Cheetah's speed secrets are revealed

A sprinting cheetah is like "a rear-wheel-drive car," say scientists.

Japanese researchers mapped the muscles fibres of the big cat known to accelerate to record-breaking speeds.
By comparing the cheetah's muscles with those of a domestic cat and dog, the team identified the special propulsion power of its hindlimb muscles.
The study is the first to investigate muscle fibre distribution across the whole of the cheetah's body,
The findings are published in the journal Mammalian Biology and examine how the muscle fibres of domestic cats and dogs compare with those of the world's fastest land mammal.

"The study of muscles is indispensable to understand the cheetah's run," said Dr Naomi Wada, the study's co-author and Professor in System Physiology at Yamaguchi University in Japan.

Different types of muscle fibre are suited to different activities, explained Dr Wada.
In all the animals studied, so-called Type I fibres produced a small force output but were resistant to fatigue, making them best suited to maintaining posture and slow walking.
Type IIa fibre performance was best suited to fast walking and trotting whereas Type IIx or "fast" fibres created a high force output but had low endurance and were key to fast running or galloping.
By mapping the distribution of fibres across the muscles of a cheetah's body, scientists were able to gain insights into the animal's impressive sprint technique.

                                     A sprinting cheetah spends more than half its time in the air
"The forelimb muscles in the cheetah included [the] most Type I muscle fibres of all three animals... while the muscle of hind limb muscles have many Type IIx fibres."
"The functional difference between forelimb and hindlimb is the most remarkable in the cheetah," said Dr Wada.
The team's results suggested that the power comes from the cheetah's hind legs, in the same way as a rear wheel-drive car, according to Dr Wada.
She drew a further automative parallel when describing how the cheetah handles at high speed.
The digits of the cheetah's hindlimbs contained no fast fibres, but the digits on the front legs contained many of them.
Dr Wada explained that this is because the cheetah controls its balance by using its forefeet to turn and slow down.
However, most rear-wheel drive cars cannot mimic the enviable acceleration of the cheetah: zero to 60mph in under three seconds.
Previous studies have indentified the cat's seven metre stride-length as key to this ability. With long, flexible limbs, a sprinting cheetah spends more than half its time airborne.
In order to maximise this effect, it arches and contracts its spine, and Dr Wada and colleagues found muscle fibres that supported this technique.
The cat had a high percentage of fast fibres running along its back and middle, suggesting that it could produce a quick, strong extension of the backbone.

Fatty Food Might Cause Brain Damage, Suggests Research

Brain damage caused by fatty food might be one reason why people who habitually over-eat find it so hard to lose weight, scientists have said.

New research suggests that saturated fat can destroy neurons in a part of the brain that controls energy balance and appetite.

Researchers found changes to vital genes and proteins in the brains of mice fed a high fat diet.

The effects in the hypothalamus - the brain's energy centre - indicated the kind of damage normally caused by inflammation and blood clot strokes.

Lead scientist Lynda Williams, from the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute, said: "These changes may underlie the breakdown of energy centres in the brain and may explain why its so difficult for obese people to maintain weight loss from dieting.

"Our results indicate that a high fat diet can damage the areas of the brain that control energy balance and perpetuate the development of obesity.

"High fat and high sugar foods are energy dense foods which are highly palatable and they are very easy to over-eat. Our findings may also explain why some overweight people find it difficult to diet and why weight loss after dieting is so difficult to maintain.

"We now plan to carry out further studies that will look at whether these effects are reversible."

She pointed out that brain scan studies in the US had shown signs of hypothalamus damage in obese individuals, suggesting that the effects seen in mice may also occur in humans.

Food Addiction Should Be Treated As Medical Condition, Say Experts

The hypothalamus is a small area at the base of the brain that contains neurons which govern energy expenditure and appetite.

"This control breaks down in obesity - the system appears not to work - and we don't really know why this happens," said Dr Williams, speaking at the British Science Festival at the University of Aberdeen.

"In our study we found that genes and proteins change in response to a high fat diet and that these changes are normally associated with damage to the brain, indicating that damage had occurred in the hypothalamus in mice that ate a diet high in saturated fat."

