North wild fires 'under control'

4 May 2011 Last updated at 06:10 GMT A helicopter used to water bomb fires in the area around Sheil Bridge A series of wild fires which have been burning across the Highlands are now under control, firefighters have said.

Crews have been out overnight at the worst affected areas, including at Inverkirkaig near Assynt, Torridon and Glen Shiel.

After days of battling to control the flames, using both beaters and helicopters dropping water, the worst blazes have been extinguished.

Homes were evacuated over the past five days and the A82 was closed briefly.

Efforts will now get under way to assess the scale of the damage as forest regeneration projects, croft land and sensitive environmental sites with rare wildlife have all been hit.

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Cashless under the sun

29 April 2011 Last updated at 00:01 By Michael Fitzpatrick BBC News, Tokyo Mobile phones in Japan have been equipped with near field communication [NFC] technology for several years now Ama Chan is aiming her mobile at small, square, printed, barcode tattoo that resembles a splattered space invader.

You will find their like plastered all over Japan. This one is printed on a Tokyo bus stop, so she clicks the camera shutter and peers happily at the result.

Her prize? A timetable appears instantly on the phone's screen, plus the estimated arrival time of the next bus.

When the oddly retro-style bus arrives, she uses her phone to pay by swiping at the front as a Londoner might flutter an Oyster smartcard on entering the Tube.

Ahead of the curve

This is travel Tokyo-style.

And although these types of convenient dodges are slowly appearing in the West (those information-laden barcode tattoos are known as QR codes in the UK, and e-wallets are appearing on phones outside Japan), the country has been experimenting with such technology for more than five years now, and more advanced travel guiding tech besides.

Japanese mobile phone - keitai - with NFC chip

So where better to examine the props that will dominate all our traveller and travel industry tomorrows?

Granted, an Anglo-Saxon smartphone, an iPhone, a Google phone and their ilk can be handy on the road but they lack, so far, many of the tools so useful to travellers in Japan on their so-called feature phones.

With the right clam-shell, iridescent "keitai", subscribers get a seriously high-resolution camera, a projector, and the all-important radio chip that works as a train/air/entrance ticket/boarding pass.

This radio tag can also check you into hotels and even open the room's door for you.

They also act as e-wallets. With up to 50,000 yen credit siphoned into the phone, customers use it to buy groceries at convenience stores, pay the taxi driver and persuade Japan's ubiquitous vending machines to cough up.

Flights of fancy

Japan's leading airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has been using such e-wallets to compete with the country's formidably fast trains for more than five years.

"The major drawback of flying compared to train travel is, of course, the time spent at the airport," says ANA spokesman Ryosei Nomura.

"With ANA's all-in-one ticket and boarding pass in your phone, you can arrive and board your plane within 15 minutes."

Dubbed SKiP, the service relies on Osaifu-Keitai (literally "wallet mobile") technology developed by comms giant NTT.

ANA passengers using their phone as a ticket can be on the plane within 15 minutes

As the NFC [near field communication] chip-based tech relies on dedicated readers which are available only in a few other countries besides Japan, the service so far applies just to domestic flights.

Users could even conceivably buy their air ticket using their phone at a convenience store with such readers.

The system has a number of advantages over plastic smart cards, too, such as being able to automatically recharge credit via the internet, says Mr Nomura.

With GPS in mobiles as standard, years ahead of the UK, the keitai has also evolved into a seriously useful navigation tool here.

Something called the Total Navigation site does exactly what it says on the tin, using 3D-rendered info on your screen. Hold it in your grip and the phone vibrates telling you when to turn.

Just as well: you need all the hand-holding you can get in the vastness of a capital without street names like Tokyo.

Deciphering menus

Tech also comes to the aid of the linguistically challenged.

Despite the cosmopolitan nature of Tokyo, menus are invariably in Japanese. So to have a phone that snaps a potential meal and describes in English what it is - mock-up meals are only sometimes displayed in the window - is obviously a godsend.

With some restaurant businesses this is catching on, as Japan looks to foreign tourists for badly needed revenue.

