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British neurologist Oliver Sacks dies in New York aged 82

British neurologist Oliver Sacks has died at the age of 82, it has been confirmed. The acclaimed author, whose book Awakenings inspired a film of the same name,reportedly died of cancer at his home in New York. In February he wrote about his illness - and being "face to face with dying". Awakenings was Dr Sacks' account of how he brought a group of patients "back to life" after they spent years in "frozen states" after an illness. The film version, which starred Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, was nominated for three Academy Awards - including best picture, in 1991. Dr Sacks, who was born in London but lived in New York since 1965, was the author of several other books about unusual medical conditions, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat and The Island Of The Colorblind. He was awarded several honorary degrees recognising his contribution to science and literature, as well as a CBE in 2008 in the Queen's Birthday Ho...

Drinking water doesn't prevent a hangover, study says

Raiding the fridge or downing glasses of water after a night of heavy drinking won't improve your sore head the next day, Dutch research suggests. Instead, a study concluded, the only way to prevent a hangover is to drink less alcohol. More than 800 students were asked how they tried to relieve hangover symptoms, but neither food nor water was found to have any positive effect. The findings are being presented at a conference in Amsterdam. A team of international researchers from the Netherlands and Canada surveyed students' drinking habits to find out whether hangovers could be eased or if some people were immune to them. Among 826 Dutch students, 54% ate food after drinking alcohol, including fatty food and heavy breakfasts, in the hope of staving off a hangover. With the same aim, more than two-thirds drank water while drinking alcohol and more than half drank water before going to bed. Although these groups showed a slight improve...

A rocket mission for London-based Inmarsat has been declared a success

The Russian Proton vehicle launched out the satellite high above Papua New Guinea in the early hours of Saturday (GMT). The shuttle is required by Inmarsat to finish its new worldwide information transfers system. This will offer clients generously speedier versatile broadband associations at a lower expense, and ought to come into administration towards the end of the year. "The dispatch is only the begin of an entirely long process," clarified Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce. "We've got the chance to test the new satellite's frameworks and sub-frameworks, and do the full reconciliation with alternate satellites in the system, and with the ground foundation. The new network, known as Global Xpress, is hugely important to the fortunes of company, which is fighting to maintain its dominance of the mobile satellite services market. Its principal customers are found in the shipping sector, but Inmarsat also caters for any groups that need telecom...

Nasa starts living in a dome near a barren volcano in Hawaii to simulate life on Mars

A team of Nasa recruits has begun living in a dome near a barren volcano in Hawaii to simulate what life would be like on Mars. The isolation experience, which will last a year starting on Friday, will be the longest of its type attempted. Experts estimate that a human mission to the Red Planet could take between one and three years. The six-strong team will live in close quarters under the dome, without fresh air, fresh food or privacy. They closed themselves away at 15:00 local time on Friday (01:00 GMT Saturday). A journey outside the dome - which measures only 36ft (11m) in diameter and is 20ft (6m) tall - will require a spacesuit. A French astrobiologist, a German physicist and four Americans - a pilot, an architect, a journalist and a soil scientist - make up the Nasa team.The men and women will each have a small sleeping cot and a desk inside their rooms. Provisions include powdered cheese and canned tuna. Missions to the Interna...

A billion people use Facebook per day, Mark Zuckerberg

For the first time over a billion people used Facebook on a single day, according to company founder Mark Zuckerberg. The "milestone" was reached on Monday, when "1 in 7 people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family", he said in a post. Facebook has nearly 1.5 billion users who log in at least once a month, but this was the most in a single day. The company gained its billionth user in October 2012. It was founded in 2004 by Mr Zuckerberg while he was a Harvard student. In his post on Thursday, he predicted that Facebook's reach would continue to grow. "This was the first time we reached this milestone, and it's just the beginning of connecting the whole world," Mr Zuckerberg wrote. In July, Facebook claimed that over half of the world's online users visited the site at least once a month.t was only back in October 2012 when Facebook first announced it had one billion users using the site at least onc...