Posted by AGORACOM
at 12:11 PM on Monday, July 29th, 2019
Gratomic Inc. (TSX-V: GRAT) Advanced Materials company focused on mine to market commercialization of graphite products, most notably high value graphene based components for a range of mass market products. Collaborating with Perpetuus, Gratomic will use Aukam graphite to manufacture graphene products for commercialization on an industrial scale.
A quantum phenomenon that tests the limits of graphene’s use in electricity has been discovered by a research team from The University of Manchester, The University of Nottingham and The University of Loughborough.
The research addressed how electrons in graphene scatter off the
vibrating carbon atoms in the hexagonal crystal lattice. The researchers
applied a magnetic field perpendicular to the atomically thin sheet of
graphene. This magnetic field forced the current-carrying electrons to
move in a closed circular orbit.
There is only one way for an electron from pure graphene to escape
this orbit, this is by bouncing off a “phonon†in a scattering event.
These phonons are particle-like bundles of energy and momentum. By
warming graphene crystals for a very low temperature, researchers
discovered they can generate these phonons.
Once the research team triggered the phonon scattering event, they
passed a small electrical current through the sheet of graphene in order
to measure the precise amount of energy and momentum that can be
transferred between and electron and a phonon during the event.
What happens during these scatter events?
The researchers discovered that there are two types of phonon
scatter. The first being named transverse acoustic (TA) phonons. TA
phonons force the carbon atoms to vibrate perpendicular to the direction
of phonon propagation and wave motions, such motion can be likened to
the way waves flow on the surface of water.
The second type of phonon scatter is longitudinal acoustic (LA). LA
phonons stimulate the carbon atoms to vibrate back and forth along the
direction of the phonon and the wave motion, which motion is comparable
to the motion sound waves make through the air.
By assessing these events, researchers have found a very accurate way
to measure the speed of both types of phonons. Such measurements have
indicated that the TA phonon scattering events dominate over LA phonon
scattering.
Laurence Eaves and Roshan Krishna Kumar, co-authors of the work, said
“We were pleasantly surprised to find such prominent magnetophonon
oscillations appearing in graphene. We were also puzzled why people had
not seen them before, considering the extensive amount of literature on
quantum transport in graphene.â€
Mark Greenaway, from Loughborough University, worked on the theory of this effect said: “This result is extremely exciting – it opens a new route to probe the properties of phonons in two-dimensional crystals and their heterostructures. This will allow us to better understand electron-phonon interactions in these promising materials, understanding which is vital to develop them for use in new devices and applications.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:49 AM on Monday, July 29th, 2019
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——————
Blockchain is finally becoming the next-gen database of choice
Image Credit: TimeStopper/Getty
In short, a blockchain is a server that can’t crash and a database that can’t be corrupted — all in one easy to deploy package.
When I think of why we need a blockchain, I think of one guy. There was a dev we had hired to build a few important parts of our product for us. A few years previously, in another life, he had been hosting his own servers and one of them crashed. He was telling me this with tears in his eyes: The database, a massive mess full of customer data, point-of-sale info, and inventory information had gone up in smoke. The backups were hosed, as well. And there was no way to rewind the data.
He spent almost 24 hours in an air-conditioned server room, a monitor
attached to the rack and a keyboard on his knees, trying to resurrect
it. He was partially successful, but the real question was whether the
data was accurate. Whether the transactions all matched up, whether he
would keep his job in the morning.
Everything turned out fine and, since then, it has gotten a lot
easier to do his job. Cloud replaced servers while also being cheaper
and more reliable. His lingering fear never went away though. Things are
better, but he can’t be 100% sure things will never go sideways again.
He believes, though, that there’s a stronger safety net available now
than we’ve had before: blockchain.
Benefits like disaster recovery,
security, availability, and automation are all baked into blockchain.
The serverless architecture of public blockchains makes them powerful
proofs of how blockchain can deliver on enterprise-grade reliability for
business databases. The costs are also not much higher: Blockchain’s
ability to instantly replicate may even allow you to safely get away
with the same (or even less) redundancy compared to a traditional
database. Perhaps the biggest advantage? Smart contracts
will regulate changes, so a new hire can’t throw a wrench into
everything — the blockchain will protect you from changes that could
compromise data or stability.
In short, a blockchain is a server that can’t crash and a database that can’t be corrupted — all in one easy to deploy package.
To be clear, blockchain isn’t perfectly suited to solve certain data
problems, the same way that email isn’t suited for instant messaging.
Big data analytics is crazy expensive to replicate, and unless you are
directly monetizing the data (like selling ads), it is not worth the
cost to shoehorn blockchain into an analytical workload. Blockchains are
best for core business transactional data, like your account balance.
They are absolutely mission-critical when it comes to account data and
ownership records, the loss of which would be an existential threat to a
company. A company like Walmart can probably survive the loss of all
website traffic data, but it would be very much at risk if it lost its
inventory ledger.
Business continuity is a major concern for enterprise players as
customers demand nothing less than always-on availability. As businesses
grow though, the pains of migrating databases and updating systems can
lead to massive fumbles. According to Boston Computing Network’s
research, 60 percent of companies that lose their data will shut down
within six months of the disaster. There exists an entire industry of
SysOps, DevOps, and others who monitor code pushes and database
migrations, giving humans plenty of chances to foul up a launch.
So blockchain represents a big opportunity for businesses to move quickly while keeping their operations secure.
Today, it isn’t just about the speed of transactions, it’s also about
verifying and securing those transactions. That’s what has always been
missing in system management and is something that anyone from our
beleaguered dev to the teams that run databases for Twitter, Facebook,
and LinkedIn are learning.
Blockchain tech is the evolution of the database. Smart contracts
enforce business rules, while databases are backed up and verified
continuously. All of the infrastructure and computational needs are
calculated before deployment, and embedded rules ensure compliance from
day one onward.
In fact, it looks a lot like the next generation of what APIs look
like. You’re encapsulating processes, tying them together with requests
for data, and expecting results. Right now, the business logic is
processed on central servers of some kind. What’s innovative with
blockchain is that you can take that logic, wrapped as a smart contract,
and run it on your own. It still adheres to the rules set by the people
who created it, and it must interact as expected.
Now, imagine databases on blockchain using these same robust rules.
Robust databases that are unkillable. You don’t have to worry about your
main server going down. Replication is built-in. Immutable laws exist
that you can’t lose or change. If you’re on a public blockchain, this is
as robust as possible, and you don’t have to pay for any servers. With a
public blockchain, your data is stored cryptographically by the
blockchain’s miners all around the world. If you’re on a private
blockchain, you may run several replicated systems. Or, you can own all
the nodes. You can also use blockchain on cloud platforms like Amazon
Web Services and Microsoft Azure. The key is that blockchain is built to
be replicated, again and again. Traditional databases must be migrated
in specific, expensive ways under certain conditions to guard against
data loss.
Ultimately, this is where blockchain really proves its worth:
combining the basic elements of security, robustness, replication, and
business logic all in its “DNA.†Smart contracts are safe, distributed,
and secure. Your entire dataset is more secure this way, too. This is
why blockchain promises to be the next-generation database.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:10 AM on Monday, July 29th, 2019
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Tesla: How Elon Musk’s “Terawatt-Hour” Battery Plan May Spark Shift to Clean Energy
Elon Musk wants to transition the world onto renewable energy sources, but to do so, the world’s going to need a lot more energy storage.
The CEO outlined a new battery production goal during Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, hinting that the company could eventually produce multiple terawatt-hours of storage per year.
“In order to really make a fundamental shift in the world’s energy
usage and really transform things to a sustainable energy future, if
you’re not in the terawatt-hour range, it’s like, it’s a nice news story
but it is not fundamentally changing the energy equation,†Musk told
investors during the afternoon conference call.
It’s the sort of move that could spark a bigger jump to renewables.
Batteries are vital for renewable energy because they ensure a steady
stream of power throughout the day.
After all, when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing, solar and wind generators aren’t going to keep the lights on.
The Tesla-built Hornsdale battery in Australia, completed in November 2017, uses 129 megawatt-hours to store wind energy from nearby turbines and provide enough power for 30,000 homes. The Arsenal Football Club in London has a large enough battery to power the stadium for an entire 90-minute match, and GivePower is using batteries and solar to run a desalination plant 24 hours a day.
GivePower in Kiyunga.
In the wake of booming demand and a need for more capacity, battery production is soaring. Benchmark Minerals states that annual global production jumped from 19 gigawatt-hours in 2010 to 160 gigawatt-hours in 2019.
A staggering 68 plants could add a further 1.45 terawatt-hours to the mix by 2028.
