10 things we didn't know last week

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

1. The Royal Family costs the equivalent of 66p per person in the UK.
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2. Benito Mussolini was knighted in 1923 but it was withdrawn in 1940.
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3. About 35% of the 13.1 billion plastic bottles used by UK households annually are recycled, up from 3% in 2001.
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4. A Volvo can accommodate 13 people.
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5. Blue Peter presenters Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves had a fling.
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6. Dogs can lawfully mess on roads with a speed limit of 40mph or above.
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7. There are 13 podiatrists at the Glastonbury Festival.
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8. On average, 1.5m 24-hour ration packs are eaten every year by British forces serving around the globe.
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9. Kanye West ices his knees after every performance.
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10. The number of people killed on the roads is at its lowest since records began in 1926.
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Plastic recycling comes full circle

By Christine Jeavans BBC News

It has long been seen as the emblem of a throwaway society but the ordinary plastic bottle is about to take on an unlikely role as recycling paragon, with the launch on Thursday of a new reprocessing facility in east London.

On a previously derelict site on the outskirts of Dagenham, sandwiched between the roaring A13 and the Thames, the final components are being placed into giant machines which will soon form the cutting edge of recycling in Britain.

Final checks are made of the giant conveyor belts Enlarge Image

The Closed Loop recycling plant claims to be the first in the world to take both milk bottles and clear drinks bottles and turn them back into food-grade plastic.

Once it is up and running, the £13m facility aims to help create a continuous cycle by enabling manufacturers to use recycled plastic from the UK in their food and drink packaging.

"Essentially the consumer buys their product, say, a bottle of Coca Cola. If they do the right thing with that bottle and place it in the recycling it will have every chance of ending up at our plant and eventually being turned back into another Coke bottle," says Closed Loop London's managing director, Chris Dow.

It sounds simple but such are the difficulties involved in collecting, sorting and decontaminating plastics, that as recently as four years ago, many people in the industry were sceptical it could be done.

Bottle to bottle

But bottle to bottle recycling, as it is known, could go some way towards answering growing consumer ire about packaging.

The stringent processes used at the Dagenham plant will strip out any bacteria or toxins, says Mr Dow. He adds that Closed Loop aims to deal with 35,000 tonnes of used plastic a year.

The trommel spins and sieves the bottles to remove dirt. Enlarge Image

The processing begins when grimy half-tonne bales of compacted plastic bottles arrive from council recycling schemes.

They contain two sorts of plastic: polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - which are the clear bottles most commonly used for water and fizzy drinks - and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) - the cloudy plastic used for milk bottles.

First, the bales are broken and a three metre wide spinning sieve called a trommel "shakes and breaks" the bottles to throw off the loosest dirt.

The bottles are then sorted, shredded, washed and decontaminated in a 200C kiln and sorted again by laser before ending up as pure flakes of PET and pellets of HDPE, ready to be supplied to customers who will mix them with virgin plastic to create new bottles.

Mr Dow says it is an achievable goal to aim for 50% recycled plastic in new bottles, any more would risk compromising the strength of the product.

How the process works

Marks and Spencer is one customer which has already signed up for a third of Closed Loop's output and the retailer has been pivotal in developing the market for food grade recycled plastic.

We are desperate to get hold of more and more recycled material Dr Helene Roberts, Head of packaging, M&S

Dr Helene Roberts, head of packaging at M&S says the company has been using increasing amounts of recycled PET in drinks bottles, salad bowls and fruit punnets since 2004 but has had to source it abroad.

"We've not had access to a more local source of food grade recycled material so we are incredibly happy that they're opening the first UK plant," says Ms Roberts.

"At the moment 75% of UK plastics are sent off-shore for recycling in other countries. Yet we are desperate to get hold of more and more recycled material."

WHAT IS PET? Full name: Polyethylene terephthalate Used for clear drinks bottles such as water and soft drinks Identified by the figure 1 inside the recycling symbol

M&S began using recycled material in its milk bottles in 2006 when it ran trials with bottles containing 10% recycled HDPE in its organic range.

The experiment went down well with customers and Ms Roberts says she aims to increase this to 50% recycled content across the entire range of milk in the stores, taking plastic both from Closed Loop and the UK's other milk bottle reprocessing plant run by Greenstar WES in Redcar.

Packaging giant Nampak who supplies Dairy Crest has also ordered 6,000 tonnes of food grade HDPE from each plant.

Collection problems

Demand, then, is high for the recycled product but the infrastructure to supply the raw material - used bottles - could be an issue.

Huge variations in council collection policies mean that although it is easy for some householders to put all their plastics out for collection along with paper, glass and cans, people living in other local authorities have to separate their plastics out or can only recycle certain types of plastic.

WHAT IS HDPE? Full name: High-density polyethylene Used mainly for milk bottles, also juice and detergents Identified by the figure 2 inside the recycling symbol

However, the situation is improving rapidly, according to Paul Davidson, Plastics Technology Manager at the government-backed Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap).

"There has been a big improvement in the performance of local authorities who have had to really scale up the amount of plastic bottles they are collecting.

"Households have also responded very positively to this opportunity and have increased recycling as a result."

Figures gathered by Recoup, the UK's leading authority on plastics recycling, put the amount of plastic bottles collected by councils in 2007 at 182,000 tonnes or 4.5 billion bottles - a rise of 68% on the previous year.

This suggests some 35% of the 13.1 billion plastic bottles used by British households now end up in recycling - compared with just 3% in 2001.

If the trend continues, that figure could hit 50% this year, says Wrap.

Waste reduction

This whole idea of sending your waste overseas for someone else to deal with has a short life Chris Dow, Closed Loop London

But environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth warns that improved recycling should not be seen as a magic bullet.

"Essentially we want to get to the situation where we are recycling as much as possible, but we want to reduce waste in the first place," says Michael Warhurst, Senior resources and waste campaigner at FoE.

"A classic example is bottled water which is fine when you are out and about but buying bottled water for the home when tap water is available is incredibly wasteful.

"Recycling is a good thing but if you can manage not to use something in the first place you save resources."

Chris Dow of Closed Loop London agrees that consumer attitudes need to change - and are doing so - but adds: "we're dealing with the here and now".

He says plans for a second plant are already on the drawing board and he wants to open five eventually.

"This is part of the urgently needed infrastructure in the UK that every nation in the future is going to have to address - this whole idea of sending your waste overseas for someone else to deal with has a short life."

CLOSED LOOP PROCESS 1 Bottles are de-baled and then sieved in a trommel which spins them and shakes off dirt and some of the caps. A magnet removes ferrous metals and an electrical current gets rid of other metals such as aluminium. 2 Optical sorter shines a beam of light at the bottles and sensors determine whether they are HDPE, PET or "other" 3 Team of manual checkers carries out another sort 4 The sorted bottles are ground into flakes 5 The flakes are hot washed for an hour 6 PET is decontaminated by covering the flakes with caustic soda and then putting them into a kiln where the chemical crystallises and peels away the top layer of the polymer. HDPE is melted, sieved and turned into pellets.

Gates to step down from Microsoft

The chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, is stepping down from his day-to-day job at the world's largest software company...

The chairman of Microsoft and one of the world's richest men, Bill Gates, is stepping down from his job running the world's largest software company.

Mr Gates, who made his fortune through developing software for the personal computer, plans to devote his time to charity work.

As a teenager Bill Gates had a vision of a personal computer on every desk in every home.

He says he caught sight of the future and based his career on what he saw.

Great responsibility

The son of a successful lawyer from Seattle, Mr Gates programmed his first computer at the age of 13.

During his two years at Harvard University, he spent much of his time finessing his programming skills as well as enjoying the occasional all-night poker session.

He eventually dropped out of college and moved to Albuquerque, in New Mexico, where he set up Microsoft with his childhood friend, Paul Allen.

Most of our competitors were very poorly run Bill Gates Timeline: From geek to billionaire The original Microsoft family Send us your comments

Their big break came in 1980 when Microsoft signed an agreement with IBM to build the operating system that became known as MS-DOS.

Microsoft went public in 1986 and within a year Bill Gates, at 31, had become the youngest self-made billionaire.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Gates explained that Microsoft benefitted because "most of our competitors were very poorly run".

"They did not understand how to bring in people with business experience and people with engineering experience and put them together. They did not understand how to go around the world."

New horizons

Now 52, he still has boyish looks, but he is no longer the world's richest man. He has been overtaken by the investor Warren Buffett and the Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim.

But Mr Gates' fortune is at the root of his decision to leave his day job and concentrate on his charitable organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He will remain as Microsoft's chairman and work on special technology projects, but according to Mr Gates, great wealth brings great responsibility and his future work will include finding new vaccines and financing projects in the developing world.

Bees seeking 'sugary' garden pest

A bumblebee visiting leaves of a small tree covered with aphids

A lack of suitable flowers may be forcing bumblebees to seek out aphids to feed on their sugary secretions.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BCT) said it was a behaviour that appeared to be becoming increasingly common.

Images captured by the BBC Scotland news website in a garden in Nairn, in the Highlands, show the bees visiting tree leaves covered with aphids.

The secretions offer a substitute for nectar, but do not contain the protein the insects need to stay healthy.

There have been warnings that bumblebee and wild bee populations around the UK are experiencing "catastrophic declines".

Bees are important pollinators of flowers and crops.

The bumblebees' behaviour of feeding on secretions from aphids could be a further sign of the problems facing the insects.

There is a fine balance to be struck in the garden - the answer is to put plants in the garden that are of benefit to bees Craig Macadam Buglife Scottish officer

Dr Ben Darvill, a BCT director and research ecologist based at the University of Stirling, said there have been several reports of the behaviour but the reason for it remained unclear.

He said: "It's hard to say for sure, but it does seem as if this behaviour is becoming more common.

"Bumblebees are known to feed from aphid secretions, and from extra-floral nectaries on unlikely plants like bracken - but it's more usual to see it in upland areas where there are few other flowers around.

"The fact that it is now frequently observed elsewhere may suggest that there are fewer of the right sorts of flowers around in people's gardens and in the wider countryside."

Dr Darvill said a fascinating aspect of the behaviour was the bumblebees' ability to apparently smell the sugar.

They normally choose flowers by colour, but are known to have "smelly feet" allowing them to detect if a flower has already been visited by another bumblebee for its pollen.

However, the intrigue is tinged with concern for the insects.

Dr Darvill said: "Bumblebees have struggled in recent decades from habitat loss - three species are extinct in the UK and many more are threatened - so perhaps bumblebees are having to find innovative ways of finding food."

A wasp at the same curled up leaf frequented by bumblebees

But he added: "Although the aphid secretions provide them with a sugary solution, a substitute for nectar, they provide no protein.

"Bumblebees can only get their protein from pollen, which they feed to their growing young, so it is essential for a healthy population."

Research work at the University of Stirling, has demonstrated that certain pollens are particularly rich in protein, said Dr Darvill.

He said to help declining bumblebees, gardeners, farmers and land managers need to ensure a constant supply of forage plants from March through until September.

Flowers from the pea and mint families seem to be particularly beneficial.

Craig Macadam, Scottish officer with conservation group Buglife, said aphids were considered a garden pest but he would not wish to see them wiped out.

He said: "Ants often protect the aphids from other predators such as ladybirds and in return they take the honey dew secreted by the aphids.

"There is a fine balance to be struck in the garden - the answer is to put plants in the garden that are of benefit to bees."

Rapidshare New Policy

Rapidshare New Policy


Rapidshare sharing account is no longer allowed anymore from now on !


If You share your account with others, Rapidshare will suspense your account !



Rapidshare decided on account of increasing of the amount of sharing

accounts to take an action.

If your last number in your IP changes, this will not cause the problem.

But, The first three numbers must be same.

Mars' two-faced riddle 'solved'

The impact struck the northern half of the Red Planet

The puzzle of why the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars look so different may now have been solved.

Mars' crust is thicker in the southern hemisphere, and magnetic anomalies are found in the south but not the north.

New studies in Nature magazine suggest that a massive space rock smashing into the planet could have created an abrupt disparity between the two halves.

This asteroid would have been close to the size of Earth's moon and hit Mars' northern regions, scientists say.

According to one group of researchers, the rock struck with an energy equivalent to one million billion atomic bombs like the one dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.

Mars' northern hemisphere is an enormous lowland basin which might once have held a mighty ocean.

It's a very old idea, but nobody had done the numerical calculations Francis Nimmo, UCSC

The southern hemisphere, on the other hand, comprises rugged, crater-pitted highlands with an altitude up to 8,000m (26,000ft) greater than the north.

The new research suggests Mars bears the largest impact scar known anywhere in the Solar System.

It challenges an alternative theory which proposes that the "two faces" of Mars are the result of enormous volcanic disruption 3.8 billion years ago.

Deep impact

The scientists on the latest work used data from two Mars-orbiting spacecraft: Reconnaissance Orbiter and Global Surveyor.

Researchers led by Francis Nimmo at the University of California, Santa Cruz, US, carried out computer simulations to show that an impact with particular conditions could produce the present-day appearance of Mars.

These conditions indicate a space rock about one-half to two-thirds the size of Earth's Moon, striking the Red Planet at an angle of 30 to 60 degrees. This would have produced an elliptical crater.

"It's a very old idea, but nobody had done the numerical calculations to see what would happen when a big asteroid hits Mars," said the associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UCSC.

Elevations in the Martian south are higher than in the north

The team's findings are corroborated by another study in Nature led by Oded Aharonson, associate professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), also US.

"The dichotomy is arguably the oldest feature on Mars," Dr Aharonson explained. The feature arose more than four billion years ago, before the rest of the planet's complex geological history was superimposed."

This was about the same time that a much bigger object slammed into the Earth, throwing material into orbit around our infant planet. This material is thought to have coalesced to form the Moon.

Indeed, the coincidence in timing of the formation of our Moon and the Mars dichotomy is probably not coincidental at all.

Tail end

"It happened probably right at the end of the formation of the four terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars," said Craig Agnor, a co-author on the Francis Nimmo study.

He told BBC News: "We think the planets formed out of a disc of rocks. As the rocks collide, you get bigger rocks and so on. Eventually, you end up with four planets and a lot of rocks - of various sizes.

"In terms of the process of the planets sweeping up the last bits of debris, this could have been one of the last big bits of debris."

Shock waves from the impact would travel through the planet and disrupt the crust on the other side, causing changes in the magnetic field recorded there.

The predicted changes are consistent with observations of magnetic anomalies in the southern hemisphere, according to Dr Nimmo.

In a third study published in Nature, Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna and Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, and Bruce Banerdt of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, provide impact evidence from gravitational and topographical signatures on Mars.

Fossil fills out water-land leap

An impression of Ventastega pictured with its fossil skull

Scientists say a fossil of a four-legged fish sheds new light on the process of evolution.

The creature had a fish-like body but the head of an animal more suited to land than water.

The researchers' study, published in the journal Nature, says Ventastega curonica would have looked similar to a small alligator.

Scientists say the 365-million-year-old species eventually became an evolutionary dead end.

Counting digits

About one hundred million years before dinosaurs began to roam the Earth, Ventastega was to be found in the shallow waters and tidal estuaries of modern day Latvia.

According to lead author, Professor Per Ahlberg, from Uppsala University, Sweden, this creature had the head of a tetrapod, an animal adapted to live on land. The body, though, was fish-like but with four primitive flippers.

"From a distance, it would have looked like an alligator. But closer up, you would have noticed a real tail fin at the back end, a gill flap at the side of the head; also lines of pores snaking across head and body.

The famous Tiktaalik fossil

"In terms of construction, it had already undergone most of the changes from fish towards land animal, but in terms of lifestyle you are still looking at an animal that is habitually aquatic."

Experts believe that Ventastega was an important staging post in the evolutionary journey that led creatures from the sea to the land. Scientists once believed that these early amphibious animals descended in a linear fashion, but this discovery instead confirms these creatures diversified into different branches along the way.

Professor Ahlberg points to the discovery of a fossil called Tiktaalik in Canada in 2004. It is believed to be the "missing link" in the gap between fish and land mammals. Ventastega is a later species but is a more primitive form of transition animal.

"Ventastega fills the gap between Tiktaalik and the earliest land based mammals. All these changes in these creatures are not going in lockstep; it's a mosaic with different parts of animal evolving at different rates. Ventastega has acquired some of land-animal characteristics, but has not yet got some of the other ones."

For instance, the creature had primitive feet - but with a high number of digits.

Superb sands

"I would draw the inference that Ventastega probably had limbs very much like Acanthostega (another transitional species). These were little things sticking out of the sides, with a strangely high number of digits. You would have seven, eight, maybe even nine toes per foot, rather than five or so which you would expect to find in modern day animals," the Uppsala scientist explained.

Unfortunately for Ventastega, a multitude of toes does not inevitably lead to evolutionary success. It eventually died out. Other creatures went on to become our very distant land-living ancestors.

Scientists are delighted with the quality of these Latvian fossils, saying they are really well preserved. Professor Ahlberg believes it is due to some of the geological characteristics of the area.

"This region has had a very quiet geological history since that time, and as a result the rocks have not been folded or squashed up to form mountains.

"We still find sediments not yet properly turned to rock. These fossils were found in compact, wet sand. It's not sandstone, it's sand; you dig it with a breadknife.

"Once you take it back to the lab very carefully, you can remove the remainder of the sand with brushes and needles. These fossils are fragile but superbly preserved. They are actually three dimensional, not flat. It makes it very easy to interpret the skeleton."

Digital switchover is 'a mystery'

Analogue sets will not work once the signal is turned off

Many people are still buying analogue TV sets unaware that they will soon need extra equipment to make them work, according to a report from MPs.

A parliamentary report claims that many viewers do not understand the implications of the digital switchover, despite a £200m campaign.

It says the digital tick labelling scheme for digital TVs is a "mystery" to many sales staff and customers.

Almost half of all TV sets sold in the first half of 2007 were analogue.

However, once the analogue signal is switched off completely those sets will not receive programmes without their owners paying for extra equipment.

The report did find the switchover timetable, which is taking place region-by-region until 2012, was on track to complete on time.

The report also criticises the government for "not taking adequate safeguards to secure value for money" in the digital conversion scheme.

It paid £803m of licence fee money to the BBC to deliver digital switchover, without ensuring proper accountability for the way the money is spent, the report said.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has given the BBC responsibility for funding the public information campaign and delivering a digital help scheme.

But the report from the Parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts said the government departments have no means of holding the BBC to account.

Whitehaven was the first town to have its analogue signal turned off

Committee Chairman Edward Leigh said: "Many viewers do not seem fully to understand the implications of the analogue switch-off and are still buying analogue televisions - unaware that they have built-in obsolescence.

"The evidence is that the digital tick label, with which digital televisions are flagged in shops, is a mystery to many retail staff, let alone the people to whom they sell TVs."

'Easily converted'

He added that just 15% of households needed to make the switch to digital TV for their main set - but that left 26 million analogue TVs to be converted or replaced.

A Government spokesman said: "Digital switchover is progressing well and according to timetable. Take up continues to be high with 87% of homes having access to digital TV."

A spokesman for Digital UK said: "Some people may choose to buy analogue televisions for use with DVD players or games consoles.

"These sets do not become obsolete at switchover, as they can also be easily converted using a digital box, available from around £25."

Whitehaven was the first town to have its analogue signal turned off in October last year.

Euro 2008 semi-final thriller hit by TV blackouts

BBC1 apologises for the loss of picture during its coverage of the Euro 2008 semi-final between Germany and Turkey

The BBC is to lodge a formal complaint with Euro 2008 organiser Uefa after live coverage of last night's semi-final match between Germany and Turkey was lost for about 10 minutes.

Uefa's feed of the thrilling match, which saw Germany defeat Turkey 3-2, was interrupted at least twice during the second half, affecting the BBC's coverage and blacking out screens in all countries broadcasting the match.

The first blackout lasted more than seven minutes and the second interruption stopped UK viewers from seeing Miroslav Klose put Germany 2-1 ahead in the 79th minute.

In the UK the BBC switched to its audio feed from Radio 5 Live during the blackouts and Euro 2008 Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was forced to apologise on air for the technical snafu after the match finished.

"The whole world lost pictures. It's bad enough at home but imagine those fans in Turkey and Germany," Lineker said.

The BBC said today it had received 154 complaints about the loss of coverage.

A BBC spokeswoman added: "This was due to the loss of the host feed provided by the host broadcaster, Uefa.

"All countries across the world receiving the feed lost pictures and sound. We had people ringing up to ask what had happened, but it was more reaction than complaints."

The interruptions are thought to have been caused by severe electrical storms around Uefa's International Broadcast Centre in Vienna, even though the match was being played in Basle, Switzerland.

Uefa was transmitting pictures of the match to the BBC and other broadcasters around the world from Vienna.

According to reports, coverage in Germany was lost several times but viewers did not miss a goal.

There were also coverage blackouts in Turkey but football fans watching in Euro 2008 host nation Austria were possibly worst hit, missing three goals, according to reports.

"The television signal in the International Broadcast Centre for the Germany-Turkey game has been interrupted several times in the second half due to technical reasons which are currently being investigated, in particular to evaluate the impact of the violent electrical storm over Vienna at that time," Uefa said in a statement.

According to news agency reports, the only broadcasters whose signal escaped the interruption were Swiss public TV company SRG in Zurich and Arabic channel al-Jazeera.

Uefa has launched an investigation into the massive technical problem.

Regenerate! Fans revive 60s Doctor Who

The BBC lists 108 episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s as officially "missing" from its archive. That's because the original videotapes were either erased or destroyed by the BBC in the 1970s, to make shelf space for newer programming. A catastrophe for fans. But Doctor Who - as fans of the show will know - is luckier than most.

The programme has always had a very loyal, and often talented, fanbase. It was its dedicated fans who in the 1960s weren't hiding behind the sofa, but holding microphones up to their televisions week after week, that meant that all of the missing 108 instalments still exist as audio recordings; and it has been today's fans who have, over the past few years, been working on bringing these "lost" recordings back to life through animation.

In 2006, James Goss, a producer working with the BBC's interactive arm, took two audio-only episodes from the 1968 story The Invasion to the animation studios Cosgrove Hall to produce an all-new black and white animation, lip-synced to the original audio - in effect, bringing back to life two lost gems from the BBC archive. The episodes were released on DVD and went on to become one of BBC DVD's most successful Doctor Who releases.

Invasion of the fans

However, since The Invasion project, no further episodes have been given the animation treatment by the BBC.

Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/26/bbc.doctorwho

Dion sang 'worst ever cover song'

Dion completed a five year residency at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas

Celine Dion is responsible for the world's worst cover version, a poll of music experts has decided.

The Canadian star's rendition of the AC/DC track You Shook Me All Night Long was given the dubious honour in the Total Guitar magazine survey.

Editor Stephen Lawson said Dion's cover was "sacrilege".

The experts also judged the best cover versions, with Jimi Hendrix's performance of the Bob Dylan song All Along the Watchtower top of the list.

"Cover versions have never been bigger," said Mr Lawson.

"Producer Mark Ronson became a household name on the back of his quirky covers album, with Amy Winehouse's version of Valerie outselling The Zutons' original."

Pop flops

Dion, 40, who performed You Shook Me All Night Long at a Las Vegas concert six years ago, never released the track as a single.

A Sugababes and Girls Aloud version of Walk This Way, a huge hit for Aerosmith and Run DMC, came second in the list of worst covers.

Westlife's 1999 version of the ballad More Than Words by rock band Extreme was third in the list.

Will Young was fourth with his cover of The Doors' Light My Fire, which reached number one in the UK top 40 charts in 2002, and The Mike Flowers Pops rounded off the top five with their cover of Oasis' Wonderwall.

In the list of best covers, The Beatles' rendition of Twist and Shout, first recorded by the Top Notes, was in second place, followed by the Guns N' Roses version of the Wings song Live and Let Die.

Nirvana's cover of The Man Who Sold the World by David Bowie, and Muse's Feeling Good, made famous by Nina Simone, also appeared in the top five.

Radio digital switchover proposed

The working group said the future of long wave would need consideration

Plans to move all UK radio stations to digital radio and close medium wave frequencies have been put forward in a report by a government working group.

The Digital Radio Working Group said no date should be set yet for the switch, but it believes the transfer could be completed by the year 2020.

The interim report said listeners should be given at least two years' notice before the change begins.

Some 90% of UK homes have digital TV, but radio's future has been in doubt.

Barry Cox, the group's chairman, said the government would have to set out conditions to be met before the change.

BBC Media Correspondent Torin Douglas said some digital stations have closed and the biggest commercial radio group has questioned the viability of the platform, which broadcasts to digital radios through an aerial, rather than satellite TV or the internet.

Long wave future

Every home will be switched to digital television by the year 2012.

In the interim report, the Digital Radio Working Group said all national, regional and large local stations should switch to DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) in the medium term, while small local and community stations would continue to broadcast on FM.

Coverage levels across the UK would have to increase and so would the robustness of the DAB signal.

Furthermore, car manufacturers would have to be persuaded to install digital radios as standard.

The group's report said once the proposed change had taken place, medium wave frequencies could then be used for other purposes.

The working group, which represents all sides of the industry, also said further consideration would be needed over the future of long wave.

BBC Radio 4 listeners once marched on Broadcasting House to oppose changes to its Long Wave service.

'Shake-up' for internet proposed

Icann oversees the structure of the net

The net could see its biggest transformation in decades if plans to open up the address system are passed.

The net's regulators will vote on Thursday to decide if the strict rules on so-called top level domain names, such as .com or .uk, can be relaxed.

If approved, it could allow companies to turn their brands into domain names while individuals could also carve out their own corner of the net.

The move could also see the launch of .xxx, after years of wrangling.

Top level domains are currently limited to individual countries, such as .uk (UK) or .it (Italy), as well as to commerce, .com, and to institutional organisations, such as .net, or .org.

To get around the restrictions, some companies have used the current system to their own ends.

For example, the Polynesia island nation Tuvalu, has leased the use of the .tv address to many television firms.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), which acts as a sort of regulator for the net as well as overseeing the domain name system, has been working towards opening up net addresses for the last three years.

It's a massive increase in the geography of the real estate of the internet Dr Paul Twomey, Icann

The plan would also allow for the new domain names to be internationalised, and so could be written in scripts for Asian and Arabic languages.

Dr Paul Twomey, chief executive of Icann, told BBC News that the proposals would result in the biggest change to the way the internet worked in decades.

"The impact of this will be different in different parts of the world. But it will allow groups, communities and business to express their identities online.

"Like the United States in the 19th Century, we are in the process of opening up new real estate, new land, and people will go out and claim parts of that land and use it for various reasons they have.

"It's a massive increase in the geography of the real estate of the internet."

Arbitration process

Hundreds of new domain names could be created by the end of the year, rising to thousands in the future.

HAVE YOUR SAY

I'm all for tighter regulation, not opening it up further which would only facilitate fraud

Karen, London

Read your comments

Icann says any string of letters can be registered as a domain, but there will be an independent arbitration process for people with grounds for objection.

The openness of the new system could pave the way for a .xxx domain name, after more than half a decade of wrangling between its backers and Icann.

The latest attempt to launch .xxx was rejected by Icann last year on the grounds that approval would put the agency into the position of a content regulator.

When asked about the possibility of a .xxx domain name, Dr Twomey repeated only that the new system would be "open to anyone".

The move could yet be blocked as the independent arbitration panel can reject domains based on "morality or public order" grounds.

Dr Twomey said Icann was still working through how much the application fee to register a domain name will be, but it is expected to be at least several thousand dollars.

'Cost recovery'

"We are doing this on a cost recovery basis. We've already spent $10m on this," he said.

Individuals will be able to register a domain based on their own name, or any other string of letters, as long as they can show a "business plan and technical capacity".

While companies will be able to secure domain names based on their intellectual property easily, some domain names could become subject to contention and a bidding war.

Dr Twomey said: "If there is a dispute, we will try and get the parties together to work it out. But if that fails there will be an auction and the domain will go to the highest bidder."

10 things we didn't know last week

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

1. The only DVD rejected by the British Board of Film Classification last year was a boxset of Weeds (broadcast in the UK on Sky One), for promoting drug use - despite more than 1,000 pornographic films being passed.
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2. A bespoke garment does not necessarily need to be handmade.
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3. There are 14 towns called Springfield in the US.
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4. The England rugby team always includes a lawyer in the tour party.

5. John Lewis sold a Wii every five minutes in May.

6. Schools influence the smoking habits of young people.
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7. Eating a big breakfast helps weight loss.
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8. Bill Gates has not one, not two, but three computer screens at his office desk.

9. The British eat potatoes about 10 billion times a year and pasta 1.4 billion times.

10. Infants that use dummies are more likely to get ear infections.
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One tonne 'Baby' marks its birth

The four remaining members of the Baby team will be honoured in Manchester

Sixty years ago the "modern computer" was born in a lab in Manchester.

The Small Scale Experimental Machine, or "Baby", was the first to contain memory which could store a program.

The room-sized computer's ability to carry out different tasks - without having to be rebuilt - has led some to describe it as the "first modern PC".

Using just 128 bytes of memory, it successfully ran its first set of instructions - to determine the highest factor of a number - on 21 June 1948.

"We were extremely excited," Geoff Tootill, one of the builders of Baby told BBC News.

"We congratulated each other and then went and had lunch in the canteen."

Mr Tootill, and three other surviving members of the Baby team, will be honoured by the University and the British Computer Society at a ceremony in Manchester.

Number cruncher

Baby was the successor to machines such as the American ENIAC and the UK's Colossus.

How the BBC reported on the birth of "Baby" in 1948

ENIAC was built to calculate the trajectory of shells for the US army, whilst Colossus was used to decrypt messages from the German High Command during World War II.

Both computers were able to be reprogrammed but this could involve days of rewiring. Baby was designed to overcome this limitation.

"It was the earliest machine that was a computer, in the sense of what everyone today understands a computer to be," explained Chris Burton of the Computer Conservation Society (CCS).

"It was a single piece of hardware which could perform any application depending on what program you put in."

The key to this ability was its memory, built from a cathode ray tube (CRT), which could be used to store a program.

"It was an extraordinary analogue for today's DRAM (dynamic random access memory)," said Mr Burton.

Electrical charges on the screen of the CRT were used to represent binary information. A positive charge represented a one and a negative charge a zero.

It really must have been an extraordinary, exciting and heady time Chris Burton

A metal grid attached to the screen read the different charges. A graphical representation - dashes for a one and dots for a zero - was displayed on a second CRT wired in parallel to the memory device.

"The operator peered at the monitor tube and he could see the same patterns as in the storage tube," said Mr Burton.

The memory gave programmers a total of 1024 bits, or 128 bytes, to play with. This had to store both the program and all of the data to be crunched.

By comparison, a modern 1GB DRAM chip can store around 8 billion bits.

Dashing times

However, the size of the memory did not prevent the Manchester University team writing relatively complex programs.

"You can write very sophisticated and interesting programs even with that limitation," said Mr Burton.

Programming the machines took a great deal of hard work Enlarge Image

"They're not efficient, but nobody was talking about efficiency it was about feasibility."

The first program was written by the late Tom Kilburn to work out the highest factor of a prime number.

"We used this, of course, to test the machine," said Mr Tootill.

"It took it a very long time so we had our leisure to see how the circuits were working - to see if any were on the verge of failure that sort of thing."

Because of the limitations of the display the team tested the machine using prime numbers.

"If you give it a prime number to try then the highest factor of that is one," said Mr Burton.

"If what they saw when they ran the program was a one - in other words a dash when everything else was dots - then bingo they knew it was working."

The team eventually refined their techniques, writing more complex programs and adding to the computers memory.

Baby morphed into the Manchester Mark I and eventually the first commercial general purpose computer, the Ferranti Mark I.

"It really must have been an extraordinary, exciting and heady time," said Mr Burton.

A working replica of Baby is on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

Thousands mark summer solstice

The rain failed to put people off

Some 30,000 people celebrated the summer solstice as dawn broke at Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

Druids, hippies and sun-worshippers were among those who gathered to watch the sun rise at the ancient stone circle at 0458 BST on the longest day.

Rainy conditions obscured the sunrise but the turnout was still the highest in five years.

Police said the event was peaceful, with 17 arrests overnight for public order offences.

As the dawn broke a cheer went up from revellers who gathered at the Heel stone - a pillar at the edge of the prehistoric monument.

It's all about the feeling you get when the sun bursts through the stone Stonehenge reveller 'Cathbad'

Unemployed John Tarbuck, 33, from Bude, Cornwall, set up a small tent party next to his car.

"The best thing about Summer Solstice at the 'henge is you get to meet loads of new people," he said.

"All the people here at my tent party, I've never met before."

Another man, dressed in a black hooded top, who gave his name as Cathbad, said: "It's a beautiful experience. It's about celebrating nature, life and what makes the world go round.

See animated guide to the solstice at Stonehenge

"It's a little bit too heavily organised, with too much intervention from the establishment, but I'll keep coming back.

"It's all about the feeling you get when the sun bursts through the stone."

A spokeswoman for English Heritage, which runs the 5,000-year-old site, said the last time a turnout of 30,000 was achieved was in 2003.

"It's been very wet and soggy," she said. "Probably a few disappointed people, many streaming out before sunrise because it was so wet and cold.

"I don't think it will discourage people from coming again. Quite a few people come every year and are quite hardy."

Why You Should Carry a Digital Camera At All Times

Last Tuesday, Lori Mehmen looked out her front door in Orchard, Iowa and this is what she saw. She had a digital camera handy, and somehow managed to take this photo before crapping her pants and taking cover. This, my friends, is why always having a camera nearby is helpful. Oh, and no one was injured during this tornado, fortunately. [NY Times]

Firefox claims download success

Firefox fans held parties around the world to mark download day

Mozilla is claiming a download record for the release of Firefox 3.0.

In the first 24 hours the web browser was available the software was downloaded more than eight million times, says its creator Mozilla.

Statistics from the download servers are being scrutinised to produce an official figure that will be passed to the Guinness World Record organisation.

But the launch was marred by news from computer security firms who have found the first flaws in the software.

Big figures

The attempt to set the download record was scheduled to begin at 1300 PST (2000 GMT) on 17 June.

However, the record attempt was almost wrecked from the start as the servers handling the downloads collapsed under the weight of visitors checking to see if new version was available.

Once the servers were up and functioning normally the record attempt began.

At their busiest the servers were handling more than 9,000 downloads per minute. Within five hours the number of downloads for Version 3.0 exceeded the 1.6 million set by Firefox 2.0 in October 2006.

In total Firefox 3.0 was downloaded 8.3 million times over the 24 hour record setting period. The figure beats the five million Mozilla predicted before the day.

Logs from the download servers have been handed to the Open Source Labs at Oregon State University for auditing. The scrutiny will ensure duplicate and unfinished downloads are not counted. The verification process could take a week to complete.

The surge of interest in Firefox 3.0 has continued and Mozilla has reported that the software has now been downloaded more than 10 million times.

However, some of the shine of the launch was removed by reports that a security firm had already found a flaw in the browser.

DV Labs/Tipping Point reported a flaw only five hours after Firefox 3.0 debuted. The flaw potentially lets an attacker take over a PC if a user clicks on a booby-trapped link.

Key ocean mission goes into orbit

How Jason-2 will probe the oceans

A space mission that will be critical to our understanding of climate change has launched from California.

The Jason-2 satellite will become the primary means of measuring the shape of the world's oceans, taking readings with an accuracy of better than 4cm.

Its data will track not only sea level rise but reveal how the great mass of waters are moving around the globe.

This information will be fundamental in helping weather and climate agencies make better forecasts.

The satellite left Earth at 0746 GMT atop a Delta-2 rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The spacecraft, built by Thales Alenia Space, represents the joint efforts of the US and French space agencies (Nasa and CNES), and the US and European organisations dedicated to studying weather and climate from orbit (Noaa and Eumetsat).

Down below

Jason-2 will provide a topographic map of 95% of the Earth's ice-free oceans every 10 days. Although we think of our seas as being flat, they are actually marked by "hills" and "valleys", where the highs and lows may be as much as two metres apart.

Elevation is a key parameter for oceanographers. Just as surface air pressure reveals what the atmosphere is doing above, so ocean height will betray details about the behaviour of water down below.

The data gives clues to temperature and salinity. When combined with gravity information, it will also indicate current direction and speed.

The oceans store vast amounts of heat from the Sun; and how they move that energy around the globe and interact with the atmosphere are what drive our climate system.

"The ocean constitutes the long-term memory of the climate system; the time-scales over which the ocean is changing are the climatic timescales," explained Mikael Rattenborg, the director of operations at Eumetsat.

"In order to understand climate, in order to be able to predict the evolution of the atmosphere over months, years, and decades even, you need to understand the ocean."

Number one

Jason-2 is a continuation of a programme that started in 1992 with the Topex/Poseidon mission and is currently maintained by the Jason-1 satellite launched in 2001.

JASON-2 SPACECRAFT 1. Advance Microwave Radiometer - measures signal delay caused by water vapour 2. GPS antennas - ensures knowledge of precise orbit path 3. Poseidon-3 altimeter- measures sea level 4. Doris antenna - tracking and positioning control 5. Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) - tracks and calibrates measurements Satellite mass: 525kg (1,155lb) Power generation: 511 watts Satellite height: 3m (9ft 8in) Orbit: 1,338km (831 miles) (Source: Eumetsat, Cnes, Nasa)

The project provides the global reference data for satellite-measured ocean height.

Although other spacecraft in service today can acquire similar data sets, none can match the precision achieved by Jason-1; and Jason-2, when in service, will be the benchmark against which all other spacecraft will be judged and calibrated.

At the heart of the latest mission is the Poseidon 3 solid-state altimeter. The instrument constantly bounces microwave pulses off the sea surface. By timing how long the signal takes to make the return trip, it can determine sea surface height.

Additionally, the signal can indicate the height of waves and wind speed.

"It is not a revolution between Jasion-1 and Jason-2; it is an evolution, because the main objective is to ensure continuity," explains Francois Parisot, the Jason-2 project chief at Eumetsat.

"Nevertheless, there are some improvements in the instruments. We hope to make better measurements closer to the coast [and over inland waters and rivers]; and also, we will deliver near-realtime products - products that will be available within three hours of the measurements."

Whale watching

The latter will be particularly useful in storm prediction. Jason will see the surface waters rise as warm eddies fuel hurricanes. The data will tell meteorologists how a storm is likely to intensify and allow them to issue better, more timely warnings.

Jason-2 data will have many other uses that may not be immediately obvious. Industry will take the information to make decisions about when conditions are most suitable for undersea drilling or cable laying.

Jason can help identify where wreckage or pollution will drift; and the satellite will assist marine biologists as they track whales by pinpointing waters with the potential to be prime feeding and breeding grounds.

One very important use will be in maritime navigation.

"Now that the fuel price is going up, saving fuel for the companies that run ships has become very sensitive; and knowing the currents, you can select your route so that you go faster and save fuel," said Philippe Escudier, a space oceanography at CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites), Toulouse, France.

"You can save up to 5% on fuel consumption by making best use of the currents."

Formation flying

Jason-2 will spend its first few months flying a "tandem mission" with Jason-1.

The two spacecraft will be positioned so that they sweep around the Earth, one following the other, with a separation of just 60 seconds.

This will enable, essentially, the two satellites to measure the same patch of ocean surface at very nearly the same time.

Changes in ocean height can be a key indicator of climate cycles More details

Scientists will use this opportunity to cross-calibrate the instruments so that when Jason-1 is retired (or fails), the future data collected by its successor will be directly comparable with past records.

This continuity of information will be critical in recognising long-term trends in ocean behaviour. It is the data which underpins the observation that global sea level is rising by about three millimetres per year.

Once the tandem phase is completed, Jason-1 will be moved to the side, doubling the return of data. The importance of the Jason programme means both spacecraft will almost certainly be run for as long as they are serviceable.

Discussions are already in progress on a Jason-3 satellite. Given Europe's role in the project, there is a compelling case for the next mission to be included in the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) programme. This would attract significant EU money.

Eumetsat's Francois Parisot describes how the spacecraft works

Radical proposals to tackle cheap supermarket alcohol

Proposals north of the border could force government to act against loss-leading supermarkets

Radical proposals to tackle cheap supermarket alcohol deals north of the border have raised further hopes of decisive government action in England and Wales.

The Scottish Executive last week unveiled wide-ranging plans to introduce a minimum price on a unit of alcohol, a ban on cut-price promotions and a ban on off-trade sales to under-21s.

Proposals for alcohol-only checkouts in large supermarkets were also announced as well as a social responsibility levy on licensed premises, similar to alcohol disorder zones.

Following consultation the measures would become law in 2009.

And the moves have heightened speculation that England and Wales will follow suit in the government’s bid to tackle alcohol-related problems.

Labour MP John Grogan, an outspoken critic of supermarket deals, said: “These proposals present a challenge to the government and the other political parties to see if they would support the minimum pricing of alcohol.

“It’s not an easy decision to take in an inflationary period – nevertheless it’s one that can be discussed.”

The Department of Health (DoH) insists any such action on minimum pricing or loss-leading rides on the outcome of a Sheffield University study on the pricing and promotion of alcohol.

The first phase of the report is expected to be published next month. However, the second phase – which could influence government policy – is not due until later in the summer.

A DoH spokeswoman told The Publican: “Should we decide regulation is merited, we will consult fully on the proposals. Currently, we have no proposals to raise the legal age at which alcohol can be purchased.

"The government’s approach in England has been to strictly enforce underage sales with the alcohol industry, to crack down on irresponsible promotions and provide comprehensive information about alcohol to adults, young people and parents.”

However, reports in the national press have suggested that ministers are talking about ordering a minimum price of between 35p and 40p a unit.

Commenting on the reports, Grogan added: “This reflects the fact there is a real heated debate going on in government as to what to do when the DoH study comes out and how to respond to the Scottish government plans announced this week.

“As someone who would support action on minimum pricing I am pleased that the Home Office and the DoH are taking their gloves off to fight for it.”

Mark Hastings, communications director at the British Beer & Pub Association, said the government was “actively and vigorously looking at how to grab supermarkets by the scruff of the neck and make them wake up to their responsibilities when it comes to loss-leading”.

He added that the issues around competition law, which would have to be adjusted to incorporate minimum pricing, were “at the core of the debate”. “There are legal opinions on both sides,” Hastings said.

'Oldest' computer music unveiled

The music was played on the successor to Manchester's "Baby"

A scratchy recording of Baa Baa Black Sheep and a truncated version of In the Mood are thought to be the oldest known recordings of computer generated music.

The songs were captured by the BBC in the Autumn of 1951 during a visit to the University of Manchester.

The recording has been unveiled as part of the 60th Anniversary of "Baby", the forerunner of all modern computers.

The tunes were played on a Ferranti Mark 1 computer, a commercial version of the Baby Machine.

"I think it's historically significant," Paul Doornbusch, a computer music composer and historian at the New Zealand School of Music, told BBC News.

"As far as I know it's the earliest recording of a computer playing music in the world, probably by quite a wide margin."

The previous oldest known recordings were made on an IBM mainframe computer at Bell Labs in the US in 1957, he said.

"That's where the whole computer music thing started but they were not the first to have a computer play music," said Mr Doornbusch.

That honour goes to a third machine called CSIRAC, Australia's first digital computer, which "stunned" audiences with a rendition of Colonel Bogey.

"It played music months or weeks before [the Manchester] recording," said Mr Doornbusch.

However, no one has yet unearthed a recording of CSIRAC in action.

Mood machine

Documentary evidence of the Manchester machine's musical abilities exists thanks to a BBC outside broadcasting team who had gone to the University to record an edition of Children's Hour.

At the time Manchester was home to a Ferranti Mark 1, the first commercially available general purpose computer.

How the BBC reported on the birth of "Baby" in 1948

"Word must have got around that this electronic brain could play music," explained Chris Burton of the Computer Conversation Society (CCS).

The music program was written by a friend of computing legend Alan Turing called Christopher Strachey, a maths master at Harrow.

"My understanding is that Chris Strachey got on and wrote a program for playing draughts and when the program terminated it played God Save the King," said Mr Burton.

Others contend that the program was purely for playing music.

Either way, following the recording, a university engineer called Frank Cooper asked if he could have a copy. Unable to give him the original, the BBC team cut him another version.

The Ferranti Mark 1 was a polished version of Baby

"At the time of the recording outside broadcasts were recorded on to acetate disks," explained Mr Burton. "You can hear the presenter tell the recording engineer in the van 'lift Jim' and that meant lift the cutter off to stop recording."

During the session, the temperamental machine managed to work its way through Baa Baa Black Sheep, God Save the King and part of In the Mood.

Following one aborted attempt, a laughing presenter says: "The machine's obviously not in the mood."

The disc was eventually passed to the CCS, who, along with the University of Manchester, has released the recording to mark the 60th anniversary of the Ferranti machine's forerunner.

Modern marvel

In the late 1940s Manchester was a hotbed of computer innovation following the birth of Baby, or Small Scale Experimental Machine, in 1948.

Programming the machines took a great deal of hard work Enlarge Image

Baby was the forerunner of the Ferranti Mark 1 and was the first computer to contain a memory device that could store a program.

"Baby was the first universal computer," explained Mr Burton.

"It would perform any task - within its capacity - depending on what program was put in."

The memory was built from a Cathode Ray Tube and allowed scientists to program 1024 bits, compared to the billions in today's modern computers.

Before Baby was built, computers such as ENIAC and Colossus had to be rewired to perform different tasks, said Mr Burton.

"You couldn't easily change what they did," said Mr Burton.

Baby successfully ran its first program - to determine the highest factor of a number - on 21 June 1948.

"That particular program was devised solely to make the machine work very hard so we could see where it was about to go wrong," Geoff Tootill, one of the builders of Baby told BBC News.

"If you gave the problem to a mathematician, he would take a fraction of a second to give you an answer."

However, companies quickly capitalised on Baby's unique abilities, giving rise to machines like the Mark 1.

"It was the start of the computer age," said Mr Tootill. "Although we didn't know it was going to be epoch-making or earth-shattering other than for weather forecasting and other scientific disciplines."

Musical star Charisse dies in LA

Cyd Charisse dancing with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire Cyd Charisse, a former co-star of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, has died in Los Angeles aged 86, her publicist says. The actress-dancer from Texas died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering an apparent heart attack on Monday, Gene Schwam said. The long-legged star appeared in a number of films, but her fame came from the musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. She sang and danced with legends Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, and Fred Astaire in Silk Stockings. At the height of her fame the film company said her long legs were insured for a million dollars. But her talent was enough to make her an essential part of the golden age of Technicolor musicals. 'Beautiful dynamite' "Her beauty was breathtaking," Debbie Reynolds, who starred with Charisse in the 1952 classic Singin' in the Rain, said in a statement. "The world will miss her dancing." Born Tula Ellice Finklea in 1921, Charisse began her career dancing with the Ballet Russe as a teenager. During a European tour she met Nico Charisse, a young French dancer with whom she had trained in Los Angeles. They married in Paris in 1939. When we were dancing, we didn't know what time it was Fred Astaire Obituary: Cyd Charisse She appeared in her first Hollywood film in 1943, performing a ballet sequence in the musical Something to Shout About. Her exploits attracted the attention of the MGM studio, which gave her a seven-year contract and changed the spelling of her childhood nickname, Sid, to "Cyd". She was married to her second husband, singer Tony Martin, and had just become a mother when she starred with Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain. She later worked with Kelly again in Brigadoon and partnered Fred Astaire in The Band Wagon and as well as her favourite film, Silk Stockings. Cyd Charisse found fame in the Technicolor musicals Astaire later described Charisse as "beautiful dynamite". "She wasn't a tap dancer, she's just beautiful, trained, very strong in whatever we did," he said in an 1983 interview. "When we were dancing, we didn't know what time it was." Charisse also appeared in The Unfinished Dance, Words and Music, It's Always Fair Weather and Invitation to the Dance. Later, she was in Two Weeks in Another Town, made some films in Europe, including Warlords of Atlantis, and appeared in several TV dramas. She made her Broadway debut in 1992 at the age of 70 in the musical Grand Hotel reprising Greta Garbo's role, and continued to play small TV roles.

Firefox aims for download record

More than one million people have pledged to download Firefox 3.0

Version 3 of the popular Firefox web browser is going on general release on 17 June.

Wide take-up of the new version would further boost the market share of the browser which is currently used by about 15% of net users.

With the release, Firefox developer Mozilla is attempting to set a record for the most downloads over 24 hours.

"It's a global effort to make history," said Paul Kim, head of marketing at Mozilla.

Net gains

So far Mozilla has not said exactly when on 17 June the attempt to break the record will begin.

"There is actually no record for the greatest amount of software downloaded in one day, so for 24 hours from the moment we push the bits live, that's when the countdown starts," he said.

Mr Kim said Mozilla had no specific target for the number of downloads it would like to achieve on the day but racking up five million would be "awesome".

By comparison, Firefox 2.0 registered 1.6 million downloads on the day it was made available on 24 October, 2006. More than 1.3 million people have pledged to download the new version on 17 June.

WEB BROWSER STATS Internet Explorer - 83.27% Firefox - 13.76% Apple Safari - 2.18% Opera - 0.55% Netscape - 0.14% Source: OneStat Behind the scenes of Firefox 3.0

New features in Version 3 include automatic warnings when users stray onto webpages booby-trapped with malicious code.

Also in Version 3 will be "Smart Location Bar" that lets people return to places they have visited even if they have not bookmarked them or cannot remember the full web address.

Firefox 3 will work with Windows 2000, XP and Vista and some non-Windows operating systems including Linux.

Mozilla is not alone in marking the release of the new software. According to the Mozillaparty website more than 566 celebrations are planned for when the software becomes available.

Market battle

Firefox first appeared in early 2004 and since then has steadily eroded Microsoft's hold on the web browsing world.

Although firm statistics are hard to gather Firefox is currently thought to be used by about 15-17% of web users.

In some territories the percentage of Firefox users is far higher. For instance, according to market analysis firm OneStat, 27.23% of German web users browsed the web with Firefox in February 2008. Most of the rest (67.63%) used Internet Explorer (IE).

"Firefox is making very steady encroachment in to the market," said Adam Vahed, managing director of OneStat UK partner Apache Solutions. "It's a very serious contender to the world domination of IE."

He expected there to be great interest in Firefox 3.0 because most users of the browser tend to upgrade to the latest version as soon as it comes out.

By contrast, he said, many people were still using very old versions of IE. According to browser stats gathered by Chuck Upsell about 35% of IE users are on version 7 and 35% use version 6.

Mr Vahed said Firefox was generally popular with more "tech-savvy" web users and they turned to it because using it meant more webpages appeared as their designers intended.

"It's still very much the case that Firefox is way ahead of IE when it comes to standard compliance," he said.

IE's lack of compliance with web standards can make some webpages look very odd, he said.

But, he added, IE7 was better at respecting standards and IE8 is expected to go further.

The second test or "beta" version of IE8 is due in August. The improved standards compliance means that anyone using it might find that pages tailored to work with the quirks of IE7 will now seem broken.

Aircraft in Royal flypast

A flypast involving 55 aircraft of 14 different types has taken place in celebration of the Queen's official birthday.

Huw Edwards explains the aircraft involved in the flypast.

Maritime 'treasure trove' raised

The Elizabethan cannon being raised

A treasure trove of artefacts is being recovered from what experts describe as one of the most important maritime discoveries since the Mary Rose.

The late 16th Century shipwreck hails from a pivotal point in England's military history.

The raised haul includes a 2m-long (7ft) cannon, which will give archaeologists an insight into Elizabeth I's naval might.

The wreck, discovered 30 years ago, is situated off the coast of Alderney.

Dr Mensun Bound, excavation leader and marine archaeologist from Oxford University, said: "This boat is really grade A in terms of archaeology - it is hard to find anything that really compares with it."

Archaeologically and historically this is an important day Mensun Bound, excavation leader

The excavation of the Elizabethan warship is being filmed for the BBC's Timewatch series.

Recovering the cannon was a delicate operation; divers had to navigate through reef-strewn waters where strong currents prevailed.

Dr Bound said: "At first the weather was not too kind and we missed out on the window for the first attempt, but then the sea went down and the skies opened up, and everything was suddenly going our way.

"There were a few tense moments, but overall it went really well.

Diving to recover the artefacts is dangerous

"The cannon is in perfect condition - nothing has broken - it has an intact hand grenade, part of its carriage system is in place, there is the barrel of a gun or a sword on one side.

"We cannot wait to get a closer look at it once it has been cleaned up.

"Archaeologically and historically, this is an important day."

The team hopes to raise another cannon in the coming days.

As well as the cannon, the team has also recovered many more objects, including a musket, a soldier's breastplate and an intact navigational calendar.

These join a large collection of artefacts - including another cannon - raised from another dive in the early 1990s.

Pivotal point

Experts believe the Alderney warship and its contents will help shed light on a key point of England's naval history. The boat is thought to have sunk in 1592, possibly after an encounter with one of the area's many reefs.

Just four years earlier, Elizabeth's navy had defeated the Spanish Armada and was embarking on expeditions that would exert its maritime and territorial domination around the world.

Dr Bound said: "The wreck illuminates a time when England was fighting for its very survival - the world was at war, the Catholic south was fighting the Protestant north."

At the same time, he added, the navy was undergoing a technological revolution.

He said: "Henry VIII's Mary Rose dates to 1545 and is an old-style ship. It had all sorts of guns, of different types, different shapes, different calibres, different ages, different styles."

But just 47 years later, the Alderney warship looked very different - and by looking at artefacts such as the raised cannons the team hopes to discover just how advanced the navy really was.

"We hope they will demonstrate that this ship was carrying our first uniform, co-ordinated weapons system," Dr Bound explained.

"We think that here we have a standardised weapons system here; the guns are all the same type, the same materials, the same technology, the same calibre.

"It is a different type of navy, its a more professional navy. We have here the beginnings of broadside naval warfare."

The cannons and other arms, such as muskets and guns, will now be brought up the Thames to the Tower of London. There they will be examined and then flown to York for conservation.

The BBC Timewatch team will then follow the archaeologists as they rebuild and test the weapons, putting them through detailed ballistic tests to determine their precision and power.

10 things we didn't know last week

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

1. Sir Jonathan Miller's main recreational activity, according to Who's Who, is deep sleep.
More details

2. Not paying attention as a juror is not an offence in Australia.
More details

3. Gordon Brown's favourite song is Keep Right On To The End Of The Road, written in 1919 by fellow Scot Sir Harry Lauder.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

4. A petaflop is a measurement of computing speed equivalent to one thousand trillion calculations a second.
More details

5. Rwanda has its own Archers radio soap - an everyday story of cassava-farming folk.

6. Komodo dragons don't kill their prey outright - instead their bacteria-laden salvia causes septicaemia.
More details

7. Dolphin pods have no leader.
More details

8. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt.
More details

9. One in 10 people have a piercing other than on the earlobe.
More details

10. Egyptian law says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years.
More details

Heavy rain forecasts 'to improve'

Drainage systems were unable to cope during the 2007 downpours

The UK Meteorological Office says it has improved its ability to pinpoint where and when heavy rain will occur.

Forecasts of severe downpours will now be issued up to 24 hours earlier, it says, giving local authorities more time to prepare flood control measures.

The Met Office is also assembling a team of specialists who will issue the early alerts to emergency services.

Last summer, a series of unprecedented floods affected tens of thousands of homes and caused £3bn worth of damage.

"The events of last summer have focused the attention of all agencies involved in severe weather and flood forecasting," said Paul Davis, the Met Office's extreme rainfall service manager.

"The Met Office has accelerated the delivery of its science and technology capabilities in order to meet the challenges ahead."

The developments include:

• A system called STEPS, which models radar data to provide predictions of surface rainfall in order to pinpoint locations of extreme rainfall several hours before it occurs
• Software that creates multiple forecasts up to two days in advance, allowing forecasters to assess the degree of uncertainty surrounding possible extreme weather events
• A computer model that forecasts how rainstorms will evolve, which will enable more precise predictions of rain intensity and location

During the 2007 floods, England and Wales experienced the greatest volume of rainfall since records began in 1766.

Met Office head of forecasting explains the improvements

Mr Davis said this was the main reason why there was such widespread devastation.

"The weather forecasts and alerts to emergency responders issued last summer were both accurate and timely," he said.

"But the intensity and impact of the rain that fell... was wholly unprecedented."

In a number of cases, the flooding was not predicted by the Environment Agency's flood warning system because it was a result of rainwater overwhelming already saturated drains and surfaces and did not involve rivers or coastal flooding.

Sir Michael Pitt, chairman of the review of the response to the 2007 floods, welcomed the Met Office's announcement.

Laser maps flood-prone areas

"The events of 2007, where the public was given technical warnings which they often could not interpret, without advice on what action they should take, must not be repeated."

He added that his final report, expected to be published towards the end of June, would call on the Met Office and Environment Agency to work together to "model and warn against all sources of flooding".

"This will improve the speed and usefulness of flood warnings and ensure the public receive clear and consistent advice," Sir Michael explained.

"Measures like this would have reduced the confusion experienced by the public in 2007 and will reduce the impact of future flooding."

The dark days of Doris Day

She was only 16, but Doris Kappelhoff didn't mince her words when trombonist Al Jorden asked her to accompany him to the cinema.

'He's a creep and I wouldn't go out with him if they were giving away gold nuggets at the movie!' she snapped.

Her mother, Alma, agreed. She didn't like the surly Jorden one bit. For a start, there was the age difference - he was 23, for goodness' sake! And those musicians were unreliable. And what if it interfered with her career?

Jorden lived locally in Evanstown, Cincinnati, where Doris had been born, and played in the same band as her. She'd been signed up after turning up with 100 other young hopefuls, clutching some sheet music, desperate to impress local entrepreneur and band leader Barney Rapp.

Only the image was wholesome: Doris Day, queen of the coy sex comedy

Rapp liked Doris - he liked most attractive, underage girls, as it happens, despite being married with a pregnant wife - and happily agreed to have her in his band.

Whether she also ended up in his bed is not clear, but considering his unsavoury nature and her unusually 'mature' attitude towards sex, it was more than likely - even though she was 'going steady' with someone her ambitious mother considered a very nice chap, a well-known local radio presenter, Fred Foster.

Yes, Doris might have been just 16, but she was already far from naive when it came to men. She was made aware of the harsh realities of sexual relationships early. Both her parents were Catholics and her father, Frederick, a music teacher, was a strict disciplinarian. But he wasn't very disciplined when it came to his own love life and embarked on a string of affairs - one of them with his wife's best friend.

Doris would hear them having sex in the room next to hers, and cry herself to sleep. After learning what was happening, Alma threw him out and they were divorced. The bottom dropped out of Doris's world. She would spend the rest of her life yearning for an unattainable family idyll.

'It was the only ambition I ever had,' she said. 'Not to be a dancer or Hollywood movie star, but to be a housewife in a good marriage.' Sadly for Doris, though she was to be a wife four times, she would never have a good marriage - largely on account of her own bad choices in men.

It was bandleader Barney Rapp who gave her the name that would earn her worldwide celebrity. This was 1940, and Doris Kappelhoff sounded too Jewish and was too long for the billboards.

The first song she performed for him was Day After Day, so Rapp re-baptised her Doris Day and soon had her performing at local venues. It was the start of a career that would span the next 30 years.

It was also the start of a romantic career that proved rather less glittering. Why Doris changed her mind about dating trombonist Al Jorden is unclear - but she did. She should have stuck with her first instincts.

It was she who broke the ice, asking him if he would not mind collecting her each evening and then dropping her home after the show. She subsequently described him as one of the glummest personalities she had ever met, but she stuck with him all the same.

All her life, Doris - like Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Joan Crawford and many other stars - was to attract mean and moody types with whom she had (and, by all accounts, enjoyed) a sex life where passion constantly merged into violence. According to those who knew her, Doris Day actually wore her bruises with pride.

From the time of their first date, Jorden was bad news. He seemed to have a need to exert masculine power. He cheated on Doris, knocked her around and humiliated her in public.

One might just about have excused him for criticising her table manners - Doris had a fondness for wolfing down hamburgers with huge portions of ketchup and raw onions after the shows, usually in Jorden's car on their way home, and she would drop chunks of food everywhere. She also had a habit of talking with her mouth full and spitting, which cannot have helped his mood swings.

Soon into their relationship, she accompanied Jorden and some of the musicians from their band, Sign Of The Drum, on a weekend trip along the Ohio River in his 15ft speedboat. Jorden attempted to hit top speed while racing in the swell of a paddleboat.

The resulting waves overturned the craft and the occupants very nearly drowned; they were rescued by a passing boat manned by a local reporter and their near-tragedy made the front page of the Cincinnati Star.

Doris's terrified mother begged her not to have anything to do with this lunatic again, but the incident only drew them closer. Fred Foster the radio presenter (with whom she'd continued to toy) was unceremoniously dumped, and when Jorden asked her to marry him, Doris agreed.

The engagement held fast even when Jorden left the band to join another one and embarked on a nationwide tour. He swore to remain faithful, and Doris promised to wait for him.

While he was away, Doris was also signed up to another group, Band Of Renown, whose leader Les Brown recognised her incredible singing talent.

The star is now living as a recluse in California

Soon she was touring across the country, and the pressure began to take its toll - she started drinking and smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.

After the tour, Doris informed Les Brown that she was leaving the band to get married. Although he joined her mother Alma in begging her to think again, she was in love and she refused to listen. Her career, she declared, was of no importance.

In the spring of 1941, between matinee and evening shows in New York, where she was serving out her notice, Doris was married to Al Jorden. She was just 17. The reception, a last-minute affair, was held at a nearby greasy spoon.

The very next day, Jorden saw Doris giving a fellow musician a peck on the cheek, thanking him for a wedding present. He dragged her out of the theatre and through the streets, then up the stairs to their room at the Whitby Hotel, off Times Square, where he beat her senseless.

Another time, she and Jorden were walking past a news stand in New York and she pointed to a photograph of herself wearing a swimsuit on the cover of a magazine. Consumed by jealousy, Jorden slapped her repeatedly across the face in front of dozens of shocked fans.

Doris lost count of the number of times he called her a 'dirty whore'. The beatings were frequent and brutal. But after every manic, violent episode, he would fling her on the bed and make passionate love to her.

She soon discovered she was pregnant and despite the unsavoury elements to their relationship, she was delighted - and assumed Jorden would be too. But as soon as she gave him the news, her husband arranged an appointment with a back-street abortionist.

Doris's mother - usually a placid soul - told Jorden if the abortion went ahead, she would have him killed. Jorden then decided the unborn child was not his and gave Doris such a beating, she almost miscarried.

But still Doris refused to leave him. Four weeks before the baby was due, Jorden bought a gun and hid it in the glove compartment of his car, waiting for the right moment to kill her, and then himself.

One day, he pulled the car over into a lay-by and pushed the nozzle of the gun into Doris's stomach, intent on carrying out his plan - shooting her and their baby before blowing his own brains out.

Somehow, she managed to talk him out of this, and instead he beat her when they got home. For the rest of her life, Doris had a horror of riding in the front of a car.

In January 1942, leaving Doris alone in their apartment and vowing never to return, Jorden went travelling with his band and his latest mistresses.

Doris finally contacted her mother to say she'd had enough, and within hours Alma arrived and announced she had found a house for the two of them and the baby.

The following month, aged 18, Doris was rushed into hospital and after a gruelling 12-hour labour she gave birth to an 8lb son whom she named Terry - after a character in a favourite childhood book, Terry and The Pirates.

On hearing the news, Jorden begged for forgiveness - and, almost inevitably, Doris was foolish enough to give him another chance.

All she received in return was more abuse. Jorden insisted that Doris left all care of Terry to Alma. If the child cried during the night, Doris was prohibited from going in to comfort him, and if she disobeyed Jorden rewarded her with a slap.

After a night on the town with his latest squeeze he would stomp up the stairs, drunk, barge into Alma's room and rattle the bars of Terry's cot, bellowing at him until the terrified child screamed the house down.

Doris only put up with this a few times before calling in the locksmith when her husband was out and starting divorce proceedings. But as soon as she was free of him, she fell into a deep depression.

In her eyes even a low-life such as Al Jorden was better than no man at all. Her girlhood dream of marriage and a blissful family life was in ruins and now it seemed as though nothing would take its place.

In fact, it was the best thing that could have happened - not just for her health, but also for her career.

After the divorce, she had no more dealings with Jorden, and when she learned that he had finally put a bullet through his skull some years later, she shed no tears.

Thriller: Doris Day with James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much

She started touring with Les Brown again, which meant leaving baby Terry with her mother. Over the next three years she enjoyed tremendous success with Brown, both on the road and in the recording studio.

On November 20, 1944, she released the song that was to make her a star - Sentimental Journey.

'I always feel a rise in my scalp or in the backs of my wrists when something is special,' she observed, 'whether it be a song or a man.' Clearly, she was a far better judge of the former.

The song became Doris's signature tune, occupying the number one spot in the charts for nine weeks in America. Millions of copies were sold and it became as potent a 'Forces Sweetheart' song as Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again' and Marlene Dietrich's 'Lili Marlene'.

Hit after hit followed. Success was not exactly accepted graciously by Ms Day, however. She was not always the most likeable of characters. She was rarely modest when discussing her talents - something her peers forced themselves to accept because she was so gifted.

And her tantrums were legendary. She had a huge temper, and if she didn't get her own way she would slam doors, swear like a trooper and threaten to go back to Cincinnati.

Of course, within months of leaving Jorden, this incurable romantic announced she was in love again. This time, it was with saxophonist George Weidler - another bad choice.

Doris and Weidler made no secret of the fact that they were sharing a hotel room, something still considered scandalous for unmarried couples in those more innocent days.

Neither cared much for public opinion, but Les Brown, who always considered himself some sort of surrogate father figure for Doris, was mortified by her behaviour and asked her to stop seeing her lover.

According to Brown, Weidler was only marginally less obnoxious than Al Jorden and, in any case, fraternisation among band members was forbidden.

When his pleading did not work, Brown ordered the couple to split up. Weidler promptly headed for California, where he believed he could earn far more money, but not before announcing that he and Doris were getting married.

The wedding took place on March 30, 1946, with Doris declaring how this time she really had found the right man and they were going to live happily ever after.

Like the marriage to Jorden, this ceremony was slotted in between Weidler's matinee performance and Doris's evening show with Les Brown.

It also coincided with Doris appearing for the first time on Bob Hope's radio extravaganza, The Pepsodent Show.

Success after success: Doris Day with Rock Hudson in 1959's Pillow Talk

Although she had announced, once again, that she was going to quit singing to be a full-time wife and mother, this was an appearance she couldn't bear to miss - the show had a huge following. And it was a great success.

Over the next four years, she became Hope's regular guest on his shows. And despite his initial dislike of her, the two became friends. He always addressed her as 'J B' even on the air. This was a private joke, for the initials stood for 'Jut Butt', on account of her shapely derriere.

It was Hope who introduced Doris to the man that would make her a movie star - her first agent, Al Levy.

Shrewdly, Levy recognised Doris's enormous potential, not as a band and radio singer, where he believed her talents were being wasted, but as a solo performer and potential movie star.

Doris, for all her pretence that fame did not interest her, pricked up her ears when he mentioned Hollywood. She cabled Weidler to ask him to find them a family home in Los Angeles. The best he could come up with was a trailer in a park off a main road full of drug dealers and other undesirables - hardly a good start to married life.

Matters weren't helped when Doris insisted Alma should move in with them to help care for little Terry. Though Weidler was not violent, he wasn't fond of his stepson - and he was cheating on Doris already.

After just a few weeks, aware that her second marriage was not working out, Doris asked Al Levy to find her work as far away from her husband as he could.

He managed to secure her a contract in New York and she headed back there with Terry and Alma. In a fit of jealousy, Weidler wrote to her, demanding a divorce, convinced his wife's continued success would only end up driving a wedge between them.

Desperately miserable, Doris left Terry in their hotel room with Alma, and scooted back to Hollywood as fast as she could to beg Weidler to reconsider. The couple spent one last night together, during which Weidler told Doris he had never loved her.

'I could not doubt his strong desire for me,' she later observed, 'But I guess his desire not to be Mr Doris Day was even stronger.'

The next morning they parted, after a marriage that had lasted less than eight months. Yet again, it was to prove only to help Doris's career, as she began accompanying Al Levy, as his date, to parties being thrown by anyone who counted in Hollywood.

It was at one such bash that she was introduced to director Michael Curtiz, who gave her her first movie role in Romance On The High Seas.

Though the film was no masterpiece, the title track, It's Magic, sung by Doris, reached number two in the U.S. charts and was nominated for an Academy Award, replacing Sentimental Journey as her signature tune and selling a million copies within a month of its release.

While making the film, Doris started what could most politely be termed a rather 'exciting' phase in her social life.

As well as now smoking three packets of cigarettes a day, she was having an affair with a leading actor of the day, Jack Carson.

What Carson did not know was that Doris was actually 'cheating' on him with her estranged husband - the pair enjoyed several amorous reunions when Weidler's band was performing locally.

Weidler apologised to Doris for treating her so badly and swore that he had turned over a new leaf and found religion. He had become obsessed with Christian Science - which Doris also decided to adopt.

Just to complicate affairs, Doris was also sleeping with a third man - Al Levy.

Although apparently bisexual, her agent enjoyed having women in his power. Doris played straight into his hands by allowing him to wine, dine and seduce her.

Once George Weidler had told her he wanted her back, she told Levy that although the sex had been good, he would have to be satisfied with just being her agent.

Levy did not take kindly to being relegated from the bedroom and began to stalk her when she was out on the town with Weidler or Jack Carson.

Matters came to a head when Doris met him for dinner and told him to back off. Levy followed her back to her hotel room where he attempted to rape her. Even for Doris, with her strange tolerance for violent lovers, this was too much.

She went to see Levy's business partners at Century Artists, Richard Dorso and Marty Melcher, and Levy was forced to relocate to New York to run the firm's office there to avoid her pressing charges.

But no sooner was Levy gone than Marty Melcher moved in on her - and she started sleeping with him, too, as well as teaching him about Christian Science.

So she was now seeing Marty Melcher, George Weidler, Jack Carson - and her handsome co- star in another film, Steve Cochran, boyfriend of none other than Joan Crawford, who would always hate Doris for stealing her man.

Cochran was a notorious womaniser, whose formidable vital statistics had earned him the Hollywood nickname 'Mr King Size'. As if this wasn't enough, Doris was also sleeping with one of the openly gay bit-part actors from the musical The West Point Story, and was involved with yet another star, a certain Ronald Reagan.

She said two things impressed her about Reagan - his skill on the dance floor and his ability to have an intelligent conversation. The two would sneak off to his apartment high in the Hollywood Hills and make love while marvelling at the panoramic view below.

Somehow, despite all the energy she was expending on her socialising, her career was going from strength to strength. She was earning $5,000 a week, and making movie after movie for Warner Brothers.

Marty Melcher negotiated fantastic deals for her - and was obsessed with the prospect of walking her down the aisle, although he was not yet divorced from his wife, Patty Andrews, of the singing trio The Andrews Sisters.

When a gossip column reported that Doris and her manager were having an adulterous affair, Patty immediately filed for divorced and Melcher asked Doris to marry him when he was free.

She accepted at once and promised to give up the half-dozen or so men in her life.

