● [Tech] YouTube fans to fund favourite film-makers. ︴ ︴

▼ YouTube is adding more ways for video-makers to make money, following criticism from bloggers and increased competition from rival platforms. Many video-makers have complained that changes to YouTube's advertising policies have made it difficult for their videos to earn ad revenue. YouTube will now roll out "channel memberships" that let viewers pay $4.99 (£3.80) a month for exclusive content. Rival sites such as Twitch and Patreon already offer similar features. YouTube's updated advertising policies were introduced after ads from popular brands appeared alongside extremist and sexual content. The changes stopped videos "unsuitable for all advertisers" from earning ad revenue, and were dubbed the "adpocalypse" by video-makers who saw their income fall. The new features let video-makers: *.charge fans $4.99 a month for access to exclusive badges, emoji and members-only videos *.sell merchandise such as "phone cases with a creator's face on" underneath their videos *.host live-streamed "premieres" in which they debut their latest work while chatting to fans in real-time Creators in the US with more than 10,000 followers will be able to sell merchandise and host premieres, while those with 100,000 followers will be able to offer paid memberships. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Tech] Tech Tent - Instagram, Twitch and the future of video. ︴ ︴

▼ Why on earth would anyone want to spend hours watching someone playing video games? While it might be a mystery to anyone over 25, the streaming platform Twitch has proved that it can win a huge audience to watch gamers in action. While it does offer other content - it is currently streaming early Dr Who episodes - the stars are the gamers. Emmett Shear, co-founder and boss of the business which was bought by Amazon in 2014, tells us the attraction is similar to watching a sports star or a top chef on TV: "You're enjoying watching someone who's really great at it with some entertainment at the same time." While Twitch is free, many choose to pay to subscribe to get closer to top streamers like Tyler Blevins, known as Ninja, who plays the hit game Fortnite and is said to earn as much as half a million dollars a month. "The people who make the most money surprisingly aren't necessarily the best gamers, they're often the ones who are most entertaining," says Mr Shear. "Ninja is a prime example….very high energy, very entertaining to watch." Twitch has long faced competition from YouTube, though its rival struggles to build the same kind of community around gaming stars that the likes of Ninja achieve. But this week new competition emerged in the form of IGTV, Instagram's app which allows users to create channels with videos up to an hour long. 'Starting a conversation' (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Tech] Netflix comms boss Jonathan Friedland sacked over ’N-word’. ︴ ︴

▼ Netflix has fired its head of communications over his use of the “N-word”. In an internal memo, Chief Executive Reed Hastings apologised to staff for not acting sooner. He said the comments showed a “deep lack of understanding”. Jonathan Friedland wrote in a tweet: “I feel awful about the distress this lapse caused to people at a company I love.” He had been at the video streaming firm since 2011. “Leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example we set, and unfortunately I fell short of that standard when I was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy,” he said. The memo from Mr Hastings was first published by The Hollywood Reporter- its authenticity has been confirmed by the BBC. “His descriptive use of the N-word on at least two occasions at work showed unacceptably low racial awareness and sensitivity,” the note to all staff read. 'Awful anomaly' Mr Hastings detailed two instances when Mr Friedland was said to have used the offensive term. The first incident was at a meeting with the public relations team to discuss sensitive words. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] Is This Leonardo Da Vinci's Oldest Surviving Work? It's Doubtful. ︴ ︴

▼ This depiction of the Archangel Gabriel, painted on a glazed terra-cotta tile, may be the oldest artwork on record by Leonardo da Vinci. But many doubt that the 1471 tile is truly a da Vinci. Credit: EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock It's a small piece — merely a square tile depicting a curly-haired Archangel Gabriel — but it may be the oldest surviving artwork by the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci. If verified, this painted and glazed tile may show historians what da Vinci looked like as a teenager. That's because the 1471 creation may, in fact, be a self-portrait da Vinci made — essentially putting his face on the angel's when he was just 18 years old. However, many doubt the artwork's authenticity. Martin Kemp, an emeritus professor of art history at Oxford University who is a Leonardo expert, dismissed the claim outright, as reported by The Guardian. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] The discount airline model is coming to rocket launches A slew of new startups are vying to serve the booming market for small satellites by launching small rockets more frequently and cheaply. ︴ ︴

▼ Rocket Lab's Electron rocket on the launchpad before launch. Rocket Lab When a sleek 17 meter-tall rocket called Electron blasts off from a pad at Mahia, New Zealand sometime between tomorrow and July 6it will become the first flight bearing the payload for actual paying customers for its owner Rocket Lab—the standard-bearer of a new breed of small rocket launch companies. The rockets are much smaller than SpaceX's 70 meter Falcon 9, which costs roughly $62 million per flight. They're also smaller than the 60 meter Atlas V of the United Launch Alliance, which can cost roughly $200 million to get into space, once an ongoing subsidy to maintain readiness is taken into account. These new companies—Rocket Lab, Vector, and Virgin Orbit—are selling flights on much smaller rockets for between $3 and $15 million. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] Cyan colour hidden ingredient in sleep. ︴ ︴