There is still a long way to go: The IEA estimates that global electricity demand reached 23,000 terawatt-hours last year. Renewables accounted for around 24 percent of electricity in 2017, a figure that could reach 30 percent by 2023.
Of course, it’s not necessary to produce enough batteries to hold all
of the world’s energy at once. Musk previously stated that 100 of his
company’s Gigafactories could produce enough storage to transition the
world onto sustainable energy. With Musk planning to send Tesla’s
production skyrocketing, it could bring this goal within squinting
distance.
The Tesla battery in South Australia.
Elon Musk’s Terawatt-Hour Plan: How It Currently Stacks Up
Tesla’s Gigafactory behemoth
in the Nevada desert reached an annual production rate of 20
gigawatt-hours in August 2018. That in and of itself was an achievement,
as it made the firm the largest producer of battery power in the world,
and it meant that Tesla produces more capacity than all other
automakers combined.
The Gigafactory now produces around 28 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity per year, Musk
Work on the Gigafactory is not complete. The company is aiming to reach an annual production rate of 150 gigawatt-hours of battery pack production per year. This would be a rate that Musk has previously described as “faster than bullets leaving a machine gun.â€
But none of this is enough for Musk, who now wants to see the company reach “multiple terawatt-hours per year.â€
More information about this goal could come soon. Musk suggested that a battery day, similar to the autonomous driving day,
could offer “a comprehensive review of cell chemistry, module and pack,
architecture, and a manufacturing plan that has a clear roadmap to a
terawatt-hour per year.†That could arrive sometime between February and
March 2020.
Tesla is planning to launch new vehicles next year, like the second-generation Roadster, Model Y SUV, and Semi truck.
But beyond these new vehicles, Tesla’s batteries could be used to
help shift the markets to ditch dirty energy sources once and for all.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:31 AM on Monday, July 29th, 2019
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Canadian teen Hayden Krueger wins $1.2M in Fortnite World Cup
‘I wanted to do something different with my life,’ so he practises up to 12 hours a day
Canadian Hayden Krueger, 17, finished third on Saturday the first Fortnite World Cup, scoring a cool $2.4 million.
He’ll split that with his competition partner, who goes by the name Ceice.
In the New York tennis stadium where the U.S. Open is played every summer, Fortnite players
— many not old enough for a driver’s licence — competed this
weekend for a $40 million prize pool in a first-of-its-kind tournament.
Like many professional sports, video game competition is dubbed the
World Cup. Like many professional athletes, the competitors warm up,
train and scrutinize their strengths and weaknesses for hours a day.
“In football and basketball, they’ll go over film of their game,”
said Canadian contestant Hayden Krueger, 17. “So every night, we’ll do
like an hour of film. And we’ll watch over our films to see what we did
good, what we did bad and then just apply it the next day.”
Krueger is better known in the gaming world and to his 20,000-plus
Twitter followers as Elevate. He beat 40 million hopefuls to become one
of a handful of contestants in the lucrative three-day finals.
He finished third on Saturday, scoring a cool $2.4 million for the
ranking, which he’ll split with his competition partner, who goes by the
name Ceice.
The winner of Sunday’s solo category will take home $3.8 million, the
same amount tennis champions Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep each
scored at Wimbledon this month.
Practising eight to 12 hours a day, Calgary-born Krueger, who now
lives in the U.S., says he stands to make about $150,000 US in earnings
this year from other tournaments. That doesn’t include sponsorship deals
or streaming revenues.
“A traditional job gave me anxiety,” he told CBC News in a Skype
interview from his hotel room in New York after his win. “I didn’t want
to show up to my cubicle every single day and take my pay cheque. I
wanted to do something different with my life.”
Krueger, 17, says he practises eight to 12 hours a day as a professional video gamer. (Steven D’Souza/CBC)
The teenager has a rigid, albeit unconventional, routine.
“I wake up at like 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. and then I’ll play until 3 a.m.
into the night,” said Krueger. “It’s like the same hours if not more
[than a 9-to-5-job]
, like eight to 12 hours of this game. It’s pretty
scheduled for me.”
The commitment — and its payoff — is enviable enough that players
have fans turning up in droves to watch them perform. Competitors, who
range in age between 13 and 24, are often stopped between rounds to sign
autographs or pose for selfies.
