Saturday, October 14, 2023

Promising material provides a simple, effective method capable of extracting uranium from seawater

by Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

An Australian-led international research team, including a core group of ANSTO scientists, has found that doping a promising material provides a simple, effective method capable of extracting uranium from seawater.

The research, published in Energy Advances and featured on the cover, could help in designing new materials that are highly selective for uranium, efficient, and cost-effective.

Uranium is a highly valued mineral used as a fuel source in nuclear reactors around the world.

"There's a lot of uranium in the oceans, more than a thousand times more than what is found in the ground, but it's really diluted, so it's very difficult to extract. The main challenge is that other substances in seawater, salt and minerals, such as iron and calcium, are present in much higher amounts than uranium," explained lead scientist Dr. Jessica Veliscek Carolan, who supervised co-author honors student Hayden Ou of UNSW with Dr. Nicolas Bedford of UNSW.

First author Mohammed Zubair received a grant from the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) to support his research at ANSTO.

Layered double hydroxides, materials that have attracted interest for their ability to remove metals, are fairly easy to make and can be modified to improve the way they work.

Because these layers have positive and negative charges, they can be tailored to capture specific substances such as uranium.

Lanthanide dopants, neodymium, europium and terbium, were tested. Adding neodymium to layered double hydroxides (LDHs) improved their ability to selectively capture uranium from seawater, a highly challenging process that scientists have been working on for a long time.

Synthesized materials were characterized using a variety of techniques, including scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at ANSTO's microscopy facility by Dr. Daniel Oldfield and at UNSW by Yuwei Yang.

When neodymium was added to LDHs (MgAlNd), these materials chose uranium over ten other more abundant elements found in real seawater.

Importantly, the experiments were undertaken under seawater-like conditions.

A crucial finding was that the dopant, neodymium, changes the way uranium binds to the LDHs.

The research team also used X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and Soft X-ray spectroscopy at ANSTO's Australian Synchrotron to clarify the octahedral coordination environment, oxidation state and adsorption mechanism, respectively. They were assisted by Instrument scientists Dr. Jessica Hamilton and Dr. Lars Thomsen, co-authors of the paper.

X-ray measurements showed that under seawater conditions, the removal of uranium occurred through a process where uranium atoms formed complexes on the surface of LDHs by replacing nitrate ions in the LDH layers with uranyl carbonate anions from the seawater.

By adding neodymium and other lanthanide elements to the LDH structure, the chemical bonding between metal atoms and oxygen in the LDH became more ionic.

This improved ionic bonding made these materials much better at selectively binding to uranium via ionic surface interactions.

The authors pointed out that the study demonstrated a way to adjust how well a material can capture uranium which could lead to creating new materials that are even better at separating uranium from other substances.

The materials were not just useful for taking uranium from seawater but also had the potential to clean up uranium from radioactive wastewater near nuclear power plants.

"There are additional benefits in that these materials are simple and inexpensive to make, making them a cost-effective choice for large-scale uranium extraction," said Dr. Veliscek Carolan.

More information: Muhammad Zubair et al, Enhanced uranium extraction selectivity from seawater using dopant engineered layered double hydroxides, Energy Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1039/D3YA00154G

Provided by Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

Researchers propose plasma-enhanced adsorbent for uranium extraction from seawater

$9.5 bn of key metals in overlooked electronic waste: UN

Toys, cables, electronic cigarettes, tools, electric toothbrushes, shavers, headphones and other domestic gadgets contain critical metals — Toys, cables, electronic cigarettes, tools, electric toothbrushes, shavers,

Consumers discard or possess disused electronic goods containing raw materials critical for the green energy transition and worth almost $10 billion every year, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Toys, cables, electronic cigarettes, tools, electric toothbrushes, shavers, headphones and other domestic gadgets contain metals like lithium, gold, silver and copper.

Demand is expected to soar for these materials due to their crucial role in rapidly growing green industries such as electric vehicle battery production.

In Europe alone, copper demand is predicted to multiply by six by 2030 to meet rising needs in key sectors like renewable energy, communications, aerospace and defense.

But the materials are squandered because this "invisible" waste is thrown away rather than recycled or gathers dust in homes, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) said in a report released on Thursday.

