CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

SEC settles first NFT enforcement case, fines LA media company $6M

Rita Liao
Mon, August 28, 2023 

Image Credits: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Staff / Getty Images


The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is suing a non-fungible token project, marking the first time the authority has taken enforcement action against a company for selling unregistered NFTs.

Impact Theory, a Los Angeles-based media company, "encouraged potential investors to view the purchase of Founder's Key [the company's NFT project] as an investment into the business, stating that investors would profit from their purchases if Impact Theory was successful in its efforts," the SEC order said, adding that the digital assets offered to investors were in the form of "investment contracts" and therefore "securities."

All in all, Impact Theory raised around $30 million from hundreds of investors, including those in the U.S.

The case is significant to the crypto industry, which has been hit with a flurry of regulatory clampdowns in the U.S., as it offers a clue for how NFTs could be regulated in the future. Many other NFT projects have used language that's similar to how Impact Theory marketed its digital assets, that is, touting their blockchain-based identifiers representing digital asset ownership as investment opportunities.

Impact Theory neither admitted nor denied the SEC's findings but agreed to pay more than $6.1 million in penalties to settle the allegations. The order also established a "Fair Fund" to compensate impacted investors as well as required Impact Theory to destroy all of its Founder's Key NFTs and eliminate any royalties that it might collect from secondary market transactions.

The company is not giving up on its NFT endeavor. In an X post, the founder of Impact Theory stressed that his company will ensure its future digital assets will be of utility rather than financial purposes:

"We will operate our go-forward business consistent with our good faith best understanding of all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, will make clear that all of Impact Theory’s digital assets are collectibles with utility within the exciting new landscape of Borderless Entertainment, and will fiercely discourage people from treating our digital assets as anything other than what they are—collectibles with utility. We will have more news on this in the coming weeks and months."

SEC director says ‘nothing has changed’ for enforcement even as the crypto industry rumbles

SEC’s Crypto Dragnet Widens to NFTs in Case With Media Firm

Allyson Versprille
Mon, August 28, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street’s main regulator expanded its crackdown on crypto products Monday by accusing a Los Angeles-based media and entertainment company of offering nonfungible tokens that were really unregistered securities.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Impact Theory LLC raised approximately $30 million from hundreds of investors through its NFT offerings. The SEC said the offerings should have been registered with the agency, and that Impact Theory had agreed to pay more than $6 million to settle the allegations.

The settlement marks the agency’s first enforcement action on NFTs, solidifying another front in its clampdown of crypto products that the SEC says are really securities under its remit. Since at least last year, the regulator has been scrutinizing creators of NFTs and exchanges where they trade.

Impact Theory agreed to the monetary penalty and to a cease and desist order, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.

The company in a statement said it is focused on the future of its business following the settlement. “Although we are disappointed that the SEC has chosen to broadly question the exciting technical innovations that make digital assets possible through the lens of the securities laws, we remain optimistic for the future of this industry in the United States, and hope we remain the global home of innovation,” Impact Theory said.

According to the SEC, Impact Theory sold three tiers of NFTs, which it called Founder’s Keys, and told investors to view them as investments in the business. Impact Theory said it was “trying to build the next Disney,” and that if it was successful, NFT holders would get “tremendous value” for their purchases, the regulator said.

Republican SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda issued a dissenting statement, saying they didn’t agree with how the regulator in this case applied a decades-old legal test to determine when a product is an investment contract.

“The NFTs were not shares of a company and did not generate any type of dividend for the purchasers,” the commissioners said.


(Updates with comment from the company beginning in the fifth paragraph.)

 Bloomberg Businessweek

IBM’s CEO, who froze hiring for thousands of back-office jobs and predicted A.I. would take up to 50% of new jobs, just piled into a $4.5 billion tech unicorn’s massive new $235 million funding round


Paolo Confino
Mon, August 28, 2023

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has been outspoken about how A.I. will transform business. Earlier this year, he wrote for Fortune commentary that employees should work “hand in hand” with A.I., and months later he moved to freeze hiring given rapid advancements in the tech. At the same time, he predicted that A.I. could take over 30% to 50% of such rote jobs, even contending that A.I. could even do them better than humans could. And now he’s put his money where his mouth is, with IBM piling into a massive $235 million funding round for the $4.5 billion A.I. unicorn Hugging Face. And it’s not Krishna’s first tie-up with the popular open-source startup, either.

On Friday, IBM announced it was participating in the $235 million Series D funding round for New York–based Hugging Face, the popular library of open-source machine learning models that have contributed greatly to the technology’s popularity as of late.

Since May, Hugging Face and IBM had already been working together on a suite of A.I. tools. As of this month, IBM has also uploaded around 200 open A.I. models to Hugging Face’s platform. One of the models IBM posted to Hugging Face was a collaboration with NASA, marking the space agency’s first ever open-source A.I. model.

In May, IBM announced it would work with Hugging Face on its watsonxai suite of A.I. tools. IBM’s watsonxai is essentially a studio that helps other companies build out a series of A.I.-powered products specific to their business. During the announcement at IBM’s Think conference in May, Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue said that through this partnership, IBM’s consultants would be able to offer Hugging Face’s vast assortment of models to clients that were interested in using A.I.

Hugging Face also has partnerships with other major tech players including Microsoft and Amazon. The Amazon partnership is structured similarly to IBM’s, where Hugging Face models are available to AWS’s enterprise clients. Although it does have the added wrinkle that Hugging Face will use Amazon’s Trainium chip to train the next version of its own model, named Bloom.

IBM’s CEO is convinced A.I. is here to stay

IBM has been bullish on the fact that A.I. will ultimately get integrated into practically every company. Krishna said he expected A.I. and machine learning to automate away many of the back-office processes that are ubiquitous in the workplace. IBM’s human resources department was able to get 50 people to do the work it had previously taken hundreds of HR managers to perform by using A.I., Krishna estimated.

Krishna has on more than one occasions touted A.I. as a solution to a variety of problems that could impact productivity in the future. In May, Krishna said declining numbers in the working-age population mean A.I. would play an important role in economic productivity as companies face a shrinking labor force.

