Friday, March 25, 2011

Japan crisis: nuclear workers exposed to 10,000 times more radiation than normal

Concerns over the extent of radioactive contamination in Japan deepened after it emerged that three workers admitted to hospital this week were exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than normal

The news raised fears that the steel and concrete containment around one of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant could be leaking.

Japan's prime minister, Naoto Kan, made clear that the work to stabilise Fukushima remains on a knife-edge.

"The situation today at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant is still very grave and serious. We must remain vigilant," he said in an evening address to the nation, "We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care."

Japanese officials said further investigations were needed to determine how the three men replacing a cable at the No. 3 reactor were sloshing about in water containing iodine, caesium and cobalt 10,000 times the normal level.

"At present, our monitoring data suggest the (No. 3) reactor retains certain containment functions, but there is a good chance that the reactor has been damaged," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear agency.

Libya: British planes bomb Gaddafi tanks for first time

Britain has launched a concerted attack for the first time on pro-Gaddafi loyalists besieging the key Libyan city of Ajdabiya, using laser guided weapons to destroy tanks on the ground.

The attack which destroyed four tanks on the outskirts of Ajdabiya, came as rebel fighting intensified inside the city and reports came in of fighting in a second city, Misurata.

Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, said British Tornado GR4 Aircraft took part in the missile strike on Thursday night. "The Tornado aircraft launched a number of guided Brimstone missiles at Libyan armoured vehicles which were threatening the civilian population of Ajdabiya," he said.

In Tripoli the Libyan government unwittingly showed journalists yesterday striking evidence of the accuracy of allied air strikes. The blackened skeleton of a radar dish, about 30 feet high, stood burned out on a hillside surrounded by trees. The leaves on the trees, even those hanging over the dish, were not even singed.

The Ajdabiya attack was followed up by other coalition forces which destroyed another three tanks as the Tornados refuelled in mid-air for a second bombing run.

Wing Commander Andy Turk, the navigator on one of two Tornados which took off from Gioia del Colle airbase in southern Italy described his role in the mission, saying: "We were tasked to go to the area and fairly quickly found a tank by the side of the main road, away from any major built-up areas."

Libya: supporters rally in Gaddafi's home town Sirte

In the early hours groups of men paraded through the streets of Sirte, the town where Col Muammar Gaddafi grew up and has since built into a modern city.

Supporters, some as young as five, marched along the wide avenues shouting pro-Gaddafi slogans, holding posters of his photograph and waving green flags. Convoys of cars followed blowing horns and playing pro-regime music loudly on the radio.

They are part of a mobilisation in Col Gaddafi's half of the country - residents of Sirte and elsewhere are preparing to repel an invasion from the rebel-held east.

Col Gaddafi claims that criminal gangs and Islamic fundamentalists have seized control of the east. That has become the rallying point. "All the people are behind Gaddafi. Sirte is one of Libya's biggest cities and it is loyal in face of problems with gangs," said Sameer al-Kiriani, a government minder. "Look it is early in the morning and the people are here. Too many people are flocking here, the hotels are all full. This is the centre point for all the people who love their country."

Sirte is braced for action. Checkpoints that dot the main highways are manned by adolescents carrying newly issued Kalashnikov rifles. At sensitive sites, such as power transformers, militias are equipped with heavy machine guns mounted on pick-ups. Inside the town makeshift tents providing shelter for loyalists have been erected.

Local men and militia in combat fatigues vowed to defend the regime with their lives. Daoud Jamma, an Arabic teacher, said he had signed up for a gun. "I am here to save our country. We have to save it from these attacks," he said. "I will fight anyone who wants to take anything from my country. They just want this land because there is petrol here."

RightHealth Results for Smoking Cessation

Background

Smoking cessation is an effort by a person who regularly uses tobacco products to establish a plan to reduce, and eventually eliminate, tobacco use. Tobacco contains nicotine, a highly addictive drug, in addition to the 69 chemicals known to cause cancer. All major medical institutions acknowledge that quitting smoking greatly increases a person's health prospects.

