Meet DustCart: The intelligent 'bin on wheels' robot that will come to pick up your rubbish when you call

By Niall Firth

A resident in the Italian town of Peccioli gets to grips with DustCart during the trial


It might seem like something out of a 1960s, Jetsons-style vision of the future.
But this handy little robot could end the row over fortnightly bin collections once and for all.

Researchers have developed an intelligent robot that can navigate itself around a city’s streets and collect resident’s rubbish on demand.

An EU-funded project has resulted in a human-sized robot, called DustCart, that balances on a Segway base and can navigate itself to stop outside your door when summoned.

Professor Paolo Dario, the coordinator of DustBot said: 'We've taken the very best and most advanced robotics components to build DustCart which solves a very real problem for waste authorities across Europe,' explains Professor Dario.

'Yes, it is a bin on wheels – there's the drawer in which you place your bag of rubbish or recycling – but there's a lot more to the robot than that.'


The robot is able to guide itself around narrow streets


The robot is mounted with cameras and other sensors so it can 'see' where it is going. It scans the path ahead and processes the information to avoid stationary objects.

It also picks out moving objects like pedestrians or bikes ad quickly computes their trajectory and alters its course to avoid a collision.

The visual images are also relayed to a control centre where human operators can check everything working properly and are able to intervene if necessary.

DustCart uses a clever triangulation system to navigate its way to a resident's home by interacting with wireless networks.

The network can pinpoint the robot, calculate optimal routes between pick-ups, and communicate this information to the robot.

Professor Dario said: 'It is the dream of every robotics research to develop a fully automated and intelligent system but we have chosen a different approach.

‘Here, we have a smart robot in a smart environment; the robot 'talks' to its surroundings and the surroundings communicate back. This means the robot has access to a lot more information and computing power.'

DustCart has three levels of intelligent control. First there are the autonomous, built-in systems including motion sensing, obstacle avoidance and user-interface functions including speech recognition.

It also uses 'intelligent' data processing to help it navigate it through the streets.

Finally, a human control centre monitors operations, but only intervenes in an emergency - if someone tries to steal the robot, for example - or where the technology fails.


Two DustCart robots sits eitherside of their counterparts DustClean and who is a street cleaner


Professor Dario said: ‘We have substantial information on the performance of the system and its safety. We have had no major failures yet and no safety breaches. The robot is supervised through CCTV.

‘And we also have insurance, which basically means that the insurer is satisfied that the robot is safe to use on the streets.'

In May, DustCart entered a two-month period of service in the small town of Peccioli in Italy – around 100 households being served by two DustCart robots.

The DustCart has performed demonstrations in six European locations, plus two in Japan and one in South Korea.

The developers say that if upcoming trials prove successful then a working commercial model could be available by the end of this year.



source: dailymail

Forget the Da Vinci code! Experts find Michelangelo code hidden in the Sistine Chapel

By Claire Bates

The Sistine Chapel was painted between 1508 and 1512 by Michelangelo. Experts now think they have found a hidden message in the furthest western panel (circled)


Michelangelo is recognised as one of the greatest painters and sculptors from the Italian Renaissance.

What is not so widely known is that he was an avid student of anatomy who once persuaded a Florentine prior to let him study the corpses in his church hospital.

But he went on to destroy almost of all of his anatomical sketches and notes.

Now a pair of American experts in neuroanatomy believe Michelangelo DID leave some anatomical illustrations behind in one of his most famous works - the Sistine Chapel.

The artist painted the masterpiece between 1508 and 1512 in Rome and it has since been gazed upon by thousands of worshippers and tourists alike.

Ian Suk and Rafel Tamargo claim that the final panel in the awe-inspiring ceiling reveals a precise depiction of the human spinal cord and brain stem.

The scientists from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, were studying the far western panel that depicts God separating light from darkness with his hands.

They noticed that God's throat and chest had anatomical irregularities, which were not present in any other figure in the fresco. And while the figures are illuminated diagonally from the lower left, God's neck is illuminated straight-on. They concluded that what looks like clumsiness must have been deliberate work by the genius.


