Event to look at Scotland’s pivotal role in robotics – The Scotsman

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Sams engineer Shane Rodwell uses a custom-built quadcopter to measure and photograph glaciers. Picture: Contributed

07:26 Tuesday 14 February 2017

Scotlands role in the future of robotics and autonomous systems is set to come under the spotlight at an event at the Fairmont in St Andrews on Thursday.

InnovateRobotics is being run by VisitScotland Business Events and will look at the outlook for computer-human interaction, the opportunities for unmanned research in our natural environment and how robots of the future might work alongside us.

READ MORE: Edinburgh scientists build Power Ranger robot for Mars

Speakers at the event include Phillip Anderson, head of marine technology at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and Oli Mival of Edinburgh Napier University, an expert in human-computer interaction, user experience and interaction design.

200 Voices: find out more about the people who have shaped Scotland

Rory Archibald, business development manager for VisitScotland Business Events, called robotics an exciting sector for Scotland, and said the event will shine a light on some of the outstanding developments being pioneered here, both in our labs and in our seas.

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Event to look at Scotland's pivotal role in robotics - The Scotsman

More than 1000 high school students expected to Battlefield HS robotics tournament – PotomacLocal.com

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From First Chesapeake:

More than 1,000 high school students will converge on Battlefield High School to test their teamwork and ingenuity during the FIRST Chesapeake District Northern Virginia Competition Sponsored by Bechtel on March 4-5. This competition will bring together some of the best and brightest robotics teams from Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Free and open to the public 9am-6pm both days. Battlefield High School, 15000 Graduation Drive, Haymarket, VA 20169FIRST Robotics Competition teams from Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia will face off

Forty FIRST Robotics Competition teams from Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia will face off at the FIRST Chesapeake District Northern Virginia Competition Sponsored by Bechtel. This is just one of seven district qualifying competitions hosted by FIRST Chesapeake, culminating in the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton, April 7-8 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. In

In addition to watching high school teams compete at this event, families are encouraged to the visit the FIRST LEGO League Jr. in Washington, DC and Virginia Expo on Saturday, March 5, from 10am-1pm, to see how some of our youngest future technology leaders are solving real world problems.

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Potomac Local News is independent local news published daily, serving Prince William and Stafford counties in Virginia. We are the region's premier leading local online news source. News, traffic, weather, thoughtful insight, things to do where you live, and so much more you'll find them all right here.

2017 Potomac Local Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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More than 1000 high school students expected to Battlefield HS robotics tournament - PotomacLocal.com

Designing robots to look more like ostriches can solve a key problem for our future biped overlords – Quartz

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Logistics Magazine - Australia
Designing robots to look more like ostriches can solve a key problem for our future biped overlords
Quartz
In a world where engineers are trying to disrupt delivery with drones and coolers on wheels, one company believes there's another way: robots shaped like the world's largest flightless birds. Agility Robotics, a startup spun out of Oregon State ...
US robotics firm announces walking, running delivery robotLogistics Magazine - Australia
Cassie" Is Set To Revolutionize The Way Robots WalkIFLScience
Agility Robotics evolves to revolutionize robot mobility | Knowridge ...Knowridge Science Report
RT -Immortal News -IEEE Spectrum -Oregon State University
all 32 news articles »

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Designing robots to look more like ostriches can solve a key problem for our future biped overlords - Quartz

Breaking Down Global Silos (Part 2): Lessons Learned from Conflict – Spend Matters

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Editors note: This is Part 2 of Jonas story about an ominously last-minute meeting with the Rio de Janeiro headquarters of his oil and gas company, right before an ERP launch. Missed Part 1? Read it here.

When Joo began his portion of the presentation, he introduced a new piece of technology for uploading new materials into the ERP, identifying duplicates and managing existing item parameters. They informed us that this initiative for reshaping the data which served the lifeblood of all onshore and offshore drilling operations had already begun in the back offices of a shared services center in suburban Rio and was naively set to complete before the end of the following summer.

Who will manage the definitions of replaceable maintenance parts? asked Tom, the MRO procurement manager. And does it comply with the existing Management of Change process [which only allowed leading engineers from within the operations to approve exchangeable parts]? Toms questions were met with vague answers and some blank stares.

Tom also asked how they can align MRO part substitutes when most of the assets were inherited from acquisitions that used manufacturers as diverse as Caterpillar, Hannon and Hitachi. Moreover, would two bearings with the same size and threading characteristic be deemed identical? What if they had slightly different heat tolerances?

These were critical details that had both operational and safety implications, yet Luizs confounded response confirmed that our 2013 global materials strategy had not considered the most basic functional requirements.

And how would this new global rationalization of materials work with our scheduled go-live for the new ERP? Months earlier, a data conversion and cutover strategy had been defined and approved. The work preparing conversion files in order to safely move records from the legacy system into the new ERP had been completed. Yet this further data cleansing exercise indeed may have thrown a wrench into our project plan, not to mention additional challenges integrating a new piece of unfamiliar technology. This could not have come at a worse time.

Luizs implementation strategy, which may have seemed feasible on its surface and in isolation from our diverse operations, could not work as simply as it was presented in a North American environment with substantially different safety and engineering protocols.

Ultimately, with unintended costs and delays, North American operations were able to approximate a solution that satisfied the stated global strategy, yet the additional costs were difficult to quantify as there was likely as much deterioration of trust between Rio and the U.S. as additional spend on headcount.

This familiar conflict that so often arises between siloed executive leadership and diverse regional divisions is entirely avoidable. I call to mind this particular spring day meeting because as executives of global enterprises set procurement and supply chain agendas for 2017, it is more critical than ever to rely not only on raw data that is accessible from arms length, but also operating knowledge and cultural understanding, both of which can only be ascertained through sustained engagement with the field. The former cannot substitute for the latter, particularly in light of increased global political volatility.

The year 2016 showed us how political events, market movements and social trends could be more easily mapped to emotional triggers than axioms ofbehavioral economics or underlying transactional data. In 2017, we are likely to see more of the same.

Luiz often asked why I thought American operations were always so resistant to change. It was clear from his implication and the growing friction between Houston and Rio that regional engagement was a shared responsibility. Our Houston-based team had to learn the importance of framing questions in cooperative language quickly, to avoid feeding the Rio-based stereotype of the reactionary American manager.

