California

Rising property prices and a torrid pace of lending are signals of an inflationary bubble.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3dbad5ca-6431-11df-8618-00144feab49a.html

Scientists have turned inanimate chemicals into a living organism in an experiment that raises profound questions about the essence of life.

Craig Venter, the US genomics pioneer, announced on Thursday that scientists at his laboratories in Maryland and California had succeeded in their 15-year project to make the world’s first “synthetic cells” – bacteria called Mycoplasma mycoides.

Scott Langmack has given more than US$600,000 in unsecured loans to strangers.

"I can reliably get 12 per cent, worst case 9 per cent," said Mr Langmack, 50, a former Microsoft marketing executive who began investing in so-called peer-to-peer lending last year. "I can't find anything that gives me this kind of confidence."

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Wood is becoming a hot commodity in a new low-carbon world.

Power companies are burning more trees because the renewable fuel can be cheaper than coal and ignited without needing permits to release carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.