More recently in an interview with CNBC, he added that A.I. would help keep quality of life high by spurring more productivity. Perhaps his most high-profile statement about A.I. was when he called for a hiring freeze of an estimated 7,800 roles the company expected to be impacted by A.I. over the next five years.
Hugging Face’s impressive Series D financing round

IBM wasn’t the only big name in tech to pony up some cash for an investment in Hugging Face. Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, and Salesforce all participated. After its latest $235 million funding round the startup’s valuation is now $4.5 billion. That amount is more than double the roughly $2 billion valuation Hugging Face had during its last fundraising round in April 2022, according to data from PitchBook.

Hugging Face’s valuation is reportedly 100 times the startup’s annualized revenue. That fact would ordinarily spook some investors but in this case likely reflects the appetite from investors to stake out claims in the biggest players in the burgeoning field of A.I.

“Investing a relatively small amount of capital, even at 100x annualized revenue, is a sound strategic investment by IBM,” UBS wrote in an analyst note, commenting on the deal. “While the investment dollars are small, a deeper relationship and access to a leading provider of AI tools at a minimum provides market intelligence in a fast moving dynamic market.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

WORKERS CAPITAL

Korea Pension Fund Bets on Private Credit to Fight Global Swings

Daedo Kim and Youkyung Lee
Mon, August 28, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- As stocks and bonds remain vulnerable to gyrations in global markets, one of South Korea’s major pension funds is betting big on alternative assets to boost returns.

Government Employees Pension Service, with about $6 billion in assets, plans to raise its investments in the category, that includes private credit and real estate loans, to 34% in the next four years from about 28% aimed for this year, Chief Investment Officer Baek Joohyun said in an interview.

“Stocks and bonds are very volatile, while alternative investments are attractive as a hedge against risk,” said Baek. “It’s a lending-friendly environment,” and private credit offers better risk-adjusted returns in a scenario of high interest rates, he added.

Private lenders — which increasingly include pension and sovereign wealth funds — are benefiting from the higher interest-rate environment and the more fragile confidence in credit markets. Nine out of 10 investors believe the $1.5 trillion market has met or exceeded their expectations over the past year, according to a recent report by Preqin.

The fund’s outstanding positions in private debt stood at 447.1 billion won ($340 million) as of July, and is planning to invest $70 million in overseas real estate loans, which would mark its entry into the global property market. GEPS expects a return of 7-8% from real estate in developed countries, Baek said.

The fund plans to cut its exposure to domestic equities to 12% of its total assets by 2027 from 16.4% this year, and boost overseas investments, mainly in the US, to 18% from 14.6%. It remains bullish on certain sectors, especially chip stocks such as Samsung Electronics Co. locally.

Its bullish wagers on Korean chip and EV stocks helped drive its 16.9% gains from equities during the first half of the year, outperforming the MSCI all country index’s 12.8% gain.

In a wide-ranging interview, Baek also said:


The fund plans to buy high-quality bonds in parts to secure high-interest rate from a mid to long-term perspective


The fund reduced its stock exposure to Europe on inflation risks, while increasing to the US on solid corporate earnings and expectations that its economy will have a soft landing


Among emerging markets, likes India and Vietnam as they will benefit from restructuring of global supply chains


Remains neutral on China, and expects gains in Chinese stock markets to be limited during the second half of this year, but will continue to monitor the markets for future opportunities as valuations have become attractive


GEPS reduced exposure to local financial firms and telecom stocks during first half of this year amid wagers of growth slowdown


Going forward, it sees opportunities in construction, machinery and shipbuilding stocks in South Korea on expected demand from re-construction activity in Ukraine after war and Saudia Arabia’s Neom city project

Bloomberg Businessweek

‘He was dripping with sweat’: Kroger worker dies in hot work conditions in Memphis

Erum Salam
Mon, August 28, 2023 

Photograph: Lisa Baertlein/Reuters

A Kroger distribution center employee has died on the job in Memphis amid hot working conditions, adding to a national debate in the US over the risk to workers during heatwaves.

The worker was identified as Tony Rufus, members from his union announced.

Related: Will Starbucks’ union-busting stifle a union rebirth in the US?

Leaders from Teamsters 667, the local labor union, said Rufus was trying to cool off in the produce section after becoming overheated on Friday night. Rufus worked in the salvage department, a part of the facility that did not have air conditioning. The Memphis police department found Rufus dead at 8.13pm.

“Guys said he was dripping with sweat, asking for water,” union leader Maurice Wiggins told Fox13.

Wiggins said Rufus died on a dock in front of his co-workers. His death comes after his union had been asking the company for more breaks, cooler temperatures and drinks other than just water.

In response to Rufus’s death, Kroger issued a statement: “The safety of our associates has always been our top priority. Kroger Supply Chain continues to take the necessary steps to ensure a safe working environment for our associates. We have contacted the associate’s family to offer our condolences and support during this difficult time.”

The investigation into Rufus’s death continues, according to the Memphis police department.

Unions across the country are demanding for better, cooler working conditions as the record-breaking heat felt this summer rages on.

Despite this, conservative political forces are pushing back against such demands.

Lobbyists from the agriculture and construction industries are working to prevent heat protection laws from going into effect at the state and federal levels. The Biden administration has proposed federal regulation requiring workers to be protected from the heat, but no such law has materialized so far.

In June, Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, signed a law that eliminated local rules requiring water breaks for workers. Shortly after the law was passed, a 35-year-old utility lineman in Marshall, Texas, died after experiencing heat illness symptoms.

That same month, unions representing UPS workers – many of whom drive delivery trucks without any air conditioning – threatened to strike if their demands for heat protections were not met.

Since 2011, there have been 436 work-related deaths caused by environmental heat exposure, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to UPS company records obtained by the Washington Post, at least 143 UPS employees were hospitalized for heat- or dehydration-related injuries between 2015 and 2022.

On 22 August, after threatening to organize what would have been the largest single-employer strike in US history, UPS workers were awarded a new contract that met their demands, including a provision that would require every new UPS truck to be equipped with air conditioning starting next year.

In a statement issued last Tuesday, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said: “This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers. Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry.

“This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention.”

