This article is about a term used in economics. For other uses, see service (disambiguation).

In economics and marketing, a service is the non-material equivalent of a good. Service provision has been defined as an economic activity that does not result in ownership, and this is what differentiates it from providing physical goods. It is claimed to be a process that creates benefits by facilitating either a change in customers, a change in their physical possessions, or a change in their intangible assets.

By supplying some level of skill, ingenuity, and experience, providers of a service participate in an economy without the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concern themselves with bulky raw materials. On the other hand, their investment in expertise does require marketing and upgrading in the face of competition which has equally few physical restrictions.

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Study of islands reveals surprising extinction results
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(University of California - Santa Barbara) It's no secret that humans are having a huge impact on the life cycles of plants and animals. UC Santa Barbara's Steven D. Gaines and fellow researcher Dov Sax decided to test that theory by studying the world's far-flung islands. Their research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds surprising light on the subject of extinction rates of species on islands.
ABC-transporters expressed on endothelial cell membranes efflux anti-HIV drugs
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine) Researchers at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans have discovered that drug-efflux pumps, belonging to the ATP-binding cassette transporter family, are constitutively expressed on vascular endothelial cells. The study has crucial implications in the persistence of sub-endothelial HIV reservoirs and will be important to the development of future therapies.
Ecological Society of America criticizes administration's overhaul of the Endangered Species Act
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(Ecological Society of America) The Ecological Society of America today criticized the Bush administration's Aug. 15 proposal to reinterpret the Endangered Species Act, which would impose regulatory changes eliminating the requirement for federal projects to undergo independent scientific review. The proposal would allow federal agencies to decide for themselves whether their projects would harm endangered animals and plants.

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