London, Aug 1 : Foot spas have been named as the most useless gadget pushing the bread maker to the second spot to walk away with the ‘crown’, says a new survey.

In a survey of more than 1,000 Britons, consumer website www. which. co. uk found that heated hair straighteners or curlers were rated higher than TVs when it asked people to name the top gadget that had changed their life.

Ringing ahead, though, the mobile phone was the most popular life-changing gadget, named by almost a quarter of people surveyed and forty two per cent of the 16-24 age group.

In second place came the laptop, followed by the MP3 Player. Keeping things fresh, one person even said that their salad spinner had changed their life.

London, Aug. 1 : Representatives of Orissa’s remote Dongria Kondh tribe have been successful in denouncing a mining project undertaken by Britain’s Vedanta Group during the latter’s annual general body meeting here.

According to The Independent, Vedanta founder and chairman Anil Agarwal was cornered when he was asked to explain in detail his group’s commitment to "sustainable development" after Dongria Kondh tribals presented testimony on how the company was destroying the environment even before the mining has started.

Though Vedanta Resources told shareholders that the company had earned record revenue for a sixth successive year (revenues of 8.2 billion dollars, 26 per cent up on

London, Aug. 1 : The pride of Tudor King Henry VIII’s navy – the Mary Rose – sank during a battle with the French because its Spanish crew did not understand the commands that were given in English.

For generations, the reason why the Mary Rose sank during a battle with a French invasion force has divided historians.

Now, the new theory that is being circulated and accepted is that the ship was lost because two thirds of its crew were foreigners who failed to understand orders.

Forensic science examinations of the 16th-century crew''s skulls have revealed that the majority were not British but southern European, most probably Spanish.

London, August 1 : More than 100 ancient rock carvings on boulders and open bedrock have been discovered throughout Northumberland and Durham in the UK, which date back to 5,000 years.

According to a report by BBC News, among the discovered Neolithic carvings of circles, rings and hollowed cups, one of the most interesting finds was an elaborately carved panel on Barningham Moor, near Barnard Castle in County Durham.

“We know virtually nothing about this art. That’s the exciting part of this discovery,” said Kate Wilson, inspector of ancient monuments at English Heritage. “What we need to do now is to discover how this art relates to other prehistoric features in the landscape,” she added.

London, August 1 : Scientists have pieced together the first global geological map, and have made it available on the Internet.

According to a report by BBC News, led by the British Geological Survey (BGS), the project involved geologists from 80 nations.

Between 60% and 70% of the Earth’s surface is now available down to the scale of 1:1,000,000.

“That’s 1cm for every 10km of the Earth’s surface,” explained Ian Jackson from the BGS and leader of the OneGeology Project. “With that resolution, people can focus in on a small part of their city,” he added.

London, Aug 1: British royal Prince William, will become the first member of the Royal Family to be join the SAS.

In preparation for his role as the head of the Armed Forces, when he becomes king, Prince William will be spending up to six weeks with the Special Services as part of his training across all branches of the military.

Prince William will also be spending time with the Special Boat Squadron (SBS), the ultra-covert sister regiment of the SAS, and the elite Special Reconnaissance Regiment.