Smoking cessation may be accomplished by many different approaches. The pharmacological approach often contains various nicotine replacement therapies, such as the patch, nicotine gum or lozenges, or even a nicotine inhaler. Some alternative therapies include certain herbal combinations, such as kava and chamomile, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, and relaxation therapy. Some individuals simply pick a quit date and stick with it.

In the past few decades, the medical community has come to recognize the enormous health risks of smoking. Though governmental and health related organizations have conducted extensive campaigns to address the hazards of smoking, less information is available on strategies a smoker can use to quit.

According to the American Lung Association, smoking is the leading preventable cause of increased morbidity (increased risk for disease) and mortality (death) in the United States. Approximately one of every five deaths (438,000 deaths) each year can be attributed to smoking including deaths from lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. Causes of death from cigarette smoking include: stroke, lung cancer, coronary heart disease, chronic lung disease, other cancers, and other conditions

An estimated 20.9% of all adults (age 18 or older), or approximately 44.5 million people, smoke cigarettes in the United States. Cigarette smoking is more common among men than women.

Among current adult smokers in the United States, 70 percent report that they want to quit completely. In 2004, an estimated 14.6 million, or 40.5% of adult smokers, had stopped smoking for at least one day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit. Nearly 54% of current high school cigarette smokers in the United States tried to quit smoking within the preceding year.
Technique

A doctor's edict is often not enough to help a person through the difficult process of quitting. Support from family and friends greatly increase a person's likelihood to abide by their decision to quit. Even if a person has developed one or more medical conditions from smoking, they can prevent the onset of other medical conditions and slow the progress of the one they have by quitting.

Individuals who make a plan to quit are twice as likely to succeed, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). The ACS sponsors a website, called the Great American Smokeout, to provide resources to individuals who wish to stop smoking. No one method to quit smoking will work for every person. Individuals wishing to quit will increase their likelihood of success if they consider all of the options available.

Cold turkey: An individual picks a "quit day," or day to stop smoking. Many individuals choose to quit in honor of a loved one who died from smoking complications.

Hypnotherapy: The process of hypnotherapy can be divided into pre-suggestion, suggestion, and post-suggestion phases. The pre-suggestion component may include selective focusing of attention with distraction, imagery, and relaxation methods. An aim is to reach an altered state of consciousness in which the conscious mind is relaxed and the unconscious mind is more accessible, therefore making the subject susceptible to suggestion. In the suggestion phase, specific goals or impressions are presented. This is where the therapist would suggest the goal to quit smoking. The post-suggestion phase occurs after a return to a normal state of consciousness, and new behaviors based on hypnotic suggestions may be practiced. The therapeutic goals of hypnotherapy vary, and may include the treatment of psychological or medical conditions or alteration of behaviors/habits. Self-hypnosis techniques may be used as an adjunct to sessions with a hypnotherapist. There is wide variation in the training and credentials of hypnotherapists. Certification is granted by multiple organizations, with different requirements. In the United States, there is no universally accepted standard or licensing for hypnotherapists. Although many therapists are not licensed medical professionals, some doctors, dentists, and psychologists are trained in hypnotherapy and may use hypnosis in their practices. Books and audiotapes are available for training in self-hypnosis, although these have not been well evaluated scientifically. Group sessions may also be offered. Hypnosis sessions may vary from a brief encounter to multiple, continuous sessions.

Pharmacological therapies: These include nicotine replacement products like herbs, gums, inhalers and patches or non-nicotine medications, such as bupropion SR® (Zyban). Nicotine replacement therapies are intended to help a patient deal with withdrawal symptoms, cravings, and urges associated with nicotine withdrawal, by replacing nicotine through various forms of administration. These forms include inhalers, patches, gums, nasal sprays, and lozenges. Most of these forms of nicotine replacement are available over the counter, and the directions for usage vary according to which method a person chooses. It is important not to smoke while using nicotine therapy, as to avoid harmful nicotine overdose.

Proactive telephone calling: Nurse counselors that call smokers receiving pharmacotherapy may be an effective method of enrolling smokers into a cessation quitline. This approach involves counseling and advice administered over the phone. Some individuals ask for family and friends to call during the initial stages of withdraw.

