Just 12 years after the arrival of the 6th billionth  individual  on  the  planet  in 1999, humanity was greeted by  the 7th billionth arrival  at  the  end  of October.  The world’s population  is  continuing  its  rapid  ascent, with  roughly  75 million more  births  than deaths  each  year.  The  consequences  of  a world crowded with over 7 billion people are enormous. And unless the world population stabilizes during the 21st century, the consequences  for humanity  could be grim. A rising population puts enormous pressures on a planet already plunging  into environmental catastrophe and the economic challenges are equally huge. Two centuries ago, the British thinker Thomas Robert Malthus famously warned that of the coming problems of excessive population growth.

It was the ultimate statement of the UK property boom. Yet, despite a slick marketing campaign and coverage across the national press, no one bought it. For more than six years billionaires turned their noses up at the opulence. With grounds larger  than Buckingham Palace’s and everything an oligarch or oil baron could desire, Updown Court  - which developers spent at  least £50 million on  -  just couldn’t be sold, not even at the height of the housing boom and certainly not as the property market fell apart. In fact,  it’s taken 6 years and a massive £35 million knocked off the asking price of £70 million, down to £35 million, before anyone was prepared to part with cash for what was billed as “the first 21st century stately home in Britain”.

More people would rather come back as Audrey Hepburn  than any other popular  figure  if  they had a second shot, an OnePoll  survey  for HarperCollins  found. The  Breakfast  at  Tiffany’s  star  proved
that  beauty  beats  brains  by  leaving Albert Einstein and Sir Winston Churchill trailing in second and third. She also outshone  actresses Dame  Elizabeth  Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. The poll also  found
more  people would  come  back  as  a  cat than a  dog.  The  top  10  stars  in  the poll were: 1. Audrey Hepburn; 2. Albert Einstein;  3.  Sir  Winston  Churchill;  4. Dame Elizabeth Taylor; 5. Julius Caesar;
6. Marilyn Monroe; 7. Diana, Princess of Wales; 8. Cleopatra; 9. John Lennon; 10. Florence Nightingale.

The  language of psychopathic murderers provides a window  to  their  souls, new research shows. The words they use “match their  personalities,  which  reflect  selfishness,  detachment  from  their  crimes  and emotional  flatness,”  says Jeff Hancock,  a professor of computing and information science at New York State’s Cornell University. He conducted the study with colleagues at the  University  of  British  Columbia.  Their findings  appear  in  the  journal  Legal  and Criminological  Psychology.  Psychopaths were more likely to use the past tense, suggesting  a  detachment  from  their  crimes, say the researchers. They tended to be less fluent  in  their  speech,  using more  “ums” and “uhs.” Hannibal Lector may beg to differ... somewhat violently no doubt.

Planes travelling at five times the speed of sound and passenger aircraft flying in formation could be a reality in the near future, a report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) has said. Looking towards 2075 and beyond, the report talked of:
•   “Scramjet”  planes  able  to  fly  at  around  five  times  the  speed  of  sound  (around 4,000mph).
•   Commercial aircraft  flying  in a V-shaped  formation to save power by taking advantage of the airflow generated by the plane in front.
•   The “aircraft carrier” system in which a large aircraft carries individual units that can float down to where the passenger needs to go.
•   A “flying fuel station” so future planes do not have to take off with full tanks.

Journalist Gerrard Williams  has  said he  and  his  co-author  have  found  an “overwhelming  amount  of  evidence”  to suggest Hitler  died  an  old man  in South America.  Many  historians  say  the  Nazi leader died in his Berlin bunker in 1945 - but Williams claims his  research,  looking at newly de-classified documents and forensic  tests, challenges  this.  “We didn’t want  to  re-write  history,  but  the  evidence  we’ve  discovered  about  the  escape  of  Adolf  Hitler  is  just  too  overwhelming  to  ignore,”  he  said.  It  is  alleged Hitler  lived  in  the  country  for 17 years, until his death  in 1962. Williams said  he  and  Dunstan  conducted  intensive  field  research  in Argentina,  including interviews with many eyewitnesses.

Fancy some scorpion soup? How about a mixed locust salad with bee crème brûlée for dessert? 
It may not sound like the most appetising of prospects but the European Union thinks all these could soon be on the menu.

