Man with metal detector strikes gold in Staffordshire

A 55-year-old man has unearthed the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, archaeologists said today.

The staggering discovery, made using a metal detector, on private farmland in Staffordshire, will redefine perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England, experts predict.

Terry Herbert came across the hoard as he searched a field near his home in Burntwood with his metal detector. Experts said the collection of more than 1,500 pieces - which will be officially classified by a coroner as treasure today - is unparalleled in size and may have belonged to Saxon royalty.

The hoard, believed to date back to the Seventh Century, contains around 5kg of Gold and 2.5kg of silver, far bigger than previous finds - including the Sutton Hoo burial site.

It may take more than a year to value the collection and, given its scale, the financial worth of the hoard cannot be estimated.

Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said: "This is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries."

Many of the items in the hoard are warfare paraphernalia, including sword pommel caps and hilt plates, often inlaid with precious stones.

The exact location of the discovery has not been disclosed but it is understood to be near the Lichfield border in South Staffordshire.

Mr Herbert, who has been metal detecting for 18 years, came across the buried hoard after asking a farmer friend if he could search on his land.

Dr Kevin Leahy, National Finds Adviser from the Portable Antiquities Scheme and an expert in early medieval metalwork and Saxon craftsmanship, catalogued the hoard.

He said: "The quantity of gold is amazing. ts origins are clearly the very highest-levels of Saxon aristocracy or royalty. It belonged to the elite. This is a hugely hugely important find."

The hoard is currently being held in secure storage at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery but a selection of items are to be displayed at the museum from tomorrow until October 13.

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Tannery Arts Center lands $4.7 million federal grant for art studio development

By AUSTIN WALSH

SANTA CRUZ -- The federal government gave the Santa Cruz redevelopment agency a $4.7 million grant Tuesday for the next phase of the Tannery Arts Center that officials hope will stimulate construction jobs and provide long-term high-tech opportunities.

The funds will be used to renovate the Tannery's Tanyard and Beam House buildings to create digital media work spaces for local artists to lease.

"We're grateful that the EDA has decided to make such a significant investment in our economy," said Bonnie Lipscomb, Santa Cruz's economic development director. "Through our efforts at the Tannery, we hope to generate high-paying, permanent jobs in Santa Cruz in digital media and creative arts as well as cement the region's reputation for innovation and entrepreneurship."

The Economic Development Administration allocated the funds as part of the federal government's stimulus effort to create jobs and boost development in parts of the country hit hard by the recession.

"I think we will be able to keep a lot of our talent that lives here working here, instead of commuting over the hill," said county Supervisor Neal Coonerty.

Building renovations will create a number of redevelopment and construction jobs at the Tannery, near the intersection of highways 1 and 9, beginning later this year, Lipscomb said. Eventually, the studios will provide opportunities for permanent positions in product and industrial design, digital arts and new media, she said.

The studios will eventually offer 30,000 to 35,000 cubic feet of studio space for local artists, according to George Newell, the project director of the Tannery Arts Center, which is on the site of the former Salz Tannery, which operated from 1856 to 2001.

The renovation effort will focus on maintaining the structural integrity of the landmark buildings, and upon completion will feature an exhibit telling the site's historic significance to Santa Cruz.

"It's a great thing to preserve our local history and invest in future economic engines in the art industry," said Newell.

Phase two looks to be finished by 2011, according to Newell. The first phase established low-cost living quarters at the Tannery for local artists. The Tannery Lofts doors opened in March. The third stage will create an onsite performing arts studio.

The project, which has a running budget near $40 million through two phases, is being developed by Minneapolis-based Artspace. Construction is expected to begin on the last phase of the center in 2010.

"We are really excited to have other artists come in and work on site," said Kirby Scudder, a resident artist at the Tannery.

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NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS Community groups provide lifelines in many ways

If you spot a festival or sporting event taking place in your neighborhood, chances are it was organized by the local neighborhood association.

Most places in Japan have a neighborhood association — often known as "chonaikai" or "jichikai" — where residents join in and work together to make their community a better place while getting to know each other.

According to a 2007 Cabinet Office poll, 93 percent of the respondents said there was a neighborhood association in their community, and 94 percent of those who have an association said they were a member.

While being in an association gives you a chance to connect with your neighbors, problems can arise as well because residents will have different opinions on how things should be run, or they might simply feel membership is burdensome.

Here are some questions and answers about Japanese neighborhood associations:

How is a typical "chonaikai" defined?

