Washington, Oct 23 (ANI): Boxers will now be able to assess the fighting ability of their opponents - by just looking at their faces, at least that's what scientists at University of California suggest.

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara has found that people can determine with uncanny accuracy the fighting ability of men around them by honing in on their upper body strength, by just looking at their faces.

"Assessing fighting ability was important for our ancestors, and the characteristic that the mind implicitly equates with fighting ability is upper body strength," said Aaron Sell, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSB's Center for Evolutionary Psychology and the paper's lead author.

He added: "That's the component of strength that's most relevant to premodern combat. The visual assessment of fighting ability is almost perfectly correlated with the perception of strength, and both closely track actual upper body strength. What is a bit spooky is that upper body strength can even be read on a person's face.

The UC study comprised of four sections, each of which asked the test subjects to assess the physical strength of individuals based on photographs of their faces, their bodies, or both.

The participants in the study were asked to rank the physical strength or fighting ability of the people in the photographs on a scale of one to seven.

Almost a perfect correlation between perceptions of fighting ability and perceptions of strength was obtained when the photographs depicted men whose strength had been measured precisely on weight-lifting machines.

"When you see that kind of correlation it's telling you you're measuring the same underlying variable," said one of the co-authors of the study.

The researchers also observed that perceptions of strength and fighting ability reflected the target's actual strength, as measured on weight-lifting machines at the gym.

The study also found that both men and women accurately judge men's strength, no matter which place or occupation they belonged to.

The researchers also measured leg strength in some populations, but the results showed that perceptions of men's strength and fighting ability reflect upper body strength, not that of legs.

"The next step is to isolate what it is in the face that indicates upper body strength," said Sell.

He speculated that the correlation might lie in the heavier brow ridge and thicker jaw that result from increased levels of testosterone.

"Many studies have been done on the effects of testosterone on the face. There's a good chance testosterone is involved in regulating the body for battle, and men with high testosterone -- those with a heavy brow ridge and thicker jaw -- developed bodies that were more prepared for combat," said Sell.

"One reason we evolved the ability to perceive physical strength in the face may be that it's where we focus our attention when we look at someone. Even if we are able to see someone's body, we always look at the face. It's so rich in social information -- what a person is thinking or feeling -- and adding the assessment of physical strength is a huge benefit. A person who is angry and strong offers a much greater threat than the person who is angry but weak," said another co-author of the study.

A paper highlighting the researchers' findings appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society. (ANI)

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London, Oct 23 (ANI): British engineers have unveiled plans for the world's first 1,000mph car, a vehicle designed not to break the world land speed record, but to shatter it.

According to a report in the Guardian, Bloodhound SSC, named after the British cold war supersonic air defence missiles, will attempt to beat the existing record by more than 250mph.

Working from an aircraft hangar in Bristol, the research team's engineers have been working on the project in secret for the past 18 months.

Calculations suggest the car could reach 1,050mph, fast enough to outrun a bullet from a .357 Magnum revolver.

The car was proposed by Lord Drayson, science minister in the British government, as a project to inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers, who are in desperately short supply in UK.

The Bloodhound team plans to have the car built within a year, with the record attempt expected in three years.

The project brings together mathematician and fighter pilot Andy Green, who set the current land speed record of 763mph with Thrust SSC in 1997, and Richard Noble, who directed that attempt.

The car will be the first to meld a jet engine for a Eurofighter Typhoon with a rocket booster. Together, they will produce 20,000kg (45,000lb) of thrust.

"It's an opportunity to do something extraordinary in engineering terms and to be part of the very best land speed record attempt in the world," said Green.

Green, an RAF wing commander, will use an accelerator to power the jet engine up to speeds of around 350 mph and then fire the solid rocket booster.

At that point, a V-12 racing car engine will start pumping more than a tonne of hydrogen peroxide into the booster, forcing the car to 1,000mph in 20 seconds.

"It's going to be quite uncomfortable. Where I sit will be just under the intake of the jet engine, so it's going to be acoustically quite challenging," he said.

Slowing down will also be a significant challenge. The car will use airbrakes and two parachutes to bring it to a rest after each run.

John Piper, the lead engineer on the project, said that the team would build a full-size mock-up of the vehicle over the next month.

Team members are now visiting sites where the record attempt will be made.

In the next week or two, Green will visit a site in South Africa. Other possible venues are the salt flats of the US and Australia. (ANI)

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London, Oct 23 (ANI): Women are risking their lives by wearing stilettos behind the wheels, warn insurers.

Female-friendly car insurance firm Sheilas' Wheels found that four in five women drivers admit wearing inappropriate footwear while at the wheel.

And therefore, the company is urging women to change into flat footwear before getting into the driving seat.

It is estimated that more than 11.5 million British women are putting themselves and other drivers at risk by wearing the wrong footwear. Out of the 750 women surveyed, 75 admitted having an accident or a "near-miss" because their shoes had slipped off or got stuck between or under the pedals.

Nearly a quarter said they could not be bothered to change shoes before they got behind the wheel - even if they knew the ones they had on were not the safest for driving.

A third even admitted to wearing flip-flops while driving.

"It's astonishing so many women are putting themselves, passengers and other drivers at risk. Stilettos, slingbacks and flip-flops aren't the sensible choice," the Daily Express quoted Jacky Brown, Sheilas' spokeswoman, as saying.

The warning comes amid reports that some women are turning to Botox in a bid to repair feet damaged by wearing high heels. he trend for having Botox injected into damaged heels also poses risks, because it causes numbness.

Michael O'Neill, a consultant surgeon from the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, said: "Numbness would last for up to 24 hours. You shouldn't drive for at least three days after such a treatment due to loss of feeling in the foot."

"The rule is, 'You can't drive until you can hop five times on a foot', ensuring you can put the foot down on a pedal without hesitation, which is crucial if you need to make an emergency stop," he added. (ANI)

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London, Oct 23 (ANI): Social networking site, Facebook, is responsible for 'friendship addiction' and is fuelling insecurity in users, according to psychologists.

With social networking sites becoming more of a substitute for families, it is the women who are most affected by it, as they derive their self worth from relationships with others and Facebook compels them to 'acquire' hundreds of friends, experts say.

According to David Smallwood, an addictions expert with the Priory clinic, at least 10 per cent of the population were vulnerable to 'friendship addiction'.

He further stressed that the site was not suitable for people recovering from drug, alcohol and shopping addictions, and that it could increase feelings of rejection through the friend 'request' function.

Anyone who is rejected cannot then access the webpage of the person who refused the original request.

"Acquisition of friends is like any other fix but it's competitive. You judge yourself by how many friends you have online. You go out of your way to amass friends and that means people bend out of shape and become something they are not," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

"To appear successful, you go and put yourself in credit card debt by buying clothes and handbags. I see patients who are on Facebook and my response is 'get yourself off it'.

"If you're an addict you need to do things to fix yourself and make yourself feel better. People in recovery look for ways of being 'fixed' and these websites can act the same way," he added. (ANI)

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