The changes happened quickly, she said. It took three days for proteins to be affected and a week for visible signs of disruption to genes to appear.

Dr Williams acknowledged the effects might be exaggerated in mice whose diet was drastically altered so they obtained 60% of their energy from saturated fat.

The results did not mean people having the occasional unhealthy treat risked damaging their brains, she said.

"The key is to avoid excessive weight gain and to eat sensibly in the first place," she added. "We all deserve a treat now and then."

Another study presented at the meeting showed how the way snacks are presented in cafes can alter people's eating habits.

Pictures of healthy, less healthy, and unhealthy items were arranged in a line beneath the number of calories each contained.

The healthiest foods, such as fruit and cereal bars, were on the left and the unhealthiest, such as chocolate and cake, on the right. A message read: "If you want to consume fewer calories today then choose a snack from the left."

Tested in two coffee shops, the sign led people to reduce the energy value of snacks they bought by about 66 calories on average.

Psychologist Dr Julia Allan, from the University of Aberdeen, said: "We're very excited by this. Research from the US has shown that if you consistently reduce calorie intake by about 100 calories that can lead to weight loss."

LG releases 'world's biggest' ultra-definition TV

                   Analysts say 4K technology is likely to encourage consumers to buy larger screens

What is described as the world's biggest ultra-definition (UD) TV has been released by LG Electronics.

It sports an 84in (213cm) screen, smaller than a 90in model made by Sharp, but LG boasts support for 4K, a more advanced picture format.

LG's screen offers 8 million pixels per frame, four times the resolution of 1080p high-definition displays.

The firm sees this technology as a key marketing tool to help challenge market leader Samsung.

Toshiba already offers a smaller 55in 4K screen, and Panasonic a 20in model. Sony and Samsung are also developing their own devices.

However, LG's 25 million-won ($22,010; £13,940) price tag is likely to dissuade many from investing in its technology at present.

"The 4K display market is still in its infancy but it was important for LG to claim a stake in this space," said the chief executive of LG Electronics Home Entertainment, Havis Kwon.

The South Korean company is the second-largest seller of flatscreen television screens, and is known to compete with its domestic rival, Samsung, for bragging rights.

Earlier this year it sought to upstage its rival by showing off the world's largest OLED (organic light-emitting diode) at the Consumer Electronics Show trade show in Las Vegas. But when Samsung heard about the news it shipped an identically sized model to the event.

'Cinema quality'

One analyst said that sales of the latest release were likely to be limited, but it provided an indication of where the industry was pointed.

"4K is a technology that is an evolutionary step that - maybe a long way down the line - will be the successor to today's HD televisions," said Daniel Simmons from IHS Screen Digest.

"It's a step up in image quality, offering the opportunity to have cinema-quality resolution in the home and is a noticeable improvement.

                    Sharp offers a larger television, but uses the lower-resolution high-definition format

"But it is worth recognising that many people only upgraded their televisions from CRT [cathode ray tube] models in order to have a larger flatscreen model - the high-definition feature was not the primary motivator.

"4K allows people to have even bigger screens in their homes and it may be the screen size, rather than the resolution itself, that makes it attractive."

LG's 84in model has initially been released in South Korea ahead of its launch elsewhere in the world in September. It will also show off the device at the IFA tech trade show in Berlin at the end of August.

Nokia unveils two Windows Phone 8 handsets

The Windows Phone 8 operating system shares much of its code with its desktop equivalent

Nokia has unveiled its first handsets powered by Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 operating system.

The flagship device - the Lumia 920 - features wireless charging and a "PureView" camera which the mobile firm said offered better video and still images than rival smartphones.
Nokia's loss deepened to 1.41bn euros (£1.1bn) in its last earnings quarter after it lost market share.
Its New York press conference comes in the midst of a number of launches.
Samsung has already shown off a Windows Phone 8 device, and LG and Sony have also recently revealed their new top-of-the-range Android mobiles.
Apple, Motorola and HTC all have events planned over the next three weeks creating extra competition for Nokia as it heads into the busy winter holidays shopping period.
Investors cast doubt over the Finnish firm's chances sending its shares nearly 14% lower.
New features The Lumia 920 features a Snapdragon S4 processor, a 4.5in (11.4cm) curved screen, and can be used while wearing gloves.

