Technology

Published on 31/01/2009 18:50

ROBOT REPELLER For children determined to keep prying parents out of their bedrooms, a Lebanese entrepreneur with a PhD in robotics has the answer.

Picked by the Toy Fair as one of the hottest new products of 2009, gorilla-based robot Prime-8 uses motion sensors to hurl coconut missiles at intruders with a bloodcurdling growl.

Dr Sarjoun Skaff has spent seven years developing robot technology. His US start-up company, Bossa Nova Concepts, is about to unleash Prime-8, retailing at 89.99, and its penguin-based sister robot Penbo upon the world.

OFFICE SECRETS

A third of office staff in the UK admit to having watched pornography on their work computer, new research shows.

Most of the 33% who confessed to viewing inappropriate material at their desk seemed to be getting away with it too, as only 7% said they had been caught in the act. More than half (56%) of the office workers questioned admitted to having returned to work drunk from a lunchtime pub session, while 59% said they had been taken ill in the office due to a hangover, according to the survey by e-mail security provider Proofpoint.

Office romance, meanwhile, proved to be alive and well, with 62% of respondents saying they had had a fling with a colleague. But romance, porn and alcohol did not appear to be stimulating enough for the 28% who admitted to falling asleep at their desk.

'FUN' SCIENCE

A campaign aimed at debunking the myth of science as "elitist" and "too clever" for ordinary people was launched yesterday by celebrities and senior politicians.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined fantasy novelist Sir Terry Pratchett, TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough and celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, pictured, at the Downing Street launch of Science (So What? So Everything).

The campaign aims to highlight the central importance of science to everyday life and to the economy. The organisers also hope to promote science as a "fun" and exciting subject to younger generations.

The campaign will include events throughout the year and regional festivals. A new website will provide information, careers advice and details of events related to science.

BOMB PROOF BINS

Litter bins could be brought back to packed public areas after scientists tested a new form of bomb-proof concrete. Litter bins were removed from many UK public spaces in the 1990s following high-profile terrorist attacks.

But engineers from the University of Liverpool have offered a potential solution – fibre-reinforced concrete reducing the impact of bomb blasts 1,000 times more than ordinary concrete.

The new concrete has already been used in Australia to strengthen roofs of government buildings against mortar attack.

BIG BUCKS

British physicists working on a giant atom-smashing machine beneath the French-Swiss Alps have won a multi-million-pound grant to reveal how the universe was born.

The 10-year, 16.7m grant will be used to unravel the mysteries surrounding antimatter and dark matter, the possibility of extra space-time dimensions and the existence of the elusive Higgs boson – a particle believed to give other particles mass.

It was awarded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council to Durham University's Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology.