Donie's all Ireland daily news BLOG Tuesday

IRISH Pensioners in troubled schemes to face cuts under new law

 

Insolvent and restructured schemes to balance brunt of cuts between workers and retired members

The Government has approved a range of new proposals that it hopes can address potential problems arising in defined benefit pension schemes.

Under the Pensions (Amendment) Bill 2013, people actively paying into defined benefit schemes will be given a greater level of protection should the scheme be wound up or restructured. However, retired members earning above a certain threshold may no longer be entitled to their full payment if the scheme falls into difficulty.

At present if a scheme is restructured or wound up existing pensioners retain their full pension entitlements and whatever is left over, if anything, is divided up between the contributors who have yet to retire or those who have left a company but deferred their pensions until retirement age.

The Government has guaranteed to pay 100 per cent of existing pensions worth up to €12,000 annually.

In the event of both scheme and employer being deemed insolvent, members (both active and retired) who are entitled to more than €12,000 annually are to be protected up to 50 per cent of their entitlement.

The Department of Social Protection said Minister for Finance Michael Noonan had approved the use of funds from the pension levy to pay the shortfall up to 50 per cent. The new proposals are modelled on changes applied to civil service pensions, the department said.

In the case of single insolvency (either the scheme or company being declared insolvent), retired members will no longer be given full priority and higher paid pensioners will contribute to improve the benefit of current workers.

Some 90 per cent of pensioners’ benefits of between €12,000 and €60,000 and 80 per cent of pensioners’ benefits above €60,000 will be guaranteed with the deduction distributed among those not already drawing the pension up to a level of 50 per cent.

There is no obligation on the employer or the State to meet the 50 per cent threshold in single insolvency cases.

In cases where he scheme is restructured, the 100 per cent priority for pensioners earning above €12,000 annually will be removed to ensure a fairer level of benefits for contributing members.

The legislation was approved by the Government today. It is to be published tomorrow, brought before the Oireachtasnext week and enacted by the end of the year.

The number of defined benefit schemes operating in the State has fallen from about 2,500 in the 1990s to 800 at present. About 40 per cent are regarded as being fully funded, compared to 80 per cent 10 years ago.

Between 80,000 and 85,000 people are currently paying into defined benefit schemes in the State at present. The State pension is not affected by the measures.

The current rules are particularly hard on workers who are close to retirement as they can be left with little or nothing and do not have time to build up a new pension entitlement.

The Bill also includes measures designed to prevent schemes from becoming severely underfunded.

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said the measures were about “fairness in the first instance” and ensuring workers receive a greater share of their pension benefits in the event of restructuring or insolvency of their scheme.

“The State could not be expected to solve employers’ funding problems given the financial implications it would have for taxpayers,” Ms Burton said.

“However, the State can intervene to ensure a fairer deal for workers and sufficient protection for pensioners while allowing employers to get to grips with their pension problems.”

The move to change the rules comes after an unprecedented call by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, employers’ group Ibec, the Irish Association of Pension Funds and the Society of Actuaries to change what is called the priority order in a wind-up.

Around 65,000 workers have been impacted by the closure of 400 defined benefit schemes since 2008, the three bodies said recently.

New Allied Irish Banks customer arrears service under way

 

Customers of AIB in mortgage arrears will be able to avail of a new service from today to help find a long-term solution to their financial problems.

THE IRISH MORTGAGE HOLDERS’ ORGANISATION (IMHO) AND AIB GROUP HOPES TO HELP 1,000 CUSTOMERS FIND SOLUTIONS TO TACKLING THEIR ARREARS IN A SIX-MONTH PILOT PROJECT.

Those in difficulty will be provided by the IMHO with a designated contact person, who will help complete a standard financial statement (SFS), which is key to finding a suitable solution.

The help will be provided over the phone, online or in person. All advice will be supplied on a fully independent basis by the IMHO, and the information will be submitted to AIB for consideration and agreement of the next steps to be taken.

“This is an independent, professional, confidential and free service, an innovative approach to helping those in mortgage distress,” IMHO director David Hall (left) said. “While it is being grant aided by AIB Group, the service is independently provided, staffed and managed by IMHO.

“We are confident that we can successfully negotiate with AIB Group to find sustainable solutions for those who have so far been reluctant to engage with the banks up to now.