Other applications allow you to bring up menus, reviews and translations by other users just by focusing your mobile's camera at the restaurant itself.

Visitors to Japan can try out some of these services by renting domestic phones at the airports. Unfortunately, not all such resources are available on the airport pick-up phones.

But your correspondent was able to attempt a cashless journey from Tokyo through Kyoto to Fukuoka in the south starting with Ana's SKiP service for flights. No maps, no guides, just the omnipotent keitai.

The all-in-one nature of the mobile makes this possible, as does Japan's bent for convenience.

'Swiss army knife'

Such cramped, intensely urban, highly stressful lifestyles have made the Japanese super-reliant on, and worshipful, of convenience, says Ama Chan.

Keitai are the totems of that reverence and have become touchstones for survival. The keitai rules.

Public mobile-phone charging point on a Kyoto street

Travellers of the near future may want to emulate the light-footed Japanese, shearing off excess baggage such as guidebooks, laptops, camera - even books - and depending solely on the Swiss army knife of the road warrior - the keitai.

In Kyoto, the Hyatt Regency has started the ball rolling with an iPhone rental service that knows where guests are and beams text, video and graphics to inform, help and guide them.

"Of course many overseas visitors bring their smartphones with them, but most don't have a data plan that makes it economic sense to use their phone for downloads," says the hotel's manager Ken Yokoyama.

"The next step was to augment the service with tips from the concierge.

"After that we would like to develop a phone-based service that will think and act like a concierge, to give simple advice - where to eat, for example. The next step after that will be to totally personalise that service."

Mr Yokoyama envisages a massive database covering all Kyoto'a concierge knowledge melding into one serious, well-informed, location-specific travel application laid within the compass of the traveller's hand.

Real-world view

Augmenting city guides will not stop there. Something called "augmented reality" (AR) is already evolving into a valuable tool for travellers.

Augmented reality app Sekai Camera lets users hang "tags" that can be seen through an iPhone

Like the iPhone, such AR apps know where users are, and beam location relevant info to their phones. This is viewed superimposed on the camera viewfinder on the mobile's screen.

London already has Tube help in this form, while others such as Layar can perform the neat trick with restaurants, mentioned earlier.

Japan's version of this application, Sekai (World) camera, works the same magic, but adds tagging and social networking.

Like other AR apps it calculates your position, then using the camera, displays location-specific information graphically on top of your real-world view.

But the genius of Sekai Camera is that individuals and businesses can add their own information. They just point a smartphone camera at the landscape, adding "tags" that can include text, images, and sound that can be picked up by others in the area later.

Tags can translate into coupons from businesses (a free Guinness when you stop at a bar serving the black stuff, for example) or travel tips from friends.

Such apps are not just confined to Japan. They are available now at a smartphone near you.

But Japan still holds the lead with applications of tech for travel.

Overnight stay

The county's hotel industry is also benefiting from a dash of hi-tech gloss. Check into the entirely swish 9h (nine hours) capsule hotel in Kyoto and you might experience the teched-up future of budget hotels.

Guests at the 9h capsule hotel in Kyoto can relax in super hi-tech 'pods'

Ultra-futuristic, the Kubrick-inspired pods go for about 4000 yen a night via their website.

Kyoto might be rich in heritage but this doesn't stop it over-dosing like the rest of urban Japan on hi-tech treats. For evidence, visitors might want to check out the phone chargers available in even the most venerable temples.

The futuristic travel experience that 9h offers (perhaps a model for a Mars trip accommodation?) includes a pod, not a bedroom, with a "Sleep Ambient Control System", that "lulls to a comfortable sleep". The same system awakens guests with light, not an alarm clock.

Spartan, functional, but fun for a night.

For sci-fi visions of how we might travel smarter in the future Japan obviously has plenty to show us. But the West is catching up fast.

Smartphones such as the iPhone and their apps are changing the way we travel, and how the travel industry attracts and aids such tourists.

Where most, outside of Japan, are still adjusting to life seen through the prism of the mobile, in Japan it is now second nature.

These early adopters are worth watching just to see how the tech will usher in new services for getting about and how to capitalise on our new-found travel touchstone - the mobile.

