British shipwreck with a fortune in silver on board discovered in Atlantic

The wreck of a British cargo ship containing silver worth £155 million, sunk by a German U-boat during the Second World War, has been discovered on the Atlantic sea bed.

By Victoria Ward

From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Expert underwater archaeologists will attempt to salvage the treasure, handing
20 per cent of its value to the British Government.

The SS Gairsoppa set sail from India in December 1940 carrying a consignment
of 240 tonnes of silver, iron and tea.

It was headed for Liverpool but was forced to break away from its military
convoy off the coast of Ireland as weather conditions deteriorated and it
began to run out of fuel.

As the merchant steamship tried to make it to Galway it was attacked by the
German submarine U101, 300 miles southwest of the Irish harbour.

On February 17, 1941, a single torpedo sank the ill-fated vessel, killing all
85 crewmen except one.

Of 32 survivors who managed to clamber onto lifeboats, Second Officer Richard
Ayres was the only one who, 13 days later, made it to the Cornish coast
alive. He was awarded an MBE for his attempts to rescue his fellow sailors
and lived until 1992.


The wreck of the 412ft-long Gairsoppa, owned by the British Indian Steam
Navigation Company, was discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, an
American underwater archaeology and salvage firm, this month.



The Department of Transport had awarded the Florida-based treasure hunters a
contract to conduct the search, allowing the company to retain 80 per cent
of the profits of any silver salvaged.


Greg Stemm, chief executive of Odyssey, said: "We were fortunate to find
the shipwreck sitting upright, with the holds open and easily accessible.


"This should enable to us to unload cargo through the hatches, as would
happen with a ship alongside a cargo terminal."


Odyssey's tethered robot took three and a half hours to descend 2.9 miles to
the seabed. There, it found a gaping hole where the torpedo had struck 70
years ago.


The company said it had confirmed the shipwreck's identity from evidence
including the number of holds, the anchor type, the scupper locations and
red-and-black hull colours.


Although none of the precious metal has yet been found, the shiny tin linings
of the tea chests were initially mistaken for silver bars, according to the
New York Times.


The Odyssey team is expected to begin the "recovery" stage of the
operation when the weather improves in spring.


Mr Stemm said: "While some people might wonder about the potential
complexity of salvage at this depth, we have already conducted a thorough


analysis of the best tools and techniques to conduct this operation and are
confident that the salvage will be conducted efficiently and on a timely
basis.


"Hundreds of modern cargo ships like this have been salvaged since the
mid-20th century, some at depths of thousands of metres.


"We were fortunate to find the shipwreck sitting upright, with the holds
open and easily accessible. This should enable us to unload cargo through

the hatches as would happen with a floating ship alongside a cargo terminal."

Neil Cunningham Dobson, Odyssey's principal marine archaeologist, added: "By
analysing the known configuration and research about the Gairsoppa and her
final voyage and painstakingly exploring the shipwreck site to record each
element and item, our team of experts was able to positively identify the
site as the Gairsoppa.


"Even though records indicate that the lifeboats were launched before the
ship sank, sadly most of her crew did not survive the long journey to shore.

By finding this shipwreck, and telling the story of its loss, we pay tribute
to the brave merchant sailors who lost their lives."


The precise value of the ship's treasure is unclear because the wartime
government did not disclose the true nature of its transportation records.

But Odyssey discovered that it had paid out an insurance claim on silver
amounting to around 120 tons owned by private parties and it believes the
government's hidden share would be about the same.


The Government will be hoping that the search does not prove controversial.

A federal appeals court in Florida this month upheld a ruling that Odyssey
must hand over an estimated £250 million worth of gold and silver coins to
the Spanish Government after a four-year legal battle in which it was
accused of plundering Spain's national heritage.


The coins had been recovered from a Spanish frigate laden with bullion from
the Americas that was sunk by the British off the coast of Portugal in
October 1804.

At Chelsea Flower Show Small Gardens have Big Environmental Impact

by Bonnie Alter

from http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo: B. Alter

There are other gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show besides the big, glitzy and expensive ones. There are small ones...

So give a Gold Medal to the Winds of Change urban garden which puts its reclaimed, industrial aesthetic first and foremost.

Photo: B. Alter

Its designer has a passion for reclaimed materials and created the garden around a focal point of home-engineered turbines made out of.big industrial cooling fans. He definitely makes a statement--they are unmissable. As is the only prison on site...the old steel shed has a door from a prison. A Victorian safe is used as a tool storage and the water butt is made out of old steel. The fencing is made out of recycled timber and the planting is loose and natural, with vegetables and a green roof.

Photo: B. Alter

This year there is a new category of garden: artisanal. By which they mean natural and sustainable. It is replacing what used to be called courtyard gardens and it is an interesting switch. The gardens are all charming: natural planting, lots of local and native plants, most use recycled materials and all have a cottage feel. However, after a while all seven seem much of the same.

The Postcard from Wales garden embodies the best of the genre. It depicts an old boathouse on the edge of a river; the old boat in the front is a particularly charming touch. The planting is gentle with alliums providing colour, rambling roses by the front door and hollyhocks against the recycled wood fencing, with bits of shells and beach combing findings strewn around. It won a Gold Medal.

