Record-breakers in the news today
Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway looks set to join the cast of Christopher Nolan's new sci-fi space adventure movie, Interstellar.
Hathaway, who starred as Catwoman in Nolan's final Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, is in talks to take an unspecified role in the film which centres around a group of space explorers who travel through a time wormhole.
The Dark Knight Rises (USA/UK, 2012), the third Batman movie to be directed by Christopher Nolan (UK), grossed $160,887,295 (£103.9 million) in its opening weekend of 20–22 July 2012, setting a record for the highest box office film gross (2D).
A research team at the University of Washington has received funding from NASA to build a super-fast rocket that could get astronauts to Mars in just 30 days.
The project will use fusion technology to power the rocket up to speeds of 200,000mph.
Missions to the Red Planet currently involve a four year round trip.
The USSR Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions were the first spacecraft to reach the surface of Mars, in 1971. We have yet to see a successful sample return mission, but the first visit by humans should happen within the next few decades.
Reports have emerged today that Apple is to begin production of a fifth-generation iPad in August this year.
According to a report on Taiwanese tech industry website DigiTimes, the new version will be thinner and lighter than its predecessor, with a streamlined bezel design simila to that of the iPad mini, with a display supplied by LG Display and Sharp.
The fastest time to type the alphabet on an iPad is 3.14 seconds, achieved by Chase Samuel (Canada) in Osler, Saskatchewan, Canada, on 22 February 2013.
Finally, cult classic British sci-fi series Blake's 7 is to be remade for the Syfy TV network, it has been announced.
The original series, which ran on the BBC between 1978 and 1981, followed the exploits of a group of renegades and convicted criminals who escape a prison planet after stealing a spaceship.
Casino Royale and Goldeneye director Martin Campbell is on board for the remake, with the 13 hour-long episodes written by Heroes writer Joe Pokaski.
The original show was written by Terry Nation, a regular writer for Doctor Who who created up the Daleks.
Rob Hull (UK) holds the world record for the largest collection of Daleks with over 571 examples of the Doctor’s arch nemeses, despite not being a fan of the show.
Rob’s collection includes several rare pieces as well as a full-size working model.