Psychosocial therapy/behavior therapy: Brief clinical interventions by health care providers may increase chances of successful cessation, as may counseling and behavioral cessation therapies. Treatments with more person-to-person contact and intensity (more time with counselors) may be more effective. Individual, group and telephone counseling are available. Behavior therapy, which is a form of counseling, may help change behaviors and thoughts that contribute to anxiety and possibly addiction. Psychotherapy is an interactive process between a person and a qualified mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, clinical social worker, licensed counselor, or other trained practitioner). Its purpose is the exploration of thoughts, feelings, and behavior for the purpose of problem solving or achieving higher levels of functioning. This therapy may help a person to: attain a better understanding of personal anxiety triggers, develop coping skills, and/or learn relaxation techniques to aid in smoking cessation. Generally, sessions range from 50 minutes for individuals to 90 or 120 minutes for groups. The number of sessions varies widely depending on the problems being addressed. An hour of therapy may range from $5 or $10 an hour at a community or non-profit mental health center to over $200 an hour for a doctoral level practitioner in private practice.

Relaxation techniques: This method aims to reduce stress level, and may include meditation or breathing exercises. Meditation, like many relaxation techniques, involves focusing on a word or object in a quiet environment to provide relaxation. Relaxation techniques include behavioral therapeutic approaches that differ widely in philosophy, methodology, and practice. The primary goal is usually non-directed relaxation, but it can be used in cases of addiction to aid in a patients' abandonment of harmful or undesirable habits. Most techniques share the components of repetitive focus (on a word, sound, prayer phrase, body sensation, or muscular activity), adoption of a passive attitude towards intruding thoughts, and return to the focus. Relaxation techniques may be taught by various complementary practitioners, physicians, psychotherapists, hypnotherapists, nurses, clinical psychologists and sports therapists. There is no formal credentialing for most relaxation therapies.

Support groups: In this method, individuals share stories and find a feeling of common struggle from other individuals who are struggling with or who have overcome the urge to smoke.
Theory/Evidence

Nicotine is the psychoactive component, or the drug, which affects the brain in tobacco products, thus producing dependence. Most smokers are dependent on nicotine, and smokeless tobacco use may also lead to nicotine dependence. Research suggests that nicotine may be as addictive as heroin, cocaine, or alcohol. Examples of nicotine withdrawal symptoms include irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and increased appetite. Quitting tobacco use is difficult and may require multiple attempts, as users often relapse because of withdrawal symptoms. Tobacco dependence is a chronic condition that often requires repeated intervention.

Smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body. Tobacco smoke carries more than 60 cancer-causing chemicals, tiny amounts of poisons such as arsenic and cyanide and more than 4,800 other substances, some of which may be harmful, to the human body. These toxins cause cell death, cell damage and cell mutation.

The list of diseases caused by smoking has been expanded to include: abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, pneumonia, periodontitis, stomach cancer, cardiac diseases, lung diseases, and stroke. Smoking may also have a negative impact on the health of both unborn and newborn children.

Stopping smoking may greatly reduce the risk of dying prematurely. Benefits may be greater for people who stop at earlier ages, but cessation is beneficial at all ages. Cessation may lower the risk for lung and other types of cancer. The risk for developing cancer declines with the number of years of smoking cessation. Risk for coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease is reduced after smoking cessation. Coronary heart disease risk may be substantially reduced within one to two years of cessation. Cessation may also reduce respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. The rate of decline in lung function is slower among persons who quit smoking as compared with those who continue to smoke.

Quitting smoking may have immediate as well as long-term benefits including reduced risk for diseases caused by smoking and improved overall health. Many clinical studies have been demonstrated that reductions in smoking rates may substantially improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs, even in the short term. Some clinical studies have suggested that COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patients felt better after quitting smoking.

Hypnotherapy: The mechanism of action of hypnosis is not well understood. Some physiologic changes have been associated with hypnosis, including alterations in skin temperature, heart rate, intestinal secretions, and immune response. The mechanism of such changes is not clear. During hypnosis, decreases have been noted in heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and brain wave patterns (alpha waves). Similar changes have been reported with other forms of relaxation. Hypnosis is associated with a deep state of relaxation. Whether this represents a specific altered state of consciousness is the subject scientific debate. There are reports that suggestion alone, without the process of hypnosis, can achieve many of the same results, although research in this area is not conclusive. It is not known why some individuals are more susceptible to hypnotic suggestion than others.

