16 Daily Express Monday, May 20, 2019DX1ST

Driverless cars ‘need to talk to each other’Driverless cars could cut traffic jams and improve traffic flow by a third – provided they can talk to each other, a British study found.

But the rise of autonomous cars could end in gridlock if manufacturers fail to produce systems that communicate with other car makes, University of Cambridge boffins warn.

However, if a means of communication is found, driverless cars could improve traffic flow by at least 35 per cent.

Co-author Nicholas Hyldmar said: “if different automotive manufacturers are all developing their own autonomous cars with their own software, those cars all need to communicate with each other effectively.”

The findings were based on experiments using a fleet of model cars programmed to drive on a multi-lane track. They then observed how the traffic flow changed when one of the cars stopped.

Dr Amanda Prorok, from Cambridge’s Department of Computer science and Technology, said: “For autonomous cars to be safely used on real roads, we need to know how they will interact with each other to improve safety and traffic flow.”

The results were presented at the international Conference on robotics and Automation in Montreal.

Animal magic! Snappers go wild for perfect shots

The winning image of a gazelle in the desert, below, and the British shots of a baby gorilla and great egret, inset below. Left, a zebra herd

THis touching picture of a baby gorilla snuggling up to its mother won a British photographer a top place in an international photo competition. But it was pipped at the post by a spectacular shot of a gazelle charging over the edge of a sand dune in the Namib desert.

The snap, which beat hundreds of others in the Natural World competi-tion, run by the society of international Nature and Wildlife Photographers, was taken from the open door of a helicopter.

British snappers came second and third in the contest, with the gorilla picture taken in rwanda, and with a close-up of a doomed dragonfly being carried by four red ants.

entrants from across the globe were highly commended, including one with a stunning shot of a leopard roll-ing in the snow in russia

Winner Buddy eleazer, from Pennsylvania in the Us, said: “To get this shot i had three options, balloon, airplane or helicopter. Considering the challenge of positioning myself in the air, i chose the helicopter.”

runner-up was Kutub Uddin, from Dorset, with his red ants study and third was Andy Howe, from Bedfordshire, with his gorilla picture.

Also highly commended was another picture by Buddy eleazer of

a line of zebra in Namibia.Buddy said: “This photo was taken in etosha

National Park in the win-ter when there is no chance of rain so the wildlife must stay near the few waterholes.”

Birds were a popular subject with four other highly commended shots. Gary spicer, from

shaftesbury, Dorset, caught a great tit facing off

a tree pipit over a water bath in Hungary. He said:

“The tree pipit got the wrath of the great tit for invading his space.”

Fellow Briton Ann Aveyard, from ringwood, Hants, got a shot of a great egret while on a trip to Florida.

By News Reporter

Stopped

Daily Express Monday, May 20, 2019 17DX1ST

Easter sun boosts an early crop of berriesSTRAWBERRY lovers are tucking into the fruit earlier than ever thanks to the warm weather over Easter which has boosted harvests.

Researchers found an early start to this year’s strawberry season has yielded 22 per cent more fruit than last year, which suffered freezing weather over winter and a late start to spring.

The fruit has also arrived six weeks before Wimbledon where tennis fans traditionally enjoy eating them as they watch the tournament.

Nick Marston, chairman of grower organisation British Summer Fruits, said that most of the increase – calculated to the first week of May – was due to the warm weather over Easter in April. It meant growers began harvesting a fortnight earlier than last year.

The boost comes amid a nine per cent increase in the amount of strawberries sold in the UK in the year to April 21 – Britons spent £653million on 131,000 tons, according to analysts Kantar.

Mr Marston predicts demand would grow by another nine per cent in 2020. He added: “New varieties are coming to market, like Malling Centenary, which look better and are bigger than older varieties.”

But he warned the latter part of the season was under threat by a lack of seasonal labour.

Animal magic! Snappers go wild for perfect shots

A leopard rolls in the Russian snow. The British entries included the runner-up picture of red ants carrying a dragonfly. Below, a tree pipit and a great tit clash

Harvesting

Pictures: SWNS