DEBORAH

                               DEBORAH'S

STRICTLY

SLIM-DOWN

She's more used to grilling dragons in the den than tripping the light fantastic, but strictly's Deborah is loving the effect all that fancy footwork is having on her waistline. I've lost a bit of weight and I'm definitely more
toned," explains the 54-year-old,who has been put through her paces by pro partner Robin Windsor. But I didn't do strictly to lose weight. Well, maybe that was part of it. OK, it is part of it! I hope it will
get me to a place where I can reset the weight button. As you get older a few pounds creep on, so hopefully
Strictly will take me back a few steps.

Red, red brine

Red, red brine

THIS SALT LAGOON, resembling a painting by Mark Rothko, is the biggest algae farm in the world.
Located by the coast in Western Australia, it contains the single-celled Dunaliella salna. These usually
appear green, but under the bright Australian sunlight they begin to produce beta carotene-a pigment
that gives pumpkins and carrots their orange colour. It's farmed for use in both food colourings
and medicines. "It is a photo-protectant", says Alison Smith, Professor of Plant Biochemistry at Cambridge University.This means the algae form the pigment in direct response to the incident light in order to protect
themselves against damage from the Suns harmful ultraviolet rays. The algae are grown up to high density in
one place and then flooded into the shallow open ponds explains Prof Smith. As the water evaporates the
salt concentration increases, and this exacerbates the response. The farm is made up of a network
of connecting lakes that fed are from the salty lndian Ocean, in order to encourage production of
beta-carotene.

Mega pixel

Pink sky at night

THIS MAY LOOK like a magenta sun setting over some alien planet. but its actually the Aurora Borealis
here on Earth in Oregon.The Northern Lights appear in the night sky when charged particles from the
Sun collide with molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere.The Colours produced in these collisions depend on
the molecules that are hit oxygen molecules give of
green and red light, nitrogen molecules red and blue. The pink hue seen here is a much
rarer sight and harder to  explain. it may be the combination of different emissions at diferent
altitudes says Prof Jim Wild, Professor of Space Physics at Lancaster University. so the high
altitude blue emission of light from nitrogen mixes with the reds beneath it' The fact that the Aurora is
visible in Oregon on the same latitude as northern Italy, is also startling, and
signals a possible solar storm as the cause.