The absence of engagement and diplomacy between rival factions never ends well.

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Breaking Down Global Silos (Part 2): Lessons Learned from Conflict - Spend Matters

Miyamoto Still Has Doubts About Virtual Reality – GameSpot

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Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto--and other Nintendo executives--have questioned the appeal of virtual reality in the past. In a new interview with Time, Miyamoto said some of the issues with VR he saw years ago are being worked on, but he still has some doubts and worries.

"In terms of being together online in virtual reality, I think a lot of the problems have been solved or are starting to be solved," he explained. "This is something that we're looking into, too. But when I see people play virtual reality, it makes me worry, just as for example if a parent were to see their kid playing virtual reality, it would probably make them worry."

He added: "Another issue and challenge that I think everybody faces is how to create an experience that's both short enough while also fully fleshed out in virtual reality."

In June 2014, Miyamoto said he's worried that virtual reality might be an isolationist activity--and this goes directly against the kinds of games Nintendo wants to make.

"When you think about what virtual reality is, which is one person putting on some goggles and playing by themselves kind of over in a corner, or maybe they go into a separate room and they spend all their time alone playing in that virtual reality, that's in direct contrast with what it is we're trying to achieve with Wii U," he said, at the time promoting that system. "And so I have a little bit of uneasiness with whether or not that's the best way for people to play."

Here is a picture of Miyamoto trying Oculus Rift at E3 2014:

Nintendo's next home console is the Switch, which comes out on March 3. There have been rumors and reports that claim the system may support virtual reality in the future, but Nintendo has not made any official announcements.

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Miyamoto Still Has Doubts About Virtual Reality - GameSpot

Virtual reality is still too isolating to be ‘the next big thing’ in tech – CBC.ca

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Virtual reality was supposed to be the next big thing.

That was the message the tech industry peddled for years. But despite all of the hype, consumers just don't seem as excited as many would have hoped.

There are the obvious reasons: the gear is expensive, headsets are clunky and image quality is still nowhere near that of movies or console games. But the biggest obstacle to VR's mainstream adoption is not its tangible limitations, but rather, the fact that the experiences it affords are isolating and lonely.

Consider this: the most popular tech of the last decade has been social. Studies show that when we check email and social media, we actually get a hit of oxytocin, the same"cuddle chemical" that is released when we embrace, or fall in love. That's what makes it all so addictive, and why we keep coming back. Yet VR is the opposite: it excels at novelty, but falls short on human connection. And that could be the biggest factor in VR's stalled growth.

Early in 2016, the research group SuperData estimated Playstation VR would sell 2.6 million units. A few months ago, they revised that figure to just 750,000. At the same time, less than a year after flooding its locations with Oculus Rift VR "pop-up" stations, electronics giant Best Buy is closing down almost half of its in-store demos.Workers from multiple Best Buy pop-ups told Business Insider that it was common for them to go days without giving a single demonstration. People just didn't seem to want to try out the headsets.

How does virtual reality work?1:47

That's a huge problem, because casual shoppers can't get a sense of a VR experience just by walking by. They actually need the immersive experience, which requires physically putting on the headset.

But that's where the inherently isolating design of VR headsets becomes apparent. Once you put on the headset, you're separated from the world around you. And sure, that heightened level of escapism is one of VR's great attributes. But if you're by yourself in the middle of Best Buy, putting on a helmet that blinds you to your surroundings may just be a bit more vulnerable than most people want to feel when they're out at the mall.

Even at home, where one can fully appreciate VR's capacity for immersion while in the comfort and safety of your living room, it's still equally isolating a far cry from family movie night or a games night with friends.

In a recent column in the LA Times, Dimitri Williams noted that,"If we look at the most popular games of recent years 'World of Warcraft,' 'League of Legends,' 'Pokmon Go' they are each a sparkly excuse for playing with and being around others Without others, we grow bored, restless, frustrated and sad."

Some companies are starting to develop social VR spaces, which are being touted as the "killer apps" that could, finally, bring virtual reality to the masses. But it's a belated move after years of massive investments that somehow overlooked the necessity of social engagement and community experiences.

We all want to connect, and the most successful devices, platforms and networks help us do that. VR might also, soon. But until it's more social, people will leave the headsets off, and opt for technology they can enjoy with those around them.

This column is part of CBC'sOpinion section.For more information about this section, please read thiseditor'sblogandourFAQ.

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Virtual reality is still too isolating to be 'the next big thing' in tech - CBC.ca

Personalized virtual reality displays match eyesight | Stanford News – Stanford University News

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Some new technologies can be tuned to our personal characteristics, like the voice recognition on smartphones trained to recognize how we speak. But that isnt possible with todays virtual reality headsets. They cant account for differences in vision, which can make watching VR less enjoyable or even cause headaches or nausea.

Stanford researchers are trying to personalize virtual reality headsets to take eyesight into account. (Image credit: iStock/AleksandarNakic)

Now researchers at Stanfords Computational Imaging Lab, working with a Dartmouth College scientist, are developing VR headsets that can adapt how they display images to account for factors like eyesight and age that affect how we actually see.

Every person needs a different optical mode to get the best possible experience in VR, said Gordon Wetzstein, assistant professor of electrical engineering and senior author of research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Though the work is still in its prototype stage, the research shows how VR headsets could one day offer the sort of personalization that users have come to expect from other technologies.

We hope our research findings will guide these developments in the industry, Wetzstein said.

The problem that the researchers set out to solve is that the display screens on VR headsets dont let our eyes focus naturally. In real life, once our eyes focus on a point everything else blurs into the background. VR makes focusing more difficult because the display is fixed at a certain point relative to our eyes. This eyestrain can cause discomfort or headaches.

Over a 30- to 40-minute period, your eyes may start hurting, you might have a headache, said Nitish Padmanaban, a PhD student in electrical engineering at Stanford and member of the research team. You might not know exactly why something is wrong but youll feel it. We think thats going to be a negative thing for people as they start to have longer and better VR content.

Importantly, the effects of visual conflicts in VR may affect younger and older people differently. For example, people over the age of 45 commonly experience presbyopia a difficulty focusing on objects close up. Younger people dont generally have presbyopia but they may have vision issues that require them to wear glasses. In either case, current VR headsets dont take these vision difficulties into account.