“We have been successful in concluding many agreements with AIB Group in the past year and we see no reason why this will not continue for the benefit of all concerned.”

The new code of conduct in mortgage arrears, which took effect in July, obliges banks to take action against borrowers who refuse to engage. It is hoped this scheme will encourage more people to address their problems.

Some 300 mortgage holders have already contacted the group seeking help.

Irish births fall 3% as baby boom appears to be over

 

We had a baby boom in the Irish recession but now the number of births in Ireland is on a downward spiral.

Statistics from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) show that the amount of babies born in this country fell further last year.

The most recent figures show that just 72,000 babies were born in 2012, down more than 3pc on 2011.

It has dropped from a high of 16.8 per 1,000 population in 2008 to 16.2 per 1,000 in 2011 and 15.6 per 1,000 in 2012.

EU AVERAGE: The EU average stands much lower at a rate of 10.4 per 1,000 population.

Despite this, Ireland’s birth rate remains the highest in Europe. But Irish women are officially putting off having babies later in life.

The average age of mums was just under 32 in 2012, compared to an average age of 30.6 years a decade ago.

ESRI Professor Miriam Wiley said the slowing in birth rates last year could be due to a number of factors such as choice and age of the mother.

“Birth rates go up and down in time of recession . . . the fact that we’re seeing the slight ageing suggests a postponement factor,” she explained.

Meanwhile, the rate of teenagers having babies has fallen with the number of women aged under 20 giving birth now down to 2pc compared to 5pc in 2003.

The number of babies born in Ireland has been declining since 2009 when 76,000 births were recorded.

Additionally, the mortality rate among babies in Ireland continues to decline. In 2012 it was just 5.9 per 1,000 live and still births.

This figure is significantly lower than 2003 which saw the figure at 8.6 per 1,000 live and still births.

The highest mortality rates were among babies born to mothers aged 40 to 44.

Breastfeeding levels remain low, with 40pc of babies being breast-fed compared to 75pc for babies born to mothers from Europe and America.

The UK follows Ireland with a rate of 12.8 per 1,000 and France at 12.6 followed by Sweden at 11.9 and Cyprus at 11.8.

Germany had the lowest birth rate in Europe last year at 8.4 per 1,000 population.

Some 48% of Irish people staying away from their dentist because of high costs

  

Nearly one in two people have not visited their dentist in the past year, according to a new survey.

The survey found that the main reason 48% of those questioned had not visited their dentist in the previous 12 months was the cost.

New research conducted by dental insurer DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland shows that three quarters (72%) of 35-44 year olds do not visit the dentist more often due to cost and over half (56%) of respondents avoid or delay dental treatment, also because of cost.

While the research demonstrated poor dental hygiene habits, the majority of people did recognise the significance of good dental hygiene.

Nearly nine out of 10 respondents thought that bad teeth would impact on their success in a job interview, while 90% of people said that unhealthy or unsightly teeth would put them off a new partner.

The cuts in tax relief and PRSI subsidies for dental care has led to a significant reduction in people attending the dentist, with one in four people claiming that they visit the dentist less now as a result, the survey found.

DeCare says there is growing interest in purchasing dental insurance that will subsidise or fully cover the cost of dental care.

The company has until now partnered with VHI to provide dental insurance, with DeCare providing the product, customer service and claims management, but now the company will for the first time offer its insurance product directly to the wider general public.

Ten important tips for you to fight fatigue

 

1 Don’t exercise right before bedtime – exercise is good for tiring the body but it will temporarily have the opposite effect of waking the body up just when it should be easing itself towards sleep.

2 Discipline yourself to leave technology outside the bedroom.

3 Keep your bedroom clutter free, dark and not too hot or cold – between 16C and 18C is the optimum temperature.

4 Swap late-night TV for meditation – set aside time to breathe and relax.

5 Don’t drink more than three cups of coffee a day.

6 Don’t eat high-fat foods before bed.

7 Don’t eat a big meal late at night.

8 Steer clear of booze – alcohol messes with your REM sleep, meaning you’re less likely to wake refreshed.

9 Breathe through your nose. Research shows nasal breathing quiets and slows the breath, helping to induce a state of relaxation. It also results in a deeper sleep compared to mouth breathing. See buteyko.ie for more information.

