LaNUBlog™

Human memory constantly adapts and moulds itself to fit the world. Now an art project hopes to highlight just how fallible our recollections are. All of us generate false memories and artist Alasdair Hopwood has been "collecting" them. For the past year he has asked the public to submit anecdotes of fake recollections which he turns into artistic representations. They have ranged from the belief of eating a live mouse to a memory of being able to fly as a child. One man who wrote in wrongly believed his girlfriend had a sister who died while at the dentist. So strong was his conviction that he kept all his dentist visits secret. He wrote: "Over dinner one day she said she was going to the dentist the next week. It all went quiet at the table and my mum said it must be hard for her to visit the dentist after what had happened." The false memory archive A selection of anonymous false memories: I remember biting into a mouse when I was four [and living] in Indo...

A free-trade zone in Shanghai, China's economic hub, has been launched as the world's second-biggest economy prepares to test long-awaited economic reforms. Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng attended the opening ceremony for the zone, which covers 29 sq km (11 sq miles). Mr Gao said the zone would help "implement a more active opening-up strategy". Restrictions on foreign investment will be eased inside the area and interest rates will be set by markets. Among other measures to be trialled inside the zone are allowing China's heavily-regulated currency, the yuan, to be swapped freely for other currencies, China's State Council said on Friday. Analysis ByJohn Sudworth BBC News, Shanghai Liberal economists both inside and outside China have long feared that China's three-decade-long experiment in opening up its economy has recently stalled, rolled back even, because of powerful vested interests. Now the country's premier, Li Keqiang, has signalled t...

Women who drive risk damaging their ovaries and producing children with clinical problems, according to a leading conservative Saudi cleric. The comment was made by Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, a member of a council which advises the Saudi government and writes religious edicts. His intervention comes as activists step up their campaign for women in Saudi Arabia to be allowed to drive. Women are being called upon to defy the ban and drive on 26 October. The campaign, started on Twitter, has attracted more than 11,000 signatures. It is the latest in a series of campaigns over the past two decades for women to be allowed to sit behind the wheel. Women activists in Saudi Arabia say the issue of being allowed to drive is key to gaining other rights BySebastian Usher BBC News Saudi women seek right to drive The ban on women drivers, while informal, is enforced by Saudi police through fines and arrests. Only men are permitted to acquire driving licences. "If a woman drives a ca...

German industrial giant Siemens is to cut up to 15,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting programme. It will cut about 4% of its 370,000-strong workforce but aims to avoid compulsory redundancies, according to a company spokesman. The firm will shed 5,000 jobs in Germany and another 10,000 jobs abroad. It comes after Siemens axed its former chief executive, Peter Loescher, earlier this year over falling profitability. Siemens and its unions have reached an agreement over about half of the job cuts and a deal on the other half will follow, the spokesman told news agencies. The firm has issued two warnings about profit margins during the last fiscal year, sending shares lower. Mr Loescher, led the company from 2007 and the Austrian was the first person recruited from outside the company to run the business.

Thirty people were rescued when an amphibious tourist vessel on the River Thames caught fire close to the Houses of Parliament. Many people jumped into the river from the London Duck Tours craft. All the passengers and crew were rescued by the emergency services and a passing tourist boat. Those rescued were mainly "wet and cold", said London Ambulance. Some people had suffered the effects of inhaling smoke. I was scared the boat might blow. It was scary Donna Wood, Passenger Three people were taken to hospital "as a precaution" said an ambulance service spokeswoman. Those on board are believed to have included visitors from the UK, Brazil, Russia, Australia and Sweden. About "five or six" young children were believed to be among the passengers. Passenger Donna Wood said she jumped from the craft. "I was scared the boat might blow. It was scary. "There was a lot of smoke inhalation, so we jumped in the water. "We're Australia...

