How does a human calculator do it?

Root of all easy: Lemaire did this sum in 2004 in less than four seconds

Alexis Lemaire has broken the record for finding the 13th root of a 200-digit number. It's an incredibly hard calculation so how does the "human calculator" do it?

Fancy yourself as a bit of mental arithmetics buff, one of those who relishes totting up the bill after a restaurant meal for 12, one of those who looks down their nose at calculator users?

Well try this for size.

The task is to find the 13th root of 85,877,066,894,718,045,
602,549,144,850,158,599,202,771,247,748,960,878,023,151,
390,314,284,284,465,842,798,373,290,242,826,571,823,153,
045,030,300,932,591,615,405,929,429,773,640,895,967,991,
430,381,763,526,613,357,308,674,592,650,724,521,841,103,
664,923,661,204,223.

The answer's 2396232838850303. Multiply that by itself 13 times and you get the above. Even with a calculator you wouldn't beat Alexis Lemaire doing the calculation in his head.

On your marks... Lemaire prepares to break the record at Oxford

Last week, at Oxford's Museum of the History of Science Lemaire broke his own record for the task, taking it down to 77.99 seconds. Mental athlete he may be, but he speaks of his hard work in much the same fashion as any other kind of athlete.

"It is quite difficult. I did a lot of preparation for this. More than four years of work and a lot of training every day. A lot of memorising. I need three things - calculating, memorising and the third on mathematical skills. It is a lot of work and maybe a natural gift."

There is a long-standing fascination with those who can accomplish astounding feats of mental agility. The "ordinary" human wants to know how, but sadly the geniuses and the savants can only offer fragments of insight into how they function, and the scientists who have studied them rarely offer a definitive answer.

Researchers have tried to link problems with the brain either through trauma or malformation to extraordinary mental abilities - one of the theories being that damage to one area prompts compensation in another. Brain scientist Dr Allan Snyder has suggested that everyone may possess such abilities but be unable to access them.

Transforming numbers

Kim Peek, the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie Rain Man, has a malformed brain and a below average IQ and yet is able to rapidly read books, memorising vast swaths of information.

I have these associations between places and numbers - some places are imaginary, I try to vary so I don't confuse the numbers Alexis Lemaire

Lemaire explains that what he does is about transforming raw numbers into other structures so he can "see" the answer to the problem.

"When I think of numbers sometimes I see a movie, sometimes sentences. I can translate the numbers into words. This is very important for me. The art is to convert memory chunks into some kind of structure.

"I see images, phrases, actions. It's very tactile, sensitive. I have these associations between places and numbers. Some places are imaginary, I try to vary so I don't confuse the numbers. It's important to memorise. I have to be precise."

Lemaire's explanation is similar to that of British savant Daniel Tammet. Tammet set the world record for reciting pi at more than 22,000 digits at the museum in 2004.

To him, each number has a distinct colour and appearance, some beautiful, some not, with each complex calculation making up a landscape.

Icelandic in a week

But his skills also stretch to words, with Tammet having reportedly learned Icelandic in a week after a challenge.

It's safe to assume that Lemaire's brain processes don't involve the words "carry one". But there is an explanation for some of what he does. The memorisation he talks about is a series of algorithms, such as a set to tackle the first five digits of the 200-digit number.

He has refined these processes to mind-boggling lengths. For the much simpler calculation the 13th root of a 100-digit number, the first record was set at 23 minutes in 1970. Now Lemaire can manage the calculation in under four seconds.

And whatever the mental processes that lead him to the answer, the fact that he can do this in seconds and without pen or paper remains awesome to the "ordinary" brain.

Giant truck set for sky-high task

The transporter is 20m long and has 28 wheels

A colossal 28-wheel truck that will help build a major telescope array in the Chilean Andes has successfully passed a series of tests.

The giant vehicle will heave antennas - each weighing 115 tonnes - up a mountainside to the site of the array, a plateau 5,000m above sea level.

The Alma telescope will study the night sky at sub-millimetre wavelengths.

Astronomers say Alma will illuminate one half of the Universe that has hitherto been shrouded in darkness.

That entire mechanism has to be tested very carefully with dummy weights, as well as the independent steering of the wheels Adrian Russell, Alma project manager, North America

Alma stands for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.

When it is completed in 2012, the £470m ($900m) array will be able to observe some of the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang, and catch planets in the act of forming around young stars.

The telescope project will initially comprise 66 high-precision antennas, installed at the high-altitude Llano de Chajnantor site in Chile's Atacama desert.

Each antenna has a dish measuring about 12m across and a surface engineered to be accurate to within 20 microns (millionths of a metre).

Power and precision

The dishes will be electronically combined to provide astronomical observations which are equivalent to a single large telescope of tremendous size and resolution.

Alma will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with an accuracy up to ten times better than the Hubble Space Telescope.

The antenna transporter is 10m wide, 20m long and 6m high. It weighs 130 tonnes and has as much power as two Formula 1 engines.

The transporter is powerful enough to carry a 115-tonne antenna Enlarge Image

The first of two vehicles has been put through its paces at the firm Scheuerle Fahrzeugfabrik near Nuremberg in Germany.

The custom-built colossus will be able to transport a 115-tonne antenna and set it down on a concrete pad within millimetres of a prescribed position.

Engineers have tested whether the transporter can safely pick up the 115-tonne antenna and very carefully settle it back down again.

"As it picks up the antenna, the transporter puts its arms under the armpits of the antenna, lifts it up and pulls it slowly up a ramp. It gradually lifts the antenna higher and higher and eventually pulls it right into the vehicle," said Adrian Russell, Alma project manager for North America.

"When it gets to where the antenna is being relocated, the antenna very slowly and carefully slides back down the ramp so it is overhanging the edge of the vehicle.

On top of the world

He told the BBC News website: "It can then be manipulated left and right, and slowly lowered on to the antenna foundation. That entire mechanism has to be tested very carefully with dummy weights, as well as the independent steering of the wheels."

The vehicles will have to haul their heavy cargo safely from the 2,900m-high Alma base camp, where the antennas are assembled, to the array site, which lies at 5,000m - about half the cruising altitude of a 747.

The vehicles must therefore be extremely powerful, as the journey will make extraordinary demands on the two 500kW diesel engines.

Because of the low oxygen content of the air at 5,000m, vehicle operators will need to wear portable oxygen canisters. The backrests of the driver seats are shaped to allow the driver to wear his oxygen tank while driving.

Llano de Chajnantor was chosen as the site for Alma because it is so dry. Water vapour absorbs sub-millimetre waves, interfering with observations using the telescope.

If all the water vapour above Chajnantor were collected, it would form a pool just 1mm deep.

July 31st

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1991: Superpowers to cut nuclear warheads The US and the Soviet Union sign the Start treaty to reduce stockpiles of nuclear warheads by about a third.
	1998: UK imposes total ban on landmines The British Government announces a total ban on landmines, a month before the first anniversary of the death of Princess Diana.
	1962: Violence flares at right-wing rally Former fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley is assaulted at a rally in London's east end.

Accident

Gut wrenching! Let this be a lesson to all of us!!!
Picture of a horrible highway accident in Germany.
The picture is very sad and may be kind of hard to take for some of you.
If you look closely you can see what appear to be some survivors of the accident still in the wreckage.
Although the picture is quite graphic, it makes you realize how quickly our loved ones can be taken from us.
My friend stayed on the scene to help and even though he performed mouth to mouth on quite a few of them, none apparently survived……

Useful Things to Say In Latin

• Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
  Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound
• Esse quam videri
  The Cook Family Motto: "To be, rather than to seem"
• Aut Pax Aut Belum
  The Gunn Family motto (Robinson side): "Either peace or war"

Credit is due to 'Latin for All Occasions', The inspiration (and raw material) which got this list started.

• Fiat justitia, ruat coelum
  Do the right thing even if the heavens fall
• Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus
  Never tickle a sleeping dragon - school motto of Hogwarts - of the Harry Potter books.
• Ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora
  eggs today are better than chickens tomorrow
• Res ipsa ioquitur
  The thing speaks for itself
• a fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi
  a precipice in front, wolves behind
• amantes sunt amentes
  lovers are lunatics
• aut viam inveniam aut faciam
  I will either find a way or make one
• cave quid dicis, quando, et cui
  beware what you say, when, and to whom
• credo quia absurdum est
  I believe it because it is unreasonable
• de minimis non curat praetor
  a praetor does not care about petty matters
• exitus acta probat
  the end justifies the means
• me duce tutus eris
  under my leadership you will be safe
• Vestis virum facit
  Clothes make the man
• Sub sole nihil novi est
  There's nothing new under the sun
• Volo, non valeo
  I am willing but unable
• Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione
  I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult
• Non sum pisces
  I am not a fish
• Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
  How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
• Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est.
  Yes, that is a very large amount of corn.
• Vescere bracis meis.
  Eat my shorts
• Fac ut vivas
  Get a life
• Vacca foeda
  Stupid cow
• Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure
  I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear
• Te precor dulcissime supplex!
  Pretty please with a cherry on top!
• Pistrix! Pistrix!
  Shark! Shark!
• exercitus ingens urum salutavit. obdormivit urus.
  The huge army greeted the buffalo. The buffalo fell asleep.
• non commodus est mihi desilire.
  It is not convenient for me to jump down.
• eheu, ardeo.
  Alas, I am burning.
• euge! murus sum!
  Hooray! I am a wall!
• Imperator concidit ut brassica esset.
  The Emperor fell down in order to be a cabbage.
• tam ingens erat puer ut totam viam obstaret.
  The boy was so huge that he blocked the whole street.
  
• Non Erravi Perniciose
  I did NOT commit a fatal error!
• Si Fractum non sit, noli id reficere
  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
• Machina improba! Vel mihi ede potum vel mihi redde nummos meos!
  You infernal machine! Give me a beverage or give me back my money!
• Estne tibi forte magna feles fulva et planissima?
  Do you by any chance happen to own a large, yellowish, very flat cat?
• Perscripto in manubus tabellariorm est
  The check is in the mail
• Canis meus id comedit
  My dog ate it
• Hostes alienigeni me abducxerunt. Qui annus est?
  I was kidnapped by aliens. What year is it?
• Certe, Toto, senito nos in Kansate non iam adesse
  You know, Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.
• Nil Bastardo Carborundum
  Don’t let the bastards grind you down
• Carpe carpum
  Seize the fish
• Explicit leuctotem; da mihi potum
  Work's done. Where's the beer?
• Nucleo predicus dispella conducticus
  Remove foil before microwaving
• Dictum ad tua mater
  Word to your mother
• Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum
  A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants

... and some useful phrases to throw into conversation

• ...ab asino lanam
  ...wool from an ass
• ...absit invidia
  ...let ill will be absent
• ...ad vitam aut culpam
  ...for life or until a misdeed
• ...albae gallinae filius
  ...son of a white hen
• ...amicus humani generis
  ...friend of the human race
• ...arte perire sua
  ...to perish by one's own creation
• ...asinus asinum fricat
  ...the ass rubs the ass
• ...cetera desunt
  ...the rest are missing
• ...compos sui
  ...master of himself
• ...cum grano salis
  ...with a grain of salt
• ...de omni re scibili et quibusdam aliis
  ... of everything one can know and several other things
• ...doctus cum libro
  ... learned with a book
• dixi
  I have spoken

World Flags Quiz

TRY THE WORLD FLAGS QUIZ

Obituary: Mike Reid

Mike Reid, top right, was one of the stars of The Comedians

Former EastEnders actor Mike Reid, who played wheeler dealer Frank Butcher in the BBC soap, died at the age of 67.

Reid was a real-life Londoner, having been born in Tottenham in 1940.

He married for a first time in 1958 and then again in 1967, and had two sons and a daughter.

He started life in showbusiness in the 1960s as a stuntman before becoming a stand-up comic in clubs and on liners.

Reid found fame on the 1970s stand-up show The Comedians, with the likes of Bernard Manning, Frank Carson, Jim Bowen and Charlie Williams.

Showbiz career

His success on The Comedians led to a one-off novelty hit record, a version of The Ugly Duckling.

His next major move was to host the sometimes chaotic ITV children's game show Runaround in the 1970s, which is still fondly remembered by many people in their 30s and 40s.

HAVE YOUR SAY He was THE best stand-up comedian, a fine actor and one of the nicest guys in showbiz Paul, Wales Send us your comments

Reid's career started to gravitate towards television acting and he appeared in Minder and Doctor Who.

Reid joined EastEnders in 1987 and his character, Frank Butcher, would go on to become one of the most popular on the show.

Soap star

As Frank Butcher in EastEnders his character was a charmer, wooing Pat Evans and Peggy Mitchell.

In one of the soap's most memorable moments he attempted to win Pat back, turning up on her doorstep wearing nothing but a flashing dickie bow tie.

Reid left the show in 2000, when screen wife Peggy discovered his plans to run away with Pat and threw him out.

Mike Reid played one of EastEnders' most popular characters

He returned to the programme twice, in 2002 when Peggy flew to Spain and in 2005 for Janine Butcher's murder trial.

After leaving EastEnders for the first time he played Doug "The Head" Denovitz in Guy Ritchie movie Snatch and was in Spanish film Oh Marbella! in 2003.

He had slipped from the public eye in recent years and was living in Spain at the time of his death.

'Very funny man'

His agent David Hahn described the former EastEnders actor as "a very, very, very, funny" man who would "see the funny side of any situation".

Fellow comedian Frank Carson said: "This is horrendous news. Everyone in showbusiness will be shocked."

John Yorke, controller of BBC drama series, said: "Albert Square, and British television, will be a far poorer place without him."

July 30th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1986: Parents appeal for missing agent The parents of missing London estate agent Suzy Lamplugh make an emotional appeal for her safe return.
	1966: Football glory for England England win football's World Cup for the first time since the tournament began in 1930.
	1973: Final deal for thalidomide victims An 11-year legal battle ends with more than £20 million compensation for victims of thalidomide.

Hurricane boost 'due to warm sea'

Hurricanes have become more frequent over the past century

A new analysis of Atlantic hurricanes says their numbers have doubled over the last century.

The study says that warmer sea surface temperatures and changes in wind patterns caused by climate change are fuelling much of the increase.

Some researchers say hurricanes are cyclical and the increase is just a reflection of a natural pattern.

But the authors of this study say it is not just nature - they say the frequency has risen across the century.

Two-decade rise

Hurricanes are a spinning vortex of winds that swirl around an eye of low pressure.

Thunder clouds surround the edges of these storms and they can wreak devastation on people and property when they hit land - most famously in the case of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.

Scientific analyses in recent years suggest hurricane numbers have increased since the mid-1980s.

This new study, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in London, looks at the frequency of these storms from 1900 to the present and it says about twice as many form each year now compared to 100 years ago.

The authors say that man-made climate change, which has increased the temperature of the sea surface, is the major factor behind the increase in numbers.

"Over the period we've had natural variability in the frequency of storms, which has contributed less than 50% of the actual increase in our view," said Dr Greg Holland from the United States National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, who authored the report.

"Approximately 60%, and possibly even 70% of what we are seeing in the last decade can be attributed directly to greenhouse warming," he said.

Experts say that 2007 will be a very active season with nine hurricanes forecast, of which five are expected to be intense.

Quiztime Vaults - Mixed Questions

I am now making a BIG PUSH to raise money for Rosemere.
Many of you already know that I was diagnosed with Leukemia (Hodgkins Lyphoma) in Feb 2002 and given the all clear recently in May 2007.
Had it not been for the fabulous, superb and great support of all the staff at Ribblesdale Ward, Preston Hospital and Rosemere Cancer Support I would probably not be here now.

Please, Please, Please - Make A Donation via my Charity Site and help reach the £2,500 target by Christmas 2007.

If everyone donated £5 or better £10 we would achieve so much in thanks for all the material that is publshed free of charge on this site.
I realise some of you are collecting for other causes but it would mean a great deal for me if we could reach this target - then I promise I will start pushing other charitable causes (as well)
Please make the effort and donate NOW - http://www.justgiving.com/quiztimeuk
OR
send a cheque via me - Made payable to - ROSEMERE CANCER FOUNDATION
to - 34 Tag Croft, Ingol, Preston, Lancs, PR2 7AQ
I will deliver in person and if you want a certificate for your personal or pub / club donation please let us know.
Meanwhile here are a mixed bag of questions (there are more to come if you are good to me and make a donation!)

I await your great support!