Pharmacological therapies: Findings from a recent Cochrane review of controlled trials testing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products indicated that smokers using NRT were 1.5 to 2 times more likely to be abstinent from smoking at follow-up than those in the placebo or control treatment condition. However, some studies show NRT success rates at six months to be less than 10%, actually lower than the 11-12%success rate using the "cold turkey" method.

Psychosocial therapy/behavior therapy: Several studies suggest that group therapy, psychotherapy or behavior therapy, may be more effective than self-help for quitting smoking. However, there is not enough evidence to show that group therapy is as effective or cost-effective as intensive individual counseling. More research is needed to determine effectiveness.

Relaxation techniques: Early research reports that relaxation with imagery may reduce relapse rates in people who successfully completed smoking cessation programs. Better study is needed in this area before a firm conclusion can be reached.
Safety

Hypnotherapy: It has been suggested that there is a risk of false memories (confabulation) as a result of some types of hypnotherapy, although scientific research is limited in this area. The safety of hypnotherapy has not been thoroughly studied. Practitioners sometimes discourage hypnosis in people with psychiatric illnesses such as psychosis/schizophrenia, manic depression, multiple personality disorder, or dissociative disorders, due to a proposed risk of exacerbation. Hypnosis is sometimes discouraged in people with seizure disorder, although study is lacking in this area.

Pharmacological therapies: Pharmacological therapies for smoking cessation are generally considered to be safe with appropriate supervision by qualified health professionals. Side effects to pharmacological therapies may include nausea, vomiting, headache, insomnia, and dizziness. Mild adverse effects may be indicative of more serious problems and patients should consider discontinuing current treatment and contacting a physician. Patients may also consider switching to other available products. If the replacement therapy is discontinued, nicotine withdrawal symptoms may include: cravings for tobacco, anxiety, irritability, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, headache, drowsiness, stomach upset, constipation, or diarrhea. People with certain medical conditions, including but not limited to high blood pressure or recent cardiac infarction, need to consult with a health care provider before starting nicotine replacement therapy. However, it is believed that using these forms of nicotine replacement is significantly less harmful than using cigarettes or snuff. Smoking while using a nicotine replacement therapy may lead to a harmful overdose of nicotine.

Psychosocial therapy/behavior therapy: Some forms of psychotherapy may induce strong emotional feelings and expression. This can be disturbing for people with serious mental illness or some medical conditions.

Relaxation techniques: Most relaxation techniques are non-invasive, and generally are considered to be safe in healthy adults. Serious adverse effects have not been reported. It is theorized that anxiety may actually be increased in some individuals using relaxation techniques, or that autogenic discharges (sudden, unexpected emotional experiences including pain, heart palpitations, muscle twitching, crying spells, or increased blood pressure) may occur rarely. Scientific evidence is limited in these areas. People with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia/psychosis should avoid relaxation techniques unless recommended by their primary psychiatric healthcare provider.

Surgery Scars Can Now Be removed



Sometimes we come across such health disorders or accidents which demand undergoing surgery. On one hand surgery saves our life but n the other hand they leave behind deep scars which often become embarrassing for the person. Surgery scars are usually thought to be permanent.

These scars are nothing but the collected skin tissues. After a surgery, the body tries to heal itself and since the body cannot create healthy skin and tissues immediately, it brings together fiber which are not as functional as the original skin tissues This collected fiber put together is know as scars. These scar tissues have limited blood circulation, movement and sensation.

The scars are also do not have sweat glands, are pale and less resistant to ultraviolet rays. The good news is that the surgery scars are removable. Here are ways to remove surgery scars –

1.One of the best way to remove surgery scar is to massage the area. Massage helps in breaking down the scar tissues and also enhance the blood supply. This encourages the formation of skin tissues and thus, get back the normal skin.

2.The next best solution is the use of Retin A cream.This cream enhances the skin cell production which helps replaces the older cells and bring about the formation of new skin tissues, thus, slowly blurring the scar.