The lumpy neck in the God figure (A) of the panel matches a photograph of the human brain when seen from below (B) while (C) shows the various parts of the brain apparently hidden in the painting


By superimposing God's odd-looking neck on the photograph of a human brain seen from below they showed the two matched precisely.

They added that a strange roll of fabric that extends up the centre of God's robe could represent the human spinal cord.

Writing in the latest edition of the scientific journal Neurosurgery, the experts proposed that Michelangelo had placed these details as a hidden message within the painting.


Michelangelo was accused of defamation by Church conservatives after he completed The Last Judgment scene. Did he reveal his frustrations by hiding a message in this earlier panel?


The authors did not go as far as to speculate what its meaning could be, but Dr R. Douglas Fields from the University of Maryland said there could be a number of interpretations.

'Is Separation of Light from Darkness an artistic comment on the enduring clash between science and religion?,' he asked in a blog on the Scientific American website.

'It is no secret that Michelangelo's relationship with the Catholic church became strained. The artist was a simple man, but he grew to detest the opulence and corruption of the Church.'

He added: 'Perhaps the meaning in the Sistine Chapel is not of God giving intelligence to Adam, but rather that intelligence and observation and the bodily organ that makes them possible lead without the necessity of Church directly to God.'

There is of course the possibility that the image is a 'Rorshach test'. This is an image that reveals more about the person viewing it than the picture itself. Perhaps it is not suprising that anatomy experts would see anatomical drawings in an image.

However, the scientists are not the first to have spotted unusual shapes within the world-famous fresco.

In 1990, physician Frank Meshberger showed that the central panel of God Creating Adam was a perfect anatomical illustration of the human brain in cross section.

According to Michelangelo's wishes the artist was not buried on the grounds of the Vatican but interred in a tomb in Florence. It is conceivable that the Sistine Chapel was another gesture of defiance that would remain long after he had gone.

For more information visit the Scientific American website

source: dailymail

History in the making: U.S. space shuttle Atlantis lifts off on final mission

By Anny Shaw

Lift off: The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis blasted off this evening in what is expected to be its final mission


The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis blasted off last night on what is expected to be its final mission.

Carrying six crew members, the space shuttle left the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 7.20pm on its last historic journey.

The shuttle should reach its destination - the International Space Station (ISS) - which was orbiting 220 miles over the South Pacific at the time of lift off on Sunday.


*** Scroll down for video ***


All aboard: Atlantis Commander Ken Ham, right, smiles as he holds a viewing mirror reflecting pilot Tony Antonelli as the crew prepares for launch


More than 40,000 people gathered on roads nearby the NASA base and on the beaches of Florida's Space Coast, keen to witness history in the making.

The six astronauts - all men - waved and shook their fists as they headed to the launch pad this morning.

Aware of the significance of the task ahead of them, the crew said they were keeping focused on the job in hand.


Historic moment: Atlantis rocketed into orbit for the first time in 1985. This will be its 32nd trip and the 132nd shuttle flight overall


'In a lot of ways you can't afford to get too distracted,' Ken Ham, who will command Atlantis, told the BBC.

'This is the kind of thing that's going to hit all of us after the mission, when we realise what part in history we played. I think the space shuttle is the single most incredible machine humanity has ever built.'

The crew is led by Ken Ham, who will command an all-veteran flight crew including pilot Tony Antonelli, and mission specialists Michael Good, Garrett Reisman, Piers Sellers and Steve Bowen.


On a mission: The 12-day journey will see Atlantis delivering a Russian module to the ISS, as well as batteries and a communications antenna


Spectacle: More than 40,000 people gathered on roads nearby the NASA base and on the beaches of Florida's Space Coast, keen to witness history in the making


The men were given substantial breakfasts this morning, with three of them feasting on steaks and chips, one eating a cheeseburger and the other two filling up on sandwiches.

The 12-day mission will see Atlantis delivering a Russian module to the ISS, as well as batteries and a communications antenna.

Atlantis rocketed into orbit for the first time in 1985. This will be its 32nd trip and the 132nd shuttle flight overall.


