New Minecraft 1.8 Adventure Update Features - Health bar, NPC trading and sprinting

Following a recent interview with Jens Bergensten we now know more details about the Minecraft Adventure Update. Jen's revealed secrets about the mysterious health bar and the new XP bar for levelling up. He also explained how to sprint and stated that Survival mode will end.

The interview was kind of short but packed full of new details about the Adventure Update. For those of you who don't know, Jens Bergensten is one of the game developers at Mojang and he's been working closely with Notch to develop the new Adventure Update. Jens is a trusted source of information and everything he says is worth noting!

New confirmed Adventure Update features from Jens

Players can collect beef now as an edible food source
Survival mode will end when the Adventure Update comes out (it is replaced by exploration)
New biomes and structures will make an appearance. Rivers, deeper oceans and huge mushrooms.
Players will be able to trade with NPCs (NPCs are non-player characters, i.e. computer players)
Food/hunger bar is refilled by eating. Depending on how much food you've got you'll either regain health quickly or slowly. You might even loose health if you have no food.
The XP bar determines when a player will level up. This bar increases based on a players experience and the achievements they have gained..
Dungeons will be bigger and contain corridors, doors and stairs
Players can sprint by double tapping the forward key

Other features which have been revealed previously

9 new crafting recipes
Villages will contain wells either full of water or abandoned
Strongholds will appear in the NPC villages. These are made of new blocks such as Stone Brick, Mossy Stone Brick, Cracked Stone Brick, Iron Bars.
Combat changes including critical hits and hold-to-charge bows
Pumpkins and melons will be plantable
Animals will breed instead of needing to respawn
Food items will be stackable
New good items including Cooked Chicken, Raw Chicken, Steak and Melons
Glass panes block
Fences and gates are craftable

When will 1.8 be ready?

Jens didn't confirm any dates for the release of version 1.8 but PAX is taking place on the 26th August and the adventure update is playable at the exhibition. Notch will probably take feedback from the exhibition, make some final changes and then release the new version to everyone. Likely to be early September 2011.