Doris Day and Marty Melcher were married on April 3, 1951 - her 27th birthday - and to start with it seemed that she had finally found marital happiness. Ultimately, however, this marriage was going to prove yet another disastrous mistake.

• Adapted from Doris Day: Reluctant Star by David Bret, published by JR Books on June 25 at £17.99. © David Bret 2008.
  

To order a copy at £16.20 (p&p free), call 0845 606 4206.

Sausages

You can't get much happier than a pig in muck, or so we are told.

But when this little piggy arrived in the farmyard she showed a marked reluctance to get her trotters dirty.

While her six brothers and sisters messed around in the mire, she stayed on the edge shaking. It is thought she might have mysophobia - a fear of dirt.

Owners Debbie and Andrew Keeble were at a loss, until they remembered the four miniature wellies used as pen and pencil holders in their office. They slipped them on the piglet's feet - and into the mud she happily ploughed.

Now she runs over to Mr Keeble so he can put them on for her in the morning.

Booted: Cinders, who used to be scared of the mud, in her new wellies. And, below, the young porker trots around the farmyard

The couple, who run the award-winning Debbie and Andrew's sausage company in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, named the young saddleback Cinders after Cinderella and her magical glass slippers.

They are using her to front a campaign to give a better deal to pig farmers.

Fortunately for five-week-old Cinders, she will not end up in one of their sausages. Although they were pig farmers for 20 years, the Keebles keep them only as pets nowadays.

'I don't know what will happen as she gets bigger,' said Mr Keeble.

'Hopefully she will grow out of her phobia of mud before she needs a new set of boots.'

Relieved: Farmers Andrew and Debbie Keeble

Thinking up beautiful music

Mick Grierson of London's Goldsmiths College

Musicians may soon be able to play instruments using just the power of the mind.

Researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London have developed technology to translate thoughts into musical notes.

The Brain Computer Interface for Music requires electrodes to be attached to the head.

They pick up electrical impulses from the brain which are passed through an electroencephalography (EEG) machine and analysed.

The man behind the project, Dr Mick Grierson, demonstrated the system to BBC News.

The brain monitoring device requires electrodes to be attached to the head through a cap.

When musical notes flash the scientist stares at the display while thinking of a note he wants to play.

When the same note appears it unconsciously triggers a change in his brain activity - a change registered by the computer he was plugged into.

"After a while it will make a decision about which note I am thinking about and it tries to play it," he said.

Dr Grierson has run trials in which 6 out of 8 notes played were the same as those being thought of.

The project is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and aims to find a way for people who have difficulty using their hands to play music.

"There are many composers who are struck down with multiple sclerosis and other physical disabilities who still want to continue making music", said Dr Grierson.

Brain game

A number of research projects around the world are looking into using brain controlled interaction with computers to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Tokyo's Keio University has demonstrated robotic hands being controlled through thought processes.

The research is also leading to commercial products.

US and Australian firm Emotiv hopes to have a headset video game costing $299 on the market by the end of the year.

It enables players to vanquish villains through thoughts and emotions without ever touching a controller.

Experts unveil 'cloak of silence'

A working device could be used to enhance the acoustics of concert halls

Being woken in the dead of night by noisy neighbours blasting out music could soon be a thing of the past.

Scientists have shown off the blueprint for an "acoustic cloak", which could make objects impervious to sound waves.

The technology, outlined in the New Journal of Physics, could be used to build sound-proof homes, advanced concert halls or stealth warships.

Scientists have previously demonstrated devices that cloak objects from microwaves, making them "invisible".

"The mathematics behind cloaking has been known for several years," said Professor John Pendry of Imperial College London, UK, an expert in cloaking.

"What hasn't been available for sound is the sort of materials you need to build a cloak out of."

Sound shield

The Spanish team who conducted the new work believe the key to a practical device are so-called "sonic crystals".

These artificial composites - also known as "meta-materials" - can be engineered to produce specific acoustical effects.

Sound waves are channelled around an object by sonic crystals

"Unlike ordinary materials, their acoustic properties are determined by their internal structure," explained Professor Pendry.

These would be used to channel any sound around an object, like water flowing around a rock in a stream.

"The idea of acoustic cloaking is to deviate the sounds waves around the object that has to be cloaked," said Jose Sanchez-Dehesa of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, one of the researchers behind the new work.

He believes a material that consists of arrays of tiny cylinders would achieve this effect.

Simulations showed that 200 layers of this metamaterial could effectively shield an object from noise.

Thinner stacks would shield an object from certain frequencies.

"The thickness depends on the wavelength you want to screen," he told BBC News.

Sub systems

Dr Sanchez-Dehesa now wants to make and test such a material in the lab to confirm the simulations.

But researchers, such as Professor Pendry, believe the initial work is already an important first step.

Acoustic cloaks could be used to make soundproof rooms or buildings

"It's not an unrealistic blueprint - it doesn't demand that we do extraordinary things," he said. "This is something that can easily be manufactured."

If a material could be commercialised, both researchers believe it could have many applications.

Walls of the material could be built to soundproof houses or it could be used in concert halls to enhance acoustics or direct noise away from certain areas.

The military may also be interested, the researchers believe, to conceal submarines from detection by sonar or to create a new class of stealth ships.

However, the material may need to be optimised first.

"You don't want to wrap a submarine in something that is heavy and several inches thick," said Professor Pendry. "It would add quite a lot to the Navy's fuel bill, I think."

Light touch

The research builds on work by scientists from Duke University in North Carolina, US, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Duke University researchers created an invisibility cloak in 2006

Earlier this year, independent teams from the two institutions demonstrated the mathematics necessary to create an acoustic cloak.

Other scientists have shown that objects can be cloaked from electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves.

For example, in 2006, scientists at Duke University showed how a small copper cylinder could be rendered invisible from microwaves.

The technique used a metamaterial consisting of 10 fibreglass rings covered with copper elements, to deflect the microwaves around the object and restore them on the other side.

To an observer it looked like the microwaves had passed straight through the cylinder.

Other researchers hope to build the holy grail of cloaking: an invisibility device that would channel light at wavelengths normally visible to the eye.

However, this technology is in a more primitive state, according to Dr Sanchez-Dehesa.

"We believe the acoustic cloak is more feasible than a similar device for light," he said.

Quaffing the future

By Rami Tzabar

Enjoy a nice glass of Australian Chardonnay? Global warming could change the way you drink.

Global wine production is under increasing pressure from rising temperatures and water shortages as climate change takes hold in vineyards across the world.

But wine is going green as producers, shippers and retailers look for ways of reducing the carbon footprint of the world's favourite tipple.

FEWER GRAPES, BETTER WINE

Performing miracles has become routine for Australian winemakers as a decade of drought and increased regional temperatures has seen this year's annual grape harvest fall by 30% below average, though it turned out better than originally predicted.

FIND OUT MORE... Leading Edge, presented by Geoff Watts, is on Radio 4 on Thursday, 2100 BST Or catch up at Radio 4's Listen Again site

The worst affected area are the wineries around the Murray Darling river basin, which represent the powerhouse of Australian winemaking in Victoria and New South Wales. This is where the millions of litres of cheap Australian Chardonnay and Shiraz are produced that sit on our supermarket shelves.

But that could all change if temperatures continue to rise, making it too hot to produce good quality grapes in sufficient quantities. Amy Russell, the natural resource manager of the Winemakers Federation of Australia, says: "Overall production is decreasing in volume and the shift is going towards the quality products rather than high volume products we've been known to export in the past."

Southern Spain, California and France are also predicted to have the same problems.

WINE FROM NEW PLACES

But as some countries produce less, others will try and take up the slack.

"Other countries of the world will take that slot - Chile and Argentina in particular where there's a far lower cost of production," says Alun Griffiths, Berry Bros and Rudd's director of wine.

Wine will be made in new areas

In a report the wine merchant is predicting the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China as producers.

One group of winemakers already reaping the benefits of rising temperatures are growers in the North-western areas of North America and even Canada. Harry Peterson Nedry runs a winery called Chahalem.

"Right now we're sitting back fat, dumb and happy... we're seeing the benefits of global warming but I don't think it'll stop there and I'm already moving production to higher elevations, to areas that weren't grape growing areas when I started out 30 years ago."

MORE BULK, LESS BOTTLE

Whilst grape growers and wine makers do their best to adapt to the changing environmental conditions, other part of the industry have discovered that reducing their carbon footprint has significant benefits for the bottom line too.

Transportation is a huge part of the wine supply chain, both economically and environmentally - particularly for a country like the UK which imports over 99% of the wine we drink - the equivalent of 1.8 billion bottles each year.

Britain drinks plenty but grows little

One of the options being introduced for cheaper wines is bulk shipping. Instead of bottling the wine at the winery, it's pumped into a giant plastic containers known as a flexitanks, which hold, on average, the equivalent of 32,000 bottles of wine. Already supermarkets like Tesco bulk ship all their own-label wines which are then bottled locally on arrival in the UK.

WEIGHTY ISSUES

And there is a shift towards lighter bottles. A scheme called GlassRite, set up by Wrap, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, in 2006, set out to encourage the creation and use of new ultra-light glass bottles.

The industry average is around 500g though many of the more expensive wines come in at nearly 800g. "The heaviest weighed in at 1.2kg," says Andy Dawe, Wrap's glass technology manager. That's before the wine goes in.

However WRAP, working with Kingsland Glass, have designed new bottles that are both substantially lighter but just as tough. The result is a bottle weighing just 300g.

THE GREEN, GREEN GLASS OF HOME

One other problem that bulk shipping will solve is what to do with the UK's green glass mountain. A million tonnes of it enters the waste stream each year but the fact is very little of it can be recycled as supply outstrips domestic demand. Most of our glass manufacturing is based around clear glass so creating a local light-bottling industry would not only make use of this surplus but also create jobs.

CHATEAU PLASTIC POUCH?

Another innovation already sneaking it way on to the supermarket shelves are different alternatives to bottled wine. Consumers are already used to wine boxes but tetrahedral cardboard packs, plastic pouches and even aluminium cans are being marketed as a new environmentally friendly way to buy your booze.

Some bottles are heavier than others

Dan Jago, head of beers, wines and spirits for Tesco, thinks the consumer is ready. "We will see a significant shift towards other packaging, like PET plastic bottles and bag in box, but I think Tetra Paks particularly, which are the things you get your orange juice in, and which weigh less than an eighth of a current glass bottle, will become more acceptable to consumers".

Save our SOS

By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine

It's 100 years since SOS came into force across the world as the standard signal for ships in distress. But times have changed in the rescue business.

Before the advent of radio if your ship got into trouble on some far off stretch of roiling sea, that trouble was not easy to get out of.

Communication off the ship could only be achieved with other ships within distance, using either lights, flags or flares.

It was too easy for someone to hear the C and the Q and not the D and ignore it completely and that happened on more than one occasion Carlos Eavis On the failings of CQD

If you were in dense fog or in a howling gale far out at sea, and you started taking on water, the first communication most sailors would make was heaven-wards.

At the tail end of the 19th Century, radio changed that.

It's easy to forget today, but in the early days of radio there was no voice.

If you wanted to say you were in trouble, if you wanted to say anything in fact, you had to do it through morse code. The code had been born after the advent of the telegraph and when the telegraph went "wireless" it continued in the new format.

"In the early days when they were sending a radio signal there was no way of modulating. The only thing you could do was turn a transmitter on or off," says Carlos Eavis, amateur radio manager of the Radio Society of Great Britain.

Calling signals

Wireless telegraphy - or radio as we prefer to style it now - had its biggest early impact on maritime communication. Ships had been working out ways to communicate with other ships for centuries, but radio opened up the possibility of reliable communication with ships that were out of sight for the first time.

And the most important of all calls that a ship's radio operator could make was a distress signal indicating the vessel was in danger of sinking.

But if your ship got into trouble on its Atlantic crossing in the early years of the 20th Century you wouldn't necessarily have signalled SOS. Before SOS there was CQD.

In early radio morse was the only way to communicate

The story is told in Karl Barslaag's 1935 book SOS to the Rescue. British radio operators on ships tended to have come straight from work on land-based telegraph and brought their signals with them. CQ was a general call to demand attention from all stations, preceding a time signal or other announcement.

The Marconi company, the dominant power in early radio, suggested this signal be appended with a D to work as a distress signal.

It didn't stand, as many have imagined, for "Come Quick Danger", merely indicating "attention, distress".

But there was a problem. Dash-dot-dash-dot, dash-dash-dot-dash, dash-dot-dot was not the easiest combination to pick up.

"It was too easy for someone to hear the C and the Q and not the D and ignore it completely and that happened on more than one occasion," says Mr Eavis.

Intense politics

At a conference in Berlin in 1906 the international wireless telegraphy community got together to try to agree something that would be both internationally acceptable, and impossible to mistake.

The Italians were using SSSDDD, but it was the German suggestion of SOE - dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot - that caught the imagination. But it was felt that it suffered from the same problem as CQD. The E, being one dot, could easily be missed.

THE CONTENDERS Marconi: CQD Italians: SSSDDD Germans: SOE/SOS

Eventually the conference plumped for - dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot - a signal that is hard to mistake for anything else in the world of morse.

"SOS is very simple you are not going to hear that at any other time," Mr Eavis says.

But it needn't have been SOS of course. Being broadcast without a pause, the combination of dots and dashes could also have been read as IJS, SMB, or VTB. SOS won the day, coming into effect on 1 July 1908.

Since then it has stormed into popular culture, littered a thousand newspaper headlines and prompted numerous "backronyms". According to who you believed it was Save Our Souls, or Sinking Of Ship, or Send Out Succour or Save Our Ship.

"None of which is correct," says Mr Eavis. "It doesn't stand for anything. It's simply non-stop, there are no spaces."

It is believed the first ship to have sent out an SOS signal was the American steamer Arapahoe in 1909. When the Titanic was sinking in 1912, its operator first sent out CQD and then SOS, alternating. CQD persisted, particularly among British operators, for many years.

Standardising of rescue

But SOS was a landmark in global communication. In the intensely political world of early radio, the technological powers-that-be had been able to agree on something that would save lives, instead of going their own way. The 1906 conference in Germany was also a landmark for agreeing - against the vested interests of firms like Marconi - that communication should be possible between all stations using all systems.

And the legacy of the internationally co-ordinated attempt to save lives by standardising the way rescue was requested has been developed over the last century. But the humble SOS morse signal has lost its dominance.

"The days of morse have long gone," says Humberside Coastguard watch manager Andrew Mahood.

Instead, the Coastguard in the UK deal with half a dozen main avenues of distress call from on board vessels:

• VHF radio call: Use channel 16 and start broadcast with "mayday, mayday, mayday". The give details of identity, position and situation. Other users will keep channel clear and hasten to the location.
• Digital self calling: Automated button push system on many ships to indicate distress, allows inputting of reasons
• Satellite phone call: Dial 999 or other emergency services number
• Release of a beacon: Emergency beacon can be released which will broadcast position, other beacons automatically activate on contact with water
• Mobile phone call: Call to 999, or the European-wide emergency number 112, or text message to someone who contacts Coastguard
• Distress flare

But all hope is not lost for the SOS. Even Mr Mahood - who has not dealt with a morse SOS for eight years - concedes there are times when dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot might be the only way.

"Morse still can be used if a person's on a boat and the radio's not working, then they will use the good old Mk I torch."

It is certainly no more far-fetched than those who text for help. "We had a distress call from the Singapore straits," says Mr Mahood. "A woman texted her boyfriend who was in Yorkshire who sent us an e-mail we then got in touch with the Singaporean coastguard."

And in Hardy Boys-style survival situations where you've crashed in the Andes and you need to improvise a transmitter, morse SOS will be your salvation.

But for the most part the art of morse communication and the heritage of the SOS, is carried on by the amateur radio community in Britain, the US and elsewhere, still scanning the airwaves

Happy days for cask ale

Well, who would have thought it? There is good news in draught beer right now. And it goes by the name of cask ale.

For some years cask brewers have told the trade press that their own cask beer sales were on the up – “growing against the market decline” was their favoured line. And yet all you had to do was look at the overall national figures to see the whole category was falling fast.

However, now we have actual category growth – a sign perhaps that the decline of the old national brands has bottomed out.

The latest Nielsen figures show premium cask ale which means any cask beer over 4.2 per cent ABV, and therefore excludes a successful brand like London Pride, that most consumers would deem as premium) in overall growth.

Standard cask is still in decline but is performing better than the rest of the draught beer market as it stands. These are heady times for a group of brewers who have faced up to depressing headlines for well over a decade.

Nigel McNally, managing director of Wells & Young’s, says the growth in premium cask is a stunning achievement for an industry beset by obstacles.

“No one would have predicted that premium would have gone back into growth as quickly as it has,” he says. “And it’s grown despite the fact that energy costs have gone up 60 per cent and raw material costs have risen. It’s unbelievable.”

This rise is hugely significant for the cask ale brewing industry. It is almost as though a millstone as been removed from cask brewers’ necks.

So what are the reasons behind this growth? Justin Adams, managing director of Greene King Brewing Company, believes it is a result of the industry’s relentless push for quality.

Push for quality

“Innovation in product development, marketing and customer service, a commitment to great taste and dedication to the very highest quality standards are key to the success and growth of the cask ale market,” says Adams. “And our commitment to this is now bearing fruit.”

Ian Ward, marketing manager for Marston’s Beer Company, believes genuine consumer desire for interesting beers is also a major reason behind this rise in sales volumes.

“The consistent growth we are experiencing in the premium cask ale market is no stroke of luck. It is not an artificial, hyped-up trade-led phenomenon bound to come clattering down as soon as the plug is pulled,” he says.

“This is solid growth, fuelled solely by a sustained and genuine consumer pull – not an engineered retailer push. Discerning drinkers are finding what they’re looking for in cask ale – something that you simply can’t get in a pint of lager that’s been brewed to taste exactly the same wherever you happen to be.”

The big question now is when will we see the whole cask category returning to growth in the on-trade? That will be a cause for genuine celebration.

Too many brewers in Scotland?

Scotland’s changing cask beer scene

1998: Ten to 12 brewers producing cask, including Scottish & Newcastle, Caledonian, Maclay and Belhaven, of which only Belhaven (part of Greene King) and Caledonian still have a cask offer.

2008: There are now said to be 42 breweries producing cask, or bottled variants of cask.

The sudden collapse of the Isle of Arran brewery has caused shock waves in beer circles north of the border.

Some experienced players say more closures could be on the cards. If this happens it could be taken as evidence that what seemed to be Scotland’s growing enthusiasm for cask has been swamped by increasing volumes of premium lager – Scots drinkers have infinite enthusiasm for lager – and cider over ice.

This, along with rocketing costs and the difficulties involved in getting national distribution, could, the more pessimistic trade observers suggest, stop the previously steady march of cask across Scotland in its tracks. And it’s argued that oversupply will lead to further casualties.

Several brewers agree that over-reliance on bottled bulk supermarket deals is a high-risk strategy. It commits the brewer to large volumes in return for low margin, and the danger of a cash-flow crisis is always present.

In Isle of Arran’s case relatively limited draught distribution meant there was little to fall back on when technical difficulties compromised off-trade volume targets. Costs were inevitably a factor too. A crowded market But are there simply too many breweries in Scotland?

John McGarva of the Tryst brewery near Falkirk points out there are now around 42 cask brewers in Scotland – from tiny but well-regarded outfits like Tryst to Belhaven/Greene King. A decade ago there were less than a third of that number.

“It’s all very well to talk optimistically but there is no doubt we are facing tough times, very tough times indeed,” he says.

“In a few months I’ve seen literally everything go up, hitting me with extra costs of around 10 per cent over a short period: it’s going to be very hard work from now on.”

Pam MacRuari, head brewer at the Isle of Skye Brewing Company, shares his caution, but is convinced demand for cask is now entrenched in core markets, and says the best breweries can hope to keep their momentum “if they’re careful”.

“But it doesn’t help to have your brewery on an island,” she continues. “Arran may be only a very short distance from the mainland but there’s a whole extra transport cost to consider before you even start.”

Skye, by contrast, is connected to the mainland by a road bridge. She adds: “In our case we’ve managed to gain distribution in the Highlands and on Skye where there was never any cask before, and those accounts are really important – some of them sell formidable volumes of our beer.”

The island factor hasn’t stopped brewers launching ventures on Islay, Colonsay and Shetland, but these enterprises generally aim to sell mainly to their own local market, which includes tourists.

Ambitious plans

And it didn’t deter licensed trade entrepreneur Norman Sinclair from rescuing the Orkney and mainland Kinlochleven breweries when they went jointly into receivership in 2006 – and his development plans are for robust, national expansion. Sinclair says he knew what had gone wrong, and had been equally certain he could put it right.

He’s dismayed by recent press reports of the Arran closure which, he fears, play up the idea that cask brewers generally are in crisis. “I’ve already turned down questions from one journalist on this, because I knew the line that was being pursued,” he says.

“If everything is so bad why am I investing in new visitor facilities and other infrastructure, and making plans for expansion? “We have terrific beers here, and Orkney in particular is a brand you expect to see anywhere that values great beer. Yes, it can cost more for a premium product, but I don’t want to go down the £49-a-cask route anyway – it’s not what we’re about.”

No price problem

The demographic of the cask drinker means that customers aren’t price-sensitive, he says. The market where Orkney’s flagship Dark Island sells best can bear the cost – and the price differential may even help mark out a beer as different from the pack.

Jonny Delap, owner of Fyne Ales, based in rural Argyll, agrees. “Costs are severe, and inevitably the price has to be passed on to the customer – but the strength of really excellent product matters more than price,” he says.

“We have a local hotel here where Fyne Ales outsell every other beer – and that speaks volumes. “At the same time, though, Arran’s difficulties have shocked us, because the owners are part of our brewing family, and active in the Society of Independent Brewers.”

His sales chief, Rob Jenner, says draught accounts are vital: “We have excellent distribution in key English markets, where we’re steadily expanding. We aren’t cheap – but people still want the beer, and that’s the bottom line.”

Filling a vacuum

But 42 cask breweries – surely that’s too many for one small country? The Campaign for Real Ale’s Scottish regional director, Ken Davie, says: “On the contrary, while Nielsen keeps showing a fall in cask, what it’s really tracking is the lost volumes from national brewers which have abandoned cask.

“Take those volumes away and you have a vacuum which is being filled by small brewers. Some may fail, as with any business concern, but a great many are flourishing because people want their products. It’s unfortunate for Arran, of course – but there’s no crisis.”

“Costs are severe, and inevitably the price has to be passed on to the customer – but the strength of really excellent products matters more than price”

What happened to Arran Brewing Company?

As reported in The Publican, Arran Brewing Company called in the administrators last month after facing “operational difficulties in getting the product to market in sufficient volumes”. The custom-made microbrewery near Brodick on the Isle of Arran employs 11 and has an annual turnover of around £1m. Administrator PriceWaterhouseCoopers was hopeful of finding a buyer – replicating the 2006 bail-out of the former Highlands and Islands breweries by entrepreneur Norman Sinclair – but were still understood to be negotiating this week. The brewery’s three beers, in cask and bottled variant, are Arran Ale (3.8 per cent ABV), Arran Dark (4.3 per cent ABV) and wheat beer Arran Blonde (five per cent ABV).

Gold cup auction sale for £50,000

The auction taking place

A 2,500-year-old gold cup which had spent 60 years in a box under the owner's bed has sold for £50,000 at auction.

The cup was given to John Webber by his rag-and-bone man grandfather, William Sparks, who acquired it in the 1930s.

Mr Webber, 70, said he remembered the cup as a small boy and "it's been quite exciting finding out what it was".

Guy Schwinge, of Duke's auctioneers in Dorchester, Dorset, said the analysis of the cup spoke for itself.

The gold cup is 14cm high (5.5in) and has two female faces looking in opposite directions with their foreheads decorated with a snake motif.

Experts from the University of Oxford and Harwell Scientifics dated the gold cup from the Achaemenid empire in the 3rd or 4th Century BC.