Stand by: Atlantis stands ready for lift off this evening before its historic journey


On their way: Aware of the significance of the task ahead of them, the crew said they were keeping focused on the job in hand


NASA has been asked to concentrate its efforts on developing space shuttles that can reach more distant targets and to hand over missions to and from the ISS to private companies.

It is expected Atlantis will be given to a museum once it has been retired, although it will remain on standby after its mission to the ISS in case astronauts on November's Endeavour flight should need rescuing.

President Barack Obama has announced a new exploration policy that would take humans further than the ISS, beyond the Moon and even to Mars.


Final mission? The space shuttle sits on its launch pad early this morning



source :dailymail

Not to be sneezed at! Microscopic images reveal the invisible enemies faced by hayfever sufferers

By David Derbyshire

Pollen from a Forget-me-not petal. The grains are some of the smallest found measuring just 0.006mm.


With the hay fever season once more upon us, it's time to meet the enemy.

These extraordinary images reveal the microscopic grains of pollen that inflict misery on millions of Britons every year.

The pictures - captured using a scanning electron microscope - highlight the amazing variety of pollens that float invisibly through the air.


Ball of fire: Acanthus pollen


The hay fever season normally begins in March or April when trees release the first pollen of the year.

Around four million people are vulnerable to tree pollen - particularly from birch trees. Ash, oak and London plane can also trigger unpleasant reactions

The full hay fever season doesn't normally get going until May, when grasses start to pollinate. Almost 95 per cent of Britain's 15 million hay fever sufferers are allergic to grass pollen.


Pollen from an Alder: Using a vacuum chamber, Swiss photographer Martin Oeggerli is able to bounce an electron beam off the pollen grain's surface and map out perfectly its tiny features


Purple patch: The minuscule blue pollen of the violet forget-me-not


The late spring delayed the start of the hay fever season by a few weeks. However, the arrival of warm, sunny weather has begun to trigger runny noses, itching eyes and sniffles, particularly amoung hay fever sufferers the south of Britain.

Although the grains cause misery for millions, few people get a chance to see tree and grass pollen up close.

The grains are between 1.5 and 10 hundredths of a millimetres across - making them too small to see with the naked eye.


It may look like a pink UFO, but this is a pollen from the Persian silk tree Albizia. They are 15 times larger than those on a Forget-me-not


A grain of pollen from a willow tree, which has become stuck between flower petals. This one will die but others will be carried by bees to other plants


These images were captured by Swiss photographer Martin Oeggerli using a £250,000 scanning electron microscope stored in his cellar.

"People know a lot about pollen, what with so many hay fever sufferers during the summer," he said. "So it's funny to think that until now a lot of them will have never seen the grains before.

"Pollen is quite robust so you can put it into the microscope camera quite easily. The electron microscope works by scanning the item in question extremely slowly.


The pollen from a Malve flower: The grains are between 1.5 and 10 hundredths of a millimetres across - making them too small to see with the naked eye


Spot on: The pink-flecked green pollen grains of a Venus Flytrap


"My work is a very diversified mixture between science and art, with the ultimate aim to show a hidden but unimaginably beautiful realm of our planet.

"That's the major reason, why I go great lengths with preparation, scanning, coloration and printing techniques."

Capturing an image with an electron microscope is a time consuming and expensive process. The technique was invented in the 1930s, but only became widespread in the 1960s.

The pollen must first by coated with a layer of gold before it is fixed onto a slide. The slide is placed into a vacuum chamber and the air pumped out.


Pollen from a Pistia: Hayfever occurs because plants need to transfer pollen by wind and insect to fertilization and reproduce


Star of the show: Yellow geranium pollen on a starfish-shaped stamen


The slide must be in a vacuum to make sure that the electron beam used to scan its surface does not come into contact with any obstructions.

The beam is bounced of the surface, mapping out perfectly its tiny features.

The images come out in shades of grey, which means Dr Oeggerli has to colour all of his incredible pictures on a computer.

