Top 5

The British-built Bloodhound car is being built to break the world land speed record – 763mph (1,228km/h) next year. It’s hoped the car will be able to travel at more than 1,000mph –  that’s a mile every three seconds or so. Now the makers have released the design for the high-tech cockpit.

 

Scientists at Birmingham University are testing out the world’s first free-thinking robot security guard.  He’s called Bob and uses 3D technology to scan a room.  He keeps checking and reports any changes he detects using similar technology to some video games.

 

Torrential rainfall in recent days has caused widespread flooding in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The famous Iguazu Falls on the border between Argentina and Brazil, rose to historic levels causing the biggest recorded water flow over the falls.  Elsewhere, one of the World Cup’s host cities in Brazil, Natal, has declared a flood alert. Two days of near-continuous rain have left the city, on the east coast of Brazil, facing severe flooding. The US will face Ghana there on Monday evening, and the match should not be affected, but more rain is forecast.

 

The researchers have developed a new spectrum for ‘hot’ methane which could be used to detect the molecule at temperatures above that of Earth, up to 1,500K/1220 degree Celsius. Professor Jonathan Tennyson, from UCL Department of Physics and Astronomy and co-author of the study said that the current models of methane were incomplete that lead to a severe underestimation of methane levels on planets. Tennyson asserted that they anticipated their new model will have a big impact on the future study of planets and ‘cool’ stars external to their solar system that would potentially help the scientists identify the signs of extraterrestrial life.

 

There are only a few hundred Sumatran tigers left in the wild and experts say they could become extinct within the next 20 years. But one zookeeper in Australia has gone to extreme lengths to help protect them. Giles Clark brought two newborn Sumatran cubs called Spot and Stripe to live with him and his family at home.