The cow wash: How an automatic brushing machine can improve milk production

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By Daily Mail Reporter

Udderly amazing: A cow closes its eyes and enjoys the brushing sensation created by the new machine


Looking your best can sometimes be hard work. But for this cow, it would appear that having a brush-up is one of life's pleasures.

The animal is enjoying a spell in the cow wash, which, according to its designers DeLaval, is welcome news for farmers as well.

The cow wash boosts milk production by improving the animal's blood circulation and stopping the spread of disease, says the company.

The company has already sold 30,000 cow washes in its native Sweden, and is now bringing the product to the UK.

A spokesman said the cows enjoy the sensation of being brushed and it can boost milk production by 3.5per cent.

He said: 'The swinging cow brush is a self-grooming device that keeps cows happier, healthier and more productive.

'The brush starts to rotate on contact at an animal-friendly speed. It swings freely in all directions, smoothly up, over and alongside the cow.


Moo-ving past: A cow walks forward as the machine rotates, not only cleaning the animal but improving its health as well by improving blood circulation


'The bristles have the right length and hardness to stimulate the blood circulation whilst helping the cow to keep clean and calm.

'It is very popular among dairy farmers. Cows using the swinging cow brush are cleaner, calmer and therefore more balanced.'

A study conducted by scientists in the USA found the brush resulted in better animal health due to an increase in blood circulation.

It also concluded that cows using the machine were 34 per cent less likely to suffer from clinical mastitis - a condition which results in milk abnormalities.

The research team also reported increased milk production of up 3.5 per cent for cows in a pen using the swinging cow brush.
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Apple shares plunge after bad review of iPhone 4 sparks recall rumours

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By Niall Firth

The bad review of the iPhone 4 has hit Apple's shares


Apple shares plunged by more than four percent yesterday after an influential guide gave the new iPhone 4 a poor review, wiping £6.5 billion off the firm's value.

The fall came after Consumer Reports, a US group similar to Which? in the UK, said it could not recommend the iPhone 4 after its tests confirmed concerns about signal loss when the device is held in a certain way.

The report was the latest blow to the iPhone 4, which has been plagued by complaints about poor reception. Many of the complaints involve a wraparound antenna whose signal strength is said to be affected if the device is touched in a certain way.

The review immediately led to speculation on the internet from bloggers and consumer websites that Apple was about to recall the iPhone 4.

Consumer Reports, which publishes guides on everything from cars to TVs, said that it had also tested other phones - including the iPhone 3GS - and found none had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4.

It added that AT&T , the exclusive mobile phone carrier for the iPhone 4 and whose network is often blamed for reception problems, was not necessarily the main culprit.

The review said: 'When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4.'

The iPhone 4 still achieved a respectably high score due to its impressive display, front-facing video camera and improved battery life but it did not make it onto Consumer Reports' influential list of recommended phones.

And the site' adds: 'Apple needs to come up with a permanent – and free – fix for the antenna problems before we can recommend the iPhone 4.'

It even suggested that the only way to get around the problem was to cover the bottom of the phone in duct tape. And the site suggests the older model, the iPhone 3G, is still the better buy.

Apple came in for more criticism for deleting comments on its user-support forums which discussed the negative review.

Apple, which has called the iPhone 4's June debut its most successful product launch ever, has not responded to the report or to the recall rumours.

The company has said all mobile phones suffer some signal loss when held in different ways, and suggested that a software glitch might have misled users by overstating signal strength.

Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst pointed to speculation that Consumer Reports' article might induce a recall.

Apple shares dipped below their 50-day moving average price of $256.26, sliding as much as 4.2 percent to $246.43.

Shares of Research in Motion, which makes the rival Blackberry, climbed 2.7 percent to $57.42.


Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the new iPhone in June


Google , whose Android operating system for smartphones is gaining traction on multiple devices, also rose, by more than 3 percent to $491.82.

Analysts said Apple needs to take quick action to avert any lasting damage to its reputation for quality products -an image honed by iconic gadgets such as the iPod and iPad - though they did not see sales being hurt for now.

