of SnapDragon apple trees grown on Geneva root stock at his Indian Ladder Farms Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Altamont, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

How roots and technology are transforming New York orchards

Altamont

It's 4 p.m. and Peter Ten Eyck is sipping a half-cup of coffee and talking about elephant and mouse hair.

I came to his Altamont orchard to inquire about a unique apple rootstock known as Geneva 935, and he's happy to oblige.

But first: Elephant and mouse hair. Consider the difference, he asks, in spacing between the two. How does that affect the animal skin below? What about how it gets sunlight? The height of the hairs? The width?

This, he says, is the modern apple farmer's dilemma: the constant trial, error and frustration in pursuit of that perfect mix of space, width, height, shade and sunshine.

An hour later he describes today's orchards as in the middle of a rapid conversion "between art and science."

"It used to be an art," he says. "But now there's a little bit of both."

He considers himself more of a scientist a fact made increasingly evident by his casual use of phrases like "light inception per acre" and "service area ratios vs. volume." Indeed, if there are three things Peter inherited from his grandfather, it's the middle name "Gansevoort," this plot of land at Indian Ladder Farms and an absolute love for all things apples.

After a few more minutes of technical chatter that's clearly above my head, he decides it's best to just show me what he means. We jump in his red Subaru Outback and take a quick route up an old dirt hill toward the back of the farm.

From afar it looks like any old orchard. That quickly changes.

If the elder Peter Gansevoort were alive today, he'd not likely recognize many parts of the land on which he once toiled. The glacier-sculpted sediment cliffs of the Helderberg Escarpment still tower beautifully over the plot. But 100 years after the orchard's founding, its aesthetics are changing, and fast.

Peter notes that when he points to the oldest trees, many of which are clinging to life in their twilight years. He remembers planting them as a high schooler in the 1950s. They are thick and short, scattered so as not to grow onto one another, with twisting, bulbous bodies and saw scars that show their age. Sixty years after planting they have all the unkempt and picturesque bushiness of an orchard that draws thousands of amateur pickers to frolic between their trees each fall.

"That's what an apple tree looks like if you don't modify it," he says.

The area is patchy and spacious like the hair on an elephant. I get it now.

A natural apple tree palnted in the 1950's at Indian Ladder Farms...

He points out the window to another section of trees. They are carved into the hill with scalpel-like precision. From head-on they are tight and tidy, with an intentional uniformity like that of a polished military battalion. Football fields-worth of drip line undergird their bases, and at their midway points hang hundreds of bamboo splints that keep the new trees growing up, not outward.

They are about 3 feet apart, tangling atop each other mouse hair; Geneva trees.

Named for the location of the Cornell University lab in which they were perfected or rather, made as close to perfect as possible the Geneva rootstocks are the brainchild of years of scientific tinkering. It's been decades since they were first inoculated with disease and fungi, and the final product is a root that is more resistant to deadly pathogens like fire blight, and can be customized for new apple varieties.

They allow apple growers to fuse together different tree tops with rootstocks that can stave off disease and are far less reliant on pesticides.

"If you look at an apple tree today, you're really looking at two apple trees," Peter says.

Young apple trees grown on Geneva root stock at Indian Ladder Farms...

Years ago, tree nurseries would simply grow seedlings from random apple seeds, and use those as rootstock. It was an arduous process that, because of the variants in genetic makeup, required each tree to be treated with individualized care that drained precious hours and energy. Nor were those rootstocks made for specific soils and climates.

"It was like going to a grocery store you'd just pick whatever was available," said Gennaro Fazio, an apple breeder and geneticist at Cornell's plant science school in Geneva.

But that all started changing in the 1970s. The Malling rootstocks, named for the research center from which they originated in East Malling, England, quickly became the dominant stock for the global apple industry. But they too were vulnerable.

Enter Cornell breeders James Cummins and Herbery Aldwinckle: The two started tinkering in their Geneva lab around the same time the Malling rootstocks were being popularized. Years later they had created a modern rootstock that is the basis for today's Geneva rootstock.

"Some of these apple varieties require a little bit more vigor in their roots," says Fazio, who picked up the two's torch after their retirements. "Some require a little bit of a different nutritional balance. So what we're trying to do is match the root systems with new varieties ... That allows the grower to come up with the best possible scenario" for their orchard.

