Anhkwon9999 Women talk three times more than men

Researchers in the USA have found that a protein in the brain might explain why women are more talkative than men - three times more chatty, in fact. The research team at the University of Maryland say a "language protein" that goes by the name of Foxp2 is a lot more prevalent in women's brains. The protein was first discovered a decade ago and was deemed to be a key neurological component of speech. The scientists say it is a lot more abundant in girls than boys. They believe the protein is the reason why girls start speaking earlier and more quickly than boys. It also supports claims that women speak about 20,000 words a day, compared to just 7,000 words for the average man. Research team leader professor Margaret McCarthy said: "This study is one of the first to report a sex difference in the expression of a language-associated protein in humans or animals." She added: "The findings raise the possibility that sex differences in brain and behaviour are more [widespread], and established earlier than previously [thought]." Other scientists have said there is more than one protein responsible for speech and that the research is in its infancy. Readers of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper offered some interesting insights into the chattiness of women. One said women have to talk more because, "men are not good listeners and women must repeat themselves to be heard". _____________________________

Study shows money makes us worry

A new study from the BBC shows that looking after money isn't easy. Over 109,000 people took part in the BBC's Big Money Test. It was one of the biggest ever studies on the psychology of money. One of the biggest findings is that money makes many people feel bad. Researchers say over 40 per cent of us always worry about spending money; a third of us constantly worry about money; and the same percentage feel guilty when spending money on themselves. The study found that women like to go shopping to make themselves feel better about life, while men are more likely to save their cash. Women are more generous with their money and are also more likely to suffer from money problems. The researchers also looked at ways shops try and make us spend our money. It showed how stores are continually looking at new ways to make us buy things on impulse. It asks why candies and chocolate are always by the checkout in supermarkets; why "everyday essentials like bread and milk are at the back of shop so you have to walk through as many aisles as possible to reach them;" and why the perfume and jewellery sections are always at the front of a department store. The test says that buying things on impulse can be bad for our finances: "People who bought goods impulsively were three times more likely to go bankrupt, and four times more likely to run out of money by the end of the week."

Anhkwon9999 City living makes it harder to concentrate

A new report says living in a city makes it harder for people to concentrate. The research found that people who live in rural areas can focus better than people in urban areas. The study is from Goldsmiths College, which is part of the University of London. Head researcher Dr Karina Linnell and her team studied how two groups of people did the same "thinking tasks". The team went to a remote part of Namibia, southwest Africa, to study the Himba tribe. Himba people live a very basic life in the desert, doing traditional farming. The team also studied members of the same tribe who had moved to the nearest town. Dr Linnell said the tribe who lived in the desert did much better on the tests than those in the town. Dr Linnell's research may change the way companies operate. In the future, workers may relocate from cities to live and work in the countryside. Linnell said there are too many things around us in the city that stop us from thinking about one thing for a long time. This means we do not work at our best. She asked: "What if, for example, companies realised certain tasks would be better carried out by employees based outside of the urban environment where their concentration ability is better?" The past century has seen billions of people move from the countryside to big cities. If Dr Linnell's research is true, this century might see many of those people return to the great outdoors. __________________________________

Cycling is bad for the environment

An American lawmaker has said cycling is bad for the environment. He also said cyclists should pay a tax to ride their bikes on the roads. Ed Orcutt, a representative from Washington State, sent an e-mail to the owner of a local bike shop to outline his thinking. He wrote: "A cyclist has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 isa greenhouse gascyclists are actually polluting when they ride." Mr Orcutt said: "You can't just say that there's no pollution as a result of riding a bicycle.You would be giving off more CO2 if you are riding a bike than driving in a car." Mr Orcutt also believes cyclists should be taxed to use the roads. He said it was unfair that motorists have to pay all of the costs of building and repairing roads. He wrote: "Currently motorists are paying to use their cars on the roadsso if cars pay for the roads they are using, it only makes sense that bicyclists would also be required to pay for the roads they use when they are actually biking on them." Dale Carlson, owner of the Tech Bike Shop said Mr Orcutt's ideas were wrong. He wrote: "People who choose to ride a bicycle instead of driving a car actively reduce congestion." He added: "They save wear and tear on our roads and bridges, and reduce the [need for police] to patrol our highways."

