According to The Newcastle Herald, builder Bill McDonald has overseen the construction of hundreds of houses in the Hunter, but barely any are ever built in just 21 days.
It takes a mighty effort to raise a brand new, fully furnished four-bedroom home in three weeks.
Hunter tradies and suppliers will band together to voluntarily build a house as part of the fourth Build for a Cure, which raises funds for the Children’s Cancer Institute.
The house, to be built by McDonald Jones Homes on land donated by the McCloy Group in The Bower estate, will be auctioned on 21st of October to raise a predicted $650,000.

https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5603739/build-for-a-cure-house-construction-to-take-just-21-days/

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/215665678 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Mirvac will kick off one its largest townhouse projects in Melbourne in early 2019 as part of a big push into medium-density development.
Expected to launch in April, the developer's circa $350 million Altona North project at 188-198 Blackshaws Road will comprise 400 townhouses and low-rise apartments built around a central park.
The 11.5-hectare industrial site, 7.5 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre, was acquired in 2014.
Stuart Penklis, head of residential at Mirvac, told The Australian Financial Review medium density was becoming a "big part" of the developer's master-planned community business as it looked to provide more diverse housing options to suit buyers' budgets, needs and lifestyles.

https://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/vic/townhouses-smaller-lots-big-part-of-mirvacs-melbourne-plans-20181014-h16myb

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/mirvac4788260
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the increase in resources exports over the past two years is almost twice the size of our total agricultural exports and the same size as the total of our services exports in Australia. The extra $91 billion a year of exports could build almost 100 hospitals. Our resources sector now accounts for a greater share of Australia's economic output than manufacturing and 57 per cent of our exports.
Almost two-thirds of the increase in resources exports over the past two years have been driven by increases in gas and coal exports. Australia is riding on the back of a fossil fuel-powered economic recovery.
The increases in gas exports have come following a $200 billion investment in gas infrastructure in Australia. Less than 10 years ago Australia exported less than 20 million tonnes of gas. That has almost quadrupled to just under 80 million tonnes of gas and soon Australia will likely become the biggest exporter of gas in the world.
Our coal exports have risen due to a substantial increase in coal prices. This financial year coal exports are expected to reach a record amount of $62 billion and overtake iron ore as the nation's largest export.

https://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/australias-economic-recovery-rides-on-fossil-fuels-20181009-h16e3l

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9574011 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, Yamato Holdings Co., a leading door-to-door courier firm, will team up with U.S.-based Bell Helicopter to develop an unmanned cargo aircraft, or "flying truck," to deliver clients' goods faster.
The envisaged drone will be able to travel in excess of 160 kph and transport freight weighing up to 453 kilograms, according to an announcement by the two companies on Oct. 12.
Called eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing), the aircraft will take off and land vertically.
The companies aim to put the aircraft into practical use by the mid-2020s. Test piloting of a drone about 1.5 meters long and able to carry 32-kg packages is scheduled to start by August 2019.
Drawing on their individual fields of expertise, Bell Helicopter will develop the drone’s body and Yamato Holdings the payload pod.
Yamato Holdings said the aircraft will allow it to speed up delivery of packages to corporate clients.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201810130020.html

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​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/hd7695261 
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Australian medical venture Cynata Therapeutics will start clinical trials in Japan and the U.S. for a stem cell-based treatment for transplant patients under a licensing agreement with Fujifilm Holdings.
The licensing agreement with Fujifilm, which holds a 10%-plus stake in Cynata, will be signed within the current fiscal year, with the second phase of clinical trials starting in fiscal 2019, Ross Macdonald told reporters.
Cynata is developing a type of stem cell therapy that will treat complications from organ or bone marrow transplants in which immune cells from the donated tissue attack the patient.
Mesenchymal stem cells are shown to suppress the immune response by transplanted tissue. Cynata grows the mesenchymal cells from induced pluripotent stem cells -- which are artificially derived from adult cells. The company recently completed the first phase of clinical trials, which were primarily conducted in the U.K. and involved a handful of patients. The testing so far proved the treatment effective and safe, the company reported.
JCR Pharmaceuticals already markets the mesenchymal stem cell product Temcell domestically. Macdonald said Cynata's treatment candidate is expected to lower costs since it has a simpler production process and requires less frequent dosage.
Unlike Temcell's mesenchymal cells harvested directly from donors' bone marrow, using iPS cells can help achieve consistent quality and stable production, Macdonald said.
Japan already has in place a system that promotes regenerative medicine, Macdonald. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has designated Cynata's treatment, CYP-001, as an orphan drug targeting a rare medical condition, making it eligible for government incentives.
Sales approval is targeted for fiscal 2022 at the latest.
In addition, Cynata is researching mesenchymal cell treatments for strokes and circulatory diseases. The company said it is considering partnering with Fujifilm on clinical trials targeting other maladies. The pair entered into a capital tie-up in 2016.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Science/Australia-venture-teams-with-Fujifilm-for-stem-cell-treatment

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​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/ips8414110 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Bioenergy, the "overlooked giant" of the renewable energy industry, will see the biggest growth of all renewables technologies over the next five years but it will be solar that dominates growth in the electricity sector, according to the International Energy Agency.
A report released early Monday in Paris found renewable energy would expand by 27 per cent by 2023, with bioenergy - such as sugarcane, wood waste and straw - leading the way because of its significant use in the transport and heat sectors.
But bioenergy's share of the total renewables pie is being eroded by huge growth in solar, which saw expansion of 97 gigawatts last year and is expected to grow by almost 600 GW more by 2023, more than all other renewable power technologies combined. Bioenergy still has huge untapped potential to "green" the industry and transport sectors but robust regulations are required to govern its supply and use, the IEA said.
Australia is expected to see growth of more than 90 per cent in renewable energy consumption by 2023, dominated by solar PV, which will account for three quarters of the expansion.

https://www.afr.com/business/energy/electricity/booming-solar-to-erode-bioenergys-giant-share-of-renewables-iea-20181007-h16c54

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5751098 
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According to the Nikkei Asian Review, two largest Japanese companies have decided to tie up for mobility services in Japan. When Toyota Motor approached SoftBank Group about a potential tie-up earlier this year, Aichi Prefecture-based President Akio Toyoda offered to travel to Tokyo to meet the tech company's leader Masayoshi Son.
"Twice I thought to myself, 'Really?'" Son told reporters on Thursday reflecting on the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Initial talks took place through younger staff members from both companies around April. But Toyoda, the scion of the Toyota group and head of Japan's number one company, was willing to come to meet the maverick entrepreneur.
After direct talks between the two leaders in August and September, the deal was sealed.
Toyota's decision to partner with SoftBank in mobility services was driven by a fear that its position as one the world's leading automakers could rapidly come undone in an industry undergoing rapid technological transformation.
The pair's relationship began two decades ago when Son proposed to Toyoda -- a section chief in charge of improving Toyota's sales operations at the time -- that he should adopt an online sales system for cars. But Toyoda rejected the idea because he was pursuing another system.
"It was not a bad experience, but I was disappointed," Son reflected. Two decades later, however, Toyoda is the one asking Son to join hands. The companies will launch a joint venture for mobility services called Monet Technologies by the end of next year.
Toyota, which makes 10 million autos worldwide each year, has vowed to transition from an automaker to a mobility services provider. It decided to invest $1 billion in Southeast Asian ride-hailing operator Grab in June and US$ 500 million in Uber Technologies in August.
But the top shareholder in Grab and Uber -- as well as China's Didi Chuxing and India's Ola -- is SoftBank. Revenue from fares among the four companies will reach about $88 billion this year, while Son gains access to enormous amounts of consumer data.
To service providers like Didi and Ola, located in markets where Toyota's share is low, "we were just another company that was not high on their list of potential collaborators," said an executive at the automaker.
The "mobility as a service" market is expected to grow into a US$1.5 trillion industry in China, Europe and the U.S. Once that technology is nursed into a full-fledged commercial operation, Toyota will eventually be forced to decide whether SoftBank is a partner or competitor.
In May, before the two chiefs met, Toyota opened a meeting with labor and management at its headquarters. With SoftBank in mind, one executive argued that Toyota needed to reform its thinking: "We are in an era where we could be swallowed whole as unprecedented competition emerges."
The speed with which technology companies are tackling mobility services poses a threat to Toyota. Waymo, the Google affiliate leading its development of fully autonomous driving, plans to roll out transportation services with self-driving cars in the U.S. as early as within a year. Chinese search engine Baidu's Apollo autonomous driving platform now boasts over 100 corporate members worldwide.
Toyota also plans to commercialize its e-Palette autonomous driving platform for such uses as mobility, deliveries and retailing in the mid-2020s. But the automaker is having trouble managing the switch to mobility services while maintaining existing operations.
"Even if you propose something new, each issue must be examined, and ultimately nothing is decided upon," said the executive of one venture that has partnered with Toyota. Those within the company say that while the automaker is refusing to compromise on safety, reliability and fairness, it is also afraid to break old rules.
Toyoda has repeatedly told employees that the company must revamp its operations now or die. He believes that Toyota is too reliant on past success and that it may not exist in five or 10 years should business continue as usual.
The tie-up with SoftBank was therefore meant "to provide the company with an intense kick from outside the auto industry" as well, according to a Toyota executive.
Toyota has strengthened traditional operations the past two years by turning Daihatsu Motor into a wholly owned subsidiary, entering into a comprehensive partnership with Suzuki Motor and forming a capital tie-up with Mazda Motor. The deals were aimed at bringing in an outside perspective to radically overhaul its operations, an inevitable task.
The partnership between Japan's most- and second-most-valuable companies -- Toyota and SoftBank, respectively -- now signals the automaker's resolve to break into new fields.


