By Jeffrey Dastin MOUNTAIN VIEW, California The financial report you read, the apparel marketing you see and the

Netflix on Wednesday wooed marketers with word that its nascent ad-supported plan has grown to nearly...

Infertility is a problem that afflicts more than a billion people across the world, which is why treatments such as IVF are so important. The procedure (in vitro fertilisation, to use it’s full name) involves the extraction of an egg from the woman's ovaries to be fertilised with sperm in a laboratory and returned to the woman’s womb. The goal is that the resulting embryo will then grow and develop into a foetus, blessing the parent or parents with a baby. However, success rates for IVF – as in, the percentage of treatments that result in a live birth – remain somewhat unencouraging: 32 per cent for women aged under 35; 25 per cent for women aged 35 to 37, with the numbers continuing to drop the older you get, according to the NHS. Nevertheless, a major new study has revealed a striking new finding which could help boost the hopes of countless aspiring mums and dads across the world. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter After analysing 3,657 frozen embryos over a period of eight years, researchers in Western Australia found that IVF was much more likely to work when eggs had been harvested in the summer. The team clarified that it didn’t seem to matter when the embryos were transferred to the mother’s womb, just when the eggs were collected. Indeed, the likelihood of babies being born when the eggs had been retrieved in the summer was 30 per cent higher than when they had been retrieved in the autumn, according to the scientists. The team also found that the temperature on the day of egg collection didn’t seem to have an impact on success rates, but the number of sunny hours did. Of the embryos they tested, those harvested on days that had the most sunshine were 28 per cent more likely to result in a live birth compared to the darkest and most overcast days. “Our study suggests that the best conditions for live births appear to be associated with summer and increased sunshine hours on the day of egg retrieval,” the study’s lead, Dr Sebastian Leathersich, of Perth’s King Edward Memorial Hospital, said about the paper, which was published in the journal Human Reproduction. Still, he noted: “There are many factors that influence fertility treatment success, age being among the most important. “However, this study adds further weight to the importance of environmental factors and their influence on egg quality and embryonic development." He further explained: “We effectively separated the conditions at the time of egg collection from the conditions at the time of transfer, demonstrating that environmental factors when the eggs are developing are as, if not more, important than environmental factors during implantation and early pregnancy.” The expert obstetrician and gynaecologist added: “Optimising factors such as avoiding smoking, alcohol and other toxins and maintaining healthy activity levels and weight should be paramount. However, clinicians and patients could also consider external factors such as environmental conditions.” Despite Dr Leathersich and his colleagues concluding that the temperature on the day of egg collection had little bearing on the success of the process, they also found that the temperature on the day of embryo implantation did make a difference. The chances of a live birth rate decreased by 18 per cent when the embryos were transferred on the hottest days (when average temperatures measured between 14.5C and 27.8C) compared to the coolest days (0.1C to 9.8C), and there was a small increase in miscarriage rates, from 5.5 per cent to 7.6. The finding that miscarriage rates were highest when embryo transfer took place on the hottest days is consistent with other studies showing higher rates of miscarriage in the summer months. “This suggests that the negative effects of high temperature are more likely related to early pregnancy rather than egg development,” Dr Leathersich concluded. When it comes to the disparity in success rates between eggs retrieved in summer and autumn, he and his team pointed out that melatonin levels could be at play. Differences in lifestyles between the winter and summer months may also play a role, he and his colleagues acknowledged. "It is possible that there are differences in activity, diet, and lifestyle in different seasons which could underlie the observed differences in live birth rates, though such data were not collected in this study," they wrote. "It is also possible that other environmental factors, including pollutants, may impact clinical outcomes." Whilst the study’s findings are compelling, Dr Leathersich and his team admitted that it did have its limitations. The research was done in hindsight, using eggs that had been frozen, then thawed, so it could not draw watertight conclusions. “Ideally, these findings should be replicated in other sites with different conditions and different treatment protocols to confirm the findings,” Dr Leathersich said. “It would also be interesting to look at the impact of season and environmental factors on sperm parameters, as this could have contributed to our observations.” He added: “We are now planning to analyse this same group of patients using air quality data, as there may be seasonal changes in exposure to harmful pollutants which could negatively affect reproductive outcomes. “Finally, given the huge increase in so-called 'social egg freezing' for fertility preservation and the fact that this group generally have flexibility about when they choose to undergo treatment, it would be very interesting to see if these observations hold true with frozen eggs that are thawed and fertilised years later. “Any improved outcomes in this group could have big impacts for women making decisions about their future fertility, but the long-term follow-up required means it is likely to be some time before we can draw any conclusions for this population.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Perhaps the most Apple moment in today's keynote at Apple Park was the introduction of