'They need to provide an actual fix -- not a bumper fix -- so that the product performs as it should,' said Ashok Kumar at Rodman & Renshaw.

'Apple should have taken a higher road when addressing the design flaw, instead of taking the hard-line stance that they did.'

'This is not a Toyota problem, but it is a problem that Apple needs to address head-on," he said, referring to the Japanese automaker's global recalls of more than 10 million vehicles since late last year.

JP Morgan warned that reports of wireless reception problems on the smartphone may eventually affect demand.

'Consumer Reports is a well-respected product reviewer, and the report should turn up the heat on Apple," analyst Mark Moskowitz said in a client note.

'Concerns around iPhone 4 reception do not appear to be impacting demand, but we think there are risks when a well-respected product rating agency such as Consumer Reports issues an unfavourable report.

'We continue to expect a fix from Apple, whether the solution is software- or hardware-related.'

Apple has already been sued by iPhone customers in at least three complaints related to antenna problems.

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Taranis: The £143million unmanned stealth jet that will hit targets in another continent

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By Daily Mail Reporter

Taranis, the prototype of an unmanned combat aircraft of the future, which was unveiled today


Looming ominously like a space ship from Star Wars, this is the future of unmanned flight.

Defence firm BAE Systems today officially unveiled its first ever high-tech unmanned stealth jet.

The Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, is about the same size as a Hawk jet and is equipped with stealth equipment and an 'autonomous' artificial intelligence system.

The plane will test the possibility of developing the first ever autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) that would ultimately be capable of precisely striking targets at long range, even in another continent.

The trial aircraft cost £143 million pounds to construct and spearheads BAE's drive to convince the Ministry of Defence to invest in the next generation of unmanned aircraft.

Almost invisible to ground radar, it is designed to travel at high jet speeds and cover massive distances between continents.

The plane is built to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on enemy territory using onboard sensors.

And it has been designed to carry a cache of weapons - including bombs and missiles -, giving it a potential long-range strike capability.

It can be controlled from anywhere in the world with satellite communications.

Experts say the cutting-edge design is at the forefront of world technology and as advanced as any US development.

The plane began development in December 2006, and is intended to prove the UK's ability to produce a stealthy UAV.

Taranis will be stealthy, fast, able to carry out use a number of on-board weapons systems and be able to defend itself against manned and other unmanned enemy aircraft.


The concept demonstrator will test the possibility of developing the first ever autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) that would ultimately be capable of precisely striking targets at long range, even in another continent


Any future need hinges on the outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, which will conclude around October.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony at BAE Systems in Warton, Lancashire, Minister for International Security Strategy Gerald Howarth said: 'Taranis is a truly trailblazing project.

'The first of its kind in the UK, it reflects the best of our nation’s advanced design and technology skills and is a leading programme on the global stage.'

He added: 'Taranis shows the UK's advanced engineering, research, technology and innovation sector at its world-beating best.'

Taranis is an informal partnership of the UK MoD and industry British engineering firms including BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, QinetiQ and GE Aviation.

Rolls-Royce will focus on the next generation propulsion system for the Taranis demonstrator.

Speaking on behalf of the industry team, Nigel Whitehead, Group managing director of BAE Systems' Programmes & Support business, said: 'Taranis has been three and a half years in the making and is the product of more than a million man-hours.

'It represents a significant step forward in this country's fast-jet capability. This technology is key to sustaining a strong industrial base and to maintain the UK's leading position as a centre for engineering excellence and innovation."

The Taranis prototype will provide the MOD with knowledge on the technical and manufacturing challenges and the potential capabilities of Unmanned Combat Air Systems.

Test flights for the Taranis plane are due to start in 2011.

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Chinese airport closed after fiery UFO is spotted flying over city

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The strange light appeared to glow as it swept through the night sky, to the alarm of local residents


A Chinese airport was closed after this mysterious object was spotted in the sky.