Photo: B. Alter

A Literary Garden is another charmer--it won a Silver Gilt award. Inspired and intended as a poet's retreat, the poems and verses have been hand-carved into the bench, bridge and sundial, all to make an atmosphere of reflection and quietude. The carving is done by a master carver who does each piece by hand. The planting style, again, is informal, overgrown, with lots of blue and cream.

Photo: B. Alter

This Korean entrant, Hae-woo-so (Emptying One's Mind) is a bit of a variation: it depicts a traditional Korean toilet (what!). It seems that Korean people believed that going to the toilet was a "cathartic experience and considered it to be a highly spiritual natural cycle." Pictured is the outhouse, which is vintage and ramshackle looking. The planting is mainly green, with some wildflowers, artful pieces of driftwood and moss-covered stones. Winner of a Gold Medal (for shock value alone).

More on Chelsea Flower Show
Chelsea Flower Show Opens with a Blast (of Wind)
Cold Unseasonable Weather Affects Chelsea Flower Show :
Chelsea Flower Show Features Biodiversity As a Theme
Chelsea Flower Show Features Vegetables

Chelsea Flower Show Opens with a Blast (of Wind)

by Bonnie Alter

from: http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo: B. Alter

This year's Chelsea Flower Show in London has been beset by a series of natural problems. First there was the unseasonable cold weather, then the unseasonable warm weather, then the rain drought. But opening day featured glorious sun and celebrities, albeit with gale force winds.

That didn't stop this year's show, now in its 98th year, from being as big (with 17 gardens competing for top prizes) and beautiful as ever. The themes: "wild" rather than formal, vertical green walls, lots of insect habitats, roof gardens and a series of 7 natural and sustainable small gardens. Where to begin...

Photo: B. Alter

You can't miss the B&Q Garden as the spectacular green vertical wall rises to 9 metres. Beside it is an insect hotel which is 5 metres high. And then there is the field of herbs: everything in the entire garden can be eaten. B&Q (like Home Hardware) have done an excellent job of showing sustainability, with wind turbines, solar panels and water butts to collect rain water. Tomatoes and herbs cascade from the vertical wall. There are vegetable plots and culinary herbs as well as fruit trees and lime trees included in this sustainable wonder. It may be considered too corporate since it is pushing the B&Q company line, but it should win a Gold medal.... News Update: Gold Medal winner

Photo: B. Alter

The artistic and aesthetic favourite seems to be the Wild Garden sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada. Canadians can't take much pride in the splendour since there is not one aspect of Canadian content in it except our good old Canadian dollar. However, it was created by one of the eco gurus of the gardening world and it contains a recycled container that serves as an artist's studio, green roof, native plants combined with garden plants and a lovely stone wall with an insect hotel. It will be reconstructed and relocated to a Wetlands Centre after the show. Definitely a winner. News Update: Silver Gilt winner

Photo: B. Alter

The M&G Garden consists almost entirely of planters that are filled with vegetables and herbs. It is a modern interpretation of the traditional kitchen garden. As well as having raised planters of fruits, herbs, vegetables and flowers, there is a sitting area and a water feature. The raised beds are built from willow and topped with cedar. Cabbages mix with clematis, and beans with roses. It is a bit sprawling and seems crammed but the idea of updating the kitchen garden for modern use is good. News Update:Silver Gilt winner

Photo: B. Alter

This has to be one of the loveliest gardens in the show. The Laurent-Perrier Garden--Nature & Human Intervention (love these conceptual/obscure titles) is the most elegant and sophisticated in design and planting. There is a delicate bamboo structure at the back with a long stream with rocks leading up to it. The flowers are a delicate planting of dusky pinks and browns and creamy colours, planted amidst 11 multi-stemmed trees. There are some huge sculptural stones which give it a Japanese feel, in keeping with the "pagoda" structure. News Update: Gold Medal winner

Photo: B.Alter

Here's a retro, super luxury and super glam garden from the Principality of Monaco. The Monaco Garden is a blast from the past when Chelsea consisted of high-end fantasy gardens (so what has changed?). It was conceived as a way to show how high density living ( Monaco is tiny) can be achieved through roof gardens and balcony gardens, fruit trees and green living walls. Love that swimming pool and the lilac lounge chairs--where is James Bond? News Update: Gold Medal winner

Photo: B. Alter

The most controversial is the Irish Sky Garden, a bright pink pod known as the Wonkavator, containing plants that will be suspended 82 feet in the air from a crane. Created by Diarmuid Gavin, it's being called "lupins in the sky with Diarmuid" and only VIP's can take a ride, 8 at a time, in it. Helen Mirren has been in it, Gwyneth declined. Too gimmicky by far for many, Diarmuid is the bad boy of the gardening world--and relishes it. News Update: Gold Medal winner

More on Chelsea Flower Show
Cold Unseasonable Weather Affects Chelsea Flower Show :
Chelsea Flower Show Features Biodiversity As a Theme
Chelsea Flower Show Features Vegetables

Police discover 20 large-scale cannabis factories in Britain every day - so are we now a drugs EXPORTER?

By James Slack

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Criminal gangs are now producing so much cannabis in Britain’s suburban streets that there is a ‘market for export’.

Police say the gangs have taken over cinemas, houses, pubs, banks and shops left empty because of the recession.

Almost 7,000 cannabis factories were discovered last year - more than double the
number found two years ago.

