26.8.08
Cattle shown to align north-south
Cattle partake in some directional grazing
Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way?
Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction.
Wild deer also display this behaviour - a phenomenon that has apparently gone unnoticed by herdsmen and hunters for thousands of years.
In the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say the Earth's magnetic fields may influence the behaviour of these animals.
The Earth can be viewed as a huge magnet, with magnetic north and south situated close to the geographical poles.
Many species - including birds and salmon - are known to use the Earth's magnetic fields in migration, rather like a natural GPS.
A few studies have shown that some mammals - including bats - also use a "magnetic compass" to help their sense of direction.
Huge statue of Roman ruler found
Marcus Aurelius ruled over the empire for 19 years
Enlarge ImageParts of a giant, exquisitely-carved marble sculpture depicting the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius have been found at an archaeological site in Turkey.
Fragments of the statue were unearthed at the ancient city of Sagalassos.
So far the statue's head, right arm and lower legs have been discovered, high in the mountains of southern Turkey.
Marcus Aurelius was portrayed by Richard Harris in the Oscar-winning 2000 film Gladiator and was one of the so-called "Five Good Emperors".
He reigned from 161AD until his death in 180AD.
Sky survey yields new cosmic haul
SQ372 might come from the inner edge of the Oort Cloud
By searching through a survey region known as Stripe 82, a team led by Dr Andrew Becker of the University of Washington, has discovered almost 50 new asteroid-sized bodies in the outer regions of our Solar System.
As part of a search for supernovae - exploding stars in distant galaxies - the robotic Sloan telescope in New Mexico revisited this area of the southern sky every three days.
By comparing images taken on different nights, the Washington team was able to detect the asteroids as they moved across the sky.
24.8.08
Solar plane makes record flight
Solar plane's 3 day flight
A UK-built solar-powered plane has set an unofficial world endurance record for a flight by an unmanned aircraft.
The Zephyr-6, as it is known, stayed aloft for more than three days, running through the night on batteries it had recharged in sunlight.
The flight was a demonstration for the US military, which is looking for new types of technology to support its troops on the ground.
Craft like Zephyr might make ideal platforms for reconnaissance.
They could also be used to relay battlefield communications.
Chris Kelleher, from UK defence and research firm QinetiQ, said Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) offer advantages over traditional aircraft and even satellites.
"The principal advantage is persistence - that you would be there all the time," he told BBC News. "A satellite goes over the same part of the Earth twice a day - and one of those is at night - so it's only really getting a snapshot of activity. Zephyr would be watching all day."
Deployment close
The latest flight was conducted at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
The Zephyr flew non-stop for 82 hours, 37 minutes.
 |
That time beats the current official world record for unmanned flight set by the US robot plane Global Hawk - of 30 hours, 24 minutes - and even Zephyr's own previous best of 54 hours achieved last year.
However, the Yuma mark remains "unofficial" because QinetiQ did not involve the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale), the world air sports federation, which sanctions all record attempts.
The US Department of Defense funded the demonstration flight under its Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) programme.
This programme is designed to advance the technologies American commanders would most like to see in the field.
"We think Zephyr is very close to an operational system - within the next two years is what we're aiming for," Mr Kelleher said. "We have one more step of improvements; we trying to design a robust and reliable system that will really sit up there for months; and we want to push the performance."
Energy density
The trial, which took place between 28 and 31 July, also included the participation of the UK Ministry of Defence.
The 30kg Zephyr was guided by remote control to an operating altitude in excess of 18km (60,000ft), and then flown on autopilot and via satellite communication.
It tested a communications payload weighing approximately 2kg.
 Zephyr should be in commanders' hands within two years |
At first sight, the propeller-driven Zephyr looks to be just another model aircraft, and it is even launched by hand. But this "pilotless" vehicle with its 18-metre wingspan incorporates world-leading technologies.
Its structure uses ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre material; and the plane flies on solar power generated by amorphous silicon solar arrays no thicker than sheets of paper. These are glued over the aircraft's wings.
To get through the night, the propellers are powered from lithium-sulphur batteries which are topped up during the day.
"A lot of effort has gone into power storage and light-weighting the systems," explained Mr Kelleher. "Lithium sulphur is more than double the energy density of the best alternative technology which is lithium polymer batteries.
"They are an exceptional performer. We've worked with the Sion Corporation. They've had them in development for years. We're actually the first application in the world for them."
Vulture venture
Zephyr has demonstrated that it can cope with extremes of temperature - from the blistering 45C heat found at ground level in Arizona's Sonoran Desert, to the minus 70C chill experienced at altitudes of more than 18km (60,000ft).
The engineers from the Farnborough-based company are now collaborating with the American aerospace giant Boeing on a defence project codenamed Vulture.
This would see the biggest plane in history take to the sky, powered by the sun and capable of carrying a 450-kilo (1,000lb) payload.
US commanders say the design must be able to maintain its position over a particular spot on the Earth's surface uninterrupted for five years.
QinetiQ is also developing UAV technology for civilian uses.
It has been working recently with Aberystwyth University on field monitoring trials, plotting areas of ground that may or may not need fertiliser applications.
