Photo of the Day (11.6.10)

by Catherine Bodry on

Doesn’t this look like the kind of a day that is perfect for a steamy bath? I’m not sure I’d be too comfortable what with all the gawkers looking down at me, but still. Gazing up at those buildings, thinking about how long the tradition of a long hot soak has been in place…. Yummy. Thanks to brianmca for warming us up on a chilly day.

Have any photos from your travels that you want to share with the world? Upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool, and we just might choose one for our Photo of the Day feature.

High-speed rail deal may mean more services between UK and Europe

by Sean McLachlan on

The UK government has leased its High Speed One line to a Canadian consortium. The line, which cost more than £5 billion ($8.1 billion) in taxpayer money to build, will be run by Borealis Infrastructure and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension fund on a 30 year lease. They paid £2.1 billion ($3.4 billion) in the deal.

The High Speed One line is the route that Eurostar uses in its journeys from London to Paris and Brussels. The consortium plans to open the line up to more train companies in a move that will see more competition, and hopefully lower rates, on the popular route.

The line will continue to be under the ultimate authority of the UK government and subject to its regulations.

[Photo courtesy user Sunil060902 via Wikimedia Commons]

Italian museums on strike November 12

by Sean McLachlan on

If you’re going to be in Italy on November 12, you might want to sit at a cafe and order an extra espresso, because many of the tourist sights will be closed.

Workers at museums and archaeological sites across the country plan to shut their doors on November 12 to protest massive budget cuts to arts and culture programming to the tune of 58 million euros ($82.02 million) annually in 2011 and 2012. The cuts were approved by the national government this summer.

Actually, when you factor in all the cuts to local government, which of course got passed on to arts and culture funding, the figure is more like 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) over the next two years.

The strike will also include other public institutions such as theatres and libraries. It’s unclear at this stage how many will participate, but considering recent large protests in places like Greece and France over austerity measures, Italy’s may be a big one.

[Photo of the statue Laocoön and His Sons in the Vatican Museum courtesy Damon Green via Gadling’s flickr pool. Chances are the Vatican Museum will remain open because it’s actually in another country!]

Daily gear deals – free noise isolating headphones, $9 notebook mouse and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Saturday November 6, 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today’s first deal is for a pair of noise isolating headphones. The headphones are free, and shipping is just a buck – making this one very hot deal for what will most likely be a pair of mediocre headphones. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a great price on a highly rated Logitech cordless notebook mouse. The mouse comes with a compact wireless receiver, and the battery can keep it working for up to six months. On sale for $8.99. Click here for this deal.

Today’s third deal is for a Motorola MicroUSB car charger cord. Despite the brand, this charger will work with any MicroUSB device – including most current Blackberry and Android phones. On sale for just $4.89, click here for this deal.

And finally in today’s lineup is a hanging toiletries bag. The bag comes in four colors, and is on sale for $9.99. Just remember that if you plan to fly with it, you’ll need to keep liquids out of it, or to keep it in your check baggage. Click here for this deal.

Using slime mould to improve transportation

by Sean McLachlan on

“What idiot designed this highway?”

I’ve asked myself this question on more than one road trip. Sometimes the most straightforward journey can be slowed down thanks to bad highway planning. Now it turns out that slime mould may be an efficient designer of transportation routes. Slime mould resembles a giant amoeba that sends out networks of tubes to grab food from distant locations. Scientists have long known that slime moulds always pick the best route, so they wondered if this fact could be applied to human transportation.

In a recent experiment, Andy Adamatsky of the University of the West of England put a map of Mexico in a Petrie dish. He put a bit of slime mould where Mexico City is, and marked out Mexico’s other cities with oat flakes, a tasty treat loved by slime moulds everywhere. In this amazing timelapse video you can see how the slime mould grows its tubes and basically recreates Mexico’s transport network. He’s also done this with England’s road network and a different team tried it out on Tokyo’s subway system. Adamatsky hopes that in the future, transportation officials will use slime mould to help them in their planning. Feel free to make jokes about politicians and slime mould in the comments section.

[Photo courtesy Dr. Jonatha Gott and the Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Case Western Reserve University]