His collection includes the ball-like birch pollen - the main cause of hay fever in the spring. He has also captured pollen from alder, pine and willow.


Scaling the heights: Bromelia pollen


Brown study: Pollen of chaenomeles, a species of quince


The usual suspects: Pollen comes in many sizes. The pumpkin pollen grain in the middle is 0.2mm and just about visible to the naked eye


Hayfever is caused by people's immune system reacting to pollen.

Cells inside the nose and eyes release histamine and other chemicals when they come in contact with the grains, causing red eyes and a blocked nose.

It can be treated with antihistamine nose sprays, tablets, steroid nose sprays and even eye drops.

The problem occurs because plants need to transfer pollen by wind and insect to fertilization and reproduce.

Dr Oeggerli said: "The fact small pollen grains are distributed by the wind, while the larger ones are by insects, gives you an idea of the size we are dealing with here.

"To take ten images of one item will take about two days to do in total. Once the grains are scanned they are coloured-in by hand, it's a very time-consuming and artistic work."


Double trouble: Smooth pollen from the pine tree


At first glance they look like sea shells. But this is in fact pollen from a Lilly


source: dailymail

Did you see that astonishing sunset last night? It's all down to a certain volcano in Iceland

By Daily Mail Reporter

Red sky at night: The sun sets over Heathrow Airport yeserday evening as an ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano grounded all flights

The eruption of fine ash and sulphur dioxide launched into the atmosphere by Iceland's volcano produced some spectacular sunsets across Britain last night. Now we can also look out for a real-life blue moon... and some very dirty cars.

As the volcanic clouds are carried large distance by high winds, the sulphur dioxide will react with the atmosphere to form 'sulfate aerosols', say scientists.


Just like the movies: A couple enjoy the romantic sunset at St Annes beach near Blackpool last night


A young lad packs up his rod as the sun sets on the River Tamar near Plymouth in Devon


The ash and these 'aerosols' have the effect of scattering the sun's rays so only longer light waves make it through the atmosphere, which makes the sunsets appear ruby red.

Volcanic ash can also create the appearance of a blue moon, if the particles are the right size (experts say that means one millionth of a metre or a micron).

However, ash thrown up into the atmosphere usually contains a mixture of particles with a wide range of sizes, which tends to scatter blue light so a reddish moon is more likely.

Volcanic eruptions can also have a massive effect on the weather if they are large enough. But while experts said the ash could irritate conditions such as asthma, it was not expected to cause major health problems.

Volcanologist Dr Dougal Jerram said: 'The high altitude of this plume above the UK means that it is air traffic that will suffer most.'

Weather forecaster Brendan Jones from MeteoGroup, said: 'If you look back in history there have been some periods where the weather has been changed by big volcanic eruptions like Mount Tambora and Mount St Helens.

'They have been proved to lower temperatures. There is so much ash in the atmosphere that it reduces the amount of sunlight getting to the ground.

'If the ash remains in our atmosphere for weeks or months it can reduce temperatures slightly but we are talking about fractions of degrees.'

However, experts fear the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, which has sent this cloud of ash into the sky, could trigger a much larger explosion of nearby Mount Katla.

Katla is described as 'enormously powerful', and because it lies under a glacier its eruption would cause a huge glacial outburst flood and could spread its shadow over a much larger area.


Red glow: Sunset on Primrose Hill North london last night as the sun's rays are refracted by dust from Icelandic volcano.


Moody: Birmingham was bathed in crimson light last night as the sun set


The Mount Tambora eruption in 1816 caused such a drop in temperatures that it became known as 'the year with no summer'.

Crops failed due to low daytime temperatures, late frosts and abnormally high rainfall, provoking food riots, famine and disease.

In Ireland rain fell on 142 days that summer and across France the grape harvest was virtually non-existent.

In North America there was snow in June and lakes and rivers froze as far south as Pennsylvania during July and August.

At the moments experts say the ash could merely fall as 'dirty rain' in a couple of days, which would mean a trip to the car wash. A positive side effect is the ash could be good for the soil in gardens.

