SCIENCE BOND

The study, at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, took place on 49 men with untreatable cancer.  The drug, olaparib, had low overall success, but slowed tumour growth in 88% of patients with specific DNA mutations.  Cancer Research UK said the trial was exciting.  The future of cancer medicine is treating cancers by their mutated DNA rather than what part of the body they are in.  The breast cancer drug Herceptin is already used only in patients with specific mutations. Olaparib targets mutations that change the way DNA is repaired.The trial results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed the drug worked in 14 out of 16 men with such mutations. Levels of Prostate Specific Antigen, which is produced by tumours, was more than halved and there were also significant falls in the number of prostate cancer cells detected in the blood and in the size of secondary tumours. Patients responded to the drug for between six months and near...

Yamaha motors  Yamaha Motors has revealed it is developing a robot designed to ride any racing motorbike at high speeds.  The Japanese company unveiled a prototype at the Tokyo Motor Show. At present it is reliant on human operators, but in time the firm plans to have the android make its own decisions about the best course and speed to achieve the best race time around a track.

Puffins Atlantic puffins, European turtle doves, Slavonian grebes and pochards are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species for birds.  This means the number of UK species on the critical list has doubled to eight.  Puffins are vulnerable to pollution and declining food sources, ecologists say.  Another 14 UK species are considered to be "near threatened".  Martin Harper, conservation director with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said the "global wave of extinction is now lapping at our shores".  "The erosion of the UK's wildlife is staggering and this is reinforced when you talk about puffin and turtle dove now facing the same level of extinction threat as African elephant and lion, and being more endangered than the humpback whale," he said.Although the Atlantic puffin population is still in the millions, fewer young birds are surviving to breed. Turtle dove Reasons...

water flowing in moon The Nasa craft swept just 50km above the moon's surface in a final attempt to "taste" the chemistry of water jets spewing from its south pole.  Enceladus has produced a series of major discoveries that mean it is now considered one of the most promising places to find life beyond Earth.  Scientists say it has an ocean beneath its icy crust.  What is more, the conditions in this global body of liquid water could be benign enough to support microbial organisms.  "Enceladus is not just an ocean world - it's a world that might provide a habitable environment for life as we know it," said Cassini program scientist Curt Niebur, in a media briefing on Monday. "On Wednesday we'll plunge deeper into that magnificent plume coming from the South Pole than ever before. And we will collect the best sample ever from an ocean beyond earth."Cassini will attempt to detect molecular hydrogen during Wednesday's encounter. ...

It suggests that lion populations in unprotected areas could be cut in half over the next two decades.  The paper's authors say lions should now be upgraded to an endangered species in Central and West Africa.  The loss of habitat, hunting, and a demand for traditional medicine have all contributed to population decline.  Lions are currently considered "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but endangered status means they would be considered at "a very high risk of extinction in the wild".  The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, says "many lion populations are either now gone or expected to disappear within the next few decades".African lion populations are declining everywhere on the continent, with the exception of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, which are having success with what the paper calls "small, fenced, intensively m...

Metropolitan Police said a house had been searched in County Antrim on Monday afternoon at about 16:20 GMT.  The boy was arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences.  He has been taken into custody at Antrim police station and is being questioned by detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.  A search of the address is ongoing and inquiries continue.  A police statement said this was a joint investigation involving the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and detectives from the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit (MPCCU). News that the TalkTalk website had been hit by a "significant and sustained cyber-attack" broke last week.  The phone and broadband provider, which has over four million UK customers, said banking details and personal information could have been accessed.  A criminal investigation was launched on Thursday.  The company said it did not know how much of their customer information had been encryp...

Initially measured by the US Geological Survey as magnitude 7.7, the quake is nowlisted by the USGS as magnitude 7.5.  Even this revised assessment makes Monday's event a terribly powerful tremor. Around the world, only about 20 quakes each year, on average, measure greater than magnitude 7.0.  But the origin of the shaking was more than 200km (125 miles) below the surface - much deeper than the magnitude 7.8 quake that brought widespread destruction to eastern Nepal in April. That event was only 8km deep and was followed by many aftershocks, including one in early May of magnitude 7.3.  Similarly, the devastating tremor that killed tens of thousands in Kashmir almost exactly 10 years ago was magnitude 7.6 - and just 26km deep. The much greater depth of Monday's quake appears to have  lessened the ground shaking that it produced, although its effects were felt over a wide area.  The rupture dimensions will be very similar, but it's very far away from ...