BP Decides to Invest More in Oil & Gas to Meet Growing Demand

Zacks Equity Research
Mon, August 28, 2023

BP plc BP is pressing energy companies to invest more in hydrocarbon production to prevent a sharp surge in prices, while accelerating the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, per a Reuters report.

In 2022, about 3% of global gas supplies were affected by Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine. Gas prices increased significantly, which led to countries switching to the next cheaper energy source, coal. As a result, coal use escalated to record highs last year.

Per BP CEO, Bernard Looney, oil and gas will continue to be a significant energy source globally for many decades to come. Oil and gas, used to power vehicles, airplanes and in several industries, constitute 55% of the world’s energy needs. Per International Energy Agency projections, global oil demand is set to rise to new high in 2023.

Energy transition should be orderly to maintain its pace as emission levels have risen since the Paris Accord in 2015 despite global efforts. Orderly transition will allow us to continue investing in existing fossil fuels and in transition projects at the same time. BP cited that it would spend 40% of its capital on energy transition projects by the middle of this decade and 50% by the end of the decade.

BP has been expanding other fuel options in India, the world’s third-largest energy consumer. The company has established about 3,000 electric vehicle charging points to date, which increased from 750 in January 2023. BP also invested in India’s gas sector and its venture arm acquired a stake in electric ride-hailing company BluSmart.

With big oil profits reaching record highs in 2022, BP wants to increase investments in fossil fuel production for the rest of the current decade. BP’s plan could indicate a major change in direction for other European oil majors.
Price Performance

Shares of BP have underperformed the industry in the past three months. The stock has gained 1.7% compared with the industry’s 3.4% growth.



Zacks Investment Research


Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

BP currently carries a Zack Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Some better-ranked players in the energy sector are USA Compression Partners, LP USAC, currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), and Global Partners GLP and Evolution Petroleum Corporation EPM, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.


USA Compression Partners is one of the largest independent natural gas compression services providers across the United States in terms of fleet horsepower.

USA Compression Partners has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023 and 2024 in the past 30 days. The consensus estimate for USAC’s 2023 and 2024 earnings per share is pegged at 30 cents and 55 cents, respectively.

Global Partners is a leading operator of gasoline stations and convenience stores. Over the past 60 days, GLP has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Global Partners’ 2023 and 2024 earnings per share is pegged at $3.46 and $3.69, respectively. GLP currently has a Zacks Style Score of A for Value and Growth.

Evolution Petroleum is an independent energy company. EPM has a Zacks Style Score of A for Growth and B for Value.

Evolution Petroleum has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023 and 2024 in the past 60 days. The consensus estimate for EPM’s 2023 and 2024 earnings per share is pegged at $1.11 and $1.08, respectively.

INDIA 1%

Global clean energy shift won't hit Reliance's oil business- Ambani

Mon, August 28, 2023 

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, arrives to address the company's annual general meeting in Mumbai


By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd will continue to operate its refineries and petrochemical projects profitably, even as fossil fuel demand wanes due to a gradual global shift to clean energy, Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Friday.

"We have already put in place a comprehensive strategy to ensure that all our investments and all our assets remain not just safe, but actually become profitable even as fossil fuel demand wanes," Ambani said at the group's annual shareholder meeting.

He said Reliance will switch to 100% green energy for captive consumption to cut energy costs, and upgrade the output of its refineries into value added chemicals.


Billionaire Ambani on Monday also announced the appointment of his three children as board directors at the oil-to-chemicals conglomerate, as he prepares to eventually hand over the reins.

Reliance, the operator of the world's biggest refining complex at Jamnagar in western India, is investing 750 billion rupees ($9.08 billion) in clean energy and technologies as it seeks to become net carbon zero by 2035.

The company is building four giga factories at Jamnagar to produce solar cells and modules, energy storage batteries, fuel cells and green hydrogen.

"..let me assure you that both during and after energy transition, our Jamnagar refining complex and all other petrochemical complexes will continue to operate profitably," he said.

Reliance aims to start commissioning facilities at its solar cell and module factory in phases from end-2025 and to set up a battery giga factory by 2026, he said, adding the plan is to install at least 100 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity by 2030.

Ambani said Reliance's Jamnagar refining complex, which has the capability to process 1.4 million barrels of oil per day, will be progressively operated as a chemicals and materials feedstock production engine.

Indian Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Firm Will Explore Blockchain Platforms and CBDCs

Amitoj Singh
Mon, August 28, 2023 





Reliance Industries Ltd. is entering the world of blockchain and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), its Chairman and Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, announced on Monday.

Ambani's Reliance ventured into the financial sector through its new financial services entity, Jio Financial Services (JFS), launched earlier this month. The development received further momentum with the announcement that BlackRock (BLK) would be a partner. Ambani's Reliance has been one of the most important players in India's digital growth story and its latest foray into CBDCs and Blockchain was declared during the company's biggest event of the year – the annual general meeting.

"JFS will consolidate its payment infrastructure, with a ubiquitous offering for both consumers and merchants further driving digital adoption for India," Ambani said. "JFS products will not just compete with current industry benchmarks but also explore pathbreaking features such as blockchain-based platforms and CBDC. They will adhere to the highest standards of security, regulatory norms and ensure protection of customer transaction data at all times."

While another Reliance entity, Reliance Retail, the nation's largest retail chain had started accepting India's digital rupee or CBDC during its pilot phase in February 2023, the announcement on Monday reflects greater intrigue in the space.

India has already made significant progress towards a wholesale and retail CBDC even though a full-scale launch is awaited.

Read More: Unpacking India's CBDC Pilots as Country Prepares for Digital Rupee

Global investors show new interest in Reliance Retail, Ambani says

M. Sriram
Mon, August 28, 2023 

 Reliance's Yeah! and Coca-Cola Co. soft drinks are seen on a shelf inside a Reliance supermarket in Mumbai, India

By M. Sriram

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Industries' retail unit is attracting "strong interest" from other top investors after raising $1 billion from Qatar Investment Authority, its billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday.

Reliance Retail, which aims to list on the stock market, raised $1 billion from Qatar Investment Authority at a $100 billion valuation last week, three years after a wave of fundraising where the unit attracted investors such as KKR, Silver Lake and TPG.

"In less than three years, the valuation of Retail has almost doubled, notwithstanding the intervening COVID-19 pandemic," Ambani, Asia's richest person, said during the company's annual general meeting.