Incredibly, a report by chief constables says the gangs are growing so much cannabis
that – for the first time – there is enough to start selling the drug overseas.

Incredibly, a report by chief constables says the gangs are growing so much cannabis that - for the first time - there is enough to start selling the drug overseas

Previously, the UK relied on smuggled supplies of the illegal drug, from countries such as Holland and Morocco, because homegrown crops did not meet demand.

The study, by the Association of Chief Police Officers, offers a disturbing insight
into how cannabis farms have sprung up across the UK.

Criminals are employing children to grow the drug with powerful heat lamps, and also to break into farms run by rival gangs

They are often run by immigrant gangs from the Far East, though there is evidence they are now joining forces with home-grown criminals.

They are employing children to grow the drug with powerful heat lamps, and also
to break into farms run by rival gangs.

The properties are being booby-trapped – with window frames wired to the electricity mains.

There are now almost 20 commercial cannabis factories being found by police every day, taking the total for 2009/10 to 6,886 – more than double the 3,032 discovered
two years ago.

It is more than eight times the annual average between 2004 and 2007.

More than 1.3million plants worth an estimated £150million were recovered in the past two years.

Last year alone, police seized almost 750,000 plants with an estimated yield of £85million, compared with more than 500,000 plants worth £65million the year before.

‘There is now a market for exportation,’ the police chiefs warn, though they are yet to gather intelligence that this is happening.

More than 1.3million plants worth an estimated £150million were recovered in the last two years

Leafy suburb: Police seize a large haul of cannabis earlier this year in Purley, South London. Last year alone, police seized almost 750,000 plants with an estimated yield of £85million

The highest number of factories – 896 – were found in the West Yorkshire force area.

The largest factory found was in an industrial unit in Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, where more than 7,600 plants were recovered with an estimated yield of £2.5million, the report said.

It added that privately-owned houses, often in suburban streets, remain the ‘property
of choice for large-scale cannabis cultivation’.

Acpo also found the premises used for cannabis cultivation were becoming more varied and included disused industrial buildings, former pubs, cinemas, nightclubs, hotels, print works and even banks.

The report, called the UK National Problem Profile: Commercial Cultivation of Cannabis, also found that criminals involved in the cannabis farms were involved in
crimes such as counterfeiting currency and DVDs, money laundering, immigration crime, firearms, blackmail, prostitution, theft and people trafficking.

Reports of factories being ‘taxed’ by other criminals have led to criminals arming themselves with machetes and sawn-off shotguns.

Booby traps found at factories include electrifed window frames and doorknobs, a home-made device designed to detonate a shotgun cartridge, and an external side
gate wired directly to the mains.

Running a cannabis farm would lead to the criminal charge of producing a Class B drug – punishable with up to 14 years in jail.

Many of the factories are found after tip-offs from neighbours who notice blacked-out windows, hot walls, condensation or ‘strange aromas’.

Cockney to disappear from London 'within 30 years'

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Cockney has been spoken in London for more than 500 years

The Cockney accent will disappear from London's streets within 30 years, according to new research.

A study by Paul Kerswill, Professor of Sociolinguistics at Lancaster University shows the Cockney accent will move further east.

In London, Cockney will be replaced by Multicultural London English - a mixture of Cockney, Bangladeshi and West Indian accents - the study shows.

"It will be gone within 30 years," says Prof Kerswill.

'Jafaican'

The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, says the accent ,which has been around for more than 500 years, is being replaced in London by a new hybrid language.

The new accent, known in slang terms as Jafaican, is most famously spoken by rap star Dizzee Rascal.

"Cockney in the East End is now transforming itself into Multicultural London English, a new, melting-pot mixture of all those people living here who learnt English as a second language," Prof Kerswill says.

Prof Paul Kerswill on the new London language

Traditional Cockneys have moved out of the capital and into the surrounding counties of Essex and Hertfordshire, especially towns such as Romford and Southend, the study suggests.

In these areas, the accent and the culture continues to thrive and many teenagers still proudly claim their Cockney roots, according to the study.

"It has been transplanted to these towns," says Prof Kerswill.

To mark the change, Kings Place, an arts centre based in central London's Kings Cross, is asking Londoners to talk to elderly relatives and contribute Cockney poetry and phrases to an archive.

The study, called Multicultural London English: the emergence, acquisition and diffusion of a new variety, is due to be published in early 2011.

Sister act: Doing the two step, the brunettes named Britain's most identical twins

By DAISY DUNN

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

They are so alike that even their boyfriends struggle to tell them apart.

But Ruby and Pearl Day's other halves can be forgiven - especially since the pair were yesterday judged to be Britain's most identical twins.

In a nationwide competition, the 18-year-olds were deemed to be most alike in terms of facial likeness, personality and 'dancing synchronicity'.

Who's who? Pearl (left) and Ruby Day beat 29 sets of twins

The girls, from East London, are at college where they both happen to study the same subject - performing arts.

They plan to spend the year ahead concentrating on their acting.

Pearl and Ruby have already featured as extras in the fifth Harry Potter film, and will appear in the final instalment of the series.

Twin peaks: The pair have featured as extras in the fifth Harry Potter film, and will also appear as extras in the final film of the series

The twins share a bedroom at home, where they live with their mother and elder sister, and have seldom been separated from each other.

