News Monday, January 18, 2010 D The Green RoomBy Neil Sean Celebrities behind closed doors X Factor winner nice-but-bland Joe McElderry may have a spot at this weeks National Television Awards but the 18-year-old is worried his fame may not last. It could all be done in a year look at Leon Jackson, he says. Jason Donovan is looking good at 40 but he tells me its not easy. I have to be really careful I cut out the carbs and its fruit all the way... I need to stay a 34 waist, he admits. Katy Perry has been writing new songs since meeting comedian Russell Brand. I cant put them all on the album, though they are all a bit slushy, she gushes. Max Beesley is fully booked with acting work including a film set in 1960s Manchester. And Robbies old chum hopes to get the popstar involved. Yeah a cameo or singing the theme tune why not? he asks. Justin Bieber is the new kid on the pop block and at 15, hes got an eye for the older lady. He told me: I met Penny Smith from GMTV. She is hot I liked her a lot. The One shows Christine Bleakley is stunned to be deemed a sex symbol. Frank Lampards scoring partner told a make up artist: Its the power of TV I never got this attention before. Welsh soulstress Duffy is working on her new album in New York but insists it will be more of the same... Ive been writing songs since I was a teen, you see... Young girls invention is key to quitting smokingA GIRL of ten who used her pocket money to develop one of her many inventions has just landed a five- figure contract for a design. Megan Ward is being touted as the youngest inventor in Britain after securing an order for her 3D keyrings that aim to put people off smoking. The bright sparks key fob shows a plastic set of lungs blackened with the tar from just four packets of cigarettes. I am really excited that lots of people will see them and I hope it puts them off smoking for life, she said My great-grandma died from smoking and I think its horrible. It smells nasty and its bad for you. Her dream of marketing the idea became a reality after she spent 38 on having a prototype created in China. She sent it to anti- smoking consultancy, Gasp, which placed an order for 25,000 keyrings worth 13,600. It is absolutely extraordinary that she has come up with this aged ten, said a spokeswoman for Gasp. Megans father, 48, said: She just amazes me. I dont know where it all comes from. We handed out a few of her keyrings at school and five parents gave up smoking after seeing it, its that powerful. Other inventions his daughter has patented include a UV indicator wristband and a T-shirt which changes colour when the sun is strong. Megan, from Surrey, UK, is dyslexic, which means shes usually at the bottom of her class, but her mother, Paula, 37, said she more than compensates with her inventiveness. Her biggest hero is the inventor of the wind-up radio Trevor Bayliss. Even people with no electricity can hear it and it has helped lots of people. But if I could invent anything it would be a machine that lets people fly on their own, she added.Ideas: Megan with the keyring she invented I do undone: Price Gift list for divorcees A HIGH street chain has been criticised by family campaigners after launching a divorce gift list for unhappy couples. Debenhams is offering a new service so friends can give presents to divorcees who need to make a fresh start. The retailer said it was inspired by stars such as Katie Price and Heather Mills who threw parties after splitting from their respective husbands, Peter Andre and Paul McCartney. But campaigners for a family concern group said the scheme trivialised a very serious issue. Divorce is not something to be celebrated like a marriage but a personal tragedy for both parties, said group director Norman Wells. Debenhams claimed gifts from friends were more important for divorcees than weddings because one partner may have to furnish a new home. We are not encouraging people to get divorced but unfortunately, it is a fact of life, said spokeswoman Ruth Attridge. Fine and dandy: Jude Law, with fob watch chain, is a new icon Fashion? Its elementary Dr Watson SHERLOCK HOLMES is sparking a timely fashion revival with a boom in demand for fob watches. The elegant timepiece features heavily in the hit film about the Victorian detective. Actor Jude Laws dandy or foppish look as the dapper sidekick Dr Watson to Robert Downey Jrs Holmes is proving particularly popular. Watson wears a fob watch throughout and jewellers are reporting an increase in enquiries for the accessory, coinciding with the films general release here. It seems to be a well-liked look at the moment, perhaps because it suggests a certain attitude of elegance and style along with the rest of the outfit, said Ron Jones of jeweller Ernest Jones. robo-insect: A six- legged robot which walks like an insect has been created. The machine features a simple network and is capable of a range of movements. It uses gaits depending on whether it crawls uphill or downhill, slowly or fast, and has 18 sensors that warn of obstacles. It can also perform combinations of 11 complex cockroach-like behaviours using as little energy as possible, outstripping many of its rivals. Once it is equipped with a motor memory, it will be capable to use foresight and plan its movements, said Prof Marc Timme, of the Max Planck Institute in Gottingen, Germany. If you have a story for MiniCosm please e-mail us at news@metroherald.ie MINICOSMSCIENCE & DISCOVERY IN BRIEF gene genies: Scientists have uncovered 13 new genetic mutations that influence the biology at the heart of Type 2 diabetes. Five of the newly discovered variants increase the risk of developing the disease, which affects more than 2million people in Britain. The mutations are linked to blood glucose regulation, the bodys ability to respond to insulin and the function of insulin- secreting beta cells in the pancreas. The finding by a group of US-based scientists provides important clues about the development of the condition. vortices, the intensity of the light is zero (black). The light all around us is filled with these dark lines, even though we cant see them, he added. The breakthrough paves the way for a new level of precision in laser tech- nology, with applications ranging from traffic speed guns to height measurement. The Bristol team was joined by physicists working at the universities of Glasgow and South- ampton. Scientists getting in a knot over bendy light PHYSICS at school used to tie many of us up in knots. And science today string theories, dark matter, quan- tum this and that leaves most of us in the dark. Now scientists have managed to tie light itself in knots. The light was control- led using holograms designed through knot theory a branch of abstract mathematics inspired by twists in shoelaces and rope. In a light beam, the flow of light through space is similar to water flowing in a river, said Dr Mark Dennis from Bristol University. Although it often flows in a straight line out of a torch, laser pointer, etc light can also flow in whirls and eddies, forming lines in space called optical vortices. Along these lines, or optical By Fred Attewill Twist: Knot theory plus some holograms Pictures: PA index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html