Alcoa Maintains Its Aerospace Focus With $1 Billion Boeing Deal

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Alcoa ( AA ) has announced its signing of a long-term contract worth$1 billion to supply aluminum sheet and plate products to Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company.The agreement makes Alcoa the sole supplier to Boeing for wing skins on all of its metallic structure aircraft. Alcoa plate products, which are used in applications such as wing ribs, wing skins or other structural parts of the aircraft, will also be used on every Boeing platform.

The deal is the latest in a series of developments for Alcoa in the aerospace sector. Aerospace remains at the center of Alcoa's shift towards value-added products, as it looks to reduce its dependence on its commodity businesses.

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Focus on Aerospace Segment

Alcoa is betting big on its aerospace customers to drive sales of its value-added products. The company maintained its outlook of 8-9% global sales growth in 2014 for the aerospace segment, during its second quarter earnings conference call.The large commercial jet segment is expected to grow at 12.1%, driven by a strong commercial jet order book, which represents nine years of production. The strong order book is also reflected on the jet engines side with 23,000 engines on firm order. Demand for regional jets is expected to grow at 13.2%. For Alcoa, this represents sustained demand for its aerospace products for the medium term.Hence, it has increased its exposure to the aerospace segment.(( Alcoa's Q2 2014 Earnings Presentation , Alcoa Website))

In 2014 alone, several major developments in the aerospace segment have taken place for Alcoa. In July, the company announced the signing of a a 10-year agreement worth $1.1 billion to supply jet engine components to jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corporation (UTC). In June, the company announced the $2.85 billion acquisition of jet engine components maker Firth Rixson.(( Alcoa's Transformation Accelerates, Will Acquire Firth Rixson To Grow Global Aerospace Portfolio , Alcoa News Release)) Prior to that, it had announced a $25 million expansion of the Alcoa Power and Propulsion facility in Hampton, Virginia.((Alcoa Boosting Aerospace Capabilities in Virginia to Meet Demand for Next-Gen Aircraft Engine Parts, Alcoa News Release)) The company had also announced the setting up of a $100 million facility in La Porte, Indiana, for the production of nickel-based superalloy jet engine parts.((Alcoa Expands in Indiana to Capture Growing Aerospace Demand for Advanced Jet Engine Parts, Alcoa News Release)) Alcoa also signed a long term agreement worth $290 million to supply aluminum sheet to Spirit AeroSystems over five years. Spirit isone of thelargest designers and manufacturers of aerostructures for commercial, military, business and regional jets in the world.

Alcoa's aerospace revenue of $4 billion in 2013 accounted for around 17% of its total revenue for the year.((Alcoa's 2013 10-K, SEC)) With several recent developments in the aerospace segment, its share of the company's revenue is set to grow.

Strategic Shift Towards Value-added Products

Alcoa's aerospace push is central to its shift towards its value-added products, as it looks to reduce its dependence on its commodity businesses. The sale of aluminum and alumina constitutes Alcoa's upstream commodity businesses. Demand for these commodities is broadly correlated with economic growth.These commodities suffered a steep decline in prices as theEuropean debt crisis and slowing Chinese growth contributed to weakness in aluminum demand over the last few years.

On the supply side,production capacity was not reduced corresponding to the fall in demand over the last few quarters. Persistently high aluminum inventory levels relative to demand have kept London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminumpricesdepressed.This inventory has been built up partially as a result of aluminum being tied up in financing deals, which were made possible due to low interest rates.((Aluminum Price Premiums: Disconnect Between LME and Reality Continues, Metal Miner)) Despite inventories being at fairly high levels, market forces failed to rationalize supply through the shutdown of smelting capacity. Though global aluminum majors like Alcoa and Rusal announced smelting capacity cuts, the same cannot be said of Chinese aluminum producers. This is primarily due to stateintervention in the form of provision of subsidies or renegotiated power contracts to smelters, which serve as a disincentive to cut production. China is the world's largest aluminum producer and the expansion in production by Chinese producers more than made up for capacity cuts by global majors.

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Alcoa Maintains Its Aerospace Focus With $1 Billion Boeing Deal

Conquer Insomnia In 6 Weeks? There's An App For That–And It Could Change Your Life

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When Peter Hames complained to doctors about his insomnia, they responded by pulling out a prescription pad. Then came the inevitable: more sleeping pills.

But Hames, who is the CEO of health care company Big Health and has a background in experimental psychology, believed there was a way to train the insomnia out of him. "Out of desperation, I got a self-help book," he tells Fast Company. The Englishman picked up a copy of Overcoming Insomnia and Sleep Problems by Colin Espie, a professor at the University of Glasgow, and within six weeks, he claimed his insomnia was cured.

"My first reaction was it's totally amazing," said Hames, who recently moved from London to San Francisco. "My second reaction was this is totally insane. You have millions of people worldwide who are suffering from problems with behavioral solutions."

Then Hames did what any logical, entrepreneurial person might do: He traveled to Scotland and asked Espie to start up a digital medicine company with him to treat disorders using cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. That was four years ago, and since then, Big Health has published findings of its customized sleep program Sleepio in medical journals, including the Associated Professional Sleep Societies's SLEEP, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and Sleep Medicine Clinics.

Hames declined to disclose user numbers, but said Sleepio has logged more than a million hours of sleep data. The company struck a partnership with Jawbone in April, allowing users to import data from the Up band into its dashboard. Beginning with iOS 8, which launches today, it'll capture that data using the iPhone's M8 motion coprocessor chip. Though it's lacked a mobile presence until now, Sleepio decided to make its foray into iOS 8 to integrate with HealthKit and create a customized sleep program for insomniacs, who, out of habit, are reaching for their smartphones in the late hours of the night anyway.

"We can take all that and reach a whole different scale of users," Hames said. "We'll never do the tracking. Other people can do that better than us. I think the opportunity here is digital medicine."

A randomized trial involving a control and a placebo found Sleepio's web app helped three-quarters of people who reported persistent sleep problems improve their sleep to healthy levels in six weeks. Overall, Big Health said the program is comparable in effect with face-to-face therapy, helping long-term poor sleepers hit the sack 56% faster and boost daytime energy by 58%.

Sleepio loosely models its central character, the Prof, on Espie. A personal sleep expert, the animated professor doles out step-by-step directions to set users' bodies back on course to healthier sleep. The app essentially repurposes the content from its web app, which repackages the chapters from Espie's book into short video segments. But the technology behind it can tailor the experience to individuals based on their historical sleep data. "We know even exposure in just a short period of time can help people with their sleep," said Hames. "The more you work with it, the more data is in the system, the more refined it is to you."

When users enter the Sleepio app, the Prof begins by asking if they're looking to fall asleep at that moment. If so, users can consult him through the Help Me Now feature, and the Prof will offer suggestions, such as focusing on a spot in the ceiling or wall. If users indicate they're not trying to sleep, the Prof will ask what problems ail them (falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, waking up too early, not feeling refreshed), how long it's persisted, and assign them a sleep score.

Though users know they're interacting with an animated character, having someone or something stand in the role of a therapist makes the experience feel a little more real to them. If the Prof notices a rough night, he'll follow up with a text message. At the end of each session, the Prof tries to schedule another appointment ("Same time next week?"), sending email reminders. If you're running late for your appointment, he'll shoot you a worried text message. And if he receives no word after several hours, he'll send another one, this time conveying disappointment. In general, 70% of users interact with the Prof, said Hames, and some even write back apologetically when they miss a session.

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Conquer Insomnia In 6 Weeks? There's An App For That--And It Could Change Your Life

Cross-bred crops get fit faster

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Guy Calaf/Polaris/eyevine

Loss of crops to drought contributed to a food crisis in Ethiopia in 2008.

