BBC is developing 3D radio

Engineers at the BBC are developing new technology to broadcast radio and television programmes with three-dimensional sound.

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

Three-dimensional television may only just have arrived, but engineers at the BBC are already working on the next step - 3D radio.

Researchers at the corporation's technology unit, BBC R&D, have been developing acoustics that can trick the listener into believing they are really at events such as concerts with sound coming from every direction - even above and below.

The technology could bring new vigour to the BBC's long-established sound effects department, allowing its experts to fool audiences into hearing an object rising or falling.

The engineers claim that the new technology should allow consumers to receive 3D sound from their existing radio and television speakers.

Frank Melchior, lead technologist for audio with BBC R&D, said: "We want to deliver a new experience to the audience that gives them more immersion and involvement in the content.

"We also have to make sure we are flexible enough in the delivery of this content. It has to sound OK on headphones as well as on speakers."

It is not the first time the BBC has claimed to have made such a breakthrough. Last year, Radio 4's Today programme ran an April Fools' Day demonstration of 3D radio, asking listeners to hold their hands in front of their faces to get the effect.

The joke, as it turns out, was based in fact. A research paper from BBC R&D reveals hopes for 3D audio which will trick the brain into hearing sound from above and below in addition to the left, right, front and back that are usual with existing stereo or surround-sound audio on radio and TV.

Engineers have tested the new technology with recordings of the Last Night of the Proms, a concert by the rock band Elbow, and a radio play of the Wizard of Oz.

Anthony Churnside, who co-authored the BBC R&D research paper, said: "There are a number of ways to create 3D sound. There are psychoacoustic tricks that can make you perceive sound from above and below.

"With the Wizard of Oz we concentrated on a couple of scenes including the tornado when it takes the house away. Suddenly we had mooing cows thrown up into the air, and the wind could be all around you. With 3D sound you have every direction to play with so you can be really quite creative.

"For an orchestra or a live event, the majority of the sounds come from the stage in front of you, but the sense of immersion comes from the sound bouncing off the roof and the walls."

BBC engineers have been testing different technologies including one called ambisonics, in which the audio is recorded using microphones at different locations.

The soundtracks are broadcast simultaneously, with advances in the computational power of hi-fi equipment and televisions allowing the signals to be decoded and configured to suit each listener's speaker set-up.

Mr Churnside said: "The final solution will probably be a hybrid of the technologies so that we can record, produce, broadcast and listen to the audio in the most flexible way."

The 3D audio could eventually help to enhance 3D television broadcasting, which is expected to increase after the first episode of David Attenborough's Kingdom of Plants was broadcast in 3D by Sky earlier this month.

Keep an eye on the skies for saucers during the Olympics Games, warns former MoD UFO expert

* UFO expert Nick Pope says massive summer events like the Olympics would be a prime time    
   for an alien encounter

* Ministry of Defence 'has planned for the worst outcomes - attack and invasion'

* 'We should be prepared for even the most seemingly unfathomable'

By Eddie Wrenn

One of the UK's top UFO experts has given his views on the likelihood of aliens suddenly appearing in our skies - and how the international community would respond.

Nick Pope, who has more than two decades under his belt at the Ministry of Defence, said mass summer events - like the Olympic Games in London - would be a prime time for crafts from otherworlds to present themselves to mankind.

He warned: 'With the summer of mass events we are all on high alert for terrorism. But we must also cast our eyes further afield and be prepared for even the most seemingly unfathomable.''

Pope's duties at the MoD included investigating reports of UFOs between 1991 and 1994, and says he began his research as a sceptic, before becoming convinced that the sightings raised important defence for national security and air safety issues.

He was particularly interested in cases where the witnesses were pilots, or where UFOs were tracked on radar, and said there were other believers among his former colleagues.

He said: 'It has been a widely held belief in Ministry of Defence circles that "aliens" have been able to detect us for decades via TV and radio broadcasts.

'What once seemed like science fiction is steadily being realised by central governing bodies as distinctly real.

'If aliens have studied our psychology, they may choose to appear in our skies on a significant date – the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games is one date being widely circulated by conspiracy groups.

'The atomic bombs detonated in the 1940s, and the rocket technology since developed would unquestionably have alerted nearby alien civilisations to our existence.

'On their arrival it is difficult to say what they would do: explore, help or destroy. Our resources make us quite a special threat.'

A Tornado F3 flies past a Rapier missile set-up: These kind of defences could be used against an extra-terrestrial threat - although sure the Others would have better technology than us

Hopefully, if aliens do come and introduce themselves to us, they come in a spirit of warmth, friendship and shared learning - but Pope said the government was also prepared for the worst scenarios.

He said: 'The government must - and has planned - for the worst-case scenario: alien attack and alien invasion.

'Space shuttles, lasers and directed-energy weapons are all committed via the Alien Invasion War Plan to defence against any alien ships in orbit.