Ruby said: 'People at school were always muddling us up and even now at college some people confuse us.

'We're so alike we're even able to trick our boyfriends as to who's who - but we quickly correct them if they're wrong!'

Winning formula: After a series of challenges, Pearl and Ruby were judged as the most identical twins

A series of challenges resulted in them being judged as the most identical of the 30 sets of twins to arrive at Pineapple Dance studios in London yesterday morning, in a competition held by Cadbury's Wispa Duo.

Pineapple Dance teacher John Graham examined the twins' synchronicity, while cognitive neuroscientist Dr Fatima Felisberti judged the girls' facial likeness to be particularly close.

Finally, former Big Brother twins Sam and Amanda Marchant - known as 'Samanda' - judged how alike the girls were in terms of personality.

Enlarge

Beating out the competition: The girls pose outside Pineapple Studios with the other sets of identical twins

Ruby and Pearl stood out, Samanda agreed, for their equally bubbly personalities, a fitting trait for the girls now spearheading the bubbly chocolate’s advertising campaign.

Pearl and Ruby pipped runners-up Ishmael and Nathaniel from East London and Tammy and Terri from Birmingham to the winning post, and will now take part in a Spot the Difference Tour of the UK.

Former Big Brother contestants Sam and Amanda Marchant, left and Leigh and Holly Selwood

Susie and Rosie Millen, and Sophie and Chloe Shearer

Nathaniel and Ishmael, and Tina and Gina Fear

50 Year Old Discovery in London Subway (PICS)

divinecaroline.com — Back in the 1950’s, old lifts were removed in the Notting Hill tube station in favor of more modern escalators. Recent work at the station revealed these posters in the old lift passageway.

click here for the full gallery: http://www.divinecaroline.com/

Britain's youngest mum: Girl who was pregnant at 11 says she will fight to see her daughter

By Maureen Culley
From : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Aged just 12 years old, this is Britain's youngest mother holding her newborn baby.

Still a child herself, the new parent's sunken, fearful eyes and inability to smile transform what should be a joyful moment into a desperately unsettling scene.

Tressa Middleton's pregnancy four years ago shocked the nation when she admitted having sex while drunk and spoke of her excitement at becoming a mother.

Now the Scot is 16 and fighting for the right to see her adopted daughter again, as the uneasy images of her holding her baby are shown for the first time.

She yesterday admitted spiralling into a deep depression and turning to alcohol and drugs after the baby was born, when she found herself battling to keep the infant.

Unsettling: Pictures taken of Tressa Middleton soon after the birth in 2006

Miss Middleton said she has quit drugs and alcohol and spoke of her regret at ever letting her baby go.

She told the Scottish Sun: 'I'm not a big drinker now and I don't smoke hash any more. In the past I've cut myself but I don't do that any more. I'm going to give myself a couple of years to get my life sorted, then I'm going to fight for access to my little girl.

When her daughter was born in 2006, the pair were taken into foster care. Eighteen months ago, a child psychologist decided it was in the best interests of the infant that she be adopted.

Miss Middleton signed papers handing over her daughter to an anonymous couple who, when the adoption became official, decided that they did not want to allow the birth mother any access.

Her only contact is now a letter from the child's new parents every six months, updating her on the little girl's progress.

Miss Middleton said yesterday: 'I got to meet her adoptive parents but I wasn't allowed to know their names. They were maybe mid-30s. They seemed lovely but it doesn't really matter who was taking her - I never wanted to let her go.

'After I'd signed the adoption papers, I went to court to fight for twice-a-year contact. I'd even tried to make a deal that if I signed the papers I would get to see her once a year, but the adoptive parents didn't want that. They don't want me to see her. They want to get on with their lives. It makes me hate them.

'At the end of the day, she's my wee girl and I'm doing them a favour. I wasn't asking for much, asking to see her once a year, but they thought I was.'

Heartache: Tressa, now 16, wants to see her child

When she became pregnant in 2005, the case prompted dismay from church and family groups, amid criticisms that a Scottish Executive campaign to cut teenage pregnancies had failed.

Concern over 'broken Britain' rose further when details of Miss Middleton's chaotic home life in Armadale, West Lothian,emerged.

She was one of six children - by four different fathers - to her then 34-year-old mother, who said she was 'proud' of her daughter for keeping the baby.

On the bleak streets where Miss Middleton was raised, petty crime is rife and drink and drugs are ever present. Boarded-up windows abound and gardens are strewn with bed frames, discarded mattresses and other rubbish.

Children gather on street corners and it is far from unusual to see young girls pushing prams.

Despite barely being out of primary school, Miss Middleton smoked up to 20 cigarettes a day, used cannabis and downed cocktails of Buckfast tonic wine and vodka.

Speaking under the cover of anonymity at the time, she disclosed that she had discovered the pregnancy weeks after having drunken sex in August 2005.

Drawing on a roll-up cigarette while heavily pregnant, she said: 'I slept with him because I was drunk and I wanted to. I don't regret it because if I didn't have sex with him I wouldn't have my baby. I knew straight away that I couldn't have an abortion because that's something I don't believe in.'

The girl was scared to tell her mother who, ironically, had given birth to her youngest child days before her daughter found that she was pregnant.

