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Category: Foresters Friendly
Foresters Friendly Society see 36% increase in premium income
As at the end of October 2019, Foresters Friendly Society has increased premium income on its savings and investment plans year-on-year, with a 44% increase in single premium investments and an 8% rise in annual premium investments compared with figures for the same period in 2018. The Society has also achieved an 18% overall increase in policy sales.
Investments into the Foresters with profits Investment Bond and Stocks & Shares ISA have increased significantly as have sales of its Post Office Insurance Society (POIS) unit linked plans. Earlier in the year, Foresters partnered with AXA Investment Managers which has allowed the addition of several new asset classes in the alternatives space. This has helped to give Foresters a unique competitive advantage over similar providers to improve the marketability of its products to new members as well as the returns that can be achieved for existing members.
Foresters' Order Insurance with profits Fund (OIF) was commended for performing well above average throughout a five-year investment period, ranking 5th best-performing fund overall in the Barnett Waddingham annual with profits fund survey. The Foresters fund was also best in class in its medium-sized fund category – funds containing £50-£200m.
Erik Vynckier, Interim Chief Executive of Foresters Friendly Society commented "Our results for 2019 show a continued year-on-year increase in uptake of our range of investment and savings plans – contributing to what has overall been an excellent year for us so far. One benefit of taking out a savings plan with Foresters or POIS is that membership of the Society comes at no additional cost, meaning that all our members can enjoy the benefits this brings, such as access to our discretionary grants and community events."
Foresters Friendly Society's with-profits fund performs well above average, despite tough year for markets
Foresters' with-profits fund is listed the top performing fund in the small and medium categories with a 5 year return of 5.39 per cent.
The sixth with-profits survey by Barnett Waddingham, the UK's leading independent provider of actuarial, administration and consultancy services, found the average annualised fund performance over a five-year period was only 4.48 per cent.
The Barnett Waddingham research covered over £50bn of assets across 41 funds and 23 insurers for the period ending December 31, 2018.
Foresters' Order Insurance Fund (OIF) is performing well above average throughout a five-year investment period and ranks 5th best-performing fund overall. The fund is also best in class in its medium-sized fund category – funds containing £50-£200m.
Erik Vynckier, interim CEO of Foresters Friendly Society commented "it's great to see Foresters' with-profits fund stand up in what have been extremely difficult conditions this year for returns. At times like this when the market is down, our with-profits policyholders have been protected from the vagaries of a volatile market. An investment return of over 5% over 5 years is an incredibly positive performance, one which we hope to see continue".
Foresters Friendly Society was named Best Small Insurer at the Insurance Investment Exchange Awards 2019. Foresters were recognised for their work in delivering real value through their investment portfolios and minimising volatility in an increasingly complex environment.
In June 2019, Foresters began a partnership with AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) which manages €730 billion (£650 billion) globally. This partnership has allowed the addition of several new assets classes in the alternatives space. This has helped to give us a unique competitive advantage over similar providers to improve the marketability of our products to new members as well as the returns that can be achieved for our existing members.
Surge in family members saving for children's education
Nearly four in ten (39%) adults are saving money to help the children in their lives cover the cost of higher education
More than a third (31%) prioritise saving for their first car & driving lessons
28% are saving to help with deposits on first homes
With Which? revealing more than 8 in 10 families are financially supporting their children while at university [1], Foresters Friendly Society has discovered just how far financial preparations are having to stretch to cover the soaring cost of higher education today.
Indeed, parents are increasingly leaning on the support of their wider family members to shoulder costs, with 39% of relatives helping the children in their lives reach university [2].
What's more, with new figures from UCAS, the official university admissions body, reporting nearly four in ten (39.5%) of all 18-year olds in England have applied this year [3], up from 38.1% at the same point last year, many families are helping financially to make sure students can make the most of their experience and focus on their studies without significant debt or financial concerns.
And it's not just education that families are helping with. Learning to drive costs £355 more today than it did 10 years ago [4], with almost a third of relatives (31%) having to fund first cars and lessons.
An additional 28% are saving to be able to help children with the deposit on their first home. In fact, it's thought it will take most 18-to-24-year-olds a shocking 22 years to save just a 10% deposit to buy a home in Britain [5].
For relatives, saving early to help with major life events has become both a short term and long-term priority.
Erik Vynckier, interim Chief Executive for Foresters Friendly Society, commented: "With the cost of living continuing to rise, it's clear financial preparation is being shared more readily among relatives, with more adults helping to ensure the children in their lives achieve major life events with minimal stress or difficulty.
If making substantial financial contributions isn't possible, this approach can be boosted by taking advantage of the range of saving vehicles on offer, ensuring any money saved is working its hardest.
Saving small amounts on a regular basis can quickly become a healthy nest egg.
Opening a savings plan, such as a tax-free Junior ISA, when children are young is a great way to encourage children to engage with money and allow them to see how their savings pot can grow over time with the goal of supporting their future needs".
[1] www.independent.co.uk – Parents take on second jobs and sacrifice holidays to cover children's university costs, report suggests
[3] www.ucas.com – Almost four in ten young people in England apply to university – a new record
[4] www.express.co.uk – Learning to drive costs £355 more today than it did a decade ago
[5] www.telegraph.co.uk – Telegraph's ultimate guide to buying first home
2,000 UK adults were surveyed by Atomik research company, between April to May 2018.
Foresters Friendly Society announced winner of 'Best Small Insurer' at the Insurance Investment Exchange Awards 2019
Foresters Friendly Society has been named Best Small Insurer at the Insurance Investment Exchange awards. Foresters were recognised for their work in delivering real value through their investment portfolios and minimising volatility in an increasingly complex environment. Embracing innovative strategies and internal talent has helped Foresters to be recognised for this award.
Foresters Friendly Society is a mutual insurer providing a range of financial savings, investment and insurance products, as well as a range of member benefits, including discretionary educational grants and healthcare support. It has £270 million of assets under management.
During 2018, Foresters' investment strategy and investment team were overhauled, with the aim of enhancing investment performance, diversifying investment holdings, reducing volatility and efficiently managing solvency capital requirements.
In June 2019, Foresters began a partnership with Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) which manages €730 billion (£650 billion) globally. This partnership has allowed the addition of several new assets classes in the alternatives space. This has helped to give Foresters a unique competitive advantage over similar providers to improve the marketability of its products to new members as well as the returns that can be achieved for existing members.
To support its enhanced investment strategy further, Foresters Friendly Society has also invested in its internal resourcing and created an in-house investment team to deliver insightful management information and provide more oversight to its external investment managers.
In addition to this, in the Barnett Waddingham 2017 annual with profits survey undertaken on 52 funds, the Foresters Order Insurance with profits fund:
Rated the best performing fund in the small fund category.
Rated in the top quartile across all fund sizes.
Provided higher returns over the 5 year period than the average return from the largest with profits funds.
(Source: The Barnett Waddingham survey, December 2017.)
Rachel Hardy, Finance Director at Foresters Friendly Society, comments "As a small insurer, we face the same challenges as larger organisations but with fewer resources so it is a real testament to the team that we have been recognised for the hard work and dedication on our investment strategy over in the last 18 months.
Working in partnership with Axa IM, a provider with solid credentials in the insurance sector, a robust performance track record and global capabilities across the wider investment universe, this places Foresters in a unique positioning against our peer group which will benefit our members and future members."
AXA Investment Managers Selected by Foresters Friendly Society to Manage Multi-Asset Mandate
Foresters Friendly Society (Foresters), the mutual insurance provider protecting families since 1834, has appointed AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) to manage a £175 million multi-asset mandate on behalf of its members, with capacity for the mandate to grow to £300m in the medium-term.
The mandate will be lead by portfolio manager Andrew Etherington, and managed across non-profit, with-profits and unit-linked funds. 80% of the mandate will be invested in traditional assets, allowing for a 20% allocation to AXA IM's strong alternative investment offering, in order to provide Foresters with additional diversification and potential return for its policyholders.
Furthermore the mandate is designed to allow for Foresters' growth plans and enhancement of ESG integration, an area in which AXA IM is highly skilled, with two decades of RI experience. Last year AXA IM announced integration of ESG analysis across all of its investment platforms.
ESG investment has increased significantly over the past few years, with Foresters taking a keen interest in the heightened social conscience of the investment community. The appointment of AXA IM broadens the opportunities to invest in alternative asset classes, enhancing investment returns whilst keeping risk profiles within appetite, but also allows Foresters to explore and improve their ESG offering to support the increasing demands of investors.
In June 2019, Foresters Friendly Society won Best Small Insurer at the Insurance Investment Exchange awards. Foresters were recognised for delivering real value via their investment portfolios and minimising volatility in an increasingly complex environment.
Rachel Hardy, Finance Director at Foresters Friendly Society, commented: "We are pleased to have appointed AXA IM to manage our multi-asset mandate on behalf of our members. This appointment facilitates our expansion into ESG, which is an area of great importance across the investment industry as well as to our members whose interests are at the forefront of our services."
John Stainsby, Head of UK Institutional Client Group, said: "Being appointed by a historically important mutual such as Foresters Friendly Society is a great endorsement of our third party offering, and best in class insurance asset management capabilities. Today is an exciting time for UK mutuals as they look to innovate and grow their member base. We believe that AXA IM are well placed to support in this development. We look forward to working closely with the Foresters team, and growing the relationship further."
Volunteer's Week 2019: 57% of us DON'T give back to communities
More than half of Brits (57%) do not give up their free time to help the community
35% blame parental duties as the biggest barrier stopping any time for volunteer work
But 33% would like to give up their free time this year
While Volunteers' Week from 1st to 7th June will seek to acknowledge the 23 million people across the UK who willingly give up their time to help their local communities, a worrying 57% of us don't volunteer at all.
Analysis from financial services mutual, Foresters Friendly Society, found there are several barriers stopping people from volunteering and giving back to their local communities. These include time pressures due to work or parenting commitments, a lack of experience and confidence volunteering and being unable to afford the perceived associated costs.
In fact, 35% are so pressured for time outside of their day jobs or when juggling childcare duties that they are left without room to consider any volunteer work at all. While experience as a volunteer could be developed over time, 13% are concerned about their lack of know-how when approaching volunteer work.