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Europe's future lies under Africa

11 April 2011 Last updated at 09:32 GMT By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Vienna Volcanoes such as Stromboli indicate powerful geological forces at work in the Mediterranean Europe may be starting to burrow its way under Africa, geologists suggest.

The continents are converging; and for many millions of years, the northern edge of the African tectonic plate has descended under Europe.

But this process has stalled; and at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting last week, scientists said we may be seeing Europe taking a turn.

If they are correct, this would signal the start of a new subduction zone - a rare event, scientifically fascinating.

Beneath the Mediterranean Sea, the cold, dense rock at the extreme north of the African plate has virtually all sunk under the Eurasian plate on which Europe sits.

But the African landmass is too light to follow suit and descend.

"Africa won't sink, but Africa and Europe continue to move together; so where is this taken up?" asked Rinus Wortel from the University of Utrecht.

"It looks possible that on the appropriate timescale, we are witnessing the beginning of subduction of Europe under Africa," he told BBC News.

The Mediterranean Sea's geological structure and history are quite complex.

The Utrecht group's analysis goes like this:

The slow convergence - just a few centimetres per year - was obstructed partially by collision of the two plates further East, in Turkey, and then by the fact that the lightness of the African continent prevented further subduction.

As a result, bits of the African plate that did subduct have broken off and are descending to the Earth's mantle.

To fill this gap, bits of the Eurasian plate have been pulled southwards across the Mediterranean, such as the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia. The same thing is happening with Crete.

And computer modelling suggests the end product of all this could be the initiation of subduction in the opposite direction from the past.

Additional evidence comes from observations of earthquakes.

"We see what motion occurs in the earthquakes, and we see that the fault planes dip towards the South," said Professor Wortel.

Glacial pace

Although the power of subduction zones to generate enormous events has been thrown into stark light once more by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast, the geology of the Mediterranean is very different.

Nevertheless, there is some concern among scientists that European countries are putting only small amounts of money into building a tsunami warning system for the region.

Tsunami warning systems: does the Mediterranean Sea need one?

At the EGU, Stefano Tinti from the University of Bologna, Italy, said the EU collectively had put only about 8m euros into tsunami research over the last five years.

Over the same period, Germany alone funded the Indonesian early warning system to the tune of about 55m euros, he said.

"There was interest just after [the Asian tsunami of] 2004, and then interest rapidly decreased again," Professor Tinti, who until recently chaired an intergovernmental co-ordination group on tsunami in Europe, told reporters.

"It's very political; and putting together all these member states in order to co-operate and put money in - even though the sums are very small, was a very difficult task."

Although tsunamigenic earthquakes in the Mediterranean are smaller than the biggest ones around the Pacific rim, Magnitude 8 events have been recorded, such as the 1303 Crete quake whose tsunami devastated Heraklion and Alexandria.

Confirmation that European subduction had started could allow scientists to model the region better, and so make better assessments of earthquake and tsunami risk.

But the long timescales involved in geological processes make this a challenge.

"We'll keep track of the seismic activity to see whether it continues to indicate this underthrusting of the Mediterranean subsurface underneath North Africa," said Rinus Wortel.

"But it's not going to mature in the lifetime of a scientist."

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Could a marathon ever be run in under two hours?

11 April 2011 Last updated at 12:17 GMT As thousands prepare for the London Marathon, the very best among them face perhaps the most awe-inspiring barrier in sporting endeavour - the sub two-hour marathon. But can anyone break it, asks Chris Dennis.

A marathon of 26.2 miles (42.2km) in 120 minutes - the very thought takes my breath away.

Expert opinion on whether it is possible is intriguingly divided.

For some it is the next great sporting barrier to be broken, for others it will always remain beyond the limit of endurance. Could it happen at the 2012 Olympics?

Continue reading the main story The Sub 2-Hour Marathon: Sport's Holy Grail, presented by reporter and runner Chris Dennis, is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 2000 BST on Monday 11 April. The current world record holder, Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, who ran the 2008 Berlin Marathon in 2:03:59, has no doubt it could be done, but not in the next few years, ruling out the next Games.

