img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/1_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy San Francisco Museum of Modern ArtpWhat are the social consequences when science allows us to see things that had previously been invisible?/pp Scientists have revealed microscopic life, nanoscale molecules and galaxies billions of light-years away. These images have revolutionized the disciplines in which they were made, but they also transformed the public's imagination, giving common people new things to think and dream about. /pp The intertwined social, scientific and artistic impacts of 19th century photography is the subject of a new exhibit, Brought to Light Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900, at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. /pp This gallery looks at some of the more astounding images and stories from the exhibit. /p pstrongLeft: br / Hermann Schnauss, Electrograph of a brass wire gauge, 1900/strong As the men of industry attempted to harness electricity for profit, the public — which knew electricity primarily as lightning — had to be persuaded that this powerful, invisible force was something to invite into their homes. Electrographs like this one, produced by exposing a photographic negative with electricity, helped the public visualize and understand the mysterious electromagnetic waves that scientists were discovered populating the air. /pp "This is a moment where [scientists] are trying to harness electricity for practical purposes, but the general public was kind of skeptical," said Corey Keller, curator of the Brought to Light exhibit. "Their experiences with electricity were generally through lighting, which they knew could burn things down and kill you, if you weren't careful. So a great deal of time and money was spent trying to make electricity understandable and approachable." /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/3_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApIn the early history of photography, capturing motion was out of the question. The photographic negatives of the time were not sensitive enough to light to be exposed over the short time periods required to capture fast action. /pp "If you look at 19th century cityscapes, you would think that Armageddon had taken place. You don't see any people," Keller said. "It's not that they aren't there, it's just that they don't show up because they walked through too quickly." /pp But by the end of the 1870s, more sensitive negatives brought motion within reach. Edward Muybridge was one of the first photographers to take advantage of the new abilities. /pp In this photo, we see one of Muybridge's motion studies: two men boxing in jock straps. Historians note that despite the scientific trappings, Muybridge's work was just art; it did not produce good scientific evidence about bodies' movements. /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/4_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApThe ability to capture motion in photography opened up a previously invisible source of scientific data. Etienne-Jules Marey was a scientist trying to understand biomechanics, or the motion of the body, and he used photography to acquire information he couldn't get any other way, as in this photograph of a man on a stationary bicycle. /pp "What happens in this picture is that each split second exposure is layered on top of each other, so you get the sense of the full arc of the motion," Keller said. "And he's put a piece of tape down the arm and torso and the leg where the joints articulated, so as the leg went around and around the whole pedal stroke is outlined." /pp This wasn't just to create beautiful pictures; Marey was on a committee in France to improve the ergonomics of the newly popular bicycle. /pp "So by studying the motion of the leg, he would have been able to improve the engineering of the bicycle," Keller concluded. /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/5_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApWhile forward-looking scientists like Marey were using photography to understand, for example, how animals moved, as in this photo, others were less enthused about this new technology. /pp In particular, photographers' ability to capture images beyond what the human eye could perceive called into question an important tenet of 19th century science. /pp "What's amazing is that this is a moment where empirical observation in science is the most important thing, that idea of objective observation. And this kind of photography proved how completely useless a human observer was," said Keller. "So you end up with this photographic data that cant' be corroborated in any other way. It exists independently of any kind of perceptual experience." /pp Technology's ability to capture detail and motion more accurately than our eyes has only accelerated, of course, as anyone who has seen a href="http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/water-falling-a.html"incredible ultra-slow-motion YouTube videos can attest/a. /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/6_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApWhen William Roentgen announced his discovery of X-rays, a photo of his wife's hand accompanied his paper as it made its way into the scientific community. /pp Over the next few years, images like this one of a skeletal hand with the ring came to symbolize X-rays. Practically, the hand is relatively flat and therefore easy to X-ray, but it was the aesthetics and grim-reaper symbolism that Keller said hit a nerve with the upper classes. /pp "It became fashionable to have an X-ray portrait taken of your hand," she said, calling attention to x-ray hand portraits of the last tsar of Russia and his wife. /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/7_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApThe discovery of X-rays also touched off a lower-brow commercial craze. Within three months, DIY X-ray kits were available on the market. Photographers, who had access to most of the tools needed to make the images, began to train this new form of light on just about anything that might be beautiful. /pp "They were X-raying everything just to see what it looked like," Keller said. /pp One stunning example is this X-ray of a foot in a shoe from 1897. In fact, the connection between X-rays and extremities has remained strong. Even into the 1960s, shoe stores kept X-ray machines in their lobbies, both as marketing tools and to help their salesmen fit their patrons' feet correctly. /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/8_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApThroughout the second-half of the 19th century, photographers strived to unite the camera with the telescope. The moon, in particular, held a lasting fascination for astronomers and artists alike. /pp Imaging the moon, after all, was an immensely difficult task. The Earth rotates and the moon is actually a relatively faint object. It wasn't until John Adams Whipple and George Phillips Bond figured out how to rotate their camera ever so slightly to cancel out Earth's movement that simple images of our only satellite became possible. /pp What's interesting is that despite the fascination with creating pictures of the moon, like this striking image created in Spain, the images didn't add much for science beyond what detailed drawings could already do. /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/9_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApIf you wanted close-up photos of the moon any time before the Apollo missions, you were pretty much out of luck. Unless, of course, you built incredibly detailed plaster models of lunar craters and then snapped carefully lit pictures of them. And that's exactly what an engineer and astronomer did in 1874 to tremendous acclaim. /pp James Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam hammer, and James Carpenter, then at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, released a hugely successful book, The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite, illustrated by their incredible moon mock-ups. The august journal Nature gave the book a rapturous review. /pp "No more truthful or striking representations of natural objects than those here presented have ever been laid before his readers by any student of Science," the reviewer wrote. /pp But what's really appealing about the images isn't their "truthfulness" but their "truthiness." /pp "Astronomers were perfectly aware of what they were looking at," Keller said. "But they felt that because they were photographed, it added a layer of authenticity to the undertaking that simple drawings didn't have." /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/10_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApAt the other end of the scale of size from the moon, other photographers were pushing their discipline into the microscopic realm. They had to devise new emulsion chemistries and types of equipment to capture clear images of tiny things. /pp Leading the charge was Auguste-Adolphe Bertsch, who worked to overcome any challenge that scientists threw at him. Unfortunately, he died during social unrest in France in 1871, and his images lay in a photographic archive until Keller brought them to the US for the exhibition. /p img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/11/gallery_earlyscience/11_t.jpg'/img: Photo courtesy SFMOMApEven as they solved technical challenges, the photomicrographers faced social resistance. The idea of representing a specific living thing instead of a generalized abstraction of an organism forced scientists to let go of long-held notions about their discipline. /pp "Prior to the 19th century, the scientific illustrations tend to represent a type, an ideal. So if you were going to do a picture of a flower, for example, the illustrator would look at 20 flowers and then take the common features and make an ideal flower," said Keller. "So, if that particular one happens to have a defective petal or something peculiar to it, you never really know: Does that photograph substitute then for that type of flower in general, or does it only represent that one specimen?" /pp While it may have posed a challenge for scientists of the 19th century, it's the unique nature of each photograph taken during this early period that wows us, even now. /pbr style="clear: both;"/ a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:cbbf63f1fb7e67b9e527dab439e4ba21:vhnm7352PkhDZ3b08Y2sMp4jzO%2FvufrreaVV1%2FrMy42ouvVreaTTDJcKqzYRuG4%2FgvMTMWdfcoiISQ%3D%3D'img border='0' title='Add to Facebook' alt='Add to Facebook' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/facebook.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:3cf235586c06605892691e6a3cc9a6cb:7YUWc87MfIHrwmN9P9TT7ITHhbOVnGVHD5aVfAni2CwHKV3OjhBRXoUQPCYhFP0YAqd3k1E%2BIINZ'img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:699763cdf092463708984ca1c5702e58:bEbuTfq1BfCFGUCGXcjZyzj2%2BUs8JYt6eLxbw%2BRZPyloK9TZCe4fvvSwrlZP%2BZzee5meVRIX8gW2'img border='0' title='Add to digg' alt='Add to digg' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/digg.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:452d5247e5154eb1c537fb798e02025d:keBjN8UUXzm6OdqnEZk2bgxHIa%2FOmVXDvgbaX7IYXrGoPzG2vgzcUEAVnZm%2FCv8f61qPB2Dqa28%2B'img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'//a br style="clear: both;"/ a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=cdc22e1d5623ce9533eb24f0beb19af9p=1"img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=cdc22e1d5623ce9533eb24f0beb19af9p=1"//a img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=cdc22e1d5623ce9533eb24f0beb19af9" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/ pa href="http://feeds.wired.com/~a/wired/index?a=CwnoSm"img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~a/wired/index?i=CwnoSm" border="0"/img/a/pimg src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~4/461399892" height="1" width="1"/