What's more, while most extracurricular activities carry a minimal cost of £13 per week on average, there remains 10% who are concerned about affording additional payments.
Contributing to this lack of take up is the 21% of Brits who believe the government hold ultimate responsibility for promoting community support, not the volunteers themselves.
However, in recognition of the significant 33% considering volunteer work this year and to ensure awareness of its benefits is spread across the UK, Foresters Friendly Society has launched their nationwide Unsung Hero campaign and competition.
Open now and running until midnight on the 7th June 2019, the competition is open to both members of Foresters Friendly Society and the public, who can nominate either themselves or someone they know who participates in regular volunteer or selfless acts on behalf of their community.
The winner will be presented with a choice of Virgin Experience Days, worth up to £2,000. Whether that's helicopter flying, sportscar racing or time spent at a luxury spa, these experiences are guaranteed to make the winner feel truly super – be it they want an adrenaline fuelled day or time to sit and relax!
Foresters Unsung Heroes campaign and competition will give a voice and platform to those who may go unrecognised for their selfless volunteer work or deeds done to help benefit their local community.
Whether it's individuals in the armed forces, charity and community services, or activities such as running after-school clubs, charity fundraising or conservation work, the campaign and competition will celebrate individuals' commitment to support their community.
To enter, participants need only to complete a short online questionnaire available via the competition entry page: www.forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk/unsungheroes
Participants can also look out for reminders on Foresters' social channels, using the hashtag #ForestersUnsungHeroes
Myles Edwards, Membership Director for Foresters Friendly Society commented: "Not only are volunteering activities helpful to others, but there are personal and social benefits in taking up such activities. Aside from the satisfaction of helping those in need, volunteering can also open the door to creating wider friendships and expand a person's skill set or general knowledge.
"As a friendly society, we pride ourselves in catering for not just our members, but also our communities. We have launched the Unsung Heroes campaign to bring further awareness to those selfless individuals who put others before themselves daily and actively contribute to their local communities. In launching our campaign, we hope others will feel inspired to give back, whether that's spending time to help clean up your local town, or even just getting in touch with those who might feel lonely. We encourage our members and the public to show their appreciation for our real-life heroes whose identity, for the time being, might be unknown."
2,002 UK adults were surveyed by Opinium research company, between 5th February to 8th February 2019.
Bank Holiday rewards on limited offer from Foresters Friendly Society
With the Bank holiday fast approaching, consumers have the option to make use of the extra day to ensure their savings are working their hardest ahead of the summer months. Foresters Friendly Society, the mutual provider, will be offering a range of M&S Gift Cards up to the value of £300 for those who apply online by midnight, Sunday 2nd June 2019.
Foresters has a wide range of offers for consumers who open one of their popular Tax-Exempt Savings Plans (TESP), Child Tax Exempt Savings Plans (CTESP), Junior ISA, Stocks & Shares NISA or Lifetime ISA products within the limited time offer.
M&S Gift cards are also available to those who take out an Investment Bond with Foresters.
The deals, which are available exclusively via the Foresters website, offer an M&S Gift Card of up to £300. These are dependent on a minimum of three month's contributions being paid upfront or in the case of lump sum investments, the amount must remain invested for at least three months.
Paul Osborn, Chief Executive for Foresters Friendly Society commented: "While the number of providers offering cashback or other incentives for opening new ISA accounts is growing, we are confident increasing the value of our limited offer on M&S Gift Cards will contribute to more savers spending the time to establish a long-term savings plan. This may take small amount of time out of people's Bank Holiday, but with summer holidays on the horizon, it's a really good time to get this sorted for yourself or a family member."
For further information and full terms and conditions for the Tax-Free Savings Plans M&S Gift Card offer please visit: https://www.forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk/tax-free-saving-exclusives/
Foresters Friendly Society launches Unsung Heroes campaign
Two in five (41%) Brits don't have favourite fictional superhero
35% felt Thailand cave rescue team were most heroic real-life heroes
Nearly half (44%) of Brits think we should talk openly about everyday heroism we see
As we gear up for the deluge of Hollywood superhero blockbusters this summer, new research has proven that 41% of Brits admit they don't have a favourite fictional superhero.
National Superhero Day, on 28th April 2019, was initially created by Marvel employees in 1995 to honour superheroes both real and fictional. Brits proved that, while Marvel and DC comic heroes are admired, it is the real-life feats of everyday people that strike a chord in our hearts.
For example, a third of those surveyed (35%) felt the startlingly brave acts of the divers involved with the Tham Lung cave rescue in Thailand in June 2018 meant they deserved the title of most heroic real-life heroes. Sir David Attenborough (12%) and former First Lady, Michelle Obama (6%), were voted second and third most heroic real-life figures for their contributions to society over the last 12 months.
In comparison, Superman (9%) Batman (8%) and Wonder Woman (7%) were the top three fictional superheroes, followed by Marvel heavyweights Thor (5%) and Black Panther (4%) according to a survey conducted by Foresters Friendly Society.
When asked what made these fictional heroes so "super", 22% said the fact they protected people and the society we live in was their most admirable trait. Fighting crime and corruption and going the extra mile for others were voted second and third best traits at 15% and 11% respectively.
While 'classic' hero traits exist in our fictional heroes, not all superheroes wear capes. In fact, two thirds (66%) of the public do not think everyday heroes in local communities are properly recognised for their efforts. In recognition of the lack of acknowledgement and celebration of our real-life heroes, Foresters Friendly Society has launched their UK wide Unsung Hero campaign and competition.
Running from 28th April until 7th June 2019, the competition is open to both members of Foresters Friendly Society and the public, who can nominate either themselves or someone they know who participates in regular volunteer or selfless acts on behalf of their community.
The winner will be presented with a choice of exclusive adrenaline packed Virgin Experience Days, worth up to £2,000. Whether that's helicopter flying, sportscar racing or time spent at a luxury spa, these experiences are guaranteed to make the winner feel truly super – be it they want an adrenaline fuelled day or time to sit and relax!
With more than two in five people (44%) strongly believing we should talk openly about everyday heroism; Foresters Unsung Heroes campaign and competition will give a voice and platform to those who may go unrecognised for their selfless volunteer work or deeds done to help benefit their local community.
Whether it's individuals in the armed forces, charity and community services, or activities such as running after-school clubs, charity fundraising or conservation work, the campaign and competition will celebrate individual commitment to support their community.
Myles Edwards, Membership Director for Foresters Friendly Society said: "Not all superheroes wear capes. Our real-life heroes, be it members of the armed forces, carers or charity volunteers deserve equal respect and acknowledgement of their selfless efforts to provide for their communities.
2,002 UK adults were surveyed by Opinium research company, between 5th February to 8thFebruary 2019.
ISA season tax-free saving rewards from Foresters Friendly Society
ISA season is upon us and as investors rush to make the most of their tax-free allowance, Foresters Friendly Society, the mutual provider, will be offering an M&S Gift Card up to the value of £300 for those who apply online by midnight, Friday 5th April 2019.
Foresters has a wide range of offers for consumers who open one of their popular Tax-Exempt Savings Plans (TESP), Child Tax Exempt Savings Plans (CTESP), Junior ISA, Stocks & Shares NISA or Lifetime ISA products by the end of the tax year (5th April).
The deals, which are available exclusively via the Foresters website, offer an M&S Gift Card of up to £300 depending on the value of monthly or lump sum contributions and the duration that the savings are invested.
Paul Osborn, Chief Executive for Foresters Friendly Society commented: "The internet is full of money saving tips and tricks, and for savvier savers the end of ISA season can be a lucrative occasion. Now is the perfect opportunity for those who've yet to take advantage of their ISA allowance to do so and take advantage of our M&S Gift Card offers, just by opening an account. It only takes a few clicks to set up a savings plan which will bring lasting value, either to themselves or a loved one."
For further information and full terms and conditions for the Tax-Free Savings Plans M&S Gift Card offer please visit: www.forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk/giftcard
75% of parents sacrifice their savings to support kids
A third of adults (33%) sacrifice how much they spend and save for themselves to support younger family members, with 42% cutting back occasionally
Of the money that's saved, 57% would be unhappy if it was spent on expensive gifts, going out (55%) or expensive clothes (51%)
More than two thirds would prefer savings were spent on a house deposit (75%), university (77%), or a pension (67%)
High living expenses, poor wage growth and uncertain economic times has made more adults feel financially responsible for family members under 18 years old.
One third (33%) of the population are often sacrificing how much they both spend and save money for themselves to divert funds to support their children, with 42% following suit on occasion, according to new research from Foresters Friendly Society.
Conscious of how financially hard up younger family members might be later in life, increasing numbers of adults are having to financially support younger family members to achieve short and longer-term milestones when they reach adulthood. That said, of the money that's saved, well over half (57%) would be unhappy if funds were blown on frivolous expenditures including expensive gifts for others, on big nights out (55%) or expensive clothing (51%) by their children.
Indeed, more than two thirds of adults would prefer savings were spent on a deposit for a first home (75%), university (77%), or towards retirement (67%).
That said, 49% talk to younger family members about the importance of good money-saving habits on a regular basis and 31% talk through their own budgeting strategies and explain how they plan to meet them. This indicates that while support is needed, parents are looking to encourage younger members to stand on their own two feet as soon as they're able.
But that's not to say all parents are without a sense of fun, with only 25% being upset by the idea dedicated savings were spent on a trip around the world. However, surprisingly or not, 51% of dads would be pleased to see their child's funds spent on gigs and festivals, whereas just 29% of mothers would share the same reaction.
Paul Osborn, Chief Executive for Foresters Friendly Society commented:
"Saving enough for life's big milestones can prove tricky, particularly for those on the cusp of adulthood who are starting to come to terms with making big financial decisions for the first time. Knowing there is ongoing parental and guardian support is comforting but ensuring all money that's saved works its hardest is key. It's true, older generations are going to have to financially support their offspring for longer but that's not to say they're on their own in the process. There are a range of saving vehicles out there that can help with the heavy lifting. For example, the flexibility of the Junior ISA or Lifetime ISA means young people can save up for something meaningful, knowing what they are able to put away is tax-efficient and will give them that added boost when they need it."
Foresters Friendly Society's with-profits fund performs well above average
Holiday money: 6 ways to boost your budget and save in the sun
Foresters Friendly Society winner of 'Best Small Insurer' at Insurance Investment Exchange Awards 2019
Children and Money
Foresters Friendly
Introducer Scheme
Foresters Friendly Society is the trading name of The Ancient Order of Foresters Friendly Society Limited which is an Incorporated Friendly Society (Registration No. 511F) and is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Registration No. 110029).