Anhkwon9999 Scientists say they can read dreams

Japanese scientists say they have found a way to "read" people's dreams. Researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for what they say is, "the world's first decoding" of night-time visions. Their research is published in the journal "Science". The researchers wrote: "Visual imagery during sleep has long been a topic of persistent speculation, but its private nature has hampered objective analysis. Here, we present a neural decoding approach in which machine learning models predict the contents of visual imagery during sleep." They were able to predict what images their volunteers had seen with a 60 per cent accuracy rate. The research is a part of a wider programme aimed at studying the brain. It hopes to unlock the secrets of the unconscious mind to help the disabled move artificial limbs using brain activity. It could also help those with dementia and other neurological conditions. A spokesperson said: "Our expectations from the dream study are quite high, but we are also looking carefully at the ethical aspects of the technology, which may allow a third person to look at somebody else's thoughts." Head researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani said, "dreams have fascinated people since ancient times, but their function and meaning has remained closed". He believes his research is "a key step towards reading dreams more precisely". ___________________________________

Google is testing a self driven car (Google Testing Self-Driving Car)

Google is testing a car it believes is the future of motoring. The Internet giant has been testing the car that drives itself for several months. It has driven along thousands of miles of public roads in California. The car is guided by sensors, lasers and video cameras. A Google spokesperson explained to concerned motorists that the car has never been driven unmanned, and had test drivers, just in case things went wrong. The tech company says its vehicles are still very much at the experimental stage. Googles interest in artificial intelligence is a sign that it wants to branch out beyond the web. It is an extension of its Street View project, in which millions of streets have been photographed and put online. Googles blog said the companys entry into the world of automotive technology is part of its plans to make the world a better place. Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] founded Google because they wanted to help solve really big problems using technology, it wrote. The post continued: One of the big problems were working on today is car safety and efficiency. Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up peoples time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said last month that it was unfortunate that cars were invented before computers: Your car should drive itself; its amazing to me that we let humans drive cars, he told reporters.

Anhkwon9999 Carbon dioxide at record level

(Carbon dioxide at record high level) The level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is now at a record high. An American weather station in Hawaii recorded the new high on the 9th of May. It found CO2 levels were at 400 parts per million (ppm). The last time CO2 was at this level was five million years ago. This was when there were no humans on the Earth. Scientists say the 400ppm level is a warning sign. They say we must do more to stop this number getting bigger. However, scientist James Butler said he thought CO2 levels would keep rising. He warned: "In eight to nine years, we will probably have seen the last CO2 reading under 400ppm." He told reporters that even at the South Pole, CO2 would be above 400ppm. Carbon dioxide is one of the gases that create global warming. Just one CO2 molecule can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. Pieter Tans, one of the scientists measuring CO2 levels, said human activity is making the Earth warmer. He said that, "the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas is driving the acceleration". He pointed out that 300 years ago, CO2 levels were around 280ppm. He added that 800,000 years ago, they were at 180ppm. Another scientist, Dr Ralph Keeling, warned that CO2 is warming the Earth to dangerous levels. He is worried about arctic ice melting, causing sea levels to rise. This will put billions of people in danger. He said: "It takes a long time to melt ice, but we're doing it. It's scary." _______________________________________