The 38-year-old tells me: "No question. The first sub two-hour marathon will need 20 to 25 years, but it will definitely happen."

Britain's top woman runner and world women's record holder Paula Radcliffe agrees.

"Records are there to be broken and people are going to be shooting for it, but someone is going to have to run really hard to beat this one. That's the kind of mindset it will take."

Even the thought that it could be broken within a generation causes excitement.

"I'm 60. If I've got my figures right, I'll live at least 20 years, so I believe in the next 20 years we will see the first sub two-hour marathon," London Marathon race director Dave Bedford says.

But the reigning Olympic men's champion, 24-year-old Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru, who ran the distance in 2:06:32 in Beijing, believes it is beyond his own abilities.

"For me it's impossible to run two hours, but two hours two minutes, it's possible. Maybe the new generation... you could get strong people. But in this generation, you cannot talk about two hours."

Another sceptic is Glenn Latimer, one of the leading authorities on marathon running in the US. He doesn't believe it can happen in his lifetime. "Maybe that's because I'm old, but I don't see it happening in a long, long time.

"You watch these great athletes up close, an athlete as great as Haile Gebrselassie... and you could see the strain, he looks magnificent through 20, 21, 22 miles and then it starts, and then the body starts to break itself down and maintaining pace is hard enough," he said.

They both believe the record will come down to two hours and two minutes, at which point it will plateau.

Then again, 60 years ago people were saying the same thing about the four-minute mile, before Roger Bannister came along.

The science of endurance running is highly complex, but physiologically, there are three main factors which determine how quickly someone can run:

their maximal rate of oxygen consumption, known as VO2 maxtheir running efficiency - how quickly they can cover the groundtheir endurance capability - what percentage of their VO2 max they can sustain

Opinion among sports scientists varies on exactly where the limit of human endeavour lies. For some, Haile Gebrselassie's current record is already pretty close, for others, there is still a way to go.

Looking at the progression of the marathon world record is fascinating.

Reducing it from 2:16 to 2:12 took seven years, 2:12 to 2:08 took 19 years, and cutting it from 2:08 to the current mark of 2:03:59 took 24 years.

By analysing actual performances and extrapolating, Francois Peronnet, a professor at the University of Montreal, calculates that the first sub two-hour marathon will be run in the year 2028.

Whenever it happens, it would mean running each mile at a four minute 35 second pace. By comparison, a decent club runner might run at a seven-minute mile pace, and a casual runner at nine or 10 minutes.

I have experienced first-hand what it would feel like to run at sub two-hour marathon pace. For just a fraction of the marathon distance.

Hooked up to a state of the art treadmill at the English Institute for Sport at Loughborough University, Leicestershire, under the guidance of two of the country's top physiologists, I ran at a 4:35 pace for 10 seconds.

It was tough - and the thought of doing it over 26.2 miles for up to 120 minutes was simply mind-boggling.

'Perfect mix'

Where most experts agree is that the first sub two-hour marathon will need several factors to come together on one day in the perfect mix.

Continue reading the main story

You're not even thinking - you're just running... it's all just second nature”

End Quote Paula Radcliffe Women's world record holder "If on the day of competition you miss one thing, you miss everything," Gebrselassie says.

First, it will need an elite athlete in tip-top condition, probably one from east Africa.

Second, it will need to be on a fast, flat course such as Berlin, London or Rotterdam. Berlin is known as one of the quickest and has produced four world records in the last 10 years.

Third, perfect weather conditions. No wind and temperatures of around 10-15C.

Fourth, decent pace-makers to lead the race and take the elite round at the right speed.

Finally, money.

As the marathon gets closer to the magic mark, race directors will dangle huge financial carrots to incentivise runners to break it. The first person to dip under two hours will run into the record books a very rich person.

Radcliffe knows what it feels like to experience a perfect mix. Back in London in 2003 she blew the women's world record (which she had set the year previously) out of the water by setting a new mark of 2:15:25.