http://www.justgiving.com/quiztimeuk
0 0 Kelvin or –2730 C. is called what? (Absolute Zero ~ lowest theoretical temperature)
80% of the Earth's atmosphere is which gas? Nitrogen
An early riser is up with which bird? The lark
At what age did Martina Hingis first win the Wimbledon title? 16
Candle in the Wind was a hit for which superstar? Elton John
Cu is the symbol of which chemical element? Copper
During which war did the jitterbug gain popularity? World War 2
For the love of who did Edward VIII abdicate? Wallace Simpson
For what were the brothers Grimm famous? Fairy tales
For which country did Ian Smith claim independence? Rhodesia
From which continent do llamas come? South America
From which fish do we get caviar? The sturgeon
How did Buddy Holly meet his death? A 'plane crash
How is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue better known? The White House
How is a hybrid plant produced? By cross fetilisation
How is German Measles also known? Rubella
How is the trachea better known? The windpipe
How many colours are on the Australian flag? 3
How many Dalmations featured in the Disney film? 101
How many feet has a quadruped? Four
How many grams in 3.7kilograms? 3730
How many humps has a Bactrian camel? 2
How many kilogrammes make one tonne? 1000
How many minutes are there in 12.hours? 750
How many years are there in a millenium? 1000
In cooking, how many teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon? 3
In snooker what is the score for potting a black? 7
In the American Civil War, who opposed the Union? The Confederates
In the bible, who was sold as a slave by his brothers? Joseph
In the film, what did Schindler draw up? A list
In which chapel are Popes elected? Sistine chapel
In which city is the store called Macy's? New York
In which city would you find the Bridge of Sighs? Venice
In which country are wild budgerigars found? Australia
In which country is Leonardo da Vinci airport? Italy
In which country is Maori a native language? New Zealand
In which film was Hannibal Lector first seen? Manhunter
In which game did Steve Davis win multiple World titles? Snooker
In which novel did Big Brother keep watch? 1984
In which prison was birdman, Robert Stroud held? Alcatraz
What name is given to Russia's vast grassy plains? The steppes
What nationality was ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev? Russian
What sex was novelist George Eliot? Female
What sort of creature is a mandrill? Monkey
What sort of creature is a Samoyed? A dog
What sort of creature is a skate? A fish
What sort of creature is a yellowhammer? A bird
What sort of creature is an eland? Antelope
What sort of entertainer was Bojangles? A tap dancer
What sort of materials are usually made into ingots? Metals
What type of fish are plaice and sole? Flatfish
What type of food is consommé? Soup
What type of food is macaroni? Pasta
What use is Isaac Singer's major invention? For sewing
What was Christian Barnard's major success? First heart transplant
What was Stanley's greeting to Livingstone? Dr Livingstone I presume
What was the family name of the last Russian Royal Family? Romanov
What was the name of the Lone Ranger's horse? Silver
What was the ninth month of the Roman calendar? November
What word can follow bible, green and black? Belt
What word can go before auction, oven and courage? Dutch
What word describes a meat eating animal? Carnivore
What would a pharmacologist work with? Drugs
What would be written on a staff or stave? Music
What would you do with a John Collins? Drink it
Where in the body would you find a hammer and anvil? The ear
Where in the body would you find the retina? In the eye
Where in your body is your larynx? In the throat
Where would you find the Rialto Bridge? Venice
Where would you find Yogi Bear and Boo Boo? Jellystone Park
Where would you wear a Homburg? On the head
Which '60s group was formed by the Wilsons? The Beach Boys
Which acid is found in vinegar? Acetic acid
Which American animator created Mickey Mouse? Walt Disney
Which animal can be 6 feet tall at birth? The giraffe
Which animals might gather in a clowder? Cats
Which bird-like villain opposed Batman? The Penguin
Which brand of petrol comes from Standard Oil? Esso
Which canal links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans? Panama
Which cartoon character shares its name with a planet? Pluto
Which character did Joan Collins play in Dynasty? Alexis
Which country has the oldest Airforce? UK
Which English castle was badly damaged by fire in 1992? Windsor
Which famous landmark is in Pisa?
Which famous liner sank in Hong Kong harbour? Queen Elizabeth
Which French word indicates that a wine is dry? Brut
Which gas has the symbol He? Helium
Which is Japan's highest mountain? Fuji
Which is our body's largest organ? The skin
Which is the largest of the Balearic Islands? Majorca
Which is the largest of the continents? Asia
Which is the world's best selling book? The bible
Which is the world's longest railway line? Trans Siberian Railway
Which island was Napoleon exiled to after Waterloo? St Helena
Which Italian leader was known as Il Duce? Benito Mussolini
Which Italian navigator discovered America? Columbus
Which leader's final battle was at Waterloo? Napoleon
Which line of latitude runs through Ecuador?
Which musical involved mountain climbing? The Sound of Music
Which musical is set in the American West? Oklahoma
Which ocean is the setting for a musical? South Pacific
Which of Jesus' disciples were previously fishermen? Peter and Andrew
Which organisation did Robert Baden Powell found? Boy Scouts
Which part of the eye gives it colour? The iris
Which pole is in the arctic circle? North
Which queen gave her name to Hong Kong's capital? Victoria
Which racehorse was named after a Russian dancer? Nijinsky
Which railway runs from Moscow to Vladivostok? Trans-Siberian
Which religious mother won a Nobel Peace Prize? Mother Teresa
Which rules govern the sport of boxing? The Queensberry rules
Which satellite relayed the first TV pictures? Telstar
Which Scottish product is the "Water of Life?" Whisky
Which singer is nicknamed The Boss? Bruce Springsteen
Which soap produced the spin-off Knots Landing? Dallas
Which sportsman lit the 1996 Summer Olympic flame? Muhammed Ali
Which synthetic fibre came into use in 1938? Nylon
Which US state was bought from Russia? Alaska
Which Venetian bridge leads to prison? The Bridge of Sighs
Who "Just Called to say I Love You?" Stevie Wonder
Who achieved powered flight in 1903? The Wright brothers
Who became leader of Spain after the Civil War? General Franco
Who became Robinson Crusoe's lone companion? Man Friday
Who completes this trio - Athos, Porthos and &ldots;? Aremis
Who did Eva Braun marry in 1945? Adolf Hitler
Who did Sarah Ferguson become? The Duchess of York
Who directed the film "Schindler's List?" Steven Spielberg
Who flew into Le Bourget airport on May 21st 1927? Charles Lindbergh
Who had a number 1 hit with Dancing Queen? Abba
Who is head of the Virgin group? Richard Branson
Who is Mickie Mouses's wife? Minnie
Who is Queen Elizabeth's youngest son? Prince Edward
Who is the Muppet's frog? Kermit
Who might wear a tutu? A ballerina
Who performed the first successful heart transplant? Christian Barnard
Who preceded Pope John Paul II? Pope John Paul I
Who says "Yabbadabbadoo?" Fred Flintstone
Who set World Records at 800m, 1500m and 1 mile in 1970? Seb Coe
Who starred in the film Fiddler on the Roof? Topol
Who starred with Demi Moore in Indecent Proposal? Robert Redford
Who stars in the J K Rowling series of books? Harry Potter
Who was British Prime Minister for most of World War 2? Churchill
Who was Oliver Hardy's screen partner? Stan Laurel
Who was raised by animals in the Jungle Book? Mowgli
Who was the female star in Cat Ballou? Jane Fonda
Who was the worlds first billionaire? Rockefeller
Who was TV cop Lacey's partner? Cagney
Who were the backing group for B Bumble? The Stingers
Who wrote The Grapes of Wrath? John Steinbeck
Who wrote the novel Where Eagles Dare? Alistair McLean
Whose logo is a big yellow M? McDonald's
William the Conqueror was Duke of where? Normandy
With which group did Simon Le Bon sing? Duran Duran
With which sport do you associate Mark Spitz? Swimming
With which type of aircraft is Igor Sikorsky associated? Helicopters
Where would a marsupial carry its young? In a pouch
Who might use a theodolite? A surveyer
"The Rain in Spain" comes from which musical? My Fair Lady
According to the proverb, what goes before a fall? Pride
At what temperature does water boil in Celsius? !00°C
By what common name is the femur known? Thigh bone
By what name was frontiersman William F Cody better known? Buffalo Bill
By what other name is the mountain lion or cougar known? Puma
Did Julius Caesar invade Britain BC or AD? 55BC
Dino is which family's pet dinosaur? The Flintstones
Do stalagmites grow up or down? Up
Domestic dogs are descended from which wild animal? Wolf
Edmund Hillary was the first to reach which peak? Everest
For what does the T in NATO stand? Treaty
For what type of glass is Waterford famous? Crystal
From which Abba album did "Super Trouper" come? Super Trouper
From which language do we get the word karaoke? Japanese
Honolulu is the capital of which US state? Hawaii
How is an electrocardiagram better known? ECG
How is Beijing also known in the West? Peking
How is New Amsterdam now known? New York
How is singer Reginald Dwight better known? Elton John
How is the airborne Australian medical service known? Flying Doctor
How is the former East Pakistan now known? Bangladesh
How is the Prairie Wolf better known? Coyote
How many chambers has the human heart? Four
How many faces has a cube?
How many faces has a cube? 6
How many of each animal did Noah take on the Ark? Two
How many quavers equal a minim? 2
How was Bangladesh formerly known? East Pakistan
How was Hulk Hogan first seen on TV? Wrestling
How was Norma Jean Baker better known? Marilyn Monroe
If silence is golden, what is speech? Silver
If T is tango, what is Y? Yankee
In the Bible, who was King David's son? Solomon
In the nursery rhyme, where did the cow jump? Over the moon
In which city was Checkpoint Charlie located? Berlin
In which city were the 1948 Olympics held? London
In which city would you find the Eiffel Tower? Paris
In which continent is Lake Victoria? Africa
In which country could you kiss the Blarney Stone? Ireland
In which country did Volkswagen cars originate? Germany
In which country is Mount Olympus? Greece
In which country is the river Shannon? Ireland
In which country was Adolf Hitler born? Austria
In which country was Elton John born? England
In which country would you find the river Volga? Russia
In which event is Jonathan Edwards world record holder? Triple Jump
In which film did Buzz Lightyear first appear? Toy Story
In which mountain range are Annapurna and K2? Himalayas
In which sea is the island of Montserrat? The Caribbean
In which sport did Ed Moses gain success? Athletics (400 m hurdles)
In which sport do competitors use a Pommel Horse? Gymnastics
In which street is the New York Stock Exchange? Wall Street
In which US city is the Capitol building? Washington
In which US state is the Grand Canyon? Arizona
Into what will a gosling grow? A goose
Name the Bascule bridge in London. Tower Bridge
Of which colour is ultramarine a shade? Blue
Of which country was Macbeth king? Scotland
Of which state is Prince Rainier the ruler? Monaco
On how many hills was Rome built? Seven
On what do hebivores feed? Plants
On which river does Rome stand? The Tiber
Pernod originated in which country? France
Richard Fosbury invented a new style of what? High jumping
The original Porsche was a sports version of which car? VW Beetle
To what is sugar added to make meringues? Egg whites
To which detective is Mrs Hudson housekeeper? Sherlock Holmes
To which group of islands does Tenerife belong? Canaries
What can be cantaloup or honeydew? Melons
What can be compound, greenstick or stress? Fractures
What can be spider, hermit or edible? Crabs
What colour gloves does a snooker referee wear? White
What colour shirt was the emblem of Fascism in Italy? Black
What currency is used in South Africa? The Rand
What do we call a deliberate fire-setter? An arsonist
What do we call Butterfly larvae? Caterpillars
What do we call the claw of a bird of prey? A talon
What do you begin by casting off? Sailing
What does a farrier do? Shoe horses
What does a kleptomaniac do? Steals things
What does the Roman numeral L stand for? 50
What does the T stand for in James T Kirk? Tiberius
What goes with vodka in a Bloody Mary? Tomato Juice
What happened to things King Midas touched? They turned to gold
What is a Blenheim Orange? An apple
What is a bull's eye worth in darts? 50
What is added to copper to make bronze? Tin
What is added to tin to make pewter?
What is an alternative name for the aubergine? Egg plant
What is caviar? Sturgeon eggs
What is half of a circle's diameter? A radius
What is the camel's nickname? Ship of the desert
What is the Cancan? A dance
What is the capital of Canada? Ottawa
What is the capital of Jordan? Amman
What is the capital of Texas? Austin
What is the chemical symbol for nitrogen? N
What is the currency of Germany? The euro
What is the currency of India? Rupee
What is the Fahrenheit equivalent of 100ºC? 212ºF
What is the Mistral? A cold, dry wind
What is the name for an eagle's nest? An eyrie
What is the name of the US Presidents country retreat? Camp David
What is the next number in the series 12, 28, 92, 348? 1372
What is the next number in the series 7, 16, 43, 124? 367
What is the square root of 169? 13
What is the state capital of California? Sacramento
What is the zodiac sign of the goat? Capricorn
What language do natives of Hamburg speak? German
What name is given to the scientific study of plants? Botany
What nationality were artists Monet and Manet? French
What number is opposite on a dart board? 20
What officially ended at 11.00, November 11th, 1918? World War 1
What sort of creature is a Portugese Man o' War? A jellyfish
What type of animals would gather in a leap? Leopards
What type of bird would have talons? A bird of prey
What type of series is Hill Street Blues? Crime
What usually has 9 or holes? A golf course
What was first known as the seeing wireless? Television
What was the name of the Eagle's 1977 hotel? California
What was the name of the wife of Winston Churchill? Clementine
What were the first names of aviations Wright brothers? Orville and Wilbur
What word describes the permanent end of a species? Extinction
Where could you have spent a wee bawbee? Scotland
Where do the Flintstones live? Bedrock
Where in your mouth are the incisors? At the front
Where would a prisoner wear fetters? On the ankles
Where would you find the cornea? In the eye
Where would you find the seeds on a strawberry? On the outside
Which acid was known as Oil of Vitriol? Sulphuric acid
Which alcoholic drink is used in making a Bloody Mary? Vodka
Which animal is the national symbol of Canada? The Beaver
Which animals helped Hannibal cross the Alps? Elephants
Which animals young is called a joey? Kangaroo
Which biblical figure was swallowed by a fish? Jonah
Which British monarch died in 1901? Queen Victoria
Which British novelist wrote "The Cruel Sea?" Nicholas Monserrat
Which card game is the name of a river crossing? Bridge
Which country introduced the guillotine in 1792? France
Which country invented the wide toothed sheep shearing comb? New Zealand
Which dessert is named after a Russian ballerina? Pavlova
Which fictional detective has a brother called Mycroft? Sherlock Holmes
Which film features Lara's theme? Dr Zhivago
Which gas makes up the biggest fraction of air? Nitrogen
Which German general was nicknamed The Desert Fox? Erwin Rommel
Which instrumant usually has 47 strings? The harp
Which is Agatha Christie's long running play? The Mousetrap
Which is Australia's largest city? Sydney
Which is the hardest natural substance? Diamond
Which is the heaviest land animal? The elephant
Which is the lowest pitched of the violin family? Double Bass
Which is the odd one out of Passion, Good, Low and Palm? Good (Friday)
Which large African viper inflates its body when alarmed? Puff adder
Which large plastic ring was a 1950's sport craze? Hula hoop
Which massive geological feature is found in Arizona? Grand Canyon
Which musical starred the von Trapps? The Sound of Music
Which Nobel prize winner helped the poor of Calcutta? Mother Theresa
Which ology is the study of birds? Ornithology
Which Pacific island is home to hundreds of stone faces? Easter Island
Which series featured Southfork ranch? Dallas
Which sex would have worn a doublet? Male
Which soap featured the Carringtons? Dynasty
Which star sign goes before Sagittarius? Scorpio
Which Swedish actress starred in Casablanca? Ingrid Bergman
Which temple stands on the Acropolis in Athens? The Parthenon
Which TV series featured Sabrina, Jill and Kelly? Charlie's Angels
Which US state has the highest annual rainfall? Hawaii
Who composed "The Barber of Seville?" Rossini
Who founded the Rocket record label? Elton John
Who invented the sewing machine? Singer (Isaac)
Who is Batman's alter ego? Bruce Wayne
Who is Hercule Poirot's assistant? Captain Hastings
Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Michelangelo
Who starred as "Mrs Doubtfire?" Robin Williams
Who starred in the film Crocodile Dundee? Paul Hogan
Who was Emperor of Japan during World War 2? Hirohito
Who was first in space in 1961? Yuri Gagarin
Who was Italy's fascist leader during World War 2? Mussolini
Who was the first Pope? St Peter
Who was the male star in High Noon? Gary Cooper
Who were Bob Marley's backing group? The Wailers
Who were first shipped out to Australia in 1788? Convicts
Who won the Oscar for Best Actor in the African Queen? Humphrey Bogart
Who wrote the books Animal Farm and 1984? George Orwell
Who wrote the music for Phantom of the Opera? Andrew Lloyd Webber
Who wrote Treasure Island? Robert Louis Stevenson
Whose court was at Camelot? King Arthur's
Whose novels inspired the James Bond films? Ian Fleming
With which sport is the Tour de France associated? Cycling
What is a mandolin? A musical instrument or food slicer
What is the staple diet of the Chinese silkworm? Mulberry leaves
Who was the female star of "Barbarella?" Jane Fonda
What were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? The Gospels
Where would you find the Sea of Tranquility? The moon
"N" is the symbol for which chemical element? Nitrogen
A slice of which fruit is traditionally served with fish? Lemon
Apartheid kept which country out of international sport? South Africa
By what name is sodium chloride better known? Salt
Do stalagmites grow up or down? Up
Dry ice is the solid form of which gas? Carbon dioxide
During which war were tanks first used? World War 1
For what are Aberdeen Angus cattle bred? Beef
For who did Michael Schumacher drive before Ferrari? Benetton
From what do we get molasses? Raw sugar
From which fruit is the spirit Kirsch made? Cherries
From which vegetable does Popeye get his powers? Spinach
How does a Boa Constrictor kill its prey? By crushing
How does the chameleon disguise itself? By changing colour
How is a valley known in Scotland? A glen
How is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane better known? DDT
How is pugilism better known? Boxing
How is the patella commonly known? Kneecap
How long does it take for the Moon to revolve round the Earth?
How many cents in a dollar? 100
How many days are there in a leap year? 366
How many edges has a square based pyramid? 8
How many lanes are used when racing in an Olympic swimming pool? 8
How many months have exactly 31 days? 7
How was Joan of Arc known? The Maid of Orleans
If silence is golden, what is speech? Silver
In Star Trek, which character was played by Leonard Nimoy? Spock
In the bible, who parted the Red Sea? Moses
In the Jungle Book, who was leader of the wolves? Akala
In the Nintendo game, what is Mario's job? Plumber
In what units are diamonds measured? Carats
In which city are the Giants and the Jets based? New York
In which city is the Brandenburg Gate? Berlin
In which city was Al Capone based? Chicago
In which country is Buenos Aires? Argentina
In which country would you find Bavaria? Germany
In which field did Barnum and Bailey gain fame. The Circus
In which German city does the Oktoberfest take place? Munich
In which part of the body are the smallest bones? The ear
In which sport do teams play for the Wightman Cup? Tennis
In which sport was Mark Spitz supreme? Swimming
In which town do the Flintstones live? Bedrock
Into what do tadpoles grow? Amphibians (frogs, toads etc)
Neurology is the study of what? The nervous system
Of which country is Damascus the capital? Syria
Of which country were Nasser and Sadat Presidents? Egypt
Of which US state is Honolulu the capital? Hawaii
On what do termites usually feed? Wood
On what would you sit in a day event? A horse
On which Caribbean island did steel bands originate? Trinidad
On which continent is Mount Kilimanjaro? Africa
On which continent would you find wild cheetahs? Africa
On which river does Cairo stand? The Nile
On which river would you find the Aswan High Dam? The Nile
Sally Ride was the first US woman to go where? Space
The young of which fish are Parr, Smolt and Grilse? Salmon
To what does the word arboreal refer? Trees
To which country are wombats native? Australia
What are kept small in the art of Bonsai? Trees
What are Kohoutek and Hale Bopp? Comets
What are pipistrelles? Bats
What can be workers or drones? Bees
What colour was the whale Moby Dick? White
What colour were early model T Fords? Black
What did Lucy Lockett lose? Her pocket
What do we call cards of the same suit in poker? A flush
What do we call a male sheep? A ram
What do we call a mature female horse? A mare
What do we call an angle less than 90º? Acute
What do we call butterfly larvae? Caterpillars
What do we commonly call cooked albumen in eggs? Egg white
What does a deficiency of iron in the body cause? Anaemia
What does a vintner deal in? Wines
What giant animals live on the Galapagos Islands? Tortoises
What goes with vodka to make a Bloody Mary? Tomato Juice
What is a gaucho? South American Cowboy
What is Adam's Ale?
What is Bruce Springsteens nickname? The Boss
What is Celine Dion's home country? Canada
What is held in a creel? Fish
What is our plasma? The liquid part of the blood
What is said to be the mother of invention? Necessity
What is the capital of Greece? Athens
What is the capital of Portugal? Lisbon
What is the chemical name for common salt? Sodium chloride
What is the collective name for a group of bees? A swarm
What is the common name for the tympanic membrane? Eardrum
What is the fruit of the Blackthorn? Sloe
What is the main organ of taste? The tongue
What is the maximum number of sets in a men's tennis match? 5
What is the name of Dick Dastardly's dog? Muttly
What is the name of the Ewing's ranch in Dallas? South Fork
What is the opposite of an extrovert? An introvert
What is treason? Betraying your country
What is water naturally seeping from the ground called? A spring
What kind of gem is the Star of Africa? A diamond
What missile is fired by a crossbow? A bolt
What name is given to the liquid part of the blood? Plasma
What name is given to the US President's plane? Airforce One
What nationality is Brigitte Bardot? French
What nationality is Chris de Bergh? Irish
What other name do we use for Cavies? Guinea Pigs
What should you drink from a stein? Beer
What size bottle holds the equivalent of 2 normal bottles? A magnum
What sort of creature is a dingo? A wild dog
What sort of creature is a lumpsucker? A fish
What sort of creature is a water moccasin? A snake
What type of animal is a dromedary? A camel
What type of animal was Disney's Bambi? A fawn
What type of bow fires bolts? The crossbow
What was Al short for in Al Capone's name? Alphonse
What was Alexander Fleming's major discovery? Penicillin
What was John Logie Baird's major invention? Television
What was surgeon Joseph Lister first to use? Antiseptic surgery
What was the former title of the King of Iran? Shah of Persia
What was the name of Dorothy Gale's pet dog? Toto
What will neutralise an alkali? An acid
What word can follow scarlet, yellow and hay? Fever
What would a toxicologist study? Poisons
What year followed 13BC? 13BC
Where in a cell are the chromosomes? The nucleus
Where in the world would you find kangaroos? Australia
Where would you find a CPU and motherboard? In a computer
Which amphibian usually remains a tadpole all its life? The Axolotl
Which animal builds lodges and dams? The beaver
Which aquatic reptile can grow up to 2ft in length? Crocodile
Which athlete won golds at the 198Olympics? Carl Lewis
Which Australian medical service began in 1928? Flying Doctors
Which colour is associated with Ireland? Green
Which country surrounds Lesotho? South Africa
Which country was created for the Muslim minority in India? Pakistan
Which country was home to the Incas? Peru
Which daughter of Judy Garland won an Oscar for Cabaret? Liza Minnelli
Which elephant has the larger ears, African or Indian? African
Which English king was beheaded in 1649? Charles 1
Which film included the character Emma Peel? The Avengers
Which flying toy shares its name with a bird? A kite
Which force keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth? Gravity
Which GG gave us Porgy and Bess? George Gershwin
Which Greek spirit is flavoured with aniseed? Ouzo
Which group first had a hit with "Let It Be?" The Beatles
Which is biggest, a US or an English billion? English
Which is the first month of the year with exactly 31 days? January
Which is the largest of the Canary Islands? Tenerife
Which is the longest bone in the human body? Femur (Thigh bone)
Which is the longest river in South America? The Amazon
Which is the oldest military decoration in the USA? Purple Heart
Which is the oldest University in the US? Harvard
Which is the tallest living land mammal? The giraffe
Which large rodent protects itself with quills? The porcupine
Which large salty lake lies between Israel and Jordan? The Dead Sea
Which musical featured the life of Eva Peron? Evita
Which natural satellite orbits the Earth? The moon
Which nerves carry signals from the eye? Optic nerves
Which New York street's name is used to mean theatres? Broadway
Which of the martial arts involves bamboo swords? Kendo
Which painter had a blue period? Picasso
Which part of the eye gives it colour? The iris
Which radiactive element has the symbol Ra? Radium
Which rock lies on the south coast of Spain? Gibraltar
Which sea animals can be sperm or blue? Whales
Which super-heroes are known as the Dynamic Duo? Batman and Robin
Which TV series was about a mobile army surgical hospital? MASH
Which US city is associated with the song "If you leave me now?" Chicago
Which US general made his last sand at the Little Bighorn? Custer
Which volcano's eruption buried Pompeii? Vesuvius
Who became the UK Prime Minister in 1940? Winston Churchill
Who can catch a crab when not fishing? An oarsman
Who live at 39 Canyon Way, Bedrock? The Flintstones
Who made a speech proclaiming "I have a dream?" Martin Luther King
Who played Scarlett in Gone with the Wind? Vivien Leigh
Who played the character Indiana Jones? Harrison Ford
Who recorded the album Bad? Michael Jackson
Who starred as the conductor in the film Fantasia? Mickey Mouse
Who starred as the Man from Atlantis? Patrick Duffy
Who stole the Queen's tarts? The Knave of Hearts
Who was female lead in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge? Nicole Kidman
Who was known as the Grandmother of Europe? Queen Victoria
Who was the first British monarch to be photographed? Queen Victoria
Who was the first man to walk on the moon? Neil Armstrong
Who was the Roman goddess of love? Venus
Who was the youngest man to win a Wimbledon singles title? Boris Becker
Who was told to be wary of the Ides of March? Julius Caesar
Who would a paediatrician treat? Children
Who would use English Bond or Flemish Bond? A bricklayer
Whose autobiography is entitled The Greatest? Muhammad Ali's
Whose horse and bullets were silver? The Lone Ranger
With which game do you associate Gary Kasparov? Chess
And who invented it? John Logie Baird
How many seconds in quarter of an hour? 900
In which country is the Algarve? Portugal
On which river does Cologne stand? Rhine
Which Officer and Gentleman married Cindy Crawford? Richard Gere
What would a seismograph measure? Earth tremors
Arachnaphobia is the fear opf what? Spiders
As what did the ancient Egyptians preserve dead bodies? Mummies
At what time of year do animals hibernate? Winter
At which sport was Maria Bueno a champion? Tennis
For what crime was Al Capone eventually imprisoned? Tax evasion
For which element is Cu the symbol? Copper
From which alphabet do kappa and pi come? Greek
From which country did the Dalai Lama flee in 1959? Tibet
From which fruit are prunes prepared? Plums
From who did the US buy Alaska in 1867? Russia
How are Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen related? Half brothers
How is Constantinople now known? Istanbul
How is Frederick Bulsara better known? Freddie Mercury
How is Persia now known? Iran
How is the petrol company Standard Oil better known? Esso
How many hulls has a trimaran? 3
How many legs has a lobster? 8
How many legs has a milking stool? 3
How many points are there on the Star of David? Six
How many square cm in a square metre? 10 000
How many teeth should a human adult have? 32
How many yards are there in a furlong? 220
In cinema, what does MGM stand for? Metro Goldwyn Mayer
In geometry, what is used to measure angles? A protractor
In Moby Dick, who was captain of the Pequod? Captain Ahab
In radio, what does VHF stand for? Very High Frequency
In what is Beef Wellington enclosed? Puff pastry
In which city would you find Brooklyn Bridge? New York
In which country did Venetian blinds originate? Japan
In which country is Shannon airport? Ireland
In which country was the film Zulu set? South Africa
In which country would you find the Taj Mahal? India
In which country would you find West Bengal? India
In which film did "Oddjob" first appear? Goldfinger
In which French city is the "Folies Bergeres?" Paris
In which hemisphere is Japan? Northern
In which ocean are the Canary Islands? Atlantic
In which sport would you try to get stones in the house? Curling
In which sport would you use a foil? Fencing
In which state is the Mormon religion based? Utah
In which TV series did Marilyn have an uncle Herman? The Munsters
In which US state would you find Las Vegas? Nevada
Into which sea does the river Jordan flow? The Dead Sea
Name a letter country which ends in U. Peru
Of what is hippophobia a fear? Horses
Of which country is Lima the capital? Peru
On what date did St Valentine die in AD 270? February 14th
On which continent is The Gambia? Africa
On which continent is the Great Rift Valley? Africa
On which type of tree do coconuts grow? Palm tree
The killing of which bird is feared by sailors? The albatross
The metal quicksilver is properly called what? Mercury
To which British actor was Vivien Leigh once married? Lawrence Olivier
To which group of animals do dolphins belong? Mammals
What are Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail? Beatrix Potter rabbits
What can be a card game and a floating bridge? Pontoon
What can be H, 2H or HB? A pencil
What colour do acids turn litmus? Red
What colour does litmus become in an alkali? Blue
What colour is a piebald horse? Black and white
What common name is given to the sternum? Breastbone
What currency is used in Italy? The lira
What currency is used in Russia? The rouble
What did Lucy Lockett lose? Her pocket
What do opposite sides of a die add up to? 7
What do we call a young deer? A fawn
What do we call an eagle's nest? An eyrie
What do we call edible sturgeon roe? Caviar
What do we see on a pirate ship's flag? The skull and crossbones
What is a female deer called? A doe or hind
What is a paper measure of 500 sheets called? A ream
What is a POW? A Prisoner of War
What is Bombay Duck? Fish
What is hypothermia? Very low body temperature
What is measured in hands? A horse's height
What is measured on the Beaufort scale? Wind speed
What is NATO? North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
What is the capital of the Irish Republic? Dublin
What is the name of a badger's home? A sett
What is the name of John Lennon's elder son? Julian
What is the name of Nat King Cole's singing daughter? Natalie
What is the national language of Monaco? French
What is the nickname of the New Zealand rugby teams? All Blacks
What is there in a vacuum? Nothing
What is thought to have landed on Mount Ararat?
What is used to make Pate de foie gras? Goose liver
What kind of pack contains 78 cards? Tarot
What name is used for clarified butter? Ghee
What shape is a swallow's tail? Forked
What sort of creature is a Basenji? A dog
What sort of creature is a dace? A fish
What sort of creature is a John Dory? Fish
What sort of lift moves food in a restaurant? A dumb waiter
What sort of meat do we get from a deer? Venison
What sort of numbers are 4, 9, and 25? Square
What type of transport was the Hindenburg? An airship
What was Miss Muffet eating? Curds and whey
What was the former name of Sri Lanka? Ceylon
What was the main cargo of Clipper ships? Tea
What was the name of President Kennedy's wife? Jackie
What word can go before gang, letter and mail? Chain
Where did Buzz Aldrin walk second? On the moon
Where in the body is the tympanum? The ear
Where is the Fiddler in the musical? On the roof
Where might you drive on an autobahn? Germany
Which 18battle ended the Napoleonic Wars? Waterloo
Which animal lives in a lodge? A beaver
Which animals featured in Watership Down? Rabbits
Which bird can fly backwards? The Hummingbird
Which cartoon series regularly kills Kenny? South Park
Which chemical element has the symbol C? Carbon
Which Chinese leader produced a Little Red Book? Mao Tse-Tung
Which city had Desmond Tutu as Archbishop from 1985? Cape Town
Which city is the administrative capital of the Netherlands? The Hague
Which country is associated with Spaghetti Westerns? Italy
Which country is home to the duck billed platypus? Australia
Which country was formerly known as Persia? Iran
Which delicacy is made from goose liver? Paté de foie gras
Which digestive fluid is stored in the gall bladder? Bile
Which distance used in horse racing measures 2yards? A furlong
Which drink is advertised as "The real thing?" Coca Cola
Which English king became Duke of Windsor? Edward VIII
Which European capital city was built on 7 hills? Rome
Which falls are on the Canadian/US border? Niagara
Which fish has a variety called skipjack? Tuna
Which Ford car was nicknamed the Tin Lizzie? The model T
Which gas has replaced hydrogen in airships? Helium
Which Happy Days character was played by Henry Winkler?
Which horse won the English Grand National times? Red Rum
Which insect gives its name to a swimming stroke? Butterfly
Which instrument is played by Harry Connick Jr? Piano
Which is the hardest naturally occuring substance? Diamond
Which is the highest mountain in Africa? Kilimanjaro
Which is the larger elephant, Indian or African? African
Which is the lightest of the gases? Hydrogen
Which is the nearest star to Earth? The sun
Which is the only true flyng mammal? The bat
Which island group is home to giant tortoises? Galapagos
Which island was settled by mutineers from the Bounty? Pitcairn
Which legendary creature is half woman, half fish? A Mermaid
Which London street is famed for its clinics? Harley Street
Which part of the body is affected by laryngitis? The throat
Which planet is nearest in size to Venus? The Earth
Which plant pigment helps absorb sunlight? Chlorophyll
Which pole would you find in the Antarctic? The South Pole
Which scientist discovered penicillin? Alexander Fleming
Which Scottish loch is associated with monsters? Loch Ness
Which Scottish racing driver was world champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973? Jackie Stewart
Which sea creature is covered with feathers? The penguin
Which spirit is based on sugar cane? Rum
Which sport is governed by FIFA? Football (soccer)
Which sport uses offensive and defensive teams ? American football
Which superhero is associated with Greyskull Castle? He-man
Which tropical disease is transmitted by female mosquitos? Malaria
Which US city is famous for its Mardi Gras? New Orleans
Which vitamin is ascorbic acid? Vitamin C
Who did Cassius Clay become? Muhammed Ali
Who established the Holy Shrine at Lourdes? St Bernadette
Who formulated the equation e = mc2? Einstein
Who is Bluto's love rival? Popeye
Who is reputed to have driven the snakes out of Ireland? St Patrick
Who is the patron saint of Ireland? Saint Patrick
Who is the Roman god of the sea - Poseidon or Neptune? Neptune
Who led the Mutiny on the Bounty. Fletcher Christian
Who led the Three Musketeers? D'Artagnan
Who might use a theodolite? A surveyor
Who plays Agent Scully in The X-Files? Gillian Anderson
Who said of Battle of Britain pilots, This was their finest hour? Churchill
Who starred in the film Lawrence of Arabia? Peter O'Toole
Who starred in the film Ryan's Daughter? Robert Mitchum
Who starred in the films Hud and The Sting? Paul Newman
Who starred in the Lethal Weapon film series? Mel Gibson
Who was lead singer with Blondie? Debbioe Harry
Who was lead singer with INXS? Michael Hutchence
Who was Paul Newman's co-star in The Sting? Robert Redford

Ex-EastEnders star Mike Reid dies

Frank Butcher was one of EastEnders' most popular characters

Former EastEnders actor Mike Reid has died at the age of 67 after suffering a suspected heart attack, his agent said.