The award-winning battle royale game, which has become a cultural
phenomenon since it was released in 2017, involves 100 players being
dropped onto an island to compete for survival. It’s free to play, but
part of Fortnite’s internal currency allows participants to make
upgrades and purchase add-ons for their avatars, such as “skins”
(costumes) and “emotes” (signature dance moves).
Fans filled the stands at the Arthur Ashe stadium in New York and
stopped competitors for autographs and selfies between rounds. ( Sarah
Stier/Getty Images)
Eyes on the prize
It’s left some parents torn between trying to indulge their child’s
interests and wondering whether their kids are spending too much time
and money on the product. Kim Jeffords, who made the eight-hour drive
from from Niagara Falls, N.Y., for her son, Nick, to attend the
event, said she’s spent at least $25 a week on game-related purchases
for him.
“I really don’t want to add it up because it will probably scare me,” she laughed.
Nick, blond and sporting a Nike T-shirt and polarized Wayfarer sunglasses, said he plays the game “at least 12 hours a day.”
“I don’t take breaks,” he said with a smile.
Kim Jeffords says she spends at least $25 a week on Fortnite-related game purchases for her son Nick, left. (Steven D’Souza/CBC)
At 11, his skills qualified him for the week-to-week round robin action. He was just too young to enter the finals.
“It is easy to get lost [in the game] because you want to become the
best,” said esports journalist Victoria Rose. There are a lot of games
with that issue.”
Among them, she says, are Grand Theft Auto, Dota and Starcraft. Rose says serious players will often switch to home schooling or take classes online to leave more time for the game.
“It’s mostly these very well trained, very educated players who know
how to play efficiently, who know how to balance their work life to
become the top players,” she said. “Just being here is a $50,000
guarantee. It gives you eyes to have sponsorships, to have a future.”
While Fortnite is still enjoying widespread popularity and massive revenue, some data
suggests the game might be experiencing a slight decline in interest
compared to when it burst onto the video game scene two years ago.
Fortnite, which came onto the market in 2017, is a battle royale game
that drops 100 players on an island to fight for survival. (Johannes
Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)
‘Astronomical’ prize money
The World Cup, launched for the first time this year, could be
another way to keep the game top-of-mind. Epic Games, which created Fortnite,
has pumped more than $100 million in prizes over the last season of
tournaments which is “astronomical in terms of esports,” according to
ESPN sports host, Arda Ocal.
“This [event] is a massive deal, if not only for the giant prize pool
itself, but also the amount of viewers that this entire season in
competitive esports has had,” said the Canadian-born broadcaster. “For Fortnite,
this is a great way for people to continue to know and learn about
their game but also get engaged and be motivated to play the game after
watching it.”
The first World Cup is one way for Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite,
to ensure fans stay interested in the game. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Krueger says it’s natural for parents to be reluctant to let their
kids get too involved with the game, and his were no different. But they
came around, he says, after seeing his detailed plan of how he intended
to achieve his goals. His mother has also recently decided to shift
careers and return to school to study law.
When asked if Krueger might be able to help with her tuition, he laughed: “Maybe.”
Next month, the Dota 2 esports tournament will surpass Fortnite‘s prize pool, offering over $40 million — the largest pot for this kind of competition.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 10:10 AM on Monday, July 29th, 2019
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AAX.v
Caution ahead of this week’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, with investors likely to look beyond an expected rate cut
Interest rate futures are fully priced for a quarter-point rate cut from the Fed on Wednesday, with only a small chance of a half-point move.
Gold was little changed on Monday as caution set
in ahead of this week’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, with investors
likely to look beyond an expected rate cut to the central bank’s
guidance on monetary policy for the rest of the year.
“A rate cut is entirely priced in while a 50 basis points cut is
extremely unlikely. So guidance becomes absolutely key,†OANDA senior
market analyst Craig Erlam said.
â€(Gold’s movement) will depend
on how dovish or how far ajar Jerome Powell leaves the door on these
rate cuts in the months ahead.â€
For the first time since the
financial crisis, the Fed is expected to trim the key interest rate by
at least 25 basis points (bps) at its July 30-31 meeting. Investors will
also look for signals of likely additional cuts in the pipeline.
“Much will also depend on what Fed Chair Powell says in the subsequent
press conference: if he makes no mention of a cycle of rate cuts,
causing gold to come under pressure, we would not see this as a trend
reversal but as an attractive buying opportunity,†analysts at
Commerzbank said in a note.