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TeamSandcrawla.net
Star Wars LCG, Warhammer Conquest, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes news.
Star Wars LCG: Galactic Ambitions Preview
Posted by Dav Flamerock on February 24, 2016
News Spoilers Star Wars LCG	1 comment
In a strange
, it seems that the eagerly-awaited upcoming deluxe expansion, Galactic Ambitions, has been released already in Spain. As such, we have provided a Galactic Ambitions Preview!
While this isn't the first time this has happened, this seems to be unbelievably early for a deluxe that, at the earliest, wasn't expected to drop for another three months. Not only that, but rather than getting a Force Pack a week early (which has happened), this release was an entire deluxe expansion featuring fourteen unique pods. That's as if they released the rest of the Endor cycle all at once, and well before it was expected to drop! Thanks to the fact that this is now available for purchase in Spain, FFG has done the reasonable thing for their local (American) audiences and published the complete spoiler of the expansion on their community website, CardGameDB. For those who don't feature the CardGameDB forums and might not be aware of the deluxe, or might want an introduction to it, I'm going to briefly outline the contents of the box so that you can start thinking of what you're going to want to do with these cards when they do become available.
But first, a quick FAQ:
While available in Spain, this expansion is not legal for tournament play. Treat this as a pre-released deluxe at GenCon: some people have it in hand, but it's not legal for tournament use anywhere until the (not-yet-announced) street date arrives.
We don't have any idea when this deluxe is scheduled to be released, but it's unlikely to be any time soon. So don't get too caught up in building decks with these new cards, as they're unlikely to come out for another three to six months. That said, due to this unexpected early release (to FFG as much as us), it might get pushed out sooner.
Such an early and unplanned release means that the traditional preview cycle for the expansion will be skipped, and we're unlikely to see any new SWLCG news for a while beyond tournament reports. That said, expect to see articles discussing these cards in depth on this site leading up to its eventual release. As a Red player on both sides, you can imagine how excited I am to finally get this long-awaited deluxe.
No, I have no idea why the dark side cards are numbered before the light side cards in this expansion, which is different from every other expansion to date. Sometimes FFG does strange things!
And Now, On To The Main Attraction
Dark Lord of the Sith (Pod 217)
The Sith half of the deluxe focuses on a new version of Darth Vader, who eschews his usual damage-dealing mechanics for a more intimidating, focus-heavy version. The pod comes with an event and a fate card that both place focus tokens on enemy units (generally before they can strike), and Darth Vader himself gets more powerful if your opponent controls a lot of focused units. He has no lightsaber to gain targeted strike, but as he has a slightly different version of targeted strike already (it only works on exhausted units, but also works on defense), it's unlikely to matter. It also has a very strong, albeit unique, resource, a powerful Stormtrooper with shielding, and a mono-Sith-only objective that will probably feel similar to
The Tarkin Doctrine
in actual play.
Encounter at Stygeon Prime (Pod 218)
Finally showing his face from the popular Rebels TV show with some absolutely fantastic art, the Inquisitor is all about streamlining the focus-and-damage-based tricks that Sith already has into a single engine. The Inquisitor himself is a strong defensive unit with a built-in ability to exchange a card you don't want for the top card of your deck and a lightsaber that's pretty generic but can make him extremely deadly. His support unit is kinda like a one-cost Trooper with a black tactics, except that your opponent gets to choose where that focus token goes. One enhancement turns any source of damage into a tactics icon (makes
really strong) while the other turns one of your objectives into
Enforced Loyalty
unless they're willing to attack it every turn.
Power of the Dark Side (Pod 219)
Darth Vader may be the big main character in this deluxe, but Emperor Palpatine isn't going to be left out this time. In short, this Emperor does stand up to the Emperor in the Core Set, which is currently considered to be the Sith staple. At six-cost Palpatine trades one tactics icon for two unit damage, and instead of recurring powerful Sith events he has the ability to refresh another Main when you win a Force struggle so you can attack and defend with Darth Vader. He has a resource as expected, but most of his pod revolves around
committing your opponent's units
to the Force and then punishing them for losing a force struggle. His event and objective damage or destroy enemy committed units, and his support unit is an exact Sith counterpart to the powerful
Jedi Wolfmen
, in that it's a unit with two black guns, edge 1, and can return from the discard pile when it dies. This is another powerful Sith set I expect to see a lot, but the importance it places on the Force struggle might make people go for the more generically-useful Core Palpatine.
Dark Defenders (Pod 220)
You might not have expected a Pilot pod in a Sith expansion, but here it is!
Black Squadron Pilot
makes a triumphant return, as does Backstabber, but this time Backstabber costs less and does a more Sith-like thing when he sneaks into play: he focuses an enemy unit. This is a very defensive TIE Fighter pod, which is something pretty new, but it does that very well: both Backstabber and
Seeds of Decay
put focus tokens on enemy units, the new Black Squadron unit (yes, it's the whole squadron!) operates as an almost exact replica of
Aquaris Freeholders
on the dark side, and the event lets you spend one to go find any Black Squadron card in your deck. The biggest strength of Black Squadron is that its cost reduction doesn't depend on what your opponent does, and it can be dropped into play for free with
Vader's TIE Advanced
. It can also be
ed, which is pretty incredible.
Hunters of the Jedi (Pod 221)
Brothers of the Sith
introduced us to the Sithspawn trait, and this pod delivers more support for what will probably become an archetype of its own. It's kinda like a set that has four vanilla units, but for vanilla units they brawl pretty well. The Tuk'ata are Force Sensitive
s, which is good enough on its own, and the Terentateks are giant Mains that will basically always kill whatever they hit, though they can only kill one thing at a time. That this set has a resource is fantastic, since that means you can safely run it with a greater variety of other Sith (or Scum) pods, but the most powerful card will probably be the objective. Losing a Tuk'ata or a
Dark Side Apprentice
is a pretty minor cost to get a free Terentatek or
Gorc
Out of the Mists (Pod 222)
Zuckuss and 4-LOM make their triumphant return (not that they were bad, necessarily), in the form of a pair of capture-based bounty hunters. Zuckuss has
Force Precognition
and 4-LOM can capture a support unit when he strikes as an attacker, but both their abilities get significantly better when they're in an engagement together. To help that come about, the objective lets you put a 3-or-less-cost Scum unit into play from your discard pile (say WHAT?) when you double your opponent's icons in an edge battle. This also introduces the main mechanic of the set: winning a contested edge battle by double. An edge stack is considered contested when both players have at least one edge icon, but winning by double can be pretty tough without something like
The Prince's Scheme
. That said, if you can pull it off, you can destroy an enemy enhancement, force an enemy unit to participate in an engagement (if they have a shared trait with someone already in the engagement) or capture a Force-committed unit. Some of these are better than others, but between Zuckuss's edge 2 and precognition and a three-edge card not on a unit, I think these thresholds can be met.
Entrenched Defenses (Pod 223)
For all your friends that've gotten tired of going up against the Navy Fortress that is Tarkin, Yularen, and Imperial Blockade, there's now Entrenched Defenses to make your objectives that much less assailable. As an exact clone of
The Secret of Yavin 4
in Navy, the objective will help protect your key objective even if they can pay the Tarkin Tax, and will just make killing your objectives more difficult in general. It comes with a non-limited resource that refreshes your Vehicles to allow them to defend, which can be pretty nutty on someone like the
, along with a
Heat of Battle
, and a three-edge-icon event that will occasionally fully-heal one of your Vehicles. But the real gas is in these five-cost units that can't attack, have three black guns and a white tactics, and basically can't lose their strike… ever. They can't be focused, and with four health they're unlikely to be killed in one strike, so attacking into one of these Golan Defense Platforms will usually spell death for the light side. If defending is your jam and you have the resources to spare, this pod is going to be your best bet.
Hope of Rebellion (Pod 224)
It's been a while since we saw Rebel Leia in action, so this time we're getting a new one. Like her core set predecessor, she's a two-cost tricon with one health and a powerful "leaves play" ability (and she captures herself when she dies). Unlike her predecessor, her "go find a Rebel objective" ability can be completely negated if they get damage on all your objectives, and while objectives are powerful… some of them aren't. Her Leader-matters event gives all your participating units (including the Leader) an extra gun, though it's probably better as a three-icon edge card. She has two chuds with two black guns that deal an objective damage when they enter play, which sounds fantastic, but that they have zero Force icons could be an issue. The real star of the objective set is the fate card, which (if you control a unique Rebel unit) lets you bring back basically any Rebel unit (except
) from your discard pile as a participating unit, and the put them back into your hand. Getting to fire off essentially a free
that returns the unit to your hand (remember Unfinished Falcon?) sounds pretty appealing.
Planning the Attack (Pod 225)
The long-awaited, always under-represented, General Dodonna! This pod's all about drawing cards and controlling Leaders, both of which are solid strategies. Dodonna's a solid Main, and when his tactician support units attack with a Leader (and the Leader doesn't die before they strike), they're worth far more than two cost. Yet one-health Characters continue to be a problem, so I'll reserve judgment. A two-resource, elite enhancement is fantastic (though its three-cost makes it less fantastic) and Twist makes this pod have excellent edge capability. This'll probably be a prominent feature in Leader decks if such a thing arises.
Mission to Talay (Pod 226)
Dark Forces gets a shoutout with Mission To Talay, and the pod based around the second level of the game features both Mon Mothma and Kyle Katarn. Kyle wrecks enemy units with targeted strike and an "edge 1"-like ability, while Mon Mothma gives you a ludicrous amount of resources (if you can afford to commit her to the Force). Nothing in the set has elite… but the resource enhancement, Inspiring Presence, can attach to Mon Mothma to give the objective and both units the ability to provide lots of resources and escape being buried by tactics icons. The Concussion Rifle falls flat in both theme and mechanics, but if you're in a good position you can use it to make Kyle a bit more deadly. The sleeper of the set might be Rebel for Hire, which can fetch any card from your deck as long as you have a Leader from the same pod on the table. This set might be too fair to compete but it has some of the most interesting mechanics in the deluxe.
The Alliance's Elite (Pod 227)
Vehicles are a major part of the Rebel affiliation, so it would be a shame not to include some classic ships like Rogue Squadron (yes, the whole squadron is one unit). Filled with units and enhancements that care about putting things onto your ships, you'll find that this pod basically acts as a perfect pair with
The Defense of Yavin 4
in its goal to get good ships on the table and enhance them. While it doesn't call them out by name, it's clear this pod was designed with Pilots in mind, as both units directly benefit you for putting enhancements on your ships, and the two enhancements it comes with are perfectly worth their cost. R3-A2 even makes an appearance from his popular position in X-Wing (where he has the affectionate title "the Stressbot") and gives your ships some much-needed tactics. All of the cards are fairly costed, but will likely fill out the weaknesses of Rebel Pilot decks.
Capital Cover (Pod 228)
For those more interested in Capital Ships, here's an absolutely bonkers pod. Between the objective's ability to shield all your ships and the Defiance's ability to protect your vehicles, I expect Capital Ships to be somewhat invulnerable outside of things like
. Every card in the set helps to get shields on your units, and they all have solid icons for their costs, which just get insane if you're ever willing to spend your shield to gain four black icons. If Capital Ships aren't a thing by the time this comes out… well they will be. Ironically, having a two-cost Capital Ship does as much as the nutty objective to get the archetype rolling.
Spark of Rebellion (Pod 229)
Kanan Jarrus finally makes his appearance to oppose the Inquisitor, and while the Inquisitor supports lots of different Sith strategies, Kanan… is actually in an entirely neutral set, and in one that's at its best in a Rebel or Smuggler deck. The infamous
Attack Pattern Delta
for Characters has arrived, and with so many pods with lots of two-cost Characters to choose from, I expect this pod to have a lot of value. It even solves the APD problem of wasting your activation and missing by giving two chuds that let you peek at the top of your deck. But even more than that, it can also hit four-cost units like Kanan if they have the Specter trait… which means we should start expecting to see more members of the Ghost coming out soon. And even if all that synergy weren't enough, Kanan's a Leader so you can pair him with Leia or Dodonna to get extra value out of their pods.
The Gardener's Secret (Pod 230)
The final objective set in the box is the limit-one Smuggler set. This will appeal to some people a lot and others not at all, as the very powerful-yet-very-polarizing objective helps your opponent out in the beginning of the game but can help you out more in the long run if you outnumber your opponent's enhancements. And since the entire set is built around getting lots of enhancements into play, all three of its units help get them, from your deck (Momaw) or discard pile (junk dealers). It may not have resources, but it has two enhancements that permanently increase your reserve value for the low cost of one resources. Take that,
Platt Okeefe
That's quite a ton of information to process right away, and having to wait for the box to release will be rough, but when it does drop know that it's going to bring the last light side faction up to par with its Jedi and Smuggler counterparts… and the Sith will be as strong as ever, if not stronger than they were before. I certainly look forward to it!
Due to all this dropping at once and rather overwhelming me with new content, expect this week's article on Strike Economy to come next week instead. In the meantime, I have another deck to highlight!
~Dav Flamerock
Dav Flamerock
Dav spends his free time making tabletop games, playing tabletop games, or writing tabletop games. He particularly loves Star Wars LCG, LotR LCG, Halo: Fleet Battles/Ground Command, X-Wing, and Call of Cthulhu RPG. Hit him up on Twitter if you want to get in touch!
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Golang append slice to a slice of slice, then the slice will always affect the slice of slice? Today I got this code:

import "fmt"

func main() {
    var results [][]int
    combination := []int{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
    results = append(results, combination)
    fmt.Println(results)

    combination2 := combination[:len(combination)-1]
    combination2 = append(combination2, 0)
    fmt.Println(results)

}

the output shows :
[[1 2 3 4 5]]
[[1 2 3 4 0]]

so why the results been affected? I cannot find any reason, and it puzzled me a lot, thank you for your answer!

A: Well, result isn't directly affected, but combination is (or, rather, its underlying array).
You "slice" combination to get combination2. Their underlying array is the same.
Now when you do the append operation you basically say "after this slice ends I want element 0". By doing this you also change the last element of the first slice to be 0.
Check out this example: https://play.golang.org/p/m0bPJDj9kHs
P.S. You can prevent this by using copy() operation.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Here are the titles presented at the last semiannual Statistical Mechanics Meeting, held in December 1998. As usual these titles are informal and, in many cases, there is only one speaker listed, although the work may have been done by many collaborators. Also, the addresses are incomplete, but e-mail addresses are provided if your are interested in communicating with a speaker.


Section 1. Issuance. Shares in this corporation shall either be represented by certificates or shall be uncertificated and represented by book entry registered in the name of the shareholder on the books and records of the corporation or its transfer agent. At the direction of the corporation to its transfer agent and absent a specific request for a certificate by the registered stockholder or transferee thereof, all shares of the corporation shall be in uncertificated, book entry form upon the original issuance thereof by the corporation or upon the surrender of the certificate representing such shares to the corporation, in accordance with a Direct Registration System approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and by the NASDAQ Capital Market or any securities exchange on which the stock of the corporation may from time to time be traded.
Except as provided by law, the rights and obligations of the holders of uncertificated shares and the rights and obligations of the holders of certificated shares of the same class and series shall be identical. If shares are not represented by certificates, then, within a reasonable time after issue or transfer of shares without certificates, the corporation shall send the shareholder a written statement in such form as the Board of Directors may from time to time prescribe, certifying as to the number of shares owned by the shareholder and as to such other information as would have been required to be on certificates for such shares.