The "invisible" e-waste amounts to nine billion kilograms every year worldwide, with the related raw materials worth $9.5 billion, around one-sixth of the estimated 2019 total of $57 billion for all e-waste, UNITAR said.

"Invisible e-waste often falls under the recycling radar of those disposing of them because they are not seen as e-waste," said Magdalena Charytanowicz of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Forum, an international association of non-profit organizations that commissioned the report.

"We need to change that and raising awareness is a large part of the answer."

More than one-third of the "invisible" waste came from toys such as race cars, talking dolls, robots and drones, with 7.3 billion items thrown away annually.

The weight of the estimated 844 million vaping devices discarded each year is equivalent to six Eiffel Towers, the report said.

The study also found that 950 million kilograms of cables with recyclable copper were thrown away last year, enough to circle Earth 107 times.

'Invisible' E-Waste: Almost $10 billion in essential raw materials recoverable in world's annual mountain of electronic toys, cables, vapes, more — E-waste generated of selected UNU-KEYs related to invisible e-waste in 2022. Source: C.P. Baldé, T. Yamamoto, V. Forti, United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Statistical briefing on invisible e-waste for International E-waste Day 2023, 2023, Bonn. Credit: UNITAR

In Europe, 55 percent of electric and electronic waste is recycled, but the global average drops to a little over 17 percent.

The recycling rate tumbles to almost zero in parts of South America, Asia and Africa, usually due to a lack of collection points, Charytanowicz said.

Manufacturers have been responsible for collecting and recycling the waste in Europe since 2005, most often in partnership with environmental authorities.

But recycling rates remain patchy, said Guillaume Duparay of French non-profit organization Ecosystem, pointing to a lack of awareness and information among consumers.

What you should (and shouldn't) do with all of your old phone chargers and other e-waste

AI researchers expose critical vulnerabilities within major large language models

by Lancaster University

Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Bard have taken the world by storm this year, with companies investing millions to develop these AI tools, and some leading AI chatbots being valued in the billions.

These LLMs, which are increasingly used within AI chatbots, scrape the entire Internet of information to learn and to inform answers that they provide to user-specified requests, known as "prompts."

However, computer scientists from the AI security start-up Mindgard and Lancaster University in the UK have demonstrated that chunks of these LLMs can be copied in less than a week for as little as $50, and the information gained can be used to launch targeted attacks.

The researchers warn that attackers exploiting these vulnerabilities could reveal private confidential information, bypass guardrails, provide incorrect answers, or stage further targeted attacks.

Detailed in a new paper to be presented at CAMLIS 2023 (Conference on Applied Machine Learning for Information Security) the researchers show that it is possible to copy important aspects of existing LLMs cheaply, and they demonstrate evidence of vulnerabilities being transferred between different models.

This attack, termed "model leeching," works by talking to LLMs in such a way—asking it a set of targeted prompts—so that the LLMs elicit insightful information giving away how the model works.

The research team, which focused their study on ChatGPT-3.5-Turbo, then used this knowledge to create their own copy model, which was 100 times smaller but replicated key aspects of the LLM.

The researchers were then able to use this model copy as a testing ground to work out how to exploit vulnerabilities in ChatGPT without detection. They were then able to use the knowledge gleaned from their model to attack vulnerabilities in ChatGPT with an 11% increased success rate.

Dr. Peter Garraghan of Lancaster University, CEO of Mindgard, and Principal Investigator on the research, said, "What we discovered is scientifically fascinating, but extremely worrying. This is among the very first works to empirically demonstrate that security vulnerabilities can be successfully transferred between closed source and open source Machine Learning models, which is extremely concerning given how much industry relies on publicly available Machine Learning models hosted in places such as HuggingFace."

The researchers say their work highlights that although these powerful digital AI technologies have clear uses, there exist hidden weaknesses, and there may even be common vulnerabilities across models.

Businesses across industry are currently or preparing to invest billions in creating their own LLMs to undertake a wide range of tasks such as smart assistants. Financial services and large enterprises are adopting these technologies but researchers say that these vulnerabilities should be a major concern for all businesses that are planning to build or use third party LLMs.