Experts in Brussels believe insects and other creepy crawlies could be a vi-tal source of nutrition which will not only solve food shortages but also help save the environment. 
They have launched a three million euro (£2.65 million) project to promote the eating of insects while also asking national watchdogs like the UK’s Food Standards Agency to investigate the issue. Proponents of entomophagy – in-sect eating – argue that bugs are a lowcholesterol, low-fat protein food source.

The space agency is developing the new generation of airships, which it believes will replace trucks, trains and ships as means of carrying freight. 
The first prototype is expected to make its maiden voyage next year and scientists leading the project predict airships capable of carrying hundreds of tonnes of cargo at a time will be airborne by the end of the decade. It comes more than 70 years after the Hindenburg disaster, which brought an end to the earlier airship era. However, the development of modern materials and aerodynamics knowledge gained from the space race means that the new generation will be capable of safely carrying loads that could not be managed in the past.

Astronomers have discovered a new planet and christened it with a typically uninspiring name. But to millions of Star Wars fans, “Kepler-16b” might as well be called Tatooine, since it shares an unusual feature with Luke Skywalker’s home: Each planet orbits two suns. Besides the discovery’s “wow factor,” it’s rewriting the book on such phenomena. Aside from confirming that stable two-sun planets like Kepler-16b actually exist, it disproves something astronomers had long believed: That a two-sun planet would have to be at least seven times as far from its suns as the two suns were from each other. “This planet broke the rule,” says astronomer Sara Seager as quoted in The New York Times.

Russian company Orbital Technologies wants to take luxury hotels to new hights - orbiting 217 miles above the Earth - by 2016. The proposed Commercial Space Station (CSS) would house seven guests in four cabins, including such space luxuries as precooked gourmet meals, sealed showers, and spectacular views of the home plan-et (see images below). Though the accommodations are more likely to evoke a high-tech dentist’s office more than a chic Miami getaway, the space hotel will be “far more comfortable” than the even more spartan International Space Station, says Orbital chief executive Sergei Kostenko. At about $165,000 per person for a five-night stay, experiencing the final frontier from your bedroom window won’t be cheap.

In early September, Carlsberg celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of its founder, J.C. Jacobsena, the holder of the revolution in brewing, and the man who provided the global success of pilsner beer.
Jacob Christian Jacobsen (1811 - 1887) was a Danish industrialist and philanthropist, who in 1847 founded the Carlsberg brewery. J.C. Jacobsen in 1875 founded the Carlsberg Laboratory, this was where he discovered a revolutionary method of the identification and separation of pure yeast. Traditionally, as Carlsberg always has, it has once again launched an innovation in the market: 
by giving the yeast a new structure it gives the beer an extra feeling of freshness. A new barley called Null-Lox helps keep beer fresh for extended periods.

They may be witnessing their global superpower influence decline in the face of challenges from other emerging players on the world stage, but Americans have been voted the world’s “coolest nationality” in an international poll.
Social networking site Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name the coolest nationality and also found that the Spanish were considered the coolest Europeans, Brazilians the coolest Latin Americans and Belgians the globe’s least cool nationality.

THE FIVE COOLEST & FIVE LEAST COOLEST NATIONALITIES:
1. Americans 1. Belgians
2. Brazilians 2. Poles
3. Spanish 3. Turks
4. Italians 4. Canadians
5. French 5. Germans

The black and tan Coonhound lives in Boulder, Colorado, in the US, and at first  his giant ears caused quite the headache as a small puppy. Harbour is able to walk around without much fuss - except when he goes for a walk in the park. When measured by officials Harbour’s ears were 12.25 inches (31.1 cm) for the left ear and 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) for the right. Amazingly, Harbour’s ear-span is longer than the world’s smallest man Junrey 
Balawing, from the Philippines, who stands at just 23.5 inches. The extra-long ears displayed on most hounds, particularly the Coonhound, are used not for hearing but primarily for smell. Harbour uses his ears close to the ground to sweep odours up into his nose.

Albuquerque - New Mexico, home to several of America’s premier scientific, nuclear and military institutions, is planning to take part in an unprecedented science project - a 20-sq mile model of a small U.S. city.
A Washington, D.C.- based technology company announced plans to build a ghost town to test everything from re-newable energy innovations to intelligent traffic systems, next-generation 
wireless networks and smart-grid cyber  security systems. 
Pegasus Global Holdings CEO Bob Brumley says the $200 million project will create a place for scientists at universities, labs and military installations to test their innovations for upgrading 
cities to 21st century green technology and infrastructure.

