Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:01 AM on Tuesday, February 25th, 2020
SPONSOR: ZEN Graphene Solutions: An emerging advanced materials and graphene development company with a focus on new solutions using pure graphene and other two-dimensional materials. Our competitive advantage relies on the unique qualities of our multi-decade supply of precursor materials in the Albany Graphite Deposit. Independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada confirm this. Click here for more information
Researchers proposed a new design of the supercapacitor, which uses
films of graphene laminate with the same distance between the layers.
Energy density increases drastically — about 10 times compared to conventional supercapacitors.
Scientists from University College London and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have proposed a graphene-based design for supercapacitors, which reportedly increased their density by 10 times.
Supercapacitors charge quickly but also discharge at a high speed.
Existing supercapacitors tend to have a low energy density – about 1/20
of the battery capacity. Batteries
combined with supercapacitors are already in limited use – for example,
in Chinese public transport. But the bus in which such a battery is
installed is forced to charge at almost every stop.
In this work, the researchers proposed a new design of the
supercapacitor, which uses films of graphene laminate with the same
distance between the layers.
The work showed that when the pores in the membranes exactly
correspond to the size of the electrolyte ions, the energy density
increases drastically — about 10 times compared to conventional
supercapacitors.
In addition, the scientists note, the new material has a long service
life, retaining 97.8% of its energy intensity after 5000 cycles of
charging and discharging. The new supercapacitors are also very flexible
– they can be bent up to 180 degrees.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 9:27 AM on Tuesday, February 25th, 2020
SPONSOR: Lomiko Metals is focused on the exploration and development of minerals for the new green economy such as lithium and graphite. Lomiko owns 80% of the high-grade La Loutre graphite Property, Lac Des Iles Graphite Property and the 100% owned Quatre Milles Graphite Property. Lomiko is uniquely poised to supply the growing EV battery market. Click Here For More Information
TESLA REACHES $100 BILLION MARKET CAPITALIZATION WHILE MORGAN STANLEY PREDICTS $1200 LEVEL COMING SOON
Toronto, Ontario, Feb. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lomiko Metals Inc. (“Lomikoâ€)
(TSX-V: LMR, OTC: LMRMF, FSE: DH8C) Lomiko Metals Inc. is pleased to
announce that the company will attend the Prospectors & Developers
Association Conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre March 1-4,
2020. Lomiko will be at booth #2547 in the Investors Exchange portion
of the Conference. Lomiko is focused on developing graphite materials
supply for the green economy.
Prospects for developing critical minerals mines in Quebec were
buoyed when Canada and the US announced January 9, 2020 they have
finalized the Canada-US Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals
Collaboration. The Plan is aimed to secure a North American supply
chain for the critical minerals needed for manufacturing
sectors, communication technology, aerospace and defense, and clean
technology.
Canada has significant resources of graphite, lithium, cobalt, aluminum, and rare-earths.
Media has also focused on Tesla in recent interviews with CEO A. Paul
Gill who has consistently spoken about the coming change in consumer
purchasing patterns. In the last decade, range anxiety and concerns
over infrastructure have limited the penetration of electric vehicles in
the North American market and this has cast doubt on the potential of
Tesla. However, it is clear that those fears have been alleviated and
with the onset of new electric vehicles from Ford, GM, BMW, Audi,
Volkswagen, and others.
“Tesla stock price closing in on $ 1000 per share and its valuation
has exceeded $ 100 billion. This is a major indicator that investors
think electric vehicles will become mainstream. Every day, I see at
least one or more. And every time I see one, I think about the battery
it holds which contains up to 70 kgs of graphite.â€, stated A. Paul Gill,
CEO of Lomiko Metals, “That’s why Lomiko looked for projects with good
infrastructure, high grades, and high carbon purity so we could make
strides toward participating in the supply chain of electric vehicles
with materials such as spherical graphite and graphite anodes.â€
Mr. Gill has been interviewed on the Los Angles TV Show Big Biz and
the Geekery Review in Salt Lake City, Utah focusing on Tesla, EV
Batteries and Natural Flake Graphite.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:03 PM on Monday, February 24th, 2020
In 1948, Winston Churchill said, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it”. Unfortunately, many Cannabis companies aren’t historians and are repeating the dot-com to dot-bomb cycle of raising tons of money but no clue how to build a real business with it.
You know what else we learned from that cycle? Web 2.0 was the birth of companies with real business plans, products, customers and revenues. They went on to dominate the next 20 years.
