Send In Your Questions For Ask A VC With Index Ventures' Danny Rimer

Ask a VC is back this week with Index Ventures' partner?Danny Rimer.?You can submit questions for Rimer either in the comments or here, and we?ll ask them during the show. Rimer, who is focused on investing in infrastructure software and services, joined Index Ventures in 2002 and helped established the firm's London office.

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The City Project Blog ? Blog Archive ? NPS Study Recommends ...

As NPS emphasizes, ?Many communities in the region ? lack appropriate access to park and recreational resources ? NPS and partner agencies would seek to improve recreational access and opportunities in urban areas that are deficient in recreation and park lands by offering assistance in planning for close-to-home recreational opportunities, better trail access, and improved public transportation options to recreational areas.? NPS recognizes that ?Children in communities that do not have adequate access to outdoor recreation tend to have higher rates of childhood diseases related to obesity such as diabetes.? According to Scott Chan of the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Obesity Prevention Alliance, ?access to safe, healthy environments for exercise and recreation are crucial for all communities.?

One big national recreation area would revive the Olmstedian vision of a network of green space from the waves of the Pacific Ocean, over the Santa Monica Mountains, across the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers, to the San Gabriel watershed and mountains and the Angeles National Forest. This would help restore a part of the Olmsted vision and the lost beauty of Los Angeles, and promote human health, active living, cultural heritage, and economic vitality for all.

The classic 1930 Olmsted Report Parks, Playgrounds and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region

Expanding the recreation area to include the San Gabriel watershed and mountains can help get people back to work and strengthen the economy in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Latinos and African Americans have been worst hit by joblessness and drops in wealth. If you want parks, work for jobs ? and justice. ?The NPS Junior Ranger program could be promoted for school-aged children? and youth, according to the study. ?That is great,? says Raul Macias of the Anahuak Youth Soccer Association. ?Even better is junior ranger programs that pay the students and that lead to quality jobs, careers in park stewardship, and working with youth.?

An expanded recreation area would meet diverse needs through a fully funded, balanced expansion that includes Transit to Trails, hiking, biking, and camping, as well as active recreation such as soccer, baseball and other sports fields, complete green streets with biking trails and safe routes to school, and joint use of parks, schools and pools.

San Gabriel River Trailhead | Photo by The City Project

NPS highlights the need to address Native American history and prehistory, early California settlement, and the rich cultural heritage of the region. According to UCLA Professor Judy Baca of SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center), ?We would be thrilled to work with NPS, students, and SPARC to create public art and interpretive elements that tell the story of diverse California from prehistoric times to the present.?

People of color visit national park land at disproportionately low rates ? but not because they do not value the environment and outdoor recreation. People of color care deeply about the natural environment, as shown by election results, polls and surveys. People of color vote, and they have made the difference in passing park and environmental measures. Diverse leaders will be working with elected representatives ? in Congress as well as at the state and local levels ? to ensure they receive their fair share of the benefits of public works projects like this. ?Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles has worked for environmental justice including access to parks and recreation for decades,? according to Mark Williams, Youth Director. ?We look forward to working with NPS and elected officials to make the San Gabriels? dream come true for all.?

Robert Bracamontes of the Acjachemen Nation, Juaneno Tribe, supports a national recreation area in the San Gabriel mountains and watershed. ?The bankers and financial corporations have been saved. Now it is time to save the people and their land.?

?NPS already demonstrates effective management partnerships with state, county, and local agencies in the Santa Monica Mountains. With calls by local stakeholders for a greater NPS presence in the San Gabriel watershed and mountains, visitors will benefit from enhanced recreational experiences, and agencies will be provided with more economically efficient management of the region,? according to Ron Sundergill of the National Parks Conservation Association.

The study emphasizes five components:

1. An expanded Santa Monica / San Gabriel National Recreation Area that includes the San Gabriel Mountain foothills, portions of the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo river corridors, and the western Puente Hills.