Miss Middleton admitted that she had an argument with her mother after breaking the news of her pregnancy.

'It was hard but it has brought me and my mum closer together,' she said. 'It's good to know I'll have my mum there to help me if I need her.'

Now 16 and legally an adult, she is able to speak openly about her experiences for the first time and has also allowed the images of those early moments after the birth to be published.

Miss Middleton, who believes she has 'turned a corner' in her life, hopes to join the Army and prove that she deserves to see her child again.

She spoke yesterday of the time when she first felt that she would lose her daughter.

This came before the adoption was even official, when the baby went to live with her foster family and the teenager was allowed to see the child only every three months at a family centre.

A child herself: Tressa with her newly-born daughter

The young mother said: 'My daughter sometimes called me "Mummy" then one day she called me by my first name and called her foster carer "Mum". It really hurt and I burst into tears. Then she wouldn't come to me. She refused and would start screaming. It felt like every time I saw her I was losing her more and more.

'The adoptive parents gave her their surname. They've kept her first name the same, but hearing that her name had changed was heartbreaking. It's like they're turning my wee girl into someone different. She was dressed different and her hair was different. It was hard to see someone else bringing up my wee girl.'

Miss Middleton is not allowed to know where her daughter is living or see photographs, although the latest progress letter, from March, described the three-year-old as 'a very happy, chatty, self-confident and together little girl.'

Miss Middleton said: 'When I read it I just started crying. It says she can read numbers 0-9 and count to 20. That's all the things I wanted to teach her as her mum. It's wee simple things like that which affect me.

'I get upset when I see wee girls walking past with their mums. I miss my wee girl every day. I've kept all her clothes from when she was a baby. I keep under my pillow a wee pink Babygro and hat from when she was born.'

Miss Middleton, who now has only limited contact with her own family and lives in Dumfries, admitted, however, that adoption was in her daughter's 'best interests'.

But she added: 'It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I don't think I can give my daughter the life she needs just now.

'When I'm older I want to build a relationship with my daughter. I'm concentrating on sorting myself out so that one day I'll hopefully see my wee girl again. I love her to bits.'

Awe Inspiring Seed Cathedral Wows at Shanghai World Expo 2010

by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK

From: http://www.treehugger.com/

Images via: dezeen.com and despoke.com
431diggsdigg
The fierce competition between showstopping pavilions is heating up in Shanghai as the opening of the World Expo 2010 draws nearer (May 1). But one pavilion has already been drawing in the crowds throughout its construction, thanks to an extraordinary bristling form of 60,000 fibre-optic rods, each with a seed implanted in its tip. The UK Pavilion, otherwise known as the Seed Cathedral, created by British design star Thomas Heatherwick and his studio, is quite simply the most extraordinary structure we have ever seen. And that's just the outside, wait till you see the seeds inside...

Uniquely British Design Innovation
The UK Pavilion's job at the Shanghai World Expo is to promote the strength of Britain's reputation for design innovation. Thomas Heatherwick is definitely the go to guy in the UK for unique showstopping structures and, from all the images, it looks like he has outdone even himself this time. Of the all pavilions at the Expo it looks like the UK's Seed Cathedral is attracting the most attention, no mean feat since there are 230 different pavilions on show.

Seed Cathedral sways in the breeze
As Despoke.com reports the Seed Cathedral is "20 metres in height, formed from 60,000 slender transparent rods, each 7.5 metres long and each encasing one or more seeds at its tip. During the day, they act as optic fibres and draw daylight inwards to illuminate the interior. At night, light sources inside each rod allow the whole structure to glow. As the wind moves past, the building and its optic "hairs" gently move to create a dynamic effect."

Shanghai World Expo 2010 Theme - Better City, Better Life
The UK Pavilion rather sensibly doesn't aim to compete with Asian high-tech solutions, but goes for a spectacular low-tech approach instead. Heatherwick Studio describe their approach as engaging "meaningfully with Shanghai Expo's theme, Better City, Better Life, and standing out from the anticipated trend for technology driven pavilions, filled with audio-visual content on screens, projections and speakers."

Working with Kew Gardens' Millenium Seedbank Project
We love Heatherwick's idea of combining a complex structure with a simple, quiet, reverent message. The designer says he was inspired by the "relationship between nature and cities" and decided to celebrate the UK's beautiful green spaces by teaming up with the world famous Kew Gardens in London and the Millennium Seedbank project, whose mission is to collect the seeds of 25% of the world's plant species by 2020.
The seeds for the UK Pavilion have been sourced from China's Kunming Institute of Botany, a partner in Kew Royal Botanic Gardens' Millennium Seed Bank Project. The interior experience of the Seed Cathedral sounds just as magical as viewing the exterior structure, "Visitors will pass through this tranquil, contemplative space, surrounded by the tens of thousands of points of light illuminating the seeds."

Seed Cathedral Structure
The supporting structure of the UK Pavilion is made from wood and steel which is pierced with 60 000 holes for each one of the aluminum sleeves which hold the fiber optic rods. This 'low-tech' solution actually had a very 'high-tech' method of execution:
"The holes in the 1 metre thick wood diaphram structure forming the visitor space inside the Seed Cathedral were drilled with great geometric accuracy to ensure precise placement of the aluminium sleeves through which the optic fibre filaments are inserted. This was achieved using 3D computer modelling data, fed into a computer controlled milling machine."
Heatherwick Studio says that, "75% of the materials for the UK Pavilion have been sourced from within a radius of 300km around Shanghai."