The new Cygnus freighter has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) carrying about 700kg (1,500lb) of food and other supplies. Astronauts on the platform reached out with a robotic arm and grabbed the vessel at 11:00 GMT. Cygnus is on a demonstration mission to prove its technology. It is one of two commercial ventures seeded by Nasa to pick up America's ISS re-supply requirements following the retirement of the space shuttles. The new vehicle, developed by the Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), made its approach using a mix of GPS, inertial navigation and laser radar. It parked itself a little over 10m under the station, within reach of the Canadarm2. Operated by astronauts Italian Luca Parmitano and American Karen Nyberg, the robotic limb then grappled the freighter, pulling it into the ISS's Harmony module. Capture - the securing of bolts mating Cygnus to Harmony - occurred at 1244 GMT, when the ISS was moving over the Indian Ocean. Cygnus has arrived at t...

Author Helen Fielding is to appear at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to talk about her awaited third Bridget Jones book, it has been announced. The book, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, is due for release in October, the same month as the famous festival. Musician Ray Davies, ex-home secretary Alan Johnson and designer Cath Kidston are also on the guest list. Every year the festival attracts some of the biggest names from the world of culture, politics and sport. Now in its 64th year, the 10-day literary festival will be led by guest directors A S Byatt, a Man Booker Prize winner, as well as the former home secretary Mr Johnson and the critic Agnès C Poirier. Other names appearing will include Jennifer Saunders, Jack Whitehall, Ian Rankin, Mary Berry, Jeremy Paxman, Kate Adie, John Bishop and Brian May. World snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will also take to the stage to talk about the troubled times he has faced and his continued love of the sport. The central them...

Bridget Jones fans have taken to social networking to voice their horror at the news that author Helen Fielding has killed off Mark Darcy. In extracts from her new book, Mad About The Boy, published in the Sunday Times magazine, Bridget reveals that Darcy - her husband and father to her two children, died five years earlier. Darcy was played by Colin Firth in the Bridget Jones movies. Chloe Helen Lemmon wrote on Twitter: "One word for Helen Fielding: why?!" Becky Milborrowasked: "What the hell is helen fielding playing at in the next bridget jones book!? Fielding is due to speak at next month's Cheltenham Literature Festival. In the published extracts, Bridget is revealed to have two children Mabel and Billy and a 30-year-old toyboy called Roxster. Writing on Twitter, Mairi Thomson said: "Saw the news about the Bridget jones sequel, it comes out on my birthday and Mark Darcy is DEAD!!!! Awful news #birthdayruined". Fielding's first book Bridget...

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to the US for talks with President Barack Obama which will focus on Iran's diplomatic charm offensive. Before leaving the US on Friday, Iran's new President, Hassan Rouhani, shared a 15-minute phone call with Mr Obama. Mr Netanyahu, who will meet Mr Obama on Monday then address the UN on Tuesday, said he would "tell the truth in the face of the sweet talk". Israel and the West suspect Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran denies the claim. Mr Rouhani, who spoke to President Obama late on Friday, has said he wants to seek a deal with world powers on Iran's nuclear programme within months. The phone conversation was the first top-level conversation between the two countries for more than 30 years. Mr Rouhani, a moderate, was elected in June, replacing hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. On his return to Tehran on Saturday, Mr Rouhani was welcomed by hundreds of supporters hailing his trip, as well as a smal...

Suspected Islamist gunmen have attacked a college in north-eastern Nigeria, killing up to 50 students. The students were shot dead as they slept in their dormitory at the College of Agriculture in Yobe state. North-eastern Nigeria is under a state of emergency amid an Islamist insurgency by the Boko Haram group. Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow Nigeria's government to create an Islamic state, and has launched a number of attacks on schools. Classrooms burned Casualty figures from the latest attack vary, but a local politician told the BBC that around 50 students had been killed. The politician said two vanloads of bodies had been taken to a hospital in Yobe's state capital, Damaturu. Boko Haram at-a-glance *.Founded in 2002 *.Official Arabic name, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad" *.Initially focused on opposing Western education *.Nicknamed Boko Haram,...