Author: xaurav

A piece of Sir Isaac Newton’s apple tree is set to defy gravity, the theory it inspired, by being carried into space on the next Nasa shuttle mission.

The wood sample is from the original tree from which an apple fell, leading Newton to devise his theory of gravity.

The sample, which is normally held in the Royal Society’s archives, was lent to British-born astronaut Dr Piers Sellers, who will take it into orbit.

The Atlantis shuttle will lift off for on 14 May carrying six crew members.

The 12-day mission will be the Nasa shuttle’s last.

The move is part of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary celebrations.

The tree sample will be accompanied on its trip into space by an image of Sir Isaac, which was also donated by the Royal Society.

Dr Sellers, who was selected as an astronaut candidate by Nasa in 1996, said he and the other team members were "delighted" to be taking a piece of the historic tree into orbit.

"While it’s up there, it will be experiencing no gravity, so if it had an apple on it, the apple wouldn’t fall," he said.

Dr Sellers went on to quip: "I’m pretty sure that Sir Isaac would have loved to see this, assuming he wasn’t spacesick, as it would have proved his first law of motion to be correct."

Sir Isaac, a physicist and mathematician, is widely regarded as being one of the greatest scientists of his era.

‘Pleased and proud’

He recounted the story that inspired his theory of gravitation to scholar William Stukeley and it later appeared in Stukeley’s 1752 biography, Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life.

In the story, Sir Isaac claimed to have been inspired by a falling apple in his garden to investigate the theory of gravitation.

After the space flight, the tree sample and picture will be returned to the Royal Society.

Lord Rees, the academic institution’s current president, said it was "both pleased and proud that such an extraordinary part of scientific history and important element of the Royal Society’s archive collection can make this historic trip into space".

He said the piece of tree and picture of Sir Isaac will go on to form part of the History of the Royal Society exhibition that the society will be holding later this year and will then be held as a permanent exhibit.

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Students from 20 leading universities are to protest against what they say are “underhand” tactics over tuition fees.

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A 53-year-old man and his son die, as well as a 12-year-old girl, in a head-on car crash in Leicester.

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Senior Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are to hold more talks about the possibility of their parties forming a new government.

Conservative and Lib Dem negotiators will meet at 1100 BST – after leaders David Cameron and Nick Clegg met on Saturday for private 70-minute talks.

There will also be a meeting of Conservative MPs at 1800 BST on Monday, the BBC understands.

The Tories won the most election votes and MPs but are short of a majority.

Gordon Brown remains prime minister and has offered the Lib Dems talks if no deal is reached with the Conservatives.

A Lib Dem spokesman said Mr Clegg and Mr Brown spoke by telephone on Saturday night at the prime minister’s request, describing the conversation as "amicable".

Meanwhile, David Cameron has told Tory supporters that the negotiations will "inevitably involve compromise".

In an e-mail message to supporters, the Conservative leader said he would not be "rushed into any agreement" but may be able to give "ground" in some areas.

The Tory leader said he would stand firm on his pledges not "to give more powers to Brussels, be weak on immigration or put the country’s defences at risk".

But he added that, in the "national interest", the Conservative Party may be able to give ground in areas such as the Lib Dem manifesto plan to reduce taxes on the lowest paid and hoped for a "similarly constructive approach from the Liberal Democrats".

There was no direct reference to the Lib Dem desire for a referendum on voting reform, although on Friday Mr Cameron offered an "all party committee of inquiry on political and electoral reform".

The talks between Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg at Admiralty House in Westminster, on Saturday night, were described by both sides as "constructive and amicable" and followed an earlier brief conversation at the VE day commemoration event in London.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said: "They will have been working out whether there is any room there on which they can meet which would allow them to both satisfy their supporters and have some sort of stable coalition or arrangement."

Voting referendum offer

Our correspondent added that some "very senior Liberal Democrats" were urging their party leader to "talk to Gordon Brown".

Earlier, Mr Clegg discussed the Tory power-sharing offer with his party, the leadership of which has "endorsed in full" his decision to talk to the Tories first.

The Lib Dem leader said the Conservatives, as the biggest party, had the right to seek to form a government first.

Meanwhile, Labour frontbencher Peter Hain said it was "clear" that the Lib Dem leader and Mr Brown had "a lot in common" on the need for electoral reform – Labour has offered a referendum on changing the voting system.

But Labour backbencher John Mann called for Mr Brown to step down as Labour leader before the party conference in September – arguing his position "rules out the credibility of a Lib/Lab pact".

Similarly, Labour MP and former sports minister Kate Hoey told BBC Radio 5 live she could not see how Mr Brown could "continue as prime minister in any kind of coalition" because "he wasn’t elected originally" and had now "lost over 100 MPs".

Scotland’s First Minister, SNP leader Alex Salmond, called on the Lib Dems to join a "progressive alliance" involving Labour, the SNP and Plaid Cymru.

The Tories secured 306 of the 649 constituencies contested on 6 May. It leaves the party just short of the 326 MPs needed for an outright majority, with the Thirsk and Malton seat – where the election was postponed after the death of a candidate – still to vote.

Labour finished with 258 MPs, down 91, the Lib Dems 57, down five, and other parties 28. The Conservatives got 36.1% of votes (up 3.8%), Labour 29.1% (down 6.2%) and the Lib Dems 23% (up 1%).

Meanwhile, a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times suggests more than two-thirds of people want Mr Brown to leave Downing Street immediately.

The poll of more than 1,400 voters found people think he should have admitted defeat on Friday, rather than hanging on in case the Conservatives cannot come to a deal with the Liberal Democrats.

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Chelsea’s journey to title victory

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A search for a man missing after a boat capsized near Larne on Saturday has been called off for the night.

The missing man, who is understood to come from the area, was in a rowing boat which overturned in Mill Bay.

A second man aged in his thirties who was also in the boat managed to get to shore.

A spokesperson for the coastguard said they are very concerned for the missing man. He was last seen hanging on to the boat and was not wearing a lifejacket.

Despite an extensive search operation, which also involved RAF and police helicopters, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, there has been no sign of him.

The missing man, who had been picking whelks, was due to get married in two weeks.

His fiancee was given the news of his disappearance during her hen party celebrations.

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A Royal Marine has been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence says.

The member of 40 Commando Royal Marines was killed while on a foot patrol in Sangin, Helmand Province, this morning.

The death take the total number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan to 285.

Next of kin have been informed and asked for a period of grace before further details were released, an MoD spokesperson said.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith, said: "He was part of a foot patrol in an operation which was being conducted in support of the Afghan National Army when he was struck by an explosion.

"He died in the course of his duty, seeking to provide reassurance and security to the local nationals in Sangin. He will be sorely missed and his sacrifice will not be forgotten."

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A teenager has been arrested in connection with the death of a schoolboy in East Kilbride.

The body of 16-year-old Jack Frew was discovered in woodland in the Mossneuk area of the town on Thursday.

Strathclyde Police said a 17-year-old male was in police custody in connection with the case.

A report is being sent to the procurator fiscal and the teenager is expected to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Monday.

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Indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have begun, the Palestinian chief negotiator has said.

Saeb Erekat spoke after a meeting between US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Mr Mitchell will now shuttle between the two sides, with hopes that direct talks can start within four months.

The start of talks in March was halted after a row over the building of new Israeli homes in East Jerusalem.

Palestinians broke off direct peace talks after Israel launched a military offensive on Gaza in late 2008.

"The proximity talks have started," Mr Erekat said in the West Bank city of Ramallah, with Mr Mitchell standing beside him.

Mr Mitchell will shuttle between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to narrow their differences.

He has already held several meetings with Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past week.

Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday that he hoped the indirect talks would quickly move to direct negotiations.

"Peace cannot be brought about from a distance, or with a remote control," he said.

The talks went ahead a day after receiving the backing of leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

The PLO’s Executive Committee decided to back the talks after a three-hour meeting in the West Bank.

Palestinians pulled out of talks in March after Israeli municipal authorities approved plans for new homes in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo.

The announcement was made during a visit to Israel by US Vice-President Joe Biden and caused great strain in Israeli-US relations.

The Palestinian Authority’s formal position is that it will not enter direct talks unless Israel completely halts building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In November, Israel announced a 10-month suspension of new building in the West Bank, under intense US pressure.

But it considers areas within the Jerusalem municipality as its territory and thus not subject to the restrictions.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. It insists Jerusalem will remain its undivided capital, although Palestinians want to establish their capital in the east of the city.

Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, among a Palestinian population of about 2.5 million.

The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

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