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/66702?ns=guardianpageName=Politics%3A+Darling+ready+to+admit+taxes+must+risech=Politicsc3=The+Guardianc4=Economic+policy%2CAlistair+Darling%2CPoliticsc5=Credit+Crunch%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Allegra+Strattonc7=2008_11_22c8=1122290c9=articlec10=GUc11=Politicsc12=Economic+policyc13=c14=h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FEconomic+policy" width="1" height="1" //divpThe chancellor, Alistair Darling, is preparing to admit that tax will need to rise after the next election as borrowing projections emerged showing the public finances in a worse state than previous estimates had shown. Darling will say that "adjustments" will have to be made, though it is unclear whether these will be slated for 2010 or 2011. /ppYesterday the Treasury refused to deny reports that its officials were putting borrowing in the region of pound;120bn - much more than the pound;90bn many thought Darling would announce in his pre budget report on Monday. /ppTreasury officials are reported to have described the effect the pound;120bn would have on the economy as a "mammoth shock" as tax revenues continue to plummet and the costs of increased unemployment are borne by the state. /ppOn Monday, Darling will have to show the government has a strategy for controlling annual borrowing to soothe international markets and remove conditions that might otherwise see the Bank of England feel the need to raise interest rates. /ppLast night it emerged that the chancellor was preparing to admit the government would raise taxes in order to bring the public finances under control. It is still thought the government will announce the heavily trailed fiscal stimulus package of tax cuts and increased public spending./ppThe admission by the chancellor on Monday may also serve to claim for the government some of the intellectual territory the Conservative leader staked this week when he ended a year-old commitment to match Labour party's spending plans for the year 2010-2011. Explaining his position on Tuesday, David Cameron said he believed the British people would be suspicious of tax cuts and public spending programmes without obvious funding./ppIt is not clear what form the tax rises might take but a Treasury aide described as "rubbish" a suggestion that VAT might rise from 17.5% to 22.5%./ppThis week the prime minister's efforts in tackling the economic downturn were reflected in improved polling figures, leading to speculation that No 10 was gearing up to call an election./ppSpeaking on Jeremy Vine's Radio 2 programme yesterday, Gordon Brown refused to be drawn on his improved standing and batted away talk of a election, saying that all speculation could be "discounted"./ppDowning Street has been quick to nip the rumour in the bud, with ministerial special advisers briefed this week by senior No 10 aides that an election was not "remotely on our minds". /ppThey are keen to prevent a rerun of last summer which saw Brown's political standing damaged by his decision not to call an election after weeks of speculation./ppPressure was piled on the Treasury team drawing up Monday's plan by confirmation yesterday of poor October public sector net borrowing figures. Public sector net borrowing increased in the last month by pound;1.4bn. Borrowing was pound;3.1bn higher this year than in October 2007./ppThe figure for public sector net debt rose to pound;640.9bn or 42.9% of GDP largely down to the government's takeover of Bradford Bingley at the end of September. Net borrowing has reached pound;37bn already - nearly as much as the pound;43bn forecast by the Treasury for the whole of the year. Government spending was higher than in the same month a year ago./ppThe prime minister and chancellor have said in the last few weeks that they favour a fiscal stimulus package to help galvanise the British economy. If as expected it is announced on Monday, this could increase public sector net borrowing by pound;15bn-pound;30bn./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy"Economic policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/alistairdarling"Alistair Darling/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Politicscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660288112201400459684"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Politicscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660288112201400459684" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

