- ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by Honda. He’s been around since 2006 but this week he’s been showing off some new tricks. He demonstrated skills like going up and coming down stairs, kicking a football and pouring liquid into a cup. All these skills may seem easy to you and I, but to a robot they’re extremely hard to perform. Honda say that this kind of humanoid robot will become part of our lives in the future, helping with basic tasks in our homes. But that’s a way off yet and for now, we’ll just enjoy seeing ASIMO bust his moves for the cameras.
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- Ceramic poppies representing hundreds of thousands of people who died during World War One are being ‘planted’ in the Tower of London moat. The 888,246 poppies, for all those who died from Britain and the Commonwealth, are designed to look like a sea of red. The poppies have been made by a ceramics company in Derbyshire and the first is being planted today. The finished display will be unveiled on 5 August, to mark 100 years since Britain’s entry into World War One.
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- In a bid to enter the race to develop space technology, the United Arab Emirates has launched a project to send an unmanned spaceship to Mars by 2021 which will go down in history as the first space mission from the Arab world. With a view to coincide the journey with the 50th anniversary of UAE’s formation, a new space agency will be created to supervise the mission, Gulf News reported. With this mission, UAE will be one of the nine privileged countries in possession of the space programme to explore Mars. The report quoted President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan as hailing the moment as the Islamic world’s entry into the realm of space exploration. He also added that space technology will be used in enhancing the country’s development plans.
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- England have fallen to 20th in the latest FIFA world rankings, their lowest position since May 1996. The drop of 10 places following a poor World Cup means they are behind Bosnia-Hercegovina, Costa Rica and the USA. World Cup champions Germany are the number one team in the world for the first time in two decades. Scotland remain at 27th and Wales have dropped three places to 44th, while Northern Ireland are up one to 89th and Republic of Ireland stay 70th.
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- A remote part of the Scottish Highlands has been chosen as a sanctuary to try to protect wildcats. Disease, loss of habitat and contact with pet cats have led to wildcats becoming an endangered species. The Ardnamurchan peninsula, in the west of Scotland, was selected because the animals have the best chance of surviving in a remote area. The area has some of Scotland’s wildest landscapes and few human residents, so it’s hoped the cats won’t be disturbed. Scottish Natural Heritage estimates that there are just 150 breeding pairs of Scottish Wildcats left in the wild.