T20 Blast: Croft and Brown record stand sees off Derbyshire

T20 Blast: Croft and Brown record stand sees off Derbyshire

Friday, May 23, 2014 / No Comments

A county record fourth-wicket stand of 131 between Steven Croft and Karl Brown helped Lancashire to a second straight T20 Blast win at Derbyshire by 20 runs.

Croft (76 not out) and Brown (67 not out) took the visitors from 38-3 in the sixth over up to 169-3 in a match reduced to 19 overs a side by rain.

Stephen Moore (40) led the way against his former county but when he was run out by Croft their run chase stalled.

Kabir Ali (3-27) was the pick of the attack as Derbyshire ended on 149-5.

Croft and Brown's spectacular partnership was the second T20 record stand for Lancashire inside a a week after Tom Smith and Paul Horton shared 128 for the third wicket in last Saturday night's 12-run win over Worcestershire.

Croft's knock came off 52 balls. with six fours and three sixes, while Brown plundered his runs off 50 deliveries, hitting six fours and two sixes, as the home attack suffered.

Victory took Lancashire into a share of the lead of the North Division with Northants.

Night-eating syndrome 'is real', study suggests

Night-eating syndrome 'is real', study suggests

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People woken at night by insatiable hunger may have their genes to blame, research suggests. Night-eating syndrome may appear when the genes that synchronise eating patterns with sleep are faulty, research on mice concluded. This alters meal times, leading to over-eating and weight gain. About 1-2% of people have the condition. Signs include waking in the night and being unable to go back to sleep without eating. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote For a long time, people discounted night eating syndrome as not real” Satchidananda Panda Salk Institute The syndrome has recently been classified as an eating disorder, but the cause is unknown. The food consumed is often unhealthy and high in calories, leading to weight gain and sometimes obesity. The study, published in Cell Reports, looked at mice bred with a human version of a body-clock gene in place of the mouse one. When the gene was silenced, the mice ate much earlier than normal ones, when they should have been asleep. Mutations in a related body-clock gene - implicated in sleep disorders - led to the mice sleeping more. The researchers think the genes work together to keep eating and sleeping synchronised. A fault in either gene causes disruption in sleeping and eating patterns. "For a long time, people discounted night-eating syndrome as not real," said lead researcher Satchidananda Panda, of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, US. "It opens up a whole lot of future questions about how these cycles are regulated."

Google 'poised to produce 3D imaging tablet'

Google 'poised to produce 3D imaging tablet'

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A tablet computer capable of taking 3D images is set to be put into production by Google, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal quoted sources close to the company as saying a run of 4,000 devices will be manufactured next month. The tablet will have two rear-facing cameras and advanced imaging software - and will be shown off at the firm's forthcoming developers' conference. Google has said it will not comment on "rumour and speculation". But in March, Google showed off Project Tango, an effort to bring 3D technology to its handheld devices. A prototype smartphone had been given out to 200 developers to try out. The technology makes use of infrared sensors to measure depth of surroundings. While the ability to create 3D images with small devices is by no means a new technological feat, Google's strategy will be to harness the hardware to contribute to, among other things, its mapping effort. For instance, the devices could be used to create quickly a 3D map of indoor environments.

eBay faces investigations over massive data breach

eBay faces investigations over massive data breach

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The UK's information commissioner is working with European data authorities with a view to taking action against eBay over its recent data breach. Three US states are also investigating the theft of names, email addresses and other personal data, which affected up to 145 million eBay customers. The online marketplace has begun the process of notifying its customers about the need to reset passwords. However some customers reported problems when attempting to do so. EBay told the BBC that it was not aware of any technical problems with the password reset function on the site. "The site is busy, but our secure password reset tool is working," a spokesman said. The firm has been criticised for its slow reaction in informing customers about the theft of personal data. "We are sending out millions of emails, and it will take some time. The process is certainly well under way," the firm told the BBC. It warned though that its official password reset email contained no links and that customers should be wary of messages that did. "Any email with links is a phishing attempt," it said.

Godzilla director to make Star Wars spin-off

Godzilla director to make Star Wars spin-off

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British director Gareth Edwards, who made the recent Godzilla movie, is set to direct a Star Wars spin-off film, Walt Disney Co has confirmed. The unnamed film will be in addition to the forthcoming Star Wars trilogy, the first instalment of which will be directed by JJ Abrams. Writer Gary Whitta, who penned the script for 2010's The Book of Eli, will write the screenplay for Edwards' film. The film is due to be released on 16 December 2016. In a statement, Edwards said: "Ever since I saw Star Wars I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life - join the Rebel Alliance! "I could not be more excited and honoured to go on this mission." Whitta echoed his sentiments and said the "opportunity to contribute" was "literally a dream come true".