The Achaemenid empire was based around Persia, but at its height stretched from what is now Iran to Libya. It was wiped out by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.

Two other items passed down by Mr Webber's grandfather were also auctioned. A Roman gold spoon sold for £5,000 and a "Hellenistic" gold mount with a figure sold for £1,000.

The cup had been expected to fetch up to £100,000, although Mr Webber said he was happy with the result.

Natural lab shows sea's acid path

Scientists study conditions at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea

Natural carbon dioxide vents on the sea floor are showing scientists how carbon emissions will affect marine life.

Dissolved CO2 makes water more acidic, and around the vents, researchers saw a fall in species numbers, and snails with their shells disintegrating.

Writing in the journal Nature, the UK scientists suggest these impacts are likely to be seen across the world as CO2 levels rise in the atmosphere.

Some of the extra CO2 emitted enters the oceans, acidifying waters globally.

The only way of reducing the impact of ocean acidification is the urgent reduction in CO2 emissions Carol Turley Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Studies show that the seas have become more acidic since the industrial revolution.

Research leader Jason Hall-Spencer from the University of Plymouth said that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were now so high that even a sharp fall in emissions would not prevent some further acidification.

"It's clear that marine food webs as we know them are going to alter, and biodiversity will decrease," he told BBC News.

"Those impacts are inevitable because acidification is inevitable - we've started it, and we can't stop it."

Natural lab

Corals construct their external skeletons by extracting dissolved calcium carbonate from seawater and using it to form two minerals, calcite and aragonite. Molluscs use the same process to make their shells.

As water becomes more acidic, the concentration of calcium carbonate falls. Eventually there is so little that shells or skeletons cannot form.

ACIDIFYING OCEANS The oceans are thought to have absorbed about half of the extra CO2 put into the atmosphere in the industrial age This has lowered its pH by 0.1 pH is the measure of acidity and alkalinity The vast majority of liquids lie between pH 0 (very acidic) and pH 14 (very alkaline); 7 is neutral Seawater is mildly alkaline with a "natural" pH of about 8.2 The IPCC forecasts that ocean pH will fall by "between 0.14 and 0.35 units over the 21st Century, adding to the present decrease of 0.1 units since pre-industrial times"

Around the vents which Dr Hall-Spencer's team investigated, in the Mediterranean Sea near the Italian coast, CO2 bubbling into the water forms a sort of natural laboratory for studying the impacts of acidified water on marine life.

Globally, the seas now have an average pH of about 8.1 - down about 0.1 since the dawn of the industrial age.

Around the vents, it fell as low as 7.4 in some places. But even at 7.8 to 7.9, the number of species present was 30% down compared with neighbouring areas.

Coral was absent, and species of algae that use calcium carbonate were displaced in favour of species that do not use it.

Snails were seen with their shells dissolving. There were no snails at all in zones with a pH of 7.4.

Meanwhile, seagrasses thrived, perhaps because they benefit from the extra carbon in the water.

These observations confirm that some of the processes seen in laboratory experiments and some of the predictions made by computer models of ocean ecosystems do also happen in the real world.

"I can't count the number of times that scientific talks end with 'responses have not yet been documented in the field'," said Elliott Norse, president of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI).

"This paper puts that to rest for several ecologically important marine groups."

Point passed

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that without measures to restrain carbon dioxide emissions, ocean pH is likely to fall to about 7.8 by 2100.

This suggests that some of the impacts seen around the Mediterranean vents might be widespread.

Dissolving shells Enlarge Image

"I think we will see the same pattern in other parts of the world, because we're talking about keystone species such as mussels and limpets and barnacles being lost as pH drops," said Dr Hall-Spencer.

The IPCC suggests that some areas, notably the Southern Ocean, might feel the impacts at lower concentrations of CO2.

Last month, scientists reported that water with CO2 levels high enough to be "corrosive" to marine life was rising up off the western US coast.

Bottom water naturally contains more CO2 than at shallower depths. This scientific team argues that human emissions have pushed these levels even higher, contributing to pH values as low 7.5 in waters heavily used by US fishermen.

"If [pH 7.8] is a universal 'tipping point', then it indicates that sections of the western coast waters off North America may have passed this threshold during periods when this upwelling of waters high in CO2 occurs," commented Carol Turley from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), who was not involved in the Mediterranean Sea study (PML is not affiliated with Plymouth University).

Emissions down

Organisms such as coral are also damaged by rising temperatures, and studies are ongoing into the combined effect of a warming and acidifying ocean.

Seagrasses were among the few beneficiaries of more acid waters

There is much to learn. And during the coming week, scientists will announce the inauguration of the European Project on Ocean Acidification (Epoca), a four-year, 16m euro (£12.5m) initiative aiming to find some answers.

Studying the impacts may prove easier than doing anything about them.

"The reason that the oceans are becoming more acidic is because of the CO2 emissions that we are producing from burning fossil fuels," observed Dr Turley.

"Add CO2 to seawater and you get carbonic acid; it's simple chemistry, and therefore certain.

"This means that the only way of reducing the future impact of ocean acidification is the urgent, substantial reduction in CO2 emissions."

Britain's Moon shot takes shape

Sir Martin: An ambassador for UK space

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting is a man on a mission. He wants to build a probe that will, quite literally, take a shot at the Moon.

His vision, shared with a host of other UK scientists and engineers, is to fire "darts" packed with scientific instruments into the lunar surface.

The mission would search for water that might one day sustain astronauts visiting the orbiting outpost.

It would also test the concept of setting up a lunar-wide internet link.

The idea might sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but it is a serious one.

So much so that the first steps to persuade funding agencies and industry to back Moonlite (Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment) are well underway.

Recently, prototype "darts" were tested in South Wales at a military range.

"It's a rather innovative project to put up a satellite to orbit the Moon, and then to send some high-speed penetrators - or darts - down to go into the surface," explains Sir Martin.

"They may bury themselves up to three or four metres into the regolith (lunar earth) so we're going to have to trail out a little antenna.

"They're going to be able to communicate at very low power, so we need an orbiting relay to capture that data and then send it back to Earth."

Miniature scale

Sir Martin was knighted in 2002 for his services to microsatellite engineering. He set up Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) 22 years ago on a start-up fund of £100. Then a PhD student, he began building miniature spacecraft largely as a hobby.

Four projectiles will be fired at the lunar surface

From such humble beginnings, the Surrey Space Centre, and its commercial spin-off, SSTL, have built up a world-class reputation for building and developing miniature satellites.

SSTL has more than 200 staff working at a bigger site just down the road, but the clean room and manufacturing facilities are still based in the heart of the University of Surrey campus.

Inside, a number of space projects are in progress. In a clean room on the ground floor, two Earth-monitoring satellites the size of domestic fridges wait to be shipped to the launch pad.

In a laboratory off the main corridor, a postgraduate student works on a spacecraft small enough to nestle in the palm of his hand.

Lunar networks

Sir Martin has long been an ambassador for the UK space industry. He is now applying his considerable energy and enthusiasm to making Moonlite a reality.

If successful, the UK would provide the technology to support as many as a dozen lunar spacecraft set to visit that most familiar of satellites in the next decade or so.

It would also lay the groundwork for future communication systems needed by astronauts.

"What we want to do in preparation for human habitation on the Moon - in the next 20 or 30 years - is to create a sort of internet around the Moon," says Sir Martin.

The darts will be spaced around the Moon

"So that we can provide the communication services back to Earth and also provide navigation so that when they (astronauts) are on the lunar surface they can know precisely where they are going to be."

The penetrators for Moonlite will be packed with scientific devices, such as thermometers, micro-seismometers, geochemical sensors and an X-ray spectrometer.

They will be built by research defence firm Qinetiq, and equipped with a scientific payload put together by the University College London Mullard Space Science Laboratory.

The scientists that gathered to watch the test firing at Qinetiq's Pendine test facility in South Wales say it proved in principle that the technology will work.

Dr Yang Gao of the University of Surrey was among them: "It's shooting something as fast as a bullet.

"The results of the trial are extremely impressive. We got a lot of useful feedback," she says.

Scientists were delighted by the test results

Dr Yang Gao says the penetrators will provide a platform for some "awesome science experiments" such as heat flow measurement, seismology measurement and also searching for water.

"There is a belief that there is some icy water buried beneath the surface which will provide future resources to astronauts to the Moon," she explains.

Funding question

The mission is planned for about 2013. With echoes of the ill-fated Beagle mission, a consortium of UK scientists is trying to persuade funding agencies and industry to back their bid.

"With the orbiter, the main question there is finance," says Sir Martin. "So we're in the process of seeing how we are going to be able to fund the mission.

"We want to do it on a very small budget, but it's still going to take some money, and so we're talking with the STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and looking into commercial opportunities to see how we can raise the money to fund that."

The project needs to attract an estimated £100m. According to the STFC, which runs the UK's main scientific infrastructure, the next step is an international peer review of the mission in July.

Should this be successful, the plan is to start a nine-month feasibility study, subject to the final decision of the STFC Executive.

Dr Craig Underwood, a reader in spacecraft engineering at the Surrey Space Centre, says work is going on meanwhile on both the science and technology sides of the mission.

"What's exciting to me about that is it is really the first time we've had a mission where we bring the two branches of UK space expertise together," he says.

"The excellent space scientists at places like Mullard Space Science Laboratory and so on, to the space engineers here at Surrey who know how to build and design spacecraft.

"Bringing that into one package, I think, is extremely valuable."

Mobile phones expose human habits

People's movements were not as random as predicted

The whereabouts of more than 100,000 mobile phone users have been tracked in an attempt to build a comprehensive picture of human movements.

The study concludes that humans are creatures of habit, mostly visiting the same few spots time and time again.

Most people also move less than 10km on a regular basis, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

The results could be used to help prevent outbreaks of disease or forecast traffic, the scientists said.

"It would be wonderful if every [mobile] carrier could give universities access to their data because it's so rich," said Dr Marta Gonzalez of Northeastern University, Boston, US, and one of the authors of the paper.

Dr William Webb, head of research and development at the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, agreed that mobile phone data was still underexploited.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," he told BBC News.

Money search

Researchers have previously attempted to map human activity using GPS or surveys, but it is expensive.

One innovative approach tracked the movement of dollar bills in an attempt to reconstruct human movements.

The study used data from the website wheresgeorge.com, which allows anyone to track a dollar bill as it circulates through the economy. The site has so far tracked nearly 130 million notes.

All of the mobile phone data was collected anonymously

Studies such as this suggested that humans wander in an apparently random fashion, similar to a so-called "Levy flight" pattern displayed by many foraging animals.

However, Dr Gonzalez and her team do not believe this approach gives a complete picture of people's movements.

"The bills pass from one person to another so they can't measure individual behaviour," she explained.

The new work tracked 100,000 individuals selected randomly from a sample of more than six million phone users in a European country.

Each time a participant made or received a call or text message, the location of the mobile base station relaying the data was recorded.

The researchers said they were "not at liberty" to disclose where the information had been collected and said steps had been taken to guarantee the participants' anonymity.

For example, individual phone numbers were disguised as 26 digit security codes.

"Furthermore, we only know the coordinates of the tower routing the communication, hence a user's location is not known within a tower's service area," they wrote.

Each tower serves an area of approximately 3 sq km.

Information was collected for six months. But, according to the researchers, a person's pattern of movement could be seen in just three.

Model behaviour

"The vast majority of people move around over a very short distance - around five to 10km," explained Professor Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, another member of the team.

"Then there were a few that moved a couple of hundred kilometres on a regular basis."

The results showed that most people's movements follow a precise mathematical relationship - known as a power law.

Nokia believes phones could be fitted with sensors to collect data

"That was the first surprise," he told BBC News.

The second surprise, he said, was that the patterns of people's movements, over short and long distances, were very similar: people tend to return to the same few places over and over again.

"Why is this good news?" he asked. "If I were to build a model of how everyone moves in society and they were not similar then it would require six billion different models - each person would require a different description."

Now, modellers had a basic rule book to follow, he said.

"This intrinsic similarity between individuals is very exciting and it has practical applications," said Professor Barabasi.

For example, Professor John Cleland of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Disease (LSHTM) said the study could be of use to people monitoring the spread of contagious diseases.

"Avian flu is the obvious one," he told BBC News. "When an outbreak of mammalian infectious airborne disease hits us, the movement of people is of critical concern."

Dr Gonzalez said that traffic planners had also expressed an interest in the study.

Sensor overload

Although the scale of the latest study is unprecedented, it is not the first time that mobile phone technology has been used to track people's movements.

Scientists at MIT have used mobile phones to help construct a real-time model of traffic in Rome, whilst Microsoft researchers working on Project Lachesis are examining the possibility of mining mobile data to help commuters pick the optimum route to work, for example.

Location data is increasingly used by forensic scientists to identify the movements of criminal suspects.

For example, the technique was used by Italian police to capture Hussain Osman, one of four men jailed for the failed suicide bombings in London on 21 July.

Commercial products also exist, allowing parents to track children or for friends to receive alerts when they are in a similar location.

These types of services and projects will continue to grow, Dr Webb believes, as researchers and businesses find new ways to use the mobile phone networks.

"There are so many sensors that you could conceivably attach to a phone that you could do all kinds of monitoring activities with," he said.

For example, Nokia have put forward an idea to attach sensors to phones that could report back on air quality. The project would allow a large location-specific database to be built very quickly.

Ofcom is also planning to use mobiles to collect data about the quality of wi-fi connections around the UK.

"I am sure there will be tens if not hundreds of these ideas emerging over the next few years," said Dr Webb.

Google's experimental Gmail toys

In a first, Google is opening up its testing process by calling on tens of millions of Gmail users to put new features of the service through their paces.

Gmail Labs has launched 13 settings for users to play around with and tell engineers directly what they think of them.

The most popular features will become part of the Gmail product

The new developments, which are only available in the UK and the US, show up as a red tab at the top of the page.

Gmail product manager Keith Coleman says: "This marks a big change in the way the company does product development."

Generally speaking products are tested internally on Google staff for weeks if not months and then refined before being released to the public.

Never before has the firm opened up the testing process and brought in outsiders on such a large scale. Smaller scale usability tests have been done with invited visitors.

Mr Coleman says: "We want to take the next step and let Gmail users help us do that refinement."

Old Snakey

The new settings include things like Pictures in Chat, which puts portraits in chat sessions, and Superstars, which lets you put different icons on mail. Old Snakey lets you play the classic game in Gmail and E-mail Addict forces you to take a screen break by locking you out of the Gmail for 15 minutes.

Keith Coleman: "We are looking for little nuggets of innovation"

Mr Coleman says the features are "really rough and have gone through no filtering in terms of product analysis or design analysis".

"They have just gone through a general code review process to make sure they are safe to run.

"They have also gone through less testing than a typical feature would. But what this is is a way to take our ideas and get them out to the public."

After testing, users will get the chance to tell the developers directly what they think of them. The most popular are likely to become a regular part of the Gmail product.

Time for ideas

The service was unveiled to a small group of journalists, including the BBC, who had been invited to Building 47 at the Googleplex for a rare view of the team at work.

Every idea is treated as having value

Normally such spaces are off-limits to people outside the company.

As well as being shown the new service ahead of release, we were also walked through the offices where engineers take 20% of their time to come up with ideas and work on them. The 20% time is part of Google's core ethos.

"The idea behind Labs is that any engineer can go to lunch, come up with a cool idea, code it up, and ship it as a Labs feature to tens of millions of users," explains Mr Coleman.

Staff write suggestions on a whiteboard to keep track of everything being played around with and who is working on what.

Another display shows how many bugs an upcoming application needs to get fixed and which engineer is working on it.

Spam Tsar

The whole workspace is divided into areas covering various aspects of Gmail from the calendar to documents and from the reader to spam.

Brad Taylor, the Spam Tsar who keeps Gmail free from offers you don't want

The guys fighting to keep spam out of the Gmail inbox are tucked away in a dark corner of the office. Brad Taylor is known as the Spam Tsar, a title he quite enjoys.

He has been working on Gmail since its public launch in 2004 and says he has seen a real growth in the amount of unsolicited e-mail flooding into the system.

"Originally when we launched 25% of e-mail was spam. We caught a lot of that. Over time it's grown and grown and currently around 75% of all e-mail is spam and so our job has got a lot harder."

Top secret

In the heart of this open space is the so-called "war room".

Here half a dozen engineers are huddled into a cramped office to work on top secret projects. Everyone there was tight-lipped about what the next big thing coming out of the room would be but helpfully quipped that it was a new colour.

Dreaming up the future of Gmail

Todd Jackson, another Gmail product manager, was more serious when he said that the engineers didn't leave until they had either solved a particular problem or fully developed a new feature.

Situated next to the office cafe is the Usability Lab, where Gmail invites small groups of six to eight people to test new applications to see how they will fare with the general public.

Nika Smith, who helps run the Lab, says instead of having a two-way mirror to watch participants and how they interact with a product, they are a little more high-tech.

"We have this little hidden camera next to some flowers and one in the corner of the room. We just want to know how they use Gmail and see from the users' perspective what their experience is like.

"Then we just watch how they interact with the product and work out what improvements are needed."

A-Team

Perhaps one of the coolest areas in the Gmail Lab is the site reliability room, which is just past a sign that says "Hippies Use Backdoor".

Making sure the site stays secure can be "tough work"

Decked out with a slew of monitors and computers, there is also a selection of drinks, a drum kit and a couple of guitars. On the wall hangs a whiteboard with a wish-list of things like "surround sound, a Wii Fit machine and a bigger TV".

The overall Lab space is like any other nondescript office, albeit with a few fun quirks here and there such as naming every printer and copier after TV shows like The A-Team and All in the Family.

But sometimes things do get serious, and everyone is on a pager and gets an alert when something goes amiss with the site.

Kung Fu Panda chops up box office

Kung Fu Panda features the voices of Jack Black and Angelina Jolie

Kung Fu Panda has kicked Sex and the City from the top spot of the US box office, early figures have shown.

The animated film about Po, a panda who becomes a kung-fu master to save his jungle from leopard villains, took $60m (£30.4m) in its opening weekend.

Adam Sandler's comedy You Don't Mess With the Zohan opened in second place with $40m (£20.3m), while Indiana Jones's latest outing was in third.

Sex and the City slipped to the fourth spot in its second weekend in cinemas.

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE 1. Kung Fu Panda - $60m (£30.4m) 2 You Don't Mess With the Zohan - $40m (£20.3m) 3 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $22.8m (£11.5m) 4 Sex and the City - $21.3m (£10.8m) 5 The Strangers - $9.3m (£4.7m) Figures are for Friday to Monday. Source: Media By Numbers

It took receipts of $21.3m (£10.8m) - a steep 63% decline from its $56.8m (£28.8m) debut weekend - bringing a total of $99.3m (£50.3m) after only 10 days.

Recent strong showings have helped Hollywood to chip away at its box office deficit compared with 2007, which was a record year for revenues.

"This month offers the marketplace the opportunity to catch up with last year," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"Last year's June was not as strong as expected and this year's may be stronger, so we're definitely narrowing the gap in terms of revenue and attendance."

Horror film The Strangers took $9.3m (£4.7m), followed by Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr, which took another $7.5m (£3.8m) for a total of £289m (£146.4m).

Rounding out the top 10 were Narnia: Prince Caspian with $5.5m (£2.8m), rom-com What Happens in Las Vegas with $3.4m (£1.72m), Baby Mama with $0.78m (£0.4m) and Made of Honor $0.775 (£0.39m).

TV winner's dance mix tops chart

George Sampson won £100,000 and a spot at the Royal Variety Performance

A remix of Singin' in the Rain that was used by Britain's Got Talent winner George Sampson has shot to number one in the UK singles chart.

The song, best known as the title track in Gene Kelly's 1952 film, was reworked by Manchester dance act Mint Royale.

Sampson won the ITV talent show after performing his dance routine to the mix, which was at number 28 last week.

It has knocked Rihanna's Take A Bow off the top spot after two weeks, with The Ting Tings following at number three.

Duffy's Warwick Avenue also dropped one place from three to four, with the top five completed by Ne-Yo's Closer.

UK TOP FIVE SINGLES 1. Mint Royale - Singin' in the Rain 2. Rihanna - Take A Bow 3. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name 4. Duffy - Warwick Avenue 5. Ne-Yo - Closer Source: Official UK Charts Company

Singers Sara Bareilles and Gabriella Cilmi were both climbers into the top 10, at number six and seven respectively.

New entries in the top 40 came from Morrissey at 24, Alex Gaudino at 25 and Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna at 29.

Radiohead's Creep - originally a top 10 hit 15 years ago - has crept back into the chart at number 37 after the song's back catalogue was made available on iTunes for the first time last week.

That tied in with the release of their Best Of album, which is a new entry this week at number four.

Paul Weller's new double CD 22 Dreams has gone straight to number one, with Duffy and Neil Diamond staying at two and three respectively.

Last week's number one, Usher's Here I Stand, has dropped to number five.

It is followed by another new entry, You Can Do Anything, the third album by The Zutons, at number six.

Nadal goes into Borg mode

Rafael Nadal claims his fourth French Open title in a row. Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP

Unless his body lets him down, and it has taken a fearful pounding over the past three and half years, there seems no reason why Spain's Rafael Nadal should not become the greatest clay-court player of all time. Some, and that may include Roger Federer, would be inclined to believe he is already precisely that.

Yesterday afternoon Nadal did not so much defeat the Swiss world No1 as demolish him. He won 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to win his fourth consecutive French Open, equalling the modern record of Sweden's Bjorn Borg who was watching from the VIP box. It was Federer's worst-ever defeat in his 173 grand-slam matches in terms of games won, and he apologised to the crowd afterwards. Nadal's reaction to this crushing victory, though, was understandably muted: "Given my relationship with Roger I did not want to celebrate too much."

Borg won the title here six times, and Wimbledon on five occasions. Nadal may never get near to matching such double surface prowess, although he seems more likely to win the title at the All England than Federer at Roland Garros - at least as long as Nadal is in contention. This was Federer's fourth consecutive defeat here at the swirling hands of the 22-year-old Mallorcan, three of them in the final, and the most damaging psychologically.

It was the most one-sided French Open final since 1977 when Guillermo Vilas defeated Brian Gottfried 6-0, 6-3, 6-0, and at 1hr 48min the shortest since Borg beat Vitas Gerulaitis in 1980, which was just two minutes quicker.

Quite simply and starkly Federer was hammered, and how it may affect his chances on the grass where he has been the champion for the last five years can only be guessed at. He has beaten Nadal in the last two Wimbledon finals, but last year's classic five-setter was uncomfortably close for Federer.

This was a masterclass. Toni Nadal, Rafa's uncle and long-time coach, had said that he believed the opening two sets of his nephew's semi-final defeat of Serbia's Novak Djokovic, the world No3, were the best tennis he had ever seen him play on clay.

There were those, including Borg, who were prepared to speculate that Federer might win, and thereby become only the sixth player in the game's history to win all four slam titles, the last being Andre Agassi here in 1999. Nobody had imagined this sort of drubbing, even taking into account Federer's often indifferent form this year.

Federer had suggested he was fitter than he had ever been, and that he believed "very strongly that this is my year". It was not a self-appraisal with which many agreed. All year the Swiss has rarely looked his former immaculate self, and he was beaten in the semi-finals of the Australian Open by Djokovic having previously reached 10 consecutive major finals, winning eight of them for a total of 12 titles, two short of Pete Sampras's record.

Against the Serb it was his forehand that haemorrhaged points, and the same was true against Nadal. Rarely can he have clipped the net cord so often on that stroke, an indication that he was striving to hit the ball too hard in his anxiety. Such is the pressure he is put under by the Spaniard, who has never lost a best-of-five-setter on clay in a total of 41 matches, 28 of them here at Roland Garros. "When he is on the attack he is lethal and he made some incredible defensive shots," said the Swiss. "I had a small chance in the second set, but he has played a terrific tournament."