The top three occupations in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group are Sewing machine operators, Printing press operators, Miscellaneous managers, Firstline supervisors of production & operating workers, and Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing. On average, full-time employees in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group work 43.1 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $49,365. Part-time employees in the same industry work 22 hours and earn an average annual salary of $19,802.
The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group are N/A. The industry that purchases the most products or services from the Hospitals Industry Group is Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills.
A snapshot of jobs, wages, and opportunities in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group. Sewing machine operators are the most common position, but the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group employs a relatively high number of Printing press operators, compared to other industries.
The highest average salary in Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills goes to Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing.
According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group has been growing at a rate of 4.72%, , from 15.1k people in 2016 to 15.8k people in 2017.
The following graphic shows the share of employment in Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills by various occupations according to ACS estimates. Sewing machine operators represent the largest share of positions held in Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills at 14.4%, followed by Printing press operators with 12.2% and Miscellaneous managers with 9.7%.
The most common occupations in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group, by number of employees, are Sewing machine operators, Printing press operators, Miscellaneous managers, Firstline supervisors of production & operating workers, and Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing.
Compared to other Industry Groups, Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills employs an unusually high number of Printing press operators, Sewing machine operators, and Firstline supervisors of production & operating workers.
The highest paid occupations in Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills, by average wage, are Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing, Miscellaneous managers, and Designers.
On average, employees in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group make $45,924 per year. This number makes Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills the 171 highest paying Industry Group in the United States out of a total of 266 Industry Groups.
This map shows which public use microdata areas (PUMAs) pay the highest average salary to employees in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group.
Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills has a wage GINI of 0.352, which is less than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).
This map shows the PUMAs in the United States that have revealed comparative advantage in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group.
These are locations that employ more people in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group than expected given both the size of that location's overall labor pool and the national size of the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group.
Demographic information on the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group in the US. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $56,054 and $30,459. So too tend to earn more than other races and ethnicities in this industry.
60.4% of workers in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group are Male, making them the more common gender in the workforce. This chart shows the gender breakdown of the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group.
On average, Male workers in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group make 1.84 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the gender-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group.
On average, Asian employees in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group earn 1.16 times more than other races and ethnicities. This chart shows the race and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group.
Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries. Manufacturing has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group is Manufacturing.
The closest comparable data for Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills is from Manufacturing.
The Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Manufacturing Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.
The Manufacturing Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.
Growth projections of the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 8.13% in the next ten years. The Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group has a lower projected workforce growth at N/A%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (N/A%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (24.6%).
This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for the Textile & fabric finishing & coating mills Industry Group, which is lower than the national average of 8.13%.


text:
A cargo-sorting DNA robot
Thubagere, Anupama J. and Li, Wei and Johnson, Robert F. and Chen, Zibo and Doroudi, Shayan and Lee, Yae Lim and Izatt, Gregory and Wittman, Sarah and Srinivas, Niranjan and Woods, Damien and Winfree, Erik and Qian, Lulu (2017) A cargo-sorting DNA robot. Science, 357 (6356). Art. No. eaan6558. ISSN 0036-8075. doi:10.1126/science.aan6558. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170731-174213645
PDF (Materials and Methods; Supplementary Text; Figs. S1 to S14; Tables S1 and S2; References) - Supplemental Material
Single-stranded DNA robots can move over the surface of a DNA origami sheet and sort molecular cargoes. Thubagere et al. developed a simple algorithm for recognizing two types of molecular cargoes and their drop-off destinations on the surface (see the Perspective by Reif). The DNA robot, which has three modular functional domains, repeatedly picks up the two types of molecules and then places them at their target destinations. No additional power is required because the DNA robot does this by random walking across the origami surface.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan6558 DOI Article
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6356/eaan6558 Publisher Article
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/357/6356/eaan6558/suppl/DC1?_ga=2.81146197.339277655.1505410922-2046127699.1503951604 Publisher Supplementary Materials
Li, Wei 0000-0003-2543-2558
Chen, Zibo 0000-0003-2990-2895
Winfree, Erik 0000-0002-5899-7523
Qian, Lulu 0000-0003-4115-2409
© 2017 American Association for the Advancement of Science. We thank R. Murray, P. Rothemund, C. Thachuk, P. Yin, and R. Jungmann for discussions and suggestions. Z.C., S.D., Y.L.L., G.I., and S.W. were supported by Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships. N.S., D.W., and E.W. were supported by an NSF Expedition in Computing (0832824). A.J.T. was supported by an NSF grant (1351081). W.L. was supported by an NSF Expedition in Computing (1317694). R.F.J. was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. L.Q. was supported by a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (1010684) and a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the NSF (1351081). All data are reported in the main text and the supplementary materials.
Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) UNSPECIFIED
NSF CCF-0832824
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship UNSPECIFIED
Burroughs Wellcome Fund 1010684
10.1126/science.aan6558
A cargo-sorting DNA robot BY ANUPAMA J. THUBAGERE, WEI LI, ROBERT F. JOHNSON, ZIBO CHEN, SHAYAN DOROUDI, YAE LIM LEE, GREGORY IZATT, SARAH WITTMAN, NIRANJAN SRINIVAS, DAMIEN WOODS, ERIK WINFREE, LULU QIAN SCIENCE15 SEP 2017