"Several marquee global strategic and financial investors have shown strong interest in Reliance Retail," he said, adding he would share progress about them "in due course".

Ambani said in 2019 that the group planned to list the retail business in five years.

Led by Ambani's daughter Isha, the retail arm includes e-commerce operations and outlets selling electronics, clothing and food products, a consumer goods business and international partnerships with brands like Burberry, Pret A Manger and Tiffany.

Reliance also said on Monday that Ambani's three children, including Isha Ambani, will join the board of parent Reliance Industries.

Reliance Retail has invested more than $10 billion in the last two years and opened 3,300 new stores last year, Isha Ambani said.

Since last year, Reliance has been expanding its consumer business by acquiring dozens of small grocery and non-food brands as it targets building a consumer business generating annual sales of $6.5 billion with five years to challenge foreign giants like Unilever.

It also revived a local cola brand with plans to use its vast retail network, slash prices and tap nationalist sentiment to challenge U.S. beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in a key market.

Talking about its consumer brand, Isha Ambani said the company was scaling it up "further in India, and has also started work to take it global, starting with Asia and Africa."

(Reporting by M. Sriram; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Susan Fenton)
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Factbox-The three Ambani children joining the board of India's Reliance

Reuters
Mon, August 28,23

Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani, children of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, pose for a photograph as they arrive to attend the company's annual general meeting in Mumbai


MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday appointed the three children of chairman Mukesh Ambani - Isha, Akash and Anant - as board directors at the oil-to-telecoms conglomerate, as the billionaire prepares to eventually hand over the reins.

Ambani, Asia's richest person, in recent years has said the children would have significant roles at Reliance, India's biggest conglomerate, which is valued at around $200 billion. Eldest son Akash is already chairman of the telecom unit.

Here are some key details about the three:

AKASH AMBANI, 31

Eldest son Akash has been chairman of Reliance's telecoms unit, Jio Infocomm, since June 2022 after joining the unit in 2014.

An economics graduate from Brown University, he was part of a team that brokered a $5.7 billion investment in 2020 by Meta Platforms in digital unit Jio Platforms. He also helped broker deals with global investors such as KKR and TPG.

In 2019, Akash married Shloka Mehta, the daughter of a wealthy diamond merchant. They have a son and a daughter.

ISHA AMBANI, 31

Akash's twin sister Isha drives the company's retail, ecommerce and luxury businesses. Reliance says its retail unit is India's largest retailer by revenue and profits.

She was also involved in the launch of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, a Broadway-style theater and arts centre launched in Mumbai earlier this year.

She has a management degree from Stanford and a double major in Psychology and South Asian Studies from Yale.

ANANT AMBANI, 28

Ambani's youngest son Anant has been a director on the board of Jio Platforms since March 2020, Reliance Retail since May 2022 and the group's new energy and solar energy businesses since June 2021.

A graduate of Brown University, Anant oversees the group's new energy businesses, where Reliance aims to become a net-zero carbon company by 2035. Anant has also been on the board of Reliance Foundation, the group's philanthropic arm, since September 2022.

(Reporting by M. Sriram; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Conor Humphries)

India's Reliance appoints Ambani children to board in succession plan


Mukesh Ambani poses with wife Nita Ambani, children Isha Ambani, Anant Ambani, and Akash Ambani before addressing the company's annual general meeting in Mumbai
In this article:

By Munsif Vengattil and Dhanya Skariachan

Mon, August 28, 2023 

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday appointed the three children of Chairman Mukesh Ambani as board directors at the oil-to-telecoms conglomerate, as the billionaire prepares to eventually hand over the reins.

Ambani, Asia's richest person, has previously said his children Isha, Akash and Anant would have significant roles in the business and that Reliance was "in the process of effecting a momentous leadership transition". Mukesh Ambani was re-appointed as chairman of the company for another five years in July.

Ambani, 66, said his three children will work as one single team and will collaborate with other directors "to provide leadership to the Reliance group as a whole and guide the growth of all our diverse businesses."

With a market value of more than $200 billion, Ambani's business empire spans telecoms, retail, oil and gas and new energy.

With Mukesh Ambani in his late 60s, "the time is probably right ... If not now, when?," said Arun Dasmahapatra, a partner at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles’ Mumbai office.

"This is also an attempt by Mukesh Ambani to ensure the next generation of Ambani siblings stay close to one another and do not have any discord."

Mukesh's father Dhirubhai Ambani, a well-known industrialist, died without a will, sparking a long-running and public feud for control of assets between Mukesh and his younger brother Anil.

Ambani has positioned experienced executives and long-time friends and family to steer his children through the transition, and they have taken larger roles at annual general meetings and led some company announcements.

Reliance also said Ambani's wife Nita had stepped down from the board to focus more on strengthening Reliance's charity arm.

Akash Ambani, who attended Brown University, was part of a team that brokered a $5.7 billion investment in 2020 by Meta Platforms in Jio Platforms, a Reliance unit. He is already the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, the telecom arm of Reliance.

Akash's twin sister Isha is driving the expansion of Reliance Retail into new categories and geographies, and is already a director on the boards of the retail unit, Reliance Retail Ventures, which houses the conglomerate's bets in India's brick-and-mortar and e-commerce industries.

The youngest of the siblings, Anant, is a director at Reliance's new energy business, retail unit as well as Jio platforms and its energy, and oil and chemical units.

The appointments are to be finalised after approval from shareholders.

RETAIL, AIRFIBER

Speaking at the annual general meeting with shareholders, Mukesh Ambani said the retail unit had doubled its valuation to $100 billion after a recent $1 billion investment from the Qatar Investment Authority in exchange for a 1% stake, adding that it was seeing interest from several top global and financial investors.

The company will launch Jio AirFiber, a wireless indoor device for offices and homes that provides broadband-like speeds, on Sept. 19. The device, which uses the Jio 5G telecom network for connectivity, will help Reliance target more than 200 million homes in the next three years.

Reliance shares closed down 1% on Monday and were among the top losers in the benchmark Nifty 50 index. Analysts attributed the decline to the absence of any new details at the shareholder meeting on the IPOs of telecom and retail arms of the company.