It certainly has been terrific. His dominance, in not dropping a set, has made this fourth French Open triumph almost seem routine. It took Federer, who described the defeat as "a rough loss", to remind everybody of the pressure that Nadal was under: "To come up with a performance like this shows what a great champion he is."

It was the first time Federer had lost a set 6-0 at a grand slam tournament since his very first match here, against Australia's Pat Rafter in 1999. Andy Murray has pointed out how difficult Nadal is to play on clay, because he is capable of sliding into the ball on both his left and right feet. Nadal is right-handed, but was persuaded to play tennis left-handed.

"He plays like two forehands from the baseline because he has an open stance on both sides," said Federer. "So he's got a huge advantage, and he's so tough mentally too."

The first set was over in 32 minutes, with Federer's serve broken three times, including in the opening game. The 15,000 crowd tried everything to lift him. "Roger, Roger" rang around the Philippe Chatrier court when, at 2-0 down in the second set, the world No1 finally cracked the world No2's serve. It was never sustainable. Of his 11 service games, Federer faced break points in 10, and in total lost his serve eight times.

"I don't think I served badly, but he has made huge progress returning it, and I realised there was nothing I could do," Federer said. "He no longer plays short balls as he did in the past, and you can no longer attack him on his forehand. He was just much stronger than me today. But the clay season is over, so let's see what happens."

History of batterings

Roger Federer makes an unlikely entry into the all-time list of heaviest defeats in a major final

US Open 1974

J Conners bt K Rosewall 6-1, 6-0, 6-1

Wimbledon 1936

F Perry bt G von Cramm 6-1, 6-1, 6-0

Wimbledon 1881

W Renshaw bt J Hartley 6-0, 6-1, 6-1

French Open 1977

G Vilas bt B Gottfried 6-0, 6-3, 6-0

French Open 2008

R Nadal bt R Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0

Wimbledon 1984

J McEnroe bt J Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2

Wimbledon 1923

B Johnston bt F Hunter 6-0, 6-3, 6-1

The great rivalry so far

Nadal has won 11 of 17 matches against Federer (including yesterday's final)

Miami, round of 32

March 2004 Hardcourt

Nadal wins 6-3, 6-3

Miami, final

March 2005 Hardcourt

Federer 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1

French Open, semi-final

June 2005 Clay

Nadal 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

Dubai, final

March 2006 Hardcourt

Nadal 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

Monte Carlo, final

May 2006 Clay

Nadal 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6

Rome, final

May 2006 Clay

Nadal wins 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6

French Open, final

June 2006 Clay

Nadal 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6

Wimbledon, final

July 2006 Grass

Federer 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3

Masters Cup, semi-final

Nov 2006 Hardcourt

Federer 6-4, 7-5

Monte Carlo, final

April 2007 Clay

Nadal 6-4, 6-4

Hamburg, final

May 2007 Clay

Federer 2-6, 6-2, 6-0

French Open, final

June 2007 Clay

Nadal 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Wimbledon, final

July 2007 Grass

Federer 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2

Masters Cup, semi-final

Nov 2007 Hardcourt

Federer wins 6-4, 6-1

Monte Carlo, final

April 2008 Clay

Nadal wins 7-5, 7-5

Hamburg, final

May 2008 Clay

Nadal wins 7-5, 6-7, 6-3

UK Afghan death toll hits 100

10 things we didn't know last week

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

1. Placa George Orwell in Barcelona is covered by CCTV.

2. Television presenter Fern Britton has a gastric band.
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3. Nearly all animals are banned from the grounds of the Houses of Parliament - except dogs and horses.
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4. Many businessmen believe biscuits are key to clinching deals.
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5. Public drinking is socially acceptable in Denmark.
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6. Syria has the world's largest restaurant, seating 6,014 diners.
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7. George Lucas's daughter Amanda is a mixed martial arts fighter.
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8. London's broadband is the fastest in the UK.
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9. T-shirts featuring rude words, bombs or cartoon guns can stop you getting on planes from British airports.
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10. Getting caught cheating at a British university does not get you expelled.
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Prince turns 50: Highs and lows

Prince is renowned for his high-octane concert performances

Multi-talented multi-instrumentalist Prince is celebrating his 50th birthday on Saturday.

The star cherry-picked the best of rock, funk and blues to redefine pop music in the 1980s - but he has had a turbulent time in the spotlight.

Use our interactive timeline to find out more.

Full name: Prince Rogers Nelson

Born: 7 June 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Also known as: The Kid, The Purple Perv, The Minneapolis Midget, Alexander Nevermind, Christopher Tracy, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.

Biggest hits: Little Red Corvette, Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.

Quotes: "Sex on a stick" (Kylie Minogue). "A dwarf who's been dipped in a bucket of pubic hair" (Boy George).

1958 - WHAT'S MY NAME?

According to legend, Prince is named after his father's dog, perhaps triggering his identity crisis 40 years later.

His parents drift apart and separate when he is two years old, and the youngster chooses to live with his father. But he is thrown out of his family home aged 12 after allegedly being caught in bed with an older girl. He moves in with the family of his school friend, and future band member, Andre Anderson.

1978 - DEBUT ALBUM

Prince records his solo debut album, For You, for Warner Brothers. Despite a popular single, Soft And Wet, it only makes the lower end of the Billboard 200 album chart.

1980-82 - DIRTY MIND

Dirty Mind included songs such as When You Were Mine and Uptown

Third album Dirty Mind, containing songs about oral sex and incest, is a critical success but a commercial flop.

Fans include The Rolling Stones, who ask Prince to open two shows in Los Angeles for them. But the crowd do not appreciate the moustachioed musician's sexually ambiguous look and boo him off stage.

A year later, in 1982, he scores his first mainstream success with ambitious double album 1999. It sells three million copies in the US, and sets the template for the Minneapolis sound - buzzing synths and funky drum machines wed together in a lascivious funk groove.

1984 - PURPLE RAIN

The Purple Rain album and tour were performed with Prince's band, The Revolution

Purple Rain finally establishes Prince as a bona fide star, and sits at number one in the US for a staggering 24 weeks. The accompanying film - part-concert movie, part-autobiography - takes nearly $100m (£50.8m) at the box office.

Lyrically, the album is unusually restrained for the sex-obsessed singer. But the erotic fantasy of one song, Darling Nikki, enrages one mother, Tipper Gore, to such an extent that she forms the Parents Music Resource Center and gets explicit albums branded with "parental advisory" stickers.

1985/86 - UNDER THE CHERRY MOON

The faux-psychedelia of seventh album Around The World In A Day disappoints, with the exception of pop classic Raspberry Beret. The 1986 follow-up, Parade, is more successful but the star's new film, Under The Cherry Moon, bombs.

"For all those out there who can't get enough of Prince, Under The Cherry Moon may be just the antidote," says the New York Times.

1987 - SIGN O' THE TIMES

Sign O' The Times featured Prince singing in a sped-up voice with vocals credited to "Camille"

Compiled from the debris of three abandoned albums (Crystal Ball, Dream Factory and the untitled "Camille project"), Sign O The Times is hailed as Prince's masterpiece.

Trailed by the sparse blues-funk of the title track, the album spans every genre in popular music including rock (I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man), funk (Housequake), soul (Slow Love) and pop (U Got The Look).

Rolling Stone says it is "the most complete example of his artistry's breadth, and arguably the finest album of the 1980s".

1988 - THE BLACK ALBUM

The Lovesexy tour in 1988 was Prince's most ambitious show to date

Prince scraps his next project, The Black Album, days before release, calling it "dark and immoral" (it's also pretty bad). The star says he reached the decision following "a spiritual epiphany", which some reports suggest was the result of an early experience with the drug ecstasy.

The Black Album's replacement, Lovesexy, and follow-up Batman (recorded in just six weeks) keep Prince's profile high, but receive mixed reviews.

1990-92 - NOTHING COMPARES

Diamonds and Pearls featured the hits Cream and Gett Off

Despite another dire film (Graffiti Bridge), Prince's fortunes are on the rise, thanks in no small part to Sinead O'Connor's cover of Nothing Compares 2 U.

Prince responds with two of his most commercial and accessible albums in years - Diamonds and Pearls and Symbol. The only downside is his attempt to embrace hip-hop by enlisting the services of Tony M - a rapper who can't rap.

1993 - SLAVE

With his star back on the rise, Prince releases a greatest hits album, announces his retirement, and changes his name to an unpronounceable symbol.

It turns out that he is embroiled in a legal dispute with Warner Brothers over his music. His independently-released single, Most Beautiful Girl In The World, gives him his first UK number one.

Negotiations with Warner Brothers stall, and Prince takes to writing the word "slave" on his face in eyeliner. The public is not impressed.

1996 - SON DIES

Prince's newborn son, Gregory, dies of Pfeiffer syndrome, a condition which causes the bones of the skull to fuse too early. The musician splits from his wife, Mayte Garcia, in 1999.

Unsurprisingly, his musical output during this period lacks its usual fire and inspiration. Critics are particularly harsh about his album, The Rainbow Children, which features the advocacy of Jehovah's Witness dogma (Prince had been converted to the religion earlier that year).

2004 - MUSICOLOGY

Prince and Beyonce performed Purple Rain and Crazy In Love at the Grammys

Musicology, Prince's 22nd studio album, is hailed as a return to form, and sees him back in the top five on both sides of the Atlantic. In the same year, he duets with Beyonce at the Grammys, is inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and puts on the most profitable US tour of the year.

Having embraced the internet as a way to release music as and when he wants, Prince wins a Webby Award in 2006. But, three weeks later, his site is shut down with no warning.

2007 - 21 NIGHTS

Prince's Super Bowl performance won rave reviews

After a dazzling performance at the Super Bowl (in which the rain actually turns purple) Prince shocks the music industry by announcing he will give away his latest album, Planet Earth, on the cover of a newspaper.

He also plays a wildly successful 21-night residency at London's O2 arena, with guests including Amy Winehouse and Elton John.

EURO 2008 WALLCHART:

Print out and keep up to speed with all the action from Austria and Switzerland

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Machu Picchu ruin 'found earlier'

Locals knew about Machu Picchu before Western explorers found it

A team of historians says the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, in Peru was discovered more than 40 years earlier than previously thought and ransacked.

Machu Picchu, now Peru's biggest tourist attraction, was famously believed to have been discovered in 1911 by US explorer Hiram Bingham.

The ruins are the crown jewel of Peru's archaeological sites in Peru and draw thousands of tourists every day.

Machu Pichu carries symbolic value for Peru's indigenous people.

It was built by one of the last Inca emperors, Pachacutec, in around 1450 and kept secret from the Spanish conquerors who invaded about 100 years later.

Now the story about its discovery by the western world has been shaken up by a team of historians who say a German businessman looted its treasures more than 40 years before.

They say the adventurer, Augusto Berns, who traded in Peru's wood and gold, raided the citadel's tombs in 1867 apparently with the blessing of the Peruvian government.

He had set up a sawmill at the foot of the forested mountain on which Machu Picchu stands and systematically robbed precious artefacts which he sold to European galleries and museums.

Only when one of the historians found a map in Peru's national museum were his activities traced.

Until now it has been believed that Hiram Bingham, an American academic from Yale University, brought the Inca city to the attention of the world in 1911, although local people clearly already knew of its presence.

Mr Berns had a far less noble objective and researchers are now trying to find out how many artefacts he spirited out of the country at a time when there were no known archaeological expeditions in Peru.

Sadly more than a century later, Peruvian archaeological treasures are still being looted by grave robbers and sold on the international black market.

Oldest veteran of WWI reaches 112

Henry Allingham talks about reaching his 112th birthday Britain's oldest man, thought to be one of three surviving UK World War I veterans, is celebrating reaching his 112th birthday. Henry Allingham, who was born in London on 6 June 1896, is also the last surviving original member of the Royal Air Force - formed 90 years ago. Mr Allingham, from Ovingdean, near Brighton, will celebrate at Royal Air Force College Cranwell, Lincolnshire. The event will include a fly-past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. There will also be a parachute jump by the Royal Air Force Falcons Parachute Display Team. People ask me how I've done it, and I just say that I look forward to another tomorrow Henry Allingham The event will be attended by Air Vice Marshal Peter Dye (retd) and Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns. Mr Allingham's birthday will also be marked by a visit from local schoolchildren who will give him a cake. Before setting off for Lincolnshire, the 112-year-old said he felt "on the crest of a wave" and was looking forward to a wonderful day. "I just hope I don't let the side down," he said. "People ask me how I've done it, and I just say that I look forward to another tomorrow." Now partially deaf and almost blind, Mr Allingham, who was born in Clapham, London, now lives at St Dunstan's home for blind ex-servicemen, in Ovingdean. His life has spanned six monarchs and has taken in 21 prime ministers. 'Wild women' Mr Allingham grew up without a father after he died from tuberculosis in 1898. His mother died 17 years later. He went on to have two daughters with his wife Dorothy Cater, whom he married in 1919, and now has five grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. His wife died 38 years ago, while his daughters both died in their 80s. Mr Allingham is the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and also fought at the Somme and Ypres where he was bombed and shelled. He joined the Royal Air Force when it was formed from the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Army's Flying Corps in 1918. His many medals and honours include the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the Legion D'Honneur - the highest military accolade awarded by France. He has joked that the secret to his longevity is "cigarettes, whisky and wild women".

Free swimming to be 2012 legacy

Under 16s will benefit from the next round of funding

England's swimming pools could be free by the time of the London 2012 Olympics, the government has signalled.

Over-60s are to be given free admission to public swimming pools in an £80m first stage of the initiative.

The move will be outlined by Gordon Brown as part of a bid to encourage greater participation in sport ahead of the Games.

Sport minister Andy Burnham indicated future funding would allow free entry to under-16s, then to everyone by 2012.

Authorities are to get £80m next year to scrap over-60s' charges and £50m for the pools' upkeep.

'Big vision'

The aim is to have two million more people taking part in some form of physical exercise by 2012.

The culture, media, and sport secretary said he thought the initiative would be popular.

Mr Burnham said: "It will be so obviously right, in that it improves the health of the nation, that it improves peoples' health, happiness, well-being, general quality of life.

"If somebody is currently inactive, it's the most likely sport they're going to do. But unlike other sports, swimming has a barrier in its way and it's called an entry charge."

Mr Brown will also publish the government's plan detailing how it believes the legacy of the Games will boost sport, the regeneration of east London, business, tourism and jobs.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: "There is something for everyone in our plans - every part of the country, every section of the population."

'Too late'

But Liberal Democrat culture, media and sport spokesman Don Foster told the Daily Mirror the plans had arrived far too late.

He said the government now had no hope of reaching its aim of getting two million more adults into sport by 2012.

"We've lost an incredible amount of time waiting for these plans," he said.

"There are lots of organisations across the country working very hard to try and do this, but it all should have started a lot earlier."

Olympic gold medallist Adrian Moorhouse welcomed the plans.

He said: "I think it's a great thing. I think you've got to start somewhere and swimming is a good sport to start with.

"You can't start with everybody straight away, but over-60s will really benefit."

In Wales, under-16s already swim for free during school holidays and over-60s outside school holidays.

In Scotland there are currently no plans for free admission for the over-60s but they and students have concessions.

To the manor bought

Nick Hill of English Heritage takes an exclusive tour of newly-restored Apethorpe Hall.

It is the stuff of a historical pot-boiler - secret royal trysts, decay and ruin, a doggedly loyal servant. Only the main character in this tale is a stately mansion, Apethorpe Hall.

A tale of intrigue and adventure surrounds Apethorpe Hall, near Oundle in Northamptonshire. A favourite haunt of the royal and the wealthy, it boasts rare intact Jacobean interiors. But, in the last 20 years of the 20th Century, this unique building fell into decay and ruin, riven with dry rot.

The ceiling of the King's Chamber

Now lovingly restored by English Heritage after a compulsory purchase order, it's on sale with a guide price of £4.5m.

This in itself has led to controversy. Critics claim that £2m of taxpayers' money has been wasted on a building to be enjoyed by a private investor - but English Heritage say it would have been lost forever and that the public will have access.

Originally built in 1470-80 by Sir Guy Wolston, it then sold to Sir Walter Mildmay and stayed in his family for 350 years. Its stately apartments were where James I indulged in "more commodious entertainment... and princely recreation" with his favourite, George Villiers, later to become the Duke of Buckingham. Workers uncovered a passage connecting the pair's bedchambers during the recent renovations.

The hall's more recent owners include the Catholic Church - which used it as a school - and Wanis Mohammed Burweila. After the shooting of WPc Yvonne Fletcher during the Libyan Embassy siege in 1984 he was among the many Libyans to leave the UK.

George Kelley on 20 years caring for a dying building

His caretaker, George Kelley, spent the next 20 years damming leaks, chasing away would-be vandals and thieves in the dead of night and pleading with the owner for help. For the last 10 of those years, he received no pay.

It was he who warned East Northamptonshire District Council and English Heritage that the building was rapidly decaying. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), began the process of moving towards compulsory purchase.

But the absentee owner sold to developers in 2002, who planned 20 homes on the site. These plans never came to fruition, as compulsory purchase still hung over the property, and the developers in turn sold to multi-millionaire Simon Karimzadeh.

Despite his own plans to renovate the hall, paid for out of his own pocket, the compulsory purchase went ahead in 2004.

Extreme restoration

Since then English Heritage has set about returning the hall to its original purpose, as a single dwelling country house.

Replacing the roof

It is the largest and most intense restoration project of its type in the country, involving 150,000 hours of work. The leaking roof has been repaired using traditional Collyweston tile. Intricate panelling has been repaired and reinstalled, and elaborate plaster ceilings restored to their former glory.

Now the estate agents, Smith Gore, have the house listed at between £4.5m and £5m. And there's the rub.

The total cost to the taxpayer is £7.6m - £3.6m for the purchase and legal fees, £4m on conservation - meaning a loss of at least £2m if it sells for the guide price.

Nick Hill, project director for English Heritage, is quick to defend the restoration. "We've brought it in under budget and within the programme, done to a really high standard by a really first class team."

History of the Hall 1470-80: Original construction 1551: Bought by Sir Walter Mildmay 1904: Sold to Leonard Brassey 1950: Becomes approved school 1982: Bought by Wanis Mohammed Burweila 2002: Sold to developers 2004: DCMS buy hall under compulsory purchase 2008: On sale for £4.5m

And his colleague, David Tomback, disputes Mr Karimzadeh's claim that he could have restored the house with no recourse to public funds. "Mr Karimzadeh wanted to develop the grounds and in so doing would have harmed the setting of the building."

"We are the buyer of last resort - so that the building would be saved for the nation. This was not something that was undertaken lightly"

Now that the hall is back on the market, Mr Karimzadeh has no plans to buy it again: "After my experience before with [English Heritage] I don't think I'd want to get involved."

For the new owner will need deep pockets. Funding and carrying out phase II of the renovations is a condition of the sale, a project estimated at £4m. At least another £2m is needed to install utilities, decorate and furnish.

"That person is not going to be able to recoup his money - we're really looking for a white knight," says Mr Tomback.

And as taxpayers' money has been used, the public must be granted access for 28 days a year for 21 years.

Wander the elegant state apartments and it is not hard not to see how someone could fall in love with this spectacular building, as both a monarch and a caretaker did, separated by centuries.

The renovations have been lovingly carried out, and George Kelley lavishes the same care and attention on the gardens as he has since 1982. He's still waiting for the back-pay.

Bacteria could stop frog killer

Chytrid-infected frogs often show a characteristic hunched posture

The disease that is devastating amphibian populations around the world could be tackled using "friendly" bacteria, research suggests.

Scientists have found that certain types of bacteria which live naturally on amphibians produce chemicals that attack the disease-causing fungus.

Recent results indicate the bacteria help frogs survive fungal infection.

The chytrid fungus is a major reason for the global decline which sees one third of amphibians facing extinction.

But the latest findings, reported at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Boston, may give conservationists a new way to tackle the scourge.

This is definitely a line of research that could become a tool applied to saving species in the wild Don Church IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group and Conservation International

Reid Harris and colleagues found that treating the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) with extra helpings of bacteria reduces the weight loss seen when the fungus attacks, and appears to keep them alive longer as well.

"In the group we exposed to chytrid, about 50% to 60% have died," he told BBC News.

"But of the ones where we added the bacterium (Janthinobacterium lividum) none have died, and we're about 140 days in now."

The mountain yellow-legged frog of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the western US is categorised as Critically Endangered, with numbers believed to have fallen by 80% within about 15 years.

Natural defences

The waterborne fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has emerged as a major threat to amphibians in the last decade, and conservationists have been left grasping for a way of stopping its apparently inexorable worldwide spread.

WHAT ARE AMPHIBIANS? First true amphibians evolved about 250m years ago Adapted to many different aquatic and terrestrial habitats Present today on every continent except Antarctica Undergo metamorphosis, from larvae to adults

But although it has devastated many species, some appear to have an innate capacity to withstand infection. Even within species that generally succumb, the odd population survives.

What gives these communities immunity is not clear; but one answer, as Professor Harris's group has been finding, could be bacteria such as Janthinobacterium which live naturally on their skin.

Earlier lab experiments, also involving the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), showed that the bacteria produce chemicals able to attack the fungus.

"We detected anti-chytrid metabolites on the skin itself in high enough concentrations to kill off the chytrid," he said.

"One of our hypotheses is that the bacteria live in some kind of defensive symbiosis with the frogs and salamanders."

Another piece of evidence came with the finding that amphibians in colonies which survive the passage of the chytrid wave tend to carry higher levels of the bacteria.

This all raises questions as to why, if the bacteria are protective, they are not present in large enough numbers in all colonies; and whether some other factor - perhaps habitat loss, pollution or rapid climatic shifts - can reduce the bacterial cargo, opening up the door to fungal attack.

In Spain, scientists have found that rising temperatures appear to increase amphibians' vulnerability to infection.

Not in isolation

Whatever the history, the findings carry the promise that perhaps these bacteria could be used in the wild as a defence against the chytrid.

"It's tremendously exciting, because the other treatments for chytrid have problems," commented Don Church, a scientist with Conservation International and senior director of the Amphibian Assessment Group which monitors trends worldwide.

The JMU team applied protective bacteria to frogs in the lab

"The classical method of treatment with a fungicide leaves animals open to re-infection, and it's not a solution for use in the wild - it's a solution for animals that can be kept isolated or quarantined.

"So I think this is definitely a line of research that could become a tool applied to saving species in the wild, but we would have to develop a whole set of criteria for deciding where and how to use it - we have had so many catastrophes in the past through introducing species, so we have to be very careful."

Dr Church advocates more research on amphibians that survive chytrid attack, in order to catalogue what other varieties of defensive bacteria exist.

Soiled good

Reid Harris's team at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, will continue to follow their treated mountain yellow-legged frogs to confirm that bacterial treatment really does keep them alive longer.

If the positive findings continue, they would like to start projects in the wild within a few years.

"Interestingly, some of the probiotic agricultural products that you can buy from hardware stores contain pretty similar bacteria to what we're using," he said.

The last few Panamanian golden frogs were taken into protective captivity

"Using them doesn't seem too controversial in an agricultural setting, although of course people get a lot more cautious when you're talking about national parks and so on.

"In something like Rana muscosa where the frogs pretty much stay put in ponds all year you might be able to add bacteria to soil or ponds and stay in front of the infection wave. It's harder to see how it would work in a tropical rainforest."

Scattering bacteria in ponds and soil might seem like a risky strategy.

But so dire is the chytrid situation that a few years ago, amphibian specialists were saying that the only solution for some species was to take the few remaining specimens into captive breeding programmes in the hope, rather than the certainty, that they could be re-introduced to the wild at some point in the future.

Having said that, a defence against chytridiomycosis would not by itself arrest the striking decline in amphibians, which are also threatened by habitat loss, pollution, climate change, viral disease, hunting and introduced predators.

