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Signs Of A Serious Startup Boom In Indonesia

Ticket delivery via Go-Jek
Ticket delivery via Go-Jek

JAKARTA — A deal between Indonesia's leading lender and an Uber-like moto-taxi application is the latest in a string of partnerhips that are making Indonesia a veritable hotspot for startup ventures in Asia.

The initiative, between Bank Mandiri and the Jakarta-based company Go-Jek, will allow customers to store credit on the app by handling payments through the motorcycle drivers, the English-language daily Jakarta Post reports. Mandiri will also expand access to financial services for drivers and customers.

Local technology firms like Go-Jek have achieved rapid success and contributed to a competitive local market, with international rivals like Uber and Malaysia-based Grab Taxi unable to dominate. They are increasingly gaining government support and private investment. Mandiri's venture capital unit, for one, has committed to spending $37.5 million on developing financial technology services.

Other national banks such as CIMB Niaga are also planning to work with Go-Jek and expand involvement in local startups, according to the Jakarta-based newspaper Kompas. While Go-Jek competes with larger firms like Uber, Grab, and Blue Bird (the leading Indonesian taxi company), smaller competitors are also shaking up the ride-hailing industry.

TeknoJek is a motorcycle taxi ride-hailing app similar to Go-Jek. The Jakarta Post writes that its success comes in part from employing innovative tools such as multi-level marketing, with the company providing additional income to drivers who refer customers and other drivers to the company.

Other Indonesian startups such as Tokopedia, an online marketplace, and Traveloka, a travel booking site, are gaining popularity as well and contributing to the country's increasing reputation as a startup hub.


Go-Jek received $500 million in funding this week from investors, and with Indonesian banks also ramping up investment in local tech firms, other startups will look to benefit and expand. If their success continues, Jakarta may well be on its way to becoming the Silicon Valley of Southeast Asia.

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Green

Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

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