Plants on distant hospitable planets could have developed black foliage and flowers to survive,

Plants on distant hospitable planets could have developed black foliage and flowers to survive, according to a new study.

Flora that would appear black or grey to human eyes could have evolved on planets orbiting dim "red dwarf" stars, according to unpublished research that is being presented at the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno, Wales.

This would enable plants to absorb more light to photosynthesise, using their star's light to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds.

Jack O'Malley-James, a PhD student and astrobiologist at St Andrews University, focused on multiple star systems thought to be common throughout the universe.

He used models for star systems with two or three stars with various combinations of Sun-like and red dwarf stars. He then added planets to these models, orbiting around one or more of the stars.

Exotic plantlife
The research presumes first that plant life similar to that on Earth could evolve on an exoplanet in the "habitable zone" around its star - which is not a given, but the odds of which are difficult to estimate.

The idea then is that photosynthesis there would resemble that seen on our own planet, whereby plants use energy from the Sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and organic compounds, such as sugars.

Flora on those planets would have to adapt to very different light conditions in order to photosynthesise.

"If a planet were found in a system with two or more stars, there would potentially be multiple sources of energy available to drive photosynthesis," said O'Malley-James.

"The temperature of a star determines its colour and, hence, the colour of light used for photosynthesis. Depending on the colours of their starlight, plants would evolve very differently."

nine-year-old girl was admitted to hospital after being bitten by an adder while out walking at a popular beauty spot.

Tyler Butcher had been walking with her family in the New Forest in Hampshire on Good Friday when she was bitten on the foot by the venomous snake.
The schoolgirl was taken to Southampton General Hospital’s intensive care unit after an allergic reaction to the venom caused her leg to turn black.
She was given antivenom by doctors and was said to be recovering well in hospital on Saturday. Her father, Kenny, said the family were walking back to the car when his daughter “let out a yelp”.
He said: “At first I thought she had been stung by a stinging nettle but then I saw the snake slithering away and the puncture marks on her foot.
“She lifted her leg off the ground and was standing on one leg. You can tell by your children if they are in pain and she was in absolute agony.

 

1133 UFO Alien Body Discovered In Buryatia Russia April 2011

Poppy-burning Muslims protesting against 'crusades' plan demonstration outside Royal Wedding

Muslim fanatics plan to hijack the royal wedding by burning effigies of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Extremists belonging to the group Muslim Against Crusades were behind the poppy-burning outrage on November 11 last year.

According to police, they have now vowed to turn the wedding celebrations into a ‘nightmare’. They plan a ‘forceful demonstration’ with thousands of protesters set to burn the Union Flag, images of the Crown, and the bridal couple.

 

Lady Gaga is reportedly set to release the video for her new single 'Judas' over Easter.

The track, which was rush-released last Friday (April 15), has already caused anger with religious groups who have slammed images of the clip ahead of its release.

Now, this week's NME cover star has come under further fire. ''She is trying to rip off Christian idolatry to shore up her talentless, mundane and boring performances," Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League For Religious And Civil Rights, told The Mirror.

The singer is set to appear as Biblical character Mary Magdalene in the video, with actor Norman Reedus taking the role of Judas.

The news comes as Gaga took some potshots of her own in NME, speaking out against critics who say she is manufactured.

Prince Charles is a loving father who's a lot closer to his sons than people often realise

PRINCE William will share a series of heart-to-heart chats with his father in the hours leading up to his wedding.
Prince Charles will cut short his Easter break at Birkhall, Scotland, to offer his eldest son support as he prepares for the biggest day of his life.

The pair will spend the night before the wedding at St James's Palace and will see each other before William and brother Harry, his best man, head to Westminster Abbey.

The gesture is a sign of 28-year-old William's closeness to his dad. It is understood Charles' determination to support him explains why he is now not expected to attend an April 28 dinner for foreign royals hosted by the Queen.



Last night a senior Royal source said: "Prince Charles is a loving father who's a lot closer to his sons than people often realise. He's made it clear his priority in the hours before the wedding is his son.

A spokesman for William confirmed he will spend the last few days before the wedding at his 62-year-old father's official London home. Although he will be on duty with his helicopter search and rescue unit in coming days, his shifts allow time for final preparations and rehearsals in the capital.