The planetary conjunction - in which planets appear closer because of their positions in relation to the Sun - has been visible for days and will continue until at least the end of the week. The planets are best seen before sunrise and are expected to appear closest together on Thursday. The next time the planets will come together will be in January 2021. The planets can be seen without equipment towards the east. The best time to see them is just before sunrise because at this time they are high in the skyline but it is dark enough to see them. Binoculars and telescopes can be used to see the planets in more detail. The easiest planet to see, and the one that appears largest, is Venus, which is about 12 times brighter than Jupiter, which appears second largest. Mars is the sky's faintest planet and is some 250 times less bright than Venus. To see Mars it may be necessary to get up an hour before sunrise. He added that all parts of the UK should have at least one ...

Processed meat Its report said 50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%. Meanwhile, it said red meats were "probably carcinogenic" but there was limited evidence. The WHO did stress that meat also had health benefits.  Cancer Research UK said this was a reason to cut down rather than give up red and processed meats.  And added that an occasional bacon sandwich would do little harm.  What is processed meat?  Processed meat has been modified to either extend its shelf life or change the taste and the main methods are smoking, curing, or adding salt or preservatives. Sausages Simply putting beef through a mincer does not mean the resulting mince is "processed" unless it is modified further. Processed meat includes bacon, sausages, hot dogs, salami, corned beef, beef jerky and ham as well as canned meat and meat-based sauces.It is the chemicals invo...

People aged 18 to 30 were asked to navigate through a virtual maze to test the function of certain brain cells.  Those with a high genetic risk of Alzheimer's could be identified by their performance, according to German neuroscientists.  The findings could help future research, diagnosis and treatment, they report in the journal Science.  The scientists, led by Lukas Kunz of the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Bonn, say the high risk group navigated the maze differently and had reduced functioning of a type of brain cell involved in spatial navigation.  The findings could give an insight into why people with dementia can find navigating the world around them challenging, they say.  "Our results could provide a new basic framework for preclinical research on Alzheimer's disease and may provide a neurocognitive explanation of spatial disorientation in Alzheimer's disease," they report in Science.Although genes play a role in dementia, their e...

It shows the object to have two lobes, which may be the consequence of icy bodies bumping into each other and joining up.  Kerberos's larger lobe is judged to be about 8km across. The smaller lobe is roughly 5km in diameter.  Styx, the other little moon in the system, is of a comparable size.  Mission scientists say these satellites are brighter than they expected. Planetary bodies usually darken over time as a result of chemical changes triggered by sunlight and cosmic ray impacts.  But these moons reflect about 50% of all incident light, which indicates their water-ice covering is very clean. Kerberos orbits about 60,000km from Pluto and is the second- outermost of five moons. It sits between Nix and Hydra, and beyond the orbits of Styx and the much larger Charon, the dominant moon in the system.  The newly released image of Kerberos was acquired by New Horizons' Lorri camera from a distance of just under 400,000km. The picture incorporates a number...

Conservation charity WWF says more than a third of the animal's mountain living areas could become uninhabitable because of climate change.  It says plants and trees there are not able to survive in warmer temperatures.  The report describes snow leopards as one of the most beautiful and enigmatic big cats. "But it is also one of the most elusive and endangered," it says.WWF says that the animal is threatened not just because of climate change but also because of a combination of other factors including: Habitat fragmentation: the snow leopard's habitat especially in the eastern Himalayas - is being increasingly encroached upon by humans A decline in natural prey, resulting in snow leopards sometimes attacking livestock, which can result in local people killing them Illegal wildlife trade:  Snow leopards are being increasingly poached for their body parts.Climate change will exacerbate most of these threats, the report says, further increasing the pre...

A study by an international team of scientists has revealed that the primates either develop big voices, or big testes - but not both.  Scientists made the discovery while trying to understand the "evolution of the animals' incredible roars".  The findings suggest such evolutionary trade-offs may be more common that previously thought.  They are published in the journal Current Biology.Howler monkeys are named for their impressive howling roars - sounds they make to intimidate rivals and impress potential mates.  And their anatomical musical instrument is a bone in their throat called the hyoid bone, which acts as a resonator  So, while their vocal folds act like the strings of an instrument, the hyoid bone is the body - and its size relates directly to the depth of their howl."Females find a deeper howl more attractive," explained lead researcher Dr Jake Dunn from the University of Cambridge. Looking at research into the different howler monkey speci...

The comments came in a briefing filed on Monday to a US judge who asked for Apple's input in a case.  A US Department of Justice request has tried to force the company to help prosecutors access a seized iPhone.  According to Apple, 90% of its devices running iOS 8 or higher can't be unlocked.  The phone that is the subject of the justice department's request is an older device, but Apple has so far resisted unlocking it for authorities.  "Forcing Apple to extract data in this case, absent clear legal authority to do so, could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand," the company said in its briefing.  US magistrate Judge James Orenstein, of Brooklyn in New York, has scheduled a hearing for Thursday though it is not clear whether an Apple representative will be present. In order to decrypt the data on newer devices, the encryption key -  known only to the user - would have to be entered.Meanwhi...