Meanwhile skywatchers can look forward to stunning light displays as the ash spreads high in the atmosphere.

Robin Scagell, of the UK's Society for Popular Astronomy, said today: 'Be ready to enjoy some dazzling arrays of colours especially purples and reds looking much stronger than usual


Dramatic: Volcanic ash can bring out dramatic pinks and purples during sunset, as shown by the latest erupting volcano in Iceland


'The most amazing sunsets I've ever seen were in Australia after the El Chichon volcano went off in Mexico in 1982. The sky turned an intense purple and even the moon turned blue. We may also see a phenomenon called a Bishop's Ring - a huge brown or blue halo around the sun that was first noticed when the Krakatoa volcano exploded in 1883.

'So if it is clear, go out and enjoy some stunning natural light shows.'

In 2004, art experts suggested that the vivid skies painted in Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream were a record of the effects of the Krakatoa eruption in Java half-way around the world in Norway in 1883.

Munch said at the time: 'Suddenly the sky turned blood red. I stood there shaking with fear and felt an endless scream passing through nature.'


source :dailymail

Scientists achieve record high energy particle collisions as Large Hadron Collider begins search for elusive 'God particle'

By Daily Mail Reporter

Ignition: Scientists react as they view the first particle collision at full power at the Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss-France border


Physicists smashed sub-atomic particles into each other with record energy yesterday, creating thousands of mini-Big Bangs like the primeval explosion that gave birth to the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

Operators at the Large Hadron Collider created a record for the energy of particle conditions as they launched the search for the elusive 'God particle' that could lead to the discovery of fundamental new physics.

The collisions took place at an energy of 7 billion billion electron volts and at a nano-fraction of a second slower than the speed of light in the collider 330ft below the Swiss-French border.

Oliver Buchmueller, one of the key figures on the £6.6billion project, said: 'This is a major breakthrough. We are going where nobody has been before.

'We have opened a new territory for physics.'

The start of the experiment was delayed for several hours after problems with the power supply and an over-sensitive magnet safety system.

This led physicists to shut down the mega-power particle collisions while the faults were repaired.

The problems emerged as beams were injected into the collider this morning, but CERN officials were quick to dismiss any suggestion that it was a repeat of a major incident in September 2008 which seriously damaged the collider and delayed the full launch of the project until now.

Scientists hope the collisions will reveal the answers to some of physics' unanswered questions, including the existence of anti-matter and the Higgs boson - a hypothetical particle that scientists think gives mass to other particles and therefore all objects in the universe.


It's working: Physicists celebrate with a glass of champagne as the CERN collider project finally gets underway this afternoon


The higher energy is meant to increase the likelihood that scientists will be able to examine the smallest particles and forces within the atom.

It is difficult to achieve the necessary collisions because the particles are so tiny that they miss each other as beams are crossed.

Steve Myers, CERN's director for accelerators and technology, described the challenge of lining up the beams as like 'firing needles across the Atlantic and getting them to collide half way'.

Fears were raised after the collider's initial testing in 2008 that it could create micro black holes that would eventually endanger Earth.

But scientists at CERN dismissed any threat to the planet and said any such holes would be so weak that they would vanish almost instantly without causing any damage.


Discovery: The £6.6billion collider will recreate the initial split seconds after the Big Bang on a miniature scale


The collider, in a 17-mile tunnel under the Swiss-French border in Geneva, has been running smoothly since November when it was restarted following extensive repairs.

It was launched with much expectation on September 10, 2008, but was sidetracked nine days later.

A badly-soldered electrical splice overheated, causing extensive damage to the massive magnets and other parts of the collider some 300 ft below the ground.

It cost £26.7 million to repair and improve the machine so that it could be used again at the end of November.

It soon eclipsed its nearest rival - the Tevatron at Fermilab near Chicago - pushing its energy to 1.18 trillion electron volts, or Tev. Tevatron operates at 0.98 Tev.


Hopes: The start of the project this morning was delayed after electrical supply problems and an over-sensitive magnet safety system shut the collider down


Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the director-general of CERN, has said it is likely to take months before any scientific discoveries are made, partly because computers will have to sort through massive amounts of data produced by the collisions.

Mr Heuer said researchers hoped by the end of this year to make discoveries into the dark matter that scientists believe comprises 26 per cent of the universe. The better understood visible matter makes up only 4 per cent of the universe.

Dark matter has been theorised by scientists to account for missing mass and bent light in far-away galaxies. Scientists believe it makes galaxies spin faster.

A separate entity called 'dark energy', making up the remaining 70 per cent of the universe, is believed to be linked to the vacuum that is evenly distributed in space and time. It is believed to accelerate the expansion of the universe.

Other possible candidates for discovery are hidden dimensions of space and time.


source: dailymail

Elephants' legs propel them around just like a 4x4, study finds

By Daily Mail Reporter

All terrain: Scientists have discovered that elephants are able to accelerate and brake with all four of their legs independently


Elephants have legs that work just like the wheels of a Land Rover, scientists have found.

The elephant's unique 'four-leg-drive' systems means power and braking is applied independently to each limb.

All other quadrupeds are thought to have 'rear-leg-drive', which means they tend to accelerate with their hind limbs while using their forelegs more for braking

Dr John Hutchinson, who lead the study at the Royal Veterinary College in London, said: 'We have developed some new techniques for looking at animals movements that may change the way we view the locomotion of other animals.

'We have shown that elephant legs function in very strange and probably unique ways.
'We even overturned some of our own previous ideas about elephants, which is always initially disheartening but ultimately exhilarating for a scientist.

'Our measurements have also provided basic data that will be useful in clinical studies of elephants, such as common lameness problems.'

Measurements of forces on the animals' legs at walking and running speeds showed that each limb was used for both accelerating and braking.

Elephants' legs were also shown to be slightly compliant or 'bouncy', especially when running at faster speeds.


Four-wheel-drive: Reflective markers were put on the elephants and they were recorded with infra-red cameras to see what their muscles did as they moved


Experts had previously assumed that elephants would need rigid 'pillar-like' legs to support their weight.

Bounciness made their legs two or three times less mechanically efficient than expected, putting them on a par with humans.

Just as in humans, muscle forces in elephants have to increase as their limbs become more flexed.

Consequently, running is 50 per cent more costly than walking, which is why elephants are slower than many other animals.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, said: 'Surprisingly, elephants use their forelimbs and hind limbs in similar braking and propulsive roles, not dividing these functions among limbs as was previously assumed or as in other quadrupeds.

'Thus, their limb function is analogous to four-wheel-drive vehicles.

'To achieve the observed limb compliance and low peak forces, elephants synchronise their limb dynamics in the vertical direction, but incur considerable mechanical costs from limbs working against each other horizontally.'

The researchers analysed the movements of six juvenile Asian elephants using an advanced 3D motion-capture technique.

Reflective markers placed at strategic points on the elephants' bodies were filmed by seven infra-red cameras and their changes in position fed into a computer.

The elephants were ridden or guided by their 'mahouts' across their whole range of speeds along a walkway rigged with force-sensitive platforms.


source: dailymail

Why women and children were saved on the Titanic, but not the Lusitania

By Fiona Macrae

Women and children are seen rowing away from the sinking ship in a scene taken from 1997 film Titanic


When the Titanic sunk, the safety of women and children came first. But when the Lusitania went down three years later, it was a case of survival of the fittest.

A pain-staking analysis of passenger data from the two vessels revealed that captain's orders to allow women and children off first were adhered to when the Titanic hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage on April 14, 1912.

But when the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland three years later, it was a case of every man for himself.

More precisely, men and women aged between 16 and 35 were most likely to push their way to safety, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.

The difference in behaviour, the researchers believe, lies not in who was on the ships, but how quickly they went down.

The Titanic took almost three hours to sink, giving at least some of the passengers time to regain their cool and remember their manners.

Women were up to 54 per cent more likely to have lived than men, and under-15s were 32 per cent more likely to survive than the over-50s.

