Can a wristband make you thin? Jawbone's electric nagging bracelet might just do the trick

Jawbone's Up has a motion sensor that tracks how you sleep, how much exercise you do - and even tells you when you've been sitting still for too long

Jawbone are best known for their barely-there Bluetooth headsets - but their new product, the Up wristband, has much loftier goals. 

The £80 wristband tracks your eating habits, sleep and exercise - syncing with an app in your phone to offer advice about how to be healthier. 

From the moment it gets you up - by vibrating at the 'best' possible moment according to your sleep patterns - the machine monitors everything you do, prompting you to get up and move if you've been sat still, and even to 'log' everything you eat.

It's like having a nagging personal trainer who never goes away, and never shut up.

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Italian scientist claims he has achieved 'cold fusion' - the only problem is that most physicists think it is impossible

• Andrea Rossi says he can fuse nickel and hydrogen at room temperature creating almost unlimited energy
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• Many scientists simply claim it defies the very laws of physics and cannot be true

True or false? Andrea Rossi, pictured, says he has built a machine achieving 'cold fusion' but scientists question if it is possible

An Italian physicist claims he has managed to achieve 'cold fusion' - a procedure that could solve the world's energy crisis by creating huge amounts of safe nuclear energy without dangerous radiation.

Andrea Rossi says his new machine fuses nickel and hydrogen at room temperature creating almost unlimited energy.

But there is one problem - many scientists claim it defies the very laws of physics. Several high-profile demonstrations of 'cold fusion' have been proven to be hoaxes in the past - and no one can adequately explain how or why it might work.

The United States Department of Energy the U.S. Patent Office say the process is impossible because physics rules out the possibility of room-temperature nuclear fusion.

But Rossi's E-Cat machine can allegedly do it, and he says he proved it worked during tests at the University of Bologna last month.

'With low energy, it's possible to give a heater a certain amount of energy and to get from the same heater a superior amount of energy,' he said.

'The heat is initiated by electrical resistance. The reactors then produce another 479kWh of energy for another three to four hours without needing that initial electrical input -- the low-level nuclear reaction continues on its own.

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The World in 2100: Ten Billion People, No Oil and Not Enough Food

With global population now at seven billion, it may be time to start planning for what the world will look like in the coming years.

Though most of us won't be around to see it, the United Nations has projected that our incredible population growth will level off at around 10 billion people by the year 2100.

Already, at seven billion, we are experiencing severe poverty, hunger, a shortage of resources, increased urbanization and climate change issues.

Will we be doomed by 2100, or can we make it work? Since we've only got one planet (so far), let's hope for the latter.

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7 billion people and you: What's your number?

The world's population is expected to hit seven billion in the next few weeks. After growing very slowly for most of human history, the number of people on Earth has more than doubled in the last 50 years. Where do you fit into this story of human life? Fill in your date of birth below to find out.
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Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret

It is a mystery that has baffled scientists for centuries: how were the Ancient Egyptians able to perfectly preserve their pharaohs for millennia?

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Coast To Coast AM - 19.10.2011 - Deathbed Visions & Grief

Guests: Carla Wills-Brandon, Jeff O'Connell
Deathbed Visions & Grief:

On Wednesday's show, licensed Marriage and Family therapist, Carla Wills-Brandon, discussed her work documenting and compiling evidence of contact with the afterlife through deathbed visions. Such visions of the dying typically include conversations and visitations from deceased loved ones or relatives, as well as religious figures, and beloved pets.

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World's population to reach 7 billion this month

Aerial view of KTC township near Cape Town international airport in South Africa 
Photo: ALAMY

In Western Europe, Japan and Russia, the milestone comes amid worries about low birthrates and aging populations. In China and India, the two most populous nations, it's an occasion to reassess policies that have already slowed once-rapid growth.

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