 Lightweight plane (30-34kg/70lb) is launched by hand Coms or surveillance payload of about 2kg (4.5lb) Flies autonomously and can climb to more than 18km (60,000ft) By day, Zephyr flies on solar power and recharges its batteries Advanced amorphous silicon solar arrays supplied by Unisolar Rechargeable lithium-sulphur batteries supplied by Sion Corp |
Blast demolishes landmark towers
| The landmark cooling towers are demolished Two iconic concrete cooling towers in South Yorkshire have been demolished in a controlled explosion. Millions of drivers passed the 250ft (76m) towers by the Tinsley viaduct on the M1 at Sheffield over the decades. At 0300 BST the blast to reduce the "salt and pepper pots" to rubble left part of the north tower still standing but it has since collapsed. The Highways Agency said the motorway remains closed as planned while safety checks are carried out.
The blast was watched by several thousand people and the M1 motorway had to be closed from midnight on Saturday, between junctions 32 and 35. It is thought the motorway may reopen on Sunday afternoon. The towers stood only feet away from the twin-deck Tinsley viaduct, which carries the motorway on the top deck and the A631 on its lower deck. A joint statement from tower owner E.ON and the Highways Agency said: "The demolition has now been successfully completed. "The viaduct remains closed and the exclusion zone remains in place as planned to allow safety checks to continue."
After the dust settled, about a third of the north tower was still standing but a BBC reporter at the scene said the pile of rubble left after the explosion gradually fell in on itself and reduced significantly in height. Paul Scriven, leader of Sheffield City Council, said the focus was now on getting traffic moving. "We need to get the M1 opened as soon as possible," he said. "We have a Bank Holiday where people will be moving around the country, coming back home, going to see relatives or going to see places." Despite campaigns to save the towers, which were the only remnants of the Blackburn Meadows power station, E.ON said it was destroying them as the 70-year-old structures had deteriorated. Emily Highmore, from E.ON, said preserving the towers would have been very expensive. "They would require a very, very significant investment and fundamentally speaking we are an energy company and our job is to keep people's lights on."
Arthur Ashburner, from the Highways Agency, said: "This demolition is a unique situation and as far as we are aware, nowhere else in the world has anyone sought to bring down similar structures that sit so close to a major highway viaduct. "We will carry out a series of checks to ensure that there has been no damage to the viaduct, which in itself may take several hours. "We will reopen the road only when we are entirely satisfied that it is safe to do so." Some locals had tried to save the cooling towers and have them turned into art. Campaigner Tom Keeley said: "You see very few cooling towers that are in quite such a visible position, they're 12 metres from the M1, and they kind of symbolise not only a gateway to Sheffield and Yorkshire but they also symbolise a gateway to the North." | |||
Black hole star mystery 'solved'
The researchers modelled how molecular clouds are sucked into black holes
Astronomers have shed light on how stars can form around a massive black hole, defying conventional wisdom.
Scientists have long wondered how stars develop in such extreme conditions.
Molecular clouds - the normal birth places of stars - would be ripped apart by the immense gravity, a team explains in Science magazine.
But the researchers say stars can form from elliptical discs - the relics of giant gas clouds torn apart by encounters with black holes.
They made the discovery after developing computer simulations of giant gas clouds being sucked into black holes like water spiralling down a plughole.
"These simulations show that young stars can form in the neighbourhood of supermassive black holes as long as there is a reasonable supply of massive clouds of gas from further out in the galaxy," said co-author Ian Bonnell from St Andrews University, UK.
Ripped apart
Their findings are in accordance with actual observations in our Milky Way galaxy that indicate the presence of a massive black hole, surrounded by huge stars with eccentric orbits.
The simulations, performed on a supercomputer - and taking over a year of computing time - followed the evolution of two separate giant gas clouds up to 100,000 times the mass of the Sun, as they fell towards the supermassive black hole.
The simulations show how the clouds are pulled apart by the immense gravitational pull of the black hole.
The disrupted clouds form into spiral patterns as they orbit the black hole; the spiral patterns remove motion energy from gas that passes close to the black hole and transfers it to gas that passes further out.
This allows part of the cloud to be captured by the black hole while the rest escapes.
In these conditions, only high mass stars are able to form and these stars inherit the eccentric orbits from the elliptical disc.
These results match the two primary properties of the young stars in the centre of our galaxy: their high mass and their eccentric orbits around the supermassive black hole.
"That the stars currently present around the galaxy's supermassive black hole have relatively short lifetimes of [about] 10 million years, which suggests that this process is likely to be repetitive," Professor Bonnell explained.
"Such a steady supply of stars into the vicinity of the black hole, and a diet of gas directly accreted by the black hole, may help us understand the origin of supermassive black holes in our and other galaxies in the Universe."
23.8.08
10 things we didn't know last week
Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.
1. Misheard song lyrics are known as mondegreens.
More details
2. The Banana Splits theme tune is very similar to reggae classic Buffalo Soldier.
More details
3. Clouds can be breast-shaped.
More details
4. And thunderclouds are so menacingly dark because they are four to five miles (6.4 to 8km) thick.
More details
5. A 72oz steak is about the size of a large telephone directory. And since 1960, 8,000 people have managed to eat one - plus all the trimmings - in under an hour.