Conservationists plan to bring the sea eagle, the UK's largest bird of prey, back to the skies above England.

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/37918?ns=guardianpageName=Sport%3A+South+Africa+got+lucky+in+final%2C+says+Vickerych=Sportc3=The+Guardianc4=Autumn+internationals%2CEngland+rugby+union+team%2CSouth+Africa+rugby+team%2CRugby+union%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CRugby+Unionc6=Robert+Kitsonc7=2008_11_22c8=1122154c9=articlec10=GUc11=Sportc12=Autumn+internationalsc13=c14=h2=GU%2FSport%2FAutumn+internationals" width="1" height="1" //divpa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/englandrugbyunionteam"England's/a two surviving forwards from last year's World Cup final defeat by a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/southafricarugbyteam"South Africa/a are both promising to redress the balance when the countries meet again at Twickenham this afternoon. To say Phil Vickery and Nick Easter are keen to atone for England's 15-6 defeat in Paris would be a massive understatement, with Vickery still insistent that the Springboks were somewhat fortunate to walk away with the Webb Ellis Cup./ppIt is Vickery's enduring belief that England might have upset their opponents on the night had they not been forced to battle so hard en route to the final after their heavy early pool loss to the Boks. "I think it could have been won but we'd probably played too many 'finals' already," said Vickery, looking forward with visible enthusiasm to today's Investec Challenge Series match. "It was similar to what happened in 2003 ... we'd probably have lost our next game if we'd had to play again after that final in Sydney./pp"In fairness to South Africa they stuck to their game plan and, at times, produced some pretty good rugby. But we just made too many mistakes." Vickery, who also reveals in today's Twickenham match programme that he enjoyed the 2007 World Cup experience more than the 2003 tournament, had already secured a winners' medal four years earlier but his team-mate Easter acknowledged yesterday his own frustration had yet to fade. "There is a sense of regret. As Rob Andrew told us afterwards, you never get over it. We've now got a chance to play the world champions in our backyard and put one over on them. They only really come over for one game and it's us."/ppThe World Cup head coach, Brian Ashton, may have gone but his successor, Martin Johnson, has made a point of sitting his team down this week to watch clips from the final which underline the importance of discipline. "We highlighted a few areas from that game," said Johnson, "and one of them was penalties. A few indisciplined penalties early in that game really cost that England team. They gave South Africa nine points which proved to be the difference in the end."/ppAside from Vickery and Easter, the only other member of the England XV from the 2007 final in today's starting line-up is the winger Paul Sackey, one of eight Wasps on the team-sheet with another colleague - Simon Shaw - among the replacements. If Shaw comes on, he will win his 50th cap and ensure the domestic champions equal Leicester's all-time record of nine players from one club winning England caps on the same day. /ppIn particular, Johnson is challenging Danny Cipriani to prove he can run a Test match and put last week's 28-14 defeat by Australia behind him. "He's 21 years old and he has to deal with these situations. It's the first time he's been in a series of this intensity, with people speculating about him. People want instant superstars and results, and there's a massive expectation on him."/ppCipriani, who has raised eyebrows by continuing to seek goalkicking tuition at squad sessions from England's erstwhile kicking guru Dave Alred rather than the official kicking coach, Jon Callard, will need to be on-song with the boot in what should be a tight, heavy-duty encounter. /ppBarring a big win for Argentina over Ireland, victory would assure England of a top-four place in the IRB world rankings and preferential seeding at next month's World Cup pool draw. South Africa's outstanding locks, not to mention their powerful loose-forward trio, will have other ideas, but England are the fresher side and do not lack for motivation./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/autumn-internationals"Autumn internationals/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/englandrugbyunionteam"England rugby union team/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/southafricarugbyteam"South Africa rugby team/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion"Rugby union/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660364112201400459684"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660364112201400459684" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

It could be said that a career as an England cricketer is the perfect grounding for a lifetime of gambling. For if, like me, you have limited resources, time, patience and discipline, there is only one way to approach betting – expect to lose.

Conservationists embarked yesterday on a campaign to get landowners to support the reintroduction of sea eagles to England after an absence of almost two centuries#46;

