Seven Days

A glance at the week that was

Google looks to the future

On Wednesday, Google launched Project Glass, its long-rumoured spectacles-cum-smartphone device – a slice of technology seemingly straight out of Star Trek.

The vision of a “heads-up display” is a staple of sci-fi, but Google’s take is more augmented than virtual reality. For the moment, the glasses are concept-only – the launch consisted of a concept video showing how the glasses might work in practice, with a user making phone calls, using maps and taking photos, all with her wraparound headband.

Previous rumours in the New York Times suggested the device would be on sale before the end of the year, but that now looks optimistic.

Next week you need to know about . . . the Grand National

Next Saturday, hot on the heels of Cheltenham a few weeks ago, comes the biggest steeplechase event in the racing calendar, the Grand National.

One of the most famous races in the world, the 4.5-mile National Hunt race is also the most watched, with an estimated global TV audience of 600 million people, in addition to the 70,000 racegoers who make their way to Aintree, near Liverpool.

It was first run in 1839, making it one of those Victorian-era institutions bound up with British identity – and betting on a horse, any horse, is an annual ritual for millions of people who don’t normally follow the races.

With a maximum 40 runners, it can be hard to pick a favourite (although there are concerns that there may be a smaller field this year due to a lower-than-usual number of entries).

The ante-post favourite Prince De Beauchene, trained by Willie Mullins, has been ruled out with a hip injury – leading to suggestions that jockey Ruby Walsh might ride Seabass, trained by his father, Ted.

It also leaves last year’s winner, Ballabriggs (pictured), and David Pipe’s Junior among the favourites. The winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the JP McManus-owned Synchronised, looks set to run, aiming for a rare double, a feat last achieved by Golden Miller in 1934.

We now know

Youssou N’Dour has moved from the world of music to the world of politics as he was named Senegal’s minister for culture and tourism

A Thai film adaptation of Macbeth has been banned there as it was deemed potentially divisive

James Cameron digitally altered the night sky in the 3D rerelease of Titanic to put stars in the positions they occupied in April 1912

The Numbers

23%The vacancy rate of Dublin city-centre office space

€4,000Cost of repairing a Garda car that hit a donkey – the car was not worth that amount

$8.5mSize of the settlement Groupon has agreed to pay after a class-action lawsuit argued its deals shouldn't expire

3Number of Chinese cities predicted to be in the world's 10 richest urban areas by 2025, according to a McKinsey report

230,000Kilometres from Earth that 46m-wide asteroid 2012 EG5 passed on April 1st, closer than the moon

10,000Age of a mammoth found frozen in Siberian ice