More details
6. DNA from 3,000-year-old skeletons can be matched to living descendents.
More details
7. Jerry Springer, the American talkshow host, was born in a London Tube station during World War II.
More details (The Scotsman)
8. Some chemotherapy drugs are made from yew tree clippings.
More details
9. The Queen no longer sends telegrams to those turning 100.
More details
10. The rock hyrax - a modestly proportioned rodent - is the closest living relative to the elephant.
More details
N Korea 'develops special noodle'
North Korea does not produce enough food to feed its population
North Korean scientists have developed a new kind of noodle that delays feelings of hunger, a Japan-based pro-Pyongyang newspaper has reported.
The noodles were made from corn and soybeans, the Choson Shinbo said.
They left people feeling fuller longer and represented a technological breakthrough, the newspaper said.
North Korea is dependent on foreign food aid. Last month the UN warned that residents were experiencing their worst food shortages in a decade.
But the communist country remains reluctant to allow experts to fully assess the scale of the problem or give them adequate access to deliver aid.
UN warnings
According to the newspaper, which is seen as closely linked to the Pyongyang leadership, the new noodles have twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary noodles.
"When you consume ordinary noodles (made from wheat or corn), you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger," it said on its website.
The noodles would be available soon across North Korea, the newspaper said.
An estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s after natural disasters and government mismanagement devastated the country's economy.
In July, the World Food Programme warned that six million people were in urgent need of food aid, following severe flooding last year.
Most households had cut their food intake and more people are scavenging for wild foods, WFP assessors found.
22.8.08
Download Junkie
| Highlights This Week Include: | |
 | |
 | Iolo System Mechanic 8 |
 | AppZapper 1.8 Shareware Quickly remove installed apps from your Mac 22 August 2008 |
 | Rapidweaver 4.1 Trial Software Template-driven web design tool 22 August 2008 |
 | Comodo Backup Trial Software Keep valuable files safe 21 August 2008 |
 | EASEUS Partition Manager 1.6.4 Freeware Comprehensive free partition manager 20 August 2008 |
 | Webroot Spy Sweeper 5.8 Trial Software Protect your PC with this anti-spyware tool 20 August 2008 |
 | Webroot Desktop Firewall 5.8 Freeware Commercial personal firewall, for free 20 August 2008 |
 | Opera 9.52 Freeware Minor update to the popular web browser 20 August 2008 |
 | Defraggler 1.02.085 Freeware Defragment your hard drive 19 August 2008 |
 | Microsoft SyncToy 2.0 Freeware Copy, move & rename files between folders and computers 19 August 2008 |
Little Pimple is in a prime spot
The Pimple was built in 1914
A tiny building thought to be the smallest designed by renowned architect Sir Edwin Lutyens is up for sale in Devon for £10,000.
The 94-year-old triangular Pimple folly - whose walls are just 13ft (4m) long - has panoramic views across Whitchurch Down on Dartmoor.
It has public access and sits on a 40ft (12m) mound housing a disused reservoir which is also included in the price.
Offers on the building are being accepted until Friday.
The building gets its name from the stone at the apex of its tiny tiled roof.
 The Pimple is built above a reservoir |
Neil Woolcock from agents Ward and Chowen said: "It's attracting interest from all sorts of private individuals interested in buying a small corner of England and one of with such one of Tavistock's most noted local landmarks.
"Lutyens wanted the Pimple to be a place where people could visit and enjoy the stunning views over Dartmoor and into Cornwall.
"It is so unique that it was difficult to put a price on."
Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the Cenotaph in London and Castle Drogo near Exeter.
The "pimple" is actually a lid for a resovoir
'House' discovered in cliff side
The home contained lights, painted walls and chains on the wall
A "house" in a cliff side has been discovered by lifeboat crews responding to an emergency call in Angus.
The Arbroath RNLI team was investigating reports of cries for help coming from local caves on Tuesday.
After scouring the area they spotted a rope ladder which led into a cave house built into the rocks.
The dwelling, about half way up the 120ft cliffs, contained a floor, painted walls, seating, tea tree lights and several beer cans.
No one was home at the time.
Its exact location has been kept secret, to prevent curious members of the public putting themselves in danger trying to find it.
Allan Russell, from the Arbroath RNLI lifeboat, said: "This is certainly the most unusual thing I have come across during my 10 years as a lifeboatman.
 |  We are all wondering who has gone to such time and effort to build this  Allan Russell RNLI |
"It's been well made - it's been cemented into the cliffs, sealed round the entrance hatch, the rope ladder's tied down with eye-bolts, so it's been professionally done.
"There are also the beer cans - they're still quite fresh. There was also a blanket - like an old carpet wrapped up - and there were a couple of chains bolted into the walls.
"We are all wondering who has gone to such time and effort to build this."
Ross Greenhill from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said there were several reasons for its existence.
"Somebody could be using it as a fishing den - we do get quite a lot of night fishing so it's possible that someone's decided to make it a bit more comfy," he said.
"It could be youngsters using it as a bit of a hidey, or potentially something a bit more sinister but we'd rather hope not.
"It's certainly not easy to find, it's difficult to see, so if someone was wanting a bit of privacy it's the ideal location."
Mr Greenhill urged people not to go looking for the cave as they would be risking their safety.
Police top misheard lyrics chart
The Police have recently been performing on a reunion tour
Rock band The Police have written some of the most commonly misheard pop lyrics of all time, a poll suggests.
Two of the band's songs feature in a top 10 of misunderstood tracks.
A line from The Police's Message In A Bottle - "a year has passed since I wrote my note" - is often heard as "a year has passed since I broke my nose".