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/99961?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Arsenal+drop+outspoken+Gallas+for+trip+to+Manchester+Citych=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Arsenal+FC+%28Football%29%2CFrance+%28Football+team%29%2CPremier+League+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPremier+Leaguec6=David+Hytnerc7=2008_11_21c8=1122123c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Arsenalc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FArsenal" width="1" height="1" //divpstrong/strongstrong/pp/strongWilliam Gallas' hold on the Arsenal captaincy appeared to be over this evening and his very future at the club in jeopardy after he did not travel with the rest of the squad to the north-west for today's Premier League fixture against Manchester City./ppThe controversial Frenchman had followed his attack on an unnamed team-mate on Wednesday — that player is known to be Robin van Persie — with further outspoken comments about another of them yesterday./ppOnce again he did not name the player, identifying him only as "S" and saying that he played in midfield, but it is understood that he was referring to Samir Nasri, his France team-mate who joined Arsenal from Marseille in the summer. In his newly released autobiography, he criticised him for his "insolence"./ppArsène Wenger, the manager, was deeply concerned by Gallas' comments and had given serious thought to stripping him of the captaincy. He informed Gallas of his intention and the explosive result was that Gallas stayed behind in London as his team headed to Manchester./ppOn Wednesday, Gallas had spoken of the dressing-room being disrupted by one player who "insults us", an attack on Van Persie, while he also said that his young Arsenal team-mates were "not brave enough in battle", that there had been a row at half-time during the recent 4-4 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur and that the reason he was speaking out was because "there are things that can't be said and can't be tolerated"./ppWenger has defended his outspoken and emotional captain, whose methods have been under scrutiny since his bizarre sit-in protest at Birmingham City last February. Yet he has been pushed too far by Gallas and acted for the sake of dressing-room unity. He will be without one alternative captain at Eastlands as Cesc Fábregas is suspended and most likely another — Kolo Touré is described as a "major doubt" after he injured his calf in midweek. The goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is expected to wear the armband./ppWenger will publicly address the subject of Gallas after the game and in the meantime, he simply wants his players to pull together and do their talking on the pitch. Despite four Premier League defeats already this season, he believes that they have the mental strength and ability to rouse themselves./ppGallas was the victim of unfortunate timing as much as anything else with his latest comments from his book, which was released yesterday. His row with Nasri took place in the heat of the moment during France's failed Euro 2008 campaign and the pair promptly made their peace. What Gallas said to his biographer some months ago about the flashpoint, however, is insightful about his problems with the new generation of young players./ppHe said they "seem cheeky — they think they know everything but they know nothing". He added: "I too was 20 years old once. I would never have allowed myself to speak in such a way to a player older than me. We respected the veterans. We shut our mouths."/ppGallas said that he was stunned when the young player he argued with took Thierry Henry's seat on the France team bus. He described the young player as "insolent" and said that he finally moved. Gallas had scolded the player in training for not calling out when he passed the ball, and he gave a blow-by-blow description of the heated conversation that followed./pp"Are you speaking to me? Who do you take yourself for? You're only 20 ... I am not your friend," Gallas said./pp"I'm not your friend either," the player responded. "Straight away, I see red," added the 31-year-old./ppGallas' passionate nature has been held up as a strength but the generation gap between him and Arsenal's young tyros has contributed to his fall from grace./ppArsenal, meanwhile, will pursue the Football Association for compensation over the shoulder injury Theo Walcott sustained while on England duty this week, which will rule him out for at least three months./ppstrong/strong/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/arsenal"Arsenal/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/france"France/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/premierleague"Premier League/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227298789329112120300438560"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227298789329112120300438560" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

Ist es jetzt eigentlich gut oder schlecht, wenn ein neureicher Retortenclub, dessen Spieler vor 20 Jahren noch auf kuhbefladeten äckern einer Schweinsblase hinterherjagten, die Bundesliga aufmischt? Soll man mit Marcel Reif beten, dass sie baldmöglichst wieder absteigen, oder Steffen Simon zunicken, der Hoffenheim als Bereicherung sieht? Mal abgesehen davon, dass ich bei der Wahl zwischen Reif und Simon eher auf Tonaus entscheide: beides ist blub.

Wie geht ein modernes Märchen? So geht ein modernes Märchen: Der Hopp und die TSG Hoffenheim wachsen gemeinsam auf, dann zieht der Hopp in die Welt hinaus, wird zum Prinzen, kommt zurück, küsst das hässliche Entlein lange und anhaltend auf den Schnabel, baut ein nettes kleines Häuschen für 30.000 Untertanen und stürzt die bösen Könige (Bayern, Hamburg, Cottbus).

Wie geht ein modernes Lehrstück? So geht ein modernes Lehrstück: Nach Jahren in der Fremde kommt ein alter Mann zurück an den Ort, wo er aufwuchs. Weil er in der Fremde reich geworden ist, kauft er sich in die Herzen der Ansässigen und meuchelt die Nachbarstämme, bis denen Blut aus den Schuhen läuft.

Mal was ganz anderes: Es gibt es viererlei Sorten Fans.

Die erste Kategorie ist gar kein Fußballfan, sondern Anhänger eines Vereins. Um Fußball geht es da recht selten, ansonsten würden Borussia Dortmund, Energie Cottbus und der HSV die meiste Zeit vor leeren Rängen spielen. Es geht um Tradition, um Blut, Schweiß und Tränen, um Treue und um Passion. Das Fansein kann sich niemand mit einer Eintrittskarte erkaufen, sie muss erlitten werden: Wer nie seine Bratwurst mit Tränen aß, der wird das nicht verstehen. Oder er beweist sich auf Auswärtstrips bei der UI-Cup-Erstrundenniederlage gegen Zimbru ChiÅŸinău.

Die zweite Kategorie schaut sich alle Spiele im Fernsehen an, die unerträgliche Sportschau, die unerträglichen Länderspiele, und weiß aus dem Lexikon, was „Fritz Walter-Wetter“ ist und kann alle Kommentatoren-Phrasen rückwärts aufsagen, verdreht dabei aber ironisch die Augen. Nachts träumen solche Fans davon, Sportjournalist geworden zu sein.

Die dritte Kategorie kommt immer nur dann ins Stadion, wenn vor Anpfiff Shakira oder Robbie Williams singt und kann eine Eckfahne nicht von Jonathan Pitroipa unterscheiden. Die dritte Kategorie ist egal, die werden einfach in riesige Idiotenlaufställe eingezäunt und mit teuer Bier stillgestellt, das nennt sich dann Public Viewing.