United Nations asks us to eat insects

A new United Nations report says that we should all eat insects. The report is from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. It is called "Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security". The U.N. says it is important we eat insects to help the Earth. It gave three reasons why we should be adding insects to our diet. The first is they are good for our health. "Insects are healthy, nutritious alternatives to mainstream staples such as chicken, pork, beef and even fish." The second reason is they are better for the environment than breeding cows, sheep, and other animals. Finally, "insect farming" would help millions of poor families around the world eat and start a small business. Many cultures already include insects in their diet. The report says: "Many people around the world eat insects out of choice, largely because of the [tastiness].More than 1, 900 species have reportedly been used as food." However, most people in Western or "developed" countries think the idea of eating insects is disgusting. The report says governments need to educate Westerners about the benefits of eating bugs so they get over the "disgust factor". Ento, a company in London that sells insect-based food, said it is difficult to get people to eat creepy-crawlies. It told the "New Scientist" magazine: "On paper, insects are fantastic, but on a plate, most people won't touch them."

Anhkwon9999 Having children makes women live longer

A new report says that women who do not have children may die earlier than those who do. Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark looked at over 21,000 couples between 1994 and 2005. They all tried to have children, without success. The women all went to special clinics for IVF treatment a technique where doctors fertilize the woman's egg in a laboratory. The researchers said that women who could not have children were four times likelier than mothers to die early. Some doctors have said the report might cause childless women to worry about dying early. The truth is there is a very small risk of an early death. Just 316 women died during the 11-year study. Very few of those died earlier than average. One critic of the report said the study was very misleading. Dr Ingrid Collins, a psychologist, told the BBC: "This is a very specific situation of people who are trying to have children. The study's findings cannot be used to [talk about] the whole general population." She added: "People having IVF tend to be desperate for a child. If they are unsuccessful, they may be depressed. It may be this [depression] rather than the childlessness that [causes an earlier death]." Another psychologist, Dr Helen Nightingale, agreed, saying: "Being childless without a doubt reduces your fight for life.The support of a family, the focus on your children and grandchildren, and the desire to watch how they turn out drives your [will] to survive." ________________________________________

Quarter of Brits walk an hour a week

Research has found that 25 per cent of British people walk for less than one hour each week. That's just nine minutes a day. Another 43 per cent walked for less than two hours per week. This research suggests people need to do more exercise. The British government recommends 150 minutes of physical activity every week. Most British people are doing less than this. The research is from an online survey of 2,021 adults. People answered questions about how far they walked a week. This included walking to work, schools or to local shops. Increasing numbers of people are using their cars instead of their feet, and playing games on video and computer screens rather than in sports centres and parks. Britain's largest walking charity said the research showed that there was an 'inactivity pandemic' in Britain. More and more people are avoiding any physical exercise. The charity said: "Walking is the key to helping reverse this pandemic of inactivity." It added: "We want people all over Britain to join the walking revolution.Walking is one of the most accessible and achievable ways to truly conquer this inactivity." Politician Diane Abbott said the research was a 'worrying' indication of the nation's health. She said: "We need to plan activity into the way buildings are designed. The first thing you see in a building is often a lift [elevator], then you have to look for the stairs. It should be the other way around."

Anhkwon9999 Gangnam Style most-watched YouTube video

The video to the global smash hit song Gangnam Style has become the most-watched clip in YouTube's history. It has had almost 825 million views in the past five months and is moving quickly towards one billion. The video currently has 5,473,726 likes and 338,504 dislikes. Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber previously held the record for the most YouTube views with his 2010 blockbuster Baby. Gangnam Style is by 34-year-old South Korean singer Psy. His iconic dance and catchy tune have captured the imagination of millions of people worldwide. The video pokes fun at the glitzy Gangnam district of South Korea's capital Seoul. In it, he is seen dancing around the city pretending to ride a horse and twirl a lasso. Gangnam Style first appeared on YouTube in July. It took just five months to reach the 800-million mark, over two years quicker than Bieber's song. A statement from YouTube Trends called the rise in popularity of the video as "unprecedented". It said: "The video has been a massive hit at a global level unlike anything we've ever seen before. Each day, Gangnam Style is still being watched between 7 and 10 million times." The dance has led to thousands of copycat videos being posted online, each with their own version of it. Even U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attempted it. Mr Ban joked: "I'm a bit jealous. Until two days ago, someone told me I was the most famous Korean in the world. Now I have to relinquish that." ______________________________________________

Will the world end on Friday?