10 Download the food pyramid (indi.ie). A balanced diet helps promote a balanced life.

Twitter launches a ‘life-saving’ alerts system for emergencies and natural disasters

  

57 SERVICES HAVE SIGNED UP, INCLUDING POLICE FORCES, LONDON FIRE BRIGADE, THE FOREIGN OFFICE AND THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

A new Twitter Alerts system to highlight critical information in emergency situations has been rolled out across the UK and Ireland.

Police forces, London Fire Brigade, the Foreign Office and the Environment Agency are just some of the 57 services to sign up to the new system.

These organisations will now be able to mark certain tweets as alerts, by putting an orange bell next to them to stand out to followers.

It is designed to deliver information quickly and effectively in times of natural disasters or other emergencies.

Users who sign up for an account’s Twitter Alerts will also receive notifications via text, and smartphone users will get push notifications.

Commander David Martin, in charge of emergency planning for the Metropolitan Police Service, said: “Getting fast and accurate information to the public in a major incident or terrorist attack really could make a life-saving difference.

“Using social networking sites, including Twitter, gives us additional ways to talk directly to the public. Twitter Alerts means that our messages will stand out when it most matters.”

To subscribe, Twitter users should go to their chosen account’s alert setup page at twitter.com/[username]/alerts.

Twitter Alerts launched with other participating organisations in the US, Japan and Korea.

These have already been used by international organisations to send out information during emergencies involving public safety, accessibility and bad weather.

John Curtin, Head of Incident Management at the Environment Agency said: “Digital communications is enhancing the way we share warning information during an incident. During an incident such as flooding, we see significant spikes in related conversation.”

And Rita Dexter, Deputy Commissioner for the London Fire Brigade, said: “People act on information shared on social media. During a major incident accurate, verified and frequent updates are essential.”

*To receive Twitter Alerts as push notifications, you must be using Twitter for iPhone version 5.10 or higher, and Twitter for Android 4.1.6 or higher.

200 year old deep sea oysters found in deep Irish waters

  

The discovery was made half a mile below the surface of the ocean

Scientists in the Republic of Ireland have discovered a colony of 200-year-old oysters half a mile below the sea.

A research team from Galway was exploring off the south west coast of Ireland when it made the discovery.

The team was using a small, remotely controlled vehicle to explore an area known as the Whittard Canyon, which spans UK, Irish and French waters.

They discovered a rock-face half a mile deep that was covered in molluscs and coral.

It is thought that the oysters can survive at such great depth because food is being channelled to the area by strong currents caused by the shape of the canyon.

“These are remarkably large, and we know that deep-water oysters of these size elsewhere in European seas may be more than 200 years old. So we are probably seeing an exceptionally long-lived and stable community,” said Mark Johnson, Professor of Marine Environment at NUI Galway.

This type of discovery is possible due to the development of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that are able to travel to a depth of 3,000m below sea level.

The team from the Ryan Institute at the National University of Ireland in Galway have made further plans to explore the area in the coming months.

Donie's Ireland news BLOG Friday

Galway Inquest rules Savita Halappanavar death as 'medical misadventure'

    

left Savita Halappanavar who died in Galway University Hospital and right the the Consultant Obstetrician Dr Katherine Astbury  who gave evidence at the inquest and said there were a lot of system failures in the hospital. 

An inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar has recorded a verdict of death by medical misadventure.

An inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar has recorded a verdict of death by medical misadventure.

The jury delivered the verdict shortly after 3pm this afternoon, strongly endorsing the nine recommendations set out by Coroner Ciaran MacLoughlin earlier today. These included calling on the Medical Council to lay out clear guidelines on the measures that doctors and midwives can take to save the life of a mother, in order to remove the ‘doubt and fear’ currently present.

It was also recommended that proper procedures be put in place nationally to ensure blood samples are followed up correctly, that proper protocol and training be provided for medical personnel in dealing with sepsis and it was advised that the Department of Microbiology put together a set of guidelines for the treatment of sepsis, to be provided to each hospital in Ireland.