Dr. Garraghan said, "While LLM technology is potentially transformative, businesses and scientists alike will have to think very carefully on understanding and measuring the cyber risks associated with adopting and deploying LLMs."

Provided by Lancaster University

Radiology researchers test large language model that preserves patient privacy

POST FORDISM

Vietnam automaker sends EVs to Laos for electric taxi service

Vietnamese automaker VinFast on Friday sent 150 cars to neighboring Laos for the launch of an electric taxi service, months after starting a similar scheme at home.

The communist state's first homegrown car manufacturer is hoping to compete with EV giants such as Tesla, and is trying to crack international markets.

The taxi service in Laos will be run by Green and Smart Mobility JSC (GSM), which shares the same parent company as VinFast—the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup.

"Laos is an ideal starting point for GSM to expand internationally," said GSM CEO Nguyen Van Thanh.

"GSM has set the goal to promote Vietnamese electric vehicles to global consumers."

The announcement follows the launch of Vingroup's electric taxi service in Vietnam in April.

The conglomerate is owned by Vietnam's richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, who runs hotels, apartments and hospitals across the country.

But VinFast's international expansion has faced a rocky start.

Of the 11,300 vehicles it sold in the first half of 2023, 7,100 were bought by GSM.

The company listed on the Nasdaq in August, where its shares veered wildly.

At one point its valuation was greater than auto behemoths Ford and General Motors, before lurching back down.

In the third quarter, VinFast reported a net loss of $623 million.

But GSM says it aims to expand operations to 27 of 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam by the end of 2023, with a fleet of 30,000 electric taxis and over 90,000 electric scooters.

Vietnam EV maker VinFast reports jump in Q3 revenue

Using sustainable aviation fuels could reduce emissions by up to 80%, scientists find

by Jessica Marsh, University of Manchester

A team of scientists have completed tests to quantify the emissions from the combustion of sustainable aviation fuels, revealing a profound reduction when compared to regular jet fuel.

Researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), including those from the University of Manchester, compared standard jet fuels with several different blends of sustainable aviation fuel, including fuels supplied by Neste.

They monitored the emissions produced by two different engines, included those used on the FAAM Airborne Laboratory's BAe-146-301 aircraft using CFS Aero facilities at Hawarden Airport.

The aviation sector was responsible for more than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, but sustainable aviation fuel has the potential to reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions—such as carbon dioxide—in aviation by up to 80% when compared to standard jet fuel. It also has the potential to benefit local air quality.

Findings from the research found that emissions of ultrafine black carbon at low thrust, which directly impacts local air quality, was 45% less in number and 80% less in mass for every kilogram of blended sustainable aviation fuel burnt.

The results could help reduce the climate warming effects of aviation globally.

Dr. Paul I Williams, NCAS research scientist based at The University of Manchester, said, "As aviation and the UKRI funding bodies move towards carbon neutral, it is important to understand what effects these alternative fuels have. This study is really important to understand these effects and to provide the U.K. with capability to make these assessments in the future as new fuels and technologies are developed."

Sustainable aviation fuel is made from renewable biomass and waste resources and can be used as a direct replacement for jet fuel sourced from crude oil. These fuels are blended with standard jet fuels so they are compatible with all current aircraft, including the FAAM aircraft

The goal is by 2050, all jet fuels will be 100% synthetic and not from fossil fuels.

"This study is really important to understand what effects these alternative fuels have and to provide the U.K. with capability to make these assessments in the future as new fuels and technologies are developed," says Dr. Paul I Williams.

The ground-based engine testing enabled the team to detect a range of air pollutant emissions created by the combustion of blended aviation biofuel and HEFA fuel—to compare emissions between fuels from sustainable and non-sustainable sources.

The chemical and physical properties of emitted gases and particles—such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and suspended small particles—were evaluated.

Using a sample probe developed by SCITEK, and equipment from The University of Manchester, Cardiff University and York University, emissions were measured within the engine exhaust.

Dr. Williams added, "As part of the ground-based engine testing we sampled emissions of ultrafine black carbon, also known as non-volatile particulate matter. Non-volatile particulate matter emissions from aircraft engines at low thrust directly impact local air quality near the earth's surface, and the people who live and work nearby airports. The testing shows that at low thrust, for every kilogram of blended sustainable aviation fuel burnt, there is approximately 45% less in number and 80% less in mass of non-volatile particulate matter.

