Scientists claim to have created the world’s lightest solid material, a metal which can sit atop a dandelion without even crushing its seeds.

The substance is made of tiny hollow metallic tubes – the walls of which are 1,000 times thinner than those of a human hair – arranged into a criss-crossing diagonal pattern with small open spaces between them.

The researchers say the material, which consists of 99.99 per cent air, is 100 times lighter than Styrofoam and has ‘extraordinarily high energy absorption’ properties.

Its potential future uses include thermal insulation, battery electrodes, and products to dampen sounds or vibration, or absorb shock.

The research, published in the latest edition of the journal Science, was carried out at the University of California, and the Irvine and HRL laboratories.

The engineers say the material’s strength derives from the ordered nature of its lattice design.

William Carter, of HRL, said: ‘Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture.

‘We are revolutionising lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales.’

Lead author Dr Tobias Schaedler, said: ‘The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair.

‘The resulting material has a density of 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimetre’.

By comparison the density of silica aerogels – the world’s lightest solid materials – is only as low as 1.0mg per cubic cm.

The engineers say the material’s strength derives from the ordered nature of its lattice design.

Other ultralight substances, including aerogels and metallic foams, have random cellular structures meaning they are less stiff, strong, energy absorptive or conductive than the bulk of the raw materials that they are made out of.

To study the strength of the metallic micro-lattices the team compressed them until they were half as thick.

After removing the load the substance recovered 98 per cent of its original height and resumed its original shape.

The first time the stress test was carried out and repeated the material became less stiff and strong, but the team says that further compressions made very little difference.

‘Materials actually get stronger as the dimensions are reduced to the nanoscale,’ said team member Lorenzo Valdevit.

‘Combine this with the possibility of tailoring the architecture of the micro-lattice and you have a unique cellular material.’ (Daily Mail)

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A car that can drive itself has successfully completed its first public test drive on the streets of Berlin.

The VW has been specially adapted by experts at Berlin’s Free University.

A computer controls the steering, brakes and acceleration while scanners, radar and cameras monitor other traffic.

Meanwhile, a precision GPS system means that the car always knows where it is to within a one metre margin of error.

However, it is still not considered foolproof and needs a driver behind the wheel, just in case it decides to crash itself.

Berlin Free University’s Paul Rojas said: "The car is intelligent in that it can recognise its surroundings. It can react to events.

"Of course, it doesn’t compare to an real life form – it’s an intelligent artefact." (Dailymotion)

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A robot made out of Lego and powered by an android smartphone has broken the record for the fastest time to solve a Rubik’s Cube.

The robot, named CubeStormer II, was invented by David Gilday and Mike Dobson, and finished the puzzle in 5.352 seconds, reports Gizmodo.

Unlike human ‘speedcubers’, the robot doesn’t look at the cube first – it finds the answer as it goes.

Cubestormer II uses a mobile phone camera to snap images of each face of the Rubik’s Cube, analyses the images, then sends instructions via Bluetooth to four Lego ‘arms’ which rotate the cube at high speed.

Australian Feliks Zemdegs previously held the Guinness World Record for solving the Rubik’s Cube in 5.66 seconds. (wrapup)

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Apple’s Find My Friends app is designed to make it easier for friends to meet up, showing a live location on screen via GPS which your friends can watch.

The idea is to make it easier to find friends on a night out, or ensure that people don’t get lost on holiday.

But one wronged New York husband claims that the app – which uses GPS to let designated friends ‘see’ where you are – has revealed that his wife was lying to him.

He did, however, have to activate the app on her phone without her knowlege first. The service is ‘opt in’, so friends have to agree to ‘watch’ one another.

The unnamed New Yorker, who posted on Mac forums, said, ‘I got my wife a new 4s and loaded up Find My Friends without her knowing. She told me she was at her friends house in the east village.’

‘I’ve had suspicions about her meeting this guy who live uptown. Lo and behold, Find my Friends has her right there.’

He claimed that the app showed that she was in Manhattan, not where she claimed she was.

‘I just texted her asking where she was and the dumb b***h said she was on 10th Street.’

‘Thank you Apple, thank you App Store, thank you all. These beautiful treasure trove of screen shots going to play well when I meet her at the lawyer’s office in a few weeks.’

Site users were quick to call ‘foul’ on the post, though, pointing to the fact that the user had recently joined.

The technology isn’t new, either. Users of previous versions of Apple software could have used the Find My iPhone software in much the same way, if they had someone’s MobileMe password.

Google’s Latitude service offers a similar opt-in user-tracking service also. But so far, Latitude lacks the mainstream appeal of Apple products, and remains a niche technology. (Daily Mail)

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With its see-through aircraft cabin, passengers of the future will get a get a window on the world as they fly through the sky.