Many people have been preparing for months for the end of the world. There have been stories on the Internet for the past decade that the world will end on December 21. This is the day of the "Mayan Apocalypse," when a Mayan calendar predicts the end of us all. However, many other people do not believe the world will end in a day or two. The Chinese government has recently arrested 93 people for spreading doomsday rumours on the Internet. Meanwhile, in Russia, Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov sensibly advised people not to buy Armageddon candles. He wrote on his website: "Does no one realise that once the end of the world comes, candles won't help them?" So what might happen on Friday? The Internet is full of stories about giant tsunamis and asteroids that will finish us. More common stories are that the black hole at the centre of the galaxy will swallow the Earth, or that a planet called "Nibiru" will hit us. NASA says Nibiru was meant to destroy us in May 2003, but when nothing happened, "the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012". NASA adds: "If Nibiru was realastronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye." English teachers worldwide have told their students they cannot use the apocalypse as an excuse not to do homework.

Anhkwon9999 Most divorces due to household chores

Most people believe that the biggest grounds for divorce are either infidelity or arguments over money. However, a new report from British law firm Gateley suggests otherwise. According to its analysis of 350 divorce cases, seven out of ten divorces occur because of disputes over who does what household chores. Twenty per cent of divorces are due to unfaithfulness. Gateley says gone are the days when the wife did all the cooking and cleaning. Dual income marriages now mean split responsibilities for vacuuming, doing the dishes and tidying. Gateley advised couples to discuss who does what before walking down the aisle. A spokeswoman said that, "going into a marriage blind could be a recipe for disaster". Conversely, a study in Norway suggests that couples who share household chores are more likely to split up. Thomas Hansen, co-author of the report 'Equality in the Home,' said the divorce rate among couples who shared housework equally was 50 per cent higher than for those where women did all the work. Mr Hansen said that in Norway women did most of the housework in 70 per cent of marriages, and were "largely happy" to do so. An adverse side effect of marital discord is that many families are now "too poor to split up". The U.K. charity Relate said that in many middle-income families, couples stay together because they can't afford to divorce. Relate says this results in a "toxic" home environment. _________________________________________

Digital fork helps you lose weight

A new product has come on the market for those wanting a digital solution to losing weight a fork. A Hong Kong company, HAPILABS, has showcased its HAPIfork at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA. The wireless fork keeps track of your dining habits, including your eating speed, and then downloads data via USB or Bluetooth to your iPhone or PC. The purpose of the fork is to help you eat more slowly. It tells you how long it took to eat your meal, the amount of "fork servings" taken per minute, and the intervals between "fork servings". If you are eating too fast, the fork will vibrate to let you know to slow down. The HAPIfork weighs 65 grams and is on sale for $99. HAPILABS was founded by former French pole vaulter Fabrice Boutain. He explained the benefits of his new product, saying: "What is important is you take enough time to chew the food well." He added: "By chewing well, you will help the digestion. There was a study in the United States in 2006 showing that people eating more slowly will eat 11 per cent fewer calories. So this is how we can help us lose weight." HAPILABS spokesman Andrew Carton said: "Eating too fast, and insufficient mastication has been tied to all sorts of problems, includingweight gain." The company's website says there are many scientific studies that highlight the negative effects related to eating meals too quickly.