A biblical reference in U2's Mysterious Ways becomes "Shamu the mysterious whale". Some 2,000 people were polled by hearing aid providers Amplifon.
| The girl with colitis goes by Misheard lyric from Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds |
"Some people go for years singing the wrong lyrics to their favourite songs," said the company's director Enrico Vacca.
"We heard some brilliant misquotes during our research that had us in stitches."
Number one in the chart is Police song When The World Is Running Down in which "you make the best of what's still around" is misheard as "you make the best homemade stew around".
At number two, a line from Bee Gees song Stayin' Alive - "it's alright, it's okay, you may look the other way" - is translated as "it's alright, it's okay, you make love the other way".
The Beatles also make the top 10 with Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.
The line "the girl with kaleidoscope eyes" is misinterpreted as saying "the girl with colitis goes by".
| You're gonna be the one at Sainsbury's Misheard lyric from Wonderwall  |
Queen's "scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?" from Bohemian Rhapsody, is misheard as "will you do the banned tango?"
Oasis song Wonderwall is also in the chart with "you're gonna be the one that saves me" becoming "you're gonna be the one at Sainsbury's".
And Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights creeps into the chart at number 10.
The original line from the song is: "Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy and I've come home, oh, so cold, let me in your window."
But it is misheard as: "Heathcliff, it's me, I'm a tree, I'm a wombat. Oh, so cold at the end of your winter."
Stamps mark Olympic Flag handover
The same stamps will be on sale in both China and the UK
A special set of four stamps is being jointly issued by the Royal Mail and China Post to mark the handover of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London.
The first-class stamps feature landmarks from the two cities, such as Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium where track and field events have been held.
Royal Mail said they would both "celebrate a wonderful Games" and "whet our appetite for what is to come".
The Olympic Flag will be handed over at the closing ceremony on 24 August.
Royal palaces
All four stamps carry the five Olympic rings, and the set as a whole depicts the old and new in both cities.
The 100,000-seater Bird's Nest goes hand-in-hand with the London Eye, while Beijing's Corner Tower of the Forbidden City - home to China's Emperors for five centuries - goes alongside another former Royal residence, The Tower of London.
Julietta Edgar, head of special stamps at the Royal Mail, said: "The moment when the Olympic Flag passes from one city to another is always a ceremony of great poignancy at the close of any Olympic Games.
"These stamps are made all the more special as they not only celebrate a wonderful Games in Beijing, but they whet our appetite for what is to come as the UK takes over the honour."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and London Mayor Boris Johnson are among the dignataries travelling to the closing ceremony.
On Thursday, Mr Johnson insisted the organisers of London 2012 had not been fazed by the "dazzling" Beijing Games.
Footballer David Beckham, singer Leona Lewis and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page will be among the celebrities representing London at Sunday's closing ceremony.
The stamps will be on sale in the UK and in China from 22 August.
21.8.08
The August 2008 Quiz
1. Which Liverpool brewer has gone into administration?
Cains
2. Which country had the honour of winning the first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics?
Czech Republic - Katerina Emmons / women's 10m air rifle event
3. How old was US musician Isaac Hayes, who died recently?
65
4. Which is Italy's most successful Olympic sport?
Fencing
5. Thabo Mbeki is leader of which country?
South Africa
6. Which British golfer will definitely miss the Ryder Cup after undergoing surgery on his left wrist which will rule him out for the rest of the year?
Luke Donald
7. Who has wed singer Max Drummey, 23, of indie band Chester French in a Las Vegas ceremony?
Peaches Geldof
8. Britain's Tina Cook celebrated her Olympic debut by winning double bronze at which event?
The equestrian in Hong Kong
9. Who presents a new BBC One programme Britain From Above?
Andrew Marr
10. How long will the average road user spend stuck in traffic jams, in his or her lifetime?
Six Months
11. How many square miles of UK countryside are used only for landfill?
109
12. Who is the current Russian President?
Dmitry Medvedev
13. In which country was the late Isaac Hayes a king?
Ghana - He was Nene Katey Ocansey I in Ghana for his humanitarian work
14. Who has announced that he fears the development of GM crops could create the biggest environmental disaster in history?
Prince Charles
15. What is the capital city of Georgia where there has been recent unrest?
Tbilisi
16. Which film, about a young American couple Brad and Janet who accidentally stumble into a strange world of alien transvestites and overt sexuality, is to be remade 33 years after it was first released?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
17. Queen Margrethe the second is on holiday at the Royal family's holiday home in the south of France, but which country is she currently Queen of?
Denmark
18. Who is to become the main presenter of the BBC's Gardeners' World programme?
Toby Buckland - previously hosted gardening shows including Home Front In The Garden
19. What is the name of the wedding gift list operator who have gone into administration?
Wrapit
20. John Prescott has been given an award for boosting interest in which game?
Awarded a mallet by the British Croquet Association - apparently sales have gone up 40%!