For this plane with it’s ‘intelligent’ cabin wall membrane and interactive games, may be everyday air transport in 2050.

The futuristic concept for travel in 40 years’ time was yesterday unveiled in London by Airbus – and it’ll terrify those who already have a fear of flying.

First, business and economy cabins are replaced by zones for relaxation in the front, work in the back, and a fully-stocked bar for socialising.

Passengers will be able to see everything to the sides and in front of them. So blindfolds might be handy come take-off and landing time.

The aircraft’s walls change according to light conditions. There are holographic pop-up gaming displays and in-flight entertainment powered by the heat of passengers’ bodies.

The technology could mean travellers might even be able to read bedtime stories to their children back home.

Most of the basic technology such as moulding seats and ‘head-up displays’ already exist, but how Airbus plan to make the plant-based, transparent ‘skin’ of the plane remains a mystery.

The concept cabin would be a bionic structure that ‘mimics’ the efficiency of bird bone, claim Airbus.

It would provide strength where needed, and also allows for an ‘intelligent’ cabin wall membrane which controls air temperature and can become transparent to give passengers open, panoramic views.

Airbus believes that mid-century passengers might be able to enjoy a game of virtual golf or take part in interactive conferences, while the cabin ‘identifies and responds’ to travellers’ needs.

The cabin of the future follows last year’s unveiling of the Airbus concept plane, packed with technologies to reduce fuel burn, emissions, waste and noise.

In the cabin concept, the ‘vitalising zone’ helps passengers relax, with vitamin and antioxidant-enriched air, mood lighting, aromatherapy and acupressure treatments.

In the ‘interactive zone’ there are virtual pop-up projections taking passengers to whichever social scene they want to be in, from holographic gaming to virtual changing rooms for active shoppers.

The ‘smart tech zone’ is tailored towards the more functional-orientated passenger with what Airbus describes as ‘a chameleon-style offering.’

It aims to meet individual needs ranging from a simple to a complete luxury service, but all allowing you to continue life as if on the ground’.

Airbus engineering executive vice-president Charles Champion said: ‘Our research shows that passengers of 2050 will expect a seamless travel experience while also caring for the environment.

‘The concept cabin is designed with that in mind, and shows that the journey can be as much a voyage of discovery as the destination.’ (Daily Mail)

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An inventor has come up with a new design for a car that will drive on roads, sand, ice – and even water.

The all-terrain vehicle, which has a top speed of 62mph and works like a hovercraft, can move seamlessly between different surfaces.

Designer Yuhan Zhang, 21, created the amazing machine – called the Volkswagen Aqua – for a competition sponsored by the German car manufacturer.

The vehicle’s sleek sportscar-like design incorporates four high-powered fans and integrated airbags that inflate to lift it from the ground.

A large windscreen stretches above the front seats to give a panoramic view of the landscape ahead.

Based on technology that is currently available, the Aqua uses a hydrogen fuel cell to power two motors – with zero carbon emissions.

One motor inflates the skirt around the vehicle to make it hover, while the second drives it forwards and controls its direction.

‘There is no better form of transport than an air cushion vehicle because it travels equally well over land, ice, and water,’ said Mr Yuhan.

The mechanic design graduate, from China, added: ‘I hope Aqua will become an affordable supercar that is available to the general public one day.’

The competition asked designers to come up with a ‘Chinese off-road vehicle’. (Mail Online)

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* The lenses contain a thin layer of liquid crystal that changes its alignment when prompted

They may look like an ordinary pair of spectacles, but these glasses are at the forefront of a revolution in eyewear.

Part of a new line of electronic eye glasses called emPower, they allow bifocal wearers to switch between different prescription settings for reading and more distant viewing.

emPower spectacles contain the world’s first electronic focusing lenses.

The lenses contain a thin layer of liquid crystal that changes its alignment when prompted, thereby changing the strength of focus.

People who wear bifocal glasses know all about how the distorted view they get when looking downwards at the ground.

All the emPower wearer needs to do is tilt his head downward or manually touch the frame and the reading prescription is activated – and vice versa.

emPower manufacturer PixelOptics promises the new glasses will be ‘fabricated in all prescriptions… and will be available in numerous high-fashion styles, shapes, sizes and colours’.

The glasses were unveiled last month during the International Vision Expo East in New York and are set for a U.S. release this summer.

Each eight-hour battery charge allows for two-to-three days of switching between focus settings.

The frames have three settings – automatic, manual on and manual off – allowing the wearer to remain fully in control.

One potential drawback is their cost – a pair will set you back between $1,000 and £1,250, although that includes the frames, lenses , coatings and charger.

