$15 million yacht can be controlled by an iPad

With her curved 'wings,' long pointed nose, and gleaming underbelly proppedhigh above the waves, this space-age yacht might be better suited to the sky than the sea. Just a few square meters ofthe futuristic vessel -- valued at $15 million -- actually touch the surface ofthe water, allowing it to skimacross the waves with ease. The innovative design, along with high-tech features such as an iPad-controller, helped glossy "Adastra" win three prizes at last week's prestigious ShowBoats Design Awards in Monaco, including Best Naval Architecture. The yachting world is clearlyimpressed. The honor follows a prize for the Most Innovative Design at the 2013 World Superyacht Awards earlier this year. So could this alien shape -- resembling something between a spaceship and the Concorde supersonic plane -- be the future of superyacht design? "The superyacht industry ispretty traditional," designer John Shuttleworth, told CNN."But the establishment has given a 'yes' to this idea which is a huge step forward." "Inevitably, there has to be a trend for reducing fuel consumption -- and I think superyachts will have to look something like this in the future. Initially I don't think economics will drive it -- these are wealthy owners and cost isn't an issue. Instead, it will be froman ethical, environmental point of view." Billionaire's toys Billionaire shipping magnate Anton Marden is believed to be the proud owner of the plush 42.5-meter vessel, which took more than five years to design and build. The Hong Kong-based moguland wife Elaine will be able to remotely control their luxury yacht from up to 50 meters away, simply by sweeping their hand over an iPad. If you want to appeal to the mega rich, such flashy gadgets -- and room to house them -- are now an essential part of superyachtarchitecture. "We have recently seen an increase in new and excitingsuperyacht toys on the market and clients are increasingly looking for more space to house these," said co-exterior designer Orion Shuttleworth. "Our new designs incorporate lots of space to accommodate jet skis, sailing boats, kayaks, paddle boards and other toys." Speed machine With just 20% of the enormous 52-ton boat submerged in water, Adastra is able to glide along the waves without thesame drag as traditional superyachts, hitting up to 43 kilometers per hour. It also means the vessel, made from a super-light glass and carbon material, consumes a lot less fuel -- around 14% of a conventional superyacht thesame size. "Adastra's longer, slender main hull has extremely low drag, which is why she is sofuel efficient," explained Orion. "The smooth, seamless, unbroken surfaces also helpto reduce weight," he said of the boat, which can travelup to 6,400 kilometers -- the same distance from London to New York -- without refueling. In fact, the three-pronged design -- featuring a slim hull and two 'wings' -- is similar to the world's fastestsailboat Hydroptere, which broke the speed record in 2009 at 95 kilometers per hour. Source: http://cnnmobile.com/primary/fullarticle?topic=newsarticle&category=tech&pageSize=10&pageNo=1&articleId=urn:newsml:CNN.com:20130701:is-this-space-age-ipad-superyacht:1

Journalists keep up Mandela reports

Johannesburg - It was quiet on Mondayafternoon outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, in Pretoria, where former president Nelson Mandela remains in acritical condition. Passers-by took pictures of get-well messages left on thewall of the hospital on Celliers Street in Sunnyside. International journalists, who have set camp along the street, continuedto broadcast live from there. Residents in nearby flats moved up and down the street trying to get the latest news on Mandela from journalists. "How is he [Mandela] doing? I thought you guys will be the first to know," said Angie Makge. She said she wanted to know whether the former president's health was improving. Media reports on Monday were not clear about Mandela's condition, she said. On Monday, which was Mandela's 24th day in hospital, the presidency said his condition was still critical, but stable. "We remind all South Africans to begin planning for Madiba'sbirthday on 18 July,"President Jacob Zuma said in a statement. "We must all be able to do something goodfor humanity on this day, in tribute to ourformer president." Zuma thanked everyone who had kept Mandela and hisfamily in their thoughts and prayers.. http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/Journalists-keep-up-Mandela-reports-20130701