But the Lusitania, which was sailing from New York, took less than 20 minutes, and panic was the order of the day, with the young and fit pushing their way onto the lifeboats - and staying on them.


The RMS Lusitania, the British ship torpedoed by a German submarine during World War I


Researcher Professor Bruno Frey, of Switzerland's Zurich University, said: 'Because the Lusitania sank in under 18 minutes, we would expect a stronger competition for survival of the fittest on that ship than on the Titanic.

'People in their prime, age 16 to 35 years, are expected to have higher survival probabilities.
'However, a higher survival rate may be a result not only of the struggle for a place on a lifeboat but also of an inefficient launching of the lifeboats on the Lusitania.

'Individuals who were strong and agile enough to stay in the boats or to get back into the boats after being pitched into the water had a higher survival rate.

'The social norm of "women and children first" was deferred to only on the Titanic.'
Knowledge of the fate of the Titanic may have heightened the panic on the Lusitania.
Professor Frey said: 'The likelihood that the passengers of the Lusitania knew about the tragic events of the sinking of the Titanic should not be excluded.

'For example, while many of the passengers on the Titanic may have (wrongly) believed they would ultimately be rescued, those on the Lusitania may have learned from the experience of the Titanic.

'This may have led passengers to increase self-preserving behaviour.'

A previous analysis by the same team revealed that Britons aboard the Titanic were more likely to exhibit good manners by queuing for lifeboats and allowing the vulnerable to board first than other nationalities.

It is thought the phenomenon explains why British passengers were the most likely to perish.

Professor Frey said: 'The Americans at the time were not very cultured, while the English were still gentlemen.'

Just 706 of the Titanic's 2,223 passengers and crew survived and 1,198 lost their lives on the Lusitania.


source: dailymail

Scientists say polar bears have survived climate change before

Survivor: A fossil has been found that indicates polar bears evolved from brown bears during an ice age


A fossil find suggests that polar bears may only have come into existence during an ice age 150,000 years ago as part of the brown bears' battle for survival against climate change.

Scientists discovered the jawbone of an animal that died up to 130,000 years ago at Poolepynten on the Arctic island of Svalbard. It is oldest polar bear fossil ever found and has given an intriguing insight into the origins of the planet's largest predator.

Professors Olafur Ingolfsson, of the University of Iceland, and Oystein Wiig, of the University of Oslo, who made the discovery believe it reveals polar bears may have survived at least one long period of global warming.

The research paper, as reported in The Sunday Times newspaper, concluded: 'The Poolepynten subfossil mandible, which we argue is from a fully grown male, is probably the oldest polar bear find discovered so far. Its true age is interpreted to be 110,000-130,000 years old.'

Academics have long been divided over the evolution of the the great animal, with some believing they first appeared 50,000 years ago, and others suggesting it was closer to one million years ago.

Anatomical and DNA evidence from the fossil suggests polar bears might have emerged when the brown bear was being forced to adapt to cold and ice an ice age in the northern hemisphere that lasted from 190,000 to 130,000 years ago.

Furthermore, in a paper published by a research group connected to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. said: 'Brown bears found on the Alaskan islands of Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof may be descendants of ancient ursids [bears] that diverged from other lineages of brown bears and subsequently founded the polar bear lineage


Evolution: Brown bears that became trapped on islands during an ice age some 150,000 years ago were forced to adapt

It means polar bears have already survived a global warming that affected the northern hemisphere from 130,000 to 115,000 years ago, when the Greenland ice sheet and the Arctic ice cap were smaller than now.

But Professor Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum in London, said: 'Living through a warm period back then does not mean polar bears are resilient to climate change now.'


source: dailymail

Going up in the world? Beat the rush hour with first commercial jetpack for £50,000

By Claire Bates

The world's first factory making space-age JET PACKS is going into production. It can travel at 60MPH for 30 miles


It is the perfect way for city high-fliers to miss the morning rush hour. A company is set to produce the first commercial JETPACKS - and one could be yours for just £50,000.

The traffic jam-beating packs will be manufactured after a multi-million pound deal was signed with an international aircraft company this week.