Arcing over Zhejiang's provincial capital Hangzhou, the UFO appeared to glow with an eerie white light and left a bright trail in its wake.


Xiaoshan Airport was closed after the UFO was detected at around 9 pm and dozens of flights had to be diverted.

Stunned witnesses reported seeing a comet-like fireball in the sky and a number of local residents took photos of the strange ball of light.

A local bus driver, giving his name only as Yu, said he had seen a strange glowing object in the sky late on Wednesday afternoon.

'The thing suddenly ran westwards fast, like it was escaping from something,' he said.

Inbound flights were diverted to nearby airports while outbound flights were delayed for three to four hours.

Some Chinese experts claimed that the strange sight was actually debris from a US intercontinental ballistic missile.

Chinese officials later said that they knew what the object had been but were unable to make it public because there was a 'military connection.'

An official statement is expected later today.

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Go Metro to Mummies of the World Exhibition

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By Daily Mail Reporter

'The Detmold Child' a Peruvian child mummy in a remarkable state of preservation and dated to 4504-4457 BC


More than 6,500 years ago in Peru, this tiny baby's brief battle for life finally came to an end.

The child, no more than 10 months old, had a serious heart defect and suffered from growth problems.

After contracting pneumonia and then suffering circulation failure the sick child died and was wrapped in linen and buried with an amulet hung around its neck.

Now the baby's mummified corpse, known as the Detmold child, is to go on display in the biggest exhibition of mummies in the world.

'Mummies of the World' will display 45 mummies and 95 artifacts from 15 museums in seven countries in a show that opens today at the California Science Centre.

The Detmold Child itself is on loan from the Lippisches Landes museum in Detmold, Germany.

Another set, the Orlovits family, was with a group of mummies found in 1994 in a forgotten church crypt in Vac, Hungary.

And another on display is a 17th-century nobleman, Baron von Holz, who apparently died during the Thirty Years' War in Sommersdorf, Germany.

The mummies also include a South American woman with a tattoo on each breast and one on her face, a woman who had tuberculosis, a child who had a heart condition and a youngster with a facial tumor.

The mummies are both natural and intentional and they often come with as many questions as answers, said Heather Gill-Frerking, an anthropologist and forensic archaeologist.


The mummified remains of Johannes Orlovitz, one of the Vac mummies, is displayed at the new Mummies of the World exhibit


A visitor looks at the 18th century Hungarian mummy of Michael Orlovits


Some curators agreed to contribute to the exhibition so that scientific tests could be conducted on remains, said Diane Perlov, senior vice president for exhibits at the science centre.

One mummy is that of an Egyptian woman, her arms crossed over her chest like royalty and her fists closed. Noninvasive tests revealed that in each clenched fist, she clutched the tiny tooth of a child. It was not immediately known why.

Another mummy, also from Egypt, was found to have a number of teeth stuffed in a head cavity. 'One theory is that in order to reach the afterlife, you have to be a complete body. These may have been his teeth and they needed to be reacquainted with the body.

Many of the tests - CT scans, X-rays, radio carbon dating, MRI, mass spectrometry, isotope analysis and DNA tests - were conducted as the mummies were being readied for shipment.


The mummy of an Egyptian man dated around 408 B.C


The exhibit is based on the work of the German Mummy Project, a group of experts from 15 European institutions based at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim, Germany.

Beside human mummies, there is a mummified bog dog, lizard, fish, rat, hyaena, cat, squirrel, falcon and a howler monkey from Argentina.

Mystery, history and curiosity will lure what Corwin expects will be record-breaking crowds.

People are naturally curious and they often ask questions you don't anticipate, Gill-Frerking said. 'Did kids go to school 5,000 years ago? Maybe. Possibly. Probably not in the way we think about it,' Gill-Frerking said.


A 13th century mummy of an adult female from ancient Peru


People also have come to expect a lot out of DNA, she said. 'Ancient DNA questions come up a lot. It works brilliantly on 'CSI,' but it doesn't always work on mummies.