text:
A very warm welcome to isthereroomformetosew.com - a mixture of quilt making, old film watching, and reading. I hope you find something you like.
The Object and the Image
Dame Hilary Mantel, 1952-2022
Midwinter Stitchery
Experiments in Random Stitchery
Quilt Archaeology
Cromwell Trilogy Quilt
Random Stitch
The Box of Delights
Alison Sye
Lisa Watson's Quilts
Scrapiana
Sylko Colour Name Archive
Textilis
The Nelson Quilt
Follow is there room for me to sew? on WordPress.com
© Lucie Dutton and isthereroomformetosew, 2013-2016. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without the express and written permission of this blog's owner is strictly prohibited.
is there room for me to sew?
Quilting, Reading, and Keeping the Needles Sharp
I'm continuing my stitched explorations of Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy, and doing some work based on symbols relating to the various Queens of England as they are presented in these novels. Falcons might be the name of the first chapter of the second book, Bring Up the Bodies, but the Falcon was also the symbol of Anne Boleyn and her family.
A stitched interpretation of Anne Boleyn's Falcon
I am currently working a layered section of my Mirror and the Light piece (or series of pieces) that represents these symbols: Mantel writes a lot about the changing of symbols with the changing of Queens – from pomegranate (Katherine of Aragon) to falcon (Anne Boleyn) to phoenix (Jane Seymour), and my intention with the stitched piece is that, as you peel back the layers, you see the changing political and marital allegiances. The pomegranate and the phoenix are embroidered so they lie flat, but I made a stylised representation of Anne's falcon first, and I quilted that in order to give it some additional weight and texture. The falcon was the most difficult to remove, and Anne's presence haunts the novels, so a denser piece for her queenship seems most appropriate.
I was able to visit both Hampton Court and the Tower of London in recent weeks, and on both visits I was very conscious of being able to see symbols and emblems which I have been reading about in the Cromwell Trilogy. I included pomegranates and a falcon in my first Wolf Hall piece last year; and the emblems recur throughout the trilogy. When I gave my 2021 conference paper about the role of stitching in these novels, I talked about the stitching and unpicking of emblems and badges, and how Mantel represents these activities in her writing.
Re-reading The Mirror and the Light, I see these themes even more strongly. This novel starts with the execution of Anne Boleyn, but her presence is still felt in dreams, and also in the falcon symbol that she has left behind. After her fall, Henry VIII wanted no reminders of her; but her falcon emblem, her initials, and their initials entwined (HAHA) were everywhere – on fabric, on wood, on stone. Occasionally one of her emblems survived attempts at removal; this stone falcon is on display at Hampton Court, there's one in the gatehouse roof, and I believe their is a HAHA in the wood in the Great Hall. In the words of the Duke of Suffolk, in the novel, "You've got a HAHA." Fabric is easy to unpick, paint can be overpainted, but wood and stone are a bit more difficult to deal with.
Anne Boleyn's falcon, on display at Hampton Court Palace
At the Tower of London, in the Beauchamp Tower, there is a rough falcon carving that might relate to Anne Boleyn. Historian Eric Ives, in The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, wrote that this is Anne's
"most poignant memorial… Which of her 'lovers' made it we do not know, but the image is unmistakable. The tree stump is there – the barren Henry – the Tudor rose bursting into life, the perching bird whose touch wrought the miracle. But there is one change to the badge which Anne had proudly flourished in the face of the world. This falcon is no longer a royal bird. It has no crown, no sceptre; it stands bareheaded, as did Anne in those last moments on Tower Green."
Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004, p.364)
The falcon carving in the Beauchamp Tower
The Tower's own description, to be found on the wall nearby, is less definite and reads "Unknown. The shield is thought to be Anne Bolyen's falcon carved by one of her supporters". I've seen speculations that it might have been carved by Anne's brother George, or by the poet Thomas Wyatt, both prisoners at the Tower, and probably the best known of Anne's supporters, but really we cannot know who made it.
Quilted and stylised representation of the Tower Falcon
To stop myself becoming too distracted by the origins of the Tower Falcon, I have to remind myself that I am working on pieces inspired by Hilary Mantel's version of events, and those novels are my one source text.
While many scenes in the trilogy take place at the Tower of London, there is just one mention of the Beauchamp Tower in the text, and that is by Cromwell himself. After his arrest, in The Mirror and the Light, he is held in the Queen's Apartments, before being moved to the Bell Tower. "Can I not go to the Beauchamp Tower?" he asks, to be told that it is already occupied.
Does Mantel present a scene any of Anne's alleged lovers (Henry Norris, William Brereton, Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton, brother George, or Thomas Wyatt) carving this uncrowned falcon? No. In Mantel's telling in Bring Up the Bodies, George Boleyn is imprisoned "in his light circular room in the Martin Tower". Thomas Wyatt is seen by Richard Cromwell "looking down from a grate in the Bell Tower"; and as Mantel notes in The Mirror and the Light, Wyatt's own poetry references the Bell Tower. And the exact location of the other four prisoners is not present in the text.
So, I ask myself, have I overdone things by stitching an impression of this carving? It doesn't appear in the trilogy. Have I been distracted by a material artefact, which should not form part of my textile interpretation of a specific text? Yes, and no.
This falcon carving does not appear in the novels, but there is a reference to "The Boleyns' white falcon [hanging] like a sorry sparrow on a fence, while the Seymour phoenix is rising", and that makes me think of this carving. And there's something else for me to think about. To me, the "tree stump" on which the carved falcon is perched looks a little like a pomegranate; and my stitched adaptation deliberately plays on that. I wanted the now defeated and uncrowned falcon to still be determined to show dominance over the pomegranate, even in its final days. There is more than one way of reading these symbols.
27/03/2022 Lucie Bea Dutton Books, Bring Up the Bodies, Cromwell Trilogy Quilt, hand sewing, handquilting, handstitching, Hilary Mantel, quilt, quilting, Reading, Stitch What You Read, Stitching, The Mirror and the Light, Thomas Cromwell, Wolf Hall 4 Comments
Enjoying Hard Time with Jodi Taylor
This is a blog tour stop for Jodi Taylor's marvellous new book – Hard Time – the second in the Time Police series.
Hard Time by Jodi Taylor on my And The World Went White quilt
Many thanks to Antonia Whitton and Headline Press for inviting me to review Hard Time, and for sending me an advance hardback copy.
Team Weird are back causing havoc in the Time Police in this irresistible spinoff series by international bestseller Jodi Taylor, author of The Chronicles of St Mary's. If you love Doctor Who, Ben Aaronovitch and Jasper Fforde, you'll love the Time Police.
The Time Police do not have problems. They have challenges. Idiots who want to change history have always proved 'challenging'. But now temporal tourism is on the rise – highly illegal but highly lucrative.
Step forward Jane, Luke and Matthew. They may be about to graduate, but there's still plenty of time for everything to go wrong. Throw in the Versailles time slip, a covert jump to Ancient Egypt and a race against Time itself and you've got yourself an assignment worthy of Team Weird.
I am a great admirer of Jodi Taylor's books. From the moment I picked up Just One Damned Thing After Another, I have been captivated by her work. Her ability to conjure up characters, institutions, and worlds is phenomenal – and her new Time Police series is no exception.
A shelf full of Jodi Taylor
I noticed that some of the other reviewers on this blog tour haven't read the St Mary's series – they have a treat to come – and their enjoyment of Hard Time demonstrates that the Time Police books can hold their own as a series in their own right as well as a spinoff. I'm coming to Hard Time as a lover of St Mary's, so my perspective is that of someone who knows and loves St Mary's Institute of Historical Research. And, yes, I would love to work there.
Readers of the Chronicles of St Mary's know the Time Police. Or at least we know the Time Police from the point of view of Max and Leon and Dr Bairstow. But we now get to see events from the Time Police point of view, and share the career and personal development of Jane, Luke and Matthew – three very different young recruits who don't really fit in. In the first book in the series, Doing Time, we saw their early mistakes, their incompatibility, and the trouble in which they found themselves – and now in Hard Time we see them growing slowly into a solid team, forming friendships – and still finding themselves in trouble.
I don't want to give away the plot of Hard Time, but I can guarantee that it is a funny, tense and exciting read. There are shocks galore, plenty of jumps to interesting places, lots of chaos, unexpected heroism, the appearance of some St Mary's personnel, and some very bad behaviour by some very unpleasant people.
The overall tone is slightly lighter than that of the St Mary's books; anyone who knows the Chronicles will be aware that alongside the laughter there is tragedy (I can't bear to think about what happened at Troy) – and there are no guaranteed happy endings for anyone. But the Time Police have a less emotional approach to history, which makes Hard Time the ideal read for a gloomy autumn day, when you want to be transported to different times and watch a bunch of engaging characters jump in and out of trouble.
You don't need to have read the Chronicles of St Mary's to appreciate Jane, Luke and Matthew – so why not give them a go? I thoroughly recommend getting to know the Time Police – and I am sure you will enjoy the ride.
Hard Time by Jodi Taylor was published by Headline on 15 October 2020, and is available in hardback for £18.99 from all good booksellers. It is also available as an ebook, and I am looking forward to listening to Zara Ramm reading the audiobook.
20/10/2020 Lucie Bea Dutton Book review, Books, Chronicles of St Marys, Hard Time, Jodi Taylor, Reading, Time Police Leave a comment
A Visit to Green Knowe
The Manor, Hemingford Grey
I have a large collection of books about sewing. This collection has changed over the years: to begin with when I first started learning to quilt, I bought books that focused on technique, that set out rules about thread type, dictated strict seam allowances and hinted at the correct way to press fabric. As my quilting developed and I stopped following patterns – and gained the confidence to dispense with the rules that didn't work for me – these books were given away and replaced with books about quilt histories and culture. But one book has stayed with me from the start: The Patchworks of Lucy Boston by Diana Boston.
I knew that Lucy Boston (1892-1990) was the author of the children's Green Knowe series and I remember reading The Castle of Yew years ago. But discovering that she was a stitcher meant that I looked at her work with new interest. The names of her quilts intrigued me: The Babes in the Wood Patchwork, The Patchwork of the Crosses and – most exciting of all – The High Magic Patchwork. These names give the quilts additional depth, for the naming of quilts is an important way of conveying the intention of the maker. Lucy Boston may have described the occupation of patchwork as "disorderly and messy, the room littered with snippets of paper, cotton and lengths of thread, and a maelstrom of materials," but from disorder and mess comes beauty and deliberation.
Tolly "saw the head of a giant stone man, carrying a child on his shoulders."
Last week I visited the Manor at Hemingford Grey, near Huntingdon, Lucy Boston's house and the setting for the Green Knowe books. It is a beautiful house, with the oldest parts dating back to the 12th Century. Its situation by the river Great Ouse makes it very easy to imagine the floods that open The Children of Green Knowe when the boy Tolly approaches the house by boat in the evening when "the windows were all lit up, but it was too dark to see what kind of a house it was, only that it was high and narrow like a tower." To Tolly it is like a castle, and he wants to know "Do things happen in it, like the castles in books?" And of course they do.
I don't actually remember reading the Green Knowe books as a child, but I must have done because, when I went into the room at the top of the house, "a room under the roof, with a ceiling the shape of the roof, with a ceiling the shape of the roof and all the beams showing," there was Toby's Japanese mouse and I knew him straight away.
"On the chest of drawers Tolly had seen two curly white china dogs, an old clock, and an ebony mouse, life-sized with shiny black eyes. It was so cleverly carved that you could see every hair, and it felt like fur to stroke."
And there was more – "a beautiful old rocking-horse … a horse whose legs were stretched to full gallop, fixed to long rockers so that it could, if you rode it violently, both rear and kick." The creak-croak of the rockers was almost audible. It was The Children of Green Knowe come to life – perfectly.
As well as the joy of finding Tolly's room, I had the pleasure of seeing Lucy Boston's quilts. I was especially privileged to be able to touch them, as, wearing white gloves, I helped our guide, Diana Boston, turn them out for viewing. The quilts are made from an eclectic range of fabrics – from wartime dusters to silk, from needlecord to embroidered wedding dress cotton, from heavy furnishing fabric to Liberty prints. Many pieces were fussy cut – with the sort of precision that I admire but never have the patience to achieve – and the piecing is extraordinary. There is a stunning Mariner's Compass quilt – with twelve of that most complicated of blocks (which I have never dared attempt). When making it, Lucy Boston experienced a feeling known to all quilters: "My patchwork is proving very difficult indeed. It has large circular patterns that will not lie flat. They all heave up like rising tea-cakes." The Babes in the Wood was a triumph of applique, as owls, birds and squirrels wandered amongst leaves and flowers in autumn colours. My favourite was the High Magic Patchwork: a mass of stars, suns and the phases of the moon. Lucy Boston made this piece when she was writing An Enemy at Green Knowe and noted that it "served to keep my thoughts moving."
The Manor is open all year round and can be visited by appointment. The photography policy is very generous and visitors can take pictures all over the house and gardens. However, it isn't possible to photograph the quilts. Instead, Diana Boston's lovely book The Patchworks of Lucy Boston can be purchased from the Manor along with cards featuring some of the quilts (and proceeds go towards the upkeep of the house and garden). And the Patchwork of the Crosses, probably the most well-known of Lucy Boston's quilts, can be seen here thanks to the British Quilt Study Group of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles.
14/08/2016 Lucie Bea Dutton Books, English Paper Piecing, Green Knowe, hand sewing, Lucy Boston, Patchwork, quilt, quilt history, quilting, Reading 8 Comments
The Fabric of Wolf Hall
I grew up reading a lot of historical fiction. From the age of about ten, I devoured novels by Jean Plaidy, Margaret Irwin and Margaret Campbell Barnes, and particularly enjoyed their books about Henry VIII. I had an especial fondness for Jean Plaidy's Murder Most Royal and Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Barnes. Both books were about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn and both featured a villain – Thomas Cromwell – who tortured musicians and brought down queens. My early ventures into reading Tudor fiction meant that I always thought of Cromwell as a Very Bad Man.
NPG 1727; Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex after Hans Holbein the Younger. © National Portrait Gallery, London. *
But in April 2009, a new book was published and this book changed my viewpoint completely. This book featured Thomas Cromwell as its central character: Hilary Mantel's magnificent Wolf Hall. As Mantel's hero (or should that be anti-hero?), Cromwell is witty, charismatic and slippery, loyal to his friends and ruthless to those who cross him. A devoted family man. A patron saint for administrators, archivists and minute writers. And a man who knows about cloth.
The Thomas Cromwell Quilt
Re-reading Wolf Hall recently, I was struck by the number of references to textiles, and how beautifully they are described by Mantel. Velvets, brocades, silks, wool, sables, satins all burst from the page.
As a youth fleeing England, young Thomas Cromwell meets "three elderly Lowlanders", traders in cloth, who show him their "woollen samples and discuss among themselves the weight and the weave." Cromwell learns about cloth and concludes that "with wool so long in the fleece these days, and good broadcloth hard to weave, he ought to be getting into kerseys, lighter cloth like that, exporting through Antwerp to Italy." He understands what clothes of the right fabric can do; on meeting the poor but beautiful Helen, "mentally, he takes her out of cheap shrunken wool and re-dresses her in some figured velvet he saw yesterday, six shillings the yard."
As Cardinal Wolsey's man, Cromwell admires a tapestry of "the woollen monarchs," Solomon and Sheba: a tapestry that depicts a woman he has known and that weaves its way throughout the book. When Wolsey falls, Cromwell watches the cardinal's finery being packed away: "bolts of fine holland, velvets and grosgrain, sarcenet and taffeta, scarlet by the yard." Cromwell knows its value. "In public the cardinal wears red, just red, but in various weights, various weaves, various degrees of pigment and dye, but all of them the best of their kind, the best reds to be got for money. There have been days when, swaggering out, he would say, 'Right, Master Cromwell, price me by the yard!'" And in a spirit of thrift that will be appreciated by patchworkers everywhere, this fabric has a second life after Wolsey's death: "The cardinal's scarlet clothes now lie folded and empty. They cannot be wasted. They will be cut up and become other garments. Who knows where they will get to over the years? Your eye will be taken by a crimson cushion or a patch of red on a banner or ensign. You will see a glimpse of them in a man's inner sleeve or in the flash of a whore's petticoat."
Sewing the binding.
Cromwell's wife, Liz, does "a bit of silk-work" and complains about "the price of thread." Their sheets are of fine linen and they sleep "under a quilt of yellow turkey satin." In one of my favourite scenes, Liz embroiders shirts for their son Gregory "with a black-work design; it's the same one the queen uses, for she makes the king's shirts herself. 'If I were Katherine I'd leave the needle in them,' he says." In this world, sewing is a weapon. Does Anne Boleyn pull the stitches out of her sister's embroidery? How can his niece's "awkward little backstitch" be used to protect Cromwell's letters? Will a book of needlework patterns wrapped in kingfisher blue silk be taken from Jane Seymour? Who will unpick embroidered pomegranates, representing the badge of Katherine of Aragon?
As readers may have guessed, I know the text of Wolf Hall very well. It's my favourite book, and as well as reading from the page, I find the excellent unabridged audiobook, read by Simon Slater, the perfect sewing accompaniment. And in 2014, my enjoyment was enhanced even further by the magical stage adaptations of Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, developed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Playful Productions.
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies at the Aldwych Theatre
I was lucky enough to see the plays in both Stratford-upon-Avon and London, and was so swept away by them that I simply had to sew something. Mantel's Notes on Characters, written for the plays, say of Cromwell: "You don't say much about your past, but you tell Thomas Cranmer, 'I was a ruffian in my youth.' Whatever this statement reveals or conceals, you have a lifelong sympathy with young men who have veered off-course." I love that sentiment – and it formed the basis for a little quilt tribute to Thomas Cromwell, Hilary Mantel, Mike Poulton, and the cast, musicians, production team and backstage crew of the plays that I enjoyed so much.
Memorial plaque at Tower Green
* The image of Thomas Cromwell from the National Portrait Gallery, London is used under the terms of the Creative Commons license.
13/10/2014 Lucie Bea Dutton audiobooks, Books, Bring Up the Bodies, hand sewing, Hilary Mantel, quilting, Reading, Thomas Cromwell, Wolf Hall 4 Comments
Travelling in Time
When I was eight years old, I read A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley. First published in 1939, A Traveller in Time tells the story of Penelope Taberner, who, when visiting her aunt and uncle in Derbyshire, is transported back to 1582. She finds herself in the midst of the Babington Plot which aimed to free Mary, Queen of Scots from captivity, and place her on the English throne in place of Elizabeth I. I found this book completely magical and it led directly to my desire to study history.
Uttley's vivid recreation of the Derbyshire countryside and the people who lived there was enhanced by her evocative descriptions of objects. The magic of an old chest containing "cashmere shawls, the silk-embroidered waistcoats, the pistol with its mother-of-pearl and incised roses and leaves," and drawers full of "old bits of jewellery, silver buttons, jet and amber brooches, and broken earrings," still make me want to dig around in forgotten corners of antique shops. I read about Mistress Foljambe's Book of Hours and dreamed of the illustrations that captivated Penelope.
Most tantalising were the fabrics. How I longed for a sewing workbox like Aunt Tissie's, full of "curious spools of silks". I wanted to make a rag rug from an old waistcoat, trousers that were a hundred years old, and a scarlet soldier's coat. I dreamed about the embroidery sewn by Mary, Queen of Scots, and, years later, was delighted to find some of it on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The best thing of all was some wonderful, abandoned patchwork:
"There was a needlecase with a cover of ancient blue taffeta, like the kirtle of Mistress Babington's gown. I had found it in Aunt Tissie's patchwork bag, where there was a storehouse of treasures, ancient silks and faded velvets, and scraps of half-made patchwork, each with its lining of stiff paper. I saw faded writing and crabbed words and odd spelling, with poems and hymns half-concealed in the squares and diamonds of the patches. Some of the paper was parchment, I was sure, but Aunt Tissie said they were only old documents she had found in an oak chest when she was a girl, and cut up for her quilt linings."
How could I fail to become a quilter after reading that?
28/07/2014 Lucie Bea Dutton Books, Patchwork, Reading 2 Comments


