The rise of new technologies is changing the way companies raise funds. Along with increased popularity of crowdfunding in recent years, a new form of funding has emerged – that is, the use of Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs. In 2017, companies in the United States raised over $4 billion through ICOs; in 2018, more than $21 billion has been raised. ICOs generate many challenges for securities regulators, and also give rise to other issues including corporate governance, data protection, anti-money laundering and insolvency. Assistant Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez from the SMU School of Law has conducted legal research on financial regulation. In this podcast, he shares his recent comparative and interdisciplinary study which addresses the issue of ICOs and makes recommendations to regulators and policy makers in a way that aims to promote innovation and firms’ access to finance without harming investor protection, market integrity and the stability of the financial system.

Assistant Prof Yeo Su Lin – Death is a part of life. However, people often feel awkward and ill at ease when faced with the opportunity for communication at the end of life. While talking about death and dying may not be comfortable for some, research has shown that having these conversations within families and communities, and with our healthcare provider can help prepare us emotionally for our deaths and that of others, and better ensure that we will receive the care and treatment that we prefer at the end of life. Yeo Su Lin is an Assistant Professor of Corporate Communication at SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business. Her research focuses on corporate reputation, crisis management and health communication. In this podcast, she discusses a recent nationwide study which was conducted to better understand end-of-life communication and sentiments towards palliative care in Singapore.

Building on research conducted in 2018 on the clear and positive link between high levels of psychological safety and a strong teamwork culture, Richard Smith, Professor of Strategic Management and Deputy Dean (Programmes) at the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, has now dug deeper by focusing on diversity. How does closing the gender gap within organisations in Asian countries impact overall company performance? Are employees more productive, or less, with a sense of belonging to the workplace? In this podcast, Professor Smith discusses the key findings of his research conducted in collaboration with consultancy group Great Place to Work Institute Singapore. The rigorous study, one of the largest in Asia to highlight gender differences, surveyed over 400,000 employees from more than 800 organisations located across eight countries in the Asia Pacific.

Global warming and climate change have created an unprecedented global interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially in energy production. Biomass, or organic matter, which is a renewable energy source that can replace fossil fuels in energy production is gaining popularity. Consequently, commercialising agricultural residues as biomass is gaining momentum in many countries. In a pioneering study, Onur Boyabatli, Associate Professor of Operations Management and DBS Sustainability Fellow at SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business, together with Assistant Professor of Operations Management Buket Avci, and PhD student Li Bin, studied the economic and environmental implications of biomass commercialisation in agricultural processing industries. In this podcast, Associate Professor Boyabatli shares his insights into this trending subject and the policy implications of their research findings.

Rapid urbanisation, coupled with the lack of coordination in the use of resources, such as taxis and security personnel, has negatively affected a wide array of quality-of-life metrics. These include waiting time in queues, response time for emergencies, and the number of traffic violations in cities. Using AI and Machine Learning methods, aggregation systems have been developed and adopted to improve the matching of resources and demand, thereby enhancing the efficiency of real-world transportation, emergency response and security systems. In this podcast, Associate Professor Pradeep Varakantham from the SMU School of Information Systems shares how AI can be used to improve transportation and security.

Data has emerged as the most important driver for modern economic development. New industries have arisen from the use of data with personal information as the core asset, while many traditional models of business are ‘disrupted’ or drastically transformed. Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has also become an integral tool for the management and processing of data, including personal data, as it provides greater accuracy and capability. How should the use of A.I. in data management be regulated and should it be treated any differently under the data protection regime? What role can A.I. play in regulating the use of personal data and as a cybersecurity tool? Is creating a form of propertisation of personal data and ‘data ownership’ useful? These are just some of the lingering questions that regulators and organisations are currently grappling with. Central to the issue is how A.I. can best serve and safeguard humanity’s interests. Warren Chik is Associate Professor of Law at SMU School of Law, and concurrently Deputy Director at SMU’s Centre for AI and Data Governance. In this podcast, he shares his recent research into Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection in Singapore, which takes a deeper look into consumers’ trust, organisational security and government regulation.

As the climate crisis looms, how can we build a more sustainable future? While the establishment of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) provides a helpful compass to achieve sustainability, they tend to be viewed and applied in isolation from each other. This glosses over what sustainability really means for those most vulnerable to its impacts. In this podcast, SMU Associate Professor Michelle Lim demystifies the dense jargon of the UN SDGs, and argues how viewing them as a set of integrated and interconnected goals is essential to empower us to chart a meaningful path forward for the planet and people. [About the SMU CP Podcast Series] SMU City Perspectives brings together researchers from Singapore Management University (SMU) for insightful conversations exploring the pivotal trends in digital transformation, growth in Asia, and sustainable living. Get inspired and discover solutions that will help you drive more impact in your work and shape the future of cities.