First of all, it can be destructive. And it doesn't always give us answers.'

Because the exhibit is playing to a sophisticated audience, 'Mummies of the World' has ramped up its multimedia displays, allowing people to learn what a mummy feels like, view a mummified tooth under a microscope and look at a photo of a 3-D body scan, among other things.

No matter how many tests are invented, there are going to be answers that went to the grave with some mummies - such as the woman tattooed with ovals containing small circles.

'It's clearly got some kind of meaning and it had a purpose - I'm willing to bet,' said Gill-Frerking.

The show will embark on a three-year tour across the U.S.


An adult male mummy from the Pre-Columbian Atacama Desert in present-day Chile

source: dailymail
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Meet DustCart: The intelligent 'bin on wheels' robot that will come to pick up your rubbish when you call

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By Niall Firth

A resident in the Italian town of Peccioli gets to grips with DustCart during the trial


It might seem like something out of a 1960s, Jetsons-style vision of the future.
But this handy little robot could end the row over fortnightly bin collections once and for all.

Researchers have developed an intelligent robot that can navigate itself around a city’s streets and collect resident’s rubbish on demand.

An EU-funded project has resulted in a human-sized robot, called DustCart, that balances on a Segway base and can navigate itself to stop outside your door when summoned.

Professor Paolo Dario, the coordinator of DustBot said: 'We've taken the very best and most advanced robotics components to build DustCart which solves a very real problem for waste authorities across Europe,' explains Professor Dario.

'Yes, it is a bin on wheels – there's the drawer in which you place your bag of rubbish or recycling – but there's a lot more to the robot than that.'


The robot is able to guide itself around narrow streets


The robot is mounted with cameras and other sensors so it can 'see' where it is going. It scans the path ahead and processes the information to avoid stationary objects.

It also picks out moving objects like pedestrians or bikes ad quickly computes their trajectory and alters its course to avoid a collision.

The visual images are also relayed to a control centre where human operators can check everything working properly and are able to intervene if necessary.

DustCart uses a clever triangulation system to navigate its way to a resident's home by interacting with wireless networks.

The network can pinpoint the robot, calculate optimal routes between pick-ups, and communicate this information to the robot.

Professor Dario said: 'It is the dream of every robotics research to develop a fully automated and intelligent system but we have chosen a different approach.

‘Here, we have a smart robot in a smart environment; the robot 'talks' to its surroundings and the surroundings communicate back. This means the robot has access to a lot more information and computing power.'

DustCart has three levels of intelligent control. First there are the autonomous, built-in systems including motion sensing, obstacle avoidance and user-interface functions including speech recognition.

It also uses 'intelligent' data processing to help it navigate it through the streets.

Finally, a human control centre monitors operations, but only intervenes in an emergency - if someone tries to steal the robot, for example - or where the technology fails.


Two DustCart robots sits eitherside of their counterparts DustClean and who is a street cleaner


Professor Dario said: ‘We have substantial information on the performance of the system and its safety. We have had no major failures yet and no safety breaches. The robot is supervised through CCTV.

‘And we also have insurance, which basically means that the insurer is satisfied that the robot is safe to use on the streets.'

In May, DustCart entered a two-month period of service in the small town of Peccioli in Italy – around 100 households being served by two DustCart robots.

The DustCart has performed demonstrations in six European locations, plus two in Japan and one in South Korea.

The developers say that if upcoming trials prove successful then a working commercial model could be available by the end of this year.

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Six astronauts begin 520 days locked up in windowless mock 'spaceship'

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By Daily Mail Reporter

Chinese astronauts Wang Yue and Diego Urbina of Italy wave before their 520-day isolation


Six volunteers will today be locked up together in a windowless, mock spaceship for 520 days.

The 'astronauts' will be trapped inside the capsule for a simulated flight to Mars, and are expected to live and work as if they are on the 43-million mile journey for real.

The all-male crew will not endure weightlessness, but from today they will follow a harsh regimen of experiments and exercise.