Foxconn, the Chinese, Taiwan based manufac-turer behind gadgets like the iPad and PlayStation 3, plans to replace more workers with robots in the next three years, and increase its robot-ic headcount to a million by 2014.The robots will be used to perform simple tasks like spraying, welding and assembling. The firm already has around 10,000 robots under its helm, but has plans to increase that total to 300,000 next year, and to a million in three years.
The plan is for the bots to cut rising labour expenses and im-prove efficiency. The new plans were announced by founder and chairman Terry Gou during the workers’ dance party. What a night that must have been.

At a laboratory in Wright Patterson Air Force Base n Ohio, research team of MAV (Miniature Air Vehicle) was demonstrating the models of miniature military aircraft. The MAV team of Air Force was dedicated to the development of military aircraft to target complex dynamic urban environment.

For napping at work or if you want to get rid of harassment forever, this “ostrich” offers a micro environment in which to take a warm and comfortable power nap at ease. It is neither a pillow nor a cushion, nor a bed, nor a garment, but a bit of each at the same time. Its soothing cave-like interior shelters and isolates our head and hands (mind, senses and body) for a few minutes, without needing to leave the office.

Dog Bark Park Inn is a bed and breakfast guesthouse in the body of the World’s Biggest Beagle located at Dog Bark Park on Hwy 95 at Cottonwood, Idaho. Guests enter the body of the beagle from a private spacious 2nd story deck. Inside and up another level in the head of the dog are a loft room for additional sleeping accommodations and a cozy reading nook in the dog’s muzzle.

British detectives are hunting for thieves who broke into one of their own police stations and stole their uniforms and radios. The crooks burgled the police station in Uddingston, not far from Glasgow in Scotland, in the early hours of Tuesday morning when the office was shut. “At no time has the safety of the public or any officer been jeopardised as a result of this break-in,” said a spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police. She declined to say how the audacious criminals had got into the building but added the radios had been disabled and could no longer be used.

The limited edition ‘Princess Catherine Engagement Doll’ by Arklu, is fashioned to resemble Prince William’s fiancée and features her famous blue Issa dress. On sale for £35, the toy is a little on the expensive side. Seven British fashion and design leaders who together form the rather regal sounding ‘Champions of British Style™’, have dressed and accessorised the doll, which, to their credit, bears a greater resemblance to Middleton than the Royal Mint’s commemorative £5 coin (on which the heroine looks more like Victoria Beckham’s sister, Louise Adams). Lucie Follett, director of Artklu, said: “The British fashion industry contributes 22 billion pounds to the UK economy. That’s a big figure, so in some sense what we’re doing here is promoting British designers and putting them out there and saying - hey it’s all about British style - and that explains the brand’s name.”

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

With the sun out and temperatures rising, the young women of the City law firm Allen & Overy decided it was time to do the same for their hemlines. Unfortunately, the sight of dozens of trainee solicitors arriving for work in “very short skirts” did not fill senior partners with the joys of spring. After several complaints about the amount of flesh on show, an email was sent to the company’s 105 trainees reminding them of the sartorial standards expected by their employer - one of the five leading firms in the City known as the ‘Magic Circle’. Women were told to increase the lengths of their skirts and reduce the height of their heels or face “uncomfortable discussions” with the human resources department. “The main problem seems to be very short skirts and high heels and generally looking like we’re going clubbing instead of to the office,” stated the email from Allen & Overy’s trainee solicitor liaison committee.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

A banana peel, the torment of many a cartoon character, has allegedly become the real-life downfall of a woman in California.

for comment. (Source: www.reuters.com)

Sleep Safe Tape is the perfect solution for people who don’t want to get caught dozing off at the office. The transparent tape comes in a standard

(Source: www.skforlee.com)

A spider that likes the smell of gasoline so much that it builds its web in car emission systems was behind the recall of thousands of Mazda cars in the US during March. Mazda Motor Corp recalled 52,000 cars after the National Highway Safety Commission indicated the Yellow Sac spider’s webs were found to possibly restrict a vent line, which could cause the emissions control system to increase pressure in the fuel tank. “This spider’s distinguishing characteristic is that it likes the smell of gasoline,” said Mitsuhiro Kunisawa, an automotive journalist. “Once it smells the gasoline from outside, it will go inside the system. In the United States, it’s a relatively common type of spider.”