PixelOptics has been developing its emPower glasses for 12 years and has filed 275 patents in the U.S. during the process. (Daily Mail)

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• Dutch design team includes Dutch astronaut who worked on Challenger
• The seven-year project has so far cost £11.5million

Buses have never been the most glamorous form of transportation.

But that is set to change with the Superbus, a 15ft-long, six-wheeled behemoth that on first glance looks like a cross between the Batmobile and a (very) stretched limousine.

Aerodynamic and luxurious, it can carry 23 passengers and reach speeds of up to 155mph (255kph), although finding a parking space might prove difficult.

A design team from TU Delft University, including former Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels, once a mission specialist on the Challenger, has unveiled the Superbus at the World Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) in Dubai.

Constructed with super-light carbon fibre materials, it is powered by an electric motor backed up by lithium polymer batteries.

As long as a standard city bus, the Superbus has two pairs of rear wheels that can turn independently, thereby reducing its turning radius.

The low vehicle has 12 gull-wing doors that allow passenger access to cushioned wide seats.

Mr Ockels said: ‘The strength to the concept is that the Superbus can drive everywhere where a normal bus can drive.

‘It has adjustable height, rear-wheel steering and a turning circle of roughly 10metres.’

The project began in 2004 and has so far cost around £11.5million ($19 million).

And with chief design engineer Antonia Terzi, who used to work for the BMW-Williams F1 team, onboard it comes as no surprise that it is also capable of travelling safely at high speeds.

The aerodynamic exterior also makes the vehicle more energy efficient.

The interior is equally impressive, with air bags fitted for each passenger and television and Internet access.

If the Superbus passes government inspections in the United Arab Emirates, the developers said it is likely to go into service there. (Mail Online)

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If you give oranges a miss because of the annoying pips then this could be the fruit to tantalise your taste buds.

Experts have developed a new variety which contains as little as two or three seeds in each fruit, compared to the usual 15 to 30.

The new variety is known as the KinnowLS – the LS stands for low seeded.

It is the eighth citrus variety developed in the past ten years by scientists at the University of California at Riverside.

They describe the fruit as slightly larger than a mandarin, with a thin, extremely smooth rind.

They say that each fruit contain 10 to 11 segments, which are fleshy and a deep orange in colour.

The orange has been developed developed by mutation breeding of the mandarin variety Kinnow, a mid-to-late season maturing variety.

Professor Mikeal Roose, head of the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences and part of the team which developed the new fruit, said: ‘People who like very sweet fruit are going to find ‘KinnowLS’ to be very appealing.

‘When other citrus varieties mature to reach the level of sweetness of ‘KinnowLS,’ their other qualities – such as rind texture – are in decline. Neither ‘Kinnow’ nor ‘KinnowLS’ suffer in this way.’

He said yet another attractive quality of ‘KinnowLS’ is that it can be grown in California’s desert regions because the fruit, which matures between February and April, does well in hot climates.

Its predecessor, Kinnow is the most important mandarin in the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan, where the fruit’s trees constitute about 80 percent of all citrus trees.

Growers in India and Pakistan will have to wait a few years, however, before ‘KinnowLS’ trees develop roots there.

Currently, there are plans to start distributing ‘KinnowLS’ in June to nurseries in California.

It is estimated the fruit could be on supermarket shelves in five years. (Daily Mail)

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The bride wore a white dress decorated with 1,800 Swarovski crystals and accessorised with a pearl necklace.

And as she trotted into the room to the wedding march, played by a harpist, she was met by the groom, smartly dressed in a tuxedo.

Afterwards, 80 guests enjoyed a sumptuous buffet in a marquee adorned with £4,000 of flowers, balloons and decorations.

But this was no ordinary wedding. The happy couple were two pampered dogs who were married in a ceremony in the grounds of a mansion in Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex, costing an extraordinary £20,000.

The event was planned by the bride’s owner, Louise Harris, 32, who dotes on six-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Lola and wanted to find her a partner to stop her getting lonely.

‘I wanted Lola to have the perfect day,’ said Miss Harris, who owns a dog boutique and grooming parlour near her two-bedroom flat in Chelmsford.

‘It was meant to be a relatively small affair with 30 guests but the list just kept getting bigger and bigger because I didn’t want to leave anyone out – just like most weddings, I guess.

‘The day was perfect from start to finish and Lola loved being the centre of attention all day.’

Miss Harris ran an online competition to find the perfect partner for Lola, as the dog’s younger siblings Lulu, four, and Larry, two, are very close and often ignore her.

She received hundreds of responses, whittled them down to a shortlist of six, and after a series of meetings found Lola’s favourite was Mugly – a Chinese crested dog who was voted Britain’s ugliest hound in 2005. (Daily Mail)

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