Interest rate futures are fully priced
for a quarter-point rate cut from the Fed on Wednesday, with only a
small chance of a half-point move.
Traders
will also keep a close eye on the U.S. and Chinese trade talks in
Shanghai this week, as negotiators from both countries meet for their
first in-person talks since a truce at G20 last month. Expectations are
low for a breakthrough.
On the technical front, $1,400 will be the key downside support for gold, and beyond that, $1,380, OANDA’s Erlam said.
“Bulls are very reluctant to let go just yet, but if we do see those
levels break, we might see gold bulls head for the exits quite quickly.â€
Hedge
funds and money managers reduced their bullish stance in COMEX gold in
the week to July 23, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC) said in a report on Friday.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.1% to 818.14 tonnes on Friday.
Among other precious metals, silver dipped 0.1% to $16.37 per ounce.
Palladium fell 0.3% to $1,530.38 per ounce, while platinum gained 0.8% to $867.26 per ounce.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:30 PM on Sunday, July 28th, 2019
Investment Highlights
Kenbridge property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper
17.5 (21.8 fully diluted) percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property
Signed Binding Letter of Intent to Purchase Sill Lake Lead-Silver Property, Ontario Read More
Kenbridge Ni Project (ON, Canada)
Advanced stage deposit remains open in three directions, is
equipped with a 623m deep shaft and has never been mined.
Preliminary Economic Assessment completed and updated returned robust project economics and operating costs including a NPV of C$253M and cash costs of US$3.47/lb of nickel net of copper credits.
Plans for Kenbridge include updating PEA,
advancing the project through to feasibility and exploring the open
mineralization at depth
Sill Lake Silver-Lead property, Sault Ste. Marie Mining Division, Ontario.
Closed the acquisition of the past-producing Sill Lake Silver-Lead
property, Vankoughnet Twp, Sault Ste. Marie Mining Division, Ontario.
Acquisition includes 13 single-cell mining claims and four boundary-cell claims that total some 372.8 hectares.
Lead-zinc-silver mineralization was discovered at Sill Lake in 1892;
since that time sufficient works have been completed so as to define a
(historical) measured and indicated resource of 112,751 tonnes of 134
g/t silver, 0.62% lead, and 0.21% zinc.
A 60 g/t cutoff for silver was used, with no cutoff used for base metals content.
Some 7,000 tonnes was exploited from the Sill Lake Project to
produce a lead-silver concentrate which was sold to nearby smelters.
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Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:15 PM on Sunday, July 28th, 2019
Real-Time Flight Tracking Technology And Ruggedized Flat Panel displays
PRODUCT UPDATES
STAR-A.D.S. ®
STAR-A.D.S. ® system installed on a major private operator in the Mid-East has been operating for more than one year now
Discussions are being finalized to expand the installation of the STAR solution of real-time monitoring to the rest of the customers’ fleet
Contract for 5 aircraft installations with a scheduled flights airline in Egypt has been implemented
First installation is scheduled for Fall 2019 as scheduling permits, with the balance of fleet installations to match the C-check schedule of the remaining aircraft in the fleet
Production of 27 STAR-A.D.S.® System units has commenced in order to meet ongoing requirements
STAR M.M.I.™
STAR M.M.I.™ Division (displays), continues to service, repair and offer case-by case new unit build for legacy LCD panels for Lockheed Martin (P3 aircraft), Northrop Grumman, and Blue Aerospace. Star qualified for these activities as a stable, long-term and direct offsets (Industrial Regional Benefit “IRBâ€) provider to these main US based integrators
STAR-ISAMM™ and STAR-LSAMM™ systems have generated a rapid and growing interest in the North American market
Distribution and Sales agreement with AMS Heli Design has been signed, with the first contract covering 6 installations on EMS helicopters awaiting final approval by the end customer
STAR-ISAMM™
STAR-ISAMM™ presentations have been made targeting Canadian Defense retrofit programs.
Star has received a high level of interest from the military industry and market segments.
Two applications have been submitted to the Federal and Provincial
governments for Research and Development funding covering mid-2019 to
end of 2021.
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Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:00 PM on Sunday, July 28th, 2019
SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment
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Esports have become one of the fastest-growing industries in the world in the last decade with millions of dollars on the line for players to compete over.