Reliance in 2019 had said the units will be listed publicly in five years. Investors were expecting an update on the timeline after Ambani last year said more details would be shared at this year's meeting.

Ambani also announced plans to manufacture wind energy equipment in India under Reliance's new energy business, and a plan to set up a battery giga factory by 2026.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil, Aditya Kalra and Dhanya Skariachan in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue, Mark Potter and Louise Heavens)

Study suggests global warming set to worsen snow shortages on Europe's ski slopes

JAMEY KEATEN
Mon, August 28, 2023 


People ski on a strip of snow near Schladming, Austria, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. A scientific study published Monday projects that over half of Europe’s ski resorts will face a severe lack of snow if temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while nearly all would be by an increase of 4 degrees — presenting challenges for the tourism industry and policymakers, and threatening a cold reality for ski lovers.

 (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

GENEVA (AP) — A scientific study published Monday projects that over half of Europe's ski resorts will face a severe lack of snow if temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while nearly all would be affected by an increase of 4 degrees — presenting challenges for the industry and policymakers, and threatening a harsher reality for ski lovers.

In the paper in the journal Nature Climate Change, the team of experts warns that a common solution — production of artificial snow – would only partially offset the decline and would involve processes like snow blowers that generate more of the same greenhouse gases that are heating up the globe in the first place.

Repeated and increasing wintertime thaws have saddled many European ski resorts in recent years, leaving many slopes worryingly bare of snow. Along with glacier melt, snow shortages have become a visible emblem of the effects of climate change. Everything from basic tourism to pro ski competitions have felt the effects.

The new study suggests things could get much worse.

With the rise in global temperatures already flirting with the target limit of 1.5 degrees under the 2015 Paris climate accord, and a higher climb seemingly inevitable, the researchers analyzed the impact on more than 2,200 ski resorts across 28 European countries.

The research evaluated changes in snow cover across a range of increases in temperature: 53% of ski resorts in Europe would face “very high risk of insufficient snow” at a rise of 2 degree Celsius. Nearly all — 98% — would face that level of risk if the 4-degree bar is surpassed.

Even with use of artificial snow, more than one-fourth of the resorts would still face snow shortages if temperatures rise by 2 degrees, and more than 70 percent would if they climb by 4 degrees, the forecasters said.

The researchers say their paper goes further than previous country-specific studies and provides a first comprehensive look at the impact of snow shortages on the slopes across Europe, home to half of the world’s ski resorts.

“What this study also provides is an analysis of the water requirement, electricity requirement, and greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with snowmaking,” said co-author Samuel Morin, a researcher with weather forecaster Meteo France.

As with most efforts to combat climate change, tourism officials and government leaders will likely need to respond with a mix of attenuation — trying to keep temperatures from rising — and adaptation: changing behavior for a new reality in places like Spain's Pyrenees, Norway's Mount Trysilfjellet, the Swiss Alps, or Turkey's Erciyes resort.

“In the tourism sector, if we want to limit the extent of the consequences (of climate change), we must also be concerned about limiting the carbon footprint of this activity — and therefore do everything possible to massively reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the entire sector," Morin said.

Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute, called it a “really interesting and very thorough” study, praising its examination of climate as well as adaptations in water, electricity and carbon footprints and its look at past changes in temperatures that formed a basis for the forecast.

She noted how the report suggests use of renewable energy “makes it considerably more feasible to adapt by continuing snowmaking without producing too much additional carbon,” but it also suggested that transport to ski slopes appeared to be an important source of emissions — and greener snowmaking will have no impact on that.

“Overall, it looks like European skiers will be able to continue skiing, but the activity will migrate further north and higher up the mountains, even with additional investment in snowmaking,” Mottram wrote in an email.

Many ski resort operators — in Europe and beyond — are already getting the message, and may need to do more.

Anita Verpe Dyrrdal, a research scientist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, said the study's prediction for a drop in “snow reliability index” in Norway was in line with national assessments. She applauded the research for its snow modeling and energy production estimates, but acknowledged it might overlook some specifics.

“My concern is in the spatial resolution of the model simulations, which, especially in topographic regions, might be too coarse,” she said, alluding to sharp changes in altitude that might not be seen in the researchers' modeling, such as near Norway's fjords, or wind conditions that could cause snow to drift.

“Local snow modeling might be important in some regions where local effects play a big role,” she said.

For skiers, the study suggests higher — and colder — destinations may be required to get to the best slopes, and suggested one takeaway from the study was that resorts that assess their local conditions and adapt as necessary might in fact lure more skiers in the years to come.

“The most robust ski locations in the future might attract even more tourists?” she mused.

As worker actions continue nationwide, White House highlights how administration is helping unions

FATIMA HUSSEIN
Mon, August 28, 2023 

Striking writers and actors picket outside Paramount studios in Los Angeles on Friday, July 14, 2023. As worker actions continue from Hollywood to Detroit, and new labor unions crop up at firms like Starbucks and Amazon, the White House on Monday was highlighting its effort to bolster worker organizing throughout the U.S. 

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — As worker actions continue from Hollywood to Detroit, and new labor unions crop up at firms like Starbucks and Amazon, the White House on Monday was highlighting its effort to bolster worker organizing throughout the U.S.

President Joe Biden is counting on critical labor support as he campaigns for a second term in office, holding his first re-election campaign rally at a Pennsylvania union hall in June, declaring: “I'm proud to be the most pro-union president in American history.” The White House and Treasury on Monday issued a joint analysis on what the administration sees as the importance of unions, and also the White House efforts to safeguard and bolster them.

There is “evidence that unions strengthen the middle class and grow the economy” by raising wages of members and improving health care, retirement and predictable scheduling plan benefits, according to the analysis.

“There have been recent signs of a reinvigorated labor movement, as union election petitions in 2022 bounced back from the pandemic to their highest level since 2015,” the analysis says “and public opinion of labor unions is at its highest level in over 50 years.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, who leads the White House Labor Task Force, created to work with federal agencies to use their existing authority to support labor organizing and bargaining, told reporters unions were critically important.

“When union workers bargain for higher pay, it increases pressure on non-union companies to raise pay as well to stay competitive in the labor market,” she said.