Enter MOTA Ventures (MOTA:CSE), who has become a leader in online CBD sales into the North American market, thanks to an e-commerce “engine” built by CEO Ryan Hoggan and his team over the past few years at Unified Funding. That engine is so powerful that is has racked up over $200 MILLION in sales from over 1 million paying customers over a number of products, including CBD sales of $25 MILLION by “First Class CBD”, which was acquired by MOTA for $32 MILLION.
The best part for MOTA shareholders? Ryan is highly motivated to continue with his successful ways because Unified Funding can earn an additional $15 MILLION if First Class CBD achieves sales of $62 MILLION. In my experience, companies don’t put bonuses into contracts unless they both believe there is a reasonable belief they can be achieved. Will he hit $62M? Or fall short at the other 2 milestones of $52M and $42M?
Watch this interview and you be the judge. Either way, MOTA shareholders should get their popcorn ready because Ryan has already proven he’s leading MOTA into the Cannabis 2.0 phase. Success is already here, now its just a question of how high MOTA will fly.
Watch this interview and share it with every investor you know!
Posted by AGORACOM
at 2:47 PM on Friday, February 21st, 2020
SPONSOR: Labrador Gold – Two successful gold explorers lead the way in the Labrador gold rush targeting the under-explored gold potential of the province. Exploration has already outlined district scale gold on two projects, including a 40km strike length of the Florence Lake greenstone belt, one of two greenstone belts covered by the Hopedale Project. Click Here for More Info
GDX and GDXJ are consolidating bullishly within a now seven-year-long base
Last week, I covered the historical trajectory of the gold stocks and how today compares to the early 1960s.
The late 2015 to early 2016 period marked one of the three best
buying opportunities of the past 100 years (from a secular standpoint),
and gold stocks are in position for sensational performance over the
next 20 years.
That sounds great, but what matters most is the here and now. We do
not want to get caught in a cyclical downturn (which could occur more
than once during this super bull).
Fortunately, the outlook over the next 12 to 18 months is bullish.
The macro-fundamentals are supportive and improving, and the gold stocks
now have a beautiful technical setup that could lead to massive gains.
GDX and GDXJ are consolidating bullishly within a now seven-year-long
base. They are digesting recent gains while holding well above key
support levels and are in position for an eventual explosive breakout.
GDX & GDXJ Weekly Bars
Historically, there have not been many multi-year breakouts with the
potential magnitude of this next one. In using the Barron’s Gold Mining
Index, I only find three.
The breakout in 1964 was a historic, multi-decade breakout that
ushered in an enormous bull market in gold stocks. It was the most
significant inflection point ever for gold stocks.
Later during that bull market, the gold stocks broke a 5-year downtrend and 5-year resistance in 1973, exploding higher.
Barron’s Gold Mining Index
The 2005 breakout compares best with the potential next one.
Like the one in 2005, this next one is setting up several years after
a secular low, following one of the worst bear markets of the past 90
years.
Also, this next breakout could occur following a +7 year-long base,
which is not too far from the +9 year base that was broken in late
2005.
Furthermore, the May 2005 low is similar to September 2018 in that
both followed a mini-bear market that lasted at least 18 months.
We plot the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index, which is the parent index of GDX.
GDM Weekly Line
Since there are similarities in the setup, perhaps the upside
potential from a new breakout could be similar to that which followed
the 2005 breakout.
I want to focus on GDXJ because we invest in juniors and not seniors. The history of GDXJ back to January 2004 is available on this website.
From its May 2005 low to its peak in November 2007, GDXJ advanced
nearly 4-fold. Once GDXJ surpassed its January 2004 peak, it gained 138%
into that 2007 peak.
GDXJ closed last week just below $41. The measured upside target from
a break past $50 is $83. If GDXJ today duplicated its performance
before and after the 2005 breakout, then it would peak at $100 or $115.
If we get the breakout, then $83 becomes the minimum upside target. In that case, $100 or $115 is hardly a stretch.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 12:29 PM on Friday, February 21st, 2020
SPONSOR: Lomiko Metals is focused on the exploration and development of minerals for the new green economy such as lithium and graphite. Lomiko owns 80% of the high-grade La Loutre graphite Property, Lac Des Iles Graphite Property and the 100% owned Quatre Milles Graphite Property. Lomiko is uniquely poised to supply the growing EV battery market. Click Here For More Information
An Ivy charger on display at the 2020 Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto. Ontario Power Generation photo
Ivy Charging Network aims to create the “largest and most connected electric vehicle fast-charger network†in the province.
The company is expected to install 160 Level 3 fast-chargers at 73
locations across Ontario, each less than 100 kilometres apart from one
another on average, by the end of 2021.
Electric vehicle charging stations are coming to North Bay and
Temiskaming Shores as part of a new province-wide network being
developed by Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation (OPG).
Media releases from both Hydro One and OPG say they have launched a
new company, Ivy Charging Network, which aims to create the “largest and
most connected electric vehicle fast-charger network†in the province.
The company is expected to install 160 Level 3 fast-chargers at 73
locations across Ontario, each less than 100 kilometres apart from one
another on average, by the end of 2021.
Natural Resources Canada has provided an $8-million repayable
contribution, through its Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel
Infrastructure Deployment Initiative, to help build the network.
The Ivy Charging Network opened its first location in Huntsville in
September and an official public launch took place Friday at the 2020
Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto.
“We play a critical role in energizing life in communities across
Ontario. This fast-charger network will create a better and brighter
future through a greener transportation sector while meeting the
evolving energy needs of our customers and all Ontarians,†Hydro One
vice-president of customer service and Ivy Charging Network co-president
Imran Merali said.
“By entering this growing market in partnership with OPG, Hydro One
is expanding our product and service offering to deliver greater value
for our customers, employees, communities and shareholders.â€
Ivy Charging Network is a limited partnership owned equally by Hydro One and OPG.
The company has chosen Greenlots, a member of the Shell Group, as its service provider to operate and manage the network.
“Having delivered the world’s largest single climate change action to
date with the closure of our coal stations, OPG’s clean power serves as
a strong platform to electrify carbon-heavy sectors like
transportation,†fellow Ivy Charging Network co-president and OPG
vice-president of corporate business development and strategy Theresa
Dekker said.
“That’s why we’re so pleased to be partnering with Hydro One on an
initiative that will broaden the benefits of electrification and provide
a reliable, integrated network while ensuring no additional cost to
ratepayers.â€
Nipissing-Timiskaming Liberal MP Anthony Rota applauded the news on
Twitter, while Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep
Bains said the federal government is committed to supporting projects
that will bring the country closer to a “competitive, zero-emissions
transportation sector.â€
He added that the network will ensure “Canadian-made solutions are at
the forefront of solving the global climate change crisis, leaving our
children and grandchildren with a healthier planet and cleaner air to
breathe.â€
Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:56 AM on Friday, February 21st, 2020
Sponsor: Affinity Metals (TSX-V: AFF) a Canadian mineral exploration company building a strong portfolio of mineral projects in North America. The Corporation’s flagship property is the Drill ready Regal Property near Revelstoke, BC. Recent sampling encountered bonanza grade silver, zinc, and lead with many samples reaching assay over-limits. Click Here for More Info
Silver is a precious metal with approximately 50% of the demand coming from industrial uses.
It is a “high beta†play on the gold price, more sensitive to global growth and the inflation expectations.
I’m on record for a quite bullish call in gold one year ago. As of today, gold trades approximately 20 % or 300 USD higher.
In March 2019, I also tweeted that the
silver/gold ratio probably made a low and that I expect silver to at
least reach 20 USD in 2019. I was slightly too optimistic, silver made
“only†30 % and hit 19.75 USD.
I have a new strong opinion I would like to share with you.
Silver is a precious metal with approximately 50% of the demand
coming from industrial uses. It is a “high beta†play on the gold price,
more sensitive to global growth and the inflation expectations.
The relationship to gold in more detail: at the beginning of a new
up cycle in precious metals, silver in general lags gold. Later in the
cycle (especially at the end of a certain cycle) silver massively
outperforms gold. After the peak, silver starts to underperform again.
After spending quite some time doing research, today’s situation in
silver looks similar like late 2003 (blue arrow). But here are my
observations:
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.†– Mark Twain
The a-b-c is a typical bottoming process, with a retest of the lows
(c), a price compression and a well-defined breakout (blue trendline).
During this initial stage, silver rather underperforms gold (see 1 and 2
in the silver/gold ratio).
Later silver consolidates above the 200-week moving average (blue
box), pullbacks finding support at the moving average, exactly like in
2003. Meanwhile, the moving average flattens and even turned upward.
The silver/gold ratio also put in a possible bottom and is close to breaking the dashed blue trendline (yellow box).
If things repeat in a similar way, expect a huge up move in silver
soon. A repeat of 2003-2004 would imply roughly 50 % upside within this
year.
