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Intelligent Energy, a leading clean power systems company, has developed a hydrogen fuel cell that they say will be installed into a fleet of zero emission London taxis by 2012–a programme part funded by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board.

The fuel cell powered vehicles will include batteries to allow them to operate as hybrid vehicles for a day without refueling. Drivers of these TX4 black cabs will be able to refuel in a few minutes using hydrogen depots situated around central London.

Intelligent Energy says that the new cabs will be capable of achieving speeds of up to 75 miles per hour and faster acceleration than standard taxis, despite being emission-free. They will be able to operate in temperatures as low as -20°C. (It doesn’t get that cold in London; it only feels that way sometimes!)

“The black cab is an internationally recognised and iconic symbol of London,” said Intelligent Energy’s Henri Winand. “What better stage to prove the credentials of British innovation than on the way to the 2012 London Olympics?”

Intelligent Energy plans to develop technology to power between 50 and 100 of London’s 21,000 black taxis, a token number at best.  The real question for real taxi drivers is how well will these taxis perform in day-to-day use?

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The Spice Girls are being tipped to re-form to help kick off the start of the 2012 Olympics in London.

The flamboyant British girl group, which split in 2000, have been in talks with their former manager Simon Fuller about performing at the opening ceremony of the Games.

“They stand for so much in British music history and I can’t think of a better time for them to get back together for another performance,” he told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

“The demand for them as a band is as strong as ever.”

Fuller also hinted that the girls – Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell – could embark on a farewell tour about the time of the Olympics.

“They will not want to be performing hits like Wannabe in their 40s, but it’s amazing how often people talk about another reunion,” he said.

“And I think if they do it, it’s going to be in 2012.”

The Spice Girls, who released their debut single Wannabe in 1996, disbanded two years after Halliwell suddenly quit.

They re-formed in late 2007 for a world tour and released a greatest hits album.

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British swimming has become a force on the international stage thanks to the 2012 Olympics being awarded to London, the Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington believes. It has had a galvanising effect on her and her team-mates, she said.

The 20-year-old had an astonishing Olympic debut last year in Beijing when she came away with two gold medals and a new world record. Jo Jackson, Cassie Patten, Keri-Anne Payne and David Davies also won medals and Britain was well represented in finals.

Since then, Jackson has broken the 400m freestyle world record – since reclaimed by Federica Pellegrini – while British swimmers are a regular feature in the upper echelons of the world rankings.

Adlington believes hosting the Games has been a driving force behind Britain’s success and continued improvement. “It is all people talk about,” she said. “This year has gone so quickly already, it’s not four years anymore, it’s three years and that is just going to get quicker and quicker. It’s going to come round in no time.

“You are going to have to keep it on your mind. The Olympics is the biggest thing you aim for anyway, let alone a home Olympics. It’s completely different, everyone is just so excited for it. I think that is why in Britain we have moved on so much this year because we are aware the Olympics is coming up.”

The Mansfield swimmer says she has visited the Olympics site in London several times. “I can’t believe how much they have done already,” she said. “I can fully see where things are going to be. You can see the stadium taking shape and you can see where the pool is going to be and where the roof is getting put on. And you’re like – ‘What? We’ve got three years still to go.”‘

Adlington, who hopes to swim all the freestyle events from 200m-800m in the capital as well as the 4x200m relay, believes one of the major benefits of hosting the Games will be the inspiring effect of the crowd. “A home crowd is brilliant, it lifts everybody up,” she added. “You can tell that just from when you looked back in the history of where things have been that the nation always seems to raise their game, it always happens.”

Adlington maintains that the positive effects of London 2012 will outweigh any negatives. “I think they are right with comments that it is very expensive for our country, especially with the recession,” she continued. “It is expensive but at the end of the day what you gain from an Olympics in your home country and the pride you feel to represent GB in your home country I think will lift the whole nation.”

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A who’s who of prominent figures from the arts world will be recruited to overhaul the Cultural Olympiad due to accompany the 2012 games in London, after a lottery boost of almost £16m for the project.

The attempt to link an ambitious programme of cultural events to the games was hailed by Lord Coe, the chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog), as an attempt to revive the spirit of the ancient Olympics. But it has faced criticism from some senior figures within the arts world for lacking focus and wasting money.

Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, was today confirmed as the chair of a new Cultural Olympiad board convened by Locog and the government in an attempt to revitalise the project. He said he had recruited a series of senior figures who would “want to get things done” and allow the Cultural Olympiad to, in effect, become a coalition of the biggest arts institutions in the UK.

The board will comprise Arts Council chief executive Alan Davey, Royal Shakespeare Company director Vicky Heywood, Barbican managing director Sir Nicholas Kenyon, BBC director general Mark Thompson, Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota, the mayor’s adviser on arts and culture Munira Mirza, and Jude Kelly, the Southbank Centre artistic director who has been overseeing the project to date.

Projects which have already been announced include an international Shakespeare festival, a UK-wide film project for young people and World River, a music festival to take place in London.Hall said the £16m in Lottery money would achieve that but that it was more important to forge a spirit of co-operation between all in the arts world and the Olympic organisers. Hall said he would review all the current plans in the autumn to ensure there was “clear leadership” and focus energies on the months of 2012 leading up to the games rather spreading events throughout the next three years.

“I have always believed that the Olympic and Paralympic games presents a fantastic opportunity for the arts in this country,” said Hall, who will report to the main Olympic board. “We have the ability to introduce a whole new generation to arts and culture and show the world what a creative and inspirational country this is.”

Locog, which said it always intend to pass on responsibility for the cultural olympiad to a dedicated board, will retain responsibility for the opening and closing ceremonies of the games.

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USAIN Bolt is aiming to go one better than the legendary Carl Lewis and defend his Olympic sprint double at London 2012.

Lewis won the 100m and 200m in Los Angeles but could only bank a gold and silver four years later in Seoul.

And Bolt – who scorched to a new 150m world record at the BUPA Great City Games in Manchester – wants to move upgrade his superstar status to legend in London.

“I want to be a legend and defending my titles would be the way to do that,” he said.

“It will not be easy but no great feat is ever easy.”

Bolt carved four tenths of a second off the previous world best despite competing under slate gray skies and teeming rain.

And with rivals Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay monitoring his performance, and shamed sprinter Dwain Chambers still babbling about his chances despite a disappointing weekend performance, Bolt promised there is more to come.

“I still have a lot of work to do but I’m getting there,” added Bolt.

“I think this has helped because I haven’t run a serious race all season. I think I could go faster because I’m not in the best of shape and I slipped at the start.

“I am hoping by Berlin I will be 100 percent and I’m not trying to peak before then.”

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Put simply, omnium is the decathlon of cycling. It is made up of five events (200m sprint, 5km scratch race, 3000m individual pursuit, 15km points race and 1km time trial) and finds the most consistent rider across different disciplines.

It requires the top-end speed of a sprinter, endurance of a pursuit rider and craft and guile of a points and scratch race cyclist.

The omnium was popular on the cycling programme until the late 1960s when it disappeared. No one is really sure why.

It made a return to the world championships in 2007 and Godfrey instantly knew it was his chance to make his mark as an individual on the world stage.

Suggestions have gathered momentum recently that the omnium will be added to the programme for the 2012 London Olympics, along with the women’s team’s pursuit.

“It’s quite political to get new events at the Olympics,” says Godfrey. “I doubt it will be in London. Maybe later on. It is an event crowds like following because it’s all done in one day and people can follow their favourite riders.”

Godfrey will concentrate on the madison, a two-person race where riders fling their team-mates around the track, if the omnium is not added to the London programme.

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Multi-Olympic champion Michael Phelps has committed himself to the 2012 London lympics after contemplating his participation following the furore after he was pictured apparently using illegal drugs.

The 23-year-old was last month suspended for three months by USA Swimming and the governing body also withdrew all financial support after a photograph was published of him apparently inhaling from the type of glass pipe used to smoke cannabis. His sponsor Kellogg then announced they would not renew their contract with the swimmer when it expired at the end of February.

Phelps, who became the most successful Olympian in history when he won eight gold medals to add to the six he claimed in Athens four years previously, also confirmed he would compete at the World Championships in Rome this summer. He does not, though, expect to be in the same peak condition as last year.

“I think I can get back to some kind of racing form,” Phelps continued. “For every day you miss, it takes you twice as long to get back – and I’ve been out of the water for about five months. So it will take about 10 months to really get back to where I was.”

Phelps also admitted he had made a huge error of judgement when he was pictured with the now infamous bong at a party at the University of South Carolina last November, although the swimmer has always stopped short of admitting smoking cannabis.

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