London, July 23 : A team of scientists have scanned 2 kilometres of a soft-rock outcrop at the Fumanya site in the southern Pyrenees in Spain with the help of a laser, to illuminate fragile dinosaur footprints, which date back to about 70 million years ago.

According to a report in New Scientist, Phil Manning of the University of Manchester, UK, and his team scanned the surface with LIDAR - a laser technique that maps features in a similar way to radar.

The footprints, at the Fumanya site in the southern Pyrenees in Spain, record the passage of huge long-necked dinosaurs called titanosaurs across a muddy area about 70 million years ago.

London, July 23 : The Chinese Railway Ministry is starting the world’s fastest train service next Friday, linking Beijing with one of China''''s Olympic co-host cities, nearby Tianjin.

Zhang Shuguang, head of the Ministry''''s Transport Bureau, said that the new Chinese trains could ferry passengers at the speeds reaching 350 kilometres per hour.

He said that the trains, which will have aircraft-like cabins rather than traditional carriages, have reached 394kph in tests.

"Its operational speed is the fastest in the world. It''''s very comfortable and quiet. There''''s a French train that has gone 500kph in tests, but only in tests," New Scientist magazine quoted him as saying.

London, July 23 : A new study has found out that chewing sounds from ravenous sea urchins cause ambient underwater noise on rocky reefs, which becomes a hundred times louder just before dawn and just after dusk.

According to a report in New Scientist, Craig Radford and his colleagues at the University of Auckland, New Zealand did the study.

The team recorded the sounds made by individual reef animals in the lab, and then compared them with the dominant sound in the natural reef din.

The urchins hide in crevices during the day, out of sight from predators, and emerge to feed at dusk.

London, July 23 : In a new report, the international human rights body, the Amnesty International has demanded of the Pakistan government to immediately reveal details of the whereabouts of hundreds of the missing people over the past few years. It also called upon the federal government to investigate all cases and hold to account those responsible, including the country’s security and intelligence agencies.

It also demanded that Pakistan’s new government reinstate deposed judges who had previously been investigating cases involving the missing people.

The report is the latest in an ongoing campaign by Amnesty International to end the practice of enforced disappearances worldwide.

London - Opel will launch its new Insignia at the London Motor Show in July with both a five-door hatchback and sedan version, the car maker announced recently.

Both models are scheduled for European showrooms by November and have similar body designs with a coupe-shaped roofline and replace the old Vectra range.

Seven engines will be available ranging from the four-cylinder 115 hp petrol to the 260 hp V6. The three diesels have an output in the range 110 to 160 hp.

The Insignia features the latest generation AFL Adaptive Forward Lighting system with nine different light beam settings automatically adjusting to different driving conditions.

London - Lotus is planning to unveil an eco-friendly version of the Elise sports car with a holistic approach showing that a car can be built with sustainable materials at the London Motor Show in July.

While other manufacturers are mainly looking at zero-emission drive concepts, the Eco Elise comes with a body and trims built from sustainable materials such as hemp, wool and sisal.

Most of the 100 per cent biologically degradable materials can be found in the seats and carpets, according to the car maker. The paintwork is water based and non-toxic.

In addition, the use of special lightweight alloys and the especially light alpine sound system reduces weight by 32 kilogrammes compared with the production Elise S.