2. Support for improved recreation opportunities, watershed resources, and funding opportunities in the Angeles National Forest.

3. Collaboration between the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service to serve the needs of the people.

4. Technical assistance from NPS for communities, agencies, and organizations to support recreational opportunities, wildlife corridors, and outdoor experiences.

5. NPS and partners working together to engage underserved and disadvantaged communities in the opportunities for and benefits of outdoor recreation and environmental protection.

There are some opportunities to improve the recommendations. For example, the area should be renamed as the Santa Monica / San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area to respect the diversity of the place and people, rather than referring to the San Gabriels as a ?unit? of the Santa Monicas. The Angeles National Forest should be formally included in the area.

Former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis originally proposed the national recreation area in the San Gabriels ? and also wrote the California statutory definition of environmental justice. The final study offers the opportunity for both. Secretary Solis said, ?I am so proud of the work accomplished thus far and look forward to working with all stake holders to see the San Gabriel Valley watershed study realized as a part of the NPS. The public will greatly benefit from this San Gabriel Valley jewel!? Secretary Salazar listened to diverse allies in preparing the final report.

The people of Los Angeles have the opportunity to expand the National Recreation Area to the San Gabriels to make green justice come true for all.

The final study is posted on the web here.

Congresswoman Grace Napolitano with members of San Gabriel Mountains Forever campaign at the San Gabriel River?s East Fork | Photo by The City Project

Source: http://www.cityprojectca.org/blog/archives/19848

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Great Ideas! How to Create a Cozy Reading Nook for Your Kids

Apartment Therapy's Maxwell Ryan shares his best ideas.

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Retired star found with planets and debris disc

Apr. 9, 2013 ? The European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory has provided the first images of a dust belt -- produced by colliding comets or asteroids -- orbiting a subgiant star known to host a planetary system.

The team of scientists who made the discovery publishes their results in the Oxford University Press journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

After billions of years steadily burning hydrogen in their cores, stars like our Sun exhaust this central fuel reserve and start burning it in shells around the core. They swell to become subgiant stars, before later becoming red giants.

At least during the subgiant phase, planets, asteroids and comet belts around these 'retired' stars are expected to survive, but observations are needed to measure their properties. One approach is to search for discs of dust around the stars, generated by collisions between populations of asteroids or comets.

Thanks to the sensitive far-infrared detection capabilities of the Herschel space observatory, astronomers have been able to resolve bright emission around the star Kappa Coronae Borealis (? CrB, or Kappa Cor Bor), indicating the presence of a dusty debris disc. This star is a little heavier than our own Sun at 1.5 solar masses, is around 2.5 billion years old and lies at a distance of roughly 100 light years.

From ground-based observations, it is known to host one giant planet roughly twice the mass of Jupiter orbiting at a distance equivalent to the Asteroid Belt in our own Solar System. A second planet is suspected, but its mass is not well constrained.

Herschel's detection provides rare insight into the life of planetary systems orbiting subgiant stars, and enables a detailed study of the architecture of its planet and disc system.

"This is the first 'retired' star that we have found with a debris disc and one or more planets," says Amy Bonsor of the Institute de Plan?tologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, and lead author of the study.

'The disc has survived the star's entire lifetime without being destroyed. That's very different to our own Solar System, where most of the debris was cleared away in a phase called the Late Heavy Bombardment era, around 600 million years after the Sun formed."

Dr Bonsor's team used models to propose three possible configurations for the disc and planets that fit Herschel's observations of Kappa Cor Bor.

The first model has just one continuous dust belt extending from 20 AU to 220 AU (where 1 AU, or Astronomical Unit, is the distance between Earth and Sun). By comparison, the icy debris disc in our Solar System -- known as the Kuiper Belt -- spans a narrower range of distances, 30-50 AU from the Sun. In this model, one of the planets orbits at a distance of greater than 7 AU from the star, and its gravitational influence may sculpt the inner edge of the disc.