Die vierte Kategorie ist Bayern- oder Hoffenheimfan, hätte aber auch das Zeug zum Wolfsburger: die Erfolgsfans. Einstellung: „Alles ist gut, wenn wir gewinnen, egal wie, und wenn wir den Schiedsrichter kaputt treten müssen, Hauptsache, wir haben dann Silberbesteck für das Kellergewölbe.“ Das ist die Geisteshaltung, durch die Deutschland zwei Weltkriege verloren hat.

Hoffenheim bedient von diesen Fans gerade drei Kategorien: alle, bis auf den Vereinsfan. Sie sind oft in den Medien, das macht sie für Eventfans interessant. Sie spielen einen schönen, offensiven Fußball, das ist was für Feinschmecker. Und: sie sind dabei erfolgreich. Zumindest noch. Dass so eine junge und unerfahrene Mannschaft eine Saison ohne zwischenzeitlichen Leistungseinbruch übersteht, wäre ungewöhnlich. Das aber wird die Zukunft zeigen.

Ist Hoffenheim denn nun ein Märchen? Ein bisschen: Die Märchen, die man sich früher über brasilianische Straßenfußballer erzählt hat. Die sich aus der dunkeln Gosse, aus dem Nichts ins Rampenlicht spielen. Mit dem Unterschied, dass Hoffenheim keine herausragenden Gaben, sondern einen Mäzen gefunden hat: reicht auch. Und dicke.

Die Kategorie Vereinsfans hat viele Gründe, Hoffenheim nicht zu mögen: Die Duelle gegen einen namenlosen Gegner ohne Fantradition machen nicht sonderlich Spaß. Überhaupt, da erstmal hinzufinden. Außerdem zerstört die geschäftsmännische Stringenz, mit der Hopp hier ein Start-Up hochgezogen hat, die paar wenigen Mythen, die man sich gerne noch erzählt: Geld (und nur Geld) schießt also doch Tore, auf elf Freunde ist auch geschissen, entscheidend is aufm Platz. Alles falsch. Das weiß jeder Fan, das ist in der Bzundesliga bei allen Vereinen so, in England ist es noch schlimmer. Aber: bei Hoffenheim ist es noch ein ganzes Stück schlimmer. Was Generationen von Schalke-Fans nicht können, seit über 50 Jahren nicht können, ihrer Mannschaft den Meistertitel herbeisingen, das kann der Hopp mit seinem Scheckheft. Der hat sich die jahrelang ausgeklügelte Fußballhierarchie gekauft. Nicht nur er: aber er am offensichtlichsten. Denn trotz Gazprom, Abramovich, Moratti: Was Hoffenheim zu Fußballverein fehlt, ist die Seele, die Vergangenheit, die frühen Schlachten.

Ist Hoffenheim also ein Lehrstück? Wenn ja, dann nur die Destille eines Lehrstücks von der Kommerzialisierung des Fußballs. Man kann das Stück schlecht enden lassen, mit Pathos und großen Gefühlen. Oder man kann es als Erfolgreichsgeschichte erzählen, einer kleinen ambitionierten Klitsche, die den Großen in den Arsch tritt.

So lange solche Clubs wie Hoffenheim die fünfjährige Ausnahme bilden, braucht keine der Geschichten groß Beunruhigung oder Begeisterung zu verströmen: ein paar Anektdoten, ein paar Handlungsanweisungen für die Manager in Köln oder Dortmund, ein paar schöne Tore. Daraus ergibt sich sowieso bald etwas, was eingefleischte Fans als Mythos oder Seele wahrnehmen. Der Bundesliga-Fußball hat Hertha BSC überlebt und Wolfsburg, er wird auch Hoffenheim überleben.