https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-Deals/Toyota-looks-to-SoftBank-s-Son-as-a-catalyst-for-innovation
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If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6576967
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, it sounds like a new payment system using palm data is coming soon in Japan and we don’t need to carry credit cards or mobile phone to make a payment?
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. said it has developed a biometric identification system that takes one second to use and could eliminate the need to show credit cards or enter passwords at stores or events.
The company said Oct. 4 that it plans to install the reader device at large commercial facilities in fiscal 2020.
The system features technology that combines two types of data: the characteristics of a user’s face and vein patterns on the palms.
Users need to register photos of their faces and palms in advance. The technology simplifies the facial characteristics and recognizes these users while the palm vein data swiftly verifies the ID.
The process takes around one second, the company said.
“It is convenient because users do need not touch the reader (for fingerprint authentication), and the facial data is combined,” a Fujitsu Laboratories official said.
The system is intended to identify shoppers and visitors at the entrances of event venues.
One problem nowadays is that users often have to wait for long periods in lines for identifications based on physical characteristics.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201810050034.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1108983 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the joint venture between Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting is set for a major technology overhaul as the two iron ore miners unveiled a new mine at their Hope Downs operations.
Development of the new Baby Hope deposit will be accompanied by 28 haul trucks and three production drills being retrofitted with autonomous technology, allowing the miners to increase productivity across the broader Hope Downs operations.
Baby Hope is located about 4 kilometres south-west of the Hope Downs 1 South Deposit.
"This investment will ensure sustainable production levels at the Hope Downs 1 operation," says Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Chris Salisbury.

https://www.afr.com/business/mining/iron-ore/rio-tinto-gina-rinehart-open-new-hope-downs-mine-20181005-h16a2y

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7171925 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, real estate agents in weaker suburbs in Sydney are telling potential buyers at auctions the housing downturn is "only temporary", urging them to buy while the market is subdued.
A potential buyer told The Australian Financial Review he went to Blacktown and South Windsor in Sydney's west on Saturday to shop for housing deals for an investment hoping to score discounts. He found himself alone at two of the properties he inspected.
"The agent at a five-bedroom property at Andre Place, in Blacktown, said they had set records previously in the area and that any bad news was all caused by media and we had to 'fight them'," he said.
"He also said the housing market will be negative for two years and then it will go up again."

https://www.afr.com/real-estate/the-housing-downturn-is-only-temporary-say-real-estate-agents-20181007-h16bez

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6291032 
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