The actor, who played Frank Butcher in the BBC soap, was living in Spain at the time of his death.

Reid became a stand-up comedian having worked as a stunt man. He went on to work in TV shows including Runaround, Doctor Who and Minder.

His agent David Hahn told the BBC his death came as a great shock as he had been in very good health.

He said: "Mike was in fine fettle. In fact only a couple of weeks ago we were having dinner over here.

"Mike that particular day went to see his consultant and had a full medical - and they gave him a clean bill of health."

Even now I'm sure he's laughing David Hahn Mike Reid's agent Mike Reid: Your tributes

Mr Hahn paid tribute to Reid, who he described as "a very, very, very, funny" man.

He said: "He would see the funny side of any situation, no matter how black it was. Even now I'm sure he's laughing."

Reid joined EastEnders in 1987, quickly turning Frank into one of the show's most popular characters.

Actress Pam St Clement, who played Frank's wife Pat for many years, said: "It has come as a terrible shock - somebody larger than life as Mike was in person and character - he seemed indestructible."

Reid made his last appearance as Frank Butcher in December 2005 when his long relationship with Pat finally came to an end.

Mike's genius was to capture the heart of that flawed dreamer and make generations of viewers love him John Yorke Controller of BBC Drama Series

Actor Adam Woodyat, who plays Ian Beale, said Reid "used to brighten up long filming days keeping the cast and crew laughing".

"He was a great man and our thoughts are with Shirley and his family," he said.

John Yorke, controller of BBC drama series, said Frank's popularity was down to Reid's skill as an actor.

"Mike's genius was to capture the heart of that flawed dreamer and make generations of viewers love him," he said.

"Albert Square - and British television - will be a far poorer place without him, as will the lives of those who loved and worked with him throughout his extraordinary career."

Mike Reid was a stunt double for Roger Moore in The Saint

The actor and comedian rose to fame in 1973 when he landed a role as one of the original stars of ITV show The Comedians.

Russ Abbot, who appeared alongside Reid on the show, told BBC News 24 his former co-star was a natural entertainer.

"Mike was a story-teller and a great deliverer of great, great jokes," he said.

Frank Carson, a close friend who met Reid around 30 years ago, told BBC News 24 the news was "absolutely devastating".

"We have just lost our friend Bernard Manning a fortnight ago. I just can't realise... this is devastating news," he said.

Another fellow comedian, Mike McCabe, said Reid had been "a jack-the-lad, very funny with a great cockney way of putting things together".

"He was one of the lads. The blokes loved him, the women loved him. I admired the man," he said.

Children's host

Before entering the comedy scene, Reid began his career as a stunt man.

He worked on films including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines and Spartacus.

He had also been a stunt double for Roger Moore in The Saint.

"I know it's hard to believe - Mike was a lot taller than him, and often used to laugh about it," Mr Hahn said.

In the late 1970s, Reid hosted the ITV children's TV quiz show Runaround, remembered for its incomprehensible rules and the incongruity of him as presenter.

Timbaland ends Rihanna chart lead

Timbaland has the top single and second highest album in the charts

Timbaland's The Way I Are has knocked Rihanna off the top of the singles chart, ending her 10-week reign.

Rihanna's Umbrella was the longest-running number one single since Wet Wet Wet's Love Is All Around dominated the charts in 1994.

She has gone down to number three, with Kate Nash's Foundations at number two.

Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts topped the album chart for a second week with One Chance, while Timbaland's album Shock Value was at number two.

THIS WEEK'S TOP FIVE SINGLES 1. The Way I Are - Timbaland Ft Keri Hilson 2. Foundations - Kate Nash 3. Umbrella - Rihanna Ft Jay-Z 4, Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie 5. Do You Know - Enrique Iglesias

The Manic Street Preachers' new single, Autumnsong, entered the charts at number 10, while Garbage entered the album chart with their latest offering, Absolute, at number 11.

Green Day's latest single, the theme to The Simpsons film, debuted at number 19.

Hip hop and R&B producer Timbaland, whose single features Keri Hilson, last topped the charts in April with Give It To Me, featuring Nelly Furtado.

July 29th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1981: Charles and Diana marry Thousands line the streets of London to glimpse Prince Charles and Lady Diana on their wedding day.
	1993: Israeli court sets Demjanjuk free A court in Israel says retired Ohio car worker John Demjanjuk may not after all have been notorious Nazi death camp guard Ivan the Terrible.
	1968: Pope renews birth control ban Pope Paul VI has confirmed a ban on the use of contraceptives by Roman Catholics in spite of a Church commission's recommendation for change.

What would Baden-Powell do?

Robert Baden-Powell's scouting movement is 100 years old, but how has his advice to young people - written up a year after the first Scout camp - stood up over the years?

The 1908 edition of Scouting for Boys by Robert Baden-Powell is an extraordinary book that kicked off a movement that has changed the world.

Much of it is practical advice not just on camping, survival and the outdoor life, but how to cope with urban emergencies and how to live as a moral upstanding boy in an increasingly immoral world. It seems almost as though no area of life is neglected in the book.

Over the years it has undergone many revisions, to make it more international; dropping references to Empire and the superiority of some nations; including advice and activities for girls, and reflecting other changes in thinking.

Girls are a key part of the scouting movement now

And while some of Baden-Powell's advice seems out of place in today's risk-averse society, much of it seems prescient.

Today's equivalent of Scouting for Boys, the Scout Matrix, has concepts that are entirely new, such as how to create a webpage using HTML and surf the internet safely. But it retains the spirit of Baden-Powell's original work.

ANIMALS

SCOUTING FOR BOYS 1908:
A scout is friend to animals. He should save them as far as possible from pain and should not kill any animal unnecessarily, even if it is only a fly.


I have said the 'hunting' or 'going after big game is one of the best things in scouting'. I did not say shooting or killing the game was the best part; for as you get to study animals you get to like them more and more, and you will soon find that you don't want to kill them for the mere sake of killing.

Baden-Powell famously led the defence of Mafeking

For a man who was the product of an age that wasn't shy about shooting animals for sport alone, Baden-Powell was remarkably far-sighted in his attitudes.

Indeed, the Scout Association likes to look at the original scout as a proto-environmentalist whose life was about getting close to nature and understanding its importance.

WATER SENSE

Plunge in boldly and look to the object you are trying to attain and don't bother about your own safety.

Baden-Powell was outraged by an episode in which a woman drowned in a pond at Hampstead while a crowd looked on. But his advice on emergency situations, and particularly the rescuing of the drowning, seem at odds with today's culture.

SCOUT FACTS 20 scouts at 1907 Brownsea Island camp Now 28 million globally 350,000 girls and boys and 100,000 volunteers in UK alone 14% in UK are girls Only six countries have no scouts These are Cuba, Burma, Laos, China, North Korea and Andorra 11 of 12 moon-walking astronauts were scouts

For the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa), the emphasis is on avoiding jumping in and only even wading as a last resort.

ROSPA 2007: "You should do everything possible to avoid having to enter the water because experience shows that often the would-be rescuer becomes a casualty. If you have to make a rescue attempt, think of your own safety first and never put yourself in danger. If the rescue is too dangerous, wait until the emergency services arrive. Remember this order: shout, reach, throw, wade."

After shouting for help and sending someone to dial 999, throwing a lifebelt or reaching with a stick or branch is the next step.

SELF-ABUSE

Perhaps the most notorious part of Scouting for Boys never actually made it into the published version. Baden-Powell's lengthy injunction against "self-abuse" and the "pleasant feeling in your private parts" was cut out after the publisher suggested it might not be the best idea.

But Baden-Powell also wrote a section on "continence" for his notes for instructors which in more muted tones warned self-abuse "brings with it weakness of heart and head and if persisted in idiocy and lunacy".

As well as dirty talk and magazines, Baden-Powell suggested problems could be caused by rich food and sleeping with too many blankets and advised cold showers and boxing as a possible cure.

Extraordinarily this advice persisted at least until the 1960s.

SMOKING

No boy ever began smoking because he liked it but because he thought it made him look like a grown-up man. As a matter of fact it generally makes him look a little ass.


When a lad smokes before he is fully grown up it is almost sure to make his heart feeble, and the heart is the most important organ in a lad's body.

No-one was prepared for the popularity of scouting

Although suspicions about the harmful effects of tobacco go all the way back to the 17th Century, in 1908 it was not received wisdom that smoking was bad for you.

And the notion that smoking harms the heart coincides with much scientific research of the last three decades, such as a recent study that found people under 40 are five times more likely to have a heart attack if they smoke.

But for Baden-Powell's choice of vocabulary, this could be straight out of a government anti-smoking campaign today.

RUNAWAY HORSES

The way to stop a runaway horse is not to run out in front of it and wave your arms, as so many people do, but to try and race alongside it, catch hold of the shaft to keep yourself from falling, and seize the reins with the other hand.

This advice seems to be for a carriage, but Baden-Powell was extremely concerned that boys should know about the 200 runaway horse incidents every year.

Today, the British Horse Society says standing in front of a horse and waving may work in some circumstances as may holding on to an animal from the side, but that there will be many circumstances where it is not wise to intervene.

"It depends on how dangerous the horse is," says a spokeswoman. "If it is a stallion and it's prone to be vicious you don't want to get in its way."

RAIL RESCUE

Lie flat and make him lie flat too between the rails, and let the train go over us both

Baden-Powell's description of what might pass through your head in the event of someone falling on the tracks was prompted by the general reading in the newspapers of this very event happening at Finsbury Park station, when an Albert Hardwick rescued a woman who was about to be run over by a train.

These days, Network Rail is far from keen on anyone doing the same.

Baden-Powell admired Edward VIII

"The train and tracks are live [electrically]. We wouldn't advise anyone to go anywhere near them. The advice would be to raise the alarm with station staff."

One key consideration is that while Tube trains have a well beneath the tracks that one might lie in, most of the nation's railways do not.

But Baden-Powell would no doubt have been pleased with the actions of Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker who jumped on to the track on the New York Subway in January this year to save a man having a seizure, holding him down and allowing the train to roll overhead. And he would not have been surprised to find Mr Autrey was a former Navy sailor.

ALCOHOL

Alcohol is now shown to be quite useless as a health giving drink and it is mere poison when a man takes too much.


It is often difficult to avoid taking strong drinks when you meet friends who want to treat you... But it is a stupid fashion when, in order to prove that you are friends, you have to drink with each other.

Baden-Powell could see the alcopop-fuelled future and was straight onto the role of peer pressure in excessive drinking.

Today's Scout Matrix is more compromising in its tone, warning against excessive drinking but advising in rather Edwardian tone that the occasional drink may be OK.

Baden-Powell has been accused of jingoism but scouting had an international flavour

SCOUT MATRIX 2007: "Some parents allow their children to drink alcohol in small quantities at home. A single glass of wine with Sunday dinner perhaps or a glass of beer or cider after a hot afternoon's gardening. This is unlikely to have any adverse effect."

It offers advice on solvent abuse and drugs, not issues for the young people of Baden-Powell's day, but its metaphor for abuse sounds almost as poetic as the master scout himself.

"Even the smoothest running machine will grind to a halt if you pour sand into its works and the same is true of the human body."

MAD DOGS

Scouting for Boys tells readers faced by a mad dog to hold a stick or a handkerchief in front of them in order to distract the animal while they attempt to subdue it.

You may thus get a chance of landing him a kick under the jaw.

In the light of a number of recent maulings, Rospa has just finished drawing up advice on how to deal with an aggressive dog.

The original camp was at Brownsea Island

ROSPA 2007: "Allow the dog to come up to you and sniff you. It is very unlikely that the dog will bite you. Stand with your arms by your sides, fingers curled inwards. Keep your head down, and your eyes looking down too.

"Stand in the 'at ease' position, feet slightly apart to give you stability, but preventing the dog from going through your legs. If you are knocked over by a dog, curl up in a ball, face down."

In other words, kicking it is not the only plan, although it must be said that neither Rospa nor Baden-Powell advise running away.

ICE AND FIRE

If a person falls through ice and is unable to get out again because of the edges breaking , throw him a rope, and tell him not to struggle. This may give him confidence until you can get a long ladder or pole which will enable him to crawl out, or will allow you to crawl out to catch hold of him.

Rospa does not concur with the latter part of this advice.

ROSPA 2007: "Call for assistance from the emergency services. Do not attempt to go out onto the ice yourself. Instruct the casualty to keep still to maintain heat and energy. Try to find something that will extend your reach, such as a rope, pole, branch or item of clothing."

But Baden-Powell's advice on a fire - raise the alarm, contact the fire brigade and wait at a safe distance - could be right out of a fire safety leaflet from today.

OTHER CURIOSITIES

On sleeping in the cold:

A boy who is accustomed to sleep with his window shut will probably suffer, like many a tenderfoot has done, by catching cold and rheumatism when he first tries sleeping out. The thing is always to sleep with your windows open, summer and winter, and you will never catch cold... A soft bed and too many blankets make a boy dream bad dreams, which weakens him.

Personality test?

On the physiognomy of the face:

The shape of the face gives a good guide to the man's character. Perhaps you can tell the character of these gentlemen?

On the character of bees:

They are a quite a model community for they respect their Queen and kill their unemployed.

This was changed in later editions to "those who won't work".

July 28th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1976: Chinese earthquake kills hundreds of thousands More than 200,000 people are feared dead after an 8.3 magnitude earthquake hits China.
	2005: IRA declares end to armed struggle The IRA formally orders an end to its armed campaign and says it will pursue exclusively peaceful means.
	2000: Last prisoners leave the Maze Nearly 80 men imprisoned for terrorist offences are freed from the Maze prison in Northern Ireland.

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. There is an itch gene.
More details

2. More pop stars have been called Paul than any other name.
More details

3. One-day strikes now account for 55% of industrial stoppages.
More details

4. Naming an MP is how the speaker of the House of Commons disciplines a member – as happened to George Galloway this week .

5. Only six countries have no scouts - Cuba, Burma, Laos, China, North Korea and Andorra.
More details

6. Instead of paying inheritance tax, people can donate to museums.
More details

7. The $100 laptop costs $176.
More details

8. People who suffer from epilepsy cannot swallow their tongue, despite perceptions to the contrary.
More details

9. Jerusalem has only one female, Muslim taxi driver.
More details

10. Obesity is "contagious" - that is people who put on weight lead those around them to think it is OK to be bigger.
More details

'Space arrow' to map Earth's tug

Goce's gravity maps should achieve new levels of precision Enlarge Image

A satellite that can measure tiny variations in the Earth's gravity field will be one of Europe's most challenging space missions to date.

Goce, due for launch next year, looks like a spyplane from a movie.

Its arrow shape, fins, and electric engine help keep the satellite stable as it flies through the wisps of air still present at an altitude of 260km.

Goce data will have many uses, probing hazardous volcanic regions and bringing new insight into ocean behaviour.

The latter, in particular, is a major driver for the mission.

By combining the gravity data with information about sea-surface height gathered by other spacecraft, scientists will be able to track the direction and speed of ocean currents.

"If we want to improve our climate models then we need to improve our knowledge of how the oceans move, and Goce will help us do that," mission scientist Dr Mark Drinkwater, from the European Space Agency (Esa), told BBC News.

Rock and no roll

Most people are taught at school that the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface is 9.8m per second squared - but, in truth, this figure varies around the planet depending on the nature of the material underfoot.

We're smearing out the interpretation of the currents Dr Mark Drinkwater, Esa Goce's unique data

The planet is far from a smooth sphere; the radius of the globe at the equator is about 20km longer than at the poles. This ellipsoid is then marked by tall mountain ranges and cut by deep ocean trenches.

The Earth's interior layers are also not composed of perfect shells of homogenous rock - some regions are thicker or denser.

Such factors will cause the gravitational force at the surface to deviate from place to place by very small but significant amounts.

The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (Goce) will map these differences. This information will then be used to fashion what is, in essence, an idealised globe. Scientists call it the geoid.

GRAVITY - A MOVING TARGET The 'standard' acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface is 9.8m per second squared In reality the figure varies from 9.78 (minimum) at the equator to 9.83 (maximum) at the poles

It is a critical reference; it defines the horizontal, tracing a surface on which the pull of gravity is everywhere equal. Put a ball on this hypothetical surface and it will not roll.

The geoid is of paramount interest to oceanographers who study the causes of the "hills" and "valleys" on the sea surface.

If local gravity differences are not creating these features, then other factors such as currents, winds and tides must be responsible.

With the help of the Goce geoid, scientists will be able to tease out these details with a precision and at a resolution not obtainable with current satellite technology.

1. Goce senses tiny variations in the pull of gravity over Earth 2. The data is used to construct an idealised surface, or geoid 3. It describes where gravity is equal; balls won't roll on its 'slopes' 4. It is the shape the oceans would take without winds and currents 5. So, comparing sea level and geoid data reveals ocean behaviour 6. Gravity changes can betray magma movements under volcanoes 7. A precise geoid underpins a universal height system for the world 8. Gravity data can also reveal how much mass is lost by ice sheets

"At the moment we can see structures down to the size of 150-200km," explained Dr Jakob Flury, formerly of the Technical University Munich, Germany, and now with the University of Texas at Austin, US.

"That's nice but the oceanographers want more detail. Goce will have spatial resolution which is finer, down to 80-100km. There are 'fronts' and currents in the oceans that are at width scales of 100km."

This will help scientists to characterise boundary currents, such as the Gulf Stream, which flow along the edges of deeply sloping continental shelves.

This is cruise control for a spacecraft, but at an unbelievable level of precision Neil Wallace, QinetiQ

"The problem today is that we're losing detail as a consequence of the fact that our geoids have a very poor resolution," said Dr Drinkwater.

"We're smearing out the interpretation of the currents, and, as a result, we vastly underestimate the amount of water, heat and salt that's being transported around the ocean."

To make its gravity map, Goce will use a gradiometer. This unique instrument consists of three pairs of accelerometers that will sense the tiny variations in the tug of gravity over different parts of the Earth.

The instrument's performance is phenomenal: it will register accelerations that are less than one millionth of a millionth of the g-force we experience when standing on the Earth.

But to make the most of this sensitivity, Goce has to fly so low it will flirt with the top of the atmosphere; and that has proved to be a headache for the engineers because any buffeting on the spacecraft from air molecules will introduce noise into the data.

Qinetiq's engine assembly about to go into a vacuum test chamber

The "test masses" that make up the accelerometers must be kept in perfect free fall all the time to produce reliable readings. So, Goce uses an innovative drag-free propulsion system that throttles a special engine up and down to make compensations - to, in effect, fly the spacecraft around the test masses.

But again, the thrust levels required are tiny - a continuously variable force of anywhere between one and 20 milliNewtons during the science phase of the mission.

"This is cruise control for a spacecraft, but at an unbelievable level of precision," explained Neil Wallace from the UK technology company QinetiQ, which has built the engine.

"If you imagine you are driving your car down the motorway at 100mph (160km/h) and a mosquito hits the windscreen - the amount of deceleration your car experiences, that's what our engine has to compensate for."

The long and short

Goce is one of a growing number of spacecraft to employ an electric engine.

It draws power from solar panels stuck on one side of the satellite and uses this to charge xenon atoms which are then hurled out of nozzles on the rear of the tube-like body.

Goce will carry 40kg of xenon and this is the life-limiting factor on the mission.

Once all the xenon has been used up, the spacecraft will no longer be able to maintain fine control, and it will be allowed to fall back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.

Esa expects the mission to last 20 months - perhaps longer. Even this short period, though, should be sufficient to gain the high-quality data needed to produce the most detailed Earth geoid ever constructed.

The existing Grace mission uses a pair of satellites Mission weighs Africa's water 'Potato' Earth's deep secrets

And it will be a powerful complement to the work already being undertaken by the US-German Grace mission.

Grace (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) uses a pair of satellites to monitor how the gravity field changes over time - the evolving geoid.

It flies much higher - at about 500km - and as a consequence cannot match the resolution promised by Goce; but then the Grace twins are doing a different job.

"Grace is taking a movie and Goce is taking a high-resolution still", is the analogy used by Dr Michael Watkins, the Grace project scientist at the US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"The two missions use different ways to measure the gravity field, so they have different errors that are great to cross-calibrate," he told BBC News.

And increasingly science is about pulling together a broad range of datasets; the full picture only emerges when different perspectives and disciplines interweave.

To get a proper handle on sea level rise, for example, demands that ocean height measurements from satellites be combined with gravity and tide gauge readings and even GPS.

"It is the combinations of data which are the future," said Dr Drinkwater.

GRAVITY FIELD AND STEADY-STATE OCEAN CIRCULATION EXPLORER 1. The 1,100kg Goce is built from rigid materials and carries fixed solar wings. The gravity data must be clear of spacecraft 'noise' 2. Solar cells produce 1,300W and cover the Sun-facing side of Goce; the near side (as shown) radiates heat to keep it cool 3. The 5m-by-1m frame incorporates fins to stabilise the spacecraft as it flies through the residual air in the thermosphere 4. Goce's accelerometers measure accelerations that are as small as 1 part in 10,000,000,000,000 of the gravity experienced on Earth 5. The UK-built engine ejects xenon ions at velocities exceeding 40,000m/s; Goce's mission will end when the 40kg fuel tank empties 6. S Band antenna: Data downloads to the Kiruna (Sweden) ground station. Processing, archiving is done at Esa's centre in Frascati, Italy 7. GPS antennas: Precise postioning of Goce is required, but GPS data in itself can also provide some gravity field information

TV Editing!

Copernic Desktop Search 2.1.1

Quickly search and locate files

Platform Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Copernic Technologies
Size 4.98MB
Free download

Desktop searching has recently become all the rage, and this latest version of Copernic Desktop Search offers many more features than Google Desktop and others.