Now you can send your own personalised spacecraft to themoon for just £99- and monitor it as it travels through space

Always wanted to land on the moon? Well now you can come close, with a new project that lets you design, build and launch your own personalised spacecraft and send it to the moon. The Pocket Spacecraft projectis on a mission to raise funds via the website Kickstarter sothat thousands of people can send a CD-sized space craft into orbit. The spacecrafts themselves are polyimide disks withflexible electronics, smaller than a CD and as thin as a piece of paper. They are madefrom the same material as flexible circuit boards.Explorers pay upwards of £99to personalise a spacecraft byadding a picture or message from their favourite social media site - or they can create a unique design. The tiny spacecrafts will be loaded into anInterplanetary CubeSat mothership and will hitch a ride into space on a commercial rocket. The mothershipwill then set off to the moon and when it arrives many months later, the fleet of Pocket Spacecraft will be photographed as they are released to land on the moon to complete their mission. But it is rather a race against time to complete the mission:The project must raise at least £290,000 in 60 days on the crowd-funding website to go ahead - but it has currently attracted just over £7,000. The project only works with mass participation and needs at least 2,000 people to take part.THE FIVE MISSION PHASES *.The mission is divided intofive phases and will take approximately three years *.Customers will design and personalise their Scout spacecraft *.They will be built, tested and loaded onto the Interplanetary CubeSat mothership *.The mothership will be launched into a suitable orbit where Earth Scouts will be released.If they landin once piece they will be tracked and recovered by volunteers *.Pocket Spacecraft will then engage the mothership's propulsion system and fly the Lunar Scouts to an unstable low lunar orbit *.The Lunar Scouts will be photographed and released. They will hopefully then land at a very high speed on the moon *.Customers will be able to track their scout's journeyusing the Mission Control app The ultra thin and lightweight disks act as very small solar sails and move about in space. The mission is expected to take approximately three years from design until landing and there are two types of scouts available. Earth Scouts, which coast upwards of £99, will be released in orbit with the aim of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, while Lunar Scouts, which start at £199, will attempt to land on the moon. Both scouts are solar sail disks less than 80mm in diameter and average less than atwentieth of a millimetrethick, with solar cells, computer, radio transceiver and instruments all on-board.They are described by the company as a low cost, open source, mass space exploration system that are 'small enough to fit in your pocket physically and financially.' Tech-savvy participants can pay extra to write software and customise on-board hardware to conduct their ownexperiments such as mapping solar wind or playing laser tagin space. Everyone who chooses to take part will be able to monitor their progress throughout the ambitious mission with a Pocket Mission Control app. The app will follow the pocket craft from its design and creation in the lab to its journey through space. Participants will also be able to follow their scout's journey with blogs, monthly video diaries and quarterly webinars. There will also be cameras in the labs when the spacecraft are being built, test facilities and in mission control. This is not the first space mission for the global team of scientists, engineers and designers behind Pocket Spacecraft.They have already created 24open space projects since 2009 and are supported by over 100 volunteers from 20 countries, led by mission control in Bristol as well as California. Michael Johnson, founder of Pocket Spacecraft, co-foundedthe first space mission fundedon Kickstarter. KickSat was designed to let anyone put their own satellite into orbit and send signals from space for just $300 and is due to be launched by Nasalater this year. Mr Johnsonsaid: 'By backing this mission people will revolutionise space exploration and space science. 'By democratising interplanetary space exploration we will create a generation of young explorers who can use the same affordable methods to explore Mars, Venus and beyond. We’re building tools so that one day every child will be able to send their own spacecraft on a robotic field trip in space.' The organisers hope that in the future it can attempt missions elsewhere in the solar system, including Mars, Venus and some asteroids.