3.Vitamin E is also well known to remove scars. Studies have roves that Vitamin E has the ability to penetrate into the skin and results in the formation of free radicals. This enhances the healing process. Vitamin E enhances the collagen production which strengthens and enhances the elasticity of the skin. Regular application of Vitamin E oil.

These are the best three methods for removal of surgery scars. Removal of surgery scars always take time depending on the severity of the surgery.

NASA's Successful 'Can Crush' Will Aid Heavy-Lift Rocket Design

On March 23, NASA put the squeeze on a large rocket test section. Results from this structural strength test at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will help future heavy-lift launch vehicles weigh less and reduce development costs.

This trailblazing project is examining the safety margins needed in the design of future, large launch vehicle structures. Test results will be used to develop and validate structural analysis models and generate new "shell-buckling knockdown factors" -- complex engineering design standards essential to launch vehicle design.

"This type of research is critical to NASA developing a new heavy-lift vehicle," said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. "The Authorization Act of 2010 gave us direction to take the nation beyond low-Earth orbit, but it is the work of our dedicated team of engineers and researchers that will make future NASA exploration missions a reality."

The aerospace industry's shell buckling knockdown factors date back to Apollo-era studies when current materials, manufacturing processes and high-fidelity computer modeling did not exist. These new analyses will update essential design factors and calculations that are a significant performance and safety driver in designing large structures like the main fuel tank of a future heavy-lift launch vehicle.

During the test, a massive 27.5-foot-diameter and 20-foot-tall aluminum-lithium test cylinder received almost one million pounds of force until it failed. More than 800 sensors measured strain and local deformations. In addition, advanced optical measurement techniques were used to monitor tiny deformations over the entire outer surface of the test article.

The Shell Buckling Knockdown Factor Project is led by engineers at NASA's Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. NASA's heavy-lift space launch system will be developed and managed at Marshall.

"Launch vehicles are thin walled, cylindrical structures and buckling is one of the primary failure modes," said Mark Hilburger, a senior research engineer in the Structural Mechanics and Concepts Branch at Langley and the principal investigator of the NESC's Shell Buckling Knockdown Factor project. "Only by studying the fundamental physics of buckling through careful testing and analysis can we confidently apply the new knowledge to updated design factors. The outcome will be safer, lighter, more efficient launch vehicles."

Leading up to this full-scale test, the shell buckling team tested four, 8-foot-diameter aluminum-lithium cylinders. Current research suggests applying the new design factors and incorporating new technology could reduce the weight of large heavy-lift launch vehicles by as much as 20 percent.

"Marshall's Structural and Dynamics Engineering Test laboratory is uniquely suited for shell buckling testing," said Mike Roberts, an engineer in Marshall's structural strength test branch and the center lead for this activity. "Originally built to test Saturn rocket stages, the capabilities found here were essential to developing the lightweight space shuttle external tank flying today and for testing International Space Station modules."

For this test, Marshall led all test operations including the engineering, test equipment design and safety assurance. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company fabricated the test article at Marshall's Advance Weld Process Development Facility using state-of-the-art welding and inspection techniques. Langley engineers led the design and analysis of the test articles, defined the test requirements, and developed new optical displacement measurement standards that enabled highly accurate assessment of the large-scale test article response during the test.

In the future, the shell buckling team will test carbon-fiber composite structures that are 20-30 percent lighter than aluminum and widely used in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Tusshar Kapoor turns baddie in real life!

Tusshar Kapoor, who is known for good temperament and cool head, has turned baddie in his real life. The news may come as a surprise to many, but the fact is that the actor has shown his other side of him by yelling at director Sagar Ballary in public.

Tusshar Kapoor himself has admitted that he lost his temper during the shooting of Hum Tum Aur Shabana and had a fight with his director Sagar Ballary. The incident happened at a shopping mall in Mumbai. The actor said that he had been working overtime without proper sleep. Recently, when the director told him to extend the shooting by another night, the actor got irritated and shouted at him. However, he said that he has apologised him. Meanwhile, Sagar Ballary defended Tusshar Kapoor and said that these things happen, when people are working round the clock. He added that the matter is resolved and they are friends again.