"At cruise thrusts, we found that there were also lower amounts of non-volatile particulate matter being emitted from the burning of sustainable aviation fuel. This indicates that while an aircraft is cruising there would be less non-volatile particulate matter produced, which in turn impacts contrail formation. This could have the potential to reduce the climate warming effects of aviation globally."

Using sustainable aviation fuel, as well as adopting a range of other sustainable practices, is a quick way to reduce carbon emissions from aviation, which includes the U.K. research aircraft and operations.

The study follows on from the world's first in-flight emissions study, which recently made its first flight using a blend of sustainable aviation fuel.

Alan Woolley, head of the NCAS-managed FAAM Airborne Laboratory, said, "For NCAS and the FAAM Airborne Laboratory, the results from this emissions-testing work will inform decisions around investment and the use of sustainable aviation fuel for future airborne science missions around the world.

"The aviation sector will be able to use our data to improve sector-wide understanding of the gases and particles released from gas turbine engines—of the size used on the FAAM Airborne Laboratory's research aircraft."

Provided by University of Manchester

EU agrees to boost green fuels for aviation, cut emissions

EU warns Google over YouTube disinfo in wake of Hamas attack

The EU's top tech enforcer, Commissioner Thierry Breton, warned Google parent Alphabet on Friday to be wary of potential "illegal content and disinformation" on its YouTube platform.

In the latest in a series of messages to tech CEOs that has already seen him sparring with Elon Musk on X, formerly Twitter, the EU industry commissioner wrote to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

The letter was also posted online on the Bluesky social media platform, an upstart rival to Musk's X, and warns YouTube to comply with the terms of the EU's new Digital Services Act (DSA).

"Following the terrorist acts carried out by Hamas against Israel, we are seeing a surge of illegal content and disinformation being disseminated in the EU via certain platforms", Breton wrote.

This warning mirrored the previous letters to Musk, Facebook and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Chinese giant TikTok's Shou Zi Chew earlier this week.

Breton noted that YouTube in particular is used by many children and teenagers and warned that Google thus has a special responsibility to protect users from propaganda and violent or harmful images.

"Notwithstanding the fact that my team will follow up with a specific request on a number of issues to establish DSA compliance, I urge you to proactively report in a prompt, accurate and complete manner to the aspects raised in this letter," Breton wrote.

"As you know, following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed."

EU warns TikTok over 'illegal content and disinformation'

Researchers measure global consensus over the ethical use of AI

by Cell Press

machine learning — Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

To examine the global state of AI ethics, a team of researchers from Brazil performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of global guidelines for AI use. Publishing October 13 in in the journal Patterns, the researchers found that, while most of the guidelines valued privacy, transparency, and accountability, very few valued truthfulness, intellectual property, or children's rights. Additionally, most of the guidelines described ethical principles and values without proposing practical methods for implementing them and without pushing for legally binding regulation.

"Establishing clear ethical guidelines and governance structures for the deployment of AI around the world is the first step to promoting trust and confidence, mitigating its risks, and ensuring that its benefits are fairly distributed," says social scientist and co-author James William Santos of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul.

"Previous work predominantly centered around North American and European documents, which prompted us to actively seek and include perspectives from regions such as Asia, Latin America, Africa, and beyond," says lead author Nicholas Kluge Corrêa of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul and the University of Bonn.

To determine whether a global consensus exists regarding the ethical development and use of AI, and to help guide such a consensus, the researchers conducted a systematic review of policy and ethical guidelines published between 2014 and 2022.

From this, they identified 200 documents related to AI ethics and governance from 37 countries and six continents and written or translated into five different languages (English, Portuguese, French, German, and Spanish). These documents included recommendations, practical guides, policy frameworks, legal landmarks, and codes of conduct.

Then, the team conducted a meta-analysis of these documents to identify the most common ethical principles, examine their global distribution, and assess biases in terms of the type of organizations or people producing these documents.

The researchers found that the most common principles were transparency, security, justice, privacy, and accountability, which appeared in 82.5%, 78%, 75.5%, 68.5%, and 67% of the documents, respectively.

