This saves money but also means that Britain can be left in the lurch when America changes its equipment.

ECONOMIST: The decision to renew Trident was a foregone conclusion

The number of fire engines that respond to fires in high-rise buildings has now been increased and there have been changes to equipment and tactics.

BBC: Shirley Towers fire: No police charges over firemen deaths

Among the changes have been the first aid equipment, owing to advances in technology.

BBC: Cockermouth team marks 60 years of mountain rescues

It is a greater challenge to measure real price changes in computers, software and telecoms equipment undergoing rapid innovation than in a standard commodity such as oil.

ECONOMIST: Letters

The MoD said two problems had caused the delays - changes in the location of the temporary barracks and late delivery of equipment.

BBC: Hard times for Kosovo troops

He says the changes are not just about cuts - but about professionalisation, modern training, equipment and cutting bureaucracy.

BBC: Police cuts: Why officers are taking to the streets

Was this fluctuation real, or was it merely a glitch in the equipment used to measure the decay, induced by the change of seasons, with the accompanying changes in temperature and humidity?

FORBES: Radioactive Decay Rates May Not Be Constant After All

When all the equipment in a building is fully networked and interactive, when building systems can react to internal and external changes and demands to traffic, pricing and preferences, and to safety threats and hazards--all effortlessly, seamlessly and, critically, in the background, in ways facilities' managers and homeowners will tolerate--true intelligence and true efficiency will have arrived to the chaotic building sector.

FORBES: Magazine Article

"We have been stockpiling food, equipment and fuel since March so people won't go hungry or cold but you may find your schedule changes at the last minute, there is nothing you can do about the weather, " she said.

BBC: Calf of Man islet rat-cull project calls for volunteers