Anhkwon9999 Bamboo shortage a risk to pandas

The giant panda is already on the endangered list. The number of pandas in the world has been falling for decades. There are several reasons for this. One is that many of the panda's forests have gone. They have been cut down to make towns and cities. Another is the fact that the animal breeds very slowly and has few cubs (baby pandas). The panda is now facing another big threat to its survival a shortage of food. A new report shows that bamboo, the panda's main food, is disappearing because of climate change. Bamboo is pretty much the only food the panda eats. Ninety-nine per cent of its diet is bamboo. An adult panda needs around 38 kilograms of bamboo every day. The study predicts that nearly all the bamboo in China's Qinling Mountains could disappear by the end of this century because of global warming. That means pandas would have nothing to eat. The study said: "Results suggest that almost the entire panda habitat in the [Qinling] region may disappear by the end of the 21st century." The researchers said the only chance of survival the panda has is if they move higher up the mountains. Scientist Jianguo Liu warned that we must start helping pandas now, saying: "It is tough, but I think there's still hope, if we take action now." Panda lovers are shocked at this latest bad news. Panda expert Chang Leng said it was time for the world to wake up and help the panda. ___________________________________________

Internet safety lessons for 5-year-olds

A British organisation has recommended that children as young as five should be given instruction on the dangers of the Internet. The U.K. Safer Internet Centre is co-funded by the European Commission and delivers a wide range of activities and initiatives to promote the safe and responsible use of technology. Britain's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) welcomed the advice and urged schools to provide appropriate guidance on Internet use. The NSPCC's Claire Lilley warned of the dangers youngsters faced by being online. She said: "We are facing an e-safety time bomb. Young people tell us they are experiencing all sorts of new forms of abuse on a scale never seen before." The Safer Internet Centre published an online survey of children's reflections on the Internet on February 5th, to coincide with the UK's Safer Internet Day. The report summarises the opinions of 24,000 schoolchildren. It found that 31% of seven to 11-yearolds said that gossip or mean comments online had stopped them from enjoying the Internet. Children also said they had been exposed to online pornography, experienced cyber-bullying and had been forced into sending indecent images of themselves to others. The report said: "Promoting a safer and better Internet for childreninvolves promoting their online rights to be safe online, to report concerns and to manage their privacy."

Anhkwon9999 Eye-tracking software will look at you shop

New computer software will soon be keeping an eye on you, or on your eyes, when you go shopping. It is called the Sideways project because it tracks the movement of your eyes as you glance at products on shelves. The researchers, from Britain's Lancaster University, told the BBC that the technology would be a common feature in stores before the end of the decade. Senior researcher Andreas Bulling said: "The system uses a single ordinary camera[It] detects the faces of people walking by and calculates where the eyes are relative to the eye corners." This information is then used to flash up adverts related to what products you were looking at longest as you pass by video screens ahead of you. Eye-tracking technology is being used in a number of different situations. One is to help motorists better identify cyclists on roads. Studies suggest drivers are five times likelier to spot pedestrians than people riding bicycles. This could significantly cut the number of road deaths. Eye-tracking can also be used to allow people to use their eyes as a mouse to scroll through and select content on screens. Disabled people are already using this technology to enhance their daily mobility. Last month the tech giant Samsung launched a smartphone that monitors what users look at on-screen. Mr Bulling said: "It is really gaining momentum. I fully expect this technology to become available widely in the near future." _______________________________

Children worrying about their body image

A survey of English schoolchildren shows boys and girls are worrying about the way they look. The study found that over half of male schoolchildren lacked confidence because of their body shape. The figure for girls was slightly higher, at 59 per cent. Researchers questioned 693 teachers about how their students felt about their bodies. All the children had taken lessons on body image and self-esteem. Teachers said many children were very upset if others said bad things about their appearance. Around 55 per cent of teachers reported that girls were "ultra-sensitive" to comments about their looks; the figure for boys being easily hurt by taunts or teasing was 27 per cent. Teachers gave a number of reasons why children as young as four years old are stressing out about their shape. Over 90 per cent of teachers blame the Internet and television. Children see images of "perfect" bodies every day and they feel they have to look that way too. Almost 30 per cent of teachers said their female students used sunbeds or sprays to look suntanned. Many children are on diets to make themselves attractive to the opposite sex. One elementary school teacher said: "I work with four to five-year-olds and some say things like, 'I can't eat cheese, it will make me fat'". A teachers' spokeswoman warned that children trying to look like "airbrushed celebrities in the media only leads to misery".