Neighborhood associations are in fact private organizations not controlled by any law, so there is no official definition.

Sociologist Minoru Nakata, chancellor of Aichi Konan College, generalizes that each neighborhood association will identify itself with a specific section of a town or school district, and they do not overlap with each other.

Basically, it isn't individuals who are its members, but households, and although joining is voluntary, residents of the community are often expected to become members, writes Nakata in his book, "Chihoubunken jidai no chonaikai, jichikai" ("Neighborhood Associations in the Era of Decentralization").

Each association usually has its own set of operating rules. Members are obliged to pay a monthly fee, often a few hundred yen, which is the group's basic income.

What are some of the activities organized by neighborhood associations?

Activities range widely and vary depending on each association and how active it is. But many people associate certain functions with the neighborhood group rather than their local government.

For example, according to the Cabinet Office survey, most respondents said they associate their neighborhood group with announcing community events as well as passing on information from the local government and hosting the Bon and other festivals.

Community cleaning efforts are common as well. Some associations also ask members to take turns helping to keep garbage areas clean and making sure residents sort out the recyclable items properly and leave them in the designated places.

Crime prevention, such as neighborhood patrols, are conducted by some associations.

Other typical functions include organizing trips, hosting the area's senior citizens for a meal on Respect for the Elderly Day later this month, and holding an event for new adults on Coming of Age Day every January.

Who runs them?

Almost all associations have an executive committee. This will have a chairperson who serves by term, which is at least a year or longer. The chairperson is elected or recommended to the post. Observers say the top job is most commonly held by a retired person or a housewife.

The rest of the committee members serve the same term as the chairperson. While organizing and running community events, they come up with ideas and work together on solving problems and handling complaints brought to them by local stakeholders.

When there is a need to deal with the local government or with third parties, the executive committee negotiate on behalf of the community.

Many neighborhood associations are having an increasingly tough time finding people who want to serve on the committee or become the leader, as there is a lot of work involved and people with jobs in particular feel it is a burden.

How long have neighborhood associations existed?

Experts have various views on this, but as far as modern history is concerned, it was common around the end of the 19th century for people to gather voluntarily and discuss issues affecting their community, and these gatherings served as a pipeline with the local government, Nakata writes.

In 1943, during World War II, the government made it mandatory for each community to establish a neighborhood association with the aim to making it an organ that would assist the local government.

Neighborhood associations became official bodies supporting the war effort, making sure all member households followed the rules on food rationing, contributed necessary supplies and secured shelters.

Once the war was over, the Allied Occupation issued an order in 1947 to prohibit neighborhood associations. The ban expired in 1951 with the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

Neighborhood associations have not held official legal status since, but they have continued to be active and still retain the nature of assisting the local government.

In fact, some activities are commissioned by the local government, but that doesn't mean the neighborhood association is being controlled by the local government, Nakata argues.

When do people see the true value of having neighborhood associations?

Many agree the associations are at their best in an emergency such as an earthquake or other natural disaster.

For example, after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, fire did not spread in the neighborhood of Kita Awaji on Awaji Island

in Hyogo Prefecture even though it was close to the epicenter. Some 100 residents from the local community reportedly lined up to relay buckets of water to extinguish the fire that broke out.

Similarly, members of the neighborhood association in the Mano district of Nagata Ward, Kobe, worked together to rescue people buried alive in a collapsed building.

Is it true there have been legal battles between residents and their neighborhood associations?

Yes. Conflicts of interest among residents can sometimes lead to serious court fights. For example, the Supreme Court ruled in 2008 in favor of five residents who sued the Kibogaoka Neighborhood Association in Koga, Shiga Prefecture,

for forcing them to pay extra money as part of their membership fee, which were donated to various organizations including the Japan Red Cross.

The top court ruled it was a violation of their constitutional right to freedom of thought.

A resident of Tosu, Saga Prefecture,

won a case in 2002 against his neighborhood association, which had kicked his family out of the group because they refused to pay the membership fee that included donations to the local shrine. A lower court said the association violated the resident's freedom of religion.

Can foreigners become members?

Yes. In fact, some neighborhood associations have seen active participation by foreign residents. This is especially true in places such as Shizuoka and Aichi prefectures, where there are large groups of Brazilians who came to Japan to work in factories.

All wasn't easy in the beginning, however, and some communities have experienced troubles between Japanese and foreign residents. This sometimes stemmed from differences in lifestyle or lack of understanding of each other's culture and language.