A variation on this model has the disc being stirred by the gravitational influence of both companions, mixing it up such that the rate of dust production in the disc peaks at around 70-80 AU from the star.

In another interesting scenario, the dust disc is divided into two narrow belts, centred on 40 AU and 165 AU, respectively. Here, the outermost companion may orbit between the two belts between a distance of about 7 AU and 70 AU, opening the possibility of it being rather more massive than a planet, possibly a substellar brown dwarf. "It is a mysterious and intriguing system: is there a planet or even two planets sculpting one wide disc, or does the star have a brown dwarf companion that has split the disc in two?" says Dr Bonsor.

As this is the first known example of a subgiant star with planets and a debris disc orbiting it, more examples are needed to determine whether Kappa Cor Bor is unusual or not.

"Thanks to Herschel's sensitive far-infrared capabilities and its rich dataset, we already have hints of other subgiant stars that may also have dusty discs. More work will be needed to see if they also have planets," says G?ran Pilbratt, ESA's Herschel project scientist.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Amy Bonsor, Grant M. Kennedy, Justin R. Crepp, John A. Johnson, Mark C. Wyatt, Bruce Sibthorpe and Kate Y. L. Su. Spatially resolved images of dust belt(s) around the planet-hosting subgiant ? CrB. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2013; DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt367

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/DPuoMz4msik/130409091221.htm

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Astronaut celebrates Easter in space (Easter eggs, included)

Canadian Space Agency/Chris Hadfield

This Easter Sunday sunrise photo taken by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield on the International Space Station shows the Great Lakes region of North America on March 31, 2013.

By Tariq Malik, Space.com

Children around the world aren't the only ones having an Easter egg hunt today. Astronauts in space will get Easter treats, too.?

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who commands the International Space Station, made sure that the Easter Bunny would make a special trip to the orbital lab on Sunday just in time for an Easter celebration in space.?

"Good Morning, Earth! A fine Easter Sunday morning to you from the crew of the International Space Station," Hadfield wrote in a post on Twitter, where he is chronicling his mission under the name @Cmdr_Hadfield.?

Hadfield snapped a sunrise photo of Earth on Easter showing the sun glinting off the Great Lakes in North America this morning to mark the occasion. Then he revealed his Easter secret.?

"Don't tell my crew, but I brought them Easter Eggs :)," Hadfield wrote as he posted a photo of his space Easter treats.

[ Astronaut Chris Hadfield's Amazing Space Photos ]?

In the photo, six large plastic Easter eggs ? each a different color ?float inside a plastic bag while Hadfield presses a finger to his lips in a "Shh" gesture.?

Easter Sunday is a day off for the space station crew because it falls on a weekend. Hadfield is Canada's first commander of the station and took charge of the orbiting laboratory earlier in March.?

Hadfield's Expedition 35 crew includes himself, two Americans and three Russians. Three crewmembers, American astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, just arrived at the station on Thursday (March 28).?

Astronauts in space have a long tradition of spending holidays in space dating back decades to the early days of human spaceflight, when NASA astronauts celebrated Christmas orbiting the moon during the 1968 Apollo 8 mission.?

Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day and other traditional holidays from Russia and other space station partner countries have been celebrated in space since the first crew took up residence in the orbiting laboratory in 2000. The space station has been manned by rotating crews ever since.?

Hadfield has shown a dedication to marking holidays off the planet. In March, he donned a green shirt and bowtie for St. Patrick's Day, and in February he wore a heart headband for Valentine's Day and a funny hat and necklace for Mardi Gras.?

Hadfield and two Expedition 35 crewmates ? NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko ? are due to return to Earth in May. They have been living on the space station in since mid-December.?

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him?@tariqjmalik?and?Google+.Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?and?Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

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Soils in newly forested areas store substantial carbon that could help offset climate change

Apr. 1, 2013 ? Surface appearances can be so misleading: In most forests, the amount of carbon held in soils is substantially greater than the amount contained in the trees themselves.