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Royal Mencap Society
Dilston College
Archived: Dilston College
Date of Inspection: 14, 15 January 2013
Date of Publication: 13 February 2013
Inspection Report published 13 February 2013 PDF | 80.59 KB
People should be cared for in a clean environment and protected from the risk of infection (outcome 8)
Staff should be properly trained and supervised, and have the chance to develop and improve their skills (outcome 14)
Benefit from safe quality care, treatment and support, due to effective decision making and the management of risks to their health, welfare and safety.
We looked at the personal care or treatment records of people who use the service, carried out a visit on 14 January 2013 and 15 January 2013, observed how people were being cared for and checked how people were cared for at each stage of their treatment and care. We talked with people who use the service and talked with staff.
The provider had an effective system in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of the service that people received and to identify, assess and manage risks to the health safety and welfare of people using the service, staff and visitors.
Reasons for our judgement
Records showed that the provider had a wealth of policies and procedures in place which supported care delivery and gave direction to staff. Staff said that management were very approachable and generally dealt with issues raised appropriately. One staff member told us, "I think management are approachable. They act on issues raised, definitely, as long as they can act on them of course." This demonstrated that the management of this service listened to concerns raised by staff, and sought to resolve them.
Students' told us they had group meetings for those people resident within their individual accommodation sites. One student said, "We have a house meeting and can say things." Staff told us, and records showed that group meetings for staff working in each different accommodation site took place on a regular basis. Minutes from these meetings showed care delivery for each individual student was monitored and any action needed was identified with a view to driving improvements within the service. In addition to individual accommodation group meetings, the college held a full staff meeting once every term. These meetings showed that the management of the college, and the provider, assessed the care students received and they included both students and staff in regular meetings in order to measure their views about the service.
Staff told us, and records showed that 'spot checks' on the way staff delivered care were conducted regularly. These included for example, observations on staff when taking people swimming or dispensing medication. This monitoring of staff practice helped to ensure that the care delivered was of an appropriate standard.
We saw evidence that students' parents were asked for written feedback on their child's progress each term. In addition, students' parents were asked for feedback on an annual basis about their interactions with the college and their child's 'key worker' and tutor. The manager told us that any negative responses were reviewed by senior staff and acted on accordingly. Recent parent feedback showed they were happy with the care their children received and that they had regular contact with key individuals involved in their child's care.
We saw that a 'staff engagement survey' had also been conducted recently and the responses analysed. Staff told us that the principal of the college discussed the findings of this survey and how improvements could be made during a group discussion workshop with staff.
Records showed that health and safety checks such as maintenance checks on accommodation facilities, fire safety equipment, and for example, water and fridge temperatures, took place regularly. This demonstrated that the provider sought to maintain student's health, welfare and safety.
Cambian Dilston College
In Northumberland, NE45 5RJ
Burn Brae Lodge
In Northumberland, NE45 5RU
Elm Bank Care Home
In Northumberland, NE46 1HW