Apple has held its latest event, named “Wonderlust”, and released its most important products of the year. Chief executive Tim Cook and his colleagues revealed four new iPhones, and two new Apple Watches. But they also made a series of related announcements: about leather, AirPods and software, some of which came after the event. Here’s everything you need to know about all the new announcements from Apple – whether that was in the live stream or after. iPhone 15 The new base model iPhone was largely as expected. And it is familiar, too: in short, it takes the existing iPhone 14 and adds some of the features from the iPhone 14 Pro to it. It keeps the same basic design and materials, and two-lens camera setup. It adds the faster processor from the iPhone 14 Pro, as well as some of its camera smarts, and the “Dynamic Island” that gets rid of the ears at the top of the display. There’s a Plus model of this phone, too, that has a 6.7-inch display and a larger battery. It is otherwise identical. Read more. iPhone 15 Pro The Pro version of the iPhone 15 was a little more surprising and new – though only a little. The changes to the iPhone 15 Pro are relatively restrained. It adds new features to the camera: a new coating, and hardware and software tools that should make the pictures both better and easier to edit. It also gets a new faster chip and an “action button” on the side that can be programmed to do whatever you want. Most notable, perhaps, is the titanium material that will be used to make it. It adds a new look and makes the phone a bit lighter. Read more. Apple Watch Series 9 The new Watch is also mostly limited in its updates. They largely boil down to an improved processor and a better display. The improved processor adds a range of features, including better dictation and improved Siri. But probably most notable is a “double tap” option that lets people bring their fingers together to operate their Apple Watch without their hands. The display is both brighter and less bright, which means it should be easier to see in the sun and less shocking at night. Read more. Apple Watch Ultra 2 The Ultra 2 takes last year’s Ultra and puts this year’s developments into it. It has the same chip as the normal Watch – and the features that it brings – as well as its own brighter display. Read more. No more leather Two of the most notable announcements were about things being cancelled, rather than introduced. The first of them was leather. Apple will not use leather in any new products, it said. And so there will be new iPhone cases, straps and AirTag holders that will instead be made out of more sustainable materials. It was part of a broader sustainability focus during the event, which also included the announcement that the new Apple Watch is the company’s first ever carbon neutral product. Read more. And no more Lightning The other big removal was Lightning, the charging port that has been in the iPhone for more than a decade. Again, there’s something new in its place: USB-C. This was widely rumoured, after the European Union passed rules that required it, which Apple had originally opposed. Now, though, its presenting it as an upgrade, with better data connections and more compatibility. Read more. Updated AirPods After the event, the AirPods got an update. That is only minor: they too will get a new charging case that uses USB-C. Apple also noted that the shared connector now means that you can plug a USB-C wire into your phone, and then into your AirPods or Apple Watch, to charge them. But the AirPods are otherwise unchanged – and no other new products were released, either. New software release dates Also not mentioned in the event was the release of new software: iOS, WatchOS, MacOS and more. In press releases about their respective hardware, Apple announced when those updates would be arriving. Read more. Read More Here’s the new iPhone Pro, made out of an entirely new material Apple is changing the plug on the bottom of your iPhone Apple reveals when huge new iPhone update is coming Here is the iPhone 15 Apple to stop using leather in all new products Here’s the brand new Apple Watch

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