How I play it:
I already have a position in silver, I will increase the position if
silver is able to break and hold above 18.12 USD = higher low. (further
confirmation if gold miners break out and the silver/gold ratio breaks
the downward sloping trendline)
Below 17.48 USD I reduce my position and stay rather defensive until silver is showing strength again.
I personally use futures and I will probably add a call option
(strike 18 USD; March 2021). For most people, a ETF like SLV is probably
a good way to participate.
A word of caution:
First, bold predictions often fail. The above mentioned is just my opinion (as of today).
Further, history is only a guide. The move may take place later, is
not as explosive as in 2003-2004 or will not take place at all.
I see a possibility that the recent virus in China has a quite
negative impact on global growth and on inflation expectations
(S&P500 doesn’t believe it, but copper and oil do). A severe outcome
would probably delay this trade setup. Remember, silver is very
sensitive to inflation expectations.
As already stated, just my opinion and not investment advice. Please
do your own analysis. Investing/trading involves substantial risk of
loss and is not suitable for all people.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:37 AM on Thursday, February 20th, 2020
SPONSOR: ZEN Graphene Solutions: An emerging advanced materials and graphene development company with a focus on new solutions using pure graphene and other two-dimensional materials. Our competitive advantage relies on the unique qualities of our multi-decade supply of precursor materials in the Albany Graphite Deposit. Independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada confirm this. Click here for more information
Scientists at Rice University have made laser-induced graphene using a low-power laser mounted in a scanning electron microscope.
The team at Rice University,
in conjunction with Philip Rack, a Tennessee/ORNL materials scientist,
have pioneered a process to create laser-induced graphene (LIG). LIG has
features that are 60% smaller than the macro version of the material
and almost 10 times smaller than what can be typically achieved using an
infrared laser.
The LIG Process
LIG is a multifunctional graphene foam that is direct-written with an
infrared laser into a carbon-based precursor material. In the Rice
team’s research, this was achieved using a visible 405 nm laser that
directly converts polyimide into LIG, enabling the formation of LIG with
a spatial resolution of 12 µm and a thickness of < 5 µm. This
spatial resolution, enabled by the smaller-focused spot size of the 405
nm laser, represents a 60% reduction in previously reported LIG feature
sizes.
These smaller 405 nm lasers use light in the blue-violet part of the
spectrum. They are much less powerful than the industrial lasers that
are currently being used to burn graphene into materials.
“A key for electronics applications is to make smaller structures
so that one could have a higher density, or more devices per unit
area,†James Tour of Rice University said in a statement. “This method allows us to make structures that are 10 times denser than we formerly made.â€
A scanning electron microscope shows two tracers of LIG on a polyimide film. Image used courtesy of James Tour of Rice University
A New Path Toward Writing Electronic Circuits
To prove the viability of their concept, the researchers made tiny
flexible humidity sensors directly fabricated on polyimide. These
devices were then able to sense human breath in 250 milliseconds.
“This is much faster than the sampling rate for most commercial
humidity sensors and enables the monitoring of rapid local humidity
changes that can be caused by breathing,†said Rice postdoctoral researcher Michael Stanford, lead author of the research team’s paper.
The 405 nm laser is mounted on a scanning electron microscope (SEM)
and burns the top five microns of the polymer. This writes graphene
features as small as 12 microns.
The Rice team believes that this new LIG process could offer a new
path toward writing electronic circuits into flexible materials such as
clothing.
“The LIG process will allow graphene to be directly synthesized for precise electronics applications on surfaces,†added Stanford. With growing interest in the LIG process for use in flexible electronics and sensors, further refinement of this process will expand its utility and potentially see it being used in a range of flexible electronics across all industries.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 5:20 PM on Wednesday, February 19th, 2020
SPONSOR: Lomiko Metals is focused on the exploration and development of minerals for the new green economy such as lithium and graphite. Lomiko owns 80% of the high-grade La Loutre graphite Property, Lac Des Iles Graphite Property and the 100% owned Quatre Milles Graphite Property. Lomiko is uniquely poised to supply the growing EV battery market. Click Here For More Information
A. Paul Gill, CEO Lomiko Metals Inc. VP Business Development, appears on Michael Campbell’s MoneyTalks podcast, A financial show syndicated Canada-wide on the radio.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:45 PM on Wednesday, February 19th, 2020
SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited
(TSX-V: DM) A revenue generating small cap A.I. company that NATO and
Canadian Defence are using to fight fake news & social media
threats. The company announced three $1M contacts in Q3-2019. Click here for more info.