Teenager beats tech giants to launch world's first smart WATCH that makes calls and comes with a built-in camera

A group of college students from India - including a designer who is just 17 yearsold - has beaten the likes of Apple, Google and Sony to launch the world's first fully-featured smartwatch. Called Androidly, the device comes with Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi and a camera built-in. The £150 watch can also be used as a phone to make callsand send texts using a phoneSIM card and packs up to 16GBof storage.ANDROIDLY SPECIFICATIONS Weight: 160 g Dimensions:6.4 x 4.2 x 1.4 cm Operating System:Android 2.2 Processor:416 MhZ Memory:256 MB RAM Removable Storage:8 GB SD. Up to 16 GB SD Phone:2.5 GSM network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Wireless:Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi B/G Camera:2MP GPS:GPS with A-GPS Sensor:Accelerometer Screen:2inch capacitive touchscreen Resolution:320x240 Although other smart watches,including the Pebble and Sony's Live Watch, can wirelessly connect with mobile phones, Androidly is the first to come with the operating system fully integrated. Androidlyhas a 2inch screen and comes with a 2MP camera.It runs on an older version ofthe Android operating system called Android 2.2 Froyo. A speaker, camera and microphone are built into the device and it can be plugged into a USB socket to be used as a storage device. It can also be used to charge the phone. Androidly is the brainchild of four students from India - software developer Ankit Pradhan, communications professional Pavneet Singh Puri and lawyer Apurva Sukant plus teenager SiddhantVats. Sukant said: 'There are other such products in the market, but they mostly sync with a smartphone and are not phones in themselves. 'We have ported Android on to a much smaller board and built a wearable phone.' Puri added: 'We have all been friends for years now'I was a member of my college student council then and was getting a lot of calls regardingthe college festival. 'That day, my phone rang at atime when my hands were dripping with chicken curry and I just couldn't retrieve it from my pocket.' 'Later, over dessert, we discussed the episode and figured that things can be made much easier if the device is always within reach, accessible and visible. 'Making it a wristwatch seemedto be the most practical solution', continued Vats. The Androidly watch was originally a Kickstarter campaign - a fundraising and investment site. The devices can now be ordered, in black or white, from the Android.ly site for £150 each. The £90 Pebble watch was thefirst device to be classed as a'smartwatch' and similarly launched following a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. The Pebble smartwatch syncs wirelessly with a smartphone allowing users to receive emails and Facebook messages, control their music and even see who is calling them.Users can also downloads apps to their watch to upgrade its capabilities. It works by connecting to an iPhone or Android device via Bluetooth, then downloading the Pebble app to transmit software updates. Apple is also rumoured to be developing a smartwatch, although the firm has refused to comment on the plans. Google is also known to be investigating the area. Explaining the potential of Androidly, the site explains: 'Multi-task like a super hero. Reach out for that refreshing drink in middle of an email, with full confidence. 'Read through your documents, with references onyour wrist and a coffee in your hand! 'Cook with the recipe handy, or manage your stocks with a live ticker always at hand. 'Switch between the digital andthe real world effortlessly, without putting anything up or down! source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2352647/Teenager-beats-tech-giants-launch-worlds-smart-WATCH-makes-calls-comes-built-camera.html

Horrific video shows Syrian Catholic priest being 'beheaded by jihadist fighters in front of cheering crowd'

