The Robot Carer

Many researchers in the US are working to give robots the ability to learn about their environment without the aid of the humans that built them.

Already a robotic pet has been developed which can be fed information about the terrain in front of it by a circle of cameras.

It is not pre-programmed for the task - but makes its own decisions instantly about which route to take.

Once robots can learn they could find a role in many diverse fields.

Japan, for example, hopes to use humanoids as caregivers for an increasingly elderly population.

Alternatively miniature robots might one day crawl through our intestines looking for and fixing medical problems.

One learning robot project at MIT is an ornithopter that has a computer on board. Every time it flies it learns how to fly better. One day this may be the perfect surveillance or search tool.

The Ornithopter

The computer driven ornithopter learns from expereince

MIT PhD student John Roberts said: "There is a lot of computational power which is important because some of the learning algorithms can be relatively intensive.

"We have a number of sensors here that are able to measure the rate it's spinning, the accelerations it is experiencing."

Better batteries, smaller chips and more computing power are helping the project get closer to its ultimate goal which is for the robot bird to mimic the endurance, manoeuvrability and speed of a living creature.

These are the challenges that generations of students and professors at MIT have tackled.

Thousands of hours of painstaking research, hundreds of tiny scientific steps forward slowly creeping in the right direction until eventually, for a lucky few the eureka moment arrives.

Apple reveal updated iPhone 3GS, (Tech, news, report, repair, unlock, Auckland) David Lim

In San Francisco on Monday, Apple unveiled what it calls the "fastest, most powerful iPhone yet" - t

he 3GS. So how does it compare to previous versions?

Some critics say the new incarnation isn't anything that wasn't expected.

They argue that for many iPhone users, the new model may simply do things they expected the original one to be capable of.

It has more speed, more storage, better battery life and a better camera that can record video.

The new model will also be able to send picture messages, allow copy and pasting of text and a full search capability.

Apple is promising the new model will be up to two times faster than the iPhone 3G, and users will be able to take higher resolution photos and capture video using the new 3 megapixel camera.

Video function

But once Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller had got round to announcing the new iPhone's built-in compass, the audience in California had realised this was not a day that would change the mobile phone market very much.

For many users, the decision whether to buy an iPhone 3GS will come down to its price, regardless of how many new features it has.

Apple has not yet given details of how much the handset will cost in the UK.

In the US it is priced at $199 (£125) for the 16GB model, $299 (£187) for 32GB.

Other tweaks which set the iPhone 3GS apart from previous models include up to 32GB of storage, but that's only the same as the biggest iPod Touch.

Apple said it has sold more than 40m iPhones and iPod Touch devices, but the company is facing competition.

Palm will soon be releasing the new Pre phone in the UK, launched on the 02 network.

Whilst it has not generated as much hype as the iPhone, it has proved popular in the US and is seen as a big rival to Apple's product.

The new iPhone 3GS will be available in the UK from 19 June, 2009.

This post is sponsored by:

David Lim (Apple iPhone 3GS Geek)

SMS: +64211172222

Ask me about Apple iPhone 3GS repair, unlock, jailbreak and support info!

Rare New Zealand bumblebee coming back to UK

A bumblebee which is extinct in the UK is to be reintroduced from New Zealand under plans being announced.

The short-haired bumblebee was exported from the UK to New Zealand on the first refrigerated lamb boats in the late 19th Century to pollinate clover crops.

It was last seen in the UK in 1988, but populations on the other side of the world have survived.

Now Natural England and several other conservation groups have launched a scheme to bring the species home.

International rescue

Poul Christensen, Natural England's acting chairman, said; "Bumblebees are suffering unprecedented international declines and drastic action is required to aid their recovery.

"Bumblebees play a key role in maintaining food supplies - we rely on their ability to pollinate crops and we have to do all we can to provide suitable habitat and to sustain the diversity of bee species.

"This international rescue mission has two aims - to restore habitat in England, thereby giving existing bees a boost; and to bring the short-haired bumblebee home where it can be protected."

As many as 100 of the bees will initially be collected in New Zealand and a captive breeding plan established, with the aim of eventually releasing them at Dungeness, Kent, where they were last seen.

They will be flown back on planes in cool boxes, and will not be disturbed, according to Natural England, as they will be in hibernation during transit.

The scheme's project officer Nikki Gammans, of the Stirling-based Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said the bee was a "keystone species" which was key to pollinating around 80% of important crops.