8 things to know about IE9

Software giant Microsoft has launched the latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), in India. Unveiled at TechEd India 2011, Microsoft claims that Internet Explorer 9 uses full capabilities of Windows and enables a Web that is faster, cleaner and more trusted by default.

The IE9 launch comes at a time when the race to capture browser markets share is heating up. The browser market is becoming increasingly competitive with an increasing number of devices going online every day. According to one report, when all versions of browsers are taken together, Internet Explorer leads the pack with 45% market share.

Available for download in 30 languages, the latest version of Microsoft Web browser reportedly tallied 2.3 million downloads on its first day of release.

Here's looking into all that's new in Microsoft's latest browser.

Gay or straight? Brain chemical decides sexual preference

LONDON: Chinese researchers have identified a chemical in the brain that controls sexual preference in mice. They found that male mice lose their normal preference for females if they have low levels of serotonin. Instead, they try to mate with either males or females. 

It is the first time that a neurotransmitter has been shown to play a role in sexual preference in mammals, according to the researchers. They first bred male mice whose brains were not receptive to serotonin. 
A series of experiments demonstrated that these mice had lost the preference for females. When presented with a choice of partners, they showed no overall preference for either males or females. 

When just a male was introduced into the cage, the modified males were far more likely to mount the male and emit a 'mating call' normally given off when encountering females than unmodified males were. Similar results were achieved when a different set of mice were bred. These lacked the tryptonphan hydroxylase 2 gene, which is needed to produce serotonin. 

However, a preference for females could be 'restored' by injecting serotonin into the brain.

Are we all descendants of Martians? Device to tell

Boston: A team of researchers at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a device that will study whether life on Earth descended from organisms that were originated on Mars and carried to our planet aboard meteorites – a theory that would make all humans of Martiandescent .

A team from MIT and Harvard University are working on the proposed instrument called the 'Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes' (SETG). The device, which could be carried on future missions to Mars, would take samples of Martian soil and isolate any living microbes that might be present or microbial remnants , which can be preserved for about up to a million years and still contain viable DNA.

They would separate out the genetic material in order to use biochemical techniques to analyse their genetic sequences. The team would search for DNA or RNA in the Martian soil, separating any possible organisms using the techniques used for forensic DNA testing on Earth.

Biochemical markers would be used to search for signs of particular , genetic sequences that are nearly universal among all known life forms. "If we go to Mars and find life that is related to us, we could have originated on Mars. Or if it started here, it could have been transferred to Mars," MIT researcher Christopher Carr said.

Metro surfing: When teens get high on trains zipping through tunnels

LONDON: A new craze has come up in Moscow called metro surfing, which has teenagers risking their lives by clinging to the back of underground trains as they hurtle through darkened tunnels.

It has become so common to see the youngsters, usually sporting distinctive gloves and ski goggles, leaping onto the back of underground trains that Muscovite commuters now barely bat an eyelid. And as they cling on for dear life with the train quickly accelerating away from the platform, they are whisked within centimetres of tunnel walls facing a near certain death should they fall.

Some have even begun clambering onto roofs to literally "surf" the trains while others prefer to wedge themselves between carriages with nothing to hold onto. Using cameras attached to their heads, the daredevils capture every twist and turn of their extreme escapade before uploading the footage to social network sites like YouTube and vkontakte – the Russian version of Facebook. The phenomenon has seen massive internet communities develop where train-surfers share and comment on each other's videos. And as the stunts get more dangerous, the more comments and "likes" they get – boosting their online stardom.

The craze has already claimed the lives of would-be daredevils, most recently two Russian teens. University students Viktor Vartanyan and Ivan Mikirtumov, both 19, died from multiple fractured bones and fatal spinal traumas after smashing into a low tunnel entrance. "Most likely it was a collision with the bridge as the traumas of both students are identical," police investigator Sergey Turchenkov said.

Police are now trawling CCTV camera footage from several stations to identify where the pair hitched the illegal ride – but the craze is proving difficult to halt.

With the maximum fine if caught set at a measly 100 roubles – just £2.11 – the teens see it as a price worth paying in their quest for internet fame.

 
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