It also features several Nokia-only functions designed to make it stand out from other Windows Phone 8 devices.

The Finnish firm claimed that "floating lens technology" meant the handset could capture up to 10 times the amount of light than other handsets.
It said the advantages were brighter, clearer indoor images that would be less prone to blur caused by unsteady hands than some SLR (single lens reflex) cameras on the market which feature bigger and more expensive lenses.
However, some users may be disappointed it features an 8.7-megapixel sensor, many times below the 41MP resolution sensor on an earlier PureView device.
The firm also updated its mapping technology to feature "City Lens" - an augmented reality app that overlays information about nearby restaurants and other points of interest over live footage of the surrounding area captured by the device's camera.
But the headline feature for many will be the fact that the mobile can be recharged without having to plug it in.
Nokia has fitted the handset with technology allowing it to receive power by magnetic induction from suitable bases. It conforms to the emerging Qi industry standard, which should make the Lumia handset compatible with bases designed for other devices.
In addition to selling its own recharging station, Nokia said the US's Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf chain and Virgin Atlantic's Heathrow airport club lounge would fit equipment allowing visitors to power up the Lumia handsets, offering it fresh opportunities to promote the feature.

 Nokia suggested that the Lumia 920 was the best device on the market for smartphone photography

A cheaper Lumia 820 was also detailed.
It shares the same operating system and NFC (near field communication) technology as the 920, but has a smaller screen, lower quality camera and requires the purchase of an optional exterior shell to add wireless charging.
Challenges ahead Tony Cripps, principal analyst at tech consultancy Ovum, was positive about the device's chances despite muted sales for Nokia's Windows Phone 7 predecessors.
"The company's focus on improving the imaging capabilities of its smartphones is a reasonable strategy in an age when meaningful differentiation between different makes of smartphone can be hard to identify," he said.
"There could be also a real opportunity here for Nokia and Microsoft to exploit any shortage of Samsung's Android-powered smartphones in the market following the US court ruling against the Korean giant in its patent dispute with Apple, although anything too blatant on that front would seem like a low blow."
But Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC, warned that Nokia would not have the Windows Phone 8 market to itself.
"If Samsung is serious about Windows Phone 8, it will significantly increase its marketing budgets to sell higher volumes than Nokia in the coming quarters," he said.
"It is therefore important for Nokia to continue leading the Windows Phone volumes.
"For that it needs a global launch and not one in 'selected markets' only. When Nokia WP8 devices come out, Nokia will have to execute its best operational and sales skills ever."

McDonald's To Open First Vegetarian Branch In Amritsar, India

Should you fancy a Big Mac in Amritsar, it will probably be best to avoid McDonald's, as the chain is to open its first meat-free branch in the Indian city.

Scrubbed from the menu will be all burgers, wraps etc. containing meat, in order to adapt to local diets. The vast proportion of Indians are either Hindu or Muslim, and the best deal for both is to take meat off the menu.

Hindus would presumably not fancy a bun filled with ground-up cow, an animal they believe to be sacred, while Muslims steer clear of pork.

The branch will also be close to the Golden Temple in the city, where it is forbidden to eat meat.

McDonald's has a relatively low number of branches in the country, and hopes this move will boost its marketability in India

As such, the first meat-free branch of the restaurant will be opened in the holy city.

A spokesman for McDonald's in northern India, Rajesh Kumar Maini, told the AFP news agency: "There is a big opportunity for vegetarian restaurants as many Indians are vegetarian.

"At the moment, India is still a very small market - we just have 271 restaurants in India, and across the world, we have nearly 33,000."

McDonald's plans to instead feature more salads on the menu and more inventions such as the McAloo Tikki burger, a potato-based burger which, according to the BBC, accounts for 25% of McDonald's sales in the country.