Old-fashioned breeding techniques seem to be leading genetic modification in a race to develop crops that can withstand drought and poor soils.

As the climate warms and rainfall becomes more erratic, farmers worldwide will increasingly need crops that can thrive in drought conditions. And the high costs of fertilizers along with the environmental damage they can cause are also pushing farmers to look for crop varieties that can do more with less.

The need for tougher crops is especially acute in Africa, where drought can reduce maize (corn) yields by up to 25%. The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project, which launched in 2006 with US$33 million, has developed 153 new varieties to improve yields in 13 countries. In field trials, these varieties match or exceed the yields from commercial seeds under good rainfall conditions, and yield up to 30% more under drought conditions.

An analysis published earlier this year reported that by the projects end in 2016, the extra yields from drought-tolerant maize could help to reduce the number of people living in poverty in the 13 countries by up to 9% (R.LaRovere et al. J. Dev. Areas 48(1), 199225; 2014). In Zimbabwe alone, that effect would reach more than half a million people.

The projects success is due in large part to its access to a large seed bank managed by one of its partners, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico City. Breeders from CIMMYT and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria, searched the collection for maize varieties that thrive in water-scarce regions. The researchers cross-bred these varieties and then mated the most drought-tolerant of their offspring. Several cycles of this process led to seed that was better adapted to water-scarce conditions. In a final step, project scientists cross-bred these plants with varieties that have been successful in Africa.

It is a painstaking and expensive process, says Kevin Pixley, director of CIMMYTs genetic resources programme.

The CIMMYT researchers established that certain characteristics predict how a maize plant will fare in drought. One of the most telling is the number of days between when the plants male organs shed pollen and when the female silks emerge. When water is scarce, the silks emerge late. If the delay is long enough, they emerge after the plants have released their pollen and are not fertilized.

Finding out this relationship was very important to be able to select for drought tolerance, says Pixley. By favouring plants with shorter intervals between pollen release and silk emergence, breeders were able to produce maize that was more resistant to drought.

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Breedlove: NATO Needs Better Response Force for Russian Threat

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Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, the NATO commander, said Monday that U.S. troops would be part of a new rapid response force within the alliance aimed at deterring what he called Russian President Vladimir Putin's "hybrid war" in Eastern Europe.

The Air Force 4-star laid out his plan for improvements to the response force in two public appearances Monday first at the Atlantic Council, a Washington D.C. think tank, and the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference in the afternoon.

Referring to the ongoing military conflict as a new "hybrid war," Breedlove explained that the NATO Response Force, or NRF, is accommodating a series of new efforts to be better equipped to respond should the circumstances in Ukraine continue to escalate.

The NRF is a multi-national rapid response force of roughly 25,000 troops assembled to protect the alliances' interests and, among other things, enforce NATO's widely known Article V stipulation. Article V of the NATO constitution commits each nation to regard any attack upon a member nation to be equivalent to an armed attack against them all.

"We have to adapt our responsiveness inside the NRF so that we have a force that can respond at speed to address this new model of hybrid warfare we have seen out of Russia. The entire NRF will become more responsive," Breedlove told the audience at the Air and Space Conference.

He explained that U.S. forces need to be a part of the proposed new group within the existing NATO Reaction Force that could deploy against a threat within 48 hours, Breedlove said in remarks to the Atlantic Council.

Last week at the NATO summit in Wales, President Obama said the U.S. would support a "spearhead" unit but he did not immediately commit to troops. Breedlove did not give details on how many U.S. troops would be part of the unit or cite the contributions from other member states.

Breedlove's plan to improve the NRF involves a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening the ability of the alliance to respond rapidly to various military contingencies such as an intensified Russian invasion of Ukraine. Breedlove emphasized that NATO had, in recent years, been trying to regard Russia as a partner -- a circumstance which is no longer the case.

"In the past, we have relied upon the NRF. It is, however, not adequate to the task we see in front of us," he added. As a result, NATO will create what Breedlove referred to as a "very high speed response section of the NRF," which will be able to respond to military challenges in a matter of days.