Anhkwon9999 Americans Waste 40% Of Their Food

Americans are wasteful when it comes to food, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). It has released a report called "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill". The study highlights how much of the food produced in the USA ends up in the trash. It says the 40 per cent of uneaten food equates to around $165 billion a year. This figure has increased by 50 per cent since the 1970s, suggesting Americans are becoming more wasteful. The NRDC highlighted the effect on the environment, saying US food production "eats up 10% of the total US energy budgetand swallows 80% of all freshwater consumed in the United States". The NRDC points out how a change in behaviour could help America's health. It says: "Reducing food losses by just 15% would be enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans every year at a time when one in six Americans lack a secure supply of food to their tables." The Council offered three tips. It suggested the U.S. government should "set national goals for waste reduction," that businesses needed to "streamline their own operations, reduce food losses and save money," and that "consumers can waste less food by shopping wiselyknowing when food goes badcooking only the amount of food they need, and eating their leftovers." It said the average family could save up to $2,275 a year. _________________________________________

Pass-thoughts to replace passwords

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley's School of Information have come up with an ingenious device that might, one day soon, replace the need for passwords. A press release explains: "Instead of typing your password, in the future you may only have to think your password." Their research explored the feasibility of brainwave-based computer authentication as a substitute for passwords. This resulted in the creation of the Neurosky MindSet headset a $100 device that can read brainwaves. The team believes this new technology is secure, accurate, and user-friendly. They also believe people would be willing to replace passwords with pass-thoughts. The project's findings were unveiled at the 2013 Workshop on Usable Security at the Seventeenth International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security. Team leader Professor John Chuang explained his new technique provides a more fail-safe and cheaper solution than things like fingerprint scans, retina scans, or facial or voice recognition. He said his team's inexpensive headset connects to a computer wirelessly using Bluetooth and is little different to headsets used with mobile phones, music players, and other computing devices. However, security experts expressed concern regarding the ability of software that can "hack" people's minds to extract things like ATM PINs.

Anhkwon9999 250 million children cannot read or write

A new report from the United Nations says more than 250 million children of primary school age cannot read or write. It said they could also not do basic mathematics. The report said that 120 million children have spent little or no time in school. The researchers said children not going to school means countries lose money. Each year, governments lose up to $130 billion. Vibeke Jensen, a U.N. spokeswoman, said there was a global "learning crisis". She said this was because there were not enough well-trained teachers in poor areas. She said that in a third of countries, 75 per cent of primary school teachers do not have enough training. She added: "The issue now is to put the focus on quality." The report said that most of those not going to school were girls. It said it was important that developing countries educate girls. Sending girls to school can increase a country's wealth by 25 per cent over 40 years. The report said that almost two-thirds (66%) of girls in Arab countries and sub-Saharan Africa would never go to school. In Yemen, just 36 per cent of young women are literate. The Reuters news agency said: "If current trends continue, the poorest part of the young female population in developing countries won't achieve literacy until 2072" There was some good news. In Laos, Rwanda and Vietnam, the number of children not going to school fell by 85 per cent in the last five years. _______________________________________

Online dining latest craze in South Korea

There is a new craze in South Korea that is very popular. It is watching other people eat online. The Reuters news agency reports there are over 3,500 people who eat live in front of their webcam. Thousands of people watch the shows. One of the most famous online diners is 34-year-old Park Seo-yeon. She is known as The Diva and has thousands of followers who watch her eat every day. She broadcasts her meals in real time for about three hours a day. She said she first tried it as a hobby, but then she started to get a lot of money. People click a link on her website to say they like her. She gets about nine U.S. cents per click. She now makes over $9,000 a month from her show and has quit her regular job. Many people in Korea watch the online dining webcasts because they are lonely. More and more Koreans are living alone in big cities and have no one to eat with. Reuters said: "One-person households are set to increase from 25.3 per cent of the total population in 2012 to 32.7 per cent in 2030." This is the fastest rate of any rich country in the world. Ms Park says she feels like she is providing a benefit to society. She told Reuters: "It is comforting for people who eat alone. It feels great when people said, 'Thank you for a fun and delicious time'". She also said people write to thank her for helping them with their eating problems. She enjoys being part of a big online community and talking about food.