The least common principles were labor rights, truthfulness, intellectual property, and children/adolescent rights, which appeared in 19.5%, 8.5%, 7%, and 6% of the documents, and the authors emphasize that these principles deserve more attention. For example, truthfulness—the idea that AI should provide truthful information—is becoming increasingly relevant with the release of generative AI technologies like ChatGPT. And since AI has the potential to displace workers and change the way we work, practical measures are to avoid mass unemployment or monopolies.

Most (96%) of the guidelines were "normative"—describing ethical values that should be considered during AI development and use—while only 2% recommended practical methods of implementing AI ethics, and only 4.5% proposed legally binding forms of AI regulation.

"It's mostly voluntary commitments that say, 'these are some principles that we hold important,' but they lack practical implementations and legal requirements," says Santos. "If you're trying to build AI systems or if you're using AI systems in your enterprise, you have to respect things like privacy and user rights, but how you do that is the gray area that does not appear in these guidelines."

The researchers also identified several biases in terms of where these guidelines were produced and who produced them. The researchers noted a gender disparity in terms of authorship. Though 66% of samples had no authorship information, the authors of the remaining documents more often had male names (549 = 66% male, 281 = 34% female).

Geographically, most of the guidelines came from countries in Western Europe (31.5%), North America (34.5%), and Asia (11.5%), while less than 4.5% of the documents originated in South America, Africa, and Oceania combined. Some of these imbalances in distribution may be due to language and public access limitations, but the team says that these results suggest that many parts of the Global South are underrepresented in the global discourse on AI ethics.

In some cases, this includes countries that are heavily involved in AI research and development, such as China, whose output of AI-related research increased by over 120% between 2016 and 2019.

"Our research demonstrates and reinforces our call for the Global South to wake up and a plea for the Global North to be ready to listen and welcome us," says co-author Camila Galvão of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul. "We must not forget that we live in a plural, unequal, and diverse world. We must remember the voices that, until now, haven't had the opportunity to claim their preferences, explain their contexts, and perhaps tell us something that we still don't know."

As well as incorporating more voices, the researchers say that future efforts should focus on how to practically implement principles of AI ethics. "The next step is to build a bridge between abstract principles of ethics and the practical development of AI systems and applications," says Santos.

More information: Nicholas Kluge Corrêa et al, Worldwide AI ethics: a review of 200 guidelines and recommendations for ai governance, Patterns (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2023.100857. www.cell.com/patterns/fulltext … 2666-3899(23)00241-6

Journal information: Patterns

Provided by Cell Press

Cleared to launch? Ethical guidelines needed for human research in commercial spaceflight

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

Microsoft spent two years trying to buy Activision Blizzard. For Xbox CEO, that was the easy part

by Matt O'brien

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer arrives at the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on June 28, 2023 in San Francisco. After two years co-piloting the biggest acquisition in video game history past an onslaught of challenges, Spencer now moves on to his next quest: making Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard worth the hassle.

Credit: AP Photo/Noah Berger, File

After two years co-piloting the biggest acquisition in video game history past an onslaught of challenges, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer now moves on to his next quest: making Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard worth the hassle.

Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday after fending off global opposition from antitrust regulators and rivals.

It marks a career-defining moment for Spencer, who first joined Microsoft as an intern in 1988 and has helmed Xbox since 2014. After years of lagging behind rival Sony's PlayStation, acquiring Activision's collection of popular game titles gives Microsoft a rare chance to catch up.

"His job really just starts today," said analyst Gil Luria, technology strategist at D.A. Davidson, after the deal's closure. "All he's been doing is preparing for today where he actually gets to integrate the business."

And it marks the end of an era for Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who's led the Southern California maker of Call of Duty and other blockbuster franchises since 1991 after helping to buy it from bankruptcy. Kotick said he's assisting with the transition until the end of the year.

Activision Blizzard was still reeling from worker protests, lawsuits and government investigations over allegations of workplace harassment against women and unequal pay when Microsoft privately reached out about buying the company in 2021.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco on June 28, 2023. Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday. It marks the end of an era for Kotick, who's led the Southern California maker of Call of Duty since 1991. Credit: AP Photo/Noah Berger, File

When the companies announced a planned merger in January 2022, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made clear it would be "critical for Activision Blizzard to drive forward" on its commitments to improve its workplace culture.

