The £600 Loopwheel is set to go on sale in September. 44 year-old Nottingham engineer Sam Pearce came up with the idea after watching a pushchair struggle to get over a kerb, and sketched a rough design on the spot (top right). The finished wheel (bottom right) uses large springs instead of spokes to create a wheel with built in suspension. ...read
Science big picture gallery
University of Southampton researchers used ultrasound scanning to find the underwater town which is as big as the City of London.
Morning, world! Breathtaking image of the first light of dawn over the South Pacific captured from the International Space Station
The stunning shot was captured by one of the crew of the space station as they passed a few hundred miles east of Easter Island. It is the latest in a stunning series of pictures captured by the current crop of astronauts aboard the orbiting outpost. Although Nasa has not revealed who took the picture, Canadian Chris Hadfield has gained a cult following on Twitter for his images of the Earth from space - although he is set to return home later this month.
- The streets of 'Britain's Atlantis' seen for the first time in centuries: 3D scans reveal the 'drowned' medieval town of Dunwich
- The 'scream' trees make when they are thirsty is heard for first time
- Want a reply to your email? Try being downbeat and pessimistic, say scientists
- Cheer up and stop being selfish: Researchers find the formula for getting more Twitter followers
- The British engineer who really HAS reinvented the wheel: Loopwheels system abandons spokes for springs to give a smoother ride
- The £55 phone designed for FOUR YEAR OLDS - and designed so they won't get mugged or be cyberbullied
- The end of stitches? Surgeons pioneer 'human welding' technique using lasers and gold
- Could he be the first man on Mars? Buzz Aldrin reveals scheme to colonise the red planet by 2035
- Facebook and Apple in billion dollar battle to buy satnav startup Waze
- Can how well we read and count at seven REALLY predict how successful we will be in later life?
- Plant bot: The world's first robot that can turn your household plants into light-seeking 'triffid' drones
- The bizarre 'semisub' boat with an underwater cabin that lets you explore the ocean floor without getting wet
- How we go colour blind with age but don't even notice: Brains compensate as we lose the ability to distinguish different shades
- Red sky at night, Nasa's delight: Rockets release vapour clouds in atmosphere for wind experiment that could make your satnav more accurate
- Spot the ball: Radical breakthrough study pinpoints exactly how our brains track fast-moving objects
- Morning, world! Breathtaking image of the first light of dawn over the South Pacific captured from the International Space Station
- Violent images in movies, TV or computer games CAN act as triggers for aggression, says new report
- The ultimate baby snap? Hologram that shows unborn child's first smile from INSIDE the womb set to be offered to expectant parents
- Laughing at, or laughing with? Researchers find our brain can distinguish between types of laughter - and it could affect our health
- YouTube to charge for watching videos: Monthly subscription channels set to launch this week to take on TV
- 'Ershver tooni monhrr!' In other words, hey, can you give me a hand! The ice age 'superlanguage' Europeans spoke 15,000 years ago - and we can still understand today
- The streets of 'Britain's Atlantis' seen for the first time in centuries: 3D scans reveal the 'drowned' medieval town of Dunwich
- The £55 phone designed for FOUR YEAR OLDS - and designed so they won't get mugged or be cyberbullied
- The British engineer who really HAS reinvented the wheel: Loopwheels system abandons spokes for springs to give a smoother ride
- Mysterious 30 foot long rotting 'sea monster' with huge teeth found washed up on New Zealand beach
- Facebook and Apple in billion dollar battle to buy satnav startup Waze
- Could he be the first man on Mars? Buzz Aldrin reveals scheme to colonise the red planet by 2035
- Green 'fireball' meteor spotted shooting across the UK at 150,000 miles per hour
- The ultimate baby snap? Hologram that shows unborn child's first smile from INSIDE the womb set to be offered to expectant parents
- The bizarre 'semisub' boat with an underwater cabin that lets you explore the ocean floor without getting wet
- The end of stitches? Surgeons pioneer 'human welding' technique using lasers and gold
- Can how well we read and count at seven REALLY predict how successful we will be in later life?