A Syrian Catholic priest has been beheaded by jihadist fighters in Syria, it has been claimed. The death of Franciscan Father Francois Murad has been confirmed bythe official Vatican news agency. The gruesome killing has raised further concerns aboutthe West arming rebels in the fight againstthe regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Grainyfootage purported to show the 49-year-old’s deathhas been posted on the internet. Father Francois, was killed on23 June in Gassanieh, in northern Syria. He had been staying in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land. Catholic.orglinked to the video and reported: 'Syrian terrorists have beheaded a Catholic priest who they accused of collaborating with the Assad regime. Those accusations have not yet been verified.' Fides News Agencysaid: 'According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.' Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Front for the Protectionof the Syrian People, is an Al Qaeda associated group, described as 'the most aggressive and successful arm of the rebel force.' In the video, filmed on a camera phone and posted on LiveLeak, three men - including a man reported to beFather Francois -are seen sitting on the dusty ground asa crowd around them cheers.The man, wearing a brown robe, is filmed sitting cross-legged with his hands apparently bound. He is pulled forward and laid face down on the grass as thecrowd chant 'Allahu akbar' andtake photos. He is then decapitated, using what looks like a rudimentary kitchen knife. Dozens of camera phones are shoved forward by the bayingcrowd as the scene turns more bloody. Fides News Agency says the 'circumstances of the death are not fully understood' but said his death has been confirmed by the Custos of theHoly Land - the convent whereFather Francois had been staying. It has not been confirmedFather Francois was beheaded. Assad's forces pounded SunniMuslim rebels in the city of Homs with artillery and from the air on Sunday, the secondday of their offensive in central Syria, activists said. They said rebels defending the old centre of Homs and five adjacent Sunni districts had largely repelled a ground attack on Saturday by Assad'sforces, backed by guerrillas from the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, but reportedclashes and deaths within the city on Sunday.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2352251/Horrific-video-shows-Syrian-Catholic-priest-beheaded-jihadist-fighters-cheering-crowd.html

Anti-smoking clinics fail to help China kick the habit

Beijing,In a country of 300 million smokers and where two trillion cigarettes are produced every year, "smoking cessation clinics" seemed to be a promising business. But the results such clinics have produced show how far off the mark such an effort was. According to the latest figures, 600,000 people develop lung cancer every year in China, accounting forone-third of the world's total. The smoking cessation clinic at the Chongqing Fifth People's Hospital in Chongqing metropolis received only 10 patients last year, down from 100 in 2008 when the clinic was set up, Xinhua reported. In Beijing, where 29 percent of 20 million residents are smokers, most of the city's hospitals have shut down their smoking cessation clinics. A doctor in Chongqing said one course of treatment costs about 2,000 yuan (around $320). That may seem like a lot, but is actually less than what a heavy smoker might spend on cigarettes each year. However, many smokers, even after successfully kicking the habit after receiving treatment, eventually start smoking again, he said. To promote tobacco control and help smokers quit, Beijing's municipal health bureau announced this month that the costs of smoking cessation treatments will be covered inthe public health insurance programme. With nearly two trillion cigarettes produced in 2011,China is the world's top producer and consumer of tobacco. The country is also home to over 300 million smokers, and about 740 million people are subject to passive smoking through inhalation of second-hand smoke. However, there is no national legislation on tobacco control in China. Although a government regulation issued in 2011 bans smoking in enclosed public spaces, enforcement of the regulation has been considered very poor because it does not stipulateany penalties for offenders.(IANS)

Official: 19 firefighters dead in Arizona

Nineteen firefighters were killed Sunday battling a blaze in Arizona, the state forestry division said. The vast majority were fromPrescott, said Wade Ward with the Prescott Fire Department. State forestry official Art Morrison said the firefighters were members of a "hotshot" crew, tasked with digging a fire line and creating an escape route. "In normal circumstances, when you're digging fire line, you make sure you have a good escape route, and you have a safety zoneset up," Morrison said. "Evidently, their safety zone wasn't big enough, andthe fire just overtook them." The crew was fighting the Yarnell Hill fire, which broke out Friday northwest of Phoenix. The fire has grownto 1,000 acres, damaged three homes and forced the evacuations of residents in the communities of Peeples Valley and Yarnell, Morrisonsaid. Authorities believe lightning sparked the blaze. Not including the 19 deaths reported in Arizona, there have been 43 firefighter fatalities reported so far in 2013, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. A total of83 firefighters died last year while on duty. A Facebook page in memory of the Arizona firefighters was created Sunday night. People left their condolencesand messages of support. "Such a tragic loss. My heartaches for these brave souls, and for their families and friends," wrote one.source:CNN