The eSports industry has generated over $1billion yearly in revenue in the past couple of years and has provided many players with a stable income.
Being a gamer or streamer is more viable as a career option now with ever-increasing viewership and tournament prize pools each year. However, selections can be tough and not everyone can make the cut.
Blockchain can provide increased transparency into gaming as well as
more ways in which platforms can monetize activities. On top of that,
blockchain also reduces the barriers of entry into the gaming industry
and provides regular gamers a stepping stone onto what could provide
them a stable income.
Here are some ways in which blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been used in gaming so far!
Gambling
The gambling industry is a lucrative business and eSports has provided people with new options to throw their money on. Unikrn is
a sports and eSports betting platform that also provides up-to-date
news about eSports. They offer all the top popular games such as Dota 2,
LOL, CS:GO and many others. They have 2 gaming currencies UKG(Unikoin
Gold) and Unikoin silver which you can use for betting or even entering
jackpots. Users will not be required to make an initial deposit or
purchase and Unikoin Silver is given free to all users who signed up.
Buying and selling skins
Unikrn also has the function to allow users to connect their Unikrn
account to steam and convert selected skins for UKG. Skins from popular
games such as Dota 2 and CS:GO will be available for conversion. This
provides players with an additional way to earn money as money earned by
selling on platforms such as Steam can’t be withdrawn. UKG is being
sold on some exchanges and can even be used to buy games, gift cards and
keys from Gamivo.
Wagering
Wagering is a good way for players to use their gaming skills to earn money or items for themselves. Arena Match,
an eSports gaming app, has the perfect platform for players to pit
their skills against one another or push themselves to the limits.
Currently, they have only PUBG unlocked for skill challenges but will
have many other top games such as CS:GO, Fortnite and Apex Legends
available in the future. To give you an idea on how wagering works in
PUBG on Arena Match here is an illustration. Players have to pay an
entry fee in credits and enter into a solo match in PUBG. Depending on
your performance in the game, a multiplier will be applied to your wager
amount if you hit a certain requirement. For example, having 5 kills in
a single game could earn you a 3x multiplier and a 10kill game could
earn you an 8x multiplier and the payout will be in terms of real cash.
Arena Match has also adopted the Enjin Blockchain SDK and even has
Enjin backed perks for players to use in-game to reduce the difficulty
of challenges.
Streaming
Streaming can be considered bread and butter for many gamers and is a
huge part of the entertainment industry as well. Some common ways of
income for streamers are donations and partnership with the streaming
platform.
Refereum has just announced a
partnership with PUBG and is rewarding players for streaming. Due to
their blockchain technology, players will also be able to receive
rewards for streaming on some of their partnered platforms such as
Twitch and Mixer.
Sliver.tv who has partnered with
Theta is another streaming platform which allows streamers and watchers
ways to earn by participating in activities on their platform. Users
will be able to earn TFUEL(the operation token on the Theta protocol) by
watching streams, winning giveaways and also donate to streamers. TFUEL
can also be used to purchase items such as a Nintendo switch or a
Playstation 4 in the Sliver shop.
Earn through playing
Refereum is also offering rewards for completing in-game achievements during their PUBG campaign.
Unikrn is giving players ways to earn UKG by linking their game
account to the Unikrn platform and completing certain achievements.
Games such as CS:GO, Dota 2, Fornite and many more are available in
their list of premium games in their play to earn system.
Game hosting
Plairlife, a
decentralized gaming ecosystem, has successfully hosted a Dota 2
tournament on their platform. Plair hosted a series of 1v1 and 5v5 Dota 2
matches for their Alpha testers to enjoy and also established a
partnership with Team Eazy(HongKong Dota 2 team).
DreamTeam is a
platform for players to find teammates, use of AI to improve their
gaming skills and to manage teams. As many people most commonly game at
home, getting scouted by a pro team can be indeed near to impossible.
DreamTeam connects and allows regular gamers to go professional with
amateur or semi-professional eSports teams with over a 60% rate of
success.
Salary and payment
DreamTeam platform also allows salaries, prize money and other deals
to be settled on their platform. Due to the nature of blockchain,
players can be sure to receive their payments as not getting paid is a
real and not so uncommon thing in the pro scene of eSports.