The recommendations also called for proper and efficient communication between on-call hospital staff and medical teams, with a dedicated time for such a handover. The Coroner advised that Early Warning Score charts be rolled out across all hospitals ‘ as soon as is practical’ and that no additional notes be made to a patient’s chart following a death.

He also clarified that the verdict of medical misadventure did not infer that medical failures in her care had contributed to Savita’s death.

Michael D Higgins gets a standing ovation at EU Parliament

‘Says we cannot ignore the suffering of Europeans’

 

Irish President Michael D Higgins

The Irish President addressed the many concerns of EU citizens with hope for the future.

President Michael D Higgins received a standing ovation from his audience at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg.

Addressing the Parliament, the Irish President urged the Union to connect with its citizens, calling attention to their suffering and reminding the Union that their citizens place their trust in parliament when they vote and rightly have expectations of them.

“We cannot, however, ignore the fact that European citizens are suffering the consequences of actions and opinions of bodies such as rating agencies, which, unlike parliaments, are unaccountable,” he said.

“Many of our citizens in Europe regard the response to the crisis in their lives as disparate, sometimes delayed, not equal to the urgency of the task and showing insufficient solidarity with them in their threatened or actual economic circumstances.

“They feel that in general terms the economic narrative of recent years has been driven by dry technical concerns; for example, by calculations that are abstract and not drawn from real problems, geared primarily by a consideration of the impact of such measures on speculative markets, rather than driven by sufficient compassion and empathy with the predicament of European citizens who are members of a union, and for whom all of the resources of Europe’s capacity, political, social, economic and intellectual might have been drawn on, driven by the binding moral spirit of a union.”

Higgins reminded the Union that its founding treaties were originally founded on values – “Respect for personal dignity; freedom; democracy; equality; the rule of law and respect for human rights,” and continued to voice how citizens need reassurance that the Union will keep faith with these founding treaties.

Firmly addressing the challenge of unemployment, Higgins said, “A first and urgent task must be to get Europe back to sustainable and fulfilling employment and a return to real growth. There is nothing more corrosive to society and more crushing to an individual than endemic unemployment, particularly among the young. Today there are 26 million people across the Union without work, 5.7 million young people, and 115 million in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion. We cannot allow this to continue.”

The President told MEPS that the current, dominant economic policy being used across Europe is “the flaw of our times” and is “insufficient as an approach for our problems and our future” and urged them to press for a new economic model that connects economy, society and policy.

Although President Higgins commended the European Council on the Youth Employment Initiative and the assurance that soon those under 25 will receive a good quality offer of employment, education, apprenticeship or training within four months of being unemployed, he urged for more to be done.

“We need to ensure that women participate in the workplace as equals; that older workers are not left on the sidelines; and that the long-term unemployed are fully equipped to find their way back into today’s workplace. We must, above all, ensure that, for all these European citizens that a loss of employment does not lead to exclusion from participation, particularly in the cultural space of one’s community.”

While addressing the current issues of the EU head on, Higgins’ speech was hopeful that the Union would move forward in a positive light, calling all citizens to “move out of the dark and into the light” to “achieve something worthy of Friedrich Schiller’s poem originally called “Ode to Freedom.”

Irish Dentists want key role in tobacco control strategy

      

The HSE is being urged to give dentists a key role in the development of its tobacco control strategy.

According to the Irish Dental Association (IDA), while many people are aware of the dangers of smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, they are not as familiar with the damage tobacco can cause to oral health.

Currently in Ireland, oral cancer kills two people every week, with smokers who drink alcohol at the greatest risk. Furthermore, smoking affects the healing of wounds and can lead to dry socket, a painful condition that can last up to two weeks after a tooth is extracted.

Dental implants are also known to be less successful in people who smoke, not to mention the staining of teeth and bad breath that smoking can cause.

“Smoking is the single biggest cause of cancer and in Ireland one in three adults smoke. Sweden is the only country in Europe which has reached the World Health Organisation target of reducing the number of adults smoking to one in five,” said Dr Peter Gannon, chair of the IDA’s GP Committee.

Speaking at the IDA’s annual conference in Galway, he insisted that it was ‘no coincidence that Swedish dentists played a key role in that country’s tobacco control strategy’.