The administration's show of support comes as unprecedented worker organizing — from strike authorizations to work stoppages — hit multiple industries this year, including, transportation, entertainment, hospitality and healthcare.

Workers calling for higher wages, better working conditions and job security, especially since the end of the pandemic, have been increasingly willing to walk out on the job as employers face a greater need for workers.

The Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations Labor Action Tracker logged 424 work stoppages — which includes 417 strikes and seven lockouts — involving approximately 224,000 workers in 2022.

Despite the coverage of strikes and an administration that claims it is friendlier to unions, membership numbers are still waning nationally. A January BLS report states that 11.3 percent of U.S. workers were represented by a union in 2022, down by 0.3 percent from a year ago. Globalization, automation and the deterioration of legal support to workers over decades has brought down union participation numbers, administration officials said.

Hollywood writers have been striking since early May and have not yet made a deal with the studios. Starbucks workers have unionized at more than 350 stores across the country and a collection of Amazon workers have joined the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters, in hopes of gaining union recognition.

Most recently, auto workers represented by the United Auto Workers union— which still has not endorsed Biden’s 2024 presidential run — voted overwhelmingly to give leaders the authority to call strikes against Detroit car companies Stellantis, General Motors and Ford if a contract agreement isn’t reached.

The contract is set to expire in September.

Since Biden took office, the administration has implemented a slew of executive orders, made it easier for union representatives to organize on federal property, and strengthened retaliation protections for private sector workers.

The nation's top labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have endorsed Biden’s 2024 campaign.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the administration's findings on unions “challenge arguments that unions hold back growth.”

“Unions could contribute to reversing the stark increase in inequality we’ve seen in recent decades, promoting economy-wide growth,” she said.

Biden administration makes the case for organized labor with potential autoworkers strike looming

Sam Fossum
Mon, August 28, 2023

Jacquelyn Martin/AP


The Biden administration made its most detailed argument to date on the benefits of organized labor with a potential autoworkers’ strike looming as negotiations between the United Auto Workers and auto companies continue and the president works to convince Americans to support his “Bidenomics” vision.

The report, which Vice President Kamala Harris delivered to the president, comes days after the UAW union approved possible strikes at the country’s automakers next month if a deal can’t be reached with management as they work to win back many concessions that were made over 15 years ago. The UAW, which backed Biden in 2020, has yet to say whether they will endorse the current president, saying their members still need to see more from Biden before lending him their support..

The White House is staying abreast of the negotiations and continues to encourage both parties to come to an agreement and stay at the table, a senior official told reporters Monday.

It has been a summer heavy with union activity across a variety of industries, from Starbucks baristas to delivery drivers and manufacturers. Just last week the Teamsters union ratified a deal with UPS, securing its key negotiating goals and averting a potentially crippling strike for the US economy. The Hollywood writers and actors’ strikes also continue as they battle with the studios over how streaming services have upended the business and with AI threatening further destabilization.


The new government report, released Monday by the US Treasury, shows the administration’s argument that labor unions provide beneficial spillover effects to non-unionized workers and the broader economy, as well as help tackle challenges faced by many middle-class Americans, such as stagnant wages and high housing costs.

President Joe Biden has long been a proponent of organized labor, describing himself as the most “pro-union” president ever, and it’s a theme that features heavily in his reelection effort as the White House works to extol the benefits of Bidenomics and woo unions that have yet to endorse him. His first stop after announcing his reelection bid earlier this year was to a union conference in Washington, DC.

“This report reinforces what President Biden and I have always known to be true – union workers make our middles class and our entire economy more strong,” Harris told reporters on Monday.

Harris, who serves as the chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment that commissioned the report, continued: “The president and I are building an economy where every person – not just the wealthy or well-connected – has the opportunity to thrive and simply put, that is Bidenomics.”

The Treasury Department report was commissioned by the pro-union task force, which was established in 2021 and aims to help empower workers to organize and bargain with their employers. The task force’s goals include increasing worker power in underserved communities, increasing union membership and facilitating worker organizing throughout the US.

The pro-union report finds that organized labor raises the wages of their members by 10-15%, provides union workers greater access to retirement and medical benefits, and leads to better workplace conditions and safety. The report also presents data that unions today fuel equality and can help increase productivity.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is a labor economist by training, highlighted the findings of the report and said that they serve as a case against the argument that labor unions stifle economic growth and productivity.

“This report is the administration’s latest action to strengthen the important role of labor unions in our economy. And it’s the Treasury Department’s first major effort to lay out the rationale for why we think this is so important,” Yellen said.

Harris, Yellen tout unions' economic benefits with new Treasury report

Reuters

Mon, August 28, 2023 

 U.S. VP Kamala Harris meets with Mongolia's Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai in Washington


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held a rare joint press call on Monday to tout the benefits of union membership, releasing a new Treasury report that shows wages for union members are 15% higher than non-union workers.

THE TAKE: The White House has been pushing to support unions and expanded union membership as part of U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to overhaul the U.S. economy, fight inequality and reallocate more corporate profits to the middle class.

There are political reasons too. Union voters helped Biden win critical election battleground states in 2020 and labor unions and worker groups are expected to play an important role in the Democratic Party's grassroots operations in the 2024 election.

BY THE NUMBERS: The report shows unions boost wages by 10 to 15 percent in industries where new unions form, add to fringe benefits, retirement plans, predictable scheduling and workplace grievance policies.

It did not quantify a direct impact on overall economic output from union workforces, but said that by helping to raise wage levels, and improve working conditions, unions were contributing substantially to middle-class financial stability, which contributes "to a more robust and resilient economy."

KEY QUOTE: "Union workers earn 15 percent more in pay than non-union workers in the same occupation. Union workers also receive retirement benefits, paid sick leave, life insurance and discounts on childcare at a much higher rate," Harris said.

CONTEXT: A competitive market for workers, increased job site risks during the pandemic, high housing and food costs, tech disruptions, expiration of cyclical contracts and union-friendly policies from the Biden administration are fueling renewed interest in workers' rights in the United States.

Union membership in the private sector remains at historical lows in the U.S.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell

Treasury touts labor unions during ‘summer of strikes’

Tobias Burns
Mon, August 28, 2023 



A new report from the Treasury Department is singing the praises of labor unions as several high-profile strikes and labor contract negotiations reverberate across the economy.