"By creating the right habitat for these bumblebees, we are recreating wildflower habitat that has been lost, which will be good for butterflies, water voles and nesting birds."

The partnership project is being run by Natural England, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust the RSPB and Hymettus.

World swine flu toll nears 10,000 - World News, Report

Nearly 10,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 40 different countries around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

The WHO said 79 people are known to have died from the new virus.

The news comes as the WHO and UN hold talks with top pharmaceutical firms to discuss the production of a vaccine.

Correspondents say there is concern about the global distribution of a possible vaccine after wealthy states pre-ordered large stocks.

The WHO says the global tally of swine flu cases stands at 9,830, after rising by 1,001 in one day.

Most of the new flu victims were in Mexico, which reported some 545 cases, and the US, where 409 new cases were confirmed. There were also 34 new cases in Japan.

Five confirmed cases were reported in Panama, three in Chile, two in El Salvador and one each in the UK, Peru and China.

Five new deaths have also been reported - four in Mexico and one in the US.

Scramble for Vaccines

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and WHO head Margaret Chan are holding talks in Geneva with pharmaceutical companies to ask for commitments over the production of a vaccine.

Mr Ban will be looking for a commitment to increase capacity and to produce vaccines at a fair price, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes reports.

Pharmaceutical companies are committed to producing a seasonal flu vaccine and somehow capacity has to be found to produce an affordable swine flu vaccine as well, she says.

Rich countries such as Britain and the US have pre-ordered vast stocks of such a vaccine before a single dose has been produced, leading to concerns about future global supplies.

Michele Childs of the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said that wealthy countries were "putting in place these agreements with vaccine manufacturers to basically jump the queue".

"What needs to be done is all of the countries need to agree how it will be equably shared, based on need, so if one country has got a huge outbreak then they need to be getting the vaccines first," she said.

"But that debate is not happening."

Schools Closed

In Japan the number of swine flu cases has continued to rise rapidly.

The new cases brought the total number of people to have caught the virus in Japan to at least 176, according to authorities there.

Just four cases had been confirmed in Japan as of Friday - people who had returned from Canada.

The first case in someone who had not been abroad - a 17-year-old student in Kobe - was reported on Saturday.

Japanese media say the new wave of infections makes Japan the fourth-most infected country in the world, after Mexico, the US and Canada.

Officials doubled the closures of schools and universities in Hyogo and Osaka on Tuesday, bringing the total to more than 4,000.

None of the patients in the new wave of Japanese infections were reported to be in serious condition.

Nokia 5800 Star Trek edition warms up the UK for the movie

As trekkies dust off their costumes and prepare them for the long wait in line for the premiere of J.J. Abrams' reboot, Nokia are offering something to help them accessorize - Nokia 5800 Star Trek edition. It will come preloaded with Trek-related content like a phaser app, which will definitely help fend of people with lightsabre applications. The Nokia 5800 Star Trek edition will be available in the usual color versions - red, blue and black/silver. Remember now, red uniforms are for tactical/engineering, blue are for science officers and silver… Okay, here our treknoledge betrays us. Other content that will come preloaded with the Nokia 5800 Star Trek edition includes Trek wallpapers, screensavers and exclusive ringtones including "Phazer Shot", "Red Alert" and "Kelvin Communicator". Nokia 5800 Star Trek edition will be available in the UK starting May 1st for free with a 25-pounds-a-month contract with either Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile or Orange. It's just in time for the movie, which opens on the 8th of May. Another interesting 5800-related piece of news today is that the phone will launch with Nokia's Comes With Music service in Brazil. During the first month after the launch, it will be available only through Brazilian operator TIM. There's heavy accent placed on Brazilian artists with several domestic labels signed up to deliver content. The phone will be offered for 399 Brazil reais (181 US dollars) with an unlimited data plan. Some promotion-related perks offered by TIM include two months of free download of content and free access to the Internet and email. Nokia 5800 Comes With Music is available in Brazilian stores starting today and everyone who preordered from the online store should get theirs by the end of the week.

The Force is strong for Jedi police! UK, England

Eight police officers serving with Scotland's largest force listed their official religion as Jedi in voluntary diversity forms, it has emerged.

Strathclyde Police said the officers and two of its civilian staff claimed to follow the faith, which features in the Star Wars movies.