(Source: www.telegraph.co.uk)

Some couples with a taste for the exotic jet off to a beach in the Caribbean or the Maldives for their wedding. From this summer however, British couples keen to feel sand between their toes as they tie the knot will be able to take advantage of a budget option - by heading for the beach

(Source: www.guardian.co.uk)

A massive brawl at a football match in Argentina saw the referee send off everyone, including all the backroom staff. The match between two local rivals Claypole and Victoriano Arenas descended into mayhem in the second half as players, technical staff and even fans were involved in the bust-up. In the ensuing chaos referee Damian Rubino decided to give every player from both sides their marching orders. Some backroom staff also saw red. After the game, which ended 2-0 to Claypole, the Victoriano manager accused the official of overreacting, saying he had been “confused”.

(Source: www.telegraph.co.uk)

A California couple whose wedding plans appeared thwarted when a lung infection landed the groom in the isolation ward of a hospital were married in a ceremony conducted over Skype. Samuel Kim and Helen Oh had guests travelling from overseas to their wedding, so when Kim began spitting up blood last week, he was initially too nervous to tell his bride. When he finally did tell her later in the week, the couple improvised a solution by holding the wedding via the web video conferencing system. “Guests said it was inspirational, they really admired my fiancé for being able to stand at the altar in the manner that she did, alone and not crying the whole time,” Kim said from his bed at UCI Medical Centre in Orange.

(Source: www.reuters.com)

Catholics cannot confess by iPhone, the Vatican has said, after the launch of a ‘confession application’ sanctioned by the US Catholic Church. Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said technology was not a substitute for being present when admitting sins to a priest. “One cannot speak in any way of confessing via iPhone,” Father Lombardi said, adding that confession required the presence of the penitent and the priest. The application is not designed to replace going to confession but to help Catholics through the act.
(Source: www.telegraph.co.uk)

A specialist ice cream parlour in London plans to serve up breast milk ice cream and says people should think of it as an organic, freerange treat. The breast milk concoction, called the ‘Baby Gaga’ will be available at the ‘Icecreamists’ restaurant in London’s Covent Garden. Priced at a hefty 16 euros a serving, the milk will be provided by mothers who answered an advertisement on the online mothers’ forum Mumsnet. Victoria Hiley, 35, is one of 15 women who will be donating milk to the restaurant after seeing the advert. “What could be more natural than fresh, freerange mother’s milk in an ice cream? And for me it’s a recession beater too - what’s the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash,” Hiley said in a statement. The Baby Gaga recipe blends breast milk with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest, which is then churned into ice cream.
(Source: www.reuters.com)

Not everybody in Russia loves Valentine’s Day. This year authorities in Belgorod province urged schools and other state institutions to refrain from celebrations marking the heart-shaped holiday, seen by some conservative Russians as an unhealthy foreign phenomenon. The initiative is part of a recent directive on ‘measures to provide for spiritual security,’ which calls on officials to ban Valentine’s Day and Halloween celebrations in educational and cultural centres. Many nightclubs and other businesses in the province 600km south of Moscow were also asked not to plan any special events for the February 14 holiday.
(Source: www.reuters.com)

A local authority in England has given the go ahead for a swimming pool to use energy created by the crematorium next door to heat its water. The plan, the first of its kind in Britain, will see waste heat from the incinerator chimney used to warm up the neighbouring leisure centre and its new pool. Eighty to ninety percent of people who contacted the  council about the plan had backed the scheme; however, local trade union officials are less than impressed with the plan, saying it was a reflection of the massive public spending cuts being implemented by the government.
(Source: www.reuters.com)

Finnish scientists are analysing a golden, cloudy beverage found in a 19th century shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, hoping new beers can be modelled on the ancient brew. Chemical analysis is currently being undertaken to  determine the ingredients and possibly the recipe used in brewing of what may be “one of the world’s oldest preserved beers.” Scientist Arvi Vilpola said he had “the honourable task” of being the one on the research team to sample the brew. “It was a little sour and you could taste the saltiness of it slightly,” Vilpola said.
(Source: www.telegraph.co.uk)