One insight in our paper is to consider age as a factor, rather than focusing only on young users, and to show that the best solution for older users is likely different than for younger users, said Emily Cooper, a research assistant professor in Dartmouths Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

The researchers are testing hardware and software fixes designed to change the focal plane of a VR display. They call this technology adaptive focus display.

The group tested two different hardware options. One relies on focus-tunable liquid lenses. Twisting a dial squeezes the liquid lenses inside the headset to change the screen display even though the lens itself remains in place. The other option involves mechanically moving the display screen back or forth, like adjusting a pair of binoculars. The system also incorporates eye-tracking technology to determine where on the screen the user is looking.

In conjunction with the eye-tracking technology, software ascertains where the person is trying to look and controls the hardware to deliver the most comfortable visual display. The software can account for whether a person is nearsighted or farsighted but cannot yet correct for another vision issue called astigmatism. With these displays, VR users would not need glasses or contacts to have a good visual experience.

Its important because people who are nearsighted, farsighted or presbyopic these three groups alone they account for more than 50 percent of the U.S. population, said Robert Konrad, one of the researchers and a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at Stanford. The point is that we can essentially try to tune this in to every individual person to give each person the best experience.

The researchers tested prototypes of these personalized VR displays at last years SIGGRAPH conference. Tal Stramer, a Stanford graduate student in computer science, was involved in this phase. The team tested their adaptive focus display on 173 participants aged 21 to 64 and found that the technology provided improved viewing experiences across a wide range of vision characteristics.

This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, a Terman Faculty Fellowship and grants from Okawa Research, Intel Corporation and Samsung.

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Personalized virtual reality displays match eyesight | Stanford News - Stanford University News

Virtual reality weather add-ons let you feel the sun and wind – New Scientist

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Prepared for the weather

National University of Singapore

By Timothy Revell

Virtual reality devices can already fool your eyes and ears. Soon your other senses will be fooled too, with the creation of a device that can bring the weather in your virtual world to life.

Nimesha Ranasinghe at the National University of Singapore is working towards the ultimate VR experience. Last year, his team showed how electrodes can be used to add sweet tastes into virtual reality. His new accessory, called Ambiotherm, adds atmosphere into the mix as well.

Ambiotherm has two components that combine with a normal VR headset. The first is a wind module that contains two fans that clip on to the bottom of a headset.

This means that we can simulate the wind blowing in your face, for example, as you ski down a mountain, says Ranasinghe.

The second is a temperature module that attaches to the back of the neck. So when walking through a virtual desert, we can simulate the harsh sun beating down on you, he says.

The accessories dont just affect the area they are pointing at, though. In previous experiments, Ranasinghe and his team found that if heat is gradually applied to the neck it feels like the whole body is experiencing a different temperature. Similarly, wind passing the throat can give the impression of standing somewhere windy.

Visuals and sounds are the easiest part of the real world to replace. Its much more difficult to simulate other senses, so its really interesting what theyve done, says Adalberto Simeone at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

Other attempts to emulate environmental conditions in VR experiences normally involve a room with fans and heat lamps dotted around, says Simeone, so making it compact is a big achievement.

By making VR more realistic it could increase the possible uses. Researchers have already shown that VR can reduce pain, reduce fear of death, and even help people who are paralysed regain some feeling in their legs.

Were studying how human emotion can be augmented using multisensory VR. The next step is to start including smells and vibrations, says Ranasinghe. Ambiotherm will be presented at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Colorado in May.

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Virtual reality weather add-ons let you feel the sun and wind - New Scientist

This company is opening a virtual reality multiplex this fall – Mashable

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Mashable
This company is opening a virtual reality multiplex this fall
Mashable
Los Angeles is set to become home to a very futuristic theater experience this fall, as "new location-based virtual reality venture" Dreamscape Immersive launches a VR multiplex in the city in September. Using technology based on medical imaging and ...
Dreamscape Immersive Wants to Bring Virtual Reality Multiplex to Los AngelesNasdaq
Game-Changing Location Based Virtual Reality Venture Dreamscape Immersive to Launch September 2017Yahoo Finance
Spielberg Looks to Grow Virtual Reality Business With Retail Experiencebrandchannel.com

all 6 news articles »

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This company is opening a virtual reality multiplex this fall - Mashable

Virtual reality has a growing impact on college football – FOXSports.com

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Deshaun Watson shredded the vaunted Alabama defense when it mattered most in the fourth quarter of the national title game to give Clemson its first championship in three decades. Of all the eye-popping stats that the Tigers superstar QB produced, the most jaw-dropping is this: in the fourth quarter when faced with the blitz, Watson went 6-of-7 with two touchdown passes.

People talk about being in the zone, and Watsons cool response to pressure epitomized it. And its probably because hed seen it all before many times.

Clemson is one of the college football programs that has been on the front end of the virtual reality movement in sports. The Tigersstaff estimates that Watson devoted about 40 percent of his time in virtual reality immersed in blitz pick-up situations. Obviously, Watsons own talent and vision was a key factor in his ability to burn the Bama blitz, but his coach also gives credit to VR for helping the Tigers take their program to the next level.

I didnt know what to expect early on from (the VR), but its been great for us, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told FOX Sports last month. Weve learned how to maximize theefficiency of it. Deshaun might go through yesterdays blitz script. (Linebacker) Ben Boulware can go in and practice without having to practice. Sometimes a guy who is hurt can still get mental reps. Theres just so many uses for it. Its been a great teaching tool.

Two years ago FOX Sports delved into the subject of virtual reality coming into the world of football. Stanford has been the first program to go all-in, but now there are 13 FBS programs and six NFL teams using the technology via STRIVR Labs (the company that started at Stanford). Clemson actually spends even more time using it than Stanford does, according to STRIVR data.

Temple was another program whose usage of VR actually surpassed Stanfords in 2016. The Owls might be the best example of its impact as it related to their first league title in 50 years. They blew out Navy 34-10 and held a Middie triple option attack that had been averaging 61 points per game the previous three games to 51 points below that after Temple linebackers and DBs did over 500 VR reps in the week leading up to the AAC title game. In addition, Temple QB Phillip Walker hadnt been able to do much in practice that week because he was in a walking boot and instead got his reps in the VR headset. Walker completed nine of his first 11 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns against Navy and went on to win the Most Outstanding Player award for the AAC Title Game.