Once installed, Copernic will ask you which types of content you wish to index (files, emails, contacts, bookmarks, history etc). It will also allow you to specify particular folders to add to the index. Copernic will then index the contents of your hard drive(s), including network drives (if you choose).

Unlike other desktop search tools, Copernic has a pretty wide file support. It can index email from Outlook/Outlook Express, Thunderbird and Eudora, numerous audio and video formats, as well as bookmarks from Netscape, Mozilla (all variations) and IE. It also handles all the standard file formats: .doc, .pdf, .txt, rtf, .ppt etc.

Another neat feature is the preview pane, which lets you preview documents from within Copernic. An embedded player lets you preview audio and video files, and it also has an integrated web browser/search facility.

This is the latest 2.01 release with a wide range of new features, including a brand new user interface and instant taskbar search results.

Genie Backup Manager 7 Lite

Full commercial download, worth £10

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP
Manufacturer Genie-Soft Corporation
Size 13.1MB
Free download

Backups can be fun. Okay, no, we made that up: backing up your PC will always be dull, that's just one of the fundamentals of computing. Install Genie Backup Manager and you can at least get the whole process completed at the fastest possible speed, though. And there are a few surprising touches along the way.

Take the way you define a backup job, for instance. The Genie Backup Manager wizard provides sensible default options for everything, so you don't even have to type a backup name: just keep clicking Next and that's usually enough.

Selecting exactly what to back up is straightforward, too. Genie Backup Manager displays a tree of common features that you might want to save, like your Outlook or Outlook Express mailboxes and settings, your favourites, contacts, the Registry and more. Just check a box and they'll be added to the backup job.

The program makes it just as easy to save the contents of the My Photos or My Music folders. And Genie Backup Manager can also scan your folders for other images, audio or video files, letting you add the whole lot with another click. (Of course if this isn't enough then you can also specify individual files and folders to be backed up.)

There's a good choice of backup types, too: normal, incremental, mirror and differential. Your backup files can be compressed to save time, password-protected with up to 256-bit AES encryption, and be made self-restorable (executable files that restore their own data whether Genie Backup Manager is installed or not). The backup may be saved locally, to a network drive or using Genies own subscription-based online service, and a scheduler ensures your job runs automatically once it's been set up.

Note: ignore 'time limited demo' reference on this page. This is a full commercial download and we can't state 'freeware' as an option. It isn't freeware. No re-distribution allowed.

UPGRADE OFFER - upgrade to Genie Backup Manager Pro 8

Move to Genie Backup Manager Pro 8 and gain complete Vista compatibility, be able to save your backups to CD/ DVD, FTP, removable media (USB drives, floppy disks etc) and tape devices, as well as local or network hard drives and Genie's own online backup service. The new disaster recovery feature enables you to recover from a system disaster if you lose important work. The program can run the programs of your choice before and after backup. And right now Genie are throwing in their File Access Manager for free, a utility that helps you capture files that are open, even if they're changing during the backup. You're still only paying around $35 (approx £17), though! To order, head to https://secure.avangate.com/order/cart.php?PRODS=464533 &QTY=1&COUPON=00AE6C6C&CHK_CROSS

When the moon hits your eye like a bigga pizza pie..

Rare is the music buff who feels a need to question the genesis of a song containing the lyrics: "When the stars make you drool, just like pasta fazool." Like dental floss, Belgium or, for that matter, pasta, such songs are viewed as frothy confections that slip into existence, amoeba-style, at some juncture and hang around forever - in gangster movies, in commercials, in films starring Cher - without anyone ever devoting much time to a comprehensive investigation of their origins.
Unlike Pachelbel's Canon or Hot Legs, works intimately identified with those who wrote them, a tune like That's Amore or How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? usually has very little stature independent of the artist who made it famous. Much like oxygen, leotards or vodka, songs such as That's Amore! are viewed with great affection, but nobody really cares where they come from. It is enough that they are here. Perhaps, more than enough.

Be that as it may, That's Amore has a fascinating back story. Cooked up by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Jack Brooks in 1952, the song was written for the film The Caddy, starring Dean Martin (né Dino Crocetti). Martin at the time was the straight man in an enormously popular comedy team, partnering with the infantile, almost cretinous Jerry Lewis, his co-star in The Caddy. Martin and Lewis would later split up in, launching the longest-running, least-explicable feud in American show biz history.

At the time of the rupture, it was generally assumed that Lewis would become a huge star all on his own (which he did, after a fashion) and that Martin would gradually fade away into the woodwork. Martin flummoxed the naysayers by developing a winning alter-ego as the affable, slightly pickled playboy who forever played sidekick to Frank Sinatra in the Rat Pack. He went on to a remarkable career as a singer, actor and TV variety show host, though his songs have outlived his films. Taller, better-looking and far more likable than Sinatra, Martin radiated a tipsy urban suaveness that failed lushes of all ages envied, in part because, unlike calculating postmodern hipsters, Martin did not seem to be faking it. It is not going too far to say that to this day Martin is viewed by his countrymen as one of the most beloved Americans to ever draw breath.

That's Amore was recorded in Martin's pre-suave era. A charming, if goofy, parody of popular Neapolitan organ-grinder music, That's Amore was one of many songs from the early Fifties that helped rehabilitate Italy's image as a land of magic and romance that had somehow been lured from its festive moorings by the glum fascist Benito Mussolini. No one ever tried to do this with Germany. There is no evidence that the man who wrote the music for That's Amore went out of his way to let people know that this was the fruit of his labours. This is hardly surprising, since the brilliant but somewhat overlooked Warren had spent most of his career co-writing sophisticated material with titans ranging from Ira Gershwin to Johnny Mercer. The fact that he was now churning out cheesy novelty songs like That's Amore was a pretty good indication that his glory days were behind him

Warren, over a career that spanned three decades, composed more than 700 songs, including the music for 42nd Street, Lullaby of Broadway, You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, You'll Never Know and September in the Rain. A regular collaborator with the legendary producer Busby Berkeley, Warren won the Oscar for best original tune three times in the 1930s. It is worth noting, however, that since Warren had also supplied the tune for such hits as Chattanooga Choo-Choo and Jeepers-Creepers, he was not entirely a stranger to mundus schmaltzibus. Nor was his name reallyHarry Warren; it was Salvatore Antonio Guaranga.

Jack Brooks, who wrote the words for That's Amore, had a less illustrious career. His second-most-famous song is Ole Buttermilk Sky, which he wrote with Hoagy Carmichael (Georgia on My Mind, Stardust). It is no longer clear what an ole buttermilk sky is. For the longest time, it was assumed that Warren and Brooks simply went about their business and wrote their song for the movie, and that was that. But in his 2005 tell-all Dean & Me (A Love Story) published 10 years after Martin's death, Jerry Lewis reported that he secretly took $30,000 - a Croesian sum today - out of his own pocket and paid Warren and Brooks to write the song because he felt sorry for his partner. The way Lewis recalls it, Martin had recorded a few small hits in the early Fifties, but desperately craved a breakthrough chartbuster. Lewis thereupon made a clandestine visit to the songwriting team and said, "I need a hit for Dean." At which point, they obligingly wrote That's Amore. And just like that, Dean Martin had his monster hit.

In the book, Lewis asserted that although he felt like a "martyr" for suppressing the truth about the song's origins, he never told his partner that he had personally assured his mammoth success by going to two songwriters and declaring, "I need a hit for Dean," apparently because he was afraid it would hurt Martin's feelings. Nor does he ever explain why he did not subsequently go back to the songwriting team and say, "That was great, fellas. Now, since songwriting seems to be such a snap, I need another hit for Dean."

Despite its renown, That's Amore never reached No 1 on the US charts. The song it could not dislodge was Vaya Con Dios, performed by Les Paul and Mary Ford. The Gibson Les Paul model, the most famous guitar in the world, was designed, unsurprisingly, by Les Paul. Mr Paul is still performing in Manhattan clubs at the age of 92. Ironically, it was Dean Martin's Everybody Loves Somebody that knocked the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night out of the No 1 slot on the US charts in 1964. A Hard Day's Night was written by two natives of Liverpool, one named Paul. Scant weeks before the Titanic sank, Jack Brooks was born in Liverpool.

July 27th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1996: Bomb rocks Atlanta Olympics A bomb explodes in Atlanta, Georgia, the city hosting this year's Olympic Games leaving two people dead and many more injured.
	1965: Heath is new Tory leader Shadow Chancellor Edward Heath beats off his rivals in the Conservative leadership contest.
	1982: Seychelles coup leader guilty of hijack Mercenary leader Colonel 'Mad Mike' Hoare is found guilty of hijacking a plane to escape from a failed coup in the Seychelles.

Whose tube? Personal broadcasting

Belgian TV

A TV service in Belgium is offering viewers the opportunity to upload and broadcast their own material on their own channel.

Lommel TV allows users to create small, exclusive channels and decide who gets to watch. Use the link underneath the picture here to watch the report.

Pub News

Top stories:

500 pubs devastated by floods

Thousands of pubs without water or electricity

Licensing Minister Gerry Sutcliffe writes for thepublican.com

He gives his views on licensing and latest alcohol crime statistics

"Nothing new" over licensing review, says BBPA

Trade group plays down PM's comments

Howitt plans to fight smoking ban in court

The Blackpool licensee could be fined £17,500

Off-trade prices influencing drink patterns

Survey reveals a rise in people drinking at home before a night out

Trade groups call for support for flood-hit pubs

Affected pubs should be offered rate relief and government compensation, groups argue

more news

Other news this week:

• Send us your flood pics
• Floods: pubcos and breweries give their experiences
• Floods: Fears over long-term impact on insurance cover
• Licensee lashes out over flood defences
• Towns becoming "no-go areas" after dark
• Scottish pubs face polycarbonate push
• Pubs still without premises licences
• New pub joins Sell More Save More project
• Sport bar chain claims positive trade since smoking ban
• Greene King withdraws high court action against local residents
• SLTA calls for tougher action on alcohol-related crime
• Lord posts opposition to revised guidance
• Archers Brewery rescued from administration
• New driving licence issued from DVLA
• Managers failing to use holiday allowance
• Pilsner Urquell searches for Master Bartender
• Wetherspoon disappointed by Cambridge bid
• Gloucester pubs urged to close

more news

Features:

Policing the ban

Eleanor Goodman has a day out with a smoker free officer

more features

Blogs:

Pete Robinson: Smokers come flooding in

Helicopter camera catches the plight of outdoor smokers

Chris Maclean: new regime has failed

Licensing reform has brought more drunkenness, more violence, more disorder

more blogs

Get all the latest news and advice from the UK's leading pub trade information resource – www.thepublican.com

Summer weather wettest on record

Oxford has been one of the places affected by flooding

The early summer has been the wettest since records began more than 240 years ago, the Met Office has confirmed.

Figures covering three months up to 23 July show more than 387mm (15.2in) of rain fell in England and Wales.

That is more than double the average of 186mm (7.3in) for the period, resulting in two bouts of devastating floods in parts of England in June and July.

The previous biggest summer deluge since records started in 1766 came in 1789 when almost 350mm (13.8in) fell.

The UK summer in facts and figures

This year some places had almost three times their expected rainfall.

In contrast, parts of the west coast of Scotland experienced less rain than expected.

Severe floods have hit areas such as Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire since Friday.

Rising waters have affected electricity and running water supplies and rail services.

Dry April

In June, people in South Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire were among those struck by extreme flooding.

The month of April, however, saw record breaking high temperatures, sunshine and virtually no rain in some areas.

Rainfall was generally well below average across the UK, with south east England and East Anglia seeing less than 3mm.

The statistics show it was the driest April since 1980 and the fourth driest since records began.

All regions set records for maximum and mean temperatures, with a high of 26.5C recorded at Herstmonceux in East Sussex on 15 April.

From homemaking to safe sex

In the 1950s the focus was on homemaking skills

Polyester A-line navy blue skirts, woggles, itchy air hostess-style hats, sewn-on badges for homemaking, first aid, making fires, knots and doing semaphore - my memories of the girl guides circa 1984.

But, it seems, life for a 21st-century member of the UK's largest youth organisation for girls is now a very different experience.

Young women have ditched the woggles and navy skirts for T-shirts, rugby shirts, hoodies and jeans.

And while they can still learn how to make fires and administer first aid, they also get badges for knowledge of healthy lifestyles, world issues, circus skills, films and mastering the computer.

Flat-pack skills

Homemaking - one of the more backward-looking badges from my guiding days - has vanished, something a politically minded friend of mine will be pleased to hear after her 80s protest against it due to being a self-declared young "feminist".

In 1910 badges were earned for milking cows and lace making

But, with a survey this week revealing that young women now want to learn about safe sex, assembling flat-pack furniture, managing money and writing a CV, it seems the guiding movement in the UK may well be forced to change yet further.

Denise King, chief executive of Girlguiding UK, says it has been essential for the movement to "constantly evolve" during its 93-year history to keep pace with the changing needs of members.

"But while the detail of what we offer our members has changed, our traditional values have stayed constant," she says.

"We have always aimed to help girls and young women gain the confidence, skills and experiences necessary to broaden their horizons and reach for new goals."

Modern guide uniforms are more casual

And the movement has changed a great deal since it was set up in 1910 after a group of girls turned up the previous year at a Scouting rally at Crystal Palace demanding to join in with the boys.

At that time, young women were given awards for milking cows, making lace, carpentry and sending telegraphs.

And in 1957 badges included Homemaker (lay and light a fire, make beds, make a jam or pickle), Commonwealth (keep a scrapbook about a colony), Hostess and even Rabbit Keeper.

Changing roles

But 50 years later, young women are now able to learn how to plan parties, use computers and live independently as well as cycle and travel the world.

Another type of merit even allows young guides to participate in beauty-related activities such as having face masks, massages and manicures.

The Commonwealth badge of 1957 and the party planner of today

"Guiding has evolved over time, just as the roles of women in society have," Ms King says. "The badges have changed over time, in line with our members' needs and interests."

And this has been the secret of its continuing success, she insists.

According to the movement, more than half of women in Britain have been involved in guiding at some point during their lives, with celebrity members including presenters Cat Deeley, Lorraine Kelly and Carole Vorderman, cook Delia Smith and model Kate Moss.

There are currently 10 million members worldwide, of which 500,000 are in the UK. And there is even a waiting list of 50,000.

"Most importantly, guiding is fun," Ms King says, explaining its popularity. "We give girls and young women an opportunity to gain new experiences, learn new skills, and make friends in a safe, girl-only environment."

Adult members

And while guiding - including brownies and the older guides - mainly include girls between the ages of seven and 14, some stay on into adulthood.

Emma Joyce, 23, from Chiswick, west London, is still a member after joining as a seven-year-old and believes the movement and its badges are still relevant to young girls.

Guides looked very different in 1910

"As with any organisation, to keep people interested it has to evolve and change with society," she says.

"I think the movement modernised recently and started to take girls seriously and give them a voice. The badges have changed too, for example we now have computing and communication.

"It is all about working in the community, meeting new people - it is a great social thing as well as being active."

So although the itchy hats and the homemaking have gone, the institution of girl guiding looks set to stay.

Home cells signal mobile change

People will go to extraordinary lengths to find mobile signal

Standing in the corner of the room; being exiled to the bottom of the garden; or teetering precariously on a chair.

People will go to extraordinary lengths to find that elusive one bar of signal that will allow them to make a mobile phone call.

But soon the days of despair that occur when you arrive home only to find your new handset does not get any coverage in your house may be over.

There is a new home technology on the block, known as femtocells, and if the hype is to be believed, it will end signal problems forever.

"People I talk to say 'I want one now'," said Stephen Mallinson, CEO of UK femtocell producer ip.access.

Technology trial

The paperback sized-boxes are essentially a compact, personal mobile phone base stations that plugs straight in to your internet connection.

Make a phone call on your mobile, and instead of routing the call through the network of base stations and masts that cover most of the country, it sends the call over the internet using your broadband connection.

Until now, they have been the preserve of big business, but sometime in the next two years they could come bundled with your mobile phone contract.

Femtocells route mobile calls over the internet

"We always had the vision that the technology would be cheap enough to be in the home," said Mr Mallinson.

The company has just launched a 3G femtocell, targeted directly at home users, which could also bring high-speed mobile broadband into the home.

It is one of several offerings from companies such as Airwalk or Ubiquisys, which recently rose to prominence when search giant Google invested in the firm.

At the same time, large networks operators such as Vodafone and Softel have announced they will trial the technology.

And according to research firm ABI, by 2012 there could be 70 million femtocells installed in homes around the world serving more than 150 million users.

But for the network operators at least, the technology goes beyond just mopping up those people who cannot make phone calls on their network.

"In a sense it's mobile taking on wi-fi," said Mike Roberts, principal analyst at research firm Informa Media and Telecoms.

Call hassle

Femtocells pack high speed 3G technology or High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) inside, which can have download speeds of up to 7Mbps, similar to many home broadband offerings.

"In developed markets, their [the network operators] business has matured and they're looking for any growth opportunities they can. Taking on fixed broadband is one of those and femtocells are a great weapon to do that," said Mr Roberts.

The customer is paying for the backhaul Stephen Mallinson Wi-fi change for mobiles

According to the Oxford Internet Survey, 67% of the UK's population are current internet users and 29% have wi-fi access.

Grabbing an increasing share of this market is attractive to mobile operators, said Mr Roberts, and one way of doing that would be to build HSDPA straight into laptops

"That way you can connect to your femtocell and you can use it everywhere else as well - that's compelling," he said.

But the rise of the femtocell also has other advantages to the mobile networks.

Over the last few years various technologies have converged that threaten to make a dent in mobile operator's profits.

For example, wireless connectivity on handsets along with VoIP allows people to cut the cost of calls by bypassing the mobile phone network.

Companies such as Skype, Jajah and Truphone have all got in on the action.

"VoiP over wi-fi is starting but it's still early days," said Mr Roberts. "It's a real hassle to use and it's nowhere near the quality, reliability or usability of cellular voice."

If mobile operators can get femtocells into the home quickly, then they can prevent the rise of VoIP over home wi-fi.

"It's kind of like the mobile operator empire striking back," said Mr Roberts.

Cheap networks

The cellular networks have so far remained relatively tight-lipped about how they plan to use the technology.

Vodafone have said they are "currently looking at the business case".

By routing calls over the net femtocells free up the main network

"Femtocells are being assessed at a Group level as there may be strategic benefits such as improved 3G indoor coverage and lower costs," the company said.

"Femtocells could also allow us to develop new propositions for customers which could help to stimulate 3G usage still further."

Encouraging customers to sign up for 3G services is key for companies that spent billions on licences to secure the spectrum.

But there may be another advantage to the networks.

"The customer is paying for the backhaul," explained Mr Mallinson.

In a sense, mobile customers would be subsidising the growth of the mobile network by using their own home broadband and crucially, only subsidising growth in those areas where it is needed.

And that might be the first of several difficult sells to customers, according to Mr Roberts.

"If I'm a consumer I will say: 'OK, this is using my broadband line what do I get in return?'," he said.

"And it could be that you're mobile calls are free or at landline rates. I think they will definitely have to address that issue with free stuff."

Femtocells could be given away free or even bundled with wi-fi routers to make them more attractive.

Signal strength

But the technology may face an ever bigger challenge before it gains widespread acceptance: its image.

"It's a base station in your home effectively," said Mr Roberts.

"I think mobile operators would certainly not like me calling them that...which is why they came up with the new name: femtocell, said Mr Roberts.

There have been several well publicised campaigns against the building of large scale base stations in residential areas.

Although companies such as ip.access are keen to stress that the technology operates at a much lower power than a standard base station - and well within government guidelines - the association with their larger cousins may be enough to put some people off.

But even so, analysts see a bright future for femtocells.

"We can see them taking off," said Mr Roberts.

And when that happens, the days of people waving their phones in the air to find even a glimmer of signal could be over. At home at least, full signal should be the norm.

July 26th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1956: Egypt seizes Suez Canal Egypt's president, Colonel Nasser, announces the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company to provide funding for the construction of the Aswan High Dam.
	1945: Churchill loses general election Clement Attlee is Britain's new prime minister after Labour win a sweeping victory over the Conservatives.
	1963: Thousands killed in Yugoslav earthquake Thousands of people are feared dead as a massive earthquake rocks the Yugoslavian city of Skopje.

Hundreds killed in European heatwave

While Britain wades through its washed-out summer, hundreds of lives in Eastern and southern Europe have been lost in a week of stifling temperatures and forest fires.

An estimated 500 deaths were attributed to the hottest weather for a century in Hungary, while temperature records were also set in Bulgaria and Greece. The mercury soared to 45C (113F) in Athens yesterday.

Albania, Bosnia and Macedonia each declared a state of emergency as hospitals struggled to cope with victims of heat-related conditions.

In Italy, Rome sweltered, while on the coast in Puglia holidaymakers had to escape by sea from brush fires that swept down to the beaches and claimed at least four lives.

Related Links

• Freak Hungary heat wave leaves 500 dead

• Ash rains down on capital

Winds fanned dozens of fires in Greece, but the real culprits behind many of the blazes were believed to be arsonists working for property developers. Athens was ringed by fires, forcing the evacuation of children’s summer camps and a village near Corinth.

Several hundred acres of woodland have been burnt in the hills in the past week and three firemen died in one fire.

The Kathimerini newspaper called the fires “an ecological crime without punishment”. It referred to data from the European Central Bank showing that corruption in Greece – including bribes to officials by land-hungry property developers – cost the country €15 billion (£10 billion) a year. There have been two million applications to declassify forest land for building and commercial development and some of those who are turned down simply hire arsonists to clear the land and then bribe officials to look the other way. “People don’t think twice about turning farmland or public land into building plots,” Kathimerini said. “The powers that be, meanwhile, do nothing.”

In Hungary, temperatures hit 41.9C in the southern city of Kiskunhalas – the highest recorded in the country. Ferenc Falus, the chief medical officer, said that in the past week the heat in central Hungary “contributed to the early death of 230 people, which nationally means about 500 deaths”. Most were attributed to heatstroke, cardiovascular problems and other illnesses aggravated by the high temperatures.

Bulgaria reached its highest recorded temperature of 44C and shifts for municipal workers were reduced to half a day.

Eugen Nicolaescu, the Romanian Health Minister, said that at least 27 people had died from heat-related conditions. Hundreds of mostly elderly people had collapsed in the street, he said.

Romanian authorities said that the heat had resulted in 19,000 people being admitted to hospital, most often with respiratory problems. Theatres in Bucharest were converted into water distribution centres.

Four people were killed by fast-moving forest fires in southern Italy that were blamed on arsonists. Emergency workers used boats and helicopters to transfer 4,000 holidaymakers and residents to safety from beaches in Puglia. Two people were found burnt to death in a car and two were suffocated by smoke on a beach near the village of Peschici. The pilot of a firefighting plane was killed on Monday when he crashed in the Abruzzo region.

About 2,000 fires have been reported in Serbia in the past five days, leaving at least 400 acres of forest burnt. In Macedonia, one person died and twenty were forced to leave burning houses near Bitola, the country’s second-largest city, as temperatures reached 42C amid a declared national emergency.

The extreme temperatures were dipping last night as southern and Eastern Europe prepared for storms in place of the scorching sunshine.

Q: How many phone-in callers were cheated by GMTV? A: 25 million

GMTV, ITV’s breakfast broadcaster, admitted last night that viewers who spent £35 million over four years had no chance of winning one of its phone-in competitions.

The figure, larger than previously expected, opens up a massive liability for the commercial broadcaster, which has promised to refund everybody affected – although ITV hopes that not everybody will claim.

GMTV released the £35 million figure last night after its managing director, Paul Corley, had resigned. He is the first television chief to quit after the string of phone-in scandals that have hit every main broadcaster.

It reflects that GMTV took 25 million premium-rate phone calls from viewers after shortlists of potential winners had already been selected by the phone provider Opera Telecom. Those calls, costing between 25p and £1.80 a time, and made between January 2003 and March this year, had no chance of winning.

Related Links

• Broadcasters attacked over phone-in failures

• Failures cast a shadow over the BBC's integrity

• What happened to honesty and accuracy?

Mr Corley, who has run GMTV for six years, said that he would like to apologise unreservedly, adding: “It is important that people take responsibility when mistakes are made that threaten the trust of our viewers.” GMTV would not say whether he would get a payoff.