The report situated unions within the concept of the middle class and found that unions help to raise wages and benefits for workers and have economic “spillover effects” that lead to improved social norms.

5 big questions about the ‘summer of strikes’

“Union workers have been the backbone of America’s middle class, and yet for too long the contributions of union workers have not been fully appreciated,” Vice President Harris, who serves as the head of the White House task force on worker organizing, said about the Treasury’s findings on a call with reporters Monday.


The report lauds many social knock-on effects of unionization, including improved health and safety standards, pay increases within industries that affect nonunion workers, and heightened democratic activity.

“Unionization … has spillover effects that extend well beyond union workers,” according to the report.

“Heightened workplace safety norms can pull up whole industries. Union members improve their communities through heightened civic engagement; they are more likely to vote, donate to charity, and participate in a neighborhood project.”

The Biden administration has often had positive things to say about unions even as it has worked against union wishes on some notable occasions.

Teamsters ratify new UPS contract, avoid massive strike

A railroad strike at the end of last year was narrowly avoided after the administration and Congress got involved, leaving many railroad workers angry and frustrated.

“A disruption to our nation’s economy and supply chain has been averted. But the Senate also voted to reject the bill that would provide paid sick leave for all railroad workers. This leaves me baffled, exasperated, and deeply saddened,” Tony Cardwell, a railroad union president, said in a statement in December.

Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien also asked the White House not to intervene if union-represented UPS employees went on strike before they eventually struck a new contract with the powerful shipping company.

Following a period of high inflation that was triggered by the pandemic and has led to a cost-of-living crisis for many Americans, popularity for unions has hit its highest level since 1965.

More than 70 percent of Americans now approve of labor unions, a Gallup poll found last year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen described her agency’s report Monday as “the administration’s latest action to strengthen the important role of labor unions in our economy.”

“It’s the Treasury Department’s first major effort to lay out the rationale for why we think this is so important,” she said.

Despite the approval from the Treasury toward organized labor, union membership has been in long-term decline. The percentage of wage-earning workers who are members of unions was 10.1 percent in 2022, half of what it was in 1983 when data on membership was first recorded.

Still, unions have been grabbing the spotlight this summer and forcing a national conversation on labor.

UAW workers vote to strike against Big Three automakers if they don’t get ‘fair deal’

“Any platform you can get to show and demonstrate how important it is to take care of our working people, take care of the working class and hold corporate America accountable — that’s a great platform to be in,” O’Brien told The Hill in an interview in July.

Strikes in the entertainment industry have also been highly visible, with productions of U.S. films and television shows shutting down even as summer blockbusters have attracted audiences.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — a negotiating cartel among ostensible competitors in the media market — hired a new “crisis [public relations] firm,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, showing anxiety among studios.

“Look who’s running Hollywood. You got Amazon, you got Netflix, you’ve got all these corporate companies, global companies, right? Do you think they care about the workers? No. They care about the bottom line and their balance sheet,” O’Brien said.

To what extent the administration’s views on unions take hold within the economy remains to be seen, but they represent a significant departure from the previous Republican presidential administration, which discouraged union membership by canceling the tax deductibility of union dues in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

After lots of hype, West Point treasure box opening yields no bombshells, just silt

MICHAEL HILL
Updated Mon, August 28, 2023

  

Paul Hudson, left, West Point archeologist, and Michael Diaz, West Point Museum curator, take part in the opening of a lead box believed to have been placed in the base of a monument by cadets almost two centuries ago, at the U.S. Military Academy, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in West Point, N.Y. The box contained silt. (AP Photo/Michael Hill)

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Excitement and anticipation dissolved into disappointment at West Point when a lead box believed to have been placed by cadets in the base of a monument almost two centuries ago was opened Monday during a livestreamed event and revealed to contain little more than gray dust.

An audience at the U.S. Military Academy hoped to see military relics or historical documents pulled from the box. Instead, they let out a groan after experts pried open the top and pointed a camera inside to show just a layer of sediment on the bottom.

West Point archeologist Paul Hudson and West Point Museum curator Michael Diaz gingerly lifted out a few gray clumps and dusted them with a brush, only to have them crumble into powder.

“A little disappointed. We built up to this quite a bit,” Hudson said after the event. “And I’ll tell you the truth, that was the last outcome that I expected with all the trouble that they went to create that box, put it in the monument."

The box, which is about a cubic foot, was discovered in May during the restoration of a monument honoring Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko. That led to speculation there might be items inside honoring Kosciuszko or from cadet life in the late 1820s, when the monument was erected. Would there be any musket balls, messages from students, or clues to historical mysteries?

The underwhelming results of the live opening brought comparisons to Geraldo Rivera’s televised 1986 unsealing of a Chicago hotel vault purportedly belonging to gangster Al Capone, which infamously revealed nothing but dirt. In fact, academy officials joked about the possibility before the official unsealing.

“I was told yesterday that if we had a sense of humor, we would have asked Mr. Rivera to be up here with us,” Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves, the academy’s academic dean, told the crowd of cadets, officers and civilians.

Though they can't say for sure, Academy officials think the box was left by cadets in 1828 or 1829, when the original monument was completed. A committee of five cadets that included 1829 graduate Robert E. Lee, the future Confederate general, was involved with the dedication of the monument.

Kosciuszko had designed wartime fortifications for the Continental Army at West Point. He died in 1817. A statue of Kosciuszko was added to the monument in 1913.

Hudson said it appeared that moisture seeped in from a damaged seam on the box and it was likely that sediment got inside. The conditions also could have disintegrated any organic matter inside, like paper or wood.

“We’re going to remove all of that sediment and we’ll screen it through some fine mesh screen and see if anything comes out of it,” Hudson said.

Though historians aren’t certain of exactly when the box was placed in the monument, or who put it there, they say a stamp found Monday on the underside of the lid reading “E.W. Bank N.Y.” might provide a clue.