Im a huge, huge believer in virtual reality, former Temple coach Matt Rhule, now at Baylor, told FOX Sports. We had it for the last two years and won 10 games in each of those years.

I think the eyes are one of those untrained aspects of football. Everybody talks about speed and how fast a guy is but its also about recognizing plays and structure, and I think instincts can be learned and taught, so that intangible thing becomes tangible.

At Clemson, Watson is moving on to the NFL, but VR will remain a big factor for the Tiger QBs. One of the quarterbacks vying to replace Watson is Zerrick Cooper, who red-shirted in 2016 and didnt get any reps in practice on the field but he did in the VR lab.

He was able to sit in my meetings for 30 minutes and the other 30 minutes, Id send him to the VR room, which is right next to my room, and he would go thru all of the concepts, cross it off on the playbook and hes in the game, said Tiger QB coach Brandon Streeter. Hes in 7-on-7. Hes really doing it almost. Hes done very well.

Cooper would put the VR headset on to go through many of the same things Watson and the Tigers other QBs experienced the previous day at practice. I was able to get game-like reps, he said. I could be in the play, look around, see what the defense is giving me. Look at a blitz period. You get to see the front and the coverage and how the safety rotates.

Swinney said VR hasnt just helped develop his team on the field, Clemsons also used the technology to boosts the Tigers recruiting.

We can capture what its like to run down the hill. We can put you on the field and experience Death Valley live. You can experience that locker room celebration live. Maybe you cant come visit. But now we can bring it to you.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports | Kim Klement

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Virtual reality has a growing impact on college football - FOXSports.com

Samsung Goes for a New Look in Virtual Reality at New York Fashion Week – Fortune

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Behind the scenes of "Dreaming of Italy," the VR presentation filmed in Milan, Italy for New York Fashion Week.Courtesy: Samsung, FTL Moda

Fashion and tech are two industries that have danced around each other the last few years, but beyond the vague hybrid buzz term "fashion tech," they've have had trouble finding a true love connection.

Tech appears to be more willing or at least more ambitious with some laudable strides with wearable technology as far as fitness trackers go . Fashion, however, has always seemed more reluctant. Sure, Google Glass made the runway at a Diane von Furstenberg show a few years back, but look how well that went .

Samsungmaybe not the first brand that comes to mind when thinking about high fashionhas had a low-key, but consistent presence at New York Fashion Week the last several seasons, usually as a sponsor with press lounges at the tents offering free extra battery juice (and sometimes some green juice) to smartphone-addicted journalists.

Apple ( aapl ) , the Korean tech giant's most formidable foe worldwide, has made more of a vocal, flashy effort to court the fashion world , especially with the then-long anticipated unveiling of its Apple Watch in 2015. The iPhone maker made headlines alone for inviting more members of the New York-based fashion press than usual to what became the invite-only event of the spring season in San Francisco, followed by fte for the Instagram-set at self-described "brick-and-click" boutique Colette on Paris's chicest street: Rue Saint-Honor.

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Yet sales for Apple Watch , and wearable tech overall , are still mixed. Thus, as far as appearances go, Samsung's slow burn in fashion might finally be heating up.

It is Samsung ( ssnlf ) that is elevating its stature at New York Fashion Week this month, upgrading its fashion cred by toting in the most buzzed-about platform in tech these days: virtual reality.

"We think theres a great opportunity for virtual reality in the fashion industry whether its a private fashion event like this one or taking that same experience to the everyday consumer," says Minson Chen, a product manager for alliances and business development at Samsung Electronics America. "Using virtual reality also allows retailers and fashion professionals to collect data though [the Internet of things]. Designers really want to use information from the consumers and with VR we can capture this data, bring it back to the brand and ultimately help drive business."

The electronics maker has teamed with FTL Moda, a fashion production firm that stages shows for New York Fashion Week, to produce what the two are touting as the first all-digital fashion presentation. Inspired by the theme titled "Dreaming of Italy," the footage was shot in digital and 360-digital in Milan, Italy's fashion capital, earlier this month.

Neha Singh, founder and CEO of Obsess VR, the startup behind the virtual reality software being used for show as well as building a VR shopping platform for fashion, says virtual reality will elevate the fashion industry to a level that's not possible with other digital mediums today.

"With VR, we can create experiences that let anyone feel like they are sitting in the front row of a fashion show, or walk around and shop in a store anywhere in the world from your own couch," Singh says.

Thus, instead of sitting alongside each other in cramped folding chairs dotting the sides of a traditional catwalk, attendees will be able to don Samsung's Gear VR headset for an up-close, 360-degree view of the latest collections and corresponding details about each look. The event will include a museum-style backstage with digital video panels lining the walls as well as "Digital Mannequins" and mirror display technology showcasing the actual designer collections.

"The mirror display is really going be at the center of changing the retail experience for both the retailer and the customer," says Ron Gazzola, vice president of marketing for visual display at Samsung. "The idea of developing digital display science for the fashion industry came about when we looked at the retail space. We knew developing a mirror display for fashion would be all about how to incorporate that experience."

Among the labels featured in the spring 2017 lineup are the 110-year old accessories maker Invicta, Israeli bridal designer Limor Ben Yosef, German streetwear couturier Sonja Tafelmeier, and budding eco-friendly Indian brand Premal Badiani.

The virtual presentation will be hosted at an invite-only event (with the requisite fashion week after-party) on Tuesday at the Samsung 837 all-purpose gallery and flagship store in Manhattan's Meatpacking Districta once-gritty neighborhood now home to luxe aspirational brands such as Tory Burch and Helmut Lang as well as a few lingering actual meatpacking plants.

There is also an Apple Store across the street.

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Samsung Goes for a New Look in Virtual Reality at New York Fashion Week - Fortune

Reality Of Immortality: Oregon State Is Five Games Away From … – Building the Dam

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Reality Of Immortality

Its never fun to write about the struggles of a team, especially one who has dealt with the rollercoaster emotions of a season like Oregon State has, but when it comes down to it, the Beavers are nearing on the edge of history for all the wrong reasons. Its undeniable. With just five games left on their regular season slate, Oregon State has just five more chances to turn their season around and avoid being the worst team in the 116-year history of the schools basketball program. The question is...can they do it?