- Is man descended from the king of the swimmers? Forget about swinging in trees. Experts now say our earliest ancestors were apes who loved to monkey around in the water
- Morning, world! Breathtaking image of the first light of dawn over the South Pacific captured from the International Space Station
- A bright idea: The astonishing glow-in-the-dark GM plants that could one day replace street lamps
- Is the flying car FINALLY here? First model set to go on sale in two years - and there is even a version that can take off vertically if you get stuck in a traffic jam
- YouTube to charge for watching videos: Monthly subscription channels set to launch this week to take on TV
- More than 78,000 people apply to move to Mars FOREVER
- How we go colour blind with age but don't even notice: Brains compensate as we lose the ability to distinguish different shades
- Look out! Nasa releases stunning image of giant 'solar whip' as sun heads for 11 year solar maximum
- 'Ershver tooni monhrr!' In other words, hey, can you give me a hand! The ice age 'superlanguage' Europeans spoke 15,000 years ago - and we can still understand today
- Moths can hear sound frequencies 100 times higher than the whiniest human voice in discovery which may revolutionise mobile phone techonology
- MOST READ IN DETAIL
GAME REVIEWS
THIS WEEK'S TOP TEN VIDEO GAMES
GADGET REVIEWS
SMARTPHONES? IT'S YOUR CALL
The ultimate non-iPhone smartphone guide...
Talk time: 9.5hr (7hr playback, 55hr music)
Spec: 3.7in (800x480 pixels) AMOLED screen, 16GB, 1.4GHz Windows Mango, 8MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: This combination works wonderfully. It's a pleasure to use and Nokia's Drive GPS app is impressive. We've rated these iPhone alternatives from Ace down to Five - and the Nokia is at the head of the pack.
Talk time: 8.5hr
Spec: Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.65in (720x1,280) AMOLED screen, 5MP camera, 1080p video, 16GB memory
Verdict: It's got a beautiful screen, intuitive operating system and cool features like face-recognition security, but battery life doesn't quite match the hype.
Talk time: 6hr 50min
Spec: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, 1.5GHz, 4.7in (480x800) screen, 16GB, 8MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: The Titan is slim, light and has the largest screen on any Windows device. Shame they didn't give it better screen resolution.
Talk time: 4hr
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 1 GHz, 4.3in (800x480) screen, 8MP camera, 1080p HD video, 8GB memory
Verdict: The sharp lines and thin bezel give a professional look while the monochrome interface screams class. One for the fashionistas.
Talk time: 5hr 20min
Spec: BlackBerry 7 OS, 1 GHz, 2.45in (480x360) screen, 5MP camera, VGA video, 8GB memory
Verdict: Beautifully made and with a battery life most handsets would kill for, but the OS is limiting and even with its touch screen it can't compete.
Talk time: 7hr 35min
Spec: Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, 1.4GHz, 4.2in (854x480) screen, 1GB internal, 8GB MicroSD memory (included), 8.1MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: Motorola take note, this is how you do slim and sexy. The camera is let down by a poor menu and awful shutter button, but Sony's social media widget 'Timescale' is a time-saving stroke of genius.
Talk time: 10hr
Spec: Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 4.3in Super AMOLED (540x960) screen, 8MP camera, Full HD video, 16GB
Verdict: Light and impossibly thin, but even with its rigid Kevlar frame it feels limp and lopsided in the hand. Shame, as the screen is exceptional and the interface is bursting with neat tricks including the ability to resize the icons you use most.
Talk time: 4hr 30min
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 800MHz processor, 3.5in (800x480) screen, 5MP camera, 512 MB internal memory, 2GB microSD card (included)
Verdict: Never going to induce envy but if you want smartphone functionality without budget busting it's hard to fault. Navigation is intuitive; battery life excellent.
Talk time: 4hr
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, 3.5in (800x480) screen, 5MP camera, 800MHz processor, 512MB memory, 2GB microUSB card, GPS
Verdict: The Vivacity is essentially the San Francisco II with iPhone looks, and while it lacks the fluidity of its more expensive cousins, you can get app-happy on a budget.
Talk time: 4hr 30min
Spec: Android 2.2 Froyo, 2.8in (240x320) screen, 2MP camera, 130MB memory, 2GB microSD card
Verdict: It might be cheap, small and pocketable but as a smartphone it's cramped, slow and the minuscule memory limits the number of apps.
A bright idea: The astonishing glow-in-the-dark GM plants that could one day replace street lamps
Scientists from California have developed a strain of bacteria which can take the genes that make fireflies glow and transfer them into plants to make them glow-in-the dark. The scientists are hoping that luminescent trees could replace electric street lighting and have set up a Kickstarter campaign to get funding for their project.
All around the world... and beyond
British photographers Fiona Rogers and Anup Shah captured apes in Indonesia and Borneo - and highlighted how human our evolutionary cousins are.
Green 'fireball' meteor spotted shooting across the UK at 150,000 miles per hour
A green-tinged meteor was spotted shooting across England and Wales Wednesday night with reported sightings in Cornwall, Hampshire, Lancashire, South Wales and Worcestershire. Experts believe the meteor may have been formed from debris from Halley’s Comet and would have travelled at speeds of 150,000 miles per hour.