These new trees are "like insurance," he said. "I've seen entire orchards wiped out" by fire blight and other diseases. "But this tree will survive an infection. ... You don't lose an orchard. You don't lose a tree."

The Geneva rootstocks can be tailored to fit with other trees, and so are more customizable. In an apple industry that's increasingly about niche products, that matters.

"The biggest investments are in new varieties and higher-producing, more efficient systems," says Jeff Crist, owner of Crist Brothers Orchards, in Orange County. "Those are the only ways we stay relevant, and the root system is really the base of that process."

Peter, for example, has a few acres of Snapdragon apples, a new variety created by Cornell breeder Susan Brown. They're sweet and juicy, with a vibrant bright red skin and a notable crunch, and since being introduced in 2013, they've been in high demand a trend on which Peter is hoping to capitalize this fall.

"We're going to find out how many the public wants," he says. "And then we're going to grow exactly one less than (that) so we can set a good price."

There are, of course, some downsides to the new tech. The Geneva roots are more expensive, and Peter says some of the thousands of Indian Ladder's annual visitors who have been going there for years have remarked on the changing scenery.

But the efficiency and cost savings are worth it, especially for larger orchards less reliant on picking season.

Crist says, "If it keeps the trees alive, well, that's a lot better of a look than it they're dead, right?"

RDownen@timesunion.com 518-454-5018 @RobertDownenTU

Continued here:

How roots and technology are transforming New York orchards - Albany Times Union

Buff Ross is a man about town, an artist, art advocate, designer and philosopher. He's in love with great urban environments, museums and technology with the capacity to transform.

Ross, active in Charleston's visual art scene, has degrees in anthropology and museum studies and runs Alloneword Design. His work is informed by a desire to use code in ways that inspire and inform.

And what would he do if computers suddenly became out of reach? Travel. Find ways to get close to great art, old and new. "I would work in a museum in some deeper capacity," he said. "I still get to interface and collaborate with museums but wish that was more frequent, deeper and consistent."

Q: You have lots of museum experience as a curator and designer. Were you an artsy kid? How/why/when did you get interested in the arts?

A: My mother was potter and always fostered and induced artistic interests. But as much as I was artsy, I also swerved crafty. We had contests in lamp building (any material), bicycle mods and even made our own backpacking equipment from early REI kits. This duality is why I love both design and coding. Currently I find myself coding less and less, but when I can and when you get to hit push and the math and language result in something visual, it always reminds me that it is a craft.

Growing up, I drew a ton and began painting in high school and college but largely abandoned that. Lately, I have been illustrating as much as possible through work as a way to reconnect with visual art.

Q: You and your wife Leila recently started Show and Tell Art and Design, a web-based commercial gallery featuring works by artists you care about. Why did you decide to get into the art-selling business?

A: Because the art buying business is far less lucrative. Just kidding. Most of the impetus of that decision should be credited to Leila. She had a desire to create a gallery business that offered artists a chance to tell the story why they create what they do. The natural impulse then was to find a physical venue for that expression.

Galleries, like restaurants, have a generally low success rate. After researching spaces in the crowded and expensive Charleston real estate market, we decided to hedge our bets and leverage our skills to create an online market that eliminates some of those risks. Additionally, we have been able to create pop-up spaces that bridge the digital disadvantages.

Q: You run Alloneword Design, and create interactive, dynamic websites. At what point did you embrace technology as an artistic medium? And what role do you see technology playing within the arts going forward?

A: As a graduate student in Museum Studies in the late '90s during the first internet boom, I was intrigued by the opportunities this new medium presented to museums and, by extension, artists. Living in San Francisco during those days I was on the sidelines watching folks predict what could and couldnt be virtually commodified. Being involved with museums though, I quickly identified that we were on the cusp of a revolution in the access to information.

Museums typically have incredible repositories of cultural and artistic assets that typically never see the exhibit floor. Eighty percent of objects in museum collections never make it to public display. This disconnect always seemed like a collective cultural deficit that the internet might offer a mitigatory solution. So, that was my initial impetus and continues to motivate me today.

Q: You are active on the boards of the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art and Redux Contemporary Art Center. What is your assessment of Charlestons relationship with contemporary art? How can art improve the quality of life in town?

A: That is the million-dollar question placed in front of any organization trying to fund-raise on the Skinny Peninsula today. Is the impact of art as easily quantified as other social needs issues? Never. Does that make it a less important thread to the fabric of this community? I would offer that it is an integral facet of a well-rounded community just as it is a facet of a well-rounded human.