▼ The colour cyan - between green and blue - is a hidden factor in encouraging or preventing sleep, according to biologists. University of Manchester researchers say higher levels of cyan keep people awake, while reducing cyan is associated with helping sleep. The impact was felt even if colour changes were not visible to the eye. The researchers want to produce devices for computer screens and phones that could increase or decrease cyan levels. Sleep researchers have already established links between colours and sleep - with blue light having been identified as more likely to delay sleep. 'Night mode' There have been "night mode" settings for phones and laptops which have reduced blue light in an attempt to lessen the damage to sleep. But the research by biologists at the University of Manchester and in Basel in Switzerland, published in the journal Sleep, has shown the particular impact of the colour cyan. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] Connections between Alzheimer’s Disease and viruses are building, but stop freaking out about herpes First of all, it's not the herpes you're thinking of. ︴ ︴

▼ Almost everyone has HHV 6A and HHV 7. DepositPhotos It starts with forgetting things you just learned, but over time, it becomes debilitating: Alzheimer’s diseaseis the sixth most common cause of death in the United States according to the Alzheimer’s Association. But researchers still aren’t sure what causes it—let alone how to treat it. A groundbreaking new studyby a coalition of American scientists offers more definitive evidence than any past study that Alzheimer’s disease is somehow connected to viruses. But story headlines have largely focused on the two viruses the researchers found in greatest quantity: human herpesvirus (HHV) 6A and HHV 7. While they might be connected to the degenerative brain disease, they’re far from the only viruses the researchers studied—and unlike their better-known cousins HSV 1 and HSV 2, they aren’t sexually transmitted. What the headlines are saying (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [Science] Mars Will Soon 'Reverse Its Course' in the Sky. ︴ ︴

▼ Mars will slow and reverse its course in the night sky June 28 — a trick of perspective as the Red Planet and Earth both circle the sun. Credit: NASA/Lewis Research Center Look up this weekend to catch bright Marsas it begins a zigzag detour across the spring sky. In just five and a half weeks, Mars will make its closest approach to Earthsince August 2003. This week, we can see the Red Planet just before midnight, low in the east-southeast sky, almost matching Jupiter in brilliance and glowing like a yellowish-orange ember. And Mars continues to brighten noticeably with each passing week. If you have been following Mars since New Year's Day, you may recall that back then, it was shining in the zodiacal constellation of Libra, the scales. At that time, it was 181 million miles (292 million kilometers) from Earth. In contrast, by the end of next week, Mars' distance from Earth will have diminished to 42.3 million miles (68.2 million km); it now shines some 25 times brighter than it did at the start of this year. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [International News] India police 'sorry' for lynching photo. ︴ ︴

▼ Police in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have apologised after a photograph of a lynched man being dragged by a crowd in the presence of three officers caused outrage. The victim, identified as Kasim, died soon after the picture was taken, while on the way to hospital. Police say he was beaten up after a "minor tiff" over a motorcycle accident. They deny he was attacked over reports of cow slaughter. The state police tweeted the apology. We are Sorry for the Hapur Incident. Law & order incidents often lead to unintended yet undesirable acts. pic.twitter.com/w5Tsen9UxG— UP POLICE (@Uppolice) June 21, 2018 Report Speaking to the BBC, the chief spokesperson of the state police, Rahul Srivastava, said the pictures were "misleading" and the "policemen did not support lynching". (▪ ▪ ▪)

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● [International News] Venezuela crisis: UN says security forces killed hundreds. ︴ ︴

▼ Venezuelan security forces have carried out hundreds of arbitrary killings under the guise of fighting crime, the UN's human rights body says. In a report, it cites "shocking" accounts of young men being killed during operations, often in poor districts, over the past three years. The UN's human rights chief said no-one was being held to account, suggesting the rule of law was "virtually absent". Venezuela has in the past dismissed human rights allegations as "lies". The country is going through a protracted political and economic crisis. What is at the root of the crisis? Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves. When socialist President Hugo Chávez was in power, from 1999 until his death in 2013, he used oil money to finance social programmes. But the opposition says much of the income was lost to mismanagement, patronage, and corruption. Critics accuse Mr Chavez's successor, President Nicolás Maduro, of using increasingly authoritarian tactics as the economy collapsed, prompting hundreds of thousands of people to flee abroad. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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