'If UFOs came into our atmosphere, RAF jets such as the Eurofighter Typhoons, and missiles such as the Rapiers guarding the Olympic Games would be well equipped to enter the fray.

'And if the aliens landed, in an unprecedented move, I am in doubt that the entire Army would be join the fight.

'The TA and the Reserves would be called out and conscription potentially introduced. '

Speaking about the cultural impact of aliens since the first widely-reported cases in the 1940s, he said: 'It is interesting to note that we are all in some ways equipped to deal with alien invasion - games such as Resistance: Burning Skies on PlayStation Vita help acclimatise people to the reality of extraterrestrial life - and in particular that they might be hostile.

'It is a widely held belief that classified information about weapons and tactics useful in combatting alien occupation are embedded into such gameplay.

'The primary flaw is our lack of knowledge - we are limited in the extent of what we know about the alien species.'

Pope's role in the government was once described as 'working on the the X-Files of the UK', and he has since published Sunday Times top ten non-fiction bestsellers, such as Open Skies, Closed Minds.

His final role at the MoD, held until 2006, was Directorate of Defence Security, and since leaving he has given lectures and TV interviews about his views on the existence of UFOs.

He added: 'Aliens may possess weapons or advanced technology we’ve no idea of. Aliens may have invisibility, a death ray, teleportation, force fields and other things we can't even guess at.

'Beyond this, unity is key, but as history dictates, this is not so easy.

'The logical course is to unite the world against the alien threat, combining our military strength and fighting under the United Nations. But some countries might not fight.

'We saw this type of treachery and cowardice in the Second World War. Though some brave people joined the Resistance, much of France accepted Nazi occupation.

'The final and perhaps biggest flaw is preparation. With the summer of mass events we are all on high alert for terrorism. But we must also cast our eyes further afield and be prepared for even the most seemingly unfathomable.'

Al Qaeda Offshoot Offers Camels for Obama's Head, Hens for Hillary Clinton's

By MOHAMED IBRAHIM

The al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia has mocked the new $33 million bounty on its top leaders heads by offering its own bounty for President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – 10 camels for Obama and 20 chickens for Clinton.

"Anyone who helps the Mujahideen find the whereabouts of Obama and Hillary Clinton will be rewarded with 10 Camels to the information leading to Obama and 10 hens and 10 cocks for Hillary," said senior Shabaab commander Fuad Mohamed Khalaf in a statement reported on numerous websites.

Earlier this week, the U.S. offered a total of $33 million through the State Department's Rewards for Justice program for information leading to the capture of seven different Shabaab leaders, including Khalaf.

The U.S. offered $7 million for founder and commander Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed, AKA Godane or Mukhtar Abu Zubeir, five million for Khalaf and three other men, and $3 million apiece for two other leaders.

The announcement of the U.S. bounties came as Somali and other African military forces have begun to squeeze Shabaab into a smaller and smaller section of Somalia. In a statement, the Somali government said the rewards would help crush the al Qaeda affiliate.

"The announcement from the U.S. government . . . will certainly help the Somali government's efforts to end al Qaeda's reign of terror in Somalia," said Somalia's transitional government in a statement Thursday. "This is an important juncture in Somali history, where the possibility of full recovery from years of chaos is within reach."

In his response to the U.S. rewards, Khalaf said that "infidels" offering bounties for Muslims was "nothing new."

"There is nothing new in the fact that infidels pay to have Muslim leaders killed," said Khalaf. "They already did that by offering camels for the head of Prophet Mohammed, and the dollar is the camel of today."

Khalaf was referencing a passage in the Koran in which 100 camels were offered for the Prophet Mohammed as he fled Mecca for Medina.

"I can assure you that these kind of things will never dissuade us from continuing the holy war against them," said Khalaf.

Drop dead euro

How do the Spaniards and the Germans see the future of the eurozone? Will Greece become Europe’s Lehman Brothers? And how viable is the idea of creating a banking union? CrossTalking with Rodney Shakespeare, Stephen Foley and Joost Van Iersel.
 

Apple’s Proposed ‘Spaceship’ Campus Comes Alive in New Floor Plans

By Christina Bonnington

Apple has grand plans for a secondary campus in Cupertino, California. The city just released a treasure trove of floor plans, technical drawings, and renderings, so now we can see exactly what Apple has planned.

Construction on Apple’s Campus 2 is expected to begin later this year (pending final approval from Cupertino’s City Council) with construction completing by 2015. The four-story, 300,000 square-foot circular structure, which according to the late Steve Jobs looks "a little like a spaceship landed," will eventually host 13,000 employees.

Apple isn't ditching its corporate headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop, though: The new campus will act as a separate, supplemental research facility to the company’s current campus.

In May, Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer sent area residents a brochure detailing what to expect from the proposed campus. Besides not replacing 1 Infinite Loop, the structure will be LEED certified, with a huge solar array on the main roof.

Campus 2 won’t be open to the public, but it will feature a variety of amenities for its employees, like a fitness center and an auditorium for product events.