That’s the way to play it

Bend it like the bots

These soccer stars have sinews of steel. Literally. And when they clash, sparks fly. Something like this happened when the robot footballers designed by the universities of Warwick and Plymouth played each other. Built by students, the teams of bots showcased some of the best talents in British robotics research. And when it was time for kick-off, student groups from three other institutions sat in the audience. And this was just a warm-up session. The real action takes place in June at the European Robot Soccer Championships in Germany. It will have 14 teams from 11 countries. But robot equivalents of human players are a long way off. A Beckham equivalent can only emerge around 2050. Maybe the bots will start sending mobile text messages by then.

 

Wings of hope

Want to study in the UK, but don’t know how to get financial assistance? Well ,you could take a look at the Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards. Set up by the British government, the scholarship will allow you to pursue a doctoral programme of your dreams at any of the 20 top-rated universities in the UK. The best thing about the award is that it is aimed at candidates mostly from India and China. If things go off without a hitch, the first batch of 130 students should push off for English shores by October 2004. In the coming years, the number of awardees will finally go up to anything between 800 and 1000. For students from science, engineering, medicine, social sciences and technology, the scholarship will pay between £25,000 and £75,000 to cover tuition fees and maintenance. Check out www.rcuk.ac.uk/hodgkin for details.

The lady in white is Neera from walt dis-ney’s latest release Young Black Stallion. Set in Africa at the end of World War II, the movie focuses on the young Neera who, separated from her family and alone in the desert, finds a friend in the horse Shetan.

You’ve not got mail

When was the last time you clicked on ‘send’ for an e-mail and immediately felt that you should’ve been less hasty? With Bigstring, it might now become possible to erase, modify or recall the e-mail you’ve just sent off. Designed by Recall Mail Corporation, the technology will change the way we look at e-mails. It’ll save users embarrassment and give them a second chance. The technology is currently awaiting a patent.

What a shot

Marc Burrows

Before he knew what had happened, Marc Burrows had created history. In two seconds flat, he had scored the fastest goal ever in football. It was almost like a miracle. Right at kick-off, Marc saw that the goalkeeper was off-line, and he thought that the chance was worth the risk. He even joked with the referee about the possibility of a straight shot into the goal. He kicked the ball as soon as the whistle blew, the wind caught hold of the ball and it sailed into the net. The keeper didn’t even get a chance to move. The referee timed the goal at two seconds, which beats the world record of 2.8 seconds.

AWARD OF THE WEEK

Goes to physically-challenged Sachin from Maharashtra who scored a half-century against the team from Andhra Pradesh at the BHEL ground in Bhopal.