Michael Jackson 'despondent' before comeback concerts

Jackson arrived for the London press conference in March 2009 90 minutes later than expected

Internal emails sent by the promoters of Michael Jackson's planned 2009 comeback concerts saw them voice concerns over his stability and health.

In one email, sent the day the singer appeared in London to announce his This Is It shows, he was described as "an emotionally paralysed mess".

"[Jackson] is locked in his room drunk and despondent," AEG's Randy Phillips told company president Tim Leiweke.

The message was in 250 pages of emails obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Phillips told his boss he would try to "sober him [Jackson] up" ahead of a press conference at the 02 arena on 5 March, 2009.

Jackson eventually made a five-minute appearance that day in front of hundreds of screaming fans, 90 minutes later than scheduled.

Lawyers for AEG said most of the correspondence was produced as discovery in ongoing litigation and did not give a complete picture of events.

'No response'

According to the Los Angeles Times, the emails are likely to feature in two legal actions set to come to trial next year.

Lloyd's of London, the shows' insurers, are seeking to nullify a $17.5 million (£11m) policy, claiming AEG made false claims about Jackson's health and readiness to perform.

In a separate action, Jackson's heirs have accused the Anschutz Entertainment Group of pressuring the singer to carry on with the comeback despite indications he was too weak.

Numerous emails show Lloyd's of London unsuccessfully seeking access to five years of Jackson's medical records.

A Lloyd's underwriter wrote that repeated requests for written records were "always" met "with no response".

Michael Jackson died on 25 June 2009 from an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol.

Last November his personal physician, Conrad Murray, was convicted of his involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in jail.

House prices in 'surprising' jump, Nationwide says

                                    Mortgage rationing by lenders remains in full effect

House prices jumped a "surprising" 1.3% in August, the Nationwide building society has said.

It was the biggest monthly rise since January 2010 and left the average UK house price at £164,729.
It means prices are only 0.7% lower than a year ago, despite the recession and continued mortgage rationing.
However, the society's chief economist, Robert Gardner, warned that "we should never read too much into one month's data".
"Nevertheless, the fact that the annual pace of house price decline moderated to minus 0.7% in August from minus 2.6% the previous month provides evidence that conditions remain fairly stable.
"This may be explained by the surprising resilience evident in the UK labour market, with further increases in employment in recent months, even though the UK economy has remained in recession," he added.
Russell Quirk, of estate agents eMoov.co.uk, said: "Read nothing more into August's 1.3% rise than low transaction levels.
"Prices are jumping around from one month to the next and September could just as likely see a reverse."
Mortgage rationing Separate figures suggest that the Bank of England's Funding for Lending scheme, which started at the beginning of August, has yet to make mortgages cheaper or more easily available.
Commentators have pointed out that improving the flow of mortgage funds depends not so much on cutting the interest rates payable by borrowers, but on relaxing the stringent deposit requirements being set by lenders.
Figures from the financial information company Moneyfacts show that 68% of all mortgage deals on offer still need a deposit of at least 20% of the value of the home being bought.
A year ago, only 64% of mortgages required a deposit of this size.
Funding for Lending will offer lenders about £80bn of cheap money, on condition it is lent to borrowers.
At the end of July, some big lenders launched four- or five-year fixed rate deals at ultra-low interest rates of less than 3%.
These have now become slightly more expensive, with interest rates just above 3%, but in any case, they were aimed only at borrowers who could put down a 30% or 40% deposit.
At the other end of the scale, Moneyfacts says there are only five deals currently requiring no deposit at all, just 62 asking for a 5% deposit and 259 requiring a 10% down payment.
Altogether they amount to just 14% of all the deals on offer, similar to the position a year ago.
Aaron Strutt, of mortgage brokers Trinity Financial, said: "There are only four of five lenders offering stand-alone 95% loan-to-value mortgages that do not require parental assistance and the rates are still not cheap.
"There are a number of lenders offering 95% mortgages, but they often ask for a family guarantee. Also, a few of them will only lend in selected postcodes."