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CLARIN

Wealthy Argentines Eye Miami Real Estate, And Culture

With Argentina's economy in crisis, Miami real estate has become a nice refuge for well-off Argentines to protect their money from devaluation. But it's not just about the beaches

The future landscape of Miami: new condos, but also a new museum
The future landscape of Miami: new condos, but also a new museum
Annabella Quiroga

BUENOS AIRES — With Argentine markets paralyzed by restrictions on dollar trading and local property transactions plummeting, Miami real estate developers have their sights set on private Argentine investors looking for a foreign refuge for their assets.

As President Cristina Kirchner reported last year, Argentines spent more than $2 billion on U.S. property investments in 2012 and 2013. Buenos Aires even hosted several real estate fairs in August and September to highlight some of the projects on offer.

Mayi de la Vega attended one representing ONE SIR, an affiliate firm of Sotheby's International Realty. "Miami is flourishing," she says. "It is the eighth most visited city in the world. Infrastructure development is taking off in the city, as are businesses related to culture."

Beyond its famed beaches and palm trees, Miami is now proud to show of the city's new cultural assets. "An arts district has emerged, inviting European, Venezuelan, Brazilian, Mexican, Argentine and Russian investors," de la Vega says.

Four projects recently presented in Buenos Aires include the Brickelle City Center, a mixed development in the financial and business district, and One Thousand Museum luxury condos and a museum designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, to be built in downtown Miami.

"Despite the recession, Argentina remains an important market for us," says de la Vega.

Property prices collapsed in Miami after the 2008 financial crisis. "The entire pre-crisis stock was absorbed at 50% of its price," she says. "Prices have recovered since, especially in the premium market."

According to Reporte Inmobiliario, Argentines are seventh in a ranking of real estate investors in the U.S., with Miami and Orlando their preferred destinations.

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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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