21. BBC ALBA, which will be launched on 19 September is to be what sort of service?
A Gaelic television channel
22. Rugby League - Who is the only player to ever win back-to-back Man of Steel awards?
Paul Sculthorpe - who is to leave St Helens at the end of the season
23. What name has been given to the swimming venue at the Beijing Olympics?
The Water Cube
24. The Tinsley cooling towers will be demolished over the August Bank Holiday weekend, they are near to which city?
Sheffield
25. Why are Edna, Norman and Gertrude in danger of dying out?
Baby names that are no longer being used
26. Who is launching a new single "Thank You For A Lifetime" and why could it make history?
Cliff Richard - 50 years since his first hit
27. Which TV Chef has been accused of glamorising smoking?
Marco Pierre White
28. Actor Terence Rigby has died at his London home at the age of 71, he is best remembered for playing PC Snow in which TV series?
Softly, Softly: Task Force - from the 1960s and 1970s
29. Where is this years European Bat Research Symposium to be held?
Transylvania!
30. A total of 20 MPs signed a Commons motion condemning which journalist and broadcaster for comparing the dominance of Scots at Westminster to British rule in India?
Jeremy Paxman - who has been criticised for calling the work of Robert Burns "sentimental doggerel"
31. Deportivo La Coruna defender Fabricio Coloccini has signed for which Premiership club?
Newcastle Utd
32. What, according to an old saying, consists of two fine days and a thunderstorm?
The British summer
33. What position did Paula Radcliffe finish in the Olympic Marathon?
23rd
34. According to new scientific research, how many legs does an octopus have?
Two - They have six arms and two legs
35. What was unusual about the Knighthood bestowed upon Nils Olav?
He is a penguin! - Penguin Nils Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since 1972
36. Who set a new world record as she clinched her second swimming gold medal in Beijing with victory in the 800m freestyle?
Rebecca Adlington
37. In which sport will you find the keirin?
Cycling - is a track cycling event in which racing cyclists sprint for victory. Keirin originated in Japan in 1948
- Former Olympic rowing silver medallist Rebecca Romero won Gold for GB in which sport?
Cycling - completed her remarkable conversion to track cycling with a comfortable victory over team-mate Wendy Houvenaghel in the women's individual pursuit final
38. Who scored the first goal of the Premier League season?
Samir Nasri - Arsenal
39. In which country will you find Suvarnabhumi International Airport?
Thailand - Bangkok
40. In which board game will you find football pundit Jack Mustard and video game billionaire Victor Plum?
Cluedo - old characters like Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum have been replaced
The house has been renovated from a stately home into a modern mansion complete with a theatre and spa rather than library and ballroom. There are also new murder weapons, including a dumbbell and baseball bat.
Cains
2. Which country had the honour of winning the first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics?
Czech Republic - Katerina Emmons / women's 10m air rifle event
3. How old was US musician Isaac Hayes, who died recently?
65
4. Which is Italy's most successful Olympic sport?
Fencing
5. Thabo Mbeki is leader of which country?
South Africa
6. Which British golfer will definitely miss the Ryder Cup after undergoing surgery on his left wrist which will rule him out for the rest of the year?
Luke Donald
7. Who has wed singer Max Drummey, 23, of indie band Chester French in a Las Vegas ceremony?
Peaches Geldof
8. Britain's Tina Cook celebrated her Olympic debut by winning double bronze at which event?
The equestrian in Hong Kong
9. Who presents a new BBC One programme Britain From Above?
Andrew Marr
10. How long will the average road user spend stuck in traffic jams, in his or her lifetime?
Six Months
11. How many square miles of UK countryside are used only for landfill?
109
12. Who is the current Russian President?
Dmitry Medvedev
13. In which country was the late Isaac Hayes a king?
Ghana - He was Nene Katey Ocansey I in Ghana for his humanitarian work
14. Who has announced that he fears the development of GM crops could create the biggest environmental disaster in history?
Prince Charles
15. What is the capital city of Georgia where there has been recent unrest?
Tbilisi
16. Which film, about a young American couple Brad and Janet who accidentally stumble into a strange world of alien transvestites and overt sexuality, is to be remade 33 years after it was first released?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
17. Queen Margrethe the second is on holiday at the Royal family's holiday home in the south of France, but which country is she currently Queen of?
Denmark
18. Who is to become the main presenter of the BBC's Gardeners' World programme?
Toby Buckland - previously hosted gardening shows including Home Front In The Garden
19. What is the name of the wedding gift list operator who have gone into administration?
Wrapit
20. John Prescott has been given an award for boosting interest in which game?
Awarded a mallet by the British Croquet Association - apparently sales have gone up 40%!
21. BBC ALBA, which will be launched on 19 September is to be what sort of service?
A Gaelic television channel
22. Rugby League - Who is the only player to ever win back-to-back Man of Steel awards?
Paul Sculthorpe - who is to leave St Helens at the end of the season
23. What name has been given to the swimming venue at the Beijing Olympics?
The Water Cube
24. The Tinsley cooling towers will be demolished over the August Bank Holiday weekend, they are near to which city?
Sheffield
25. Why are Edna, Norman and Gertrude in danger of dying out?
Baby names that are no longer being used
26. Who is launching a new single "Thank You For A Lifetime" and why could it make history?
Cliff Richard - 50 years since his first hit
27. Which TV Chef has been accused of glamorising smoking?
Marco Pierre White
28. Actor Terence Rigby has died at his London home at the age of 71, he is best remembered for playing PC Snow in which TV series?
Softly, Softly: Task Force - from the 1960s and 1970s
29. Where is this years European Bat Research Symposium to be held?
Transylvania!