Pauline Cafferkey, 39, was readmitted to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London earlier this month after suffering an apparent relapse.  Health officials confirmed she had been diagnosed with meningitis caused by Ebola and had a "long recovery ahead".  Ms Cafferkey, from South Lanarkshire, contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone.  Dr Michael Jacobs, who is treating Ms Cafferkey at the Royal Free Hospital in London, said: "Pauline has become unwell by meningitis caused by the Ebola virus. "But to be very clear about this, she hasn't been re-infected with the Ebola virus."This is the original Ebola virus that she had many months ago, which has been lying inside the brain, replicating at a very low level probably, and has now re-emerged to cause this clinical illness of meningitis. And this is obviously a serious thing."  Dr Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey had "became critically ill due to neurological complications from the meningitis"...

The work showed that women who had a particular version of the BCAR1 gene were more likely than other women to have heart attacks and strokes. In contrast, men who had the gene were not at increased risk. Researchers say this adds to mounting evidence that there are differences in how men and women experience heart disease.  In the study, published in the journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, researchers from University College London pooled data from five European research projects, involving nearly 4,000 men and women.  Comparing their genes, the health of their blood vessels and the thickness of key arteries, scientists pinpointed a version of a gene that was linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and diseased blood vessels in women.  Though they still have work to do to fully understand the link, researchers believe the gene - when combined with a woman's naturally occurring oestrogen - could lead to an increased risk of heart disease. ...

Snake scales are slipperier on the belly than the back, but the reason for this difference is not yet known. By revealing the molecular make-up of the scale surface, this study offers a new explanation for how snakes reduce friction on their underside. It will be presented on Wednesday, at a symposium on the science of surfaces. Lead author Joe Baio, a chemical engineer from Oregon State University, said the lubrication helps the snakes in two ways: it makes movement easier, but also reduces wear and tear."When snakes slide on the ground, how do they reduce friction and not scrape away their skin?" he said. "The coefficient of friction for the belly of the snake... is a lot lower than the top of the snake - so it's somehow reducing friction on its stomach side. "But under a really high-powered microscope, the shape and morphology of look identical." Dr Baio is in San Jose to present his findings at the AVS symposium .  Together, they started to stu...

Explicit audio from a pornographic film was blasted out for all to hear. And it kept playing. And playing. For 15 minutes.  Young, who was shopping with her three-year-old twin boys, uploaded the clip to Facebook.  People were up in arms," she wrote. "Some people threw their things down and walked out. Others were yelling at employees.  As pranks go, it's fairly low-grade. But Target has a problem. Staff at the store in Campbell, a small city just south of San Jose, were all but powerless to stop it due to how the PA system is designed.  And it's not an isolated incident. According to local media, it's at least the fourth time this prank has happened since April. In one instance, a store had to be evacuated.  So what's going on? Are mischievous staff causing trouble? Have Target's systems been hacked?Well not quite - but the cause is interesting, and yet another example of how systems are left with vulnerabilities by creators who never imagined peop...

Numbering moles on the right arm was observed to be a decent pointer of aggregate moles on the body. More than 10 demonstrates five times the typical danger.   The study, distributed in the British Journal of Dermatology, utilized information from 3,000 twins as a part of the UK.   GPs could utilize the discoveries to recognize those most at danger, it said.   Melanoma is a kind of skin tumor influencing more than 13,000 individuals in the UK every year.   It creates from strange moles, so the danger of being determined to have a melanoma is connected to the quantity of moles a patient has.   Scientists from King's College London concentrated on a huge gathering of female twins over a time of eight years, gathering data on skin sort, spots and moles on their bodies.  Subsequent to rehashing the activity on a littler gathering of around  400 men and ladies with melanoma, they thought of a snappy and simple approach to survey the danger of ski...

The US online retail monster has recorded a claim in Seattle, Washington.  It says its image notoriety is being harmed by "false, deceptive and inauthentic" audits paid for by venders looking to enhance the request of their items.  It comes after Amazon sued various sites in April for offering fake surveys.   Amazon says the 1,114 respondents, termed "John Does" as the organization does not yet know their genuine names, offer a false survey administration for as meager as $5 (£3.24) on the site Fiverr.com, with most encouraging five-star audits for a vender's items.  While little in number, these audits can fundamentally undermine the trust that customers and by far most of venders and producers place in Amazon, which thus stains Amazon's image," the innovation goliath said in its protestation, which was recorded on Friday.  Amazon said it had directed an examination, which included buying fake client audits on Fiverr from individuals who gua...