When Oregon State welcomes Colorado to town on Thursday night, their best chance at breaking their current thirteen game losing skid will be put before them, as the rest of the road ahead for the Beavers looks pretty daunting. Wayne Tinkle and company will need to put forth a monumental effort to finally have that breakthrough theyve been waiting for. The problem for the Beavers is that with their backs against the wall, time is quickly running out.

If the showdown with the Buffs doesn't go Oregon States way, another home game against Utah will at-least give the Beavers the Corvallis-advantage in a duel against an up-and-down Utes program. Utah claimed the first showdown of the season against the Beavers back on January 28th in Salt Lake City, where they knocked off Oregon State, 86-78, despite a career-high 30-point effort from Stephen Thompson Jr..

After those two games, Oregon State will have to try their luck away from home, where theyve been an absolutely abysmal road team with no evidence of that luck changing. Stanford, will be fresh off their rivalry match-up against California, which could allow a let-down scenario for a Cardinal group thats won just four times in conference play. However, California is arguably the Pac-12s best team not named Arizona, Oregon or UCLA. Trying to sneak a win out of Berkeley will be much more difficult than clipping Stanford in Palo Alto.

Finally, the Beavers regular season concludes back in Corvallis in what will be the 348th edition of the Civil War, as Oregon State hosts Oregon on March 4th. The Ducks lambasted the Beavers in their earlier meeting this season, handing them their worst defeat all-season long. If Oregon State hasnt still won by this point, its hard to imagine their arch enemy slipping up with potential NCAA Tournament seeding on the line for the Ducks.

Unfortunately, theres a strong chance that the Beavers could realistically lose five straight games to close out the regular season and head into the Pac-12 Tournament with a 4-27 record overall (0-17 in conference), which would comfortably put their win percentage as the worst in school history (.129%).

[*If OSU loses their next five games...their record would be 4-27 overall (.129)]

The Beavers will return to action on Thursday night, when they welcome a surging Colorado team to Corvallis for a re-match of the Buffs late-January victory. The game is slated for a 6:00 PM PT tip-off and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

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Reality Of Immortality: Oregon State Is Five Games Away From ... - Building the Dam

Florida’s First Body-Freezing Cryonics Facility Now Open In Miami – CBS Local

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Florida's First Body-Freezing Cryonics Facility Now Open In Miami
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It's Florida's first body-freezing cryonics facility in the hopes of freezing individuals and then bringing them back to life in a few decades. Is it eternal life or science fiction? It's called Osiris, who is the Egyptian God of the afterlife, and it ...

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Dietary supplement could improve heart health – Medical Xpress

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February 14, 2017

Dietary intervention could benefit heart health in those with muscular dystrophy. That's according to new research published in Experimental Physiology. If these findings are confirmed in humans, it could mean that off the shelf supplements could improve health and life expectancy.

Scientists from Iowa State University, Auburn University and the University of Montana in the United States found that supplementing the mice's food with quercetin (a flavonol found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, and grains) improved biomedical outcomes, providing an inflammatory and antioxidant effect. To the groups' surprise, they also found that the quercetin-fed mice were more active than the control group

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a severe type of muscular dystrophy that causes a decline in cardiac health resulting in premature death, at an average age of 26 years. Duchenne's predominantly affects males.

The researchers used several mouse models for muscular dystrophy, carrying out experiments in parallel. By doing this they were able to replicate muscular dystrophy in humans as closely as possible.

Dr John C. Quindry, the corresponding author, said: "A currently available dietary intervention could benefit those with muscular dystrophy. We gave the mice a quercetin dose that was proportional to those that could be given to humans. This allows the scientists to make the best possible connections between animal and human research findings."

Explore further: New target may slow disease progression in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

More information: Christopher Ballmann et al, Long term dietary quercetin enrichment as a cardioprotective countermeasure in mdx mice, Experimental Physiology (2017). DOI: 10.1113/EP086091

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a chronic disease causing severe muscle degeneration that is ultimately fatal. As the disease progresses, muscle precursor cells lose the ability to create new musclar tissue, leading to faster ...

(HealthDay) Emflaza (deflazacort) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy in people five years and older, the agency said Thursday in a news release.

A new paper, co-written by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York, increases the understanding of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)one of the most common lethal genetic disordersand points to ...

A drug commonly used to treat leukaemia is showing potential as a treatment that could slow the progression of the muscle-wasting condition, Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

A researcher in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta improved Duchenne muscular dystrophy symptoms in non-human lab models, using a new drug cocktail. The drug combination targets the hot ...

A potential way to treat muscular dystrophy directly targets muscle repair instead of the underlying genetic defect that usually leads to the disease.

New research from the University of Queensland has revealed the way human muscles recover after fatigue.

The acid test for a vaccine is: "Does it protect people from infection?" Emory Vaccine Center researchers have analyzed this issue for a leading malaria vaccine called RTS,S, and their results have identified candidate signatures, ...

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are more likely to see dramatic shifts in the make-up of the community of microbes in their gut than healthy people, according to the results of a study published online Feb. 13 in ...

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have used advanced cellular, bioinformatics and imaging technology to reveal a long-lived type of stem cell in the breast that is responsible for the growth of the mammary glands ...

People with hemophilia require regular infusions of clotting factor to prevent them from experiencing uncontrolled bleeding. But a significant fraction develop antibodies against the clotting factor, essentially experiencing ...

Research led by scientists at UC San Francisco and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has used brain "organoids"tiny 3-D models of human organs that scientists grow in a dish to study diseaseto identify ...

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Double-blind, randomized crossover study of intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate – PR Newswire (press release)

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Studies have shown that 30-50 percent of patients diagnosed with MDD do not respond to an initial anti-depressant trial, while 15 percent will continue to suffer from depression. Treatment-resistant depression commonly refers to major depressive episodes that have not responded to two adequate trials of antidepressant monotherapy.

In a recent study conducted at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and published in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (2016), 12 subjects with mild or moderate TRD were randomized into a double-blind crossover trial to receive an intravenous (IV) infusion of 4 g of magnesium sulfate in five percent dextrose or an IV infusion of five percent dextrose (placebo) with a one week washout period in between.