What’s in the box?! West Point unveils contents of 1828 time capsule

Jon Simkins
Mon, August 28, 2023 

The tension Monday in West Point’s Robinson Auditorium could be cut with a knife. A nearly 200-year-old lead time capsule sat center stage in a room brimming with anxious onlookers, its sealed lid slowly prying open as an archaeologist meticulously slid a gleaming blade from one side to the other.

A symphony of whispers and nervous laughter reached a crescendo as the surgeon’s tool approached its final cut. Inside the box’s mysterious one square foot of space could be anything — personal tokens of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, under whose monument the capsule was found, antiquated medals or coins, human remains, even a Christmastime leg lamp to proudly display in one’s bay window.

With one last incision, the lid wiggled free. The archaeologist reached for a flashlight, the cube’s dark interior preserving its final moments of secrecy. Top officers, senior historians, libraries, archivists and museum curators leaned forward, the oxygen in the room suddenly in short supply.

“Silt,” the archaeologist said. Just silt.

The dusty contents of West Point's mystery box. (West Point)

In what could either be the most dazzling illustration of an anticlimactic “hurry up and wait” gathering or one of the best pranks in military history — perhaps both — the culmination of a centuries-old mystery at the U.S. Military Academy amounted to little more than some dirt.

“The box didn’t quite meet expectations,” the container’s glove- and mask-clad handler said, sheepishly, as the auditorium’s tension swiftly relented to profound awkwardness. “Potentially, it was something small and organic that may have come apart over time, but we’re just not certain.”

The cube, which in recent months became the subject of numerous announcements, an unsealing save-the-date video and a YouTube livestream, was discovered during renovations earlier this year in the base of the campus’ Thaddeus Kosciuszko monument. The shrine stands as an homage to the Polish general and engineer who helped strengthen American defenses during the American Revolutionary War.

X-rays of the box conducted by the institution’s Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering after its discovery were inconclusive, the academy said, adding to the intrigue of Monday’s sediment-rich unveiling. The lead object is believed to have been placed there in 1828, just 26 years after the academy was founded.

“This time capsule is truly a unique discovery, and we are excited to open it and see what the cadets left us nearly two centuries ago,” U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said ahead of Monday’s deflating unveiling. “The capsule’s contents will certainly add to the West Point story and is another example of past generations of cadets gripping hands with present and future generations.”

Academy staff said they expect to sift through the silt and will research a marking on the underside of the container’s lid in the near future, but for now, it appears as if the container’s contents — and its generational ties — are merely dust in the wind.

I've studied more than 5,000 near death experiences. My research has convinced me without a doubt that there's life after death.

Kelly Burch
Mon, August 28, 2023 


Morsa Images/Getty Images

Jeffrey Long is a radiation oncologist in Kentucky.

He's also founder of the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation.

He says studying near-death experiences has made him a better cancer doctor.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jeffrey Long. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Thirty-seven years ago I was an oncologist resident, learning about how best to treat cancer using radiation. These were the pre-internet days, so I did my research in the library. One day I was flipping through a large volume of the Journal of American Medical Association when I came across an article describing near-death experiences.

It stopped me in my tracks. All my medical training told me you were either alive or dead. There was no in-between. But suddenly, I was reading from a cardiologist describing patients who had died, then come back to life, reporting very distinct, almost unbelievable experiences.

From that moment, I was fascinated with near-death experiences or NDEs. I define a near-death experience as someone who is either comatose or clinically dead, without a heartbeat, having a lucid experience where they see, hear, feel emotions, and interact with other beings. Learning more about these experiences has fundamentally changed my view of the universe.

Near-death experiences have common threads

When I finished my residency, I started the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation. I started collecting stories from people who had NDEs and evaluating them with the mind of a scientist and doctor. I make opinions based on evidence and came into this as a skeptic. But in the face of overwhelming evidence, I've come to believe there's certainly an afterlife.

No two NDEs are the same. But as I studied thousands of them, I saw a consistent pattern of events, emerging in a predictable order. About 45% of people who have an NDE report an out-of-body experience. When this happens, their consciousness separates from their physical body, usually hovering above the body. The person can see and hear what's happening around them, which usually includes frantic attempts to revive them. One woman even reported a doctor throwing a tool on the floor when he picked up the wrong one—something the doctor later confirmed.

After the out-of-body experience, people say they're transported into another realm. Many pass through a tunnel and experience a bright light. Then they're greeted by deceased loved ones, including pets, who are in the prime of their lives. Most people report an overwhelming sense of love and peace. They feel like this other realm is their real home.

I haven't found any scientific explanation for these experiences

These experiences may sound cliche: the bright light, the tunnel, the loved ones. But over twenty-five years of studying NDEs, I've come to believe that these descriptions have become cultural tropes because they're true. I even worked with a group of children under five who had NDEs. They reported the same experiences that adults did—and at that age, you're unlikely to have heard about bright lights or tunnels after you die.

Other people report seemingly unbelievable events, which we can later confirm. One woman lost consciousness while riding her horse on a trail. Her body stayed on the trail while her consciousness traveled with her horse as he galloped back to the barn. Later, she was able to describe exactly what happened at the barn because she had seen it despite her body not being there. Others, who hadn't spoken to her, confirmed her account.

I'm a medical doctor. I've read brain research and considered every possible explanation for NDEs. The bottom line is that none of them hold water. There isn't even a remotely plausible physical explanation for this phenomenon.

I've also studied fear-death experiences, like near-miss car accidents

I take a particular definition for NDEs. The person must be unconscious. But there's another type of phenomenon that fascinates me too: what I call fear-death experiences.

These are situations where you feel your life is in imminent danger. It might be a near-miss car accident or a sudden fall. These people generally don't experience the tunnel and light, but they often report their life "flashing before their eyes."

While some people with NDEs report these life reviews, they're more common with fear-death experiences. People even recall events from toddlerhood that they can't consciously remember but that we can later confirm by talking with family members and others.
Studying NDEs has made me a better cancer doctor

While I'm passionate about NDEs, my day job still revolves around helping patients fight cancer. I don't tell my patients about my NDE research. And yet, my work with NDEs has made me a more compassionate and loving doctor.

I'm able to help my patients face life-threatening diseases with increased courage and passion. My goal is to help them have more healthy days here on Earth. But I firmly believe that if and when they pass, they will be at peace.

Read the original article on Insider