The Rise of Deepfakes
Deepfakes are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else’s likeness
In recent months videos of influential celebrities and politicians have surfaced displaying a false and augmented reality of one’s believes or gestures
Deepfakes leverage powerful techniques from machine learning and
artificial intelligence to manipulate and generate visual and audio
content with a high potential to deceive. The purpose of this article is
to enhance and promote efforts into research and development and not to
promote or aid in the creation of nefarious content.
Introduction
Deepfakes are synthetic media in which a person in an
existing image or video is replaced with someone else’s likeness. In
recent months videos of influential celebrities and politicians have
surfaced displaying a false and augmented reality of one’s believes or
gestures.
Whilst deep learning has been successfully applied to solve various
complex problems ranging from big data analytics to that of computer
vision the need to control the content generated is crucial alongside
that of it’s availability to the public.
Within recent months, a number of mitigation mechanisms have been
proposed and cited with the use of Neural Networks and Artificial
Intelligence being at the heart of them. From this, we can distinguish
that a proposal for technologies that can automatically detect and
assess the integrity of visual media is therefore indispensable and in
great need if we wish to fight back against adversarial attacks.
(Nguyen, 2019)
Early 2017
Deepfakes as we know them first started to gain attention in December
2017, after Vice’s Samantha Cole published an article on Motherboard.
The article talks about the manipulation of celebrity faces to
recreate famous scenes and how this technology can be misused for
blackmail and illicit purposes.
The videos were significant because they marked the first notable
instance of a single person who was able to easily and quickly create
high-quality and convincing deepfakes.
Cole goes on to highlight the juxtaposition in society as these tools
are made free by corporations for students to gain sufficient knowledge
and key skills to enhance their general studies at University and
school.
Open-source machine learning tools like TensorFlow, which Google
makes freely available to researchers, graduate students, and anyone
with an interest in machine learning. — Samantha Cole
Whilst deepfakes have the potential to differ in general quality from
previous efforts of superimposing faces onto other bodies. A good
deepfake, created by Artificial Intelligence that has been trained on
hours of high-quality footage creates such extremely high-quality
content humans struggle to understand whether it is real or not. In
turn, researches have shown interest in developing neural networks to
help understand the accuracy of such videos. From this, they are able to
then distinguish them as fake.
In general, a good deepfake can be found where the insertions around
the mouth are seamless alongside having smooth head movements and
appropriate coloration to surroundings. Gone have the days of simply
superimposing a head onto a body and animating it by hand as the
erroneous is still noticeable leading to dead context and mismatches.
Early 2018
In January 2018, a proprietary desktop application called FakeApp was
launched. This app allows users to easily create and share videos with
their faces swapped with each other. As of 2019, FakeApp has been
superseded by open-source alternatives such as Faceswap and the command
line-based DeepFaceLab. (Nguyen, 2019)
With the availability of this technology being so high, websites such
as GitHub have sprung to life in offering new mythologies of combatting
such attacks. Within the paper ‘Using Capsule Networks To Detect Forged Images and Videos’
Huy goes on to talk about the ability to use forged images and videos
to bypass facial authentication systems in secure environments.
The quality of manipulated images and videos has seen significant
improvement with the development of advanced network architectures and
the use of large amounts of training data that previously wasn’t
available.
Later 2018
Platforms such as Reddit start to ban deepfakes after fake news and
videos that started circling from specific communities on their site.
Reddit took it on themself to delete these communities in a stride to
protect their own.
A few days later BuzzFeed publishes a frighteningly realistic video
that went viral. The video showed Barack Obama in a deepfake. Unlike the
University of Washington video, Obama was made to say words that
weren’t his own, in turn helping to raise light to this technology.
Below is a video BuzzFeed created with Jordan Peele as part of a campaign to raise awareness of this software.
Early 2019
In the last year, several manipulated videos of politicians and other
high-profile individuals have gone viral, highlighting the continued
dangers of deepfakes, and forcing large platforms to take a position.
Following BuzzFeed’s disturbingly realistic Obama deepfake, instances
of manipulated videos of other high-profile subjects began to go viral,
and seemingly fool millions of people online.
Despite most of the videos being even more crude than deepfakes —
using rudimentary film editing rather than AI — the videos sparked
sustained concern about the power of deepfakes and other forms of video
manipulation while forcing technology companies to take a stance on what
to do with such content. (Business Insider, 2019).