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Home Research Topics Internet & Technology Digital News Landscape
ReportMay 5, 2016
Long-Form Reading Shows Signs of Life in Our Mobile News World
5. On cellphones, return visitors spend more time with articles than visitors overall
By Amy Mitchell, Galen Stocking and Katerina Eva Matsa
Another question that arises in mobile digital news consumption is how often users return to an article – whether to finish reading it, re-read a portion, share it with a friend or for some other reason. This is again especially pertinent for long-form news, which requires more time to complete.
Due to the way users are tracked, these metrics are only able to track return visits to articles on the same device as the initial visits – in this case, the same cellphone. Even with this limitation, though, the data do help shed light on how often it occurs and what difference it tends to make in the total engaged time.
Of the nearly 71 million cellphone users in our corpus, only a small fraction returned to an article. Just 3% of short-form readers came back to a short-form article and 4% of long-form readers returned to a long-form article. But those that do return end up spending more time with an article than those whose full interaction occurs within one session – especially when reading long-form articles.8
Long-form readers who return to a long-form article spent about double the time with an article as users overall, 277 seconds compared with 123 seconds.9 This is a bit sharper of an increase than for short-form article returners, though their average engaged time was still nearly twice that of overall users, 110 seconds compared with 57 seconds.
The vast majority of these returns occurred on the same day as the interaction's first visit: about eight-in-ten long-form and short-form returners (81% of each) came back to an article the same day they first visited it. Another 8% of each returned on the second day and 3% on the third day.
One stark difference between returners and overall visitors on cellphones is in the way these different groups of users first land upon an article.
Among both short and long-form return cellphone visitors, the greatest percentage of complete interactions from article returners, 35% each, begin with a user who come through a direct referral. About a quarter (23%) of complete interactions came from return long-form readers who arrived at an article through a link from elsewhere on that site (21% for short-form returners), while another 20% for both types arrived from a social networking site.
This is a very different distribution than the complete interactions by visitors overall, who, as discussed earlier in the report, most commonly arrive at both short- and long-form news stories by following a link on a social networking site (roughly four-in-ten of each). And users overall are less likely to arrive at an article directly. This suggests that while social drives much of the overall traffic, these users are less likely to keep an article in mind and develop a recurring interest in it. This may help explain why the average time spent with short-form articles for social media users is lower than for any other pathway, – social networks drive traffic, but don't necessarily tap into deep-seated interests.
Next: 6. Most interactions begin within one week of publication
Page3Page4Page5You are reading page6Page7Page8Page9Page10Page11Page12Page13
Parse.ly tracks two types of cookies: first-party cookies, which are only available at the domain level; and third-party cookies, or information to track users across sites. Parse.ly is using only the first type of cookies for their services. Many users block third-party cookies (and indeed many modern browsers, including mobile Safari, block them by default), but first party cookies are thought to be blocked by far fewer people. Accordingly, while there may be a small portion of return visits not captured here due to a user clearing his or her cookies, we have a high confidence that we are capturing the majority of return traffic. ↩
Return visitors are identified as those who returned to the same article across multiple sessions. Due to the difficulty in identifying when a visit begins and when it ends in some cases, we treat a visit as a return visit if it begins at least 60 minutes after the start of the preceding session. This ensures that we do not overestimate return visits. ↩
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Report Materials
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Long-Form Reading Shows Signs of Life in Our Mobile News World 1. Digital readership data and what it can tell us 2. Analysis suggests some readers' willingness to dig into long-form news on cellphones 3. Users spend more time with content in the morning or late at night 4. Cellphone news users spend the most time reading long-form content when arriving at an article from an internal link, least time when arriving via a social network
6. Most interactions begin within one week of publication 7. Few cellphone readers of long- or short-form articles visit multiple articles on a site 8. Engaged time with long-form news varies by topic Acknowledgments Methodology Appendix A: Detailed Tables Appendix B: Terminology
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report | May 5, 2016
Digital News LandscapeState of the News Media (Project)MobileE-ReadingTechnology AdoptionOnline SearchPlatforms & ServicesNews Media Trends


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Home News Microsoft's Premonition – Software Detecting Platform for Biological Threats
Microsoft's Premonition – Software Detecting Platform for Biological Threats
updated on September 26, 2020 September 23, 2020 News Technology
Microsoft, in the year 2015, announced the hardware and software platform which detects biological threats. As we all know, diseases lead to major outbreaks, which creates havoc in people's lives. In order to prevent the audience from a future pandemic, Microsoft is prepping hard for developing a biological threat detection platform. Pathogens lead to many deadliest viruses like dengue, zika, which, took the lives of many innocent people.
The objective of Microsoft?
source: nytimes.com
The ultimate objective of Microsoft is to work on robotics and sensors to detect future diseases through this biological threat detection platform. Microsoft is knitting smart robotic traps to detect disease threats in the environment using robotics and genomics. With the help of AI identification, novel robotic designs they are monitoring species of mosquitoes0 present in huge numbers.
Terrestrial insects like spiders, insects, ticks are known as arthropods, and these arthropods have millions of species of it. These species are responsible for pentagons which leads to human diseases transferred from their bodies. But these insects are quite useful for our ecosystem but the diseases caused by these small species are harming humans.
Microsoft's robotics and sensor platform help us to predict the diseases spread by the arthropods which will save from future outbreaks and save the lives of humans.
Research and partnership
source: digiday.com
Microsoft launched this biological threat detection platform and after that, they had performed immense research on this project. Microsoft spent 5 years on research and development of Microsoft's threat detection platform. They have partnered with the National Science Foundation's Convergence Accelerator Program and universities like Johns Hopkins University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics along with Bayer, a pharmaceutical giant.
Detecting microorganisms through DNA sequencing
It is quite difficult to detect microorganisms and viruses which need lots of chemical tests and to decide which tests sample is required to detect is not an easy task. But in this case, DNA sequencing helps us to decide and detect the bacterias and also open the door to innovative broad-spectrum techniques. Through translating the genetic material from an organic sample to electronic information, we can algorithmically search a sample using trillions of diagnostic tools to track viruses, bacteria, fungi, and higher-order life in a sample.
Showcasing AI systems of Microsoft
source: barrons.com
When the virus zika reached its peak, Microsoft has trailed their skills of AI. Microsoft with their various partners to evolute the technology in the different ecosystems. Also, they tried to solve different questions like –
Can sensors be able to classify the species, because there are millions of species?
Can collected data be able to predict the right information?
Can the sensors be able to provide us information about microorganism and viruses which is analyzed through machines?
But they solved these questions and according to trials thee robots can identify the data with 90% accuracy which will definitely help us in predicting the information appropriately. The robotics and genomics helped us to derive how they are moving around the ecosystem and also to decide the type of species present in the environment.
This is one of the ambitious projects of Microsoft and they have made the official announcements at the lgnite conference and this project mainly relies on Microsoft Azure cloud for storage and power which showcases the skills and development of Microsoft in the AI field.
Biological threat detection platformdetect disease threats using robotics and genomicsMicrosoft launch Biological threat detection platformrobotics and sensor platform
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Audi and Krajete to Develop DAC Tech that Can Remove Millions of Tons of CO2
Automobile giant Audi and Austrian green tech company Krajete have joined efforts to develop Direct Air Capture (DAC) systems in Austria. The newly established plant uses inorganic filter material that can absorb a large number of molecules.
The CO2 molecules are chemically absorbed, and the CO2 stripped air is released back into the atmosphere.
What's unique about the technology being developed by Audi and Krajete is that the temperature and pressure conditions required to adsorb (collect) CO2 and absorb it are almost identical which isn't the norm in DAC tech. This allows for a greater amount of CO2 to be removed.
The process, which is energy intensive, will be powered by solar panels on-site. Capturing CO2 from the atmosphere requires more energy than capturing it from industrial furnaces.
However, removing CO2 from the atmosphere isn't tied to a particular location. Therefore, plants can be erected next to reliable renewable energy sources, such as thermal, wind, hydro or in sunny climates.
There are currently 18 direct air capture plants operating worldwide capturing almost 0.01 Mt CO2/ year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The most advanced of these projects is located in the USA and can capture 1 Mt CO2 per annum.
In the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, DAC would need to be scaled up to capture 60 Mt CO2/ year by 2030. This level of deployment is within reach but will require several more large-scale demonstration plants to refine the technology and reduce capture costs says IEA.
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Wasn't able to pick a side in this game! I graduated from Sandia and know a great young man on the team but my kids are going to attend Eldorado and I know several wonderful young men on that team as well. It was nice to genuinely be able to cheer on both teams!