Conclusion
Blockchain has shown its capability and also enhances the quality of
gaming as well. It also shows it can solve many real and burning issues
in the eSports world and provide gamers with more ways to be able to
earn money. This also shows how blockchain and the eSports industry can
work and grow together. Blockchain is constantly evolving and eSports is
not showing signs of slowing down either. This space will be super
exciting to watch and I am thrilled onto what developments blockchain
can bring.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:29 PM on Friday, July 26th, 2019
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(TSX-V: SPDR) ————————
Here’s Why Gen-Z Are Turning To CBD Skincare
CBD extract is popping up in everything, from CBD infused cosmetics to cocktails. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Health trends come and go but one wellness phenomenon that shows no sign of slowing is CBD.
CBD, otherwise known as cannabidiol, is indisputably one of the hottest health topics right now, with CBD products now available on the high-street in food and beverages and no longer restricted to supplements from a pharmacy.
Health trends come and go but one wellness phenomenon that shows no sign of slowing is CBD. CBD, otherwise known as cannabidiol, is indisputably one of the hottest health topics right now, with CBD products now available on the high-street in food and beverages and no longer restricted to supplements from a pharmacy. According to the Cannabis Trades Association U.K., the number of CBD users has doubled over the past year from 125,000 to 250,000 and the acquisition of This Works, the British beauty and wellness brand, by Canopy Growth, the world’s largest cannabis company, is just one of many examples highlighting the growing presence of CBD in the U.K. market.
Used for a variety of ailments from pain relief to anxiety and depression, CBD oil should not be confused with cannabis use, which has previously been linked with causing depression in teenagers by the NHS. Shiona Redmond, CBD expert and creator of Graces London, a luxury CBD oil beauty and lifestyle brand, explains that CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid from the cannabis plant, whereas tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive cannabinoid that creates the “high” commonly associated with marijuana use. Because CBD contains less than 0.2% of the psychoactive THC it is, therefore, legal to buy and consume in the U.K.
The increasing popularity of CBD in
the U.K. is perhaps a delayed reflection of the success in the U.S.,
where legal sales of marijuana products surpassed $10 billion in 2018.
Bolstered by a growing cohort of Gen-Z consumers, who are twice as likely to use CBD than the national average, it’s no surprise that CBD uptake in the U.K. has grown so quickly, given that 1 in 5 young adults have a diagnosable mental health disorder.
But how does CBD help mental wellbeing? Redmond explains that humans
have cannabinoid receptors in our bodies, part of a self-regulatory
system called the endocannabinoid system which aims to create
homeostasis, a sort of consistent internal balance, in the body. “The
ECS has been noted as one of the most important physiologic systems
involved in maintaining our health and balance,†says Redmond, “In 2007
the ECS was discovered to play an important regulatory role in the
secretion of hormones related to reproductive functions and response to
stress.â€
The human body actually produces its
own cannabinoids which have the same composition as the CBD cannabinoids
from cannabis plants, therefore a CBD intake interacts with our bodies
in a similar way. The sensation is akin to the “runners high” or
feel-good buzz felt after physical activity because the naturally
produced cannabinoids in the brain are heavily linked with euphoria and
serotonin.
CBD products are growing not only in
availability but also range, with several popular alternatives instead
of vaping. Often taken sublingually, as an oil, tincture or spray
absorbed via the mouth under the tongue, CBD is also popping up in food
and beverages, with Crussh becoming the first U.K. chain to offer cannabidiol products with the recent launch of a CBD booster to add to drinks.
CBD products are increasingly available in the U.K to address a range of health and wellbeing concerns (Photo/Graces London)
Graces London
For those who would prefer not to ingest CBD orally, topical CBD products
like skincare oils, body balms, bath bombs and face masks are also
increasing in popularity. Redmond says: “CBD extracts can be absorbed
through the epidermis layers of the skin to interact with cannabinoid
receptors located on skin surface cells. With the skin being the largest
organ of the human body, what we put on our skin doesn’t only affect
the skin, but it can have long-lasting effects on our health and general
wellbeing.â€
With wellbeing at the center of the CBD phenomenon, further growth in the U.K. is inevitable. Partly linked to the arrival of trendy CBD beauty brands like Milk Makeup—aimed at a younger audience and now sold in the U.K. since January—but also hard to not draw parallels with the downward trend in smoking and drinking amongst the younger generation. Gen-Z music artists like Lil Pump are now becoming cannabis ambassadors, rather than the traditional alcohol advertising contracts that millennials and baby boomers are accustomed to seeing. Reflecting this cultural change in consumer behavior, Facebook has recently relaxed its rules on CBD advertising, now allowing the promotion of topical CBD, but still banning ingestible CBD.