UK Pavilion's Afterlife
Heatherwick Studio reports that the Seed Cathedral has already found favour with the Chinese public, who have nick-named the pavilion 'Pu Gong Ying', which translates as 'The Dandelion'. We are also glad to hear that the studio have planned for the afterlife of the pavilion when the World Expo ends.
"After the Expo, just as dandelion seeds are blown away and disperse on the breeze, the Seed Cathedral's 60,000 optic hairs, each one containing the huge potential of life, will be distributed across China and the UK to hundreds of schools as a special legacy of the UK Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo."

Of the extraordinary design and engineering production that is the UK Pavilion Thomas Heatherwick says, "It has been a tremendous achievement of the team to deliver such a complex structure. I am excited that the Seed Cathedral is now complete and I look forward to the millions of visitors to the Expo enjoying the space."

More on Shanghai World Expo 2010
World's First "Carbon Negative" Car Concept at Expo 2010 in Shanghai
Floating City Proposed For Shanghai World Expo
Shanghai Pavilion is Built From Recycled CD Cases
Architecture Without Architects: Critic Blasts the Canadian Pavilion at Shanghai 2010
Acrobats Design Canada Pavilion with Rainwater Harvesting, Green Walls
Swiss Pavilion at Shanghai has Green Roof, Soybean Walls

Meet Britain's smallest mum (whose 14-month-old son towers over her)

By Daily Mail Reporter
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Britain's smallest mum told today how her baby son already towers above her - aged just 14 months.

Proud Amanda Moore, 25, became the shortest woman ever to give birth in the UK when son Aidan was delivered by Caesarean section last year.

She suffers from a rare bone disease which has left her measuring just 3ft 1in. But because the condition has left her unable to stand, Aidan already towers above her at 2ft 6in. 


Amanda says Aidan could end up being as tall as his father Steven Fyfe, 20 - who is a lanky 6ft 1in.

Proud mother: Amanda Moore with 14-month-old Aidan, who already towers over her when he stands up

She said: 'Aidan is getting so big, he takes after his dad. I always knew he would be taller than me but he's shot up. When I sit on the floor to play with him, he is taller than me already and he's only 14 months old. He's getting so big and strong that soon we'll have to tell him to be gentle with mummy.

'It's been a struggle because he's been running rings around me since he was crawling. But now he's walking he's more than a handful for someone my size. Most boys are bigger than their mums, but not after a year. He'll always be my little boy.' 


Amanda, of Hinckley, Leicestershire., suffers from brittle bone disorder.
She was born with 14 broken bones and resigned herself to never having children because experts feared that her tiny frame could not cope with a pregnancy. But she accidentally fell pregnant and defied doctors' advice to have an abortion.
Amanda said: 'Doctors advised me to have a termination and we did think about it. I didn't want to die and there was a real and likely possibility that the baby growing inside me would kill me.

'But at the same time I felt a strong love developing for our unborn child I just couldn't dismiss. We both wanted this baby so much.'

Happy family: Steven and Amanda have not ruled out having a second child

She began suffering blackouts at 35 weeks and was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford after blacking out at an Asda store in Swindon, where she and Steven lived at the time.

Aidan was born on February 27 last year weighing 5lb 5oz and had not inherited his mother's bone condition.

At 14 months, he already tips the scales at 22lb - nearly half the four stone his mother weighs.

She said: 'Soon Aidan will be bigger than me and we are working out how I can move him around the house in my chair while Steven is at work.

'Aidan is starting to say a few words and is really mobile - but he'll never be too big for a telling off from his mum.'

Steven, who works for a taxi firm, said they haven't ruled out having another child even after the stressful pregnancy and the danger of passing on Amanda's condition.

He said: 'It's been a struggle but Aidan is doing so well. He's a big boy and will soon be much bigger than his mother. When Amanda became pregnant doctors told us she or the baby could die, or even both of them.


'But they are both fighting fit and we are a very lucky family. We are not ruling out having another child - Aidan would make a great big brother.'

Volcanic ash cloud from Iceland grounds all UK flights

By: Press Association

from: http://www.independent.co.uk/

MARCO FULLE / BARCROFT MEDIA LTD

Spectacular pictures taken from a helicopter at sunset on April 14, 2010 show how ash from an Icelandic volcano is severely disrupting travel plans for British air passengers

I grew my own breast implants...from the fat on my tummy

By Bonnie Estridge

From : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Emma Poole used surplus tissue from her body to go from a 32 B to a C cup

It is the cosmetic procedure that sounds like many women's dream: increase the size of your breasts by up to a cup size, while taking inches off your tummy and thighs.

The operation, carried out under local anaesthetic, involves the patient having fat removed during liposuction, mixed with other body cells, and then reinjected into the breasts.

Unsurprisingly advocates believe this development is set to revolutionise the plastic surgery industry.

Harley Street surgeons, twins Dr Roberto and Dr Maurizio Viel, who are the first to offer the procedure in the UK, have now successfully carried out the breast enhancement on ten women - and ten more are due to go under the needle this month.