FORMER BRITISH prime minister Gordon Brown’s chances of becoming the next head of the International Monetary Fund have been dealt a near-fatal blow

FORMER BRITISH prime minister Gordon Brown’s chances of becoming the next head of the International Monetary Fund have been dealt a near-fatal blow, following prime minister David Cameron’s declaration that he is “not the most appropriate person”.

Mr Cameron’s action provoked fury within Labour last night, with Mr Brown’s successor, Ed Miliband, saying the decision to “rule someone out even before the vacancy has even arisen seems to be going some even for him”.

So far, Mr Brown has kept his own counsel about his desires to succeed Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the influential IMF job, but he has repeatedly been mentioned as a likely candidate. Mr Strauss-Kahn may quit early to contest the French presidential election.

Questioned yesterday, Mr Cameron said that because Mr Brown is someone “who didn’t think we had a debt problem in the UK when we self-evidently do . . . then they might not be the most appropriate person to work out whether other countries around the world have debt and deficit problems”.

He went on: “What matters is – is the person running the IMF someone who understands the dangers of excessive debt, excessive deficit?

“And it really must be someone who gets that, rather than someone who says that they don’t see a problem.”

The Conservative leader gave hints that he may use his influence over the selection of the Mr Strauss-Kahn’s replacement to build alliances with Asian countries, who have long bridled at their lack of power in the organisation. The choice of a non-European would increase the IMF’s standing in the world, he said.

“We’ve got the rise of India and China and southeast Asia, a shift in the world’s focus, and it may well be the time for the IMF to start thinking about that shift in focus too.”

Besides Mr Strauss-Kahn, the 10 most senior positions in the IMF are held by Europeans under a long-standing “gentlemen’s agreement” that has seen the leadership of the World Bank held by Americans.

TV presenter and survivalist Ray Mears is spearheading a new campaign to raise awareness about tick bites and Lyme disease.

Speaking at the start of tick bite prevention week today, he said not enough people know about Lyme disease.

Cases of Lyme disease are increasing in the UK – the Health Protection Agency believes there may be as many as 3,000 cases a year.

There were 18 laboratory- confirmed cases of Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) in Welsh residents in 2008 – the latest figures available.


Confirmed cases in England and Wales have risen from 813 in 2008 to 973 in 2009. About 80% of infections are acquired in the UK.

Mears, who is patron of the tick-borne disease charity BADA-UK and who has suffered Lyme disease, said: “When you’re outside in the mild weather, protect yourself and your family from tick bites and reduce your risk of Lyme disease.

“I feel that there is not enough awareness of Lyme disease in this country, given the fact that in rare cases it may become chronic.”

Amelia Parry developed Lyme disease after she was bitten by an infected tick while sitting in her garden at her home near Aberystwyth last April.

Within 24 hours she experienced “excruciating” pain in her back and legs – she had been bitten repeatedly on her right leg.

The following day she saw a GP and was prescribed massive doses of antibiotics. Her leg had swollen to twice its normal size and she had a “bullseye” rash.

Mrs Parry, 62, who was forced to give up her job as a hotel receptionist because of her illness, said: “The swelling didn’t go completely after the antibiotics and a week to 10 days later I started to feel unwell and knew there was something wrong.

“I didn’t have any get up and go and after about a month of this I went to see my pharmacist who said they thought it was Lyme disease and urged me to see my GP.

“I was fortunate because my doctor was from New Zealand and had done a lot of training in Inverness – he gave me the right antibiotics, which I was on for a month and that was it.

“I occasionally ache all over when I get up in the morning and I now make sure I wear long trousers, socks, wellies and keep my arms covered when I’m outdoors.”

Lyme disease is caused by the bite of infected Ixodid ticks – woodland and heathland areas in southern and south-western England, the Lake District, the Scottish Highlands and Islands, North York moors, Thetford Forest and the South Downs are considered high-risk areas.

Lyme disease is also widespread in Europe, from southern Scandinavia to northern Spain and Portugal and east to many central and eastern European countries.