At the Wales meeting, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said a multi-national force of several thousand troops with a headquarters in Eastern Europe would shore up the 28-member alliance's commitment to NATO's Article V on collective defense.

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Breedlove: NATO Needs Better Response Force for Russian Threat

U.S., NATO reject legitimacy of elections in Russian-occupied Crimea

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The United States and NATO have denounced the recent elections held in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula as illegitimate because they occurred under Russian occupation.

Elections in Crimea were held on Sunday for the first time since it was (illegally) annexed by Russia, and coincided with local elections in Russia. Crimean residents cast their votes for regional Parliament and the Sevastopol city council.

"The United States does not recognize the legitimacy of the so-called regional and local elections in Crimea on September 14th and will not acknowledge their outcome," State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said Monday at the daily press briefing.

"Our position on Crimea remains clear: The peninsula remains an integral part of Ukraine... We call on Russia to return Crimea to its rightful status as part of Ukraine."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen reiterated NATO's position that it will not recognize Russia's "illegal and illegitimate 'annexation' of Crimea," and "does not recognize the reported elections held on 14 September in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine."

"We stand united in our support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders."

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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New Zealand: Snowden exposes NSA facilities during ‘Moment of Truth’ – Video

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New Zealand: Snowden exposes NSA facilities during #39;Moment of Truth #39;
Video ID: 20140915-026 W/S People arriving on stage for the panel discussion M/S Kim Dotcom blows kisses to the crowd, cheering SOT, Julian Assange, Wikileaks editor-in-chief (English): "The...

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New Zealand: Snowden exposes NSA facilities during 'Moment of Truth' - Video

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NSA snooping furor continues

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The logo of Deutsche Telekom is pictured on the TV tower in the German city of Cologne.(REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay)

The National Security Agency is facing more allegations of cyber-snooping after reportedly targeting German telecom networks Deutsche Telekom and Netcologne as part of a sophisticated program to map the Internet.

Citing top-secret documents provided by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, German newspaper Der Spiegel reports that the NSA and its British counterpart, GCHQ, have targeted the firms as part of a program dubbed "Treasure Map." Described by Der Spiegel as the mandate for a massive raid on the digital world, Treasure Map aims to make every single device connected to the Internet visible to the agencies, including computers, smartphones and tablets.

The report notes that employees of the so-called FiveEyes intelligence agencies -- Americas NSA and its counterparts in the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, can install the Treasure Map program for monitoring purposes. The program can also help with Computer Attack/Exploit Planning, according to the report.

Der Spiegel cites red markings on the documents denoting networks that agents claim to have accessed. Global telecom powerhouse Deutsche Telekom and German regional provider Netcologne are both reportedly marked in red.

With German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the center of a controversy over an alleged NSA phone tap, Der Spiegels report comes at a time of heightened sensitivity in Germany over the agencys operations.

Michela Menting, cybersecurity practice director at the tech analyst firm ABI Research, told FoxNews.com that targeting telecom firms could offer intelligence agencies an easier path to information than targeting individuals and groups. Deutsche Telekom is a Tier One operator, which means that both its scale and customer base is huge global, of course a goldmine for any national security agency, she said. Since Germany is clearly not part of the five eyes, they are a target, despite being allies.

Deutsche Telekom provides a range of network, TV and mobile services to more than 60 million customers in Germany. Globally, the company has nearly 130 million customers.

However, Deutsche Telekom told FoxNews.com that it could not find any evidence that its networks were manipulated, even after weeks of investigation with experts from Der Spiegel.

Right now, there is nothing more than a circle around a part of our network in a document provided by Edward Snowden, explained Deutsche Telekom spokesman Philipp Blank, in a statement emailed to FoxNews.com. Nevertheless, we take every hint very seriously and we have informed German security authorities. Any access by foreign intelligence services to our networks would be totally unacceptable.

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NSA snooping furor continues

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