ITV owns 75 per cent of GMTV, with the rest held by the Walt Disney Company. Last year ITV made £288 million before tax; meaning that if everybody claimed the refund it could cost the broadcaster 12 per cent of profits. Every morning about five million people watch GMTV, which vies with the BBC Breakfastto produce Britain’s most popular breakfast show.

Despite yesterday’s admission, there could be more damaging admissions to come for ITV. Michael Grade, ITV’s executive chairman, ordered a separate investigation into its phone-in competitions in recent years. That inquiry, conducted by Deloitte & Touche, is expected to reveal more examples of phone-in competitions in which some viewers who rang in had no chance of winning.

GMTV’s problems were first exposed in April, when an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama revealed that shortlists of potential winners of competitions were selected at about 8am – an hour before phone lines actually closed. At that time GMTV downplayed estimates that calls amounting to £10 million were not being included, although that estimate has turned out to be relatively accurate.

Yesterday GMTV revealed the results of its own internal inquiry into the affair. In addition to the refunds, it also said it would hold 250 prize draws for affected entrants, each with a £10,000 prize, at a cost of £2.5 million. Its sacked phone provider, Opera Telecom, is to contribute £1.5 million to the compensation fund.

GMTV said one of the reasons that the volume of affected calls was so high was that it had adopted stringent criteria for refunds, and included people who called in at moments after the last successful shortlisted caller. It is possible that some people who called minutes after could still have won a prize. It is understood that GMTV derives about half of its £20 million annual profit from the phone-ins, which is an indicator of how lucrative the competitions had become.

Winners and losers

January 2003 Opera Telecom, on behalf of GMTV, begins picking shortlist of potential winners before phone lines close at midnight
June 2005 Closing moved to 9am but shortlists picked at 8am
March 5, 2007 ITV suspends its phone-ins, pending a review by Deloitte & Touche, but independently-run GMTV does not
April 23 Panorama reveals scandal; GMTV suspends competitions. It is estimated that viewers were cheated out of £10 million a year; this is not accepted by GMTV
July 25 GMTV admits that 25 million calls should have been entered. Paul Corley, the managing director, resigns

E-pub: the digital DJ

Introducing a new generation of music and video streaming

In the space of a couple of years technology has transformed the way we listen to music. The ability to download a personalised selection of tracks from the internet has almost made CDs redundant. Sections of the music industry have been caught on the hop and the charts have had to change the way they measure sales to accurately reflect the market.

But what about pubs? The internet jukebox is steadily transplanting the CD jukebox, but there are many pub and bar operators who want control over the music playing in their venues. They are aware that it’s a key element in creating atmosphere and defining the experience they want their customers to have. A lot of independent licensees are left fumbling around with CDs behind the bar. Others hire DJs. There are systems, too, that enable you to download a tailored music selection via satellite. But, according to one supplier, a new development is about take pubs into the iPod age.

Avanti Screenmedia is well known to the pub industry having been originally set up – under the name Translucis – by drinks giant Diageo as an experimental vehicle for the promotion of its brands on big screens at point of sale.

As time went on, the entertainment content, devised to draw attention to the ads as well as give pubs and bars added value, grew more sophisticated. Avanti’s MVN service, for instance, offers licensees music video programming, tailored to audience and ambience, broadcast direct to screens by satellite. And now we have a third generation of Avanti’s Genie system, which aims to give pubs more control than ever over their screen and audio entertainment.

John Bagguley, the man drafted in to introduce Genie III to the marketplace, is, significantly, not a techie person. A former professional musician who has designed recording studios for top bands, including the Spice Girls, he sees his job as helping licensees to make the best use of music to drive their businesses. “The system is devised with bar managers and pub DJs in mind,” he says. “We talked to music-friendly chains including Walkabout, Litten Tree and Revolution to find out what they needed from it.”

What Genie III gives them is flexibility. With a simple brush of the touchscreen a pub can switch between controlling the music from behind the bar to the DJ consul. Larger managed groups can also take control from their HQ. DJs and bar managers can create their own playlists from a satellite library of more than 2,000 music videos (there’s room for 10,000 more) by physically dragging them across the screen. They can home in on the right tunes by choosing a style (such as pop, soul or jazz); an era (say, the 80s or 90s); and, importantly for pubs that want to ramp things up or tone them down, the tempo (in beats per minute).

A virtual dual turntable enables DJs to generate similar effects to spinning discs by moving seamlessly from one track to another. Advertising content can be pre-programmed to interrupt the videos with, for instance, a 30-second ad which might screen twice every half-hour. Ads can be created by the outlet itself from a choice of five templates that come with the system, promoting future events and food and drinks offers or advertising a local taxi firm, for example.Genie takes over automatically

Should the bar get busy and the playlist run out, or the DJ disappear, Genie III takes over automatically, switching music video programming from MVN.“We knew the system had to be simple to operate,” says John. “It gives everyone the opportunity to be a video DJ, and there is only ever one page on the screen for whoever’s operating it to worry about.

“One of the great things, too, is that the system need not get in the way of a pub’s usual sports screenings. If you’ve got, say, four screens, you can have one showing football, two with music videos and run ads on the one behind the bar. “You don’t just have to use music videos downloaded from our satellite. It can be linked to Sky or play DVDs.”

John aims to get Genie III into up to 300 outlets within the next six months. “I’m hoping it will spread eventually to all music-friendly venues in the UK,” he adds.

Get all the latest news and advice from the UK's leading pub trade information resource – www.thepublican.com

July 25th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	2000: Concorde crash kills 113 Concorde crashes minutes after take-off from Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris killing 113 people.
	1978: First 'test tube baby' born The birth of the world's first "test tube baby" is announced in Manchester, England.
	1943: Italian dictator Mussolini quits The Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, steps down as head of the armed forces and the government.

Antique engines inspire nano chip

The nano computer is inspired by Babbage's difference engine

The blueprint for a tiny, ultra-robust mechanical computer has been outlined by US researchers.

The energy-efficient nano computer is inspired by ideas about computing first put forward nearly 200 years ago.

Writing in the New Journal of Physics, the scientists say the machine would be built from nanometre sized components, just billionths of a metre across.

Chips based on the design could be used in places, such as car engines, where silicon can be too delicate, they said.

"What we are proposing is a new type of computing architecture that is only based on nano mechanical elements," said Professor Robert Blick of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the authors of the paper.

"We are not going to compete with high-speed silicon, but where we are competitive is for all of those mundane applications where you need microprocessors which can be slow and cheap as well."

In addition to high-temperature automotive applications, Professor Blick envisaged nano mechanical chips being used in everything from toys to domestic appliances.

Tiny thinking

Mechanical computers are nothing new. The remains of a 2,000 year old analogue computer known as the Antikythera mechanism were discovered in Greece in 1902.

And during the nineteenth century, English mathematician and engineer Charles Babbage designed various steam-powered mechanical computers.

We are quite confident that in a couple of years this work will lead to commercial applications Robert Blick

His "difference engine", for example, consisted of more than 25,000 individual levers, ratchets and cogs and weighed more than 13 tons.

Although none of his designs were ever finished, recent reconstructions by London's Science Museum show they were capable of carrying out complex calculations.

The US team's proposal owes a debt to these early concepts.

"It's inspired by Babbage's ideas but these days we can scale it down," Professor Blick told the BBC News website.

"Now, we are able to process devices on the nano scale."

Work in progress

The team's tiny, hypothetical number-cruncher could be built out of ultra-hard materials such as diamond or piezoelectric materials, which change shape when an electric current is applied.

Unlike today's computers, which are based on the movement of electrons around circuits to do useful calculations, the nano mechanical computer would use the push and pull of each tiny part to carry out calculations.

Nano-mechanics could help chip firms keep up with Moore's Law

The researchers are currently building the first elements needed for the computer, focusing initially on transistors, the basic switches at the heart of all computers.

"We have demonstrated that a single element of these transistors work," said Professor Blick.

Simulations also suggest that it should be possible to build working circuits, he said.

"We are quite confident that in a couple of years this work will lead to commercial applications," said Professor Blick.

The American military is interested in a working device because unlike traditional chips, nano mechanical devices are not susceptible to electromagnetic pulses, which could be used by an enemy to knock out computing systems.

Design principles

However, the team believes the chip's key advantage could be in keeping up with the chip industry's relentless pursuit of Moore's Law.

The proposition, articulated by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965, states that the number of transistors on a chip could double every 24 months.

The first prototype parts are being built from gold and silicon

"The smaller you make your devices, the more electrons rush through and the hotter your device gets," said Professor Blick.

"In the not too distant future we will reach a thermal limit."

At that point, the heat will interfere with the function of the circuits and offset any efficiency gained by packing more transistors on to the chip.

The mechanical devices run much cooler than silicon and should therefore not suffer from the same problem.

But Dr Michael Kraft of the University of Southampton believes it will take a lot to persuade the silicon industry to abandon more traditional chip designs, such as the common circuit pattern known as CMOS.

"The industry has been working with CMOS for almost 40 years and there is already so much expertise and infrastructure," he told the BBC News website.

"I think, commercially, industry will continue with CMOS up to the point where it is absolutely not possible to push it any further."

However, he said, the nano mechanical approach did offer certain benefits that could lead to hybrid chips.

"They consume less power which is more and more important because most computers are mobile these days," he said.

"The battery is the big bottleneck, so anything that reduces the power consumption is a real advantage."

Russians to dive below North Pole

The ship will follow an ice-breaker through the Arctic

Russia is sending a mini-submarine to explore the ocean floor below the North Pole and find evidence to support its claims to Arctic territory.

Two parliamentarians, including veteran explorer Artur Chilingarov, are part of a team planning to dive 4,200m (14,000 ft) below the Arctic Ocean on Sunday.

The team's ship is following a nuclear powered ice-breaker, setting sail from Murmansk port in the Barents Sea.

Melting ice in the Arctic has raised hopes of accessing energy reserves.

Russia's claim to a vast swathe of territory in the Arctic, thought to contain oil, gas and mineral reserves, has been challenged by other powers, including the US.

See a detailed map of the region

Moscow argued before a UN commission in 2001 that waters off its northern coast were in fact an extension of its maritime territory.

The claim was based on the argument that an underwater feature, known as the Lomonosov Ridge, was an extension of its continental territory.

The UN has yet to rule upon the claim.

Geological proof

The team aboard the mini-submarine Mir is expected to carry out scientific experiments and measurements on the sea bed.

Reports say it will also leave behind a Russian flag and a capsule with a message for future generations.

"The Arctic is ours and we should demonstrate our presence," Mr Chilingarov told Russian TV.

His colleague and fellow parliamentarian Vladimir Gruzdev was quoted as saying: "We must remind the whole world that Russia is a great polar and scientific power."

The expedition's "flagship", the Akademik Fyodorov, will follow the trail of the ice-breaking ship Rossiya as it travels from Murmansk to the North Pole.

The Law of the Sea Convention allows states an economic zone of 200 nautical miles, which can sometimes be expanded.

To extend the zone, a state has to prove that the structure of the continental shelf is similar to the geological structure within its territory.

At the moment, nobody's shelf extends up to the North Pole, so there is an international area around the Pole administered by the International Seabed Authority.

Call to stop patio heaters sale

Campaigners say patio heaters emit too much CO2

People are being told to wear jumpers instead of relying on patio heaters, in an attempt to cut carbon emissions.

The Energy Saving Trust has urged retailers to stop selling the heaters after a report suggesting their use will almost double over the next year.

It says the number of privately owned units in the UK will rise from 1.2 million to 2.3 million.

Each heater uses the same amount of energy in six months as a kitchen gas hob does in a year, the Trust said.

Chief executive Philip Sellwood said: "Why don't people just wear a jumper?"

After interviewing 1,192 UK households, researchers found that Yorkshire and Humberside had the highest rate of current or intended patio heater owners, on 18%.

'Responsible'

The lowest rate was in the East of England, on 3%.

Two-thirds of patio heater owners said they used theirs once or twice a week.

Half of owners switched theirs on during the hottest months of the year, July and August.

Mr Sellwood said: "We are calling for responsible retailers to reconsider the sale of patio heaters in light of the substantial amount of carbon emissions they produce."

It is thought that the recently imposed smoking ban in enclosed public places in England will lead to more outdoor smoking and an increase in commercial patio heaters.

Mr Sellwood said: "People are also influencing the larger, more damaging commercial sector, with a third of pub-goers choosing pubs where there is a patio heater.

"Landlords are helping to make patio heaters desirable - which they are not."

Some 31% of people who responded to the survey said they liked to sit outside pubs and would choose one with outdoor heating.

Last month, London Mayor Ken Livingstone called for a halt in the spread of "wasteful" patio heaters and urged retailers not to promote them.

Nerve centre for water operation

Flooding in Gloucestershire has left hundreds of thousands of people without tap water. Cheltenham racecourse has become the nerve centre for the operation to keep them supplied.

Army vehicles are being used to distribute water

It might be more used to the sight of lean, galloping horses than squat military trucks.

But in the midst of the flooding that has engulfed much of west and central England, Cheltenham racecourse finds itself at the heart of the operation to provide water to 350,000 people.

Surrounded by the rolling Cotswold hills, the venue of the Gold Cup now serves a purely functional purpose.

Civilian trucks loaded with water arrive at the site, either to be sent out directly to be distributed among communities, or to be loaded onto Army vehicles. All leave with a full police escort.

Difficulties admitted

Seeing off three Army trucks bound for hospitals with cases of water, Capt Dave Boswell MBE, of 9 Supply Regiment RLC, believes the operation is, so far, keeping pace with extraordinary circumstances.

Of the 1m litres of water having arrived on site on Tuesday, he says, 750,000 litres have been sent out.

He acknowledges there have been difficulties, such as Army forklift trucks being unable to fully unload many of the civilian lorries.

But eventually, he insists, the task of making sure the water gets through is succeeding.

"From the feedback I have been getting from the public, people are happy with the way things are going," he says.

Lorry driver Andy Purvis travelled across the country

Among the civilian hauliers who have arrived at the site, however, there is some frustration.

Andy Purvis, 52, a truck driver from Carlisle, has been waiting with a full cargo he has driven from Felixstowe, Kent.

It is exasperating, he says, that so many trucks have not moved for hours.

"But it's part of the job," he sighs. "You get used to it."

'Remain flexible'

The Army officers overseeing the mission, however, explain they themselves are at the mercy of civilian planners.

Fresh from the latest planning meeting, Capt Harj Gill says he has to try to meet the needs of the people who are attempting to deal with the crisis on the streets of Gloucestershire.

"Everything's coming up through civilian authorities," he adds.

"If they feel they need a military detail then we send them out with military equipment. We remain flexible if they need to go out tonight."

As the sun sets over Cheltenham, everyone involved is aware how tough the task ahead remains.

Thousands of families in the county will be hoping they remain focused on making sure they succeed.

The great floods of 1947

Sixty years ago Britain suffered floods similar to those seen this week. Back then, the deluge came after heavy snow, and Canada sent food parcels.

Policemen in a rowing boat rescue inhabitants of Spring Lane, London, where flood waters reached alarming heights after the River Lea burst its banks in March 1947. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty images


Britain is no world-beater when it comes to flood prevention and control, but the country has few equals in putting up memorials to great soakings of the past. Everywhere from York to Gloucester via London, notched poles mark the riversides, engraved with historic high-water levels. Prominent on them all is the date 1947, the benchmark year in living memory for every subsequent flood.

Back then, the country, still dazed by the aftermath of war, was gripped by an iron winter and the biggest snowfall anyone could remember. Hundreds of villages were marooned, trains were buried in drifts and queues formed at gasworks during powercuts to fill sacks with coke for fires at home. Then, on March 7, a thaw began in the least helpful way possible. An inch of rain fell in a few hours and could not soak into the still icy ground. Snowmelt followed rapidly and the big rivers rose by a foot an hour. At Windsor, where water streamed off the Great Park "as if off a slate roof", according to royal officials, the borough engineer Geoffrey Baker lamented bluntly, "We could only cope if we had a spare Thames, or two."

Flood defences were pitiful by today's standards and this summer's victims, such as Gloucester and Tewkesbury, became rivers almost at once. Valleys turned into lakes in 40 counties and East Anglia's fens were a sandbagged inland sea. More than 100,000 properties were damaged - at least twice this year's toll - and, then as now, heroic battles were fought by the military to keep water-pumping plants and power stations dry. There was no internet but the sense of crisis was felt worldwide. Canada sent food parcels to stricken villages in Suffolk; the prime minister of Ontario even offered to help dish them out. Relief work in Gloucester was aided by volunteers from the Australian Red Cross.

The floods hit north, south and the flatlands in between, where towns such as Long Eaton, near Nottingham, had just seen furious recriminations about flooding the previous year. No sooner had the town council agreed on warnings from loudspeaker vans and the purchase of six punts and a store of disinfectant for future crises, than the river Trent was rising by a foot an hour. Down the railway line at Nottingham, trains docked like tramp steamers at the city station, taking passengers from platforms which were islands in the flood.

Evacuation was primitive and often unwanted by families who clung to their homes and "upstairs living", with few of the white goods and TVs which lock modern households to the ground floor. Bakers in Upton upon Severn and Shrewsbury - the latter islanded even more completely than Tewkesbury was this year - earned a name for cricket-bowling accuracy in lobbing loaves from skiffs into upstairs windows. In Chiswick, a fleet of small boys earned a relative fortune by going shopping for marooned neighbours in boats converted from zinc baths, equipped with baskets and string. On the river Ouse at Barlby, near Selby, North Yorkshire - spared this year but a major victim in 2000 - national servicemen in the Royal Engineers recounted a different sort of trick.

Their dinghies took bread along the flooded streets but were ordered only to deliver milk if families could show a baby at the window. Street after street produced the necessary infants - "so similar," one veteran of the military operation recalled half a century later, "that we wondered if they had their own boat at the back to pass them from house to house."

The floods peaked after a week and took another 10 days to subside completely, leaving immediate damage estimated by Clement Attlee's Labour government at £12m (£300m at current values). The final cost, after repairs to infrastructure and totting up the devastation to farmland, was between £3bn and £4.5bn, in line with this summer's toll.

Then, as now, saw harking back to even greater swampings. "I was in the 1915 flood and this was only a pond by comparison," a farmer called John Laws told the Ontario PM at Southery Fen. "You can't discourage a man who was born in mud."

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The Giant Multiple Choice Weather Quiz

The Earths weather

1. What is defined as standard air pressure at sea level in millibars?
0
212
32
1,013

2. A circulating movement of air or other fluids as a result of temperature differences is called a...
Radiation pattern
Weather front
Convection current
Conductive effect

3. Land will gain or lose heat ___ water.
Faster than
Slower than
Same as
Unlike

4. A local climate pattern is called a(n)...
Ecosystem
Biosphere
Microclimate
Biome

5. A tropical cyclone becomes a hurricane when the windspeed reaches ___ miles per hour.
50
66
75
100

6. What do scientists think would be most likely to happen if there were to be a two degree Fahrenheit rise in the average temperature of the earth?
There would be less rainfall in rain forests
Tropical climates would be cooler
The polar icecaps would melt, causing flooding
There would be no deserts

7. More than ___ tornadoes strike the U.S. every year.
400
800
1200
1600

8. Which layer of the atmosphere is the highest layer and extends outward into outer space?
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Ionosphere
Exosphere

9. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of an "air mass" or "high pressure cell"?
Covers many hundreds of square miles
Often contains very damp air
Takes on the temperature of the land over which it forms
Temperature and moisture are fairly constant throughout

10. The amount of water vapor in the air compared to how much it could hold at that temperature is called the...
Absolute humidity
Barometric pressure
Relative humidity
Standard pressure

11. Which of the following would NOT be used to seed clouds?
Silver iodide
Potassium nitrate
Solid carbon dioxide (dry ice)
Potassium Chlorate

12. The "eye" of a hurricane is in the center and usually contains ___ weather.
Violent
Rainy and windy
The strongest winds and the most violent
Calm

13. Mountains will gain and lose heat ___ valleys.
Faster than
Slower than
Same as
Unlike

14. A typical cloud droplet is only 1/2500" in diameter. It will not fall at all in moving air. How long will it take one such droplet to fall 1/2 mile in perfectly still air?
8 hours
12 hours
16 hours
20 hours

15. Stratus and cumulus are the two major classifications of...
Pressure areas
Cyclones
Hurricanes
Clouds

16. About how many years do we have accurate temperature records for?
10
25
50
100

17. Air pressure is measured using a...
Sling psychrometer
Hygrometer
Anemometer
Barometer

18. The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere is called the...
Moho
Thermal inversion
Tropopause
Kenly layer

19. Water is added to the air as a result of...
Rainfall
Evaporation
Winter snowfalls
Dew and fog

20. Although they form at the same time, at some distance from a storm, thunder seems to follow lightning because...
Light travels faster than sound
Sound travels faster than light
Of a complex optical illusion
Of friction within the atmosphere

21. Water covers about what percent of the earth's surface?
18
23
57
71

22. Freezing raindrops inside a cumulonimbus (thunder) cloud will produce...
hail
sleet
snow
fog

23. A tornado over water is called a(n)...
Maritime tornado
Waterspout
Hurricane
Intercyclonic disturbance

24. Approximately how many miles is the sun from the earth?
186 thousand
93 million
210 million
632 thousand

25. Weather forcasters generally measure wind speed in ___.
Miles per hour
Kilometers per hour
Knots
Feet per second

26. Areas of low pressure are called...
Millibars
Anticyclones
Isobars
Cyclones

27. An aneroid barometer may be used to measure air pressure AND...
Relative humidity
Windspeed
Altitude
Windchill factor

28. What percent of the atmosphere is composed of nitrogen?
22
43
78
89

29. A weather satellite in orbit about 22,500 miles above the earth remains in a fixed position and is said to be in a(n) ___ orbit.
Oblate
Elliptical
Obtuse
Geosynchronous

30. At the equinoxes (spring and fall) the North Pole is tilted...
Closest to the sun
Farthest from the sun
About the same angle as the South Pole in relation to the sun
At a 45 degree angle

31. A recording thermometer is called a(n)...
Hydrograph
Thermograph
Plesmograph
Celsiometer

32. Snow will reflect ___ percent of the sunlight striking its surface.
10
35
75
98

33. What forms when air masses collide?
New air masses
Radiant energy
Conduction currents
Weather fronts

34. Water that falls as rain and then freezes on contact with the earth's surface is called...
Hydroglasine crystals
Freezing rain
Snow fog
Frost

35. Lightning is caused by...
Solar flares
Attraction between charged particles of unlike charges
Heat energy buildup within clouds
Large metal deposits within the earth

36. A single lightning discharge can be up to ___ volts at ___ amperes.
1 million; 1,000
15 million; 10,000
20 million; 50,000
30 million; 100,000

37. A tropical cyclone which leads to the formation of a hurricane is started spinning by...
The earth's rotation
Clashes between fronts
Waterspouts
Polar air masses

38. High clouds are composed almost entirely of what?
Water vapor
Dust
Ice crystals
Tiny droplets of condensed moisture

39. High pressure areas are usually associated with which kind of weather?
Fair
Rain or snow
Sleet
Cloudy

40. Clouds will form when...
The relative humidity drops
Evaporation increases
The air is warmer than its saturation point
The air cools below its saturation point

41. The atmosphere is heated primarily by...
Contact with the earth's surface
Conversion of radiant energy in the upper atmosphere
The introduction of volcanic gases into the air
Direct contact with sunlight

42. What type of front is formed when cold air pushes warm air?
Tropical
Maritime
Cold
Warm

43. A summer day at the North Pole has how many hours of daylight?
6
12
18
24

44. Which layer of the atmosphere lies above the stratosphere and extends upward to about 50 miles above the earth's surface?
Troposphere
Tropopause
Mesosphere
Ionosphere

45. The water vapor in the air is called...
Latent dew
Permafrost
Humidity
The hydronomic factor

46. Cumulus clouds form as a result of...
Rising air currents
Warm air coming in contact with the cold earth
Activity along a warm front
Interactions in a low pressure system

47. Along a warm front, the vertical slope is...
Almost straight up
Greater than that of a cold front
Much less steep than that of a cold front
Likely to change rapidly

48. Local winds and breezes are caused by differences in heating of adjacent ___.
Terrain
High and low pressure areas
Weather fronts
Latitudes