Subjects were assessed before and after the intervention for serum and urine magnesium. Assessment tools included the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), which is a clinician-used questionnaire to assess severity of depressive symptoms related to mood, feelings of guilt, suicidal ideation, insomnia, agitation or retardation, anxiety, weight loss, and somatic symptoms. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was also utilized and is a brief self-report tool that can be rapidly used by clinicians to determine the response to treatment.

Study results indicated a significant increase in the serum magnesium level in response to the magnesium sulfate IV infusion and as the serum magnesium increased from baseline to day seven, the PHQ-9 score significantly decreased during the same timeframe suggesting an improvement in depression symptoms. The change in the score for the HAM-D scale from day two to eight was also positively correlated with the PHQ-9 score change during the same time period. It was also noted that the 24-hour post-infusion scores on the HAM-D and PHQ-9 did not change. The treatment was well tolerated, and no serious adverse events were noted.

Researchers concluded that IV infusion of magnesium sulfate increased the serum level of magnesium, which was correlated with improved depression symptoms according to the PHQ-9. Improvements in the PHQ-9 and HAM-D were positively correlated. This is in alignment with current literature noting that the administration of magnesium may be beneficial for patients with TRD. Additional research is needed to assess the use of the various forms of magnesium as an alternative to the current standard of care for TRD. Funding for this investigation was provided by a grant from the Life Extension Foundation, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

For more information contact John E. Lewis, Ph.D., the principal investigator of the study at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine at jelewis@miami.edu or Dr. Steven Hirsh, director of clinical research, Life Extension Clinical Research, Inc. at shirsh@lifeextension.com.

Mehdi S, Atlas S, Qadir S et al. Double-blind, randomized crossover study of intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate versus 5% dextrose on depressive symptoms in adults with treatment-resistant depression. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2016 Nov 10 doi: 10.1111/pcn.12480.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/double-blind-randomized-crossover-study-of-intravenous-infusion-of-magnesium-sulfate-300406898.html

SOURCE Life Extension

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Whitehall’s war on unaccompanied minors – LocalGov

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William Eichler 14 February 2017

Amber Rudd announced last week the Government would end its commitment to take in thousands of unaccompanied child refugees from Europe after only 350 had been brought to Britain from camps in France, Greece and Italy.

Former prime minister David Cameron reluctantly agreed the UK would take in an unspecified number of asylum-seeking children last May. While no precise figures were offered, it was understood what came to be known as the Dubs amendment to the Immigration Bill - named after its author Lord Dubs - would see 3,000 lone children rescued.

This is a paltry number - as is the 4,000 we have taken in under other programmes - when compared to the scale of the crisis. According to EU figures, there are an estimated 90,000 minors currently on their own at risk of starvation, disease, sexual exploitation and a whole raft of other abuses.

Defending the decision, Ms Rudd insisted Downing Street was doing the refugees a favour. The Government has always been clear that we do not want to incentivise perilous journeys to Europe, she told Parliament, particularly by the most vulnerable children.

This explanation is unconvincing for many of the experts working in the field. The charity Help Refugees immediately announced its intention to challenge the decision in court. They argued the Government had failed to lawfully calculate the number of available places councils could offer unaccompanied children.

Rosa Curling, the human rights solicitor representing the charity said: The consultation process by which the Home Office has calculated this low number was fundamentally flawed. There was no real consultation with many local authorities.

The author of the original amendment Alf Dubs - himself a child refugee from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia - was also not convinced by Ms Rudds excuses. Today Theresa May put Britain on the wrong side of history, he said. To our country's shame, she has decided to shut down the Dubs Scheme, which promised child refugees a safe future in the UK.

Regardless of the courts final decision, one thing is clear: Downing Streets U-turn follows a longer-running campaign to close Britains borders, which has been promoted by a rightwing populist movement bent on blaming immigrants for all the countrys problems.

So, as I said, the decision that we cannot possibly find room for 2,650 children is hardly a surprise. The intolerant currents swirling around at the moment militate against any act of kindness to strangers.

Perhaps I am being unfair. Perhaps Ms Rudds announcement was simply a pragmatic decision based on sound economic calculations. After all local authorities, who will have to shoulder the very real burden of caring for the unaccompanied minors, are strapped for cash and can barely afford to care for their own residents.

However, councils have repeatedly called on Whitehall to put in place long-term funding arrangements to help care for refugees. Kent County Council, an authority that has taken in many unaccompanied children, has also called on the Government to make it mandatory for all authorities to take their fair share of asylum-seekers.

But all this has fallen on deaf ears. Downing Street would rather abandon the few thousand children they had promised to care for than go against the grain of our current reactionary zeitgeist.

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India can’t write-off coal-based energy so soon: World Coal Association – Economic Times

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NEW DELHI: Reacting to a report citing India will need no coal-based power plant after 2025, the World Coal Association (WCA) said it is not credible to suggest that the country can achieve universal energy access and develop its economy without coal in the next 10 years, regardless of the country's investment in renewables.

WCA chief executive officer Benjamin Sporton said, "India's energy needs are too huge for any suggestion that it will not need coal in the future. In a country where 244 million have no electricity and 819 no access to clean cooking facilities, it is impossible to find a solution without coal being part of the energy mix- Coal is essential to global efforts to achieving universal energy access. "

The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) on Monday said that excess power generation capacity provides India an opportunity to shift completely to green energy. The study by TERI said if the country can halve storage technology prices by 2024 it can do without the need for new coal-based plants. TERI report is partially in line with a recent report by the Central Electricity Authority that said the country does not need new coal based power generation capacity till 2022.

WCA said for a country like India, it's not a choice between coal and renewables - both are needed and both will play a big role. Renewables have an important role to play but coal will remain the driving force behind electrification and industrialisation and according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal will continue to make the largest contribution to electricity generation in India through to 2040.

WCA said although the competitiveness of renewables and gas-fired technology in India is likely to improve over time, coal is expected to remain the most affordable option through to 2035.

Given India is exploring emerging technology such as battery storage we would encourage them to also support CCS. In India there is an unsubsidised, fully commercial CCUS facility which has been operating since 2015. This CCUS project from Carbon Clean Solutions in the port of Tuticorin has been able to significantly reduce the costs associated with capturing the CO2.

"There is an assumption that we can get rid of coal, and only by doing so can we meet climate objectives. This is false. Coal plays a critical role in the world's energy mix and is going to do so for a very long time to come, especially for a country like India where the need for stable, reliable and affordable energy has never been greater," Sporton said.