Yet, already other doctors have voiced concerns about the long-term safety of the operation, claiming that it may increase the risk of breast cancer and that the implanted tissue could harden, causing deformity and possibly masking tumours.

The first British patient to undergo the operation, known as platelet injection fat transfer (PIFT), in December last year was 25-year-old Emma Harding - and she is thrilled with the results, having gone from a 32B to a C-cup.

'I always wanted larger breasts, so when I was made redundant from my job in marketing last year and found another job straight away, I decided to spend the money on surgery,' she says.

'Having silicone implants was not for me - I may have wanted a bigger chest but I didn't want to look like Jordan. And I didn't like the idea of something alien in my breasts.'

Emma considered injections of synthetic filler Macrolane - a procedure known as 'the boob jab', which can boost the breasts by a cup size.

'But I decided against this as I had heard too many reports of this filler turning lumpy,' she says.

'I began speaking to surgeons about other options, which is how I was offered the chance of having a PILF breast enhancement by the Viel brothers.

'I was concerned that it was a new treatment and there was an amount of uncertainty in the outcome and longterm effects. But Dr Viel reassured me I had nothing to worry about and that the procedure had been carried out in America.

'I asked whether there was a chance my breasts could end up lumpy and he told me the process eliminated that possibility. So I booked myself in.'

Boost: Emma Harding's B-cup breasts are now a 'natural looking' C-cup

Surgical fat transfer is nothing new. Like many cosmetic operations, it was developed in the late 19th Century as a reconstructive procedure - and is considered the gold standard in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction.

In theory, fat should be the perfect filler because as it is taken from the patient's own body, there is no chance of an allergic reaction. And, as the fat is injected, no incision is needed.

Yet it is only relatively recently that surgeons have deemed it safe to offer it for breast enhancement, due to worries that the volume of fat needed may result in hard lumps forming, causing permanent deformity.

The procedure was also unpopular with many doctors as the body can quickly reabsorb the fat, at best negating the results, and at worst leaving the body uneven.

About six months ago, and because of the reabsorption dilemma, the Viel brothers - who have been carrying out forms of fat transfer surgery for 18 years - decided to offer the recently developed PIFT, which had been proving successful in America.

During the two-hour procedure, liposuction is used to remove fat from the patient's stomach or thigh area.

'Traditional liposuction involves the surgeon manually breaking up the fat with a cannula - a tube that removes fluid - often rupturing blood vessels within the fat, causing bruising, bleeding and possibly nerve damage,' says Dr Roberto Viel.

'So we use Vaser Lipo, a machine that uses ultrasound waves to liquidise the fat, allowing us to remove fat cells while causing minimal damage.'

Around two-and-a-half pints of fat are needed to boost the breasts by one cup size.

Although it is considered safe to remove up to nine pints of fat in one liposuction session, the structure of a single breast would be unable to support much more than one-and-aquarter pints of liquid.

After the fat harvest, 50ml of the patient's blood is placed in a centrifuge to separate cells known as platelets which contain stem cells, which are mixed with harvested fat and injected into the breasts.

Dr Roberto Viel says: 'We believe the platelets slow the reabsorption process. Traditional fat transfers last approximately six months in total and require top-ups once a month. The PIFT enhancement should last for up to two years.

'Fat can be refrigerated safely for up to two years before it starts to decompose, so we take a little more than is needed. We expect patients to have a first top-up at eight weeks and then one every six months, or until the supply runs out. After that, we would need to repeat the whole procedure.

'There are always risks with surgery, even though we do not use general anaesthetic - but the risks of an allergic reaction are minimal. The procedure would not cause any complications for breast feeding because it is entirely natural.

And it is unlikely to cause calcification - nodules of hardened fat --as, in our experience, it is rare for this to happen with fat transfers.'

Emma went for a consultation with Roberto Viel in November and when he asked her which part of her body she would like the fat taken from, she said the stomach.

'He had to take some fat from my outer thighs as well in order to get enough to boost my cup size sufficiently as there wasn't enough in the stomach area,' says Emma.

The following month, she went to the operating theatre in the Viel brothers' clinic, the London Centre of Aesthetic Surgery.

The areas where the fat would be removed were circled with a felt-tip pen, as were the areas on the breasts into which the fat would be injected. Then Emma was given a sedative injection.

'The operation took two hours and when I came round I felt woozy,' she says. 'I remember being shown a jar with the fat in it but couldn't really take it in.'

Emma was given a compression garment for her stomach and thighs and a sports bra to keep swelling to a minimum in the areas which had been operated on. She left hospital the same day and was told not to shower for a week.

'I felt really sore the following day,' she says. 'But it was the swelling that alarmed me most as my breasts seemed to have become pneumatic. Dr Viel had warned me that this would happen but it would settle down after a few days, so I tried not to panic.

'After a week, I had the stitches removed around the puncture marks where the cannula had pierced the skin. The swelling seemed to have settled and my breasts were not so sore - in fact, the puncture sites were more painful than the breasts.'

Emma admits 'nearly freaking out' when her breasts appeared to become lumpy over the next couple of weeks. But then they settled down and now, three months on, are 'very natural-looking indeed, so much better than implants - I'm delighted'.

However, Jag Chana - consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, North London, and Spire Bushey Hospital, North London --advises caution.

'Women who choose to have this operation are guinea pigs,' he says.