49. The cloud ceiling is measured by means of the ___.
Ceilometer
Aneroid barometer
Altimeter
Hydroscope

50. Which of the following is NOT true of polar air masses as they travel across the United States?
They change rapidly
Bottom layers of air warm creating turbulence
Cumulus clouds and preciptation are generated
Warm fronts are on their leading edge

51. Modern rain making or cloud seeding techniques are based on the principle of...
Evaporation
Hydrophobia
Convection
Coalescence

52. The earth's surface will cool much faster on a clear night because...
The clear air acts as an insulator
There are no clouds that would allow heat to return back into space
There are

53. The theory which says that heat is being trapped in the atmosphere due to buildup of gases is called...
The Coriolis Effect
The Greenhouse Effect
The Van Allen Effect
The Kennely-Heavyside Effect

54. A record of relative humidity over time is made by a(n)...
Anemometer
Thermograph
Hydrograph
Barometer

55. As a cold front passes, a barometer usually...
Rises and then falls
Falls and then rises
Remains steady
Fluctuates wildly

56. Some scientists beileve that ultraviolet radiation in the atmosphere is increasing due to...
Decreasing ozone
Increasing carbon dioxide
Decreasing oxygen
Increasing smog

57. Hurricane damage is due to all of the following EXCEPT...
Winds up to 200 miles per hour
Storm waves and tides
Violent upsurges of high pressure
Flash flooding

58. Which layer of the atmosphere is sometimes called the thermosphere and features layers that reflect radio waves?
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Ionosphere

59. High and low pressure cells are caused by...
Pressure differences generated by the pull of gravity
Shifting of great air masses caused by unequal heating
Solar flares
The tilt of the earth's axis

60. When warm air rises underneath a large cumulonimbus cloud, what may be formed?
A heat low
A heat high
A local low
A local high

61. The sun's radiant energy is trapped in the atmosphere and changed to heat by a process known as...
Photosynthesis
Entrophy
The greenhouse effect
Convection

62. Water vapor condensing on a cold surface below freezing will form...
Glaze
Dew
Frost
Fog

63. Storms along a cold front are generally...
Long lasting and gentle
Infrequent
Major sources of flooding
Brief but violent

64. Which of the following is NOT true with regard to ozone?
It is made of three atoms of oxygen
It is released into the atmosphere by spray cans
It filters ultraviolet radiation
It is produced by lightning

65. Sudden tremendous heat created by a lightning bolt expands the surrounding air and generates a compression wave which produces...
Thunder
Hail
A violent downpour
Static electricity

66. Microclimates may be caused by all but which of the following?
Inland lakes
Type of plant cover
Elevation
Solar flares

67. What does the prefix "alto" mean?
Low
Rain bearing
High
Dry

68. An unbroken line of black high clouds and possibly thunderstorms which sometimes precedes a cold front are called...
Squall lines
Nor'easters
Tornadoes
Tropical depressions

69. What does the prefix "fracto" mean?
A portion of
Randomly swirled
Fragmented or broken
Ice bearing

70. The layer of water stored in saturated soil above non-porous clay or rock is called...
Groundwater
Runoff
Evaporite
Glacial water

71. The layer of the atmosphere that extends from the troposphere upward to about 38 miles and contains the jet streams is called the...
Tropopause
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Ionosphere

72. Low pressure areas are generally associated with which type of weather?
Fair
Rain or snow
Sleet
Cloudy

73. What is the approximate circumference of the earth at the equator in miles?
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000

74. The average difference between winter and summer temperatures over open ocean areas is about how many degrees Fahrenheit?
18
30
36
45

75. The old folk tale that "a ring around the moon means rain or snow" is right about what percent of the time?
10-15
20-30
40-80
90-100

76. Which is formed first, thunder or lightning?
Thunder is first, then lightning
Lightning is first, then thunder
It depends on the type of cloud
They form at the same time

77. In a single year, an apple tree may give up as many as ___ gallons of water to the atmosphere through transpiration.
100
700
1000
1800

78. What instrument uses "wet bulb" and "dry bulb" readings to measure relative humidity?
Hygrometer
Barometer
Anemometer
Psychrometer

79. Warm air may move over a colder surface and be cooled below its saturation point. If so, ___ may form.
A thermal inversion
Stagnant air
Clouds
Heat lightning

80. A cloud will reflect ___ percent of the sun's energy.
75
50
25
3

81. When air rises and cools, the process is known as ___ cooling.
Thermal
Inversion
Nominal
Adiabatic

82. Rain falling through a layer of cold air may freeze to form...
hail
fog
snow
sleet

83. The atmosphere extends upward for as much as 1000 miles. The first 3 and 1/2 miles contains what percent of the total atmosphere?
20
30
40
50

84. Since the moon has no atmosphere, the surface temperature may be as low as ___ degrees F in the shade.
-454
-238
0
32

85. The "eye" of the hurricane is about ___ mile(s) in diameter.
1/2
20
50
75

86. When the land loses heat rapidly on a clear night, the air near the earth may cool below its saturation point and form...
Upper level clouds
A ring around the moon
Cracks in drying mud
Fog

87. The process of cloud droplets coming together to form raindrops is called...
evaporation
convolution
coalescence
sublimation

88. Torrid, temperate and frigid refer to the general ___ of a climate.
Temperature
Moisture
Rainfall
Vegetation

89. The speed of light is about ___ miles per second.
1,500,000
186,000
1,100
5

90. The circulation pattern of winds near the equator characterized by little or no winds is called the...
Anticyclones
Trade winds
Cyclones
Doldrums

91. The sun's energy is transmitted through space by means of...
Radiation
Conduction
Convection
Plasma energy

92. What percent of the sun's radiant energy reaching the earth will actually hit the earth's surface and be converted to heat?
2
43
74
98

93. The term given to the height of the base of clouds covering more than half of the sky is the ___.
Cloud density
Cumulus index
Stratographic number
Cloud ceiling

94. What type of front is formed when warm air pushes cold air?
Polar
Equitorial
Cold
Warm

95. The total energy of a major thunderstorm may equal that of a(n)...
1,000 gallons of gasoline
Small conventional bomb
Ton of TNT
Atomic bomb

96. Humid, sub-humid, arid and semi-arid refer to the general ___ of a given climate.
Temperature
Moisture
Vegetation
Wind patterns

97. What may form when warm air rises over a desert region?
A heat high
A heat low
A local high
A local low

98. Which of the following is NOT true of tornadoes?
They are extremely low pressure storms
Their path of destruction is usually less than 1/8 mile
They usually have a calm "eye" at their center
They are fast moving whirlpools of air

99. As compared to land masses, oceans warm and cool...
At about the same rate
Faster
Slower
Warm faster, but cool slower

100. Windspeeds of up to ___ miles per hour may be found inside of a tornado.
200
300
400
500

101. The atmosphere allows more radiant energy to reach the earth at the...
Equator
North and south poles
Middle latitudes
Prime Meridian

102. Wind speed and direction of winds aloft may be measured by a weather balloon and...
Theodolite
Doppler radar
Mercurial barometer
Smoke grenade

103. The process of producing rain by dropping substances through clouds to cause coalescence is called...
Hydrophobic stimulation
Bleeding
Hydrophylic stimulation
Seeding

104. The atmospheric layer that produces most weather and extends upward several miles from the earth's surface is called the...
Trophosphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Ionosphere

105. Visibility is measured by a device called a(n)...
Ceilometer
Transmissometer
Photometer
Refractograph

106. Which of the following is the least most important means of coalescence?
Collision of water droplets
Formation of hydroscopic (water absorbing) oxides
Formation of ice crystals
None of the above

107. Weather at front boundaries is typically...
Unsettled
Hot
Calm
Cold

108. Snow will form in clouds only if the air is...
Just below 32 degrees Fahrenheit
Supersaturated
At zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower
Somewhat dusty

109. When you stand with your back to the wind and turn 45 degrees to the right, which of the following is generally true (assuming you are in the northern hemisphere)
High pressure is to your left and low is to your right
High pressure is to your right and low is to your left
High pressure is to your front and low is to your back
High pressure is to your back and low is to your front

110. What percent of the sunlight striking a dark forest will be absorbed and changed to heat?
100
95
40
15

111. The pattern of weather at a given location over a long period of time is called...
Climate
The hydrologic cycle
Zone definition
The ecosphere

112. The circulation pattern of winds which results in a steady flow of winds up to 30 degrees above and below the equator is called the...
Trade winds
Horse latitudes
Doldrums
Polar masses

113. What does the suffix "nimbus" mean?
Dry
Ice crystals
Dark
Rain

114. 65% of all lightning is...
From cloud to ground
From ground to cloud
Within a cloud or from cloud to cloud
From cloud to ground and then to cloud

115. Because of a lack of an atmosphere, the temperature on the moon's surface in sunlight may reach ___ degrees F.
532
212
98
-79

116. Which of the following is NOT responsible for wind circulation patterns?
Convection currents
Earth's orbit around the sun
Earth's rotation
Coriolis effect

117. Which of the following cloud types are flat and form from the cooling of air?
Cumulus
Cumulonimbus
Cirrus
Stratus

118. Tornadoes usually form during periods of...
Intense heat
Prolonged cold
Drought
Severe thunderstorm activity

119. A mercurial barometer uses ___ to measure air pressure.
Liquid mercury
Mercurichrome film
The planet Mercury as a reference point
An air chamber with mercury vapors

120. What percent of the atmosphere is composed of oxygen?
21
38
52
79

121. When air is fully saturated with water vapor, the relative humidity is...
100%
75%
50%
0%

122. All weather is brought about by ___ in different parts of the atmosphere.
Molecular motion
Dust and gases
Temperature changes
Carbon dioxide

123. Particles that hit our atmosphere at speeds of up to 90,000 miles per hour and burn brightly are called "falling stars" or...
Meteoroids
Meteors
Meteorites
Stellar particles

124. What are caused by streams of ionized solar particles interacting with the ionosphere?
Mother of pearl clouds
Noctilucent clouds
Auroras
Solar flares

125. The Greenhouse Effect is said to be caused by too much ___ in the atmosphere.
Nitrogen
Sulfur dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Water vapor

126. The air may contain up to what percent water vapor?
1
2
4
9

127. A radiosonde is used with a(n)...
Rain guage
Anemommeter
Weather balloon
Barometer

128. Areas of high pressure are called...
Millibars
Anticyclones
Isobars
Cyclones

129. An estimate of the windspeed may be made by using the ___ scale.
Beaufort
Mohs
Celsius
Triple beam

130. Who was the person who first said, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it..."?
Mark Twain
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Edison
Charles Warner

131. When moist air rises, which of the following will NOT happen?
Relative humidity will get closer to 100%
More water will evaporate as the air cools
Clouds will form
Precipitation may form

132. In the northern hemisphere, it is generally hotter in August than in July because...
The sun is higher in the sky
The earth is closer to the sun
Of "seasonal lag" caused by heat gain
The North Pole is tilted closer to the sun

133. Seasons are caused primarily by...
Changes in the earth's distance from the sun
Changes in the sun's energy output
The tilt of the earth's axis
Shifts in the earth's orbit

134. The speed of sound is about ___ feet per second.
100
500
1,000
5,280

135. How many hours of daylight are there at the North Pole at the winter solstice?
0
12
18
24

136. Warm air ___ in relation to colder air.
Rises
Is heavier
Falls
Is more dense

137. You may estimate the distance from a thunderstorm by the difference in time between which lightning is seen and thunder is heard. This is about ___ mile(s) per second.
1/5
1/2
1
5

138. The first weather satellite was launched on April 1, 1964 and was called ___.
TIROS
Pioneer I
TELEX
Aries

139. At the summer solstice (around June 22) the North Pole is tipped...
Closest to the sun
Farthest from the sun
About the same as the South Pole
None at all

140. The condition of the atmosphere in terms of heat, pressure, wind and moisture is called...
Relative humidity
Barometric pressure
Climate
Weather

141. Which of the following is NOT true of thunderstorms?
Violent vertical movements of air are observed
Clouds may build over 75,000 feet
They are caused by uneven heating of air
They are almost always associated with warm fronts

142. Direction of the wind is indicated by the use of a(n) ___.
Anemometer
Weather vane
Hygrometer
Psychrometer

143. Precipitation is measured with a(n)...
Anemometer
Precipiometer
Aneroid barometer
Rain guage

144. Relative humidity is measured using a(n)...
Psychrometer
Barometer
Anemometer
Thermograph

145. Tropical air masses generally change slowly because...
They are cooler than the land over which they travel
They are warmer than the land over which they travel
They generally stay over the tropics
They are not affected by polar air masses

146. Which of the following would NOT be used to track the progress of storms?
Radar
Weather satellites
Weather balloons
Airplanes

147. Which of the following is NOT true of all fronts?
They form at the margin of high pressure cells
They require two air masses of the same type
They form only between cells of two different types
Warm air always slopes upward over cold air

148. In our hemisphere, summer is warmer than winter because...
The earth is closer to the sun
The suns rays are more direct due to the earth's tilt
The nights are longer
The atmosphere is thinner

149. As compared to seasonal changes on land, seasonal changes over oceans...
Occur at about the same time
Are one to two months later
Are one to two months earlier
Result in hotter summers and colder winters

150. What is the study of weather called?
Atmospherics
Hydrology
Vaporonics
Meteorology

******************************************************************************************************
Answers -

1. What is defined as standard air pressure at sea level in millibars?
1,013
2. A circulating movement of air or other fluids as a result of temperature differences is called a...
Convection current
3. Water that falls as rain and then freezes on contact with the earth's surface is called...
Freezing rain
4. When air rises and cools, the process is known as ___ cooling.
Adiabatic
5. Humid, sub-humid, arid and semi-arid refer to the general ___ of a given climate.
Moisture
6. Water covers about what percent of the earth's surface?
71
7. A record of relative humidity over time is made by a(n)...
Hydrograph
8. A recording thermometer is called a(n)...
Thermograph
9. Relative humidity is measured using a(n)...
Psychrometer
10. A summer day at the North Pole has how many hours of daylight?
24
11. Hurricane damage is due to all of the following EXCEPT...
Violent upsurges of high pressure
12. The process of cloud droplets coming together to form raindrops is called...
coalescence
13. Water is added to the air as a result of...
Evaporation
14. The amount of water vapor in the air compared to how much it could hold at that temperature is called the...
Relative humidity
15. In the northern hemisphere, it is generally hotter in August than in July because...
Of "seasonal lag" caused by heat gain
16. A tropical cyclone becomes a hurricane when the windspeed reaches ___ miles per hour.
75
17. Stratus and cumulus are the two major classifications of...
Clouds
18. The water vapor in the air is called...
Humidity
19. Along a warm front, the vertical slope is...
Much less steep than that of a cold front
20. As compared to land masses, oceans warm and cool...
Slower
21. Mountains will gain and lose heat ___ valleys.
Faster than
22. High pressure areas are usually associated with which kind of weather?
Fair
23. An unbroken line of black high clouds and possibly thunderstorms which sometimes precedes a cold front are called...
Squall lines
24. Wind speed and direction of winds aloft may be measured by a weather balloon and...
Theodolite
25. What percent of the atmosphere is composed of oxygen?
21
26. Sudden tremendous heat created by a lightning bolt expands the surrounding air and generates a compression wave which produces...
Thunder
27. Local winds and breezes are caused by differences in heating of adjacent ___.
Terrain
28. When you stand with your back to the wind and turn 45 degrees to the right, which of the following is generally true (assuming you are in the northern hemisphere)
High pressure is to your right and low is to your left
29. How many hours of daylight are there at the North Pole at the winter solstice?
0
30. Direction of the wind is indicated by the use of a(n) ___.
Weather vane
31. You may estimate the distance from a thunderstorm by the difference in time between which lightning is seen and thunder is heard. This is about ___ mile(s) per second.
1/5
32. What are caused by streams of ionized solar particles interacting with the ionosphere?
Auroras
33. Clouds will form when...
The air cools below its saturation point
34. Since the moon has no atmosphere, the surface temperature may be as low as ___ degrees F in the shade.
-238
35. What forms when air masses collide?
Weather fronts
36. High and low pressure cells are caused by...
Shifting of great air masses caused by unequal heating
37. A weather satellite in orbit about 22,500 miles above the earth remains in a fixed position and is said to be in a(n) ___ orbit.
Geosynchronous
38. Which of the following is the least most important means of coalescence?
Formation of hydroscopic (water absorbing) oxides
39. Windspeeds of up to ___ miles per hour may be found inside of a tornado.
200
40. What does the prefix "alto" mean?
High
41. What do scientists think would be most likely to happen if there were to be a two degree Fahrenheit rise in the average temperature of the earth?
The polar icecaps would melt, causing flooding
42. Which of the following is NOT responsible for wind circulation patterns?
Earth's orbit around the sun
43. An aneroid barometer may be used to measure air pressure AND...
Altitude
44. Which layer of the atmosphere is the highest layer and extends outward into outer space?
Exosphere
45. High clouds are composed almost entirely of what?
Ice crystals
46. What does the suffix "nimbus" mean?
Dark
47. Air pressure is measured using a...
Barometer
48. At the summer solstice (around June 22) the North Pole is tipped...
Closest to the sun
49. Visibility is measured by a device called a(n)...
Transmissometer
50. Seasons are caused primarily by...
The tilt of the earth's axis
51. Precipitation is measured with a(n)...
Rain guage
52. Snow will form in clouds only if the air is...
Supersaturated
53. The layer of water stored in saturated soil above non-porous clay or rock is called...
Groundwater
54. The Greenhouse Effect is said to be caused by too much ___ in the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide
55. The "eye" of the hurricane is about ___ mile(s) in diameter.
20
56. The atmosphere allows more radiant energy to reach the earth at the...
Equator
57. A tornado over water is called a(n)...
Waterspout
58. The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere is called the...
Tropopause
59. Microclimates may be caused by all but which of the following?
Solar flares
60. What percent of the atmosphere is composed of nitrogen?
78
61. Snow will reflect ___ percent of the sunlight striking its surface.
75
62. Water vapor condensing on a cold surface below freezing will form...
Frost
63. The atmospheric layer that produces most weather and extends upward several miles from the earth's surface is called the...
Trophosphere
64. The layer of the atmosphere that extends from the troposphere upward to about 38 miles and contains the jet streams is called the...
Stratosphere
65. Which of the following would NOT be used to seed clouds?
Potassium nitrate
66. The "eye" of a hurricane is in the center and usually contains ___ weather.
Calm
67. 65% of all lightning is...
Within a cloud or from cloud to cloud
68. The sun's radiant energy is trapped in the atmosphere and changed to heat by a process known as...
The greenhouse effect
69. Cumulus clouds form as a result of...
Rising air currents
70. Which of the following is NOT true with regard to ozone?
It is released into the atmosphere by spray cans
71. As compared to seasonal changes on land, seasonal changes over oceans...
Are one to two months later
72. Areas of high pressure are called...
Anticyclones
73. A typical cloud droplet is only 1/2500" in diameter. It will not fall at all in moving air. How long will it take one such droplet to fall 1/2 mile in perfectly still air?
20 hours
74. What may form when warm air rises over a desert region?
A heat low
75. What is the study of weather called?
Meteorology
76. When air is fully saturated with water vapor, the relative humidity is...
Your answer: N/A
Correct answer: 100%
77. More than ___ tornadoes strike the U.S. every year.
800
78. The atmosphere is heated primarily by...
Contact with the earth's surface
79. Land will gain or lose heat ___ water.
Faster than
80. The earth's surface will cool much faster on a clear night because...
There are no clouds to act as an insulator trapping heat
81. Storms along a cold front are generally...
Brief but violent
82. Some scientists beileve that ultraviolet radiation in the atmosphere is increasing due to...
Decreasing ozone
83. Particles that hit our atmosphere at speeds of up to 90,000 miles per hour and burn brightly are called "falling stars" or...
Meteors
84. Who was the person who first said, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it..."?
Charles Warner
85. The theory which says that heat is being trapped in the atmosphere due to buildup of gases is called...
The Greenhouse Effect
86. Which is formed first, thunder or lightning?
They form at the same time
87. The pattern of weather at a given location over a long period of time is called...
Climate
88. What percent of the sunlight striking a dark forest will be absorbed and changed to heat?
95
89. The circulation pattern of winds near the equator characterized by little or no winds is called the...
Doldrums
90. The cloud ceiling is measured by means of the ___.
Ceilometer
91. The sun's energy is transmitted through space by means of...
Radiation
92. Which of the following would NOT be used to track the progress of storms?
Weather balloons
93. The term given to the height of the base of clouds covering more than half of the sky is the ___.
Cloud ceiling
94. The average difference between winter and summer temperatures over open ocean areas is about how many degrees Fahrenheit?
18
95. Approximately how many miles is the sun from the earth?
93 million
96. In our hemisphere, summer is warmer than winter because...
The suns rays are more direct due to the earth's tilt
97. Rain falling through a layer of cold air may freeze to form...
sleet
98. Torrid, temperate and frigid refer to the general ___ of a climate.
Temperature
99. Tropical air masses generally change slowly because...
They are warmer than the land over which they travel
100. The old folk tale that "a ring around the moon means rain or snow" is right about what percent of the time?
40-80
101. About how many years do we have accurate temperature records for?
100
102. Warm air may move over a colder surface and be cooled below its saturation point. If so, ___ may form.
Clouds
103. Which of the following is NOT true of all fronts?
They require two air masses of the same type
104. The first weather satellite was launched on April 1, 1964 and was called ___.
TIROS
105. The condition of the atmosphere in terms of heat, pressure, wind and moisture is called...
Weather
106. When the land loses heat rapidly on a clear night, the air near the earth may cool below its saturation point and form...
Fog
107. The total energy of a major thunderstorm may equal that of a(n)...
Atomic bomb
108. Weather forcasters generally measure wind speed in ___.
Knots
109. The atmosphere extends upward for as much as 1000 miles. The first 3 and 1/2 miles contains what percent of the total atmosphere?
50
110. Which layer of the atmosphere lies above the stratosphere and extends upward to about 50 miles above Mesosphere
111. Freezing raindrops inside a cumulonimbus (thunder) cloud will produce...
hail
112. The speed of sound is about ___ feet per second.
1,000
113. As a cold front passes, a barometer usually...
Your answer: N/A
Correct answer: Falls and then rises
114. A tropical cyclone which leads to the formation of a hurricane is started spinning by...
The earth's rotation
115. A mercurial barometer uses ___ to measure air pressure.
Liquid mercury
116. A radiosonde is used with a(n)...
Weather balloon
117. What is the approximate circumference of the earth at the equator in miles?
25,000
118. Tornadoes usually form during periods of...
Severe thunderstorm activity
119. The speed of light is about ___ miles per second.
186,000
120. In a single year, an apple tree may give up as many as ___ gallons of water to the atmosphere through transpiration.
1800
121. The circulation pattern of winds which results in a steady flow of winds up to 30 degrees above and below the equator is called the...
Trade winds
122. What percent of the sun's radiant energy reaching the earth will actually hit the earth's surface and be converted to heat?
43
123. An estimate of the windspeed may be made by using the ___ scale.
Beaufort
124. At the equinoxes (spring and fall) the North Pole is tilted...
About the same angle as the South Pole in relation to the sun
125. Areas of low pressure are called...
Cyclones
126. The process of producing rain by dropping substances through clouds to cause coalescence is called...
Seeding
127. What type of front is formed when cold air pushes warm air?
Cold
128. What type of front is formed when warm air pushes cold air?
Warm
129. Warm air ___ in relation to colder air.
Rises
130. When warm air rises underneath a large cumulonimbus cloud, what may be formed?
A local low
131. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of an "air mass" or "high pressure cell"?
Often contains very damp air
132. All weather is brought about by ___ in different parts of the atmosphere.
Temperature changes
133. Because of a lack of an atmosphere, the temperature on the moon's surface in sunlight may reach ___ degrees F.
212
134. A local climate pattern is called a(n)...
Microclimate
135. Lightning is caused by...
Attraction between charged particles of unlike charges
136. Which of the following is NOT true of polar air masses as they travel across the United States?
Warm fronts are on their leading edge
137. Which of the following cloud types are flat and form from the cooling of air?
Stratus
138. The air may contain up to what percent water vapor?
4
139. A single lightning discharge can be up to ___ volts at ___ amperes.
30 million; 100,000
140. When moist air rises, which of the following will NOT happen?
More water will evaporate as the air cools
141. Which of the following is NOT true of thunderstorms?
They are almost always associated with warm fronts
142. Which of the following is NOT true of tornadoes?
They usually have a calm "eye" at their center
143. Although they form at the same time, at some distance from a storm, thunder seems to follow lightning because...
Light travels faster than sound
144. Low pressure areas are generally associated with which type of weather?
Rain or snow
145. Modern rain making or cloud seeding techniques are based on the principle of...
Coalescence
146. A cloud will reflect ___ percent of the sun's energy.
75
147. Weather at front boundaries is typically...
Unsettled
148. What does the prefix "fracto" mean?
Fragmented or broken
149. What instrument uses "wet bulb" and "dry bulb" readings to measure relative humidity?
Psychrometer
150. Which layer of the atmosphere is sometimes called the thermosphere and features layers that reflect radio waves?
Ionosphere

Wavosaur 1.0.0.9000

Edit & master your digital audio

Platform Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP
Type freeware
Manufacturer Wavosaur
Size 182Kb
Free download

Wavosaur is a powerful free audio editor for Windows XP, ideal for editing audio clips, sound designing, mastering, audio mangling and recording of your digital audio sounds.

