Protection for trees from pests and disease held back by 'skills gap' Efforts to protect Britain's trees from diseases and pests such as ash dieback and caterpillars that strip oaks of leaves are being hampered by a "skills gap", a government-appointed taskforce has warned.
The taskforce, set up in the wake of a fungus that kills ash trees being found across England last year, also called for plant health to be put on a par with animal health, and for the creation of a chief plant health officer akin to the government's chief vet. "There has been an erosion in the UK and elsewhere of certain crucial field- and research-based expertise necessary to ensure tree health and plant biosecurity," said the taskforce's final report, published on Monday. He said the number of people working in this field was in "the tens", and that not enough scientists were being trained. "There are very few people being trained in these relatively important areas, and that is true in the UK and in the EU. PayPal kills the cash register — and offers completely free payment processing for 2013. PayPal’s killing the cash register and offering free credit, debit, check, and PayPal processing to qualifying U.S. businesses that adopt its PayPal Here solution — for the rest of 2013.
In other words, PayPal is all in. PayPal Here, which offers a triangle dongle to compete with a certain rival’s Square, offers a mobile dongle that you can attach to smartphones or tablets to take payments on the go. But it’s also now a pre-integrated solution for existing point-of-sale machines from multiple vendors such as ERPLY, Leaf, Leapset, NCR Silver, ShopKeep, and Vend. Above: PayPal’s triangle Image Credit: PayPal “The cash register has been a familiar sight for generations, but it’s time to replace it with a modern solution,” PayPal says. Want To Make Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane. We’ve written before about cyclonomics--the economic impact of biking.
Studies show that cycling brings in tourists, delivers jobs, and boosts retail sales. Now comes more evidence: a report from New York looking at the impact of a single bike lane, and another from Oregon, looking at tourism spending. Neither will placate drivers who want roads to themselves--but anyway. New York may have dropped in a recent ranking of cycling cities. But it does have some world class infrastructure, including a "complete street" on 9th Avenue, with a protected bike lane.
The DOT doesn’t give an explanation. The Oregon study, by Dean Runyan Associates, measures the impact of bike tourism. Of course, these are all the positive stories. 2012-10-measuring-the-street. Bitcoin: How An Unregulated, Decentralized Virtual Currency Just Became A Billion Dollar Market. Hang around in the tech industry long enough and you or someone you know will be heard saying, “that’s so crazy it just might work.”
Two years ago, if you’d have told me that an open-source, P2P currency would soon be a thriving, billion-dollar market, I would’ve told you that you were on a lonely bus headed to CrazyTown, U.S.A. But today, Bitcoin officially became a crazy idea that’s actually working. Today, all the Bitcoin in circulation — some 10.9 million of them — have collectively crossed the billion-dollar mark. As it is wont to do, the value of Bitcoin (and its exchange rate) has fluctuated wildly today. Don't have a visa to work here? I have some office space to rent you in the ocean. Jump to navigation Menu 🔊 Listen Business Share1736Share306Share832.
Carbon bubble will plunge the world into another financial crisis – report. The world could be heading for a major economic crisis as stock markets inflate an investment bubble in fossil fuels to the tune of trillions of dollars, according to leading economists.
"The financial crisis has shown what happens when risks accumulate unnoticed," said Lord (Nicholas) Stern, a professor at the London School of Economics. He said the risk was "very big indeed" and that almost all investors and regulators were failing to address it. The so-called "carbon bubble" is the result of an over-valuation of oil, coal and gas reserves held by fossil fuel companies. According to a report published on Friday, at least two-thirds of these reserves will have to remain underground if the world is to meet existing internationally agreed targets to avoid the threshold for "dangerous" climate change.
If the agreements hold, these reserves will be in effect unburnable and so worthless – leading to massive market losses. The stark report is by Stern and the thinktank Carbon Tracker. Untries most exposed to the carbon bubble - map. Banks need to wake up to the risks of lending to unsustainable industries.
What is your money doing while it's sitting in your savings account?
Is it locked into a safe in the bank basement, stacked in crisp bills? Is it sitting there, patiently waiting to be withdrawn and used for the annual family vacation, or the kids' college expenses?