“Dentists are ideally placed to advise and encourage patients on the dangers of smoking and I would urge the HSE to work with the IDA so we can devise a fully effective tobacco control strategy,” Dr Gannon said.

He pointed out that dentists carry out cancer screening as part of their routine examinations of patients.

“That is why it is very important that people avail of the free annual oral examination which most adults are entitled to. If oral cancer is detected early, the five-year survival rate is around 85%. This drops with later detection. Dentists can also demonstrate to patients who smoke the effects it has on their oral health with the use of an intra oral camera and other aids,’ he explained.

Meanwhile, Dr Gannon also highlighted the detrimental effects cutbacks to the public dental service are having on children and people with special needs.

“For example, school screenings should take place in 2nd, 4th and 6th class. When this happens issues are spotted early and dentists can also advise young people on good oral health practice, such as the dangers of smoking. Now, due to the moratorium on hiring new staff, in many parts of the country, these screenings don’t take place until 6th class or until the children are in their teens,” he noted.

He said at that stage, it is ‘too late’.

“Our children have the highest consumption of sweets of any country in Europe and if they are not seen until 12 or 13, much of the damage has already been done.

“If children have dental issues the lack of screening affects their ability to get on orthodontic waiting lists, not to mention their quality of life in their formative years, with many experiencing lack of confidence, isolation or name calling,” he explained.

He added that staff levels in the public dental system are down 20% over the last few years and young people, those with special needs and older people ‘are suffering the consequences’.

“This isn’t right and it can’t be allowed to continue,” Dr Gannon told the conference.

EU-US trade pact could deliver €800m boost for Ireland, says Richard Bruton

 

EU trade commissioner says deal possible if he gets early mandate

A trade deal between the European Union and the United States could add €800 million to the Irish economy and create up to 4,000 jobs, Richard Bruton said yesterday.

The Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation was speaking after an informal council of EU trade ministers, which had been attended, in part, by US president Barrack Obama’s chief trade negotiator.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, also speaking at Dublin Castle, said the successful liberalisation of trade and investment between the European Union and the US could prove to be a turning point for their 700 million inhabitants.

‘Sense of excitement’

Mr Kenny said there was a “sense of excitement and eagerness” to agree a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, adding that the Government had prioritised the issue during its presidency of the EU.

With “clear political consensus on both sides of the Atlantic” to complete the deal, he said it had the potential to greatly expand a trade and investment relationship that has long been the biggest in the world.

In pursuit of that objective, he has visited 11 US cities since becoming Taoiseach, he said.

Along with the 27 EU trade ministers and the European commissioner for trade Karel de Gucht, US president Barack Obama’s chief trade negotiator Michael Froman was invited to attend part of the ministerial meeting.

Mr Bruton, who chaired the meeting, said its informal nature had allowed a greater focus on strategic issues.

Speaking at a press briefing, Mr Bruton expressed optimism that the ministers would agree a mandate in June that would allow Mr de Gucht to begin negotiations with the US. He said the the completion of the partnership could lead to the creation of 4,000 additional jobs in Ireland and add €800 million to gross domestic product annually.

Mr de Gucht spoke of the trade partnership as a “cheap stimulus package” that could be worth €500 each year to every household in the EU.

The very act of agreeing such a deal would act as a further stimulus, he said, because it would reduce uncertainty for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

‘Search for solutions’

He went on to say that negotiators would have to be “aggressively in the search for solutions” to dismantling of remaining tariff barriers (taxes on imported goods) and the lowering of non-tariff barriers, such as costly customs checks.

Mr de Gucht siad that the transatlantic partnership could be concluded by the time the current commission’s term ends in the second half of 2014, provided member states give him the mandate to start negotiations in June.

Mr Froman said his country would do everything to support the rules-based global trading system and that multilateral liberalisation was “the ultimate goal”.

Despite this, he said that completing the current round of global trade talks, known as the Doha round, was “not feasible”. In order to drive trade liberalisation, the US was continuing to negotiate bilateral deals with its trading partners.

Noting that past efforts to lower transatlantic trade and investment barriers had been “modest”, Mr Froman said that now was the right time to push the transatlantic partnership. “The US and the EU can lean lead on global rules and standards,” he added.