If you're a land manager trying to assess the potential of forests to offset carbon emissions and climate change by soaking up atmospheric carbon and storing it, what's going on beneath the surface is critical.

But while scientists can precisely measure and predict the amount of above-ground carbon accumulating in a forest, the details of soil-carbon accounting have been a bit fuzzy.

Two University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues helped to plug that knowledge gap by analyzing changes in soil carbon that occurred when trees became established on different types of nonforested soils across the United States.

In a paper published online April 1 in the Soil Science Society of America Journal, they looked at lands previously used for surface mining and other industrial processes, former agricultural lands and native grasslands where forests have encroached.

U-M ecologist Luke Nave and his colleagues found that, in general, growing trees on formerly nonforested land increases soil carbon. Previous studies have been equivocal about the effects of so-called afforestation on soil carbon levels.

"Collectively, these results demonstrate that planting trees or allowing them to establish naturally on nonforested lands has a significant, positive effect on the amount of carbon held in soils," said Nave, an assistant research scientist at the U-M Biological Station and in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

"These forest soils represent a significant carbon reservoir that is helping to offset carbon emissions that lead to climate change," said Nave, lead author of the paper.

Large and rapid increases in soil carbon were observed on forested land that had previously been used for surface mining and related industrial processes. On a post-mining landscape, the amount of soil carbon generally doubled within 20 years of mining termination and continued to double every decade or so after that.

The changes after cultivated farm fields were abandoned and trees became established are much subtler, though still significant. This type of tree establishment -- which has been widespread in recent decades in the northeastern United States and portions of the Midwest -- takes about 40 years to cause a detectable increase in soil carbon.

But at the end of a century's time, the amount of soil carbon averages 15 percent higher than when the land was under cultivation, with the biggest increases (up to 32 percent) in the upper two inches of the soil.

In places where trees and shrubs have encroached into native grassland, soil carbon increased 31 percent after several decades, according to the study. That type of incursion is occurring throughout the Great Plains, from the Dakotas all the way to northern Texas, and is largely due to suppression of wildfires.

"Our work helps those tasked with understanding and managing the carbon balance of U.S. lands by putting a number on the changes in soil carbon that occur during this sort of land-use transition," Nave said.

Most of the organic carbon in forest soils comes from the growth and death of roots and their associated fungi, he said.

The study involved a reexamination of 46 research papers published between 1957 and 2010, as well as an analysis of 409 soil profiles from the National Soil Carbon Network database.

Co-authors of the Soil Science Society of America Journal article are Chris Swanston of the U.S. Forest Service, Umakant Mishra of the Argonne National Laboratory and Knute Nadelhoffer, director of the U-M Biological Station and a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

The work was supported by the U.S. Forest Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan, via Newswise.

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Journal Reference:

1. L. E. Nave, C. W. Swanston, U. Mishra, K. J. Nadelhoffer. Afforestation Effects on Soil Carbon Storage in the United States: A Synthesis. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2013; DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2012.0236

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/5w72tAS0rDY/130401110744.htm

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Actual finance blog ? Stockton bankruptcy decision only the beginning

For the people of Stockton, a federal judge?s anticipated decision Monday on the city?s bankruptcy petition will affect their day-to-day lives for decades to come.

But the Chapter 9 bankruptcy case also is being closely watched nationally for the potential precedent-setting implications: whether federal bankruptcy law trumps the California law that says debts to the state pension fund must be honored.

After a three-day trial last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein is to decide whether Stockton becomes the most populous city in the nation to enter bankruptcy, despite the objection of creditors who argued the city failed to pursue all other avenues for straightening out its financial affairs.

If it receives bankruptcy protection, the city begins a months-long process of negotiations over debt repayment that some say could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

?This case is worthy because of the conflict between the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and the state statutes governing CalPERS and the importance of the issue being decided,? said attorney Karol Denniston, a municipal restructuring expert who monitored the trial.