The main task of the Mars-500 experiment is to study the effects of long isolation to help a real space crew of the future cope better with stress and fatigue.

'When everybody interacts with the same people in the same space, habits and behavior become apparent very quickly.

'These habits may irritate and cause indignation - and even fits of aggression,' psychotherapist Mikhail Baryshev said.


Two researchers test spacesuits on a simulated Mars surface during a training session at Moscow's Institute for Medical and Biological Problems ahead of their incarceration


The experiment, conducted by the Moscow-based Institute for Medical and Biological Problems in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Chinese space authorities, will simulate a 250-day journey to Mars, a 30-day surface exploration phase and 240 days return trip.

But the choice of an all-male crew has provoked criticism for 'inflicting sexual discrimination on Mars before man has even set foot there'.

There is even a threat of a legal challenge over the absence of women, while the experiment faces criticism for failing to address the real issue of sexual dynamics which future crews to Mars may have to face.

'The absence of women in Mars-500 Project yet again proves the presence on old-fashioned earthly gender stereotypes,' complained Mikhail Salkin of the Moscow Human Rights Protection Centre.

'The organisers were likely set on choosing men from the start. We suspect the endurance tests they set were more suitable to men than women, and the results will be a biased judgement because it will only apply to males, so will not five the full picture.

'Women should have equal access to any job so we are ready to apply to the Russian General Prosecutor on this and ask him to investigate.

'The organisers have also forgotten the social tension they can face among six men which might have been softened by having a woman on board.'.

The facility built for the experiment comprises several interconnected modules with a total volume of 20,000 cubic feet and a separate built-in imitator of Mars surface for the mock landing.

The researchers will communicate with the outside world via internet, delayed and occasionally disrupted to imitate the effects of space travel.


The six participants attend a news conference before entering a confinement module


No women: The module for the Mars-500 Experience, which will not leave the ground but in all other respects will emulate what cosmonauts will face on the first manned flight to the Red Planet


They will eat canned food similar to that currently offered on the International Space Station and take a shower once every 10 days - mimicking space conditions. The crew will have two days off in a week, except when emergencies are simulated.

ESA said the crew will also regularly play video games as part of the agency's project to develop personalized software to interact with crews on future space missions.

French crewmember Romain Charles said the experiments will keep the team busy in isolation.

'It's not a jail, it's a program, an experiment,' he said. 'It will be hard I'm sure, but we have a target to stay here 520 days and we will achieve it.'

Both Charles, 31, and Italian-Colombian Diego Urbina, 27, are engineers by training.

China's Wang Yue, 26, is an employee at China's space training center.

The 38-year old Russian captain, Alexey Sitev, has worked at the Russian cosmonaut training center and the two other Russians, Sukhrob Kamolov, 32 and Alexander Smoleyevsky, 33 are doctors.

The European crewmembers will earn the equivalent of about $97,000 for their participation in the experiment; he declined to cite a figure for Wang.

A similar experiment in 1999-2000 at the same Moscow institute went awry when a Canadian woman complained of being forcibly kissed by a Russian team captain and said that two Russian crew members had a fist fight that left blood splattered on the walls.

Russian officials downplayed the incidents, attributing it to cultural gaps and stress.

A 2009 experiment that had four Russians, a German and Frenchman spending three months in isolation went smoothly.


We did it: A team of researchers celebrate ending their three-month stay in July last year


Martin Zell, an official with the ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight, said the 2009 experiment helped study stress linked with cardiovascular problems and effects on the immune system.

While the isolation experiment may give scientists ample material to analyse the problems faced by a future Mars exploration crew, technological challenges make a real mission a distant prospect.

One of the biggest is designing a compact and efficient shield against deadly space radiation.

Both the US and Russia are working on spacecraft which could be used for a mission to Mars, but design works are still in an early stage.

Last month, President Barack Obama told NASA workers in Cape Canaveral that he was committed to manned space flight and foresaw sending astronauts to orbit Mars by the mid-2030s.
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