French reservations

Significantly, the only EU trade minister to hold a press conference at Dublin Castle yesterday was Nicole Bricq of France. France has traditionally been the EU member state that has shown least enthusiasm for trade liberalisation and has acquired a reputation as the most protectionist-minded member country.

Ms Bricq questioned the size of the gains in jobs and economic growth from the putting in place of the partnership between the EU and the US, and cautioned against moving too fast to negotiate a deal.

She said that “partnership” was a very strong word in French and that it required a respect for the values and interests of both sides.

She was emphatic in reaffirming France’s traditional opposition to the freeing of trade in areas of culture and defence, saying that neither item could form part of the European Commission’s negotiating mandate.

Kepler telescope spies ‘two more most Earth-like World’s’ out there

 

The search for a far-off twin of Earth has turned up two of the most intriguing candidates yet.

Scientists say these new worlds are the right size and distance from their parent star, so that you might expect to find liquid water on their surface.

It is impossible to know for sure. Being 1,200 light-years away, they are beyond detailed inspection by current telescope technology.

“They are the best candidates found to date for habitable planets,” stated Bill Borucki, who leads the team working on the US space agency Nasa’s orbiting Kepler telescope.

The prolific observatory has so far confirmed the existence of more than 100 new worlds beyond our Solar System since its launch in 2009.

The two now being highlighted were actually found in a group of five planets circling a star that is slightly smaller, cooler and older than our own Sun. Called Kepler-62, this star is located in the Constellation Lyra.

Its two outermost worlds go by the names Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f.

They are what one might term “super-Earths” because their dimensions are somewhat larger than our home planet – about one-and-a-half-times the Earth’s diameter.

Nonetheless, their size, the researchers say, still suggests that they are either rocky, like Earth, or composed mostly of ice. Certainly, they would appear to be too small to be gaseous worlds, like a Neptune or a Jupiter.

Many assumptions

Planets 62e and 62f also happen to sit a sufficient distance from their host star that they receive a very tolerable amount of energy. They are neither too hot, nor too cold; a region of space around a star sometimes referred to as the “Goldilocks Zone”.

Given the right kind of atmosphere, it is therefore reasonable to speculate, says the team, that they might be able to sustain water in a liquid state – a generally accepted precondition for life.

“Statements about a planet’s habitability always depend on assumptions,” said Lisa Kaltenegger, an expert on the likely atmospheres of “exoplanets” and a member of the discovery group.

“Let us assume that the planets Kepler-62e and -62f are indeed rocky, as their radius would indicate. Let us further assume that they have water and their atmospheric composition is similar to that of Earth, dominated by nitrogen, and containing water and carbon dioxide,” the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg researcher went on.

“In that case, both planets could have liquid water on their surface: Kepler-62f gets less radiation energy from its host star than the Earth from the Sun and therefore needs more greenhouse gases, for Instance more carbon dioxide, than Earth to remain unfrozen.

“Kepler-62e is closer to its star, and needs an increased cloud cover – sufficient to reflect some of the star’s radiation – to allow for liquid water on its surface.”

Key signatures

None of this can be confirmed – not with today’s technology. But with future telescopes, scientists say it may be possible to see past the blinding glare of the parent star to pick out just the faint light passing through a small world’s atmosphere or even reflected off its surface.

This would permit the detection of chemical signatures associated with specific atmospheric gases and perhaps even some surface processes. Researchers have spoken in the past of trying to detect a marker for chlorophyll, the pigment in plants that plays a critical role in photosynthesis.

Dr Suzanne Aigrain is a lecturer in astrophysics at the University of Oxford.

She said ground-based experiments and space missions planned in the next few years would give more detailed information on distant planets like those announced by the Kepler team.

Astronomers would like to pin down the masses of the planets (information difficult to acquire with Kepler), as well as getting that data on atmospheric composition.

Dr Aigrain told BBC News: “What we do next is we try to find more systems like these; we try to measure the frequency of these systems; and we try to characterise individual systems and individual planets in more detail.

“That involves measuring their masses and their radii, and if possible getting an idea of what’s in their atmospheres. But this is a very challenging task.”

Kepler meanwhile will just keep counting planets beyond our Solar System.

It is equipped with the largest camera ever launched into space. It senses the presence of planets by looking for a tiny “shadowing” effect when one of them passes in front of its parent star.