"The fact that you feel like everything was flowing. It wasn't forced. Nothing hurt. You're not even thinking - you're just running. It's just second nature, you've trained so hard for it and race day feels easier than the training that you've done," she explains, describing the feeling of being "in the zone".

By common consent in running circles, the first two-hour marathon will be run by someone from Ethiopia, Eritrea or Kenya. But why?

I spent a few days in Ethiopia with some of the country's top runners and coaches.

Ethiopia may be one of the poorest countries in the world, but it has a formidable track record.

The likes of Abebe Bikila, Mamo Wolde, Miruts Yifter, Kenenisa Bekele, and the man they call the Little Emperor, Haile Gebrselassie, have all rolled off the country's running conveyor belt over the years.

Most of them started running soon after they could walk. Those born in the countryside, such as Gebrselassie, would run 10km (6.2 miles) or more to school and back every day. There was no other way of getting there.

Add to that the altitude (capital Addis Ababa is 2500m (8202ft) above sea level), a simple diet of mainly organic food, good weather and an extraordinary work ethic, and you see why the country's runners are so successful.

Training with Ethiopia's elite youth runners proved they had the determination and dedication needed

For Ethiopia's elite athletes life is almost monastic - run, eat, sleep. Then run, eat, sleep. There is very little time for anything else.

I was lucky enough to join one group for a training session at sunrise on the outskirts of Addis. Just one 5km (3.1 mile) loop at moderate pace left me gulping for air, but for the elite runners, that was merely a warm-up.

I also met youngsters from Ethiopia's next generation of marathon runners - could one of them be the next Haile Gebrselassie and possibly the world's first sub two-hour marathon runner?

Their dedication and self-discipline are both humbling and awe-inspiring. Many of them feel it is their national duty to maintain Ethiopia's position as the top distance-running country in the world.

If in 20 years the marathon record is reset at 1:59:59, do not be surprised if it is done by an Ethiopian.

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Cork crash investigation under way

11 February 2011 Last updated at 08:38 GMT The aircraft had two crew and 10 passengers on board Five teams from Ireland, the UK, Spain and the US, are investigating what caused a flight from Belfast to Cork to crash on landing on Thursday.

The wreckage of the Manx2 plane remains at Cork on Friday as investigators try to find out precisely what went wrong.

Two flight recorders have already been removed from the scene.

The plane, which was travelling from Belfast, came down in thick fog and burst into flames. Six people died and six were injured.

Leading the investigation is Leo Murray of the Air Accident Investigation Unit. He said four investigators were at the scene an hour and a half after the crash happened.

"Yesterday we completed a site survey at Cork and we've done a preliminary inspection of the wreckage," he said.

"Late last night we were successful in recovering the so-called black boxes - the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - which will be crucial to my investigation.

"We've also impounded all the air traffic records at the airport."

He said it was important to keep an open mind in any air accident investigation.

Preliminary report

Irish Minister for Transport Pat Carey said a preliminary report on the crash would likely be available within weeks, although a more detailed one would take much longer.

Mr Carey said what was clear from initial reports was "how quickly the emergency response got under way".

"I certainly want to applaud the work of all the emergency services," he said, adding that but for their work, the casualties would have been much worse.

Mr Carey said he had been in contact with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy, on Thursday.

"There is very good liaison between the two administrations to ensure there is seamless support available to everybody on both sides of the border," he said.

Continue reading the main story

Irish aviation journalist Gerry Byrne outlines what air accident investigators will focus on at the crash site.

Flight data recorders - enable investigators to recreate aircrafts last flight, its movement through the air and its approach and angle.

Cockpit voice recorder - pilot's may say things on the cockpit voice recorder that you don't hear or you don't realise is happening. They will also listen to the tapes of the conversations the pilots had with air traffic controllers in Cork and examine the radar tape.

Final approach - why did the pilot chose to make a third landing, was there a problem with disorientation, visibility, did one of the wings hit the ground on landing, engine failure.

Wreckage - they will be trying to see if all the components of the aircraft are there and if they were working at the time.

Names released The names of three people from Northern Ireland killed in the accident have been released.