Wavosaur lets you edit all your samples and audio recording. You can cut, copy, paste parts of your digital recording. Wavosaur provides many tools and shortcuts to make the editing very fast and efficient. The program was designed to give a powerful audio editor but very easy and fast to use.

Wavosaur is also a VST host, it means you can use VST effects on your audio recording, listen in real time to the audio processed by effects, and apply the effects of course. You can make a chain of effects, this means endless possibilities with all the VST plugins effects available nowadays.

Wavosaur can record from your soundcard inputs, and lets you monitor your audio ports. Inserting loop points and markers to your audio files is very easy. Wavosaur is also MIDI controllable, you can use a MIDI control surface to command the main functions of Wavosaur.

Flock 0.9.0.1

Web browser for bloggers

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Flock, Inc
Size 10.45MB
Free download

Flock is a new web browser that combines integrated photo sharing with RSS support.

Bloggers are a target audience for Flock, which is based on the Mozilla Firefox, because it has been designed to keep people up to date with news, blogs and when friends appear online.

Favourite websites can be kept up to date with other computers that a user may have access to by using the del.icio.us and shadows services. These websites can then be shared with other users,

Flock organises news from RSS feeds in a pane rather than as bookmarks. Each feed is checked for new stories hourly. Flock shows an incon in the address bar to show that a feed is available from that page. Simply click on that icon to sign up.

Flock can automatically add photos and snippets of other webpages to blogs written with Blogger, LiveJournal, Typepad and WordPress. A special web snippets bar has been added to store quotes from other websites. Users simply drag pictures onto the Photo icon to upload, or drag and drop images which are automatically stored on to a Flickr or PhotoBucket account.

Search with Flock is slightly different from other browsers because as text is typed in, Flock will start searching from the web as well as a user's favourites and history. These initial results are shown in a drop down menu.

Note that versions for Mac OS X and Linux are available from the Flock website.

Firefox Portable 2.0.0.5

Take Firefox on the road

Platform Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Rare Ideas LLC
Size 6.06MB
Free download

If you’re used to working in different departments, you’ll soon find the biggest restriction is that most operating systems are based around multi-user technology and you won’t want to browse personal information, on the web, through someone else’s computer. Sure, you could ask them to set you up with your own account, but if you only want to use their computer for a few minutes, perhaps to check your email, there’s little point.

Mozilla Firefox Portable edition is a transportable version of the popular web browser. You could ‘install’ this to an external USB key and then take this USB key with you, connect to a computer, then use Firefox Portable without leaving any trace of your web use on their machine.

Mozilla Firefox Portable is self-contained software which means that all your browsing history, bookmarks and other cookie information is taken with you, on external USB key. When you browse the web using Firefox Portable, the data is written back to the key. This makes is very useful for taking your own personalised version of the web browser with you, wherever you work or travel.

PFrank 2.02

Bulk rename your files

Platform Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Peter Frankenberger
Size 4.42MB
Free download

PFrank is a bulk file renaming program which you could use to organise your music files, picture files, or any other types of files. You can easily build any renaming command sequence you like, preview all of the results, press the rename button, and you're done. With PFrank you can set things up so that you get the exact names that you want in one pass.

The latest edition includes an improved interface for configuring column widths, rearranging the display order of columns, and selecting which columns to display in the preview window. A new feature includes the custom building folder paths to newly renamed files. Many other new features have been added in the last few months including the ability to insert over 130 types of meta-data from music, image, video, and other files. Also recently added support for Subversion controlled files and Unicode

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the Guardian bookshop

Harry Potter took off his Invisibility Cloak as he entered the Dursleys' house in Privet Drive. He was back where it had all started six books previously. It had seemed much more fun in the beginning. No Muggles queuing up at midnight; no Winnebagos on the film set; just him, Ron and Hermione and a box of magic tricks. Now, he felt a little jaded. Still, he thought, if I can keep it together for another 600 pages, I'll be off the hook. Free to pursue a different acting career.

---

His reverie was interrupted by the arrival of Arthur Weasley, Ron, Hermione and 10 other familiar characters. "We've got to get you out of here," said Arthur. "The protective charm runs out when you are 17, and You Know Who and the Death Eaters will be after you. Six of us are going to take some Polyjuice potion to create some decoy Harrys."

Harry knew he was up against it this time. A favourite character from an earlier book had been killed off within the first 80 pages. That Rowling woman meant business. "OK," said Harry, grimly, as Ron and Hermione embraced. "There might have been time for that kind of adolescent awakening in books five and six. Now, it's time to get serious."

Hermione recovered her customary poise. "You're right, Harry," she replied. "The Ministry has been taken over by Voldemort, and the Order of the Phoenix is compromised. Nowhere is safe. You must continue your quest for You Know Who's Horcruxes."

The scar on Harry's forehead burned, but an intense migraine was a small price to pay for giving the reader a chance to find out what Voldemort was doing and catch up with more back story.

It was the morning of Fleur's wedding to Bill Weasley and Harry, Ron and Hermione were examining the strange bequests they had been left in Dumbledore's will.

"Why have we been given this effing rubbish?" Ron laughed. "I've told you before that book seven is not the place for jokes and swearing," Harry answered sternly. Just then he saw Ginny passing. He didn't know why - though he suspected it was something to do with letting the reader know that although he was a goody-goody on the outside, he was a rampant horny hetty on the inside - but he kissed her passionately. "Stay safe for me," he whispered knowingly.

"I've found a strange mark in this book," exclaimed Hermione. "What do you think it means?" Harry frowned. "I've no idea," he murmured, "but my scar will start hurting again soon and we'll find out." Sure enough, the tingling sensation soon returned.

As he came out of his dream, which revealed yet more back story about Dumbledore, Harry intoned solemnly: "It's the sign of the Deathly Hallows. We must find them and the Horcruxes."

Harry, Ron and Hermione had criss-crossed the country getting out of ever-tighter scrapes with wizard spells, but still Harry felt no nearer to knowing what to do. Yet he had the strange feeling everything was becoming clearer.

"I'm leaving you two," Ron declared one day. "I need to create some narrative tension." Harry was lost again but a Patronus spell led him to the Sword of Gryffindor. He had to step naked into an icy pool to retrieve it. "I knew getting the lead part in the school production of Equus would come in handy," he thought.

"I'm back," said Ron, as Harry's scar continued to reveal yet more of the seemingly endless back story. Sometimes Harry didn't know if he was awake or asleep, alive or dead, as so many old characters flashed through his mind. "Don't worry," said the figure of Dumbledore. "This time, no one knows what's going on either."

So Harry made his way back to Hogwarts to face Voldemort. It would end as he had always known it would. With everyone wondering what JK would do next.

The digested read, digested: Harry Potter and the End of the Gravy Train.

July 24th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1974: Nixon 'must hand over Watergate tapes' The US Supreme Court orders President Nixon to surrender tape recordings of White House conversations about the Watergate affair.
	2000: Loyalist killer Michael Stone freed from Maze Loyalist paramilitary hitman Michael Stone is released from the Maze prison in Northern Ireland.
	1987: Archer wins record damages Former deputy chair of the Conservative Party Jeffrey Archer is awarded record libel damages at the High Court.

Flood crisis grows as rivers rise

Flood water threatens the town of Upton-upon-Severn Enlarge Image

The flooding crisis in central and western England continues as Britain's two biggest rivers, the Severn and the Thames, threaten to overflow.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has visited Gloucestershire, the worst-affected county, where thousands of people have been left without water supply.

About 40,000 homes have also lost power after an electricity substation in Gloucester was closed after flooding.

Mr Brown said the government would be setting up a review of the crisis.

The prime minister flew by helicopter over Gloucestershire before heading to the police headquarters where the emergency response is being co-ordinated in the county.

He said the government would set up a review focusing on drainage and how Britain could protect itself against further flooding.

Extra funding would also be given to local authorities to help pay for essential emergency work in the aftermath of the crisis, he said.

YOUR PICTURES Your images of flooding from around the country

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has warned water levels are expected to exceed those of the devastating floods of 1947.

It said water levels on the River Severn and Thames could reach a "critical" level in some areas.

Severe flood warnings are in place for the Midlands, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire.

A spokesman for the agency said the River Severn and the Thames would continue to swell until Tuesday and that levels on both rivers could increase beyond those of 60 years ago.

In March 1947, millions of pounds of damage was caused in the south of England, the Midlands, East Anglia and North Yorkshire when many of the country's rivers burst their banks.

Other main developments include:

• Environment Agency chief executive Baroness Young told the BBC that about £1bn a year was needed to improve flood defences.

• Environment Secretary Hilary Benn defended the government's flood response, saying there are lessons to be learned but denying flood defences had not been maintained properly.

• Meanwhile, the Association of British Insurers has said the total bill for the June and July floods could reach £2bn.
• Sir John Harman, the chairman of the Environment Agency, warned summer floods could become more frequent in the future.

Severn Trent Water said 150,000 homes in Gloucestershire were without water after a treatment works was flooded.

People were being urged not to panic buy and to do all they could to conserve water.

No electricity

Peter Bungard from Gloucestershire County Council told BBC Five Live about 300,000 people had been affected.

Bottled water was being provided and a number of water bowsers being deployed to the area, he said.

Elsewhere in Gloucestershire, 43,000 homes were left without power after a major electricity substation was turned off because of the rising water.

ENGLAND FLOODED Gloucester tap water out Severe warning on Ouse Worcester residents affected More fears for Oxfordshire West Midlands travel chaos Clean-up in Lincolnshire

A spokesman for the Central Networks Castlemeads substation said areas of Gloucester, parts of Cheltenham and some homes across the county border in Herefordshire had been affected.

Around 3,000 households later had power restored after their supply was switched to an alternative source.

At a second substation at Walham, Gloucester, the RAF and firefighters battled through the night to stop the floods entering the plant.

Assistant chief fire officer Chris Griffin said he believed the situation was now under control.

The county council has appealed to builders merchants to supply "dumpy bags" - giant sandbags - to help the operation.

Electricity supplier Central Networks has advised customers to ring 0800 328 1111 to report loss of supply.

BBC Radio Gloucestershire visited residents in Tewkesbury, one of the worst affected areas of Gloucestershire, and described a jovial mood among those cut off by flood waters.

One resident from a block of flats whose car park was covered in water said people were "laughing" and taking events in their stride.

Over the border, parts of Worcestershire were under 6ft of water and the Army has been deployed to help emergency services provide supplies to people in Upton-upon-Severn.

Warwickshire and Berkshire have also been badly affected and severe warnings remain in place for Oxfordshire.

HAVE YOUR SAY We must now look at proper regional controls and answers for surface water problems Ted Smith, Worcester Send us your experiences Army called in with supplies

Residents at risk of flooding in Oxford have been told to leave their homes as water levels are expected to rise.

Some homes in Oxford, Abingdon, Kidlington and Bladon have already been flooded and conditions are expected to deteriorate.

John Kelly, Oxford's Emergency Planning Officer, said 1,500 evacuees were expected at Oxford United's football stadium.

Bill Oddy, from West Oxford District Council, said the area could experience further problems in the next 48 hours.

Some 3,000 homes have been flooded in the area, with 500 people evacuated - mostly elderly people from care homes.

'Critical' situation

Meanwhile, the government is expected to announce on Monday that it is rejecting calls to stop building houses on flood plains, despite the recent extensive flooding.

A draft of the Housing Green Paper, which was obtained by the BBC, says it is "not realistic" to rule out new developments in areas at risk of flooding.

The Environment Agency has issued nine severe flood warnings.

There are five in the Midlands for the River Avon and River Severn between Evesham, Tewkesbury and Gloucester.

Three severe flood warnings are in place for Oxfordshire, from Eynsham to Abingdon, and one has been issued for River Great Ouse from Turvey to Sharnbrook in Bedfordshire.

Joe Giacomelli, a spokesman for the Environment Agency, said the situation was "looking critical".

BBC forecaster Chris Fawkes said the heaviest rain was due to fall in southern England in an area between the Isle of Wight and Suffolk, where an inch of rain could fall on Monday.

He also said Gloucestershire and Worcestershire could see 10 or 15 millimetres of rainfall.

Environment Agency floodline: 0845 988 1188

Rich List 2007

Who makes up the 2007 Rich List; the year's biggest risers, fastest growing fortunes, notable donations; and The Sunday Times Giving Index

Breakdown of the 2007 Rich List

Download a table showing how the 2007 Rich List is made up

New entries

Download a table listing the new entries in the 2007 Rich List

Related Links

• Rich List 2007 tables: group 2

• Rich List 2007 tables: group 3

• Rich List 2007 tables: group 4

Giving Index

Download a table showing the Giving Index as outlined by the Sunday Times (online extra)

Rises and falls

Download a table listing the Rich List risers and those who fell

Fastest growers

Download a table listing the fastest growing fortunes

Notable donations

Download a table listing the most notable donations

Will you ever make any dough?

Now there are enuogh super-rich to study, research hows that a 'millionaire's mindset' really does exist. This quiz by Celia Brayfield reveals your wealth potential

1 Can you curb your enthusiasm?

a You’re pretty chilled, actually

b They called you “Tigger” at school

c You don’t feel alive unless you’re passionately involved

d Mostly calm, though the right issue gets you going

2 Work is more fun than fun, said Noël Coward. Was he right?

a No — just sad

b Up to a point

c For a man with no family, sure

d Absolutely

3 Would you do anything to get rich?

a Yes. Rich people are rule-breakers

b A lot, but nothing illegal or dishonest

c You’d bend a few rules

d Being rich is immoral in itself

4 And suppose you screw up?

a You aren’t going to screw up

b When you crash and burn, it’s God’s way of telling you to quit

c Do like Churchill, KBO (keep b*****ing on)

d Get depressed, get drunk, then try again

5 There’s a dripping tap in the bathroom — what do you do?

a Fix it yourself — when you have time

b Buy a DIY manual and learn how to fix it

c Call the local plumber and get him round next week

d Call an emergency plumber to fix it now

6 You win £200,000 on some dumb TV show and your priority is:

a Pay off all the credit cards

b Buy a second (or first) home

c Invest it

d Take a year off to travel

7 Imagine yourself as a paid-up member of the ultra-rich. What’s next for you?

a Spend more time with the family — maybe on a private island somewhere

b You’ll probably start another new business

c A giga-yacht, obviously

d Stash the cash and become a wildlife photographer

8 Visualise your ideal 50th birthday bash — who’s there?

a Just family and a few friends

b Nobody special — you aren’t much of a party animal

c Only your partner

d Family, friends, workmates, investors, mentors . . . Elton John, eat your heart out

9 Health and wealth — how are you?

a A bit of a pathetic gym bunny, it must

be said

b Determined that this year, you will get fit

c Sadly, you have a significant health problem

d You like to keep reasonably fit

10 Feeling lucky, punk?

a Only losers believe in luck

b Generally, you are a lucky person

c You have been lucky a few times

d The harder you work, the luckier you get

HOW DID YOU RATE?

More than 34

You’re a natural-born billionaire. You love to work on projects you care about. Like Duncan (Dragons’ Den) Bannatyne, you find that “doing it for the enjoyment is much more important than doing it for the money”. You’re passionate and can communicate a vision, attract good mentors and inspire a loyal team. Your integrity is a huge asset, as are the constructive attitudes that turn ideas into wealth.

25-34

Welcome to high net worth. While you may not reach the financial stratosphere, your enthusiasm, stamina and sound business sense suggest that you can become reasonably rich. Your mindset is healthy, you’re missing only the X factor. Think about your self- confidence: getting rich is rarely about being a bit of a flower who’s inclined to fold when things get tough. Or maybe you’re a risk addict or a blind optimist. The rich mindset is resilient but realistic; don’t give up if you screw up — take the lesson and move on.

15-24

Comfort isn’t so bad. That’s probably why you’re reluctant to come out of your comfort zone and aim for the stars. Deep down, you believe that getting rich isn’t really possible and you’ve developed quite a rationale in justification. Fat cats, rich bastards, oily oligarchs — you’re not that driven. You want to be nice and you don’t mind finishing last. Who are you kidding?

14 or fewer

Wealth-wise, you’re a numpty. You’re a dreamer, not a schemer, and nothing really moves you enough to give your life a focus. You have persuaded yourself that you hate the rich, but how do you know, really? If 14 or below also describes your age, you can take another few years out.

SCORING

Q1, a1, b3, c4, d2.

Q2, a1, b3, c4, d2.

Q3, a2, b4, c3, d1.

Q4, a1, b2, c4, d3.

Q5, a2, b1, c3, d4.

Q6, a1, b3, c4, d2.

Q7, a4, b2, c1, d3.

Q8, a3, b1, c2, d4.

Q9, a4, b2, c1, d3.

Q10, a1, b3, c2, d4

HINTS FOR MOVING UP

Principles informing our quiz are derived from the following sources: Millionaire Upgrade by Richard Parkes Cordock (Capstone); Screw It, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson (Virgin); Your Idea Can Make You Rich by Evan Davis and Dragons’ Den (Vermilion); Anyone Can Do It by Duncan Bannatyne (Orion). The biggest study of wealth is a survey of 733 millionaires by Professor Thomas J Stanley, published as The Millionaire Mind (Bantam). The leading UK survey was by Douglas McWilliams and Mark Pragnell of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, published in Prospect.

July 23rd

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1974: Greek military rule gives in to democracy The military government in Greece collapses and the former prime minister Constantine Karamanlis is invited to return.
	2005: Dozens killed in Egypt bomb blast At least 88 people are killed in bomb attacks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, hospital staff say.
	1986: Prince Andrew weds Sarah Ferguson Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson marry at Westminster Abbey.

Rihanna achieves chart landmark

Rihanna has just announced her first major UK arena tour Chart toppers

Rihanna has scored the longest-running number one single since 1994, topping the UK chart for a 10th week.

The R&B singer's track Umbrella is the first song since Wet Wet Wet's Love Is All Around to spend more than nine weeks in pole position.

However, Foundations by Kate Nash came within 131 sales of knocking Rihanna off the top spot.

Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts entered the album chart at number one with his debut release, One Chance.

The 36-year-old former mobile phone salesman, who was signed by Simon Cowell after winning the ITV1 show, displaced rock band The Enemy from the top of the charts.

MOST WEEKS AT NUMBER ONE 18 weeks - Frankie Laine, I Believe (1953) 16 weeks - Bryan Adams, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (1991) 15 weeks - Wet Wet Wet, Love Is All Around (1994) 11 weeks - Slim Whitman, Rose Marie (1955) 10 weeks - David Whitfield, Cara Mia (1954) 10 weeks - Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love You (1992) 10 weeks - Rihanna, Umbrella (2007) Source: Official UK Charts Company

Rihanna has become only the seventh artist in the history of the chart to score a 10th week at number one.

Frankie Laine's I Believe holds the record, with 18 weeks on top in 1953.

Wet Wet Wet's 1994 hit song remained at the top of the charts for 15 weeks, but was surpassed by (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams, which clung on for 16 weeks in 1991.

Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You reigned at number one for 10 weeks one year later.

David Whitfield's Cara Mia and Rose Marie by Slim Whitman also made double figures in 1954 and 1955 respectively.

However, Rihanna's sales of approximately 354,000 copies of Umbrella were "pretty low" compared to other singles which have spent that long on top of the chart, according to Music Week's managing editor, Paul Williams.

THIS WEEK'S TOP FIVE SINGLES 1. Rihanna, Umbrella 2. Kate Nash (pictured), Foundations 3. Timbaland, The Way I Are 4. Fergie, Big Girls Don't Cry 5. Enrique Iglesias, Do You Know? Source: Official UK Charts Company

"Any track in the past that would have spent 10 weeks at number one - and there weren't that many - could have expected at this stage to have passed a million sales," he said.

He said Rihanna's lower total could be attributed to changing buying habits among consumers now that downloads were growing more popular.

"There are more tracks selling now, so sales are spread over many more songs.

"In the days of the physical singles market, most of the sales were focused on the songs in the top 40.

"Now, there are more to choose from, so the biggest sellers these days aren't the same as their equivalents a few years ago."

There was also "a good chance" that Nash would replace Rihanna at number one next Sunday, Mr Williams added.

"But Rihanna's managed to hang around for two and a half months, so don't write it off yet."

Plea to gardeners: keep a little patch unclipped to help save bumblebees

Let the neighbours mutter in dismay. Unruly, overgrown gardens have been highlighted as a vital refuge for the nation's dwindling bumblebee population, in a countrywide survey by conservationists.

Patches of garden that are left to run wild have been ranked as one of the richest for nesting bumblebees, offering better shelter and food resources than farmland and wooded areas, the report finds.

More than 700 volunteers took part in the National Bumblebee Nest Survey, with each scouring a garden and at least one other natural habitat to help with the understanding of the insects' favoured nesting sites.

Britain has about 25 native species of bumblebee, although three have been declared nationally extinct. Populations of nine other species are so precarious they have, or are due to be, designated special concerns by the government's Biodiversity Action Plan. In total, 15 species have seen serious contractions in their numbers, a drop that has alarmed conservationists.

The survey, published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology, found that gardens had among the highest densities of bumblebee nests, with an average of 36 nests per hectare.

Farmland fencing was also identified as a rich habitat for the insects, with 37.2 nests per hectare. Other countryside habitats made less suitable nesting grounds, with hedgerows being home to about 30 nests an hectare and woodlands just 11 nests an hectare.

Bumblebees build nests above ground or just beneath and line them with moss and leaves. Slightly neglected gardens are particularly good habitats for the bees because of the abundance of nesting options, such as compost heaps and bird boxes, and additionally the rich variety of flowers over the year that many gardeners cultivate.

"These kinds of gardens really provide a refuge for bumblebees, as long as people don't manage them too carefully," said Juliet Osborne, an ecologist at Rothamsted Research, the agricultural research centre based at Harpenden, Hertfordshire. "If you've got different grass areas, flower beds, compost heaps and hedges, there's a vast variety of habitats for bumblebees," she said.

Dr Osborne added: "Bumblebees are happier in gardens that are not perfectly tended. If you can leave some of the grass uncut, and a few areas looking slightly untidy, that's what they love. Even if most of your garden is neat and tidy it's a good idea to let some areas stay undisturbed. Behind the garden shed or garage are good places. You should also make sure you've got a variety of plants that flourish throughout the season."

Bumblebees are important pollinators of crops and wild plants, but their populations have been in steep decline for the past 50 years. The loss is thought to be linked to the impact of intensive farming on the plants the bees seek out for food. But as well as food, the insects need nesting sites for queens to start new colonies every spring.

Analysis of the survey data showed that in springtime queens favoured nesting sites tucked into the straight-running lines of fences that border green spaces. Although gardens account for only 2% of the land in Britain, the high density of fences and borders that mark out adjoining gardens makes these individual plots rich nesting sites for bumblebees. "The gardens seem to be where the bumblebees establish themselves before moving out to the countryside," said Dr Osborne.

Changes in farming practice since the second world war have seen the size of fields increase, which has led to fewer hedgerows, making the managed countryside a less attractive prospect for the insects. In the open countryside, bumblebees may have to expend more energy foraging for nectar because wild flowering plants will be seasonal and possibly sparsely distributed.

That gardens have been found to play such a critical role has added to scientists' concerns about the trend for paving over lawns. "This is a very serious issue for the bumblebees," Dr Osborne said.

