Museum ‘cocoon’ prepares to open
Posted by admin | Filed under History, Science
The spectacular new wing of London’s Natural History Museum has been unveiled.
The Darwin Centre Phase Two is designed around an iconic eight-storey “Cocoon”, encased within a glass atrium.
The temperature-controlled Cocoon will house 20 million of the museum’s 34 million plant and insect specimens, and laboratories for up to 200 researchers.
Visitors will watch these scientists in action cataloguing rare specimens, when the centre opens in September 2009.
Popular diets ‘no health threat’
Posted by admin | Filed under Health
Popular slimming programmes have been given the thumbs up by researchers.
Experts analysed the effectiveness and nutritional content of Slim Fast, Atkins, Weight Watchers and Rosemary Conley’s Eat Yourself Slim diet.
The Nutrition Journal study found all the diets result in reduced energy intake - helping to control weight - while providing sufficient nutrients.
However, dieters failed to increase significantly their consumption of fruit and vegetables as recommended.
Millions due to gain tax rebate
Posted by admin | Filed under Business, General
New tax measures come into force this month that should see about 22 million people receive a rebate of around £60.
It all stems from the U-turn by the chancellor on plans to scrap the lowest 10 pence tax band, following pressure from backbench MPs to ease its impact.
The new measures will mean basic rate taxpayers see a tax saving of £120.
They will have £60 less taken from their September pay packets and will then see their net pay rise by £10 per month for the rest of this tax year.
The effective cash-back comes because personal allowances for basic rate taxpayers go up by £600 to £6,035 from 7 September.
Self-employed taxpayers will not feel the benefit until they start paying tax from January 2009.
But so far the tax changes only apply for this financial year.
Memphis Belle footage on show
Posted by admin | Filed under History
Never before seen footage on the famous B-17 Memphis Belle aircraft have gone on show for the first time since the 1940’s.
Chemical coat to mean drier socks
Posted by admin | Filed under Technology
Almost any surface or fabric can be made waterproof but remain breathable thanks to a former military technology.
The process was originally developed to ensure soldiers’ clothing impermeable to chemical weapons.
Shoe maker Hi-Tec has signed a deal with the developers of the process to use the technology to waterproof many of its shoes.
The first commercially available shoes treated with process were shown off in London this week.
‘Lost towns’ discovered in Amazon
Posted by admin | Filed under History, Nature
A remote area of the Amazon river basin was once home to densely populated towns, Science journal reports.
The Upper Xingu, in west Brazil, was once thought to be virgin forest, but in fact shows traces of extensive human activity.
Researchers found evidence of a grid-like pattern of settlements connected by road networks and arranged around large central plazas.
There are signs of farming, wetland management, and possibly fish farms.
The settlements are now almost completely overgrown by rainforest.
The ancient urban communities date back to before the first Europeans set foot in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon in the 15th Century.
Britain’s happiest places mapped
Posted by admin | Filed under General, Health
The most sparsely populated county in Wales is where you will find Britain’s happiest place, say researchers.
Powys tops the list of 273 districts, with Edinburgh apparently the most miserable place in Britain.
Eight of the top 10 districts with the highest levels of wellbeing are in Scotland or the north of England.
Robo-skeleton lets paralysed walk
Posted by admin | Filed under Health, Technology
A robotic suit is helping people paralysed from the waist down do what was previously considered impossible - stand, walk and climb stairs.
ReWalk users wear a backpack device and braces on their legs and select the activity they want from a remote control wrist band.
Leaning forwards activates body sensors setting the robotic legs in motion.
Users walk with crutches, controlling the suit through changes in centre of gravity and upper body movements.
Gene therapy ‘may repair hearing’
Posted by admin | Filed under Health
Gene therapy has the potential to restore hearing in mice, offering hope for humans too, US scientists suggest.
An Oregon team discovered gene transfer produced functioning hair cells that are essential for the inner ear to interpret sounds, Nature reports.
In people with normal hearing, cochlear hair cells convert sound into electrical signals, which are ultimately transmitted to the brain.
Two-thirds of UK homes now online
Posted by admin | Filed under Technology
Almost 16.5 million households in the UK now have internet access, an increase of 1.2 million since 2007, the latest official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the new figure represented close to two-thirds of UK households.
Homes in the South East are most likely to have internet access with those in north-east England least likely.
But charities said that insufficient effort had been made to encourage older people to use the internet.