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the patent licensing arm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the verdict was important to guard its inventions from unauthorised use.  The jury had earlier decided that Apple incorporated patented microchip technology into some iPhones and iPads without permission.  Apple said it would appeal.  The company declined to comment further.  The amount was less than the foundation had claimed. It had originally sought as much as $862m.  The sum was lower in part because the judge ruled that Apple had not wilfully infringed the patent. University of Wisconsin-Madison computer sciences professor Gurindar Sohi, one of the inventors of the microchip technology - designed to boost the performance of computer processors - was in the federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, for the decision.  "For Dr Sohi, I hope you felt that your invention was vindicated,'' US District Judge William Conley said.  Carl Gulbra...

It said the vast majority of the additional passings would happen in patients having colorectal surgery, blood growth chemotherapy and hip substitutions.  UK specialists said the study affirmed their reasons for alarm that anti-toxin resistance would influence routine surgery.   Britain's boss therapeutic officer has called the issue a "ticking time bomb".   In this report, a group of researchers from various distinctive American establishments evaluated that the same number of as half of all microorganisms that cause diseases after surgery are impervious to anti-infection agents in the US.   They additionally evaluated that one in four contaminations treated with anti-infection agents after chemotherapy treatment was currently sedate safe.  For the report, the scientists took a gander at what could happen to individuals having normal operations and being dealt with for malignancy with chemotherapy if anti-toxin resistance expanded by a third - in accordanc...

One case was found in the capital Conakry and the other in Forecariah, a town in western Guinea. The week before last was the first week that the three worst-affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - had seen no new infections. The virus has killed more than 11,000 people in nearly two years. The case in Forecariah appeared to be linked to a previously known chain of infection, while the one in Conakry seemed to be new, authorities in Guinea said. "On the bumpy road we keep talking about - the high risk of recurrence - once again we are navigating a few bumps," said WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris on Friday. "Of course we didn't want it, but we did expect it. Guinea hadn't got  to the stage where we were looking at 42 days". A country is considered to be Ebola-free after 42 days without a new case. Liberia recently achieved this status and neighbouring Sierra Leone is nearly halfway through the 42 days. The enduring risks from the vi...

Researchers have developed an algorithm to help robots fall more gracefully, to protect them from damage.  Karen Liu, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, said a falling robot can damage its components and also the people around it.  She said the algorithm could help reduce the impact when a humanoid robot takes a tumble. She hopes robots will eventually be able to learn how to recover from a fall.

The court rejected claims from a group of authors that Google Books violated their intellectual property rights.  Judges sided with an earlier ruling that the digital library was "fair use" and provided a public service.  Authors Guild executive director Mary Rasenberger said the decision was disappointing.  The Authors Guild and some individual writers filed the lawsuit in 2005, claiming the project infringed on copyright protection and authors' ability to make money from their work.  Google Books is a project to scan and digitise millions of books to allow users to search and read excerpts from them. Judge Pierre Leval wrote: "Google's division of the page into tiny  snippets is designed to show the searcher just enough context surrounding the searched term to help her evaluate whether the book falls within the scope of her interest (without revealing so much as to threaten the author's copyright interests)."Google said it would have faced b...

It will be one of a series of missions that prepares for the return of humans to the surface and a possible permanent settlement.  The spacecraft will assess whether there is water, and raw materials to make fuel and oxygen. We  have obtained exclusive details of the mission, called Luna 27, which is set for launch in five years' time.  The mission is one of a series led by the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, to go back to the Moon.These ventures will continue where the exploration programme that was halted by the Soviet Union in the mid 1970s left off, according to Prof Igor Mitrofanov, of the Space Research Institute in Moscow, who is one of the lead scientists.  But unlike efforts in the 1960s and 70s, when the Soviet Union was working in competition with the US and other nations, he added, "we have to work together with our international colleagues"."We have to go to the Moon. The 21st Century will be the century when it will be the permanent outpos...

US scientists examined the resting examples of customary social orders in Africa and South America, whose ways of life nearly take after antiquated seeker gatherers.  They observed 98 individuals for 1,165 evenings, and found that they dozed for a normal of 6.5 hours for each night.  By examination, the researchers said that the vast majority in the US get around seven hours, as per a huge rest survey.  The new study, distributed in the diary Current Biology, additionally observes that temperature assumed a more prominent part than light in molding resting examples.  Prof Jerome Siegel, from the University of California, Los Angeles, said: "The issue is: what is the information on how rest has changed?   "What's more, it struck me that these gatherings, which are quickly vanishing, give the last chance to truly recognize what human rest was similar to before we all made our different civilization. From fake lights, to late night TV, and now the ev...