pingiliz bilim adamları, insanların yüz hareketlerini izleyerek onları taklit edebilen dünyanın en geliÅŸmiÅŸ insansı robotunu a href="http://www.geek.com/articles/news/jules-robot-mimics-emotions-in-real-time-20081117/"tanıttılar/a.brdiv class="imajorta"img src='http://www.bildirgec.org/imaj/xerre/jules-insansi-robot.JPG' alt="jules" border="0"brjules/div3 yıllık bir çalışmanın ürünü olan bu insansı robota "jules" adı verildi. ÅŸimdilik sadece kafa bölgesinden oluÅŸan jules, yerleÅŸtirilen yazılım dorultusunda, derisinin altında bulunan küçük motorlar yardımı ile yüz kaslarını a href="http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Robots-Here-Comes-Jules-With-The-Human-Face/Article/200811215150793?lpos=UK_News_Third_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region__0lid=ARTICLE_15150793_Robots%3A_Here_Comes_Jules%2C_With_The_Human_Face"kullanabiliyor/a. gözlerinde bulunan kameralar yardımı ile de gözlemlediÄŸi insanların mimiklerini aynı ÅŸekilde taklit etme a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/3445758/Robot-head-designed-in-Britain-can-mimic-your-emotions-in-real-time.html"yeteneÄŸine sahip/a.brvideo görüntülerine dilerseniz a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S-fmKqwa98eurl="1/a - a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kThr6CMLrvgfeature=related"2/a (youtube) ve a href="http://brightcove.newscientist.com/services/player/bcpid1250579695?bclid=1252300654bctid=1886174416"3'ten/a (youtube harici) ulaÅŸabilirsiniz.brpa href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/dunyanin-ilk-gelismis-insansi-robotu" devamını oku »/a/ppstrongilgili yazılar/strongullia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/robotlarla-evlilik-yapilabilecek"Robotlarla evlilik yapılabilecek!/a (20)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/insan-gorunuslu-yapay-zeka"Ä°nsan gorunuslu yapay zeka/a (0)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/new-robots-walk-like-humans-hondanin-asimosund"New Robots Walk Like Humans honda'nın asimo'su.../a (0)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/su-kaplumbagasi-robotu"su kaplumbaÄŸası robotu/a (1)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/insansi-robot-hayali-gercek-mi"insansı robot hayali gerçek mi oluyor/a (5)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/yakinda-aramizda-dolasacaklar"Yakında Aramızda DolaÅŸacaklar/a (1)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/zaping-yapan-robot"zaping yapan robot/a (0)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/yanginlari-sonduren-robot"YANGINLARI SÖNDÜREN ROBOT/a (13)/lilia href="http://www.bildirgec.org/yazi/milliyet-tercih-rabotu"Milliyet tercih rabotu/a (0)/li/ul/ppbu yazı a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/uye/xerre"xerre/a tarafından bildirgec.org adresli sitede yayımlanmak üzere yazılmıştır. kaynak gösterilmeksizin kopyalanamaz./ppetiketler: a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/jules" rel="tag" target="_self"jules/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/robot" rel="tag" target="_self"robot/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/insans%C4%B1" rel="tag" target="_self"insansı/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/geli%C5%9Fmi%C5%9F" rel="tag" target="_self"geliÅŸmiÅŸ/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/humanoid" rel="tag" target="_self"humanoid/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/ara%C5%9Ft%C4%B1rma" rel="tag" target="_self"araÅŸtırma/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/bilim%20adam%C4%B1" rel="tag" target="_self"bilim adamı/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/west%20of%20england%20university" rel="tag" target="_self"west of england university/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/%C3%BCniversite" rel="tag" target="_self"üniversite/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/bristol%20%C3%BCniversitesi" rel="tag" target="_self"bristol üniversitesi/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/chris%20melhuish" rel="tag" target="_self"chris melhuish/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/neill%20campbell" rel="tag" target="_self"neill campbell/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/peter%20jaeckel" rel="tag" target="_self"peter jaeckel/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/david%20hanson" rel="tag" target="_self"david hanson/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/bristol%20robotik%20loboratuar%C4%B1" rel="tag" target="_self"bristol robotik loboratuarı/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/robotics%20laboratory" rel="tag" target="_self"robotics laboratory/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/mimik" rel="tag" target="_self"mimik/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/taklit%20etmek" rel="tag" target="_self"taklit etmek/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/insanlar%C4%B1%20taklit%20eden%20ronot" rel="tag" target="_self"insanları taklit eden ronot/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/robotic" rel="tag" target="_self"robotic/a, a href="http://www.bildirgec.org/etiket/jules%20robot%20mimics%20emotions%20in%20real%20time" rel="tag" target="_self"jules robot mimics emotions in real time/a/p pa href="http://rss.bildirgec.org/~a/bildirgec?a=5vKQDr"img src="http://rss.bildirgec.org/~a/bildirgec?i=5vKQDr" border="0"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://rss.bildirgec.org/~f/bildirgec?a=F384N"img src="http://rss.bildirgec.org/~f/bildirgec?i=F384N" border="0"/img/a a href="http://rss.bildirgec.org/~f/bildirgec?a=fX53N"img src="http://rss.bildirgec.org/~f/bildirgec?i=fX53N" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://rss.bildirgec.org/~r/bildirgec/~4/460918616" height="1" width="1"/

WARLORD UK, an old-school death metal band from Birmingham, England, has reformed with Mark White on bass/vocals and Neil Farrington on drums, along with two new members — guitarists Matt Nennan and Matt Draycott.

Quote: The wife of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has filed for divorce, it has been confirmed.

A spokeswoman for Slavica Ecclestone said the announcement had been prompted by media speculation.

This year's Sunday Times Rich List estimated her husband's personal fortune to be in excess of £2bn.

Mrs Ecclestone will be represented by divorce lawyer Liz Vernon, who represented the wife of Arsenal and England footballer Ray Parlour in 2004.

She secured a deal which gave her client a third of her ex-husband's future earnings for four years.

Simon Bethel, a family law specialist with law firm Mills & Reeve, said: "Given Mr and Mrs Ecclestone were reputed to be worth £2.4bn in the 2008 Rich List, this case may see the highest award to a wife in legal history." BBC.

Oh dear Bernie, that's gonna hurt.

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Author: zmingy Keywords: mermaid melody US Dub official english trailer pichi pitchi pitch adv films luchia hanon rina lina anglais commercial advert merchandise japanese bubble maker shell necklace e-pitchi microphone lucia kaito anime england uk USA singing magical girl mermaids girly mic dubbed ENGLISH ruchia hosho nanami toin europe kaitou recording session record studio star light songs lyrics original splash dream hippo nikora pink aqua green pearl voice hanomori 90 episodes eng american vocals love transform Added: November 20, 2008