In April, a report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution concluded that the loss of garden greenery - to patios, decking and parking space - was having a devastating effect on wildlife in Britain. In urban environments, with few trees, shrubs and grass, many creatures find it impossible to find food and shelter, it said.

Dr Osborne said the latest study highlighted habitats, such as woodland borders and farmland fences, where conservation efforts should be directed. "Although in the countryside the total area occupied by field margins and hedgerows is relatively small, sympathetic management - as encouraged by environmental stewardship schemes - could improve bumblebee nesting opportunities in farmland."

Explainer: Collapsing colonies

The rapid decline in bee populations over the past 50 years in the UK is generally blamed on intensive management of farmland, which has led to a loss of hedgerows and flowering plants that are crucial for the survival of the insects.

But recently, there has been an increase in reports of entire bee colonies dying out suddenly, a phenomenon called "colony collapse disorder". Such sudden deaths are usually witnessed late in the summer or early spring when older bees die off, leaving the queen and workers unprepared to forage.

The US was particularly badly hit, with beekeepers in 24 states reporting such cases. Other incidents followed in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as in Britain.

In April, a team of scientists at Landau University in Germany suggested tentatively that radiation from cell phones might be to blame for the collapse of colonies by interferring with the bees' navigation systems. They put phone base units into two honeybee hives and timed how long it took the animals to return after being released 800 metres away. After 45 minutes one of the colonies had still not returned. The lead researcher, Jochen Kuhn, said the study provided only a "hint" at a cause, and did not prove that radiation from the phone units was to blame.

Looting, panic buying - and a water shortage

Food and drinking water shortages, panic buying and the threat of looting have followed the worst flooding to hit England in 60 years.

Amid concerns that the government-run Environment Agency acted far too slowly in responding to serious flood alerts from the Met Office, parts of the West Country woke up this morning to another day under water and the Thames Valley now faces being inundated.

An estimated 90,000 gallons of water a second was surging down the swollen River Thames last night towards Oxford, Reading and Windsor.

The Environment Agency fears that the Thames Valley area will now suffer a similar fate to Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire, where flooding has bought misery to thousands of people. Opposition MPs are seeking an emergency statement from the Government today.

Related Links

• Worse to come as waters surge down river

• Residents cling on as town turns into island

• Jet stream to blame, says Met

Multimedia

• Pictures: UK flooding

The Times has learnt that the Ministry of Defence was unwilling to supply lorries and drivers without being guaranteed payment for their services. As a result there appear to have been delays in securing the use of high-sided vehicles that could deliver sleeping bags and flood parcels to the stricken communities.

In the area worst affected by the floodwater from the Severn and the Avon over the weekend, some homes were left without running water and supermarkets reported panic buying of bottled water and food, which is expected to create serious shortages for several days.

There will be fresh calls for more funding to cope with flood defences. The Times has also learnt that, despite the promise of an extra £200 million to the Environment Agency to update defences over the next three years, the Government is stalling over payment of the cash. Baroness Young of Old Scone, the agency’s chief executive, said that about £1 billion a year was needed to improve flood defences, because climate change would lead to increased rainfall.

The agency is unable to press ahead with approval and construction of new defence systems, with a priority for Oxford and Leeds, unless it is known when the money will be paid into agency coffers.

The disastrous flooding will also reignite concerns over the building of new homes on flood plains. There is particular concern that the Government’s commitment to building three million new homes by 2020, to be set out in a Housing Green Paper today, will increase the risk of flooding and create intense pressure to develop the Green Belt.

The Health Protection Agency is advising people to take the advice of their water companies about the safety of drinking water after evidence that some supplies had been affected. There were also fears of looting in Gloucester as many families were evacuated from their homes and their streets were blacked out after an electricity sub-station was swamped in the flood. West Mercia Constabulary said that looters were targeting stranded vehicles abandoned by flood victims.

Staple food items, including fresh vegetables and salad, are also in short supply because supermarket lorries were unable to make deliveries. Fresh produce grown in the waterlogged Vale of Evesham has also been unable to reach the shops. Kevin Hawkins, the director-general of the British Retail Consortium, gave warning last night that there would be localised shortages but that supplies would be resumed quickly in the next two days.

Sir Michael Spicer, the Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, called for an emergency Commons statement. “I do not know why the Met Office advice was not acted upon more immediately by the Environment Agency and why they could not secure the necessary equipment and manpower to be in place,” he said.

He was particularly concerned about Upton-upon-Severn and the failure by the agency to install temporary flood defences. He said: “The defences were kept in Kidderminster, which is about 20 miles away, but in exceptional weather they could not get through on the roads. I think there is a case for keeping flood defences inside or near the towns which need them.”

He was also concerned that the order to move the defence system from Kidderminster was not made until 2pm on Friday, despite the river water levels having been rising very fast on Friday morning. This lack of action may also trigger some legal action from insurance companies in an attempt to recoup cash paid out to flooded households. A spokeswoman for the Association of British Insurers said that any action would be decided by individual companies.

Even those who escaped the floods are suffering. More than 200,000 people have now been left without drinking water. Severn Trent Water said that homes in the north of Gloucestershire would be left without supplies for the next two days after a big pumping plant near Tewkesbury was overwhelmed by the floods.

Carrie Douch, 26, a mother of two children from Gloucester, said that she had driven more than 15 miles to buy water after the closure of the water treatment plant. “We have been to three supermarkets and water had sold out in all of them,” she said. “The queues outside the supermarkets are horrendous. Everyone is desperate to get their hands on some water. We have heard stories of grown men pushing kids out of the way to get to bottles of the stuff. It is disgusting.”

Many minor roads in the flooded areas remain impassable and the police have been advising motorists to take warm clothing and food in case they become trapped in their cars. Rail services between Hereford and Shrewsbury were due to resume last night but other services could be delayed or cancelled this morning in areas hit by the flood water overnight.

Gordon Brown chaired a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee last night with Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, and Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, among the ministers present. He is expected to visit flood-affected areas this morning.

Thousands without fresh water as floods bring chaos

Clean-up operation could last months as devastating floods leave communities cut off.

Drowned town braced for worse to come

'It felt like the sea was coming in'

Train passengers bear the brunt

Jackie Ashley: We must face up to the flooding

Q&A: Extreme weather

Fresco fragment revives Papal scandal

The fresco is a detail from this much larger painting Enlarge Image

A fresco painting by a Renaissance master which once decorated the bedroom of Pope Alexander VI in the Vatican has gone on show in Rome.

A leading Italian art historian and curator says he has documentary proof that it was once part of a much larger painting depicting the aged Pope kneeling in front of his youthful mistress, Giulia Farnese.

This is an unusual example of "damnatio memoriae" - a Latin phrase meaning "damnation of memory".

It refers to a custom dating back to antiquity - the attempted removal of a famous person from the historical record for reasons of dishonour.

Roman Emperors used to order the destruction or removal of portraits or statues of disgraced members of their family.

Debauched lifestyle

Pope Alexander VI, the notorious Borgia Pope from Spain, discredited the Church by his debauched lifestyle.

He fathered seven children including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia by at least two mistresses.

The painting is an exquisite portrait of Jesus

Such was Alexander VI's unpopularity that when he died - perhaps by poisoning, perhaps from the plague - in 1503 at the age of 72, that the priests of St Peter's Basilica at first refused to accept his body for burial.

Pope Alexander's portrait, commissioned from Pinturicchio to decorate the papal bedchamber inside the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, was later hacked away from the wall, most likely during the 17th Century, and was believed lost until very recently.

The painting showed Alexander kneeling in front of the Child Jesus and the Virgin Mary, whose face, according to documentary evidence from several contemporary sources, was that of one of his mistresses, a handsome young Roman noblewoman called Giulia Farnese.

The small segment of this much larger original fresco painting now on display is an exquisite portrait of the child Jesus. The child has a halo of pure gold painted around his head.

This extraordinarily fine painting came onto the international art market three years ago and was bought by an Italian industrialist from Perugia.

Mystery hands

There are five hands shown on the painting. Professor Franco Nuccirelli from Perugia, the curator of the exhibition, who rediscovered the painting, told me he believes that two of the hands belong to the missing figure of the Virgin Mary who clasps the child gently around his waist.

The child has one hand raised in a blessing and holds a golden orb surmounted by a cross in the other.

One of Pope Alexander VI's children was the notorious Lucrezia Borgia

The fifth hand, according to Professor Nuccirelli, is that of the missing figure of Pope Alexander himself. His hand gently fondles the child's right foot.

We know exactly what the picture in the Pope's bedroom looked like. It was copied by a 17th Century artist called Pietro Facchetti while still in situ.

This copy is now in the possession of another Roman noble family. Professor Nucciarelli's proof that this fragment belongs to the lost masterpiece of Pinturicchio looks very convincing.

The famous art historian and scholar Giorgio Vasari writing in the second edition of his Lives of the Artists in 1568 mentioned that Pinturicchio's painting was "over the door of a room in the Apostolic Palace".

It was, said Vasari, "a portrait of Signora Giulia Farnese with the countenance of Our Lady, and in the same picture the head of Pope Alexander adoring her".

Frustratingly, there is only one surviving portrait of Giulia Farnese, whose brother Alessandro Farnese later became Pope Paul III.

The portrait is in the Museum of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome where it is attributed to the Roman painter Luca Longhi.

It shows a young woman rather wistfully seated in a mountain landscape next to a unicorn - the fabled beast is one of the heraldic emblems of the Farnese family.

Naturally [the Vatican] are not very happy about publicity of this sort Professor Nucciarelli

I asked Professor Nucciarelli what had been the reaction from the Vatican to his discoveries.

"Naturally they are not very happy about publicity of this sort," he said.

"But we have been in Alexander's bedroom which is one of the clearly identifiable rooms in the Borgia apartment of the Apostolic Palace.

"There is the exactly the right space above the door where the painting would have fitted. But so far we have not received permission to examine the present state of the wall which is hidden by a tapestry."

First mistress

Pope Alexander VI's first and best known mistress was called Vanozza dei Cattanei.

She was the mother of Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia and several portraits of her are in existence.

The one surviving portrait of Giulia Farnese shows her with a unicorn

You can see her tomb and a portrait bust in a rather dark side chapel inside the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.

After visiting the exhibition I went back to view her portrait which I had not looked at for some years. Decidedly matronly, I thought.

Vanozza had three husbands in addition to her relationship with Pope Alexander, by whom she bore four children altogether.

The nice thing about living in Rome is that most events here are historically well documented. You can walk into any church to check the facts.

In Rome you actually touch history every day by simply walking down the street.

July 22nd

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1977: Deng Xiaoping back in power The disgraced deputy Prime Minister of China, Deng Xiaoping, returns to Chinese Government.
	2003: Saddam's sons killed in gun battle The United States says Uday and Qusay Hussein, the infamous sons of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, have been killed in a gun battle in northern Iraq.
	1987: Cartoonist shot in London street A famous Palestinian cartoonist is shot in the face and critically wounded in London.

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Enoch Powell studied Urdu at university.

2. School children in England and Wales have the shortest summer holidays in Europe.
More details

3. People in residential care homes can only keep £20 per week. The rest has to cover their accommodation costs.
More details

4. Some cars on the market can park themselves, or keep to their lane on the motorway.
More details

5. One-third of front gardens are paved over in some regions.
More details

6. The first virus for personal computers was called Elk Cloner, and was created and distributed on an Apple II computer in 1982.
More details

7. Just 11% of the night sky over the UK is totally dark now.

8. There are "fattening rooms" in Nigeria where the wealthy go to stack on the pounds, as being fat remains a symbol of status and power.
More details

9. Seven-year-olds have proms.
More details

10. There are 500 billion billion possible draughts positions. But that's fewer than there are in chess.
More details

(Sources, where items not linked: 1. University Challenge, 16 July. 7. Observer, 15 July.)

July 21st

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1969: Man takes first steps on the Moon American Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the Moon.
	2005: Tube chaos after more blasts London's underground network is plunged into chaos after explosions on two trains and a bus - exactly a fortnight after four suicide bomb blasts in the capital.
	1954: Peace deal ends Indo-China war Eight years of war come to an end as the French cede control of northern Vietnam to the Communist Viet Minh after signing the Geneva Accord.

Saturn's sixtieth moon discovered

The new moon could be related to Methone and Pallene

A new moon has been discovered orbiting Saturn - bringing the planet's latest moon tally up to 60.

The body was spotted in a series of images taken by cameras onboard the Cassini spacecraft.

Initial calculations suggest the moon is about 2km-wide (1.2 miles) and its orbit sits between those of two other Saturnian moons, Methone and Pallene.

The Cassini Imaging Team, who found the object, said Saturn's moon count could rise further still.

New family

The moon appears as a dim speck in images taken by the Cassini probe's wide-angle camera on 30 May 2007.

The Saturnian system continues to amaze and intrigue us with many hidden treasures being discovered the more closely we look Professor Carl Murray

Professor Carl Murray, a Cassini Imaging Team scientist from Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL), said: "After initially detecting this extremely faint object, we carried out an exhaustive search of all Cassini images to date and were able to find further detections."

It is thought, like many of Saturn's other moons, to be mostly made up of ice and rock.

The body's proximity to Methone and Pallene suggests the three satellites may constitute a family of moons.

"Naturally we are going to use Cassini's cameras to search for additional family members," added Professor Murray.

The moon, currently dubbed Frank by the scientists who discovered it, has yet to be officially named. This decision will be taken by the International Astronomical Union.

Professor Murray said: "The Saturnian system continues to amaze and intrigue us with many hidden treasures being discovered the more closely we look."

'Epic journey'

The Cassini-Huygens mission, a collaboration between the US space agency (Nasa), the European Space Agency (Esa) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), set off on its mission to explore Saturnian system in 1997.

The Cassini space probe arrived at its destination in 2004, while the Huygens probe, initially carried onboard Cassini, landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in 2005.

Professor Keith Mason, chief executive of the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said: "It is amazing to think that when Cassini embarked upon its epic journey to Saturn in 1997, we only knew about 18 of its moons.

"Since then, through observations from ground based telescopes and the Cassini spacecraft, a further 42 have been identified."

Food prices on the rise and rise

As more doomsday predictions emerge about the price of staple foods, the BBC has taken an in-depth look at what is pushing up the costs.

Wheat prices across Europe hit their highest levels in more than a decade last month

They've been baking bread at Bonnett's in Somersham, on the edge of the Cambridgeshire Fens, since 1803 at least.

The shop, with its venerable green and gold Hovis sign above the entrance, is packed with a mouth-watering selection of bread and buns, cakes and cold meats.

The bakehouse at the back supplies a small chain of seven other Bonnett's shops in the towns and villages round about.

But life for independent bakers has been getting tougher.

There's the competition from the supermarkets. And then there's the rising cost of raw materials.

In the past year the price of a loaf of bread in UK shops has risen 15 per cent. Soon it'll go up again.

'Frightening'

In common with the rest of Britain's flour millers, David Bonnett's suppliers have told him to expect increases of around £40 a tonne or more in the price they charge.

That in turn will mean another four or five pence on the price he charges his customers for a large loaf. He calls the rises "frightening".

Bread isn't the only staple food whose price has been rising rapidly.

According to the research company TNS Worldpanel, in the 12 months to June, the supermarket price of milk has gone up 11 per cent, eggs have gone up almost 18 per cent, butter has gone up five per cent and meat six per cent, all well above the rate of inflation.

Some foods haven't risen in price: cheese, according to TNS Worldpanel, has actually fallen slightly.

But that's about to change: the wholesale price of cheesemakers' principal ingredient, milk, has been rising rapidly.

The cost of powdered milk has more than doubled. It won't be long before that feeds through to the consumer in higher prices not only for cheese - around 45 pence more per kilo by Christmas - but for other foods, like pizza, with high cheese content.

Differing fortunes

So what's going on? The answer seems to be a combination of three things.

The price of eggs has also increased

One is the rising cost of oil, which affects everyone, including farmers and food companies, shops and supermarkets.

A second is increasing demand for western foodstuffs from developing countries like China.

A few miles away from David Bonnett's shop, George Munns farms 200 hectares on the outskirts of Chatteris.

What's bad news for the baker is good news for him.

In two weeks time he'll start harvesting his winter wheat, destined to be made into animal feed. He's already sold it for £112 a tonne, a huge increase on the £70 a tonne he got last year.

For the first time in several years he'll be making a profit on the crop, because it costs him around £72 a tonne to produce.

His good fortune is partly a consequence of others' misfortune: drought in Australia has resulted in several years of poor harvests there.

Booming biofuels

But that increase in demand in China has a lot to do with it as well: more affluent Chinese consumers eat more meat; China needs to import more cereals to feed its mushrooming population of pigs and poultry.

The third reason is biofuels.

Forty minutes' drive north from Chatteris, across the county border at Wissington in Norfolk, is one of Britain's biggest sugar beet factories.

The owners, British Sugar, are currently building an extension to turn surplus sugar beet into 70 million litres a year of ethanol; it'll be blended with conventional petrol to run cars.

Ethanol is made from crops such as sugar beet

Several other biofuel plants are planned in the UK but biofuels are already big business in the United States, where bioethanol is seen as a greener and more sustainable alternative to traditional petrol.

The downside is that land which until recently was growing crops for food is now growing crops for fuel.

The United Nations says a third of the total US maize crop went for ethanol last year.

The International Monetary Fund say there's no question that demand for biofuels is driving up food prices - and that it will go on doing so - though in the UK the National Farmers Union disputes that.

But the NFU has said the era of cheap food was over - something it welcomes, because it says farm-gate prices have lagged behind rising production costs and the cost of living for far too long.

As for the rest of us, it's clear we're just going to have to get used to paying more for our food.

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Farm bird decline 'can be halted'

Could farming changes halt the decline of farmland birds?

Farmers who provide "bed and breakfast" for wild birds could help reverse the decline in farmland species, according to results from a five-year study.

The report showed bird numbers could increase four-fold if new measures were implemented in "green" farming schemes.

Six techniques were identified that would help reverse declines of species such as skylarks and yellow wagtails.

The report was carried out by Sustainable Arable Farming For an Improved Environment (Saffie).

This is a real opportunity for the government to meet its targets for reversing the decline of farmland birds James Clarke Saffie

The organisation is made up of 21 farming, environment and research groups including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Natural England, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the National Trust and Syngenta.

James Clarke, Saffie project director, said: "The measures suggested by the Saffie research could enhance farmland biodiversity and are compatible with modern arable farming.

"This is a real opportunity for the government to meet its targets for reversing the decline of farmland birds. It's about providing bed and breakfast for farmland birds."

Wide open spaces

Research for the £3.5m Saffie project was carried out on 36 farms in England and Scotland.

It found that "skylark plots" - small, bare patches in arable fields - together with strips of grasses and wild flowers on field edges, increased the numbers of some birds three or four-fold.

Plant diversity and open spaces in these strips were important because they encouraged beetles, which are sought by birds as food for their young, and allowed birds access to them.

Using a herbicide to control fast-growing grasses allowed other plants, bees and butterflies to flourish.

Skylark plots were incorporated in the government's environmental schemes two years ago, but take-up has been low.

Sustainability call

The authors of the report believe changes to government schemes based on Saffie's findings will prompt more farmers to take part.

Measures for wildlife can be used by farmers without harming a farm's profits Graham Wynne RSPB

Mr Clarke added: "We don't want uniform fields or field margins and are not suggesting that all farmers should do the same thing. But we need a diversity of habitat and, if we have that, we'll have a wide variety of thriving wildlife."

RSPB chief executive Graham Wynne said: "Measures for wildlife can be used by farmers without harming a farm's profits.

"The recommendations Saffie is making could make an enormous contribution to helping farmland species recover their numbers and making rural businesses more sustainable.

"We very much hope the government and Natural England will take these proposals on board."

The most recent State of the UK's Birds report painted an alarming picture of decline in farmland birds.

It said the skylark, the tree sparrow, the corn bunting and the yellowhammer were either in decline or had only stable numbers.

Computers crack famous board game

Draughts has about 500 billion billion potential positions

It could be a case of game over for draughts - scientists say the ancient board game has finally been solved.

A Canadian team has created a computer program that can win or draw any game, no matter who the opponent is.

It took an average of 50 computers nearly two decades to sift through the 500 billion billion possible draughts positions to come up with the solution.

Writing in the journal Science, the team said it was the most challenging game solved to date.

Jonathan Schaeffer, lead author on the paper and chair of the department of computer science at the University of Alberta, Canada, told the BBC News website: "This was a huge computational problem to solve - more than a million times bigger than anything that had ever been solved before."

Trial and error

Professor Schaeffer, who admits he is "awful" at draughts (also known as checkers), began his attempts to solve the board game in 1989.

He consulted champion players to find out more about their game tactics and then fed this information into a computer program called Chinook.

I think we've raised the bar - and raised it quite a bit - in terms of what can be achieved in computer technology and artificial intelligence Professor Schaeffer

Chinook looked at solving problems much like a human does by using trial and error to find out what appeared to be the best solutions. This is called a heuristic approach.

However, Professor Schaeffer said that although the program was extremely successful - it won the World Checkers Championship in 1994 - it was not perfect and occasionally lost games.

So the computer scientists tried another non-heuristic tack, for which, over a number of years, hundreds of computers ran through game upon game of draughts to work out the sequences that would lead to winning, losing and drawing.

Eventually, the new program gathered so much information that it "knew" the best move to play in every situation. This meant that every game it played led to a certain win, or, if its opponent played perfectly, a draw.

Chess may prove more tricky to solve

Professor Schaeffer said: "I think we've raised the bar - and raised it quite a bit - in terms of what can be achieved in computer technology and artificial intelligence."

With the vast number of playing possibilities, draughts is the most complex game to have been solved to date - it was about a million times more complicated to solve than Connect Four.

Researchers are now hoping to move on to even bigger problems. However, it seems that grand master of the board games - chess - may remain unsolved for some time.

It has somewhere in the range of a billion billion billion billion billion possible positions, meaning that computers, with their current capacity, would takes aeons to solve it.

World gears up for Potter release

Potter fans cannot wait to find out what happens in the final book

Harry Potter fans are eagerly awaiting the midnight launch of the seventh and final book in the wizard series.

Fans have been queuing outside a bookshop in London's Piccadilly for three days to be among the first to get a copy of the Deathly Hallows.

Author JK Rowling will attend a book signing and read excerpts at the Natural History Museum.

She has hit out at US newspapers which revealed plot details ahead of the novel's official release.

She said she was "staggered" that papers including the New York Times had printed reviews of the novel.

It described the book as a "monumental, spellbinding epic" and said it ended with a "big-screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation".

Rowling finished writing the final book in January

Fans in London have been braving heavy rain as they wait for the book to go on sale.

Laura Halinen, 23, travelled from Finland to join them outside the Piccadilly branch of Waterstone's.

"This is the biggest Harry Potter party in Europe, so it's worth the wait," she said.

Chellie Carr, 17, from Okemos, Michigan, said she pestered her mother to bring her to London.

"For all the other books she said, 'No. It's just a book.' But for this one, she said yes," she said.

Cahina Lewis, who dressed as a witch to mark the occasion, said: "For the last nine or 10 years it's been such a big part of my life.

Rowling is angry US newspapers broke the book embargo

"I've been talking to my friends about Harry Potter theories for so long, and I'm not going to be able to do that anymore. What will I do with my life?"

Children's helpline Childline has asked volunteers to take on extra shifts to cope with a surge of calls from distraught youngsters after the reading the book.

The expected death of a key character could spark feelings of loss and bereavement among young readers, it has warned.

'Devastated'

The cost of the book will vary amongst different retailers. Asda will be sell 500,000 copies for £5, £12.99 below the recommended retail price. Rival Tesco will sell the novel for the same price to anyone who spends £50 in one of its stores.

Rowling recently admitted she felt "devastated" as she penned the final words to the book.

Online retailer Amazon.co.uk said it had received 2.2 million pre-orders globally.

It is 10 years since the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was released.

Since then, the books have sold 325 million copies worldwide, been translated into 64 languages and spawned five blockbuster films.

July 20th

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1974: Turkey invades Cyprus Thousands of Turkish troops invade northern Cyprus after last-minute talks in the Greek capital, Athens, fail to reach a solution.
	1944: Hitler survives assassination attempt Adolf Hitler escapes death after a third attempt on his life when a bomb explodes in Rastenberg
	1982: IRA bombs cause carnage in London Eight soldiers on ceremonial duty are killed in two IRA bomb blasts in Hyde Park and Regent's Park.

Scribbles...

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