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Charles Lawton: Here’s a proposal to create real equality of job opportunity – Press Herald

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As a former member of Maines Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, I have learned to remain humbly silent about any prognostications I may have made. Nonetheless, I find it gratifying that just a week after saying that we would do well to pay more attention to principles than to partisanship, the headlines proclaim that we are at least so far still a nation with an independent judiciary based on the principle of a constitutional separation of powers. However the issues of executive power and immigration reform may ultimately be resolved in the case of temporary bans, it is clear that we all need to be involved in formulation of whatever new social contract emerges from the constitutional turmoil in which we are now embroiled.

To my mind, the most important element such a contract must include is an expanded version of economic adjustment assistance. It is often forgotten that many of the central elements of the implicit social contract that emerged nationally in the New Deal of President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s Social Security, unemployment insurance, wage, hour and worker organization regulations were not created by our federal government, but borrowed from the most successful experiments conducted in a variety of state governments. And these programs were, in turn, the product of collaborations among social activists, labor unions, academic researchers and philanthropists.

Ultimately, these elements of the New Deal social contract were based on an evolving understanding of certain of our foundational goals. Individual liberty and equality before the law could, in the industrialized world of the 1930s, have practical meaning only within a community that created programs that at least tried to ensure some degree of equality of opportunity to all citizens. Hence, a tax on wages that went into a fund to ensure that those who had worked for years could enjoy some level of financial support for their last, non-working, years. Hence, another tax on those working today to go into a fund to help those who may lose their jobs tomorrow.

The traditional New Deal economic adjustment assistance programs worked well into the 1980s, but they are clearly inadequate to the demands of the post-1980s globalized economy. And just as the programs of the 1930s emerged to address the socio-economic changes from the agriculture-based economy of the 19th century, so programs today must recognize and adapt to the globalized and digitized economy of the 21st.

Through the better part of the 20th century, unemployment insurance was relatively effective in buffering the worst of the business cycles. When business declined and workers were laid off, funds collected when they were working could be used to tide them over until business improved and they were called back. Since the 1980s, fewer and fewer workers were ever called back. Each recession served as motivation for businesses to become more productive to produce more with fewer workers.

What the unemployed need today in addition to pure wage replacement is the three Rs: re-engagement, retraining and relocation assistance. To anyone following the labor market closely, it is obvious that skilled and motivated human beings are increasingly the scarcest and most valuable resource on earth. Designing and implementing the programs to meet this need will be the battleground from which some political party will become the majority party for the next generation. Will it be the Democrats? The Republicans? The Greens? The nationalists? Who knows, but if someone doesnt, the United States experiment in democracy will certainly fail.

In the interests of focusing discussion, heres a proposal: Reduce the federal corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. Create a federal-state worker learning assistance program modeled after the federal-state unemployment assistance program. Dedicate all federal and, where applicable, state corporate income tax revenue collected to this newly created worker learning assistance program. Include in this dedication all corporate income tax collected on repatriation of any of the estimated $2.4 trillion of corporate income held abroad by U.S. corporations on earnings they made outside the U.S. Include an additional 5 percent credit on earnings repatriated within six months of enactment of this program. Establish a board comparable to the National Science Foundation to solicit, evaluate and allocate money to proposals for use of these funds from schools (public and private), universities, labor unions and any other entity with ideas for helping workers displaced by business disruptions caused by international trade or abrupt technological change.

Such a program would, I believe, do more to make real for the 21st century the fundamental American principle of equality of opportunity than any other public program we could design. It would simultaneously productively disrupt our glacially slow educational institutions, more fully exploit the opportunities presented by the digital communications revolution and begin to stem the alienation and hopelessness that feed the anger and addictions that so threaten our social fabric.

Charles Lawton, Ph.D., is a consulting economist. He can be contacted at:

[emailprotected]

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Automation’s Impace on Data Center Monitoring Alerts – The Data Center Journal

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In my last installment, I discussed a few different areas where data center monitoring automation can not only make life in the data center more convenient but also become a force multiplier. I ran out of space, however, before I ran out of ideas (the story of my life). The one thing I didnt cover was the automation you can implement in response to an alert.

As a data center professional, you probably have a solid understanding of monitoring and alerting already, but to truly appreciate how automation can relieve an enormous burden, it may be helpful to review a few examples.

What follows are some clippings from my garden of automationalert responses that have had a huge impact on the environments where they were implemented.

Example 1: Disk Full

Disk-full alerting is a simple concept with a deceptively large number of moving parts. So, I want to break it down into specifics. First, get the alert right. As my fellow SolarWinds Head Geek Thomas LaRock and I discussed in a recent episode of SolarWinds Lab, simplistic disk alerts help nobody. If you have a 2TB disk, alerting when its 90 percent used translates to having204.8GBs of disk space remaining.

A good solution to this problem is to check for both percent used and also remaining space. A better solution is to include logic in the alert that tests for the total space of the drive, so that drives with less than 1TB of space have one set of criteria and drives with greater than 1Tb have another. These tests should all be in the same alert, if possible, because who wants to manage hundreds of alert rules? Nevertheless, you want to ensure you are monitoring disk space in a way that is reasonable for the volumes in question, and only create necessary alerts.

Next, clear unnecessary disk files out of various directories. For the purpose of this article, Ill just say that all systems have a temporary directory and that you can delete all files out of that folder with impunity. The challenge in doing so easily comes down to a problem of impersonation. Many monitoring solutions run on the server as the system account. As a result, performing certain actions requires the script to impersonate a privileged user account. There are a variety of ways to do so, which is why Ill leave the problem here for you to solve in a way that best fits your individual environment.

Once the impersonation issue is resolved, theres another challenge specific to the disk-full alert: knowing that the correct directories for the specific server are being targeted. The best approach is to use a common shared folder that maps to all servers and place a script file there. That script can be set up to first detect the proper directories and then clear them out with all the necessary safeguards and checks in place to avoid accidental damage.

Example 2: Restart an IIS Application Pool

Sadly, restarting application pools is often the easiest and best fix for website-related issues. Im not saying that running appcmd stop... and then appcmd start... from the server command line is a quick kludge that ignores the bigger issues. Im saying that often, resetting the application pool is the fix.

