Headline September 08, 2016/ ''' SINGAPORE : *nuTONOMY BEATS *UBER* TO THE ROAD* '''

''' SINGAPORE : *nuTONOMY 

BEATS *UBER* TO THE ROAD* '''

THE WORLD'S FIRST SELF-DRIVING TAXIS started picking up passengers in Singapore  -just this last Thursday.

Members of the public on an invitation list could hail  free rides  through their smartphones in taxis operated by  nuTonomy , a startup that makes software for autonomous vehicles.

While multiple companies, including  Google  and  Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars in on public roads for several years, nuTonomy said it would be the first to offer rides to the public. 

It beat the  ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, by a few weeks.

The Singapore service is starting small: six cars now, with plans to increase to a dozen by the end of the year.

The ultimate goal, nuTonomy said, is to have a fully self-driving taxi fleet in Singapore by 2018, with the aim of sharply cutting the number of cars on the city's roads. eventually, the model could be adopted in cities around the world, nuTonomy said.

For now, the taxis are to run only in a 2.5 square-mile business and residential district called  One-North, and pickups and drop-offs will be limited to specified locations. 

*A rider must have an invitation from nuTonomy to use the service*.

The company said that dozens had signed up for the introduction and that it planned to expand the list to thousands within a few months.

The taxis   -Renault Zoe and  Mtsibuishi i-MiEV electric cars that have been modified   -have a driver in front who is prepared to take the wheel and a researcher in back who watches the  car's computers.

The time frame for testing is open-ended, said nuTonomy's chief executive officer, Karl Iagnemema. More pickup and drop-off points will be added, and eventually, riders may start paying for the service during the tryout phase.

nuTonomy is working on testing similar taxi services in other Asian cities as well as in the United States and Europe.

''I don't expect there to be a time where we say we have learned enough.'' Mr. Iagnemma said.

Doug Parker, nuTonomy's chief operating officer, said autonomous taxis could ultimately reduce the number of cars on Singapore's roads to 300,000 from 900,000.

''When you are able to take that many cars off the road, it creates a lot of possibilities,'' he said.

''You can create smaller roads,  you can create much smaller car parks. I think it will change how people interact with the city, going forward.''

The Honour and Serving of the latest  ''Operational Research'' on *Life, Living and Future* continues. Thank Ya all for reading and sharing forward. And see you on the following one:

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the World. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society and !E-WOW! -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' !WOW! Aloft '''

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SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless

Headline September 07, 2016/ ''' *AGING SOCIETIES - AGILE SHIMMERS* '''

''' *AGING SOCIETIES - 

AGILE SHIMMERS* '''

*WE DO NOT LIVE TO THINK,  -but on the contrary, we think in order that we may succeed in surviving,* stamps Jose Ortega Y Gasset.  True! -all the way!

After more than a year of campaigning. the Republican and  Democrat nominees have entered a sprint towards polling day.

And, as Donald Trump and  Hillary Clinton begin to outline their economic visions for restoring growth and improving the living standards of the American people, they should  stress many essential ingredients.........   

An aging  United States reduces  the economy's growth very big time. Just as this is likely to effect every economy in the world.

That's the startling conclusion of new academic study,  and if it withstands scholarly scrutiny, it could transform the national political debates not only in the United States, but just about everywhere. 

Generally, aging poses two possible adverse economic effects.

One is uncontroversial. As swarms of retirees leave the labor force, there are relatively fewer workers to support production. Thus hurts economic growth,  but it represents only  one-third  of the slowdown, the study estimates.

The other two-thirds  reflect reduced productivity; workers become less efficient. Not just older workers   -all workers.

That's surprising, and there's no clear reason, this is the study's weak point. The conclusion rests on data points that can't be explained.

There are theories. It could be that as experienced workers retire, their positive effect on the work climate is lost.

''If I am working with someone who is relatively unproductive, I may become less productive  [myself] ,'' Powell says.

Although this is plausible, it's also guesswork, as Powell admits. It's also partly undercut by Burtless's research, which found that the most skilled older workers stay in their jobs longer.

*Or it may be that as societies age,  they become more cautious. Their members value stability and security over ambitious and adventure. They're more restrained and realistic and less experimental and optimistic.*

If these values strengthen as people age, they may impose a stand-pat and and conservative bias on businesses and households.

On the whole, the study reveals bad news:

One way that advanced societies  can handle aging populations is through faster economic growth, which enables younger generations to pay the elderly's  benefits without sacrificing too much of their own incomes.

[For example Corporate tax reform is vital to boosting America's growth. Take capital formation, which is a little understood subject with far reaching consequences.

In brief it is the accumulation of machinery, equipment and intellectual property that has an impact on the operations of a business beyond a single fiscal year. This includes tractors and combine harvester for farmers, factories for manufacturers and software for such companies.

As businesses build up this capital, they increase the productivity of their employees, who are then able to produce more.]. 

But if aging is a cause of slower economic growth   -even of the impact is less than the study suggests   -then this avenue is of limited  help.

As a society,  we need a better balance of obligation between the older and younger generations. Until now,  policy has favored the elderly.

The remedies to shift the balance are well known higher eligibility ages for government benefits, less generous benefits and tax breaks for wealthier retirees.

None is politically easy. If slower economic growth rate is linked to aging,  the competition for scarce funds will become even harder.

*It's a dismal connection*. 

So, is aging and the economic slowdown linked?  

For sure, Yes! 

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the United States of America. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and !E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Decoding Future '''

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SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless