New Bike Wheel Powers Cyclists Up Hills

A bicycle wheel that captures energy from pedalling before releasing it to power cyclists up hills has been hailed as one of the world's best new inventions. The Copenhagen Wheel is fitted with a hub containing a small motor charged up solely by the bike's movement and braking. The "engine", designed into a hub on the back wheel, is controlled through a rider’s smartphone docked on the handlebars. It connects to the hub of the wheel using Bluetooth, which can also lock the bike. The bike wheel contains all you need so that no sensors or additional electronics need to be added to the frame and an existing bike can be retrofitted with the blink of an eye. Carlo Ratti The invention, created at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has won the US heat of the James Dyson Award for the best inventions of 2010. "The Copenhagen Wheel is a 21st century upgrade to the bicycle," said Dyson, the British inventor and founder of the international design award. "The wheel uses a technology similar to the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), which has radically changed Formula One racing over the past couple of years," said developer Carlo Ratti...Read more

Becks to Blackburn? Potential new owner after star

Blackburn's potential new owner Ahsan Ali Syed has set his sights on signing former England captain David Beckham. Rovers are in talks with Syed over a proposed £300million takeover, with the Indian businessman pledging an initial £80-100million for new players. Beckham, who is currently contracted with MLS club LA Galaxy, has been repeatedly linked with a return to the Premier League. And Bahrain-based lawyer Syed feels the 35-year-old, who has not played for an English club since his Manchester United exit seven years ago, would be a perfect fit at Ewood Park. Positive "I was 26 when I started following the Premier League. I used to like Blackburn back then and also used to follow Manchester United's fortunes because of David Beckham," he told the Daily Mail.

'Facebook will be new location king'

Facebook Places is the social networking site's first step into location-based services for people who own smartphones equipped with satellite position tracking capabilities. Members can "check-in" at restaurants, bars, or other social venues and let their friends at the social network instantly know where they are and with whom. The launch includes an application for iPhone handsets, and members with smartphones featuring web browser software supporting geo-location and HTML5 can use it at the mobile website touch.facebook.com. The feature is initially only available in the US and while the company will eventually roll it out worldwide to its 500 million users, a spokesman for Facebook UK said its release here was some months away. "If you are not in the US you can still see if friends are using it here but you will not be able to check-in," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said at the launch event at the firm's headquarters in California. Facebook says privacy is a key feature of Places and users could control who they share location information with. The site has previously been criticised for failing to safeguard the information members post on their profiles. The commercial potential with Places is with users being able to declare wherever they are whenever they want, opening themselves up to offers, suggestions or advertisements about nearby businesses... Read more

Blunder sends train to wrong country

More than 100 passengers who boarded a night-train destined for Milan had a surprise in the morning, when they woke up in the Swiss city of Zurich. The overnight Salvador Dalí train, which departed from Barcelona in Spain on Sunday, was scheduled to arrive in the Italian city early the following day – but it ended up almost 150 miles away in the Swiss financial centre due to a points switch error. The train, run jointly by the Spanish train operator Renfe and the French SNCF, completed the first part of its journey without incident, arriving in Lyon as scheduled. As usual, it was part of a convoy including another train, the Pau Casals, which was destined for Zurich. However, rail workers then confused the destinations, sending the Zurich-bound service towards Milan, and the Milan-bound train towards Zurich. At Geneva, Swiss rail workers realised the error and redirected the Milan train to Zurich, where passengers transferred to a replacement coach service to reach their original destination. Passengers destined for Zurich were re-routed back to Lyon, from where they continued to the Swiss city, eventually arriving a reported four hours behind schedule. According to a report in the Spanish newspaper El Pais, all 135 passengers on the Milan-bound service have been refunded the full cost of their tickets. A spokesperson for the SNCF confirmed that an error had taken place in Lyon, without specifying the reasons for the mistake.

The Godfather: Where Are They Now?

Despite initial bad reviews, 1972’s ‘The Godfather’ is seen as both the ultimate Mafia film and one of the greatest movies of all time. Little wonder really, Francis Ford Coppola’s epic movie is a masterful adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel, full of cinematic flourishes and jam-packed with quotable dialogue. It also has one of the best casts ever assembled. So what subsequently happened to the stars of that classic? Were there many offers they couldn't refuse? Let's examine. Marlon Brando Coppola dismissed concerns from worried studio executives about hiring Marlon Brando, as the legendary actor was gaining himself a reputation of being difficult. (The director would wish he listened to them when he cast Brando again for the troubled production of ‘Apocalypse Now’).In ‘The Godfather’ he delivered arguably his most iconic performance and bagged himself a second Oscar – his previous win came from his role in ‘On The Waterfront’. He caused controversy in ‘Last Tango in Paris’ because of the film’s erotic nature and he earned a whopping £2.3 million for his small part in 1978’s ‘Superman: The Movie’.Through the years he became more known for his troublesome reputation and ever expanding girth than his obvious acting talents - he was, after all, the poster boy of method acting.The film ‘Island of Dr Moreau’ marked a low point in a career that was full of incredible highs.Brando sadly died in 2004. Al Pacino... read more

Will Ugandans benefit from country's new oil find?

Kampala, Uganda (CNN) -- The recent oil discovery in Uganda could signal an influx of unprecedented wealth for a country where more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line. With proven reserves of two billion barrels, the east African state could soon become an important oil exporter and potentially attract major foreign investments. The biggest international player is Tullow Oil, a British-Irish firm that has signed contracts with Uganda to develop its oil reserves, investing hundreds of millions in the country. The company says it will produce the first oil by the end of 2011. "What it means for Uganda, obviously we would like to think it's significant revenues," Tullow's country manager for Uganda Brian Glover told CNN... read more.

Diaz tops risky celebrity searches

The movie stars top the latest list of the most dangerous celebrities to search for online, according to new research by computer-security software maker McAfee. It's far from an Oscar, but landing atop McAfee's annual list carries a distinction all its own: It means that criminals believe those celebs are the perfect lures to sucker people into visiting malicious websites. Clicking onto strange sites is sketchy to begin with. But many people do, and their computers get infected. Once a computer is infected, criminals can steal victims' online banking passwords, e-mail passwords, and do other kinds of nasty deeds...Read more