The most common symptom of Lyme disease – and often the only symptom – is a slowly expanding pink or reddish rash called erythema migrans, which gradually extends slowly outwards from the site of the tick bite. This resembles a distinctive bullseye pattern.

Some patients may also have flu-like symptoms in the first two to four weeks of infection, with a temperature, muscle and joint aches and pains.

If left untreated Lyme disease can affect the nervous system, leading to facial palsy, viral-like meningitis and radiculitis, which is a nerve inflammation that can lead to pain, disturbance of sensation or clumsiness of movement.

Mrs Parry added: “I’d seen ticks on sheep and had dogs with ticks but I’d never thought about humans getting them.”

Julie Barratt, director of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales, said: “As the weather gets warmer and we do more outdoors its is particularly important to be vigilant for the presence of ticks.

“The impact of Lyme disease, or indeed any tick-borne illness on an individual and on their families can be enormous. Taking a few precautions is all that is needed.

“Simple things like wearing long trousers, checking yourself and your pets for ticks, removing embedded ticks properly, looking for tick bites and the bullseye rash that may accompany them and seeking treatment as quickly as possible are simple and sensible steps to avoid tick-borne disease.”

Nitrogen pollution from farms, vehicles, industry and waste treatment is costing the EU up to £280bn (320bn euros) a year, a report says.

The study by 200 European experts says reactive nitrogen contributes to air pollution, fuels climate change and is estimated to shorten the life of the average resident by six months.

Livestock farming is one of the biggest causes of nitrogen pollution, it adds.

It calls for changes in farming and more controls on vehicles and industry.

The problem would be greatly helped if less meat was consumed, the report says.

Nitrogen is the most common element in the atmosphere and is harmless.

It is the reactive form - mainly produced by human activity - that causes a web of related problems.

The 600-page report relies on experts from 21 countries and 89 organisations. It estimates the annual cost of damage caused by nitrogen across Europe as being £55-£280bn.

Reactive nitrogen emissions from agriculture are the most intractable as they come from many diffuse sources.

The report says Europe needs nitrogen fertilisers for its own food security but blames many farmers for applying fertiliser carelessly to crops, so that excess nitrogen runs off to pollute water supplies.

Run-off from animal manure also fouls watercourses, and the release of nitrous oxides from uncovered dung heaps pollutes the air.

London-based YOTEL will open its first hotel in the USA in New York on June 1.

Designed to be a radical change for travelers, London-based YOTEL will open its first hotel in the USA in New York on June 1. The massive, full-service hotel aims to sell its 669 small but stylish rooms at reasonable prices. It's located in a brand new, mixed-use building a few blocks west of Times Square on West 42nd Street and 10th Avenue.

Given its unusual concept and the fact that it's the biggest hotel that will open in New York City this year, Hotel Check-In chatted with CEO Gerard Greene over the phone yesterday. Greene's a major hotel geek and refreshingly frank, so I found it hard to hang up. Here are a few highlights from our wide-ranging conversation:

Michael Jackson Fans Insulted By 'Jeff Koons' Style Sculptures

A new sculpture of the Late "King Of Pop" Michael Jackson by Swedish-born artist Maria von Köhler has outraged Jackson fans in London and prompted numerous death threats to the recording studio where the work of art is installed. Premises Studios famous for past recordings by The Artic Monkeys and Amy Winehouse is located in East London.The studio's chief executive Viv Broughton defended the sculpture, which he said was a "thought-provoking statement about fame and fan worship. He explained to BBC Radio London, that they had been under siege by fanatical fans who have clogged their email inbox with insulting messages. The Sculpture recreates the scene where Jackson dangled baby blanket out of the window of a Berlin hotel. The resin sculpture shows the Pop star holding a baby that is covered with a blanket. The controversy has arisen hot on the heels over a Jackson statue put up by Fulham FC chairman, Mohammed Al Fayed, at the London football club's Craven Cottage stadium. Al Fayed, a tycoon and former Harrods owner was a close friend of Jackson. He has told fans of the club they can "go to hell" if they don't like the statue after critics said it resembled a cheap toy action figure. The statue resembles something more akin to Madam Tussauds or Jeff Koons than "Art". The story is going to carry for a long time and no doubt the works will attract more attention than the Miro exhibition at Tate Modern.