11/15/2024 - 6:00 PM - Venue: Chaos Games and More

11/14/2024 - 10:00 PM - Venue: Rainbow Bar

11/14/2024 - 9:00 PM - Venue: Riverside Bar and Grill

11/14/2024 - 5:30 PM - Venue: Coyote Grille

11/14/2024 - 12:00 PM - Venue: Assistance League of Pueblo

11/13/2024 - 7:00 PM - Venue: VFW Post 5812

11/13/2024 - 6:30 PM - Venue: Assistance League of Pueblo

Ice, my friends, is anything but basic.  It does strange and unexpected things, foiling even modelers. This week's #AntarcticLog reviews an essential principle or two. 

The post #AntarcticLog: Ice is cool appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

So you've always wanted to be an iceberg, to travel the world, bestowing fresh water and, just in general, being awesome? Here's how: 

The post #AntarcticLog: Being Berg  appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

Coral keeps on doing the unexpected -- as in this week's two stories from vastly different coral ecosystems. 

The post #AntarcticLog: Branching Out  appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

It's on! What's on? The Iditarod -- 98 years after the history-making dog sled run, the dogs are off again, and that means it's on. 

The post #AntarcticLog: To the dogs appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

TikTok catapulted in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and has now come to dominate the social media landscape. With over 1 billion monthly active users, science communicators have the potential to capitalize on TikTok’s success and share their science with a broad, engaged audience.

The post Harnessing the power of TikTok for science communication appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

#AntarcticLog is a series of comics by Karen Romano Young, intended to educate and inspire through sciart. You can find the originals here. Since the National Science Foundation sent me to Antarctica, I’ve written and drawn #AntarcticLog comics about once a week.  The very first shows why I started it — and why I keep going.  People often assume that because there are pictures — comics — that #AntarcticLog is …

The post #AntarcticLog: Two Hundred Fifty  appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

I've never been to Greenland or the North Pole—but one of my guilty pleasures is investigating how I'd get there if I went. This week's #AntarcticLog is a product of this kind of woolgathering. 

The post #AntarcticLog: On the trail to science appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

The poles make the difference in the size of certain animals.  Here the colossal squid speaks about why it’s so, well, colossal!

The post #AntarcticLog: Something in the water appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

“Many STEM professionals hold the misconception that engaging in science communication can hinder the progress of budding and established research careers. However, it is not necessary to choose between engaging in outreach and conducting research.

The post Science Communication: How it benefits a STEM research career appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

An update on the 19 July 2023 Irshalwadi landslide in India and the 20 July 2023 debris flow at Ungar in Bhutan

AGU is an organization committed to a culture of Experiment / Learn / Adapt. In response to voter input over many elections, the Leadership Development / Governance Committee chose to test ranked choice voting in 4 elections – International Secretary, Board Director, Council Students and Council Early Career Scientists. In case you’re not familiar, this is an increasingly popular electoral system that allows voters to rank candidates by preference, meaning …

The post Experiment. Learn. Adapt.: Ranked Choice Voting in the 2024 AGU Elections appeared first on AGU Blogosphere.

We are pleased to announce the approval of three updated position statements that will help shape the future of climate action, science communication and data sharing. AGU position statements—created, revised and approved by members with feedback and support from experts in related fields—are what enable AGU to take adaptive stances on significant policy issues ranging from climate change to national security. These statements, which are updated in a recurring four-year …

The post AGU Updates Critical Position Statements on Climate, Communications and Data appeared first on AGU Blogosphere.

Record heat, devastating storms, punishing drought. Our world continues to see the unrelenting impacts of climate change. It clearly requires urgent action but as the research community increasingly investigates climate intervention methods to address this challenge, we see an alarming lack of ethical guidance.   This is why, powered in partnership and driven by broad collaboration, AGU facilitated the Ethical Framework Principles for Climate Intervention Research. Through a two-year process that included an open …

The post Ethical Framework Aims to Counter Risks of Geoengineering Research appeared first on AGU Blogosphere.

AGU24 is just around the corner and our Science Policy and Government Relations team has a jam-packed agenda for our members at this year’s meeting in Washington, DC. From science policy 101 to understanding how scientists can engage with congress after the election to exploring science policy careers, we are here to help you make the most of your meeting. Explore our day-by-day schedule below:  Monday, 9 December  What’s Next for …

The post Join AGU Science Policy at AGU24 in DC appeared first on AGU Blogosphere.

AGU24 is just around the corner and our Science Policy and Government Relations team has a jam-packed agenda for our members at this year’s meeting in Washington, DC. From science policy 101 to understanding how scientists can engage with congress after the election to exploring science policy careers, we are here to help you make the most of your meeting. Explore our day-by-day schedule below:    Monday through Thursday, daily: Free …

The post Join AGU Science Policy at AGU24 in Washington DC appeared first on AGU Blogosphere.

Planetary scientists are using a volcanic flow field in New Mexico to puzzle out how long past volcanic eruptions on Mars might have lasted, a finding that could help researchers determine if Mars was ever hospitable to life. People don't usually think of New Mexico as a volcanically active place, but it has some of the youngest (geologically speaking) large lava flows in the continental United States.

The post New Mexico badlands help researchers understand past Martian lava flows (video) appeared first on GeoSpace.