The $900 million Stockton owes to the California Public Employees? Retirement System to cover pension promises is its biggest debt _as is the case with many struggling cities across California. So far Stockton has kept up with pension payments while it has reneged on other debts, maintaining that it needs a strong pension plan to retain its pared-down workforce.

The creditors who challenged Stockton?s bankruptcy petition are the bond insurers who guaranteed $165 million in loans the city secured in 2007 to pay its contributions to CalPERS. That debt got out of hand as property tax values plummeted during the recession, and money to pay the pension obligation fell short.

Attorneys for the creditors argued that it was unfair for them to be paid 17-cents on the dollar for the loans while the retirement fund negotiated in flush times remains untouched.

Legal observers expect the creditors aggressively to challenge Stockton?s repayment plan in the next phase of the process.

?That?s where it will be precedent-setting. Does bankruptcy code apply to CalPERS or not? If bankruptcy code trumps state law, then that?s huge and it has huge implications in terms of what happens next for other municipalities across California,? said Denniston.

The city of nearly 300,000 has become emblematic of both government excess and of the financial calamity that resulted when the nation?s housing bubble burst. Its salaries, benefits and borrowing were based on anticipated long-term developer fees and increasing property tax revenue. But those were lost in a flurry of foreclosures beginning in the mid-2000s and a loss of 70 percent of the city?s tax base.

By 2009 Stockton had accumulated nearly $1 billion in debt on civic improvements, money owed to pay pension contributions and the most generous health care benefit in the state _ coverage for life for all retirees plus a dependent, no matter how long they had worked for the city.

Since cities can?t be liquidated, Stockton has attempted to restructure some debt by renegotiating labor contracts and cutting the health benefit for retirees, but creditors argued that by ignoring bond debt they haven?t created a plan that shares the pain equitably, as required under bankruptcy code.

Attorney Guy Neal, who represents creditors, spent a good deal of his trial time showing that for years Stockton had granted bloated labor contracts and benefits, and then allowed employees to boost their retirement benefits further by cashing out vacation time and sick leave in their last year of employment, thus raising their benchmark annual salary for retirement benefit purposes.

He argued that employees who shared in the wealth during good times should have to equally share the pain now, including cuts to CalPERS.

?The city simply wants to wipe out its debt but hold onto the benefits that the proceeds of that debt provided,? Neal argued.

Stockton?s City Manager Bob Deis testified that CalPERS is a trustee for city employees, not a creditor.

Judge Klein indicated at several points during the trial that the CalPERS attorney monitoring the case would have his time to speak during the repayment phase of the trial, an indication that the pension obligation could be a part of discussions.

?I know that issue is downstream, if we wind up going downstream,? Klein said during closing arguments.

The state pension plan manages $255 billion in assets today but was underfunded by $87 billion in 2011, the last time calculations were made. CalPERS is in the process of setting new rates to close the liability, said spokeswoman Amy Norris, which could further strain cities in financial peril such as San Bernardino, San Jose Compton, Fairfield, Watsonville, Atwater and at least two dozen other cities.

?Just about everybody has an unfunded liability,? said Norris.

Attorneys watching the case expect that this first-ever Chapter 9 bankruptcy case questioning state pension obligations will be appealed to decide whether the 10th Amendment giving rights to states is more powerful than federal bankruptcy code. Even Klein, who was inclined at first to approve bankruptcy without a trial, said he was going forward with the hearing to create an appellate record.

?You might have the court not approve the plan because the bondholders keep raising objections until CalPERS is impaired in some way. That will be cutting edge. That?s where this case will get interesting,? said bankruptcy attorney Michael Sweet.

____

Reach Tracie Cone at www.twitter.com/TConeAP

Source

Source: http://finadviserweblog.com/stockton-bankruptcy-decision-only-the-beginning/

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