Martin Aircraft Company, in Christchurch, New Zealand, aims to make 500 packs a year allowing first-person propulsion through the skies for commuters.

The 200 horsepower dual-propeller packs can travel at 60mph for up to 30miles on a full tank of fuel. They have been reached heights of 7,800ft in tests.

At 250lbs when empty, the jet pack is not heavy enough to require a pilot's licence, although users will take part in a Martin Jetpack training programme.
However, the gadget is not environmentally friendly burning 10 gallons of fuel per hour - five times as much as the average car.

The 5ft by 5.5ft device is the brainchild of Kiwi inventor Glenn Martin who unveiled his machine for the first time in July last year.

While jetpacks are traditionally powered by jets of escaping gases, the new device uses a gas engine with two ducted fans to provide lift.

Pitch and roll are controlled by one hand, yaw and the throttle by the other.
Martin Aircraft Company chief executive Richard Lauder said the pack could be perfect for the emergency services, private users and even the military.


You won't need a pilot's licence to fly with this jetpack


Mr Lauder said: 'This could be life-saving stuff. For us this is an excellent commercial step.'

The device has safety features to combat the inherent dangers of flying through the air. It has both an internal roll cage to protect the pilot from side impact and a a ballistic parachute system that works at low altitudes.

Jetpacks first emerged in science fiction in the 1920s and were tested by the U.S military by the 1960s, but have never 'taken-off' commercially.

Astronauts on the International Space Station wear rocket packs during space walks called a 'Safer.' This can be used in emergencies should they become detached from the station.

Watch the jetpack in action...




source: dailymail

Take that power nap - you could end up smarter

By David Derbyshire

Medical researchers have shown that power naps not only refresh the mind, they also make people smarter


It may not make you popular with your boss but a snooze in the middle of the day dramatically boosts your brain power.

Medical researchers have shown that the power naps favoured by Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and Margaret Thatcher not only refresh the mind, they also make people smarter.

They found snoozing for just one hour in the day is enough to increase the brain's ability to learn new facts in the hours that follow.

Dr Matthew Walker, a psychologist at the University of California, who led the study, said: 'Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness but, at a neuro-cognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap.'

While many people will ridicule the idea of taking 40 winks at lunchtime, some of the most influential people on the planet were keen cat nappers.

Lady Thatcher claimed she got by on just four hours of sleep each night but had a short sleep in the day, while Bill Clinton famously took a 30-minute nap after lunch.

Famous daytime dozers also include John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Florence Nightingale.

Many sleep researchers argue that the British habit of trying to stay awake from morning until night is inherently unhealthy.

They point to countries such as Spain where most people traditionally go for a post-lunch siesta.


In the Californian study, the researchers split 39 healthy students into two groups and asked them to carry out a learning task - linking faces with names - intended to tax the hippocampus, the region of the brain that helps store facts.


At 2pm, half the group took a 90 minute siesta, while the rest stayed awake.
At 6pm, the students were asked to carry out a new round of learning exercises.

Those who had a siesta performed
much better than those who remained awake throughout the day.

Overall, the nappers improved their capacity to learn in the evening session, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in San Diego, California.

The researchers say sleep is needed to clear the brain's short term memory and make room for new information.

'It's as though the email inbox in your hippocampus is full and, until you sleep and clear out those fact emails, you're not going to receive any more mail,' said Dr Walker.

'It's just going to bounce until you sleep and move it into another folder.'

Using ECG tests of the brain's electrical activity the scientists found that this memory-refreshing process takes place in a period between deep sleep and the dreaming state known as REM, or rapid eye movement.

The average person spends half their sleeping hours in this transitional sleep period, which is known as Stage 2 non-REM sleep.

'I can't imagine Mother Nature would have us spend 50 per cent of the night going from one sleep stage to another for no reason,' Dr Walker added.

'Sleep is sophisticated. It acts locally to give us what we need.'

The same study also found that students who have all-night revision sessions in the run up to exams, reduce the brain's ability to cram in new facts by a staggering 40 per cent.


source: dailymail