That was just the start of Microsoft's challenges in bringing home the deal. After negotiations with Spencer faltered, top rival Sony brought its concerns about losing access to the Call of Duty franchise to regulators around the world. The strongest opposition came from U.S. antitrust enforcers emboldened by President Joe Biden's administration to take a tougher look at big tech deals, as well as their counterparts in the United Kingdom who finally relented in approving the deal Friday only after Microsoft agreed to make concessions.

"Microsoft didn't have a choice. If they wanted to be long-term competitive with Sony and the PlayStation platform, they need to have a much more robust content offering," Luria said.

An image from Activision's Call of Duty is shown on a smartphone near a photograph of the Microsoft logo in this photo taken in New York, June 15, 2023. Microsoft’s purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard won final approval Friday, Oct. 13, from Britain’s competition watchdog, reversing its earlier decision to block the $69 billion deal and removing a last obstacle for one of the largest tech transactions in history. Credit: AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File

But, "in retrospect, they should have read the writing on the wall in terms of the difficulty of closing the deal," Luria said. "They needed to do the deal to stay competitive, but knowing what they know now, they might have done it differently."

A key moment came in June, when a federal judge weighed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's attempt to block the merger while it awaited further review. In an unusual move for a CEO that telegraphed the deal's importance, Spencer spent the better part of two weeks at the defendant table of a San Francisco courtroom conferring with Microsoft's lawyers. The judge eventually dismissed the FTC's request, though the agency is still seeking to unwind the deal.

Microsoft's success in integrating Activision's business is "not guaranteed, especially as its track record with acquisitions has been a mixed bag," said George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at research and advisory firm Omdia. Last year, Microsoft spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, maker of Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

Scenes from "Candy Crush Saga," left, by Activision Blizzard, and "Crash Team Rumble," from Activision Publishing, are shown in this photo, in New York, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Microsoft’s purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard won final approval Friday, Oct. 13, from Britain’s competition watchdog, reversing its earlier decision to block the $69 billion deal and removing a last obstacle for one of the largest tech transactions in history. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew

Microsoft's two key game launches this year from its Bethesda merger, Redfall and Starfield, have "been met with mixed reactions at best," Jijiashvili said. "However, with globally popular game franchises such as Call of Duty now under its wing, the company is strategically much better positioned."

Another challenge for Microsoft will be overcoming the workforce challenges that dogged Activision before the takeover.

As of late last year, Activision Blizzard had 13,000 employees, about 72% in North America, according to a regulatory filing. Microsoft has already pledged it will stay neutral if the nearly 10,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada seek to organize into a labor union, part of a 2022 agreement with the Communications Workers of America meant to address U.S. political concerns about the merger's effects.

The logo for Microsoft, and a scene from Activision "Call of Duty - Modern Warfare," are shown in this photo, in New York, June 21, 2023. Microsoft’s purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard won final approval Friday, Oct. 13, from Britain’s competition watchdog, reversing its earlier decision to block the $69 billion deal and removing a last obstacle for one of the largest tech transactions in history. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

A sign is seen outside the Activision building in Santa Monica, Calif. on June 21, 2023. Microsoft’s purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard won final approval Friday, Oct. 13, from Britain’s competition watchdog, reversing its earlier decision to block the $69 billion deal and removing a last obstacle for one of the largest tech transactions in history. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File

"It is a new day for workers at Activision Blizzard," said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. in a statement Friday.

"Over two years ago, workers at Activision Blizzard's studios captured the country's attention through walkouts and other protests over discrimination, sexual harassment, pay inequity, and other issues they were facing on the job," Cummings Jr. said. "Their efforts to form unions were met with illegal retaliation and attempts to delay and block union elections. Now these workers are free to join our union through a fair process, without interference from management."

In a Friday welcome email to Activision employees, Spencer said he wanted to "reiterate that we hold ourselves to a high bar in delivering the most inclusive and welcoming experiences for players, creators, and employees."

© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Explore furtherMicrosoft agrees to keep Call of Duty on Sony Playstation after it buys Activision Blizzard

CRYPTO CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Cryptocurrency in professional sports poses financial risk to fans, new report finds

by University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool Management School has contributed to a new report by the government's Culture, Media and Sport Committee warning that the promotion of crypto assets in professional sport is putting fans at financial risk and potentially damaging the reputations of clubs.

The "NFTs and the Blockchain: The Risks to Sport and Culture" report notes that while the Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) market saw record sales last year, this emerging technology may not reach the same level of popularity in the future, raising concerns over legal protection for fans.

According to the report, the technical, volatile and largely unregulated nature of NFTs means that advertising such products comes with a significant risk of financial harm to consumers.

Senior Teacher in Accountancy at the University of Liverpool Management School, Kieran Maguire, who provided supporting evidence for the report, stated, "At present, in terms of the relationship between the football industry and the NFT and digital industry, the football clubs say, 'Thank you very much for the money,' and then they let the likes of Sorare (a cryptoasset-based fantasy sports game) and Socios (a sports cryptoassets marketplace) market their products. There is nothing inherently wrong with the products. I think that it is the marketing.

"Education is essential, as too many buyers of these products see them as investments but there is a real danger people could lose all money they spend on the tokens."

NFTs are becoming increasingly popular as promotional tools, as they allow brands to reach and engage consumers by providing extra benefits for those purchasing them.

Within professional sport, NFTs offer a new revenue stream for professional athletes, clubs, international teams and leagues at little cost.

However, while utility tokens give owners access to certain perks, such as being able to vote in fan polls or getting access to ticket ballot, the report states price volatility associated to NFTs has proven to be inherently risky for fans who invest in them.

In addition, the Committee heard criticisms that clubs are not delivering on promises of fan engagement and NFTs being marketed as equivalent to other legitimate club memberships.

Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS Committee, said, "In the world of sport, clubs are promoting volatile cryptoasset schemes to extract additional money from loyal supporters, often with promises of privileges and perks that fails to materialize. Fan token schemes must not be used as a substitute for meaningful engagement with supporters."

The report concludes with a recommendation to explicitly exclude the use of fan tokens from any measurement of fan engagement in sports, including in the forthcoming regulation of football.

Provided by University of Liverpool Spanish league joins blockchain world and launches NFTs

Smoke from Brazil Amazon rainforest fires suffocates Manaus

The environment minister blamed the forest fires on 'criminals' clearing land for farming.

Manaus, the largest city in Brazil's Amazonas state, has for days been engulfed by a toxic cloud of smoke from forest fires lit by what the government labeled "criminals".

The city of nearly two million people has been forced to cancel some public events including a marathon.

The fires in the Amazon have produced a blanket of gray smoke over the capital of the northern state of Amazonas since Wednesday.

Air quality in the city is among the worst in the world, according to the World Air Quality Index.

"This smoke is hurting us. People don't know what they are doing by burning the forest, and many animals are dying," said Maria Luiza Reis, a 72-year-old Manaus resident.

"It's sad, and it causes us difficulties. I wear a mask so I don't breathe that toxic air because I already have health problems," she added.

Health authorities have urged city inhabitants avoid exposure as much as possible.

There are "significant risks, mainly respiratory diseases" for those exposed to smoke, said Marcio Garcia, a director with the government's public health emergencies department.

Amazonas, Brazil's biggest state, has suffered the worst October in terms of fires in the last 25 years, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

INPE has registered 2,770 fire outbreaks so far this month as of Thursday, a 154 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022.

The government announced on Friday it was deploying two helicopters and an additional 149 firefighters to supplement an almost equal number already fighting the fires in the region.

Environment Minister Marina Silva blamed the fires on "criminals" who light them to clear the forest for farming.

"There is no natural fire in the Amazon," Silva told a news conference on Friday.

The fires come as the region is experiencing an exceptionally severe drought, aggravated by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has caused the level of some rivers to drop drastically.

"It is an extremely serious situation," said the minister.

Cancellation of the marathon left some runners disappointed.

"I came from Goiania specifically to run the marathon on Sunday, but it was canceled. It's frustrating," said Zacharias Martins.

Brazil vows more aid as Amazon waters dry up

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