It will be interesting to see how CBD
advertising is regulated going forward, due to the wide-spread use of
CBD but varying levels of concentration within products.â€Not
all CBD is created equal., says Redmond, “The CBD cannabinoid content
in extracts can vary from just a few percents to more than 90% CBD. The
extraction method used will determine the CBD cannabinoid content. CBD
flowers can be cold-pressed, distillation processes can be used or
varied forms of alcohol, solvent, and C02 extractions can be used to
extract the oil. The clearer and more golden the oil, the more purified
and concentrated the whole plant CBD extract is.â€
Although greenwashing often refers to
brands attempting to appear more environmentally friendly, the term
still applies here with the rise of CBD and mental wellbeing giving
brands an opportunity to capitalize by using hemp seed oil, another
derivative from the cannabis plant. Hemp seed oil, sometimes referred to as Cannabis Sativa seed oil,
should not be confused with CBD. It’s been widely available within the
health and beauty industry for years and does not contain the same
beneficial cannabinoids as CBD. Having social media at their fingertips,
Gen-Z shoppers are not afraid to call out big beauty brands for greenwashing. Time will tell how young consumers respond, as they become more clued up to what’s within their products.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:50 AM on Friday, July 26th, 2019
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an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.
BTRU: TSX-V
————————
[Funding alert] Edtech platform Brainly raises $30M led by Naspers; plans to expand user base in India
The latest investment brings the total funding received by the edtech platform to $68.5 million.
Poland-based Brainly, a peer-to-peer learning community for students, parents, and teachers across 35 countries including India,
has raised $30 million in its new funding round led by Naspers with participation from Runa Capital and Manta Ray.Â
Poland-based Brainly, a peer-to-peer learning community for students, parents, and teachers across 35 countries including India, has raised $30 million in its new funding round led by Naspers with participation from Runa Capital and Manta Ray.
The latest investment brings the total funding received by the edtech platform to date up to $68.5 million.
The company said in a statement that the current round of funding
will be used to enhance Brainly’s user experience and invest further in
the quality of the help provided to students and parents across the
globe. In addition, these funds will enable the company to further expand its user base in India, one of its key markets, which is witnessing continual growth with more than 15 million unique monthly users.
Brainly CEO and Co-Founder, Michał Borkowski said
“Our goal is to extend that access to academic help to every
student in the world, including India, giving them the resources and
the tools to succeed while inspiring collaborative learning. This
funding allows us to do just that. We also plan to utilise these funds
to expand our offerings for the Indian community of students, parents,
and teachers, by providing a platform to discuss and study in other
local languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Telugu, and Punjabi, to
name a few.”
Brainly CEO and Co-Founder Michał Borkowski with students
Founded in 2009 by Michal Borkowski, Lukasz Haluch, and Tomasz Kraus , Brainly last raised $38.5 million in Series B round from seven investors, including Naspers, which also funded India’s first edtech unicorn BYJU’s.
“We have been impressed by Brainly’s growth over the past 10
years, particularly in the US, and high-growth markets like India,
Indonesia, Turkey, and Brazil,” said Larry Illg, CEO of Naspers Ventures.
“At Naspers, we extend our support to companies that can address
grave societal needs like education, helping them fulfill their vision
with the ultimate aim of bringing about a change at a global scale,†he
said.
With more than 150 million monthly unique users, Brainly now reaches out to students, teachers, and parents across 35 countries in
solving their academic problems and exchanging knowledge. In addition
to India, the platform’s largest communities are in the US, Russia, Indonesia, India, Brazil, and Poland, among others.
Middle and high-school students, as well as their parents across
India, have been leveraging Brainly’s platform to strengthen their
skills in core academic subjects such as Math, Science, local languages like Hindi, and Social Studies, the company added.
In 2016 and 2017, Brainly closed $15 million Series B funding and $14 million Series B-1 funding,
led by Naspers and Kulczyk Investments, respectively. The platform’s
previous investors also include General Catalyst Partners, Point Nine
Capital, Runa Capital, and Learn Capital.
Brainly’s ‘crowdlearning’ model combines online education, social media, and machine learning, and is disrupting the $2.6 billion education market on a global level.