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/41393?ns=guardianpageName=Business%3A+Bargains+galore+as+Christmas+comes+early+for+shoppersch=Businessc3=The+Guardianc4=Retail+industry+%28Business%29%2CChristmas+%28Life+and+style%29%2CBusiness%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29c5=Unclassified%2CCredit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Marketsc6=Julia+Finch%2CMartin+Wainwright%2CPatrick+Barkhamc7=2008_11_21c8=1121628c9=articlec10=GUc11=Businessc12=Retail+industryc13=c14=h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FRetail+industry" width="1" height="1" //divpShoppers were lured back on to the high street yesterday as stores slashed prices in an attempt to kickstart the vital Christmas trading period and shift unsold stock./ppIn the annual game of chicken between consumers and stores, the retailers have blinked first. There may still be 34 shopping days until Christmas, but over the past three weeks sales have fallen off a cliff for many retailers. Faced with what some analysts have warned could be the worst Christmas for 30 years as a result of falling house prices, rising unemployment and rock-bottom confidence, retailers have already resorted to price cuts and promotions./ppIt was Marks Spencer's decision to hold a one-day 20% off "spectacular"- for the first time in four years - that prised many reluctant shoppers out of their homes and offices. /ppBut the shop windows in the West End of London were plastered with posters promising bargains. Debenhams was in the middle of a three-day 25% off sale and there were sale signs up in Jane Norman, Mexx, Clarks, H Samuel, and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group chains, including Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Bhs./ppNew figures from the Office for National Statistics suggested retail sales were proving unexpectedly resilient. The ONS said sales dropped by just 0.1% in October, leaving them 1.9% higher than last year. This was way ahead of forecasts in the City, where analysts had been predicting a slump of 0.9%./ppBut in recent months economists and retailers have repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the ONS figures. Even the Bank of England has suggested the data should be treated with caution./ppDavid Tinsley, an economist with nabCapital, predicted the official figures would soon catch up with reality: "The figure will probably crash around November or December."/ppSurprise sales can anger shoppers who have bought items at full price and yesterday some MS customers were certainly planning revenge. One woman, who asked to remain nameless, said several of her friends were buying items at 20% off which they had already purchased and planned to return with their original items another day to get a full refund./ppNevertheless, MS boss Sir Stuart Rose insisted the discounts had given the UK's biggest clothing retailer a much-needed boost: "It seems to have touched the spot. It's a riot."/ppShopper Judith Limbert, who had travelled to Oxford Street from Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire for the MS sale, said consumers were waiting for bargains: "In the runup to Christmas I suspect people are going to hang on and hang on, waiting for sales." /ppLimbert had been planning to buy Christmas presents in MS but had been waiting to see if it would offer reductions. She said her family would definitely spend less this year and would look for bargains on the internet. "We've got less money in that our utility bills are higher and food bills are dearer."/ppA survey yesterday said that 80% of consumers plan to spend less this year and there was more gloom from credit rating agency Moodys, whose chief international economist, Ruth Stroppiana, warned: "Britain's retailing sector is expected to come under increasing pressure in coming quarters as the country's highly indebted households continue to rein in expenditure." /ppOver at the new Westfield shopping centre in west London, in the basement food hall of MS's vast store, trolleys were clattering through the tills./ppWith a recession around the corner, it was clearly time to stock up on champagne. A couple from Dorset were piloting a trolley laden with MS bubbly. They bought 36 bottles - and saved nearly pound;450 on the shelf price. /ppThe champagne was a triple bargain. On top of the 20% off was another 10% discount and a pound;5-a-bottle reduction for buying more than 12 bottles. The result was a pound;26 ticket price slashed to just pound;13 a bottle./ppIsabelle Marsh bought 36 bottles for just under pound;500, compared with the pound;936 full price./ppMarsh runs Bournemouth-based Viva Las Vegas, a fun casino business for private parties, and the champagne will be used as prizes. /ppAt the next till her friends Kay and Roger Brahams, from Surrey, who are also in the casino business, were doing exactly the same. They also had a collection of blue spotted bow ties and waistcoats for their croupiers - four waistcoats, four bow ties and two pairs of black trousers for pound;124, down from pound;155 for one day only. "It's for the business," said Roger Brahams. "It is too good to miss." /ppOn the clothing floor, however, there were many shoppers who had used the discount day to bring forward purchases they were planning to make anyway. Mark, a BBC employee, had popped in to buy an pound;80 coat he had his eye on. "My wife rang me this morning to tell me about the sale," he explained. He paid pound;64 and walked away very pleased. /ppIn Sheffield city centre, Carolyn Bowler had nipped out in her lunch break to buy a box of Christmas crackers, but by the time she had heaved her way out of MS she had three of them, plus a new dressing gown./pp"You've to shop carefully these days," she said, as three women marched past with purple Debenhams balloons and leaflets promising "25% off plus look inside for half-price bonus deals"./pp"These offers are bringing people out, no question," said another lunchtime shopper called Marion - "please don't print my surname in case my children read the paper and it spoils their Christmas surprise". The surprise is that Marion is making them clothes herself this year, instead of buying new ones./pp"You've got to cut back at times like these," she said. "We certainly have anyway, because my husband's not had a job since the summer. No one knows what the future holds any more."/ppIt was all music to the ears of Ian Fleming, who was supervising Debenhams balloon women. Enticing punters with the likes of a shimmer bow back dress reduced to pound;37.50 from pound;75, he said: "Shoppers will never get tired of good value and a bargain. This is working. It's even better out at the Meadowhall shopping centre."/ppThat, however, was impossible to check: reporters were barred from doing interviews in the sprawling complex beside the M1 because of the current spate of gloomy stories./ph2Key tactics for shoppers to cash in on stores' price war/h2pIt is the year of the tactical shopper, according to one retail expert, with yesterday's "flash" or "guerilla" sales at MS and Debenhams marking the start of what is likely to be a long and protracted war between high street stores. But for the savvy shopper hoping to secure the ultimate bargain, where and when is the time to strike? /ppIn order to secure the best bargain this Christmas, shoppers should look around and keep an eye out for promotional vouchers, said Lauretta Roberts, editor of Drapers magazine. /pp"My advice to shoppers is shop late. It's a buyers market out there and it is not going to be too difficult to find a bargain."/ppAnother way of saving money is to hit the shops before the official sale. "Even though they don't advertise the fact, many of the big department stores like Selfridges or Harvey Nichols discount their products from December 24. You get the best choice, unlike post-Christmas, when there often little left."