Brendan McAleese, a cousin of Irish president, Mary McAleese's husband, was killed in the crash.

Pat Cullinan, originally from Omagh, County Tyrone, and a partner in accountancy firm KPMG in Belfast. A third victim, Captain Michael Evans, was a deputy harbour master at Belfast Harbour.

Irish, British and Spanish passport-holders were on board the aircraft which was flying between the two cities as part of a scheduled daily service. All their families have been informed.

The identity of the three other passengers killed is likely to be released by Irish police on Friday.

Bishop John Buckley, bishop of Cork and Ross, said there was a "great sense of sadness" in the area.

He said he hoped to organise a prayer service in Cork for the families affected by the crash.

Injured

Meanwhile, relatives of some of the six people injured in the accident have been visiting them at Cork University Hospital.

Dr Gerry McCarthy, a consultant at the hospital, said: "We've got four people with serious injures, two of them had to go to our intensive care unit where they remain at the minute.

Captain Michael Evans was the deputy harbour commissioner in Belfast

"They have remained stable throughout the day so really they're stable, but with serious injuries involving their chest, abdomen and spine."

The flight was scheduled to depart Belfast at 0750 GMT and eventually left at 0812 GMT. It was due to land in Cork at 0910 GMT.

The plane first attempted to land from a southerly direction on Cork's main runway, known as Runway 17. This was aborted due to low visibility.

It then tried to land on the opposite, northerly, approach to the main runway - known as Runway 35. The Aviation Authority said it is believed wind was not a problem, but the pilot was still unhappy with visibility.

The plane went into a holding position for 20 minutes, before making a third attempt to land on the southerly approach to the main runway.

At 0940 GMT, the plane was 10 miles out from the airport. At 0950 GMT, the plane hit the ground at what is called the 'western threshold' of the runway. Eye witnesses reported hearing a loud bang.

It is understood the plane flipped over on landing and caught fire.

Things are unlikely to return to normal at Cork Airport until late on Friday afternoon with some flights cancelled and some diverted to Shannon Airport.

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Bomb expert was 'under pressure'

9 February 2011 Last updated at 15:05 GMT Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid made safe 64 bombs during a five-month tour of duty A bomb disposal expert appeared "under pressure" and "rushed" on the day he died in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, an inquest has heard.

Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid, from Truro in Cornwall, died disarming a roadside bomb in November 2009.

Cpl Thomas Stace told the inquest the "inspirational leader" appeared "somewhat impatient" as he defused explosives on the day of his death.

The inquest at Truro Coroner's Court is expected to last two days.

Staff Sgt Schmid, who had diffused 64 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan, had made a comment to a colleague about speeding up, Cpl Stace said.

However, in written evidence he told the inquest the pressure was not imposed by Army chiefs.

'Pulled wire'

"I think he was under pressure to deal with them all and that it was a self-imposed pressure," he said.

Sapper Craig Butterworth, who witnessed the death, described Staff Sgt Schmid as a "total inspiration" but said he had also noticed signs of stress.

The IED which killed the disposal expert instantly was the fourth device tackled that day, the inquest was told.

Colleagues said he pulled a wire from the ground, before turning round to them and saying "you didn't see me do that, did you?".

This was "very unusual" they said, but they trusted him completely because of his professionalism and experience.

Sapper Butterworth added: "On that day it occurred to me that he was slightly rushed.

"I could only think that this was because it was his last day before going home for rest and recuperation."

'Come home'

L/Cpl Gary Parsons told the inquest about a telephone conversation between Staff Sgt Schmid and his five-year-old stepson, Laird.

During the conversation, Laird had said "Daddy, time to come home", he added.

The inquest also heard evidence from pathologist Nicholas Hunt that Staff Sgt Schmid had fainted while on duty on 14 September - two months before he was killed - but was in good health.

The 30-year-old soldier, who had made his home in Winchester, Hampshire, died the day before he was due to return to the UK.

Known as Oz, Staff Sgt Schmid had been part of the 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, based in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

He was awarded a posthumous George Cross, which his widow Christina accepted in a ceremony last June.

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