30. A total of 20 MPs signed a Commons motion condemning which journalist and broadcaster for comparing the dominance of Scots at Westminster to British rule in India?
Jeremy Paxman - who has been criticised for calling the work of Robert Burns "sentimental doggerel"
31. Deportivo La Coruna defender Fabricio Coloccini has signed for which Premiership club?
Newcastle Utd
32. What, according to an old saying, consists of two fine days and a thunderstorm?
The British summer
33. What position did Paula Radcliffe finish in the Olympic Marathon?
23rd
34. According to new scientific research, how many legs does an octopus have?
Two - They have six arms and two legs
35. What was unusual about the Knighthood bestowed upon Nils Olav?
He is a penguin! - Penguin Nils Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since 1972
36. Who set a new world record as she clinched her second swimming gold medal in Beijing with victory in the 800m freestyle?
Rebecca Adlington
37. In which sport will you find the keirin?
Cycling - is a track cycling event in which racing cyclists sprint for victory. Keirin originated in Japan in 1948
- Former Olympic rowing silver medallist Rebecca Romero won Gold for GB in which sport?
Cycling - completed her remarkable conversion to track cycling with a comfortable victory over team-mate Wendy Houvenaghel in the women's individual pursuit final
38. Who scored the first goal of the Premier League season?
Samir Nasri - Arsenal
39. In which country will you find Suvarnabhumi International Airport?
Thailand - Bangkok
40. In which board game will you find football pundit Jack Mustard and video game billionaire Victor Plum?
Cluedo - old characters like Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum have been replaced
The house has been renovated from a stately home into a modern mansion complete with a theatre and spa rather than library and ballroom. There are also new murder weapons, including a dumbbell and baseball bat.
Uncovering the ultimate family tree
Manfred Huchthausen, a 58-year-old teacher, proudly showed me around his well-tended garden. "Isn't it beautiful?" he asked, pointing to the lush flower bed and immaculate lawn.
"But I know that you want to see the cave, don't you? I'll show you," he said, chuckling.
 Mr Huchthausen reckons he has the longest proven family tree in the world |
This is the spot where Manfred's relatives, dating back 3,000 years, were buried. The cave remained hidden from view until 1980, and it was only later, in 1993, that archaeologists discovered 40 Bronze Age skeletons.
The 3,000-year-old skeletons were in such good condition that anthropologists at the University of Goettingen managed to extract a sample of DNA. That was then matched to two men living nearby: Uwe Lange, a surveyor, and Manfred Huchthausen, a teacher. The two men have now become local celebrities.
"It's odd, standing here in the same area where my ancestors were buried. I felt really strange when I had the bones, the skull of my great-great-great grandfather dating back 120 generations, in my hands," said Manfred.
| I didn't expect it at all, to end up being the direct descendant of the cavemen Manfred Huchthausen |
"We have no idea what happened during this time, we don't know what happened to these people," he added.
Unique pattern
At her lab at the University of Goettingen, Susanne Hummel, an anthropologist, has all the skeletons stored in a freezer.
As she carefully removed the plastic wrapping, she explained the research project.
"It is a unique discovery. While we were examining the prehistoric bones of the male individuals, we found genetic patterns which are unique," Dr Hummel said.
"We wanted to find out whether these genetic patterns were still present in the living population of this area, so we put an advert in the local paper and we asked people to take part in our project - 270 people came forward. We were very surprised that so many wanted to help us.
"The local residents had to give a sample of saliva. We extracted DNA from the saliva and looked for the genetic patterns on the Y chromosome. In the end, we found two men who have a very similar genetic pattern to the prehistoric one, and that genetic pattern is unique," she added.
The analysis showed that most of the bones were from the same family.
"I saw the advert in the paper and I thought it was an interesting idea," said Manfred.
"They took a sample of saliva using cotton wool buds, they put it in a plastic tube and then sealed it. The scientists also had their mouths covered to prevent any mixing of the DNA samples," he said.
"I didn't expect it at all, to end up being the direct descendant of the cavemen. It's amazing, especially as on that particular day I had such a dry mouth, I thought the DNA sample wouldn't work," he said.
Family tree
But do Uwe Lange and Manfred Huchthausen resemble one another?
 Samples from the skull were compared with DNA from local people |
"The two men don't really look alike," Dr Hummel said.
"Your appearance is determined by both parents, by the mother and father. We were investigating the Y chromosome, from father to son, in our project. It's a modern phenomenon that we move around… In the old days, people normally lived and stayed in the same place where they were born," she said.
And what about Manfred, does he think he looks like his Bronze Age ancestors?
"I definitely think the shape of the head is similar to the caveman, but after 3,000 years and 120 generations, I'm sure personalities have changed," Manfred said.
Manfred Huchthausen is planning to organise a Bronze Age feast and party in his village.
Claiming to have the longest proven family tree in the world, he says he is now determined to find out more about his ancestors.
Wild dolphins tail-walk on water
The tail-walking dolphins were spotted at the coast near Adelaide
A wild dolphin is apparently teaching other members of her group to walk on their tails, a behaviour usually seen only after training in captivity.
The tail-walking group lives along the south Australian coast near Adelaide.
One of them spent a short time after illness in a dolphinarium 20 years ago and may have picked up the trick there.
Scientists studying the group say tail-walk tuition has not been seen before, and suggest the habit may emerge as a form of "culture" among this group.
