Alien bugs on Venus

LIFE may be flourishing on Venus, a team of top scientists revealed on Wednesday 26th September, 2002. The experts said the planet has a “relatively hospitable” atmosphere and could be home to a large number of bugs.They reckon the presence of life could explain the strange make-up of Venus’s atmosphere.It should contain large quantities of carbon monoxide because of solar radiation and lightning. But the gas is rare — and experts believe living organisms may be removing it.The atmosphere of Venus is 96 per cent carbon dioxide, producing a greenhouse effect which makes Earth’s nearest neighbour the solar system’s hottest planet at 460°C.

Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Texas University, who led the research, said: “Life could have started and retreated to niches once the runaway greenhouse effect began.”The European Space Agency is planning to launch a probe to Venus in 2005 which may finally prove if the planet sustains life.

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The curse of famine could be wiped out for ever thanks to a breakthrough in genetic engineering. Scientists have unravelled the amazingly complex genome - or genetic map - of rice, which makes up 80 per cent of the diet for half the world's population. The breakthrough means that in future it will be possible to grow super-strains of rice and the closely related cereals wheat, maize and barley.

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A contraceptive skin patch to rival the Pill, likely to transform birth control for thousands of women, has been approved by the European Medicines Agency. The patch, called Evra, contains the same hormones as the Pill but in lower quantities, because they do not have to go through the digestive system. Each stick-on patch lasts a week. The European Commission is expected to licence it by the summer. The Family Planning Association said: 'This is great news for women'.

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British scientists have developed a radical breast cancer treatment that eliminates the need for punishing radiotherapy.

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Chickens lay more eggs if they are kept in fields with sheep, farmers in UK have discovered.

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An amazing new pill containing a tiny Video Camera can transmit images from inside the stomach to help detect illnesses. The revolutionary device will work in the body for up to seven hours. It is being used to discover whether a patient has bleeding in the gut and has just been tested successfully in Australia.

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A nicotine solution that can be added to any drink has been developed in North Carolina, USA to help smokers quit.

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An artificial liver which could save thousands of lives is being developed, scientists has said. The device will keep patients with acute liver failure alive while a suitable donor is found for a transplant. But in some cases it will prevent the need for a transplant. Dr. Helen Grant, leading the project at Strathclyde University, said: "If you give the liver a rest during the acute stage of failure it will repair itself. "That short-term support is what is offered by artificial liver devices." The device filters blood plasma with pig liver cells.

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Mobile phone use is about to undergo a real "hands-on" revolution - with a WIND-UP version. The tiny clockwork phone will need no batteries or electricity - just a muscle power. Scientists believe it could be the forerunner to a complete range of wind-up devices - including clockwork laptop computers and walkmans. The phone - expected to be on sale by the end of the year - comes complete with a special crank-up unit.

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