Het grote Nederlandse Gegevensbestand

Which Dutch actor appeared as a villain in confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Sin City and Batman Begins?
Rutger Hauer
Which Dutch actress played the part of Xenia Onatopp in the Bond movie 'GoldenEye'?
Famke Janssen
Which character did Famke Janssen play in the 2000 film 'X-Men'?
Dr. Jean Grey
What is the Dutch mathematical artist MC Escher's first name?
Maurits
Where, in the Netherlands, was the famous painter Vincent van Gogh born?
Zundert
Which Dutch artist painted the famous Sunflowers?
Vincent van Gogh
Which singer wrote the ballad 'Vincent' about the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh?
Don McLean
Who played the part of Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in the 2003 film, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'?
Colin Firth
In which Dutch city did Anne Frank hide during the German occupation of the Netherlands?
Amsterdam
Of which young diary writer does the statue outside Amsterdam's Westerkerk church portray?
Anne Frank
Tasmania was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman but what did he originally name the island?
Van Diemen's Land
What is the capital of the Netherlands?
Amsterdam
Where would you find the home of the Dutch government?
The Hague
The Netherlands flag is made up of how many coloured bands?
Three
What colour is the top band on the flag of the Netherlands?
Red
Where, in the Netherlands, would you find the city of Eindhoven?
South
Which country borders the Netherlands to the east?
Germany
Which country borders the Netherlands to the South?
Belgium
How many countries have land borders with the Netherlands?
Two
The flag of the Netherlands is very similar to the flag of which other country?
Luxembourg
The Dutch were the first European country to import which drink?
Tea
What phantom ship is said to haunt The Cape of Good Hope?
The Flying Dutchman
According to legend The Flying Dutchman is doomed to sail forever around where?
Cape of Good Hope
Exotic dancer Mata Hari was shot by a firing squad for espionage during which war?
World War I
What area in New York translates from the Dutch as Broken Valley?
Brooklyn
What does the Dutch word Vader, as in Darth Vader, mean?
Father
Which Dutch city gave a hit to the Beautiful South?
Rotterdam
What was the Dutch detective played on television by Barry Foster?
Van der Valk
Which Dutch city was the location for the detective series 'Van der Valk'?
Amsterdam
In which film did Arnold Schwarzenegger play the part of Major Alan 'Dutch' Schaeffer?
Predator
The Netherlands are how many hours in front of GMT?
One
Actor Rutger Hauer is nicknamed 'The Dutch' who?
Paul Newman
Which artist, born in 1606, painted 'The Night Watch' and 'The Mill'?
Rembrandt
Which is the only Dutch cheese that is 'made backwards'?
Edam
Which former US President was nicknamed 'Dutch'?
Ronald Reagan
In 1579 The Netherlands achieved independence from which country?
Spain
What is the currency of the Netherlands?
Euro
What is the national airline of the Netherlands?
KLM
Which electrical giant is based in the Netherlands?
Philips
How many provinces are there in the Netherlands?
12
What is the name of the Queen of the Netherlands who ascended to the throne in 1980?
Beatrix
In which Dutch city is the famous Red Light District?
Amsterdam
The Netherlands are associated with which flower?
Tulip
Which sea is to the north and west of the Netherlands?
North Sea
Actor Jerven Krabbe appeared in which Bond movie?
The Living Daylights
What is the internet domain used by sites based in the Netherlands?
.nl
Who, in 1965, sang about 'A Windmill In Old Amsterdam'?
Ronnie Hilton
Which group released an EP in 1989 entitled 'The Amsterdam EP'?
Simple Minds
Which US city was once known as New Amsterdam?
New York
What was the reason that Queen Juliana came to the Dutch throne in September 1948?
Her mother abdicated
For which Formula One team did Dutch driver Christian Albers drive during the 2005 season?
Minardi
Which sport is connected to Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld?
Darts
Which Dutch footballer was named European Footballer of the Year in 1988, 1989 and 1992?
Marco van Basten
Athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen won four Gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics held in which city?
London
Which twin brothers, born in 1970, played International football for the Netherlands?
Frank and Ronald de Boer
Dutch football's Super Cup is named after which former player?
Johan Cruyff
What is the nickname of the Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids who signed for Tottenham in 2005?
Pitbull
Who was the captain of the Dutch team when they won football's European Championship in 1988?
Ruud Gullit
In which year did the Netherlands win football's European Championship?
1988
Which Dutch tennis player won the Wimbledon title in 1996?
Richard Krajicek
For which sport is Dutchman Richard Krajicek famous?
Tennis
Which sport is connected to Dutchman Rik Smits?
Basketball
Which sport is connected to Dutchman Martin Verkerk?
Tennis
The stadium of football team Sturm Graz is named after which actor?
Arnold Schwarzenegger
In which city do football team Ajax play their home games?
Amsterdam
In which city do football team Feyenoord play their home games?
Rotterdam
In which Dutch city were the Summer Olympic Games held in 1928?
Amsterdam
What is footballer Dennis Bergkamp scared of that affects his travel plans?
Flying
Which Dutchman took over as manager of Australia’s football team in July 2005?
Guus Hiddink
Which initials precede Eindhoven in the Dutch football team's name?
PSV
Inge de Bruijn is a four time Olympic champion in which sport?
Swimming
Which former Formula One driver represented the Netherlands in the 2005 season of the A1 Grand Prix?
Jos Verstappen
For which London club did Dutchman Robin van Persie play for during the 2005/06 Premiership season?
Arsenal
Which Dutch goalkeeper moved from Fulham to Manchester United in 2005?
Edwin Van der Sar
What is the top division in football known as in the Netherlands?
Eredivisie
Which racing circuit in the Netherlands was used for Formula One races from 1952 to 1985?
Zandvoort
What was the nickname of the Dutch boxer Lambertus van Klaveren?
The Dutch Windmill
Which country co-hosted the 2000 European Football Championship with the Netherlands?
Belgium
Which South American country was pitted against the Netherlands in the draw for the 2006 World Cup Finals?
Argentina
In which sport did the Netherlands win the Gold medal at the 2000 Olympics after a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final and final?
Hockey
Who did the Netherlands beat in the final of the 2000 Olympic hockey competition?
South Korea
Who partnered Robert-Jan Derksen in the Netherlands bid to win the World Golf Championship in 2005?
Maartin Lafeber
Which sport is connected to Dutchman Rie Mastenbroek?
Swimming
Which sport is connected to Dutchman Tom Okker?
Tennis
How many times did Dutchman Tom Okker win the Wimbledon Men's Title?
None
Which Dutch tennis player lost to Virginia Wade in the 1977 Wimbledon Women's Final?
Betty Stove
Which sport is connected to Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk?
Cycling
Which sport is connected to Dutchman Regilio Tuur?
Boxing
Who was Betty Stove's doubles partner when she won the French Open and US Open in 1979?
Wendy Turnbull
Which Dutch footballer was surprisingly sold to Lazio in 2001 from Manchester United?
Jaap Stam
Which Dutch football team won the Champions League in the 1994/95 season?
Ajax
Which Dutch football team won the European Cup in the 1987/88 season?
PSV
Which Scandinavian country knocked the Netherlands out of football's 1992 European Championship after a semi-final penalty shoot-out?
Denmark
Who did the Netherlands beat 6-1 in the quarter finals of football's 2000 European Championship?
Yugoslavia
The home shirts worn by Dutch football team Ajax are white and which other colour?
Red
Which Dutch football team plays home games at the Amsterdam Arena?
Ajax
What coloured home shirts do the national football team of the Netherlands play in?
Orange
Which team were paired with Ajax in the last-16 draw of the 2005/06 Champions League?
Inter Milan
How many teams did the Netherlands get into the last-16 of the 2005/06 Champions League?
Two
For which Formula One team did Dutchman Jos Verstappen drive for during the 2003 season? Minardi

The Grumpy Files - Holidays For Health

Do you realise the importance of taking a holiday - do you?

By jetting off to a sun drenched beach on the other side of the planet for a couple of weeks you are saving life and it could be your own. How? Well in the darkest recesses of your kitchen fridge lie many items that even some shops have stopped stocking.The tin of Peruvian Pickle and the Jar of East Indian Ghee that you purchased after watching that bald bloke make a curry on the telly but then forgot the web address so you never did have the recipe to try it out.



There are ingredients from around the world and some of them are beginning to erupt or turn into ideal props for Dr Who's next series.As well as these exotic items are short dated packs of meat, pates, cheese and lots of semi rotting vegetables that were stockpiled only after last weeks shopping trip as it had gone cold and there was always that chance you might be cut off from all other living beings, snowed in at number 34, unable to reach next door through drifts and force nine gales. All the rotting flesh, rotting veg and sundry packages are placed in carrier bags tightly knotted and flung into the bin. The bin of which you have no idea whether will be emptied whilst you are laid on a sun drenched beach. The bin which is now emitting a disturbing smell.....



The smell is beginning to annoy the neighbour, the same neighbour who you did not want to know that you were jetting off on holiday in case they burgled you whilst you were away. The same neighbour who has now informed both the local council about the smell and the police because he has not seen or heard you for several days.



The very efficient local constabulary have broken down your door, expecting to see two rotting corpses laid out on the living room carpet, instead they board up your door and move the bin to the edge of the street where it is hit by a local joyrider and the contents are jettisoned across the road to all your neighbours gardens.Anyway you have had a great holiday and once you have removed the boards, bunged cotton wool up your nose because of the stench in the air, you consider yourself lucky because your cupboards and fridge are free of any contaminated food so your health will be saved from ecoli or salmonella poisoning. You realise that there is no milk, tea or bread either as they will have been mouldy, out of date or stolen by the neighbours!


The Grumpy Files are part of an ongoing series written by Chris Mills as personal observations on life in general. All rights reserved. Syndication on request and after collection of a large bag of money to be left behind the bar on Saturday.

The Grumpy Files - Sunday Lunch

...... and now the traditional sunday lunch seems to be having a burp!

All I required on Sunday was the English Traditional Fayre but 'Oh No!'
The chef has been watching too many Gordon F Ramsay TV shows or the like and the menu looks like something off bleedin' Masterchef.
The weather was not exactly begging me out of doors but I thought I might make the effort and treat 'er indoors and one of the grand winkies to a spot of Roasted Farm Animal with all the trimmings. Our fine location means that within 10 minutes I can be lost in the countryside with a grand view of converted barns and pub grub.
I aimed the car at a little village named Salwick, where the local pub is inside a windmill next to BNFL's Nuclear Installation of which I know very little. I thought this might be fun for the young winkie but found that idea was superceded by the yearning for a large overpriced Coke.

I was initially cheered by the sight of four handpumps on the bar and then confused as two of the choices are brewed for the Halloween time of the year(?)
I chose Everard's Tiger Bitter at a mere £2-70 a pint whilst my wife had a great choice of Lagers - Amstel or Heineken (aren't they the same). I paid £7-30 for the three drinks and remembered why I had stopped drinking in pubs. (63 more locals in our area closed last month - wonder why?)
Having admired the inside of the windmill we asked for menus and that is where we found that they had lost the plot.
Nearly £10 for a piece of pork which had been nurtured on the leeward side of a local fell but kept out of the local wind until slaughtered (locally) and presented on a bed of wild cabbage with local bacon bits in it (sorry to interupt but Soup of the Day is Mushroom at £3-50 with Garlic Bread for an extra £1-95) - no idea if they are local mushrooms.......
The Duck dish sounds good - Goosnargh Duck (local) stuffed with Goosnargh Chicken and local sausage served on a bed of wild beetroot...... ENOUGH! STOP!
By the way the Everards Tiger was either too young to have been served or had just lost interest. The clientelle looked like drinking ducks at a posh farts party and I should have noticed the surfeit of Wange Wovers on the carpark.
We finished our drinks and moved out of the overpriced, ludicrous ideas mill.
I aimed the car towards an old favourite at Lower Bartle, The Sitting Goose. Well worth a gander?

Highly recomended Trad Beer - Thwaites Wainwright Bitter - no not Aunty Wainwright you buerk but that little fell-er from t'lakes who knew all short cuts to pubs on hills.

Three straight forward Sunday Lunches please - "beef or lamb" er Lamb - I'll have that one, I said pointed to a wooly specimen next to a bail of hay in the field - silence..........
Now this presenting a meal in a tower on a plate has also got to stop. There was mash at the bottom surrounded by lovely gravy with sweet carrots, green beans (sample of), very well done roasted spuds, two large carvings of Lamb and on top - a Yorkshire Pud with a sprig of parsley in it - WHY? (answers on a postcard please).
If I had sneezed the lot would have blown across the conservatory (yes, as it was quiet, they let us in the posh bit) I dismantled my Sunday Tower before devouring the offering as I was now as hungry as an Afghan Rebel.

Why is it you always get a hoo-ha henry on the table behind you?
The conversation is dotted with wine notes, how the bitches had behaved in the kennels and how the yacht had run out of curried eggs in Montego Bay - I ask you......
We all had puddings although my self indulgence of a Very Large Fruit Pavlova with Ice Cream was the obvious reason that I was snoring less than 60 minutes later back at chez moi.
The price of Sunday Lunch can be expensive but at £9-50 for a main tower and choice from the puddings locker it ain't too bad - its paying for the others that makes it dear!!!
Visiting The Area? Then Checkout - www.thesittinggoose.co.uk/

SO POINTS TO REMEMBER
STOP - Putting local place names before all the fayre on the menu - the idea that I am more likely to eat Black Fell Beetroot as opposed to Asda Crinkley Cut Beetroot is stupid.
Morecambe Bay Squid served on a bed of Fylde Organic Baby Lettuce and the juice from a Cumbrian Otters Liver is a bloody turnoff!!! STOP IT NOW!

STOP - Putting all the ingredients of my meal in a bloody great tower and whoever thought that a sprig of parsley in a Yorkshire was even slightly a good idea needs urgent therapy.

FINALLY - STOP - If you have a need to turn into a country nerd or a hoo-ha Henry whilst out having Sunday DinDins with your next door neighbours' wife - GO TO THE WINDMILL!

The Grumpy Files are part of an ongoing series written by Chris Mills as personal observations on life in general. All rights reserved. Syndication on request and after collection of a large bag of money to be left behind the bar on Saturday.

Going Dutch

A Dutch football fan celebrates in central Rotterdam. Guardian readers will be following Holland at Euro 2008. Photograph: Guido Benschop/Reuters

It has taken a labyrinthine process of celebrity endorsements, two rounds of voting and the unravelling of an intricate internet election scam.

But Guardian readers have finally produced a definitive answer to the big question about Euro 2008, at least if you're British - who to support in the first major football tournament without either a British or an Irish presence since 1984. And the answer is: the Netherlands. The final verdict was arrived at via an online poll from a shortlist of Romania, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany.

The result has already been greeted with jubilation, and a little inadvertent schadenfreude, by the Dutch embassy. "As we are not unfamiliar with missing out on a big tournament, we are especially proud and honoured that the country that is the cradle of football has chosen to support the Dutch national side," the Dutch ambassador, Pim Waldeck, said last night.

There were 48,232 votes cast in the poll, the overwhelming majority of them - 96.2% - for the Netherlands. Spain came second with 1.8% of the vote, followed by Germany (1.4%); Sweden (0.4%) and Romania (0.2%). If the level of support for the Netherlands seems surprisingly high, it is because Dutch ingenuity even extended to hacking into and trying to rig the Guardian's online poll.

In the final days of voting, the Dutch website GeenStijl (literally "no style") instigated a campaign to tilt the balance their country's way, eventually spawning a triumphant piece of hacking that gave Holland an improbable percentage of the votes.

Since they would have won without cheating, the Guardian decided not to disqualify the team.

The formal rallying call to the Dutch had been issued by Geoff Hurst, who wrote with some passion about the style of play, a fusion of "technique and playing with imagination". He also noted the appeal of tulips and, perhaps more crucially, the reputation of the Netherlands as a "nearly team", a bunch of almost-champions with a history of almost-triumph.

The British have always loved a runner-up. The Dutch team of the 1970s reached two successive World Cup finals and lost both of them. British football supporters will feel their pain. As the journalist Juan Gabriel Vásquez pointed out, this sentiment could have led us into the arms of Spain. Vásquez hoped that "the British will relate to Spaniards' record of pain and defeat".

The pop singer Robyn took up the cudgels for Sweden, mentioning Abba and the fact that Sweden is "a world leader in fighting climate change".

Comedian Henning Wehn told voters to back Germany because Germans are "efficient and logical human beings" who have no truck with self-deprecation and, interestingly, because the Dutch can be annoying when you live next door to them.

Finally, the Liberal Democrat housing spokesman, Lembit Opik, told us to support Romania because he is engaged to a member of pop group the Cheeky Girls.

At the end of which, the decision to back the Dutch has much to commend it.

There has long been a sense that the Dutch play football in the "right" way, with a style based around technical expertise and tactical acuity, allied to the more physical, typically northern European attributes of our own game. We like the way the Dutch play; we also like the Dutch player himself, a famously outspoken individual in the dressing room, unafraid to voice articulate and contrary opinions.

Now get out there and bring back that trophy. "Hup Holland Hup!" as we say in the orange section.

What to say

He's big, he's Dutch, he doesn't let in much (on Edwin van der Sar)

Hij is groot, hij is Hollands, hij laat niet veel door

We're walking in a Marco van Basten wonderland

We wandelen in een Marco van Basten wonderland

Ruud van Nistelrooy, tra la la la la (to the tune of Brown Girl in the Ring)

As above

On the record: big names of pop help mark 50 years of indie labels

July 4 global celebration as recording industry pioneers face up to digital challenge.

From Warp to Postcard and Factory to Rough Trade, the names of independent record labels echo down 50 years of popular music, responsible for some its most influential names from U2 to the Smiths. Now, some of the big-name artists who made their names through the independent scene have contributed exclusive tracks to a combined global effort designed to celebrate its role in the face of the new challenges of the digital age.

The Prodigy, the Charlatans and Maximo Park are among artists who have given their backing to the first Independents Day, scheduled for July 4 and organised by UK trade body AIM. More big names are expected to be unveiled today as the lineup is finalised.

Each will contribute covers of tracks originally released on independent labels to a new double album released on July 4 to tie in with a number of other profile-raising events, including a five-part series on Channel 4, an eBay auction of memorabilia and a specially organised gig. On the first CD, big-name artists will cover well-known independent releases such as PIL's Public Image, Ghost Town by the Specials and Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division. The second disc will contain music by a number of new, up and coming acts chosen by the same artists.

Around the world, versions of the album will be released in the US, New Zealand, Spain, Australia, South Africa, France, Austria, Japan and Italy, with local artists represented on each.

Alison Wenham, chair of AIM, said the day, which will also raise money for charity, did not have an overarching theme but was designed to raise the profile of independent labels and the job they do in uncovering new talent and nurturing creativity.

"We're doing it for the love of it, for the joy of it, for the hell of it," she said, suggesting that independents had been "at the forefront of every single new musical movement over the years".

For evidence, she could point to everything from the DIY punk aesthetic of the 1970s to the indie guitar sound of New Order, the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Smiths in the 1980s, and the dance music boom of the 1990s.

Independents Day, which will become an annual event, also ties in with the 50th anniversary of the sector. Island Records was conceived in Jamaica in 1958 by Chris Blackwell and Graeme Goodall and later went on to sign U2 before selling to Polygram in 1989.

Many of the best known independent labels, including Alan McGee's Creation and the late Tony Wilson's Factory, are no more or were bought up during the 1990s by major labels. Others folded either through over-expansion or cashflow problems. But many of those that survived are undergoing something of a renaissance, with Domino leading the revival of British guitar music in the past five years with Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys, and the biggest British indie, Beggars Group, housing 4AD, Rough Trade and XL, the label that brought the White Stripes and Dizzee Rascal to mass attention.

While independent labels face the same challenges as the rest of the industry in boosting download sales to make up for flagging CD revenues and persuading a generation used to free music of its monetary value, Wenham argued they were better placed than their major label rivals. Because they already have strong, trusting relationships with their artists and are more open to trying pioneering new distribution and revenue models, they are less vulnerable to their biggest names trying to go it alone. Radiohead are just one act who recently swapped a major label for an independent one. Digital distribution and new revenue streams also help level the playing field, which since the 1970s has been tilted in the direction of the major labels with their big marketing budgets.

"If you look at artists like Madonna, more of them are going it alone. But we have artists that have been part of independent labels for decades," said Wenham.

Quarterly results and the need to please the City were not conducive to making good music, she said. To be members of AIM, labels need to be at least 50% independently owned. Wenham said it had 850 members in the UK alone, contributing around £25m to the economy. Most of the majors, including EMI under new owner Guy Hands, have recently declared their intention to work like larger versions of independent labels, with networks of smaller labels that have stronger "partnerships" with a smaller number of artists. But Wenham said they would never be able to replicate the enthusiasm of the sector and denied the word independent had lost its allure since being appropriated to mean a certain style of prepackaged guitar music.

"Indie is a very cool badge. But you can't replicate it. It's really not about the money, it's about the music. If you have shareholders to please, inevitably it becomes about making money from the music."

Retailers also welcomed the initiative, saying it would help to focus attention on some of the smaller acts that tended to get ignored during other industry-wide sales drives or seasonal promotions.

Entertainment Retailers Association chairman Paul Quirk said: "Independents Day is a great way to focus attention on the innovative indie labels who do so much to drive British music forward. Inevitably the main music industry promotions tend to focus on big-money acts. This is a way of supporting the grassroots."

On the album

A disc by up and coming acts such as Mobius Band, Little Dragon, Cougar, Shrag, Oceansize and Electricity in Our Homes will accompany the cover version disc featuring established artists.

The tracks announced so far include:

Tom Smith (from Editors) Bonny (originally by Prefab Sprout); Feeder Public Image (PiL); Maximo Park Was There Anything I Can Do? (The Go-Betweens); Prodigy Ghost Town (The Specials); Cribs Bastards of Young (The Replacements); Jose Gonzales Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division); Futureheads With Every Heartbeat (Robyn); Jack Peñate Dub Be Good to Me (Beats International); Rodrigo y Gabriela Orion (Metallica); British Sea Power Tug Boat (Galaxie 500); The Charlatans Murder (New Order); Infadels Steady As She Goes (The Raconteurs)

Spot the fake reality show

One of the following 10 reality shows is a fake. Amazingly, the other nine are 100 per cent genuine. But can you spot the spoof? Try our quiz and see if you’ve guessed it right at the end.

1. Meow Mix House
Inspired by George Galloway’s feline antics on Celebrity Big Brother - possibly - 10 cats are left in a flat together. After emotional outpurrings in the Diary Room and frolicking by the kitty litter tray, a panel of judges votes a cat out of the house each week. Sounds more like a job for the RSPCA.

2. Masturbate-A-Thon 2006
Part of Channel 4’s W*** Week, the show invites fans of the one-handed workout to join the country’s biggest ever group masturbation session. Prizes are on offer for those who clock up the most orgasms and those who can flog it the longest. The current record, according to organisers, is an eye-watering eight-and-a-half hours.

3. Amish in the City
Take five Amish teens from smalltown America, throw them into a Malibu mansion with five raucous Hollywood twerps, and what do you get? Tragi-comedy, that’s what. Think Shameless meets The Waltons – except with more partying, pitch-forks and teenagers vomiting into large black hats.

4. Labour and Materials
Everyone needs reality TV, even people in Baghdad. Really they do. Labour and Materials is Iraq’s answer to Changing Rooms. Hostess Shaima Emad Zubair (like Carol Smillie, just less, er, smiley) surprises those living on Baghdad’s meanest streets, bringing them washing machines, TVs and fridges – as the residents flap in overjoyed bemusement.

5. The Littlest Groom
At 23 years old and 4ft 11ins, Glen wants to find a wife. A dozen prospective partners of similar stature are lined up, which he must whittle down to one by taking them out on a string of dates. Of course, the twist comes when five “normal”-sized ladies arrive at the mansion to stir things up. Hosted by the towering Dani Behr.

6. Sister Sledge
Fly-on-the-wall reality show following eight up-for-it nuns going for God and Olympic gold in the four-woman bobsleigh event at the Turin Winter Olympics. Wearing specially-made Lycra habits and holy helmets, the nuns’ training sessions are filmed and viewers vote out the ones they don’t like the look of.