The details were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by Jane's Police Review.
Strathclyde was the only force in the UK to admit it had Jedi officers.

In the Star Wars films, Jedi Knights such as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda use the Force to battle the evil Darth Vader, who has strayed to the dark side.

Jane's Police Review editor Chris Herbert, who requested the information, said: "The Force appears to be strong in Strathclyde Police with their Jedi police officers and staff.

"Far from living a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, some members of the noble Jedi order have now chosen Glasgow and its surrounding streets as their home."

Provided voluntarily

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police confirmed: "At the time of the request, 10 (eight police officers and two police staff) had recorded their religion as Jedi."
She added that the force monitored "six strands of diversity" - age, disability, gender, race religion and belief, and sexual orientation.

The force said the information was provided voluntarily and securely stored.
About 390,000 people listed their religion as Jedi in the 2001 Census for England and Wales. In Scotland the figure was a reported 14,000.

The Office for National Statistics did not recognise it as a separate category, and incorporated followers of Jedi with the atheists.

Last year, brothers Barney and Daniel Jones founded the UK Church of the Jedi - which offered sermons on the Force, light sabre training, and meditation techniques.
Strathclyde Police employs 8,200 police officers and 2,800 civilian staff.

Speed Demon: Woman, 106, does 108mph at Brands Hatch1

Dulcibella King-Hall notched up a top speed of 108mph in a BMW M3 to celebrate her upcoming 107th birthday.

Miss King-Hall, of Tunbridge Wells, declared: "It could have been faster", as she was helped back into her wheelchair after completing four laps as a passenger.

Asked why she loved the thrill of speed, she replied: "Why shouldn't I? Don't you like it? I like the feeling of the vehicle going vroom."

Born in Devon in 1902, Miss King-Hall has loved cars since she tested vehicles commandeered from civilian use during the Second World War.

Pulling into the pit stop after three laps, Miss King-Hall sped off for a final loop of the circuit watched by a crowd of awestruck well-wishers.

Driver, chief instructor Gary Palmer, 39, said: "I said: 'Shall we do another lap?' and she said 'yes'. It's incredible. We don't normally see people of that age on the track."

Lena Akers, social events coordinator at the Halliwell nursing home where she lives, organised a trip in a Porsche for Miss King-Hall's 100th birthday, then a drive in a Rolls-Royce when she turned 105.

She said she felt she had to "up the ante" this year, adding: "Cars are an abiding passion of Dulcibella's. Her love of speed has her constantly asking our minibus driver 'to go a little faster please'.

"If you have a lady who loves speed, I couldn't think of anywhere else better to come than Brands Hatch."

This is True: Winston Churchill's Breakfast Menu.

Winston Churchill wrote his own breakfast menu - including whisky and a cigar - on his last official flight to the US. The breakfast menu on the 1954 BOAC flight was not to the Prime Minister's liking so he wrote one out himself. He requested a two-course meal to be brought on two trays, reports the Daily Telegraph. In his own hand, Churchill ordered: "1st Tray. Poached egg, Toast, Jam, Butter, Coffee and milk, Jug of cold milk, Cold Chicken or Meat. "2nd Tray. Grapefruit, Sugar Bowl, Glass orange squash (ice), Whisky soda." He then added: "Wash hands, cigar." The menu was kept by the air steward and the item is now being sold along with press cuttings from the trip. The menu is expected to fetch up to £1,500 when it is sold at Mullock's auctioneers in Ludlow, Shropshire, on St George's Day. Auctioneer Richard Westwood-Brookes said: "This is one of the most remarkable pieces of Churchill memorabilia we have seen. "It shows what a hearty breakfast he ate and it was all washed down with a whisky, after which he smoked a cigar. "It is the type of indulgence we've come to associate with Churchill and it reassuring to know he ate so well in his 80th year."

Samsung Blue Earth Solar-Powered Phone (David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand)

Samsung's the first Solar Powered Full-touch Screen Phone, named Blue Earth($TBA). Samsung develops this green phone to reduce CO2 emissions. It features Solar Panel on the back of the phone, made from recycled plastic extracted from water bottles, recycled packaging; adjusting screen brightness, backlight duration and Bluetooth can all be adjusted in an energy-efficient mode called "Eco mode" and even an "eco walk" function that lets the user count their steps with an in-built pedometer, calculating how much CO2 emissions have been reduced. The Samsung Blue Earth will be available in the UK during the second half of 2009.