Amazing Hermit Crab Housing Chain

Brian Cox visits the world's biggest vacuum chamber

Is that street lamp watching you?

From bridges to sewers, streetlights to rubbish bins, cities are increasingly using an unusual range of sources to gather data about a subject of acute interest: you. 
Read more.

Northern Soul: Keeping The Faith. By The Culture Show BBC2

One of the best documentaries about the Northern Soul scene to date, it's been done with love and affection. Produced and Directed by Maurice O'Brien and Edited by David Arthur. Well worth seeing!

Sodium: Getting rid of dirt - and murder victims

Be warned, this article contains material some readers may find distressing. That's because it's about sodium - and the story of one of Italy's most notorious serial killers illustrates elegantly some of this element's unique properties.
(BBC)

Read the article here.

Ai Weiwei vase worth $1m broken in local artist protest

A Florida artist is facing criminal charges after deliberately dropping a vase by dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in an apparent protest.

Maximo Caminero, 51, was charged with criminal mischief after breaking the $1m (£600,000) vase on Sunday in Miami.

The Florida museum is holding an exhibition of the work of the Chinese artist until mid-March. It includes an artwork, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, depicting Mr Ai smashing an ancient Chinese vase.

"You're not part of the conversation": The young and voting

Brasilia, a bold experiment in city building

Transformed in just three years from isolated jungle to a modernist dream, Brazil’s capital city is based on architect Oscar Niemeyer’s vision for a classless, new-age world.



For source go here.

Breast is best. Shopping vouchers rewarding breastfeeding in UK

In the UK new mothers are to be offered up to £200 in shopping vouchers to encourage them to breastfeed their babies. 
The pilot scheme is targeting deprived areas in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. To qualify for the full reward, the women will have to breastfeed until their babies are six months old. 
Critics say the money would be better spent helping those mothers who have difficulties feeding their newborns.

Why children as young as three are sent to boarding school in China

Family ties are hugely important in China, but thousands of Chinese parents are still sending children as young as three away to boarding school. Why do they do it?

Kelly Jiang bounces into her kindergarten classroom, her parents a few steps behind.

"Bye Mum and Dad," the four-year-old trills, with barely a backwards glance.
As her parents wave farewell, she's already happily chatting to her teacher and her classmates.

Japan's amazing lunchboxes

Making a packed lunch for your children to take to school is a chore performed by parents around the world. 
But in Japan, it is not just the taste and healthiness of the meal that is important - but how it looks. 
The country's ancient emphasis on food presentation has been transformed into a trend for character bento - packed lunches made to look like pandas, teddy bears or even real people. 
The BBC's Tokyo correspondent Roland Buerk has been finding out more.



For source go here.

Gold actually does grow on trees

Scientists find small deposits in gumleaves.

Australian geochemists publish paper showing how trees act 'as a hydraulic pump … drawing up water containing the gold'

Contrary to popular belief, gold does grow on trees.

Scientists from Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), have proved that the leaves of certain eucalyptus trees contain minute amounts of the precious metal that have been naturally absorbed.

Also: Listen from the BBC

Women, Be Ambitious!

The UK's most powerful women share their advice on ambition and self-belief. A truly feel-good video!

For source go here.

Why piano-mania grips China’s children

In Mao’s China, pianos were destroyed as despised symbols of the bourgeoisie – but now an estimated 40m children are learning the instrument. What has changed? Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore investigates. 

Keng Zhou holds a prestigious position as dean of the International Piano Academy at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. But he first learnt to play in 1973 not on a gleaming grand piano but on an instrument’s battered remains. The legs had been sawn off for fuel and its cover removed to create a makeshift table. For years in Mao’s China, Western classical music was viewed suspiciously as a tool of imperialism and the piano a despised instrument of the bourgeoisie.

US borrowing crisis 'days away' from danger, says World Bank head

The president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, has warned that the United States is just "days away from a very dangerous moment" because of the government's borrowing crisis.



He urged US policymakers to reach a deal to raise the government's debt ceiling before Thursday's deadline.

The US Treasury will start to run short of funds if no agreement is reached for it to borrow on financial markets.

Europe’s new designs that may help the UK’s housing crisis

As the UK faces a housing crisis, The Culture Show travels across Europe to find the latest architectural movements which could provide a solution.

The combination of population increases, a shaky economy and changes in working and living habits has led to a housing shortage in the UK. The Culture Show visits three locations in Europe to see how innovative new projects could offer solutions to Britain’s housing problem.

Reading the world in 196 books

Writer Ann Morgan set herself a challenge – to read a book from every country in the world in one year. She describes the experience and what she learned. 

I used to think of myself as a fairly cosmopolitan sort of person, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and the odd Australian and South African book, my literature collection consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I hardly ever tackled anything in translation. My reading was confined to stories by English-speaking authors.

Michael Morpurgo on how to write for children

Michael Morpurgo is one of England’s best-loved children’s writers. He discusses his fascination with historical subjects and how he writes for children with Razia Iqbal.

Michael Morpurgo has written over 100 books, the most famous of which,War Horse (1982), has since become an award-winning and hugely successful stage play. It was adapted into a feature film by Steven Spielberg in 2011. Morpurgo has won several prizes, including the Whitbread Award. In 2005 he won the Blue Peter award for his novel, Private Peaceful.

He talks with Razia Iqbal about preserving traditional values, the importance of historical accuracy in his novels, and how to tackle serious and disturbing subjects when writing for children.



For source go here.

China thirsty for wine

Tom Brook profiles a documentary in the market for distributors at Cannes that examines China’s growing interest in fine French wines. China’s economic ascendancy has created a thirst for luxury goods – and produced a bubble in wine prices. But whereas the buyers of the most expensive wines in the West tend to be investors, the Chinese are buying them to drink. 

Directors David Roach and Warwick Ross’ film Red Obsession examines the effect of China’s new wealth on the wine industry in Bordeaux, on domestic drinking habits and on China’s perception abroad.



For source go here.

UK wages decline among worst in Europe

Wages in the UK have seen one of the largest falls in the European Union during the economic downturn, according to official figures.

Figures from the House of Commons library show average hourly wages have fallen 5.5% since mid-2010, adjusted for inflation, which is the fourth-worst decline in the 27-nation bloc.

By contrast, German hourly wages rose by 2.7% over the same period. Across the European Union as a whole, average wages fell 0.7%.