7. Space Cadets
Four lucky contestants fly to Russia for a week’s training, before boarding an old Soviet space ship, ready to make history as reality TV’s first cosmonauts. The hitch? They’re really in an air base somewhere in Suffolk, having been flown in circles for hours to make them believe they landed somewhere south of Siberia. Ouch!

8. Sperm Race
Twelve German celebrities play to see which one of them has the “fastest” sperm. Having donated at a sperm bank, excited viewers watch as the little fellas “race” towards an egg in front of a live studio audience - lured by a chemical that encourages them across the finishing line. Not just a load of old toss.

9. Fire Me, Please
Rather than begging Sir Alan not to sack them on The Apprentice, contestants in Fire Me, Please must do the exact opposite. Two new recruits sign up for a job with the aim of getting fired as close to 3pm as possible and win $25,000. Cue “hilarious” workplace meltdowns, violence, flatulence…

10. Who’s Your Daddy?
An adopted woman tries to identify her biological father from eight candidates for the chance to win $100,000. However, if she picks the wrong dad, a total stranger walks away with the cash, leaving the hapless girl to be reconciled with her father over a burger at McDonald’s, or something like that.

And the fake reality TV show is... Sister Sledge!

So there you have it: Sister Sledge, Nuns on the Run... whatever you'd like to call it - it was a big fat lie. However, that does mean the likes of Sperm Race, The Littlest Groom and Who's Your Daddy? are all real TV shows! Now that is scary...

Quiztime - Quick 20

1. Which professor of archaeology shares his surname with warrant officer Ripley’s cat in ‘Alien’?
Indiana Jones
2. Which branch of the British armed forces celebrated its 90th birthday this year?
RAF
3. Which company is Tiger Woods’ main sponsor?
Nike
4. Which profession use a long-handled wooden shovel called a 'peel'?
Bakers
5. What is currently the UK’s best-selling lager, after shifting 495 million pints last year?
Carlsberg
6. How many times did Pierce Brosnan play James Bond?
Four
7. Which Manchester United star equalled Bobby Charlton’s club record of 758 appearances on the same day he won his 10th Premier League winners
medal?
Ryan Giggs
8. Known as ‘Oui Oui’ in France and ‘Purzelknirps’ in Germany, how is this children’s story character known in his original Britain?
Noddy
9. ‘The Power of Dreams’ is the advertising slogan currently used by which car manufacturer?
Honda
10. The Central Overland California And Pike’s Peak Express Company was more commonly known by what name?
Pony Express
11. N5 1BU is the postcode of which English Premiership club’s stadium?
Arsenal
12. Which chocolate bar is reverting to its old name after 18 years?
Snickers - back to Marathon (nothing to do with the Olympics then?)
13. In all Olympic competitions, which piece of sporting equipment travels the fastest?
Rifle Bullet
14. ‘Little Nipper’ is the UK’s best-selling what?
Mousetrap
15. 32 year old Ronnie O’Sullivan this year became the oldest player to win the Snooker World Championship since whom 22 years ago?
Joe Johnson - 1986
16. How many of the original upright stones in the Sarsen circle at Stonehenge are still standing?
Sixteen
17. Which mobile phone manufacturer produce the Razr V8 Espresso?
Motorola
18. Which classic English fruit was first introduced to Britain from Siberia?
Rhubarb
19. Christopher Wren was paid for building 50 new churches with money taken in tax on which commodity entering London?
Coal
20. Which sporting event will start on 23rd June and finish on 6th July weather permitting?
Wimbledon

Musician Bo Diddley dies aged 79

Musician Bo Diddley has died at the age of 79.

The Grammy-winning singer-guitarist died of heart failure in Florida, his spokeswoman said.

He had suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke which affected his ability to speak.

He rose to fame in 1955 when he topped the R&B charts with Bo Diddley. His other hits include Who Do You Love, Before You Accuse Me, and Mona.

The legendary singer and performer was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat.

His so-called "Bo Diddley beat" influenced rockers from Buddy Holly, to Bruce Springsteen and U2.

Tiniest extrasolar planet found

The planet may be orbiting a "failed star" called a brown dwarf

Astronomers have sighted the smallest extrasolar planet yet orbiting a normal star - a distant world just three times the size of our own.

Discovering a planet with a similar mass to that of Earth is considered the "holy grail" of research into planets that lie outside our Solar System.

It is vital because researchers want to find other worlds that could host life.

The planet orbits a star which is itself of such low mass it may in fact be a "failed star", or brown dwarf.

Astronomers found the new world using a technique called gravitational microlensing. This takes advantage of the fact that light is bent as the rays pass close to a massive object, like a star.

The planet, called MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb, is about 3.3 times the size of Earth. Some researchers have suggested the planet could have a thick atmosphere and have even speculated there could be a liquid ocean on its surface.

Internal heat coming from within the planet could be warming up the surface Nicholas Rattenbury, University of Manchester

Nasa's planned James Webb Space Telescope, due to launch in 2013, could search for signatures of life on Earth-mass planets orbiting low-mass stars in the vicinity of the Sun.

A smaller planet than this one has been found orbiting a pulsar, a spinning neutron star which produces powerful beams of radiation.

Lead author David Bennett, from the University of Notre Dame, commented: "This is leading the way to finding lower mass planets, including Earth-mass planets, by microlensing.

He added: "It also encourages astronomers who search for planets in the habitable zones of very low-mass stars."

Water world?

The planet orbits its host star, or brown dwarf, with an orbital radius similar to that of Venus. But the host is likely to be between 3,000 and one million times fainter than the Sun, so the top of the planet's atmosphere is likely to be colder than Pluto. It would also be extremely dim if one were to stand on its surface.

Nicholas Rattenbury, a co-author from the University of Manchester and Jodrell Bank, told BBC News: "Our best ideas about how planets form suggests the planet could have quite a thick atmosphere. This atmosphere could act like a big blanket, keeping the planet warm.

"So even though there's very little energy coming from its host star, hitting the planet and warming it up that way, internal heat coming from within the planet could be warming up the surface.

"This has led to some speculation that there could, possibly, be a liquid ocean on the surface of this planet. The reason why that's exciting, is one of the properties we'd like to have on a habitable planet is liquid water on the surface."

MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb was found with the new MOA-II telescope at New Zealand's Mount John Observatory.

The technique employed to find the new planet uses the gravitational field of a star like a lens - magnifying the light from a distant background star. This effect occurs only when the two stars are in almost perfect alignment.

Astronomers are able to detect planets orbiting the lens star if the light from the background star is warped by one or more planets.

The team's measurements cannot distinguish whether the planet's host is a brown dwarf or a very low-mass hydrogen burning star called a red dwarf.

At home on Pablo Escobar's ranch

Huge concrete dinosaurs tower over visitors to the estate

Hacienda Napoles, a lush estate in Colombia, used to be home to one of the world's richest and most feared criminals.

There he planned drug shipments and plotted murders, kidnappings and bombings.

On a recent sunny afternoon, Maria Claudia Gomez, a 24-year-old university student from the nearby city of Medellin, sat by one if its two pools, enjoying the sun and warm water.

"This place is really nice and tranquil," she said.

And of the estate's founder, whom she called "kind of a hero", she observed: "If one judges him by the estate, you have to say that he was a really intelligent guy."

Killing spree

Ms Gomez was talking about Pablo Escobar, one of recent history's most vicious and successful criminal masterminds.

On this idyllic spot, just off the main road between Bogota and Medellin, with its swimming pools, mansions and exotic animal collection, few might disagree with her reflections.

But Escobar, the estate's creator, made himself into history's most successful drug trafficker by bribing, killing or kidnapping all who stood in his way and terrorising Colombia in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The drug-running plane above the entrance is gone

He bombed a passenger plane, as well as Colombia's federal police headquarters, and paid bounties for the murders of policemen and members of rival drug cartels.

Estimates are difficult, but it is thought he was responsible for more than 4,000 deaths.

For Escobar, it at first paid off spectacularly, with Forbes magazine ranking him among the world's 10 richest men in 1989, when he was in his thirties.

Escobar purchased the 22sq km (8.4 sq miles) Napoles Estate, about 320km (200 miles) from the capital Bogota, in 1978.

He turned it into a fantasy land with concrete dinosaurs, a bullfighting ring and a private zoo that would have made Michael Jackson jealous, with giraffes, elephants, kangaroos and hippopotamuses.

To keep them company, he built a herd of concrete dinosaurs.

Above the entrance gate to the estate, the never-subtle Escobar put a plane he had used to smuggle cocaine into the US.

Public support

It was here that the drug baron entertained models, movie stars and the malleable politicians that he bribed and threatened into rewriting laws to his convenience.

Lucia Duque, a visitor from Medellin, Escobar's native city, remembered the terror of his wars against the government and rival drug cartels.

"You couldn't go to the police," she said, "because a bomb might explode there."

Escobar's collection of vintage cars was destroyed after his death

At the same time, Escobar bought public support by lavishing his wealth onto Colombia's many disenfranchised and unemployed.

He built houses for slum dwellers, installed lights on football pitches in poor neighbourhoods, and provided many jobs.

In Puerto Triunfo, a poor river town near the estate, residents miss Escobar and the work he gave locals as gardeners, construction workers and even tour guides.

Every Christmas, residents recall, Escobar sent truckloads of gifts for the town's children.

In fact, Puerto Triunfo's main street, which Escobar paved, is named Napoles Avenue.

"He lent us a hand when we needed it most," said Jose Willian Rico, 38, who did construction work for Escobar, but currently has no steady job.

Yet the town's mayor, Javier Guerra, said Escobar left scars on the community.

"[Escobar] had a lot of people killed here," said Mr Guerra.

"Where there was evil years ago, there is now progress and tourism," he said.

Looted

Colombian police, with US help, gunned Escobar down on a Medellin rooftop in 1993.

Neighbouring peasants looted the mansions, dug up floors and knocked down walls and even the concrete dinosaurs, seeking gold, money or jewels they thought were stashed inside.

If they found anything, they did not say so publicly.

They also carried off everything they could, including doors, window frames and bathroom fixtures.

Escobar's collection of vintage automobiles was torched.

Most of the exotic animals either starved to death or were given away to zoos.

The government settled several hundred peasant farmers on the estate, who continue to raise crops there on a remote section.

Finally, the provincial government decided to allow the estate to be developed as a theme park.

The manager, local hotel owner Oscar Jairo Orozco, started renovating the property late last year.

Now visitors can admire a new generation of exotic animals - many confiscated from the new generation of drug traffickers who replaced Escobar.

Also on display are hippopotamuses, three of which Escobar imported from Africa in 1984.

The beasts have flourished, and now number 25, making it the world's largest wild hippo population outside of Africa.

Tourists can also ogle at the torched cars and pose for photos underneath the restored concrete brontosaurus and T-Rex - now playing recorded roars like those which might have sent terrified Jurassic animals scurrying for safety.

While most of the estate's buildings have been restored, Escobar's looted and sacked mansion still looks like it was hit by fire bombs.

Walking through its abandoned halls and rooms, Camila, a visitor from Bogota, reflected on the drug lord's demise.

"He had so much money," she said. "And for what? They killed him like a dog on a rooftop."

Folk hero?

Over the years, time has faded recollections of Escobar's terror, and popular memory has turned the drug lord into a sort of guardian angel for Colombia's poor.

On the estate, the only written information on Escobar's crimes is a sign on one of the destroyed mansion's walls.

Visitors can now enjoy one of Escobar's swimming pool

That bothers some visitors.

"I would think that maybe a lot of young people could think 'this is what I want to be like'," said Pablo, a shop owner from Medellin

In fact, some of the children visiting the estate had only admiration for the drug lord turned folk hero.

"He gave a lot of gifts to children," said one boy when asked what he knew about Escobar.

As for Escobar's penchant for murder, the children justified it as self-defence and then speculated that Escobar faked his death to escape and enjoy his riches.

But Mr Orozco says that a maximum-security prison being built nearby - and which visitors must pass on their way to the estate - stands as a lesson.

"I think that it's a very clear message to society, that he who commits crimes, not only ends up losing his property, but can also end up in jail," Mr Orozco said.

Formula 'secret of perfect voice'

The perfect voice would have elements of Dame Judi Dench

Researchers say they have worked out a mathematical formula to find the perfect human voice.

The study, commissioned by Post Office Telecoms, asked people to rate 50 voices then analysed the results.

It found the best female voice to be a mixture of Mariella Frostrup, Dame Judi Dench and Honor Blackman. Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons did best for the men.

The research was conducted by linguist Andrew Linn, of Sheffield University, and sound engineer Shannon Harris.

The pair worked out their formula based on the combination of tone, speed, frequency, words per minute and intonation.

They concluded the ideal voice should utter no more than 164 words per minute and pause for 0.48 seconds between sentences. Sentences themselves should fall rather than rise in intonation.

Vocal traits associated with positive characteristics, such as confidence and trust, scored highly with listeners.

This formula gives us an exciting glimpse into the way voices work and what makes them appealing or repelling Professor Andrew Linn

Professor Linn said: "As humans we instinctively know which voices send shivers down our spine and which make us shudder with disgust.

"The emotional responses panellists had to the voices were surprising and go some way to explaining how voiceover artists or radio DJs are selected, or why particular celebrity voices appeal."

He said most men found presenter Mariella Frostrup's voice "mesmerising" because it was deep, slow and confident.

Actor Jeremy Irons came very close to the ideal voice model, speaking at 200 words per minute and pausing for 1.2 seconds between sentences.

Professor Linn said this explained why his "deep gravelly tones" inspired trust in listeners.

He said: "This formula gives us an exciting glimpse into the way voices work and what makes them appealing or repelling."

The formula showed the BBC's Jonathan Ross, on the other hand, spoke too quickly, with very short pauses between sentences.

The researchers said the presenter's varied range of voice, with frequent highs and lows was associated with expressiveness and intelligence. But his rising intonation was usually linked with someone weak or unsure.

'Mythical' moth rescued from web

The moth was found by Andy Scott and Margaret Currie

A moth found on only four previous occasions since 1853 has been rescued from a spider's web close to where it was first recorded.

The black-winged and orange bodied Ethmia pyrausta is so rare it has gained almost mythical status, said Butterfly Conservation Scotland (BCS).

It was spotted and photographed by Andy Scott and Margaret Currie.

Their find was made near Loch Morie, Easter Ross, Highlands, close to the original specimen site in Shin Valley.

The moth was identified by experts Mark Young and Roy Leverton, who were leading a BCS workshop at Aigas Field Centre in Inverness-shire.

Apart from the original 1853 specimen, only four others have ever been found in the UK.

Two were found in 1996 on the top of Glas Maol in the Grampians with a further two found nearby.

The caterpillars have never been found in Britain.

BSC said prior to the Loch Morie find there were doubts that the species still lived in the Highlands.

Mr Young said: "It is now up to us to try and find out where the moth breeds and to make sure that its habitat is safe."

Water on the brains

THE AD: Thunderbirds' Brains dancing for Drench bottled water

THE BRIEF: Make an advert so watchable that everyone gets to know your pretty much unknown bottled water

THE SCHTICK: The puppet dances in an amazingly realistic frenzy of moves - with strings still visible. He stops for a breather and a drink, and revived goes on to even more acrobatic feats. Nineties anthem Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap is the incongruous soundtrack - as alien to Brains as Puppet on a String would be to a Thundercat.

THE BREAKDOWN: Last year's hit ad was Cadbury's gorilla drumming to Phil Collins. Cadbury's efforts to repeat the trick have not yet worked - an advert about airport baggage lorries racing unluckily coincided with the Heathrow Terminal Five problems. Brains already seems destined to be the memorable advert of this year.

Advertisers have spent lots of energy wondering how to find their audience when people are spending more time online at the expense of watching TV. Reaching the YouTube generation is an imperative - but Brains and the Gorilla seem to have turned this dynamic on its head. The approach now seems to be make a film which would be a big YouTube hit - and then show it in commercial breaks just like the good old days. The viral thing has worked as well, though; people have created a number of "Brains remixes", in which he dances to a variety of different tunes.

What is wonderful about the advert is the care obviously taken over it. Some of it was done by highly skilled puppeteers following choreography, and some by clever computer work converting a digitally scanned real dancer into the image of Brains. But even there, they have taken the trouble to make Brains dance like a puppet trying to dance like a real dancer.

What isn't so wonderful is that this is yet another advert based on Thunderbirds. They currently star in Specsavers adverts - and it's not so long since Brains himself was in an Economist campaign. With a film remake and even a stage show with actors playing puppets, the whole Thunderbirds thing has surely been done.

This advert has cleverly tied up the name of the product and the name of the character in the slogan - "Brains perform best when they're hydrated" - but in fact it could be for pretty much any product.

It is, though, a true water cooler moment, and certainly memorable. More memorable perhaps than the research reported in April which debunked conventional wisdom about how drinking eight glasses of water a day keeps you healthy.

BLOGGER'S VERDICT: Jonathan Gabay, who runs a Brand Communications blog, says: "Brains, once the epitome of what made Britain great: ingenuity, innovation, insight and character has, for many middle-aged people, 'sold his soul' to the commercial puppet master.

"Surely the notion of convincing the British mastermind behind some of the world's most daring international rescues (many which actually saved the world from the brink of extinction) to perform a rave just for the general public's vote of approval in the name of selling bottles of water is a commercial exploit too far. What are we to expect next? Older statesmen from the Royalty or politicians performing to camera just to grab the headlines?"

Military's crucial 'eye in the sky'

BBC defence correspondent

Reaper has become an indispensable tool for the military

To the casual observer, Britain's most sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicle looks rather like a large, white model aeroplane.

But its sleek exterior hides the deadly capabilities beneath. It is one of Britain's most crucial intelligence weapons, and is playing an increasingly vital role on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

These roving eyes in the sky are becoming an indispensable tool for the British military, able to detect snipers or insurgents planting the deadly roadside bombs that have become one of the biggest threats to forces on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as one of the UK's main weapons in hunting down Taleban or Al Qaeda operatives.

Soon, Britain's Reapers may also be able to shoot down their targets, rather than simply locate and identify them.

'Major milestone'

I encountered one of Britain's Reaper MQ-9 UAVs in Afghanistan last December, shortly after its first operational flight there in October 2007.

The rapid acquisition of three Reapers for the Royal Air Force (RAF) was deemed "a major milestone" by the UK's Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, which he said would "significantly enhance" the UK's surveillance and reconnaissance capability in Afghanistan.

An RAF pilot based in Afghanistan takes care of the take-off and landing, but the UAV itself is flown for most of its mission by RAF pilots operating Reaper remotely via satellite link from a distance of 11,000km (7,000 miles) away, from the US Air Force's Creech airbase in Nevada.

The pilot and an observer sit at computer screens, seeing what the plane sees through its cameras and sensors. One computer screen shows navigational data, another what the plane sees, while a third screen provides operational data.

Some 44 RAF crew also help fly the American Predator surveillance aircraft from their base in the Nevada desert. Reaper was originally known as Predator B, a larger turbo-prop powered version of the original Predator.

Reaper is not, however, a cheap option. It costs around £5m per plane, but the price of back-up services brings the total bill for three to some £50m. And earlier this year, one of the UK's three Reapers came down in the Afghan desert thanks to a technical fault, and had to be destroyed to keep its secrets from the enemy.

Future capabilities

For now, Britain's Reapers are unarmed and used only for reconnaissance, though they are due to be fitted with missiles for attacks - as the US Predators already are - very soon.

The "eyeballs" - the rotating sensors strapped to the nose - offer an extremely high-quality video feed, which can show clearly from 4,600m (15,000ft) what an insurgent is doing.

The video is streamed back live to the controllers' computer screens as they are flown remotely from the US.

The ground control stations send their commands to Reaper via a fibre-optic link to a satellite relay station in Europe, which bounces them into space and back down to the aircraft.

Last year the RAF requested 10 Reapers, made by General Atomics, which could cost up to £250m with their associated equipment.

Novel role

However, it's believed the request has been turned down in the current Ministry of Defence (MoD) planning round, though the RAF is sure to continue asking to enlarge its fleet.

The unmanned vehicles may be costly, but they are far less costly in terms of lives if shot down or lost.

Britain suffered one of its worst ever losses of life in September 2006, when a Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft exploded in mid-air over Kandahar in Afghanistan, killing all 14 servicemen on board.

A coroner recently ruled that the current Nimrod fleet was unsafe, something the MoD disputes. However, its replacement - the Nimrod MRA4 - will not be ready for several years, perhaps offering an ever-more vital role for UAVs.

They are also slightly more environmentally friendly. Thanks to their light weight and big wings, they burn just 11kg (25lbs) of fuel per hour, compared with an F-16's 2,500kg (5,500lb).

In addition to its current "hunter-killer" role, the US Air Force (USAF) plans to equip some of its own Reapers as signals intelligence aircraft - capable of detecting mobile telephone signals, as well as signals emitted by surface-to-air missile batteries - which would bring Reaper's intelligence capabilities a little closer to those of the Nimrod.

Remains found at WWI 'mass grave'

Some 5,000 Australian soldiers were killed, injured or captured at Fromelles

Archaeologists in France excavating the suspected mass grave of hundreds of British and Australian World War I soldiers have found human remains.

The dig at Fromelles has uncovered body fragments, including part of a human arm, but experts believe the site may hold the remains of almost 400 troops.

They died during a disastrous mission in north-east France in July 1916.

Many relatives are anxious for the team to find their loved ones so they can finally be given a proper burial.

Bloody failure

The Battle of Fromelles was intended to divert German troops from the Battle of the Somme which was raging 50 miles to the south.

But due to poor planning, the mission was a complete and bloody failure which greatly soured relations between the Australians and their British commanders.

Excavation of the site in Fromelle begins

For Australia, Fromelles saw one of the single greatest losses of life in the whole of the war.

In total, 5,000 Australians were killed, injured or captured, with around 2,000 lives lost in the first 27 hours of fighting.

Alongside them, some 1,500 British soldiers were also killed.

A young Adolf Hitler, then a 27-year-old corporal in the Bavarian reserve infantry, is believed to have been involved in the operation.

The dig, by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (Guard), is examining ground near woods where it is believed the Germans buried the dead in pits.

With Australian soldiers standing guard close by, the team is sifting through the soil for bone, weapons and uniform fragments. So far remains have been found in five of the eight burial pits.

Peter Barton, a WWI historian involved in the dig, said he hoped to be able to determine the nationality of any remains found.

The aim of the battle was to distract the Germans from reinforcing the battle of the Somme Major General Mike O'Brien Australian army

"By looking at fragments of uniform, experts can tell whether they are British or Australian because they had different buttons," he said.

Mr Barton said that after the battle the dead soldiers' personal possessions had been removed by the Germans and eventually returned to their families.

He said it was "possible" more personal items could be uncovered if the Germans had "missed anything".

German stretchers

Tony Pollard, head of Guard, said markings in the ground showed the shape of the German spades that were used to cut the burial pits.

And he said metal rings from German stretchers used to carry the bodies had also been found.

Major General Mike O'Brien, who is overseeing the dig, told the BBC the battle had been "a disastrous day" for Australia, with "terrible casualties".

"On the other hand, the aim of the battle was to distract the Germans from reinforcing the battle of the Somme and you could look at that as one of the achievements of the battle - but an achievement at a terrible price."

Maj Gen O'Brien said the "slow and methodical" excavation was important for the whole of Australia.

"If the remains are still here, we need to find out the number and condition and perhaps decide whether there is a better way of commemorating them than leaving them here just as they are in this field," he said.

On the site of the nearby battlefield stands a statue of an Australian soldier carrying a wounded comrade.

In a local cemetery, the remains of 410 unidentified Australians are buried alongside the names of 1,300 others who have no known grave.

The work is being overseen by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and has the consent of the French, British and Australian governments.

If a mass grave is discovered, the countries must decide whether to exhume and rebury the bodies in a new cemetery, or to leave them in place but build a memorial on the site.