/ppA further wave of price cuts can be expected from Boxing Day onwards, with January sales slashing 50% off many products immediately, she said. There are lots of other ways for shoppers to maximise their funds over the festive period. But it requires commitment and tactical thinking, said Martin Lewis, founder of moneysavingexpert.com. /pp"This is the year of the targeted and tactical shopper. As well as promotional sales we are seeing a rash of big discount shopping vouchers," he said. Vouchers currently featured on the website include 30% off at Gap, 40% off at Threshers and 20% off Shudoo, who sell Ugg boots, set to be a Christmas favourite. /ppAnother way of getting the best deal is to use price comparison websites, such as shopping.com, kelkoo.co.uk and pricerunner.co.uk, he said. For example, one Christmas must-have, a Wii Console + Sports Pack, costs pound;184.99 at Dixons, but on tdgstore.co.uk can be found for pound;179.99./pp"Different comparison websites are better for different products," said Lewis, who recommended find-dvd.co.uk for dvds and bookbrain.co.uk for books. /ppOnce the cheapest product has been identified, shoppers should try to buy it through a cash-back website, such as topcashback.co.uk, he added. "Cashback websites are paid 5% for sending you to a particular site, but instead of pocketing that cash they share the proceeds with their users by discounting products further."/ppHe also advises shoppers to use cash-back credit cards, such as American Express, which offers 5% back on purchases for three months. Using a credit card for expensive purchases also protects buyers, he added./ppIn 2007 the average British family spent pound;840 on Christmas. Choosing carefully this year, they could save 5% to 50%, said Lewis. /ppDoesn't all this calculating detract from the joy of the impulse buy? No way, he said. /pp"We are entering a recession, and there are two ways you can deal with it. Stop spending or make the money that you have got go further."br /strongAlexandra Topping/strong/ppstrongBargains/strong/ppstrongGap/strong/ppUltra-low rise jeans was pound;39.50 now pound;9.99br /Saving 75%/ppstrongDebenhams/strong/ppFour Royal Doulton crystal goblets was pound;80 now pound;32br /Saving 60%/ppstrongCurrysdigital/strong/ppLogik DAB digital radio was pound;139.99 now pound;59.99br /Saving 57%/ppstrongHouse of Fraser/strong/ppChristy Sorrento bath towel was pound;22 now pound;11br /Saving 50%/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/retail"Retail industry/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/christmas-xmas"Christmas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch"Credit crunch/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Businesscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227227727742112100421654622"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Businesscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227227727742112100421654622" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/76892?ns=guardianpageName=Comment+is+free%3A+Don%27t+fear+for+the+poundch=Comment+is+freec3=The+Guardianc4=Recession+%28UK%29%2CEconomics+%28Business%29%2CCurrencies+%28dollar%2C+pound+etc%29%2CBusiness%2CEconomic+policy%2CPolitics%2CMoneyc5=Personal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Marketsc6=Larry+Elliottc7=2008_11_21c8=1121547c9=articlec10=GUc11=Comment+is+freec12=blogc13=c14=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free" width="1" height="1" //divpThis is the crisis with just about everything. Failing banks, the drying up of credit, crashing house prices, rising unemployment, weakening growth and - as the official figures showed yesterday - a ballooning budget deficit. Students of economic crises will detect only one thing is missing from this litany of woe - a sterling crisis of the sort that Britain went through in 1967, 1976 and 1992./ppThe expectation is that a run on the pound will not be long in coming; one of the playground spats between the government and opposition this week was over whether the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, was being unpatriotic by predicting sterling would hit the skids as a result of plans to cut taxes in Monday's pre-budget report./ppThere are many reasons to be afraid - very afraid - about the state of the world, but a sterling crisis is not one of them. Unless there is a catastrophic loss of confidence in the government's economic and financial management, the pound is likely to stabilise close to current levels; the risk of it falling should certainly not deter the Bank of England from cutting interest rates aggressively./ppWhy? Because there has already been a marked depreciation over the past year. Sterling is at a record low against the euro, has dropped by 40% against the yen, and has fallen by 20% against the dollar since the summer - a more rapid descent than in the aftermath of Black Wednesday. Anybody who decided this summer to take advantage of the $2 pound with a winter shopping spree in Manhattan is in for a shock./ppThat decline was justified given the UK's unique exposure to turmoil in the financial markets and its absurdly overblown property market. But after such a precipitous fall, the downside potential is limited - especially since the outlook in the US, eurozone and Japan looks just as bleak. News from across the Atlantic has been dire, with Ford and General Motors on the point of collapse and the stockmarket down 45% this year. Germany is suffering from weaker demand for exports, Italy is suffering from a chronic lack of competitiveness, and Spain, like the UK, is grappling with a housing boom-bust. Japan also relies heavily on exports, but reported its third successive seasonally adjusted monthly trade deficit yesterday./ppIt is important to identify why the pound has been under pressure in recent months. Investors were concerned that not enough was being done to prevent a painful recession; the currency was falling, in other words, because interest rates were too high, not too low. The dollar has been rising on foreign exchanges this year because of anticipation that aggressive and early cuts in borrowing costs from the Federal Reserve would mean it would beat the rest of the developed world out of recession. That optimism looks misplaced, but it is indicative of a climate where investors are more concerned about growth potential than interest rates./ppThat's not to say the pound won't fall further, since currencies tend to overshoot. But sterling looks undervalued against the dollar and cheap against the euro. That may depress UK tourists looking to clean up on 5th Avenue but it is good news for the economy./ppSince 1997, an overvalued currency has made imports cheaper and exports dearer; there has been a silent sterling crisis that encouraged speculation while making manufacturing less profitable. The economy needs a competitive level for the pound that helps cut the trade growth and so create the conditions for more balanced growth. Its depreciation, coupled with the likely prolonged squeeze on consumers when they have to start paying back Monday's tax cuts, means there is a better chance of tackling the structural imbalances in the economy than there has been for years./ppa href="mailto:larry.elliott@guardian.co.uk"larry.elliott@guardian.co.uk/a/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession"Recession/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics"Economics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/currencies"Currencies/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy"Economic policy/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Commentisfreecountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227227727885112100421654622"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Commentisfreecountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227227727885112100421654622" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a