A project exploring the use of rock engineering techniques for cultural heritage conservation hopes that the piece could be resurrected at its original site on the banks of the Serpentine Lake.

“Rock engineering techniques are usually used for stabilisation of tunnels and rock slopes," said Dr John Harrison of Imperial College, "but the basic concepts of understanding how rock behaves when it is subjected to loads are immediately applicable to stone sculptures."

"We can now apply this knowledge to preserving some of the nation’s most important and historic artworks.”

The piece was originally dismantled over concerns that it was structurally unsound -- the team needed to find out why that was the case.

As well as experts from Imperial College, assistance was also sought from Tate Galleries and Glasgow School of Art.

“We were delighted when the Henry Moore Foundation invited us to study the Arch as a subject for our research," said Dr Angela Geary from the Glasgow School of Art.

"It was a huge practical challenge, but it was very exciting and motivating to be working on such a significant real-world problem.”

Rock samples were taken for testing and and laser scans of the dismantled stone blocks were used to generate 3D computer models of the sculpture for analysis.

The team concluded that the unusual shape, the poor location of the structural joints holding the blocks together, and the use of brittle travertine stone all combine to make it unsteady.

Solutions for these problems include attaching the rock legs and top section together with fibreglass and placing the structure on a base of reinforced concrete.

“The outcome is a positive one for everyone involved, and our aim is now to expand across a wide range of artefacts from armoury to pottery and painting," said Derek Pullen, Head