Charleston sits on the precipice of the new economy where talent chooses to move to locations that revere quality of life over all other deciding factors. One crucial element of that should be, and is, the arts.

If we want to keep accelerating as a nationally relevant city economically, we must also preserve the arts, history and natural environment that are attracting intelligent and creative new residents to our city.

Q: You are a community-focused person. What are you currently working on that might have a positive impact on public life? Any Halsey or Redux projects in the works?

A: I am fortunate enough to be working on some great projects with both organizations and two other groups in Charleston. They are exciting but not fully gestated enough to discuss right now. The fun of seeing a collaborative idea come to final fruition is only eclipsed slightly by the intellectual consumption of multiple ideas as they struggle to become a narrative. So stay tuned

Continue reading here:

Buff Ross mixes technology with love of museums - Charleston Post Courier

Kangaroos are responsible for about 90% of collisions between vehicles and animals in Australia although most are not serious. Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Volvos self-driving car is unable to detect kangaroos because hopping confounds its systems, the Swedish carmaker says.

The companys Large Animal Detection system can identify and avoid deer, elk and caribou, but early testing in Australia shows it cannot adjust to the kangaroos unique method of movement.

The managing director of Volvo Australia, Kevin McCann, said the discovery was part of the development and testing of driverless technology, and wouldnt pose problems by the time Volvos driverless cars would be available in 2020.

Any company that would be working on the autonomous car concept would be having to do the same developmental work, he said. We brought our engineers into Australia to begin the exercise of gathering the data of how the animals can move and behave so the computers can understand it more.

Earlier this month, Volvos Australian technical manager, David Pickett, told the ABC the troubles had arisen because their cars object detection systems used the ground as a reference point.

This meant a kangaroos hopping was making it difficult to judge how close they were.

When its in the air, it actually looks like its further away, then it lands and it looks closer, he said.

McCann added: Autonomous cars are a continuing development. A driverless car does not yet exist, and developing technology to recognise kangaroos is part of that development.

We are developing a car that can recognise kangaroos, he said.

Volvos detection system was designed in Sweden, where it was tested in areas populated with moose, before trials at a nature reserve in Canberra revealed the problem with kangaroos.

Kangaroos cause more accidents than any other animal in Australia the marsupials are responsible for about 90% of collisions between vehicles and animals although most are not serious.

A spokeswoman for Robert Bosch Australia, which develops component technology for driverless cars, said their system could theoretically recognise kangaroos.

Although it hasnt been tested in a kangaroo-specific environment, there was an instance where black swans were interfering, and so they had to build into the car the ability to recognise animals, Amy Kaa said.

Volvo plans to release its first autonomous cars by 2020 and has pledged zero fatalities or serious injuries from all its cars by that time.

The whole development process has to take in as many variations of conditions as possible, McCann said. Its a fairly drawn-out process. We dont even refer to it specifically as kangaroo detection, its what we call small animal detection.

The carmaker offers now semi-autonomous features in its S90 and XC90 models, which it says give a taste of the future of autonomous driving.

The cars can automatically maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front, and spot potential collisions in urban environments. McCann said a feature called run-off road assist would keep passengers safe in near-collisions.

Visit link:

Volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos - The Guardian

Barron's

The Biggest Loser: Micron Technology Slumps 5.1% Barron's With DRAM margins exceeding 50%, we believe that it is increasingly evident that MU is catching up to competitors from a technology perspective. As this trend is better understood, we believe that MU will finally see some multiple expansion. We are ... Why Micron Technology, American Outdoor Brands, and Cara Therapeutics Slumped TodayMotley Fool Micron Technology Gets Slew Of Price-Target Hikes, But Shares FallInvestor's Business Daily Micron: Potential For Future Multiple ExpansionSeeking Alpha Fortune -Investorplace.com all 268 news articles »

Link:

The Biggest Loser: Micron Technology Slumps 5.1% - Barron's

The Hindu

Signs and technology The Hindu Shakti (Gautham Karthik) is one of those Ritchie Street computer mechanics who has an easy fix for all technological problems. He is, in his own words, a 'reverse engineer' and that's established quite early, when he's helping out the police find a ... and more »

Link:

Signs and technology - The Hindu