"We can't for the life of us work out why they do it," said Mike Bossley from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), one of the scientists who have been monitoring the group on the Port River estuary.
"We're doing systematic observations now to determine if there's something that may trigger it, but so far we haven't found anything," he told BBC News.
Rich culture
In the 1980s, Billie, one of the females in the group, spent a few weeks in a local dolphinarium recovering from malnutrition and sickness, a consequence of having been trapped in a marina lock.
| It would seem that among the Port River dolphins we may have an incipient tail-walking culture Mike Bossley |
She received no training there, but may have seen others tail-walking.
Now, other females in the group have picked up the habit. It is seen rarely in the wild, and the obvious inference is that they have learned it from Billie.
"This indicates that they do learn from each other, which is not a surprise really, but it does also seem that they exhibit elements of what in humans we would call 'cultural' behaviour," said Dr Bossley.
"These are things that groups develop and are passed between individuals and that come to define those groups, such as language or dancing; and it would seem that among the Port River dolphins we may have an incipient tail-walking culture."
The "cultural" transmission of ideas and skills has been documented in apes, while dolphins off the coast of Western Australia are known to teach their young to use sponges as an aid when gathering food.
US celebrities spied during WWII
Julia Child was hired by the OSS in the summer of 1942 for clerical work
Several well-known American public figures were spies during World War II, declassified documents have confirmed.
The celebrities include the chef Julia Child, the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr, the film actor Sterling Hayden, and the baseball player Moe Berg.
The 750,000 documents published by the National Archives are part of a massive archive on the wartime intelligence unit, the Office of Strategic Services.
Founded in 1942, the OSS is considered to be a forerunner of the CIA.
It was responsible for collecting and analysing information required by the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, and for helping to organize guerrilla fighting, sabotage and espionage abroad.
Top secret
The release of the OSS archive, including 35,000 top-secret personnel files, unmasks one of the last secrets of the wartime intelligence agency, which was disbanded after three years in 1945.
| I think it's terrific... All of these people had been told never to mention they were with the OSS Elizabeth McIntosh Former OSS agent |
The National Archives said the papers included "initial applications to join the OSS; preliminary training and subsequent work assignments; pay, leave and travel documents; evaluations, basic medical information; and awards, decorations and discharge papers".
It was already known that Mrs Child - the doyenne of US television cookery shows, who died in 2004 - had worked for the OSS, but the documentation includes several new details about her history.
When Mrs Child applied to work for the agency, she admitted at least one failing - impulsiveness. In her OSS application, she included a note expressing regret that she had left a department store job because she did not get along with her boss.
 Moe Berg was approached by the OSS because of his language skills |
"I made a tactical error and was out," she explained.
The baseball player Moe Berg was recruited because of his knowledge of German and several other European languages.
Other public figures confirmed as former OSS spies are former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg; Kermit Roosevelt, the son of former President Theodore Roosevelt; John Hemingway, son of the author Ernest Hemingway; the movie director John Ford; and Miles Copeland, the father of Stewart Copeland, the drummer of the rock band The Police.
Elizabeth McIntosh, a 93-year-old former OSS agent now living in Woodbridge, Virginia, praised the release of the documents.
"I think it's terrific," she told the Associated Press. "They've finally, after all these years, they've gotten the names out. All of these people had been told never to mention they were with the OSS."
DIY Olympians told to 'ease off'
Trying to keep up with Nicole Cooke's performance is not a good idea
One of the aims of the Olympics is to raise interest in taking part in sports - but it seems some people are pushing themselves a little too hard.
A gadget helpline has been receiving calls from people wanting to know how to set their cycling and rowing machines to keep up with Olympians.
One man from Runcorn even admitted he had broken his rowing machine trying to keep up with Team GB.
Sports scientists said people should be aware of their personal limits.
| There has to be a degree of realism and common sense John Brewer, Lucozade Sports Science Academy |
Ben Titchmarsh, of the Gadget Helpline, says their role is to help people when devices such as phones or iPods fail - and that they do not cater for faulty exercise equipment.
But since the start of the Olympics, they have had around 50 calls from people wanting to keep up with the elite athletes they are watching on TV.
He said: "One woman said she really wanted to set her rowing machine so she could do the same number of strokes per minute as the Olympic athletes.
"She was obviously sitting in front of her TV and entering into the spirit of it all."
He added: "Another caller wanted to adjust his exercise bike so he was cycling at the same number of miles per hour as the Olympians.
"And even though the track and field events hadn't yet started, people were also asking about settings for their jogging machines.
"With rowing and cycling machines, if you can't keep up you'll just go slowly. But with jogging machines, if you set them to the pinnacle of what it's capable of doing and you can't keep up, it could be dangerous."
Aspirations
John Brewer, performance director at the Lucozade Sport Science Academy in Slough, said it was great that people were being inspired by the Games.
"One of the reasons for London bidding for the 2012 Olympics is that we know events like the Olympics are aspirational and they make people want to take part.
"But there has to be a degree of realism and common sense about people's ambitions.
"They have to be aware that the athletes they see on TV have a genetic endowment that means they can perform at the highest level and they have spent years dedicating themselves to improving their personal performance."
He added: "For example runners in the women's marathon on Sunday would reach speeds of 12-13mph.
"That's a phenomenal speed, and most people won't be able to keep up with it for more than a few seconds, let alone two hours."