'There will almost certainly be some reabsorption which could cause asymmetry in the breasts. More importantly, there is the issue of breast cancer.

'In someone who is genetically susceptible to breast cancer, the introduction of stem cells may accelerate the biological process and could even cause the disease. It is also possible to get calcification in the breast tissue.

'This could interfere with breast screening as it would be impossible to tell whether this had been caused by the procedure or by cancer itself.

'I feel strongly that this type of procedure is being pushed too far too early. We are trialling it at the Royal Free Hospital but under strict scientific protocol.'

Consultant plastic surgeon Mr David Ross, at Guy's, St Thomas' and Kings College hospitals, also believes the Viel brothers are giving patients overly optimistic expectations.

'I have used similar procedures in reconstructive and aesthetic patients,' he says. 'There is evidence that fat transfers could provide augmentation in the breast but normally only 65 per cent of the grafted tissue survives.

'My concern is the use of Vaser Lipo. This liquifies the fat which, in my experience, would increase the likelihood that they would be quickly reabsorbed. Much of what the Viel brothers are promising women is unproven.'

PIFT costs from £3,500 for the procedure plus one top-up. Further top-ups are £1,800.

Experts pin hopes on public to decipher 500-year-old English inscription discovered in church

By Daily Mail Reporter

What is believed to be the first ever example of English written in a British church has been discovered. Problem is, no-one can read it.

The 500-year-old inscription was found on a wall in Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, hidden behind a monument dedicated to an aristocrat.

The faded black lettering was discovered in January but experts have now asked for help from the public in a bid to make sense of the inscription.

The digitally-enhanced image of the inscription on a wall in Salisbury Cathedral

Conservator Tom Beattie examines the lettering which was revealed after a 350-year-old monument was removed

Probe: Dr John Crook has produced a digitally-enhanced image of the text

Conservators came across the writing when they were preparing to clean a 350-year-old monument to Henry Hyde, a local aristocrat who was 'martyred' in the English Civil War for his support of King Charles I.

The text on the cathedral's south aisle wall had been whitewashed over with lime, which is why it is hard to read.

Tim Tatton-Brown, the cathedral’s archaeologist, said: 'The cathedral’s conservators quite unexpectedly found some beautifully written English text behind the Henry Hyde Monument on the cathedral’s south aisle wall.

'It was discovered when the monument was temporarily removed as part of the ongoing schedule of work.

'I originally surmised that the text dated from the 16th century, bearing in mind that the monument was erected soon after 1660.

'However, our researches now suggest it was written a century earlier and therefore pre-dates the Reformation.

'Study by specialist academics is leaning towards the text being written in the 15th century.

'This was period when English was, for the very first time, being used just occasionally in preference to Latin, which was then "the norm".'

Sir Henry had been buried there in 1650 after his execution. The monument was put up in 1660 and refers to him as ending life 'kissing the axe ... to suffer the envied martyrdom of Charles I'.

The writing was found behind this monument. It was put up in 1660 and refers to Henry Hyde as ending life 'kissing the axe ... to suffer the envied martyrdom of Charles I'

The inscription was found behind a monument in Salisbury Cathedral

So, what would English have been like in the 15th century?

The era saw the development – and finally dominance – of an English language that we would recognise today.
Not only were peasants using it, but the ruling class, who were still largely descended from the 1066 Norman invaders, increasingly spoke it too.

Revolutionary: Caxton's printing press

Middle English, which more closely reflected its Saxon roots than today’s language, was already used in Parliament (from the 1360s) and the royal court (from King Henry V, who acceded in 1413).

Latin, however, remained the official language of the clergy, making the use of the inscription at Salisbury Cathedral all the more fascinating.

It perhaps reflects a growing confidence in users of the tongue during a time of great upheaval as men from lower levels in society came into positions of power.

The advent of William Caxton's printing press in the 1470s also led greater standardisation, with more recognisable forms of grammar and syntax.

So, as a wider public became familiar with a standard language, the era of Modern English was truly underway.

Mr Tatton-Brown added: 'My guess is that it is a biblical text, put there in the Elizabethan period when the nave was fitted out with high pews for people to sit in to listen to the "new" sermons preached there.

'Inscriptions of the Bible, the Word of God, would have been written on the inside walls of the building following the Reformation, having been translated into English in Cranmer’s bible.'

Although in the 15th century the clergy stuck to Latin, English was increasingly spoken by wider society, including the ruling class.

The royal court used the language from 1413 onwards.

Experts in deciphering similar messages have attempt to find the meaning of the inscription but have so far failed.

Dr John Crook, who produced a digitally-enhanced image of the text, said he had found one line which read 'and we are c...' but the rest was illegible.

He added: There seems to be a phrase but so far we have not been able to work out more.

'If anyone thinks they can identify any further letters from the enhanced photographs, please contact us via the Salisbury Cathedral website.

'The basic questions of what exactly the words are and why the text was written on the cathedral wall remain unanswered.

'It would be wonderful for us to solve the mystery.'

Dr Crook also believes there are likely to be other inscriptions in the cathedral, which have since been lost or painted over.

He said: 'It would be too much of a coincidence that the only one happened to be behind this monument.'

The inscription has now been re-covered by the Henry Hyde monument, as scholars said it would be better protected.