The secrets of Saturn's veiled interior are leaking out by way of the planet's spectacular rings, according to a line of research that has taken four decades to come to fruition. In the last few years, what was first considered a sort of wacky hypothesis – that scientists can use Saturn’s rings to learn about  its structure -- has turned into a singular window into Saturn's surprisingly fluid and leviathan depths.

The post Sounding Saturn’s depths with its seismic icy rings appeared first on GeoSpace.

Sinking terrain caused by the loss of ice and soil mass in permafrost is causing deeper thaw than previously thought and making vulnerable twice as much carbon as estimates that don’t account for this shifting ground.

The post Vulnerable carbon stores twice as high where permafrost subsidence is factored in, new research finds appeared first on GeoSpace.

On 20 June 2024, AGU joined other organizations sending a letter to leaders of the appropriations committees in the House and the Senate requesting funding for two LC-130J airplanes needed for research operations in the Arctic and Antarctic.    As you advance fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations, we urge you to fund procurement of two LC-130J airplanes in the Defense Appropriations bill. These airplanes are critically needed to safeguard U.S. …

The post AGU joins letter requesting planes needed for Arctic and Antarctic research appeared first on The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy.

On 9 July, AGU joined nearly 200 organizations in sending a letter to House Appropriations leadership expressing concern over proposed cuts to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor- HHS).   We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to share our opposition to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor- HHS) Appropriations bill as currently …

The post AGU joins letter opposing FY25 Labor, Health and Human Services cuts appeared first on The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy.

On Thursday, 25 July, the full Senate Appropriations Committee began marking up their spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2025, starting with the Commerce-Justice-Science and Interior-Environment bills, which will be followed by the Energy-Water and Labor-HHS bills later this week. These bills collectively set the spending amounts for U.S. federal science agencies, including NASA, NOAA, NSF, USGS, EPA, the Department of Energy, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. …

The post Senate Aims to Preserve Scientific Progress in FY25 Spending Bills: Part 1 appeared first on The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy.

In this Bridge post, continued from our Senate FY25 Appropriations Overview Part 1 blog, we’ll cover the Senate’s Interior-Environment, Energy-Water, and Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2025—detailing relevant funding levels and sharing committee report highlights that impact the Earth and space sciences.   Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations bill and accompanying report.   United States Geological Survey (USGS) FY2024 President’s Budget Request FY2025 AGU Request FY2025 …

The post Senate Aims to Preserve Scientific Progress in FY25 Spending Bills: Part 2 appeared first on The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy.

AGU24 is just around the corner and our Science Policy and Government Relations team has a jam-packed agenda for our members at this year’s meeting in Washington, DC. From science policy 101 to understanding how scientists can engage with congress after the election to exploring science policy careers, we are here to help you make the most of your meeting. Explore our day-by-day schedule below:    Monday through Thursday, daily: Free …

The post Join AGU Science Policy at AGU24 in Washington DC appeared first on The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy.

Register to attend PROCESS EXPO 2015 and be automatically entered to win a $100 gift certificate to one of the following Chicago restaurants!

La Asociación de Proveedores de Industria Alimenticia (FPSA) anunció hoy los detalles del programa educacional en español – Universidad Cárnica - de la PROCESS EXPO 2015 que tendrá lugar el 15 y 18 de Septiembre 2015 en el McCormick Place de Chicago.

PepsiCo has announced plans to acquire at-home carbonated drink maker SodaStream for $3.2 billion. The deal gives PepsiCo a new avenue to reach customers — in their homes. 

Hormel Foods Corp. said it is selling its CytoSport business, including Muscle Milk products, to PepsiCo. CytoSport got its start marketing its protein-packed powders to weightlifters before developing ready-to-drink bottled products sold in groceries and other stores.

The deal, announced for an undisclosed sum, will see PepsiCo "further deliver" on its "vision to offer consumers more positive nutritious options." BFY's product portfolio includes PopCorners brand Flex Protein Crisps and Flourish Veggie Crisps. 

All three structures have been tested for recyclability according to the PTS RH 021/97 Cat II method.

The Coca-Cola Company announced the launch of The Coca-Cola Insiders Club, a subscription service offering a limited number of people the chance to taste over 20 of the company’s new beverages set to launch early next year.

Pepsi Cafe will come in two flavors: original and vanilla. The coffee-infused cola beverage has nearly twice as much caffeine as regular Pepsi.

PepsiCo, Inc. recently announced plans to achieve 100% renewable electricity for its U.S. direct operations this year. The U.S. is the food and beverage company’s largest market and accounts for nearly half of its total global electricity consumption.

New York-based Pet Plate has raised $9 million in a Series A round co-led by 301 Inc., the venture capital arm of Golden Valley-based General Mills. Other investors included DFE Capital Management, Marco Polo and Fernbrook Capital Management, along with existing investors, The Yard Ventures and Castor Ventures. 

The global pharmaceutical packaging market is set to grow over 5% year-over-year in 2019, and bottles will remain highly sought after, followed by blisters, vials and ampoules.