Sarah Hardman, a physiologist from the English Institute of Sport who has worked with Team GB's rowing squad added: "It's great that people are being inspired by the Games and the performances taking place across different sports, but each individual needs to know their limits.
"Olympic athletes have been in full time training for years and progressively work towards the standards they achieve.
"To avoid injuring yourself by overstretching, setting smaller targets for performance improvements in your fitness regime would be the best start in improving your exercise rates, whether that's on the rowing machine, bike or on the treadmill."
Bid for world land-speed record
| Two British men are preparing an attempt on the world land-speed record for a wind-powered vehicle. Eco-entrepreneur Dale Vince and engineer Richard Jenkins will try to beat the record of 116mph (187kmph) at Lake LeFroy in Western Australia. Their British-designed and built craft, named Greenbird, is carbon-neutral. Mr Vince said the team were following in the footsteps of Donald Campbell who used several cars and boats named Bluebird to break speed records. "Campbell did it with the prevalent fuel of the day - we're doing it with the prevalent fuel of tomorrow," he said. "Donald Campbell had his massive cubic capacity engines and energy dense fossil fuels - we have just the wind. "But the wind will still be here in 50 or 100 years time - the age of renewables has been a long time coming (back) but will endure." The Greenbird is a land yacht which relies on solid sails like an aircraft wing. 'Wind window' In the same way that air flows over an aircraft's horizontal wing and pushes the aircraft up, the flow of air over the Greenbird's vertical sail pushes the vehicle forward.
This force enables the craft to travel between four to six times the real wind speed, depending on the surface traction. Mr Vince who will co-pilot Greenbird said he was "eight out of 10 confident" of breaking the record. Members of the Gloucester-based Greenbird team are already in Australia testing the vehicle and preparing for the record run. Unseasonal weather has delayed initial trials. "We need the weather to come right," said Mr Vince. "The lake is wet at the moment and it should be dry this time of year and we need the wind window which is coming any day now," he said. "The lake is 500 sq km and is a salt lake so it's very flat and we can sail in any direction. It has some good wind as well but it's really the space we need." The team also plans to make a challenge on the Ice World Speed Record, again using wind power alone. Mr Vince said the team behind Greenbird were also working on a less exotic wind-powered vehicle that could be used for domestic journeys. "Wind-powered cars are the way of the future," he said. "We're going to have our prototype on the road in December." | |
eBay insect fossil is new species
The fossil was bought for just £20
A scientist who bought a fossilised insect on the web auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to a previously unknown species of aphid.
Dr Richard Harrington, vice-president of the UK's Royal Entomological Society, bought the fossil from an individual in Lithuania.
He then sent it off to an aphid expert in Denmark, who confirmed the insect was a new species, now extinct.
The bug has been named Mindarus harringtoni after the scientist.
| I had thought it would be rather nice to call it Mindarus ebayi Dr Richard Harrington, Rothamsted |
"I looked at it with my team and we thought we could identify it down to the level of genus, but we had no idea what the species was."
Dr Harrington sent the specimen to Professor Ole Heie, a fossil aphid expert in Denmark.
"He discovered that it was something that hadn't been described before," Dr Harrington explained.
The insect itself is 3-4mm long and is encased in a 40-50 million-year-old piece of amber about the size of a small pill.
"I had thought it would be rather nice to call it Mindarus ebayi," said Dr Harrington.
"Unfortunately using flippant names to describe new species is rather frowned upon these days."
Instead, Professor Heie named the new species after Dr Harrington.
"It's not uncommon to find insects in amber... but I'm not sure that one has turned up on eBay that has been undiscovered before. It's a rather unusual route to come by [a new species]," the researcher, based at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, explained.
He said the insect would have fed on a tree called Pinites succinifer which is itself now long since extinct.
Six key species get woodland aid
Six key species have been identified as being able to benefit from work to improve Scotland's woodlands. Chequered skipper courtesy Forestry Commission Scotland, all other pictures Science Photo Library
| By Giancarlo Rinaldi South of Scotland reporter, BBC Scotland news website |
A programme is being launched to help six key species flourish in woodlands across Scotland.
Forestry Commission Scotland's new biodiversity plan aims to create "stronger, more adaptable ecosystems".
It identifies the capercaillie, black grouse, red squirrel, pearl-bordered fritillary, chequered skipper butterfly and juniper as important species.
Environment Minister Mike Russell is launching the plan at the Carrick Forest in Dumfries and Galloway.
He said Scotland's forests had a key part to play in protecting endangered species.
| CRITERIA FOR SELECTING THE SIX PRIORITY SPECIES All declining and/or threatened but still widely distributed Scotland holds a large proportion of the UK population Forestry is important to their habitats Managing of these species should have wider biodiversity benefits |
"Woodlands - and the open spaces within them - have a vital contribution to make towards conserving Scotland's threatened habitats and species," he said.
"We are very fortunate in Scotland to enjoy a wealth of biodiversity that is for the most part robust and healthy.
"However, some elements are extremely fragile and making sure that they thrive will require some large-scale thinking and landscape scale vision - both of which are forestry sector strengths."
The biodiversity programme - Woods for Nature - sets out how FCS is helping to conserve and expand woodlands.
That, in turn, can assist the six priority species.
Three of them - the capercaillie, grouse and red squirrel - are the subject of "spec