If your web team finds itself in this situation, waking a human being to do the honors is absolutely your most expensive option. But automatically restarting the application pool becomes slightly more challenging because one server could be running multiple websites, which in turn have multiple application pools. Or you could have one big application pool controlling multiple websites. It all depends on how the server and websites were configured and you have no way of knowing.

If your monitoring solution can monitor the application pool, it will provide the name for you. Most mature monitoring solutions do so already. Once you have the name, you can do the following:

Example 3: Restart IIS

Running a close second behind restarting application pools is resetting IIS. Doing so is, of course, the nuclear option of website fixes since you are bouncing all websites and all connections. Even though its drastic, its a necessary step in some cases.

As with restarting application pools, getting a human involved in this incredibly simple action is a waste of everyones time and the companys money. Its far better to automatically restart and then recheck the website a minute or two later. If all is well, the server logs can be investigated in the morning as part of a postmortem. If the website is still down, its time to send in the troops.

You can restart the IIS web server in a number of ways:

Example 4: Restart a Server

If restarting the IIS service is the nuclear option, restarting the entire server is akin to nuclear Armageddon. Yet we all know there are times when restarting the server is the best option, given a certain set of conditions that you can monitor.Assuming your monitoring solution doesn't support a built-in capability for this function, some options include the following:

Example 5: Restart a Service

Occasionally, services stop. They are sometimes even services that you, as a data center professional who needs to monitor your infrastructure, care about, such as SNMP.So, you are cutting dozens of service-down alerts. Have you thought about restarting them? In some cases, a restart doesnt really help much. But in far more situations it does. Computers are funny things. After all, Screws fall out all the time. The world is an imperfect place. (From The Breakfast Club.)

Sometimes, they just need a gentle nudge. If this is the case, you can do the following:

Example 6: Backup a Network-Device Configuration

Everything Ive gone over so far covers direct remediation-type actions. But in some cases, automation can be defensive and informational. Network-device configurations are a good example, in that they dont fix anything, but instead gather additional information to help you fix the issue faster.

Its important to note that between 40 and 80 percent of all corporate-network downtime is the result of unauthorized or uncontrolled changes to network devices. These changes arent always malicious. Often, the change simply went unreviewed by another set of eyes or an otherwise simple error slipped past the team.

So, having the ability to spontaneously pull a device configuration based on an event trigger is super helpful. To do so, you can use the following approach:

There are two general cases when you may want to execute this automatic action. The first is when your monitoring solution receives a config change trap. Although the details of SNMP traps are beyond the scope of this article, you can configure your network devices to send spontaneous alerts on the basis of certain events. One of these events is a configuration change. The second is when the behavior of a device changes drastically, such as when ping success drops below 75 percent or ping latency increases. In either case, often the device is in the process of becoming unavailable. But in some situations, its wobbly, and theres a chance to grab the configuration before it drops completely.

In both of those situations, having the latest configuration provides valuable forensic information that can help troubleshoot the issue. It also gives you a chance to restore the absolutely last-known-good configuration, if necessary. And if it leads you to think, Well, if I have the last known good configuration, why cant I just push that one back? Then you, my friend, have caught the automation bug! Run with it.

Example 7: Reset a User Session

Somewhere in the murky past, the first computer went online and became Node 1 in the vast network we now call the Internet. The next thing that probably happened, mere seconds later, was that the first user forgot to log off their session and left it hanging.

For any system that supports remote connectionswhether its in the form of telnet/ssh, drive mappings or RDP sessionshaving the ability to monitor and manage remote-connection user sessions can make running weekly, if not daily, restarts unnecessary. Or at least much smoother.

For Linux, use the who command to discover current sessions, or with greater granularity by remotely running netstat -tnpa | grep 'ESTABLISHED.*sshd. Once you have the process ID, you can kill it. For Windows, you get the active sessions on a system using the query session command and disconnect the session using the reset session command. Or you can use the PowerShell cmdlet Invoke-RDUserLogoff.

Example 8: Clear DNS Cache

At times, a server and/or application will misbehave because it cant contact an external system. This misbehavior is either because the DNS cache (the list of known systems and their IP addresses) is corrupt, or because the remote system has moved. In either case, a really easy fix is to clear the DNS cache and let the server attempt to contact the system at its new location.

In Windows, use the command ipconfig /flushdns. In Linux, the command varies from one distribution to another, so its possible that sudo /etc/init.d/nscd restart will do the trick, or /etc/init.d/dns-clean, or perhaps another command. Research may be necessary for this one.

Hopefully at least a few of things Ive shared here and in this series on automation as a whole have inspired you to give automation a try in your data center. If so, or if youre already well on your way to automating all the things. Id love to hear about your experiences and perspective in the comments section.

Leading article image courtesy ofLeonardo Rizzi under a Creative Commons license

Leon Adato,SolarWindsHead Geek and long-time IT systems management and monitoring expert, discusses all things data center in this ongoing series.

Automations Impace on Data Center Monitoring Alerts was last modified: February 13th, 2017 by Leon Adato

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Logistics firm gets automation boost – The Straits Times

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The opportunities presented by the booming e-commerce market have prompted logistics player Bollore Logistics to invest $10 million in a new automation project.

It will tap on advanced technology and robotics to improve and mechanise various processes, from storage to picking and labelling, at its warehouse in Pioneer Turn.

The project - backed by the Economic Development Board - could increase the products being processed tenfold while requiring only half the number of people needed to carry out the same work now.

Bollore Logistics Singapore managing director Fabien Giordano also told The Straits Times it is expected to cut the time taken to process products by up to two days. "Technological changes like this are getting more relevant with the rising demand in e-commerce, as our customers look for shorter handling times," he said, adding Bollore has secured a long-term contract with an international cosmetic group over use of the new project, which begins operations next January.

The automation initiative - much aligned with strategies laid out in the Government's Logistics Industry Transformation Map - will let the firm move staff into higher-skilled roles with higher wages or to other parts of its business. Bollore hires 1,400 people in Singapore, out of its global workforce of over 28,000.

Central to its efforts to improve operations and raise competitiveness is talent, said Mr Giordano - which is why the firm beefed up its global team of engineers to focus on creating innovative solutions in logistics and freight."A lot of people still think of the logistics industry as 'old school' today. That's a mindset we need to change," he said.

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