Anhkwon9999 Almost no poor countries by 2035

The man who started Microsoft, Bill Gates, has predicted that by 2035, there will be almost no poor countries in the world. Today, the World Bank says there are 35 poor countries. Most of the people who live in them are on low or no incomes. Gates said that nearly all these countries will be richer in the next 20 years. He wrote: "Every nation in South America, Asia, and Central America (with the possible exception of Haiti), and most in coastal Africa will have joined the ranks of today's middle-income nations." He added: "When I was born, most countries in the world were poor. In the next two decades desperately poor countries will become the exception rather than the rule." Mr Gates said some countries will still be poor. These include North Korea, Haiti and nations in central Africa. He said the good news was that: "Nearly 90% will have a higher income than India does today." He believes countries will become richer by copying their more successful neighbours. Countries will also benefit from new medicines, better seeds for farmers, and the Internet. Gates said many countries that were very poor just a few decades ago are now doing well. He said China, India, Brazil and Botswana were poor thirty years ago but now have growing economies. He said there was still a lot of work to do and that, "more than one billion people live in extreme poverty, so it's not time to celebrate". ________________________________________

British Museum has most successful year

The British Museum in London had its most successful year ever in 2013. More than 6.7 million visitors passed through its doors. The previous record of 5.9 million was set in 2008. Over a million more people visited the museum last year than in 2012. The biggest attractions were two big exhibitions. One was Life and Death in Pompeii, the other was Herculaneum. The director of the museum said he was very happy that so many people came. He told reporters that many things happened last year. Many exhibits were loaned to the museum. He also said online access meant more people decided to visit. He added: "This is truly a dynamic collection that belongs to and is used by a global citizenship." The British Museum has many exhibitions about human history and culture. It has about 13 million exhibits from all over the world. Some countries want the museum to return some of them. Greece wants the Elgin Marbles back. They were originally from the Parthenon in Athens. China wants the museum to return many things the British took from China in the 19th century, and Egypt wants the Rosetta Stone. The museum first opened to the public in 1759. Back then, only about 75 people a day visited it. They could look at 71,000 objects, including 40,000 printed books, 7,000 manuscripts, and many stuffed animals, birds and insects. There were also very old objects from Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Near East, the Far East, and North and South America.

Anhkwon9999 Future rats could be the size of sheep

Rats that are the size of sheep might be a good horror movie story. However, scientists from the University of Leicester in England say that in the future, there could really be giant rats on the Earth. They could be as big as sheep and weigh up to 80kg. Rats are spreading all over the Earth. They are now the strongest animals on many small islands. One of the reasons for this is that they travel on ships and relocate to areas that never had rats before. Another reason is that many larger animals are becoming extinct, so there are fewer animals that might kill rats. Researcher Dr Jan Zalasiewicz said: "Given enough time, rats could probably grow to bethe world's largest rodent." Dr Zalasiewicz said rats are one of the best examples of a species that we have spread around the world, and have successfully adapted to many of the new environments. He said: "There will be future thin rats, future fat rats, slow and heavy rats, fast and ferocious rats, probably future aquatic rats - the list goes on." After the dinosaurs died out, many small animals slowly grew bigger and bigger. The same thing could happen with rats if there are no animals left that hunt and kill them. Dr Zalasiewicz also believes that "super-rats" will start killing other species to make them extinct. This will have a big impact on food chains. He did not say what humans would do about giant rats running around everywhere.