In an effort to overcome misunderstandings, representatives from the Brazilian community in some neighborhoods have taken the responsibility of serving on executive committees.

Having them on the executive board has helped reduce problems, observers say, because they have served as a bridge between the Japanese and foreign residents.

By SETSUKO KAMIYA - Staff writer

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People get red-dy

By Clare Spencer - Breda, Netherlands

Bart Rouwenhorst steps on to his crane and slowly rises above his ginger empire. A sea of redheads all dressed in white look up from the park below and follow his instructions to wave at the 20 or so photographers and cameramen.

The photo shoot is the culmination of celebrations for Redhead Day - an annual day - which has spilled across a weekend - to mark all things ginger, paid for by the local government in Breda, a city in the south east of the Netherlands.

But for its founder, Mr Rouwenhorst, who is notable for his blond rather than ginger locks, it is the pinnacle of his efforts so far to champion the ginger-hued among us. A mechanical engineer by day, Mr Rouwenhorst is also an amateur painter and it's this sideline which first awoke his interest in those of fair skin and flame hair.

Finding himself drawn to the aesthetic qualities of redheads, he advertised for 15 ginger models to paint - only to be deluged with e-mail responses. The 15 turned into 150, whom he photographed. But when many of those who didn't get selected voiced their disappointment, Mr Rouwenhorst decided to make an annual event of the redhead gathering.

Five years on, it has grown into a huge festival of ginger self-affirmation, overtaking the city centre for one weekend every September.

"We have families with children, we have older people who were teased as children and then we have many proud women who come to the festival. They know they are fantastic and they just come to feel great."

Driven out

The promise of this amber spectacle also appeals to the more muted-mopped mainstream - with an estimated 7,000 non-redhead spectators attending

But the initiative is firmly with the redheads. And there is much common ground. Men and women sporting a spectrum of ginger, from strawberry blonde to rich ochre, swap stories of being picked on in the playground, discrimination in the wider world - a family in Newcastle claimed they were driven from their home because of anti-ginger abuse in 2007 - and the whys and wherefores of raising a ginger brood.

Walking round the city, redheads smile and laugh with one another. Since this is a celebration of gingerism, an army of hairdressers, makeup artists and cameramen have been drafted in to prepare for the fashion shoot, treating redheads like celebrities. The dermatologist's class - redheads tend to have very fair skin - is so popular it has to move to the main part of Breda's cathedral to accommodate all those who want to attend.

Mr Rouwenhorst marvels at the innate connection between members of one of the most genetically distinctive yet disparate groups in the world.

"When people come together as redheads, they just look at each other," he says. "They have a certain bond. And I think this whole event will some day expand to multiple events, maybe across the world. I think the ginger community will start."

Strong people

It's a far-sighted pronouncement. Do people with red hair really want to seek out the company of those with similar colouring?

This exclusive community is already functioning and making money for Brigitte van Hengel. She runs a ginger modelling agency and is looking to add a ginger-only theatre company.

Ms van Hengel, whose reddish locks are somewhat faded, seeks out redheads not just for their aesthetic qualities - but their character traits too. Most have had to put up with bullying, she says, which in turn has made them strong and proud characters.

Behind the scenes at the fashion show civil servant Anneloes Rynders is preparing for the catwalk. While being sown into her dress by the designer Marian Kastelein, she tells a story of an uncomfortable childhood that is shared by many at the festival.

"In my youth it wasn't nice to be different. It changed around the age of 16 or 17. I got more confidence, I went out and got attention - because I'm a redhead. I stopped being ashamed. It's actually nice to stand out in a crowd."

Ms Rynders prefers being unusual and doesn't like the idea of an exclusively ginger community. However, she is disappointed that none of her children has ginger hair, so welcomes the idea that such a place may spawn more ginger offspring.

Alan Petrie has travelled from Aberdeen to research the possibility of starting a ginger community in Scotland. Curiosity drove him to the event but he is going away with a sense of belonging.

"I came here because I wanted to see if people with red hair would like to meet each other - we could take that back home and see if it worked on a more local level. I think redheads do enjoy being together and not being the odd one out."

He is particularly concerned about discrimination against his ilk, which he thinks isn't taken seriously.

"After an anti-ginger South Park episode, Kick a Ginger Day started in Canada and someone was seriously hurt. When it was revealed that one of the Big Brother contestants was dying his hair and underneath he was ginger he got shouted abuse I can't repeat, when he was evicted. If he was black the people shouting this would have been arrested."

Ironically, claims of racial discrimination were also invoked when Mr Rouwenhorst investigated the possibility of getting his festival noted in the Guinness World Records. Redheads, he was told, were considered a minority by its editors, who will not record events based on racial characteristics.

Certainly, there's little taste for any sort of genetic purity at the event. The majority of redheads appear happy to accommodate those of the brown, black and fair-haired persuasion. Even the organisers insist that cafes don't restrict their free drink offers to natural redheads - but include those who dyed their hair for the day.

So has this year's festival helped foster a sense of ginger belonging?

Thorger Enge Herrara, who grew up in Mexico, says redheads are so unusual in his homeland that when he sees one they exchange pleasantries and he buys them a drink.

"It doesn't happen so often. It's not a community where I'm from because it's so rare."

For this weekend, though, Mr Herrara is understanding what it's like to be one of a crowd rather than a curiosity.

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Seoul Traditional Homes Project Wins UNESCO Award

Seoul's Bukchon project has won the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards, city officials said Monday. It is the first time for Korea to win the award. The Bukchon project aims to conserve the historic and cultural landscape of the area, including traditional Korean homes or hanok.

The awards have been given to outstanding achievements in conserving or restoring architectural heritage in the Asia-Pacific region since 2000. Of 48 entries from 14 countries, Mongolia's project to restore the Sangiin Dalai Monastery won the Award of Excellence.

UNESCO said one of the Awards of Distinction went to the Hanok Regeneration in Bukchon project since it "has brought about a striking change in people's attitudes to the city's residential quarters. With successful collaboration among the municipality, community members, academics and citizens, the large-scale project has raised awareness about the heritage value of the hanok and preserved an important traditional Korean architectural legacy."

The village is a cluster of traditional Korean homes nestled between Gyeongbok and Changdeok palaces. The city government has been working to conserve and reinvigorate the hanok in the area spanning over 1.07 million sq. m since 2001.

Of 1,022 traditional homes, 300 received financial support for repairs and over 30 were purchased by the city to serve as cultural facilities. In December last year, Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon vowed to preserve 4,500 hanok in Seoul with a budget of W370 billion (US$1=W1,241) by 2018.

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The new optimism: how you can be happy

Psychiatrists used to study misery. Then one day Martin Seligman, the (now very wealthy) father of the positive psychology movement, had the bright idea of turning things on their heads. Rather than study unhappy people, he thought, why not look at happy people?

Better yet, why not deconstruct their thoughts and put them together again in someone else's head? This upside-down approach to mental health became the foundation for the biggest psychological movement of our time and the focus of the first world Congress on Positive Psychology in Philadelphia this summer.

This is also how Ben Renshaw, a “happiness” coach came to be sitting at my kitchen table. An indirect disciple of Seligman, Renshaw and his partner Robert Holden (whose book Be Happy: Release the Power of Happiness in You has just come out) are in the business of turning pessimists like me into, if not Pollyannas, then at least moderately upbeat personalities. Later this autumn they are running a London-based course to help turn our city's mood around.

But Renshaw's challenge was to turn my thinking around, and in one week or less. He would use methods developed in the Happiness Project that he and Holden founded in 1995. Much of this was to be done by comparing our responses to the same events and completing certain exercises.

From the moment Renshaw, a former musician dressed in a bright Hawaiian shirt, sat down and politely refused a second glass of red wine, I knew we were on different wavelengths. Words such as “great”, “terrific”, “success” and “connect” quickly came streaming from his mouth. My normal response to positive people is to get instantly negative, and this is where many of us get it wrong.

In Britain, we often identify positive thinking with childishness (and even stupidity). Those of us with a less sanguine view of the world can see optimism as shallow — after all, most great art is born of suffering.

“Optimism is not a denial of your feelings,” explains Renshaw, “but the ability to be constructive with yourself whatever you're feeling.” My situation felt dire: my youngest son was leaving home for boarding school and the thoughts circling around my head were so dark that I hardly dared share them.

“Pessimism is how you approach choices,” he says. “The future is largely how you define it.” As Winston Churchill once said: “Pessimists see failure in every opportunity. Optimists see opportunities in every failure.” Of course, Churchill said that before there were MRI scanners. Now you can actually see parts of the brain light up when you smile. The more you stimulate the happy part of the brain, the less the other (dark) side gets a look in (hence why jolly people say “Great!” the whole time. The mind clocks that you are feeling enthusiasm and produces happy chemicals just from your tone).

Before positive psychology, the belief was that we are stuck with our general outlook, but according to the research, optimism is not only “infectious” but only 25 per cent (as opposed to 40-60 per cent of most hereditary traits) of it is hard-wired in our genes. Which means you can “learn” happiness.

Happy people, Renshaw explains, don't just walk around beaming: they make things happen. “Optimalists,” says Tal Ben-Shar, a professor who taught the hugely popular positive psychology course at Harvard University, “are not those who believe everything happens for the best, but those who make the best of everything that happens.”

My week's first task was simple enough. All I had to do was to jot down what success meant for me that day. Initially I wrote down things like “made it to 6pm without craving a drink” but eventually the notes became more specific. “Success today means participating fully in all my activities,” I wrote on day two, “and finishing my article.” By day five I was more optimistically ambitious: “Today is going to be a good day!” I gushed.

This sounds silly but our brains are predisposed to take instruction. Setting your intent makes you more conscious and present in your life. Happy people feel they control their moods and not the other way around.

Exercise two was keeping a “gratitude diary”. Seligman found that happy people tend to be more grateful for even the smallest victories. On day one I thanked the universe for my two lovely sons only to curse it two days later for taking them away from me. Then I went to Paris and stopped to watch the sun set (I was grateful it wasn't raining). Career issues are no-brainers for most coaches. “What is your desired outcome?” Renshaw kept asking me whenever I banged on about unprofessional colleagues. This last exercise was very helpful. By deciding what I wanted to achieve from a phone call or a meeting ahead of time, I stayed on track.

Another positive-thinking trick is called PRP. When something goes wrong you allow yourself permission (P) to be human. Then you reconstruct the situation (R) to see what went wrong, taking in any lessons. Finally there's perspective (P), which is about accepting that it probably doesn't matter in the long run. Where a pessimist drowns his sorrow in drink, an optimist puts on his running shoes. Both are trying to handle the discomfort and change their mood but one will have a hangover the next day and the other a healthy glow. After a fortnight, I discovered that Renshaw's exercises do kick in. If practised daily, the effects have been found to equal those of antidepressants.

The truth is much of what makes up the body of positive psychology borders on triteness, but positive thinkers have that in common too: they simplify. Optimists don't let one setback determine the course of their day. I now think: “I am having a bad moment” and not “a bad day”. A difficult conversation with a friend is just that, something momentarily unpleasant, and not the end of our 20-year relationship. Happy people have short memories when it comes to bad events. They also forgive easily.

So now when negative thoughts pass through my mind, I think, “What would Ben do?” I assume he would see them as temporary which, let's face it, most are. Two weeks after coaching I'm able to remember what drove us to choose the schools we did for our boys. I remember they are happy and that actually we're OK too.

Perhaps the greatest insight I gained was that thoughts, no matter how terrifying, are just thoughts. When good things happen — an unexpected commission lands in my lap — I take note. It reminds me that it's events and not my life that is the problem. I am learning to forget faster.
www.happiness.co.uk

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New Coke for Krakow

Staff journalist

Can designed for city debuts

Most visitors to Krakow get to know its mascot, the ubiquitous dragon, sooner or later, but now they'll have a chance to come eye-to-eye with the beast, so to speak. Starting this week, cans of Coca-Cola sold in the city will be adorned with the famous creature's eye.

Krakow is the first and only city in Poland to receive its own custom designed can of the carbonated beverage. The design was picked over several other finalists by an Internet vote on the city's website. The winner, Sebastian Ścigalski, is a Krakow native.

Over a million cans will carry the dragon's eye, which also features a reflection of the city's skyline. The cans will be sold in Krakow stores until the end of the year, or until supplies run out.

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Bus driver returns $460,000 to forgetful passenger in Argentina

MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - A bus driver in Argentina's northwestern San Juan province has set an example of honesty by returning a case full of money to an absent-minded passenger, local media reported on Monday.

Alberto Rios found a case containing 1.8 million pesos ($460,000) in his bus at the end of his shift, but decided to return the entire fortune to its owner, reports said.

"My father always told me: what belongs to you is yours, and what does not is not yours," the 39-year-old said in explaining his good deed.

According to local papers, a man identified as Carlos proved to be the owner of the money, which belonged to his company and was to be spent on a plot of land for olive growing.

Rios was quoted by media as saying he found the forgetful passenger at a bus stop looking frightened. He said Carlos was incredibly happy when given the case, and as an expression of gratitude, he gave the bus driver 300 pesos ($80).

Following the incident, the local Infobae web site asked people if they would follow the driver's example. Only 46.81% of respondents to the online poll answered in the affirmative.

The reported incident was not the only one to amaze the country lately. In March this year, a taxi driver returned $35,000 that had been left behind in his vehicle, and the forgetful owner of the cash rewarded him with some $3.000, two dozen tires and other gifts.

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DEVO Tour On Sale This Weekend

Tickets go on sale this weekend for a series of very special DEVO performances. The band will play back-to-back nights in select cities, performing Are We Not Men? live the first night, and Freedom of Choice the second night…both albums in their entirety!

As a thank you to their fans, everyone who purchases DEVO tickets online will receive three demos recently uncovered in the DEVO vaults. The previously unreleased versions of “Whip It,” “Red Shark” (later re-titled “It’s Not Right” and recorded with different lyrics), and “Turn Around,” were recorded in 1979 on a four-track in the band’s rehearsal space at Modern Music in Hollywood, CA.

Within 3-5 days of purchase, all ticket buyers will receive a unique code allowing them to download the music at a special redemption site.

Tickets go on sale for the Washington, DC, date on 9/26/09. There is no presale for that show.

Full dates below:

11/03 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
11/04 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
11/06 - San Francisco - The Regency Ballroom
11/07 - San Francisco - The Regency Ballroom
11/08 - Seattle, WA - The Moore
11/09 - Seattle, WA - The Moore
11/12 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
11/13 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
11/15 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club (on sale 9/26/09)
11/16 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club (on sale 9/26/09)
11/20 - New York, NY - The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
11/21 - New York, NY - The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
11/23 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
11/24 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre

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Electric superbike smashes speed record by breaking through 150mph mark

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

An electric superbike has broken a land speed record by bursting though the 150mph mark .

The zero-emissions Mission One ridden by Jeremy Cleland became the fastest electric-powered vehicle when it hit an average speed of 150.059mph over two miles.

On the day it broke the record, the plug-in racer also beat 70 per cent of the petrol-engine bikes competing at the famous Bonneville salt flats in the American state of Utah.

And at one point, Mr Cleland hit 161mph as he tackled the two runs along a mile-long stretch.

The San Fransico-made bike, which will be available next year £42,000, is powered by a 240-volt battery which takes two hours to charge.

The company plans to sell 300 bikes in 2010, with the first 50 Premier Limited Edition models available for reservation now.

‘The Mission One is just an incredible motorcycle,’ said Mr Cleland. ‘This is a bike that can rip up the track at Infineon Raceway, do power wheelies at 80 mph, and then come out here to Bonneville and dismantle the prior electric world speed record.

‘It pulls hard all the way from 0 on up to 161mph, all in one gear, with incredible torque. ‘It’s a riding experience like no other.’

Edward West, Mission Motors founder, said of the record his bike set: ‘I give the credit for this achievement to our extraordinary engineering team.

‘We set this record on our first visit to the Bonneville Salt Flats on poor salt conditions and in high cross-winds.

‘And to set it with our production prototype vehicle, not a custom Bonneville bike is truly amazing.

‘We’ve all known what was possible for the Mission One for some time, and to set this record is very gratifying.

‘It’s a watershed moment for electric vehicles and further proof that the era of the electric superbike has begun.

'Electric is no longer the future of high-performance motorcycling; it is the present.’

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Breakthrough in the lab offers hope of colour blindness cure to millions

By FIONA MACRAE

Scientists have cured colour blindness in monkeys in a world first.

As well as allowing colour-blind humans to tell red from green, the innovative technique could restore sight to the blind.

Sufferers of age-related macular degeneration - the most common cause of blindness in the elderly - are among the millions who could eventually benefit.

Researcher Jay Neitz said: 'If we could find a way to do this with complete safety in human eyes, as we did with monkeys, there would be a lot of people who would want it.

'We hope the technology will be useful in correcting a lot of different vision disorders.'

Professor Neitz used gene therapy - injections of genes - to allow two male squirrel monkeys called Sam and Dalton to see in full colour for the first time.

Like some humans with red-green colour blindness, the monkeys lacked a pigment that the cones - the colour-detector cells at the back of the eye - need to see red and green. As a result, they saw both red and green as shades of grey. Other colours, such as orange, blue and brown appeared washed-out.

To fix their vision, the U.S. scientists injected their eyes with millions of copies of a gene needed to make the missing pigment, the journal Nature reports.

mportantly, the monkeys were injected with a human gene, suggesting the same technique would work on people. Four months later, their vision suddenly improved.

Professor Neitz, of the University of Washington in Seattle, said: 'It was as if they woke up and saw these new colours. They unquestionably responded to colours that had been invisible to them.'

A version of the colour blindness test that is used in schools around the world showed just how much their vision has improved.

Dr Katherine Mancuso, the study's lead author, said: 'Their performance on red and green was similar, but not quite as good, as a female monkey who had normal colour vision since birth.'

But the need to prove that adding genes to the body does not cause harmful side-effects means it will be some time before the method is routinely used to correct colour blindness.

Despite this, the researchers are optimistic and point out that gene therapy is already being tested on Britons and Americans with a rare, hereditary form of blindness called Leber's congenital amaurosis.

The technique could also be adapted to treat other conditions that involve problems with genes in the colour and detail-detecting cone cells at the back of the eye.

These include age-related macular degeneration, in which deterioration of central vision makes it increasingly difficult to carry out everyday tasks such as reading and driving. Blindness linked to diabetes might also be treated.

Cathy Yelf, of the Macular Disease Society, said the research was 'very interesting' but cautioned: 'A practical gene therapy for macular degeneration is still some way off.'

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Bronx borough goes eco-conscious: From rooftop gardens to solar panels

BY ABBY LUBY - SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

The Bronx is going green.

Rooftop gardens, vegetative walls and gleaming solar panels - the Green Movement here is big, and for many reasons.

"There are concerns about health issues," said Miquela Craytor, executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, which trains workers in green construction.

Asthma is almost endemic in the industrial South Bronx, mainly from truck emissions. Planting trees and shrubs help soak up the airborne toxins that can cause asthma and other respiratory diseases.

The concern inspired FlatRate Moving and Storage to begin buying eco-friendly trucks using special toxin-reducing filters, as its general counsel David Giampietroput it, "to be an active part of the community rather than take a toll on it."

FlatRate also installed a 50,000-watt solar power system for its new 40,000-square-foot facility.

Other businesses going green include Miss Grimble Desserts in Port Morris, where owner Errol Bier - out of concern about local asthma rates and for "continued growth and financial reasons" - just installed 168 solar panels that will supply 23% of the electricity.

"The benefit of using solar power instead of burning fossil fuels is that it's equal to planting 125 trees a year, recycling 1 million cans of soda a year or not driving 75,000 miles a year," said Bier, who was guided by the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp.

New York State and federal energy efficiency programs paid about 12% of the total cost. With what he saves on electricity, Bier hopes to hire additional staff.

Planted "green walls" buffering industrial buildings to cut pollution was an idea Craytor offered to Simms Metal Management in Hunts Point. The 8,000-square-foot green wall there now runs a complete city block.

Earlier this month, Habitat for Humanity, which builds housing for the poor, helped install a roof garden at 715 Fox St. at Leggett Ave. The new seven-story building with 50 apartments had a 2,400-square-foot roof that was perfect for a garden, with 1,200 flats of shrubs, flowers and foliage.

"You can walk right on top of it," said Josh Lockwood, Habitat's New York City executive director. "The plants were selected for easy care - you only have to mow it once a year."

Lockwood said the garden, funded with $100,000 fromDelta Airlines, will save energy costs on heating and air conditioning while producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide.

Not all greening is outdoors. Palladia Inc., a large multi-service agency that aids the homeless, has sponsored the greening of a new Section 8 and rent stabilized building at Fox Point. Inside there is low-emitting particle board for walls, nontoxic paint and carpets without formaldehyde. The building is also well insulated and ventilated to cut down on mold.

"Since we opened in May, one tenant told us her asthma symptoms have all but gone," said Jane Valez, Palladia's president/CEO. Sally Bernstein, project coordinator for the building, said they encourage tenants and the superintendent to use green products. "We hold ongoing education meetings and offer a handbook on living healthy."

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., believes all the sustainable initiatives are adding to the quality of life in the Bronx.

"It also creates educational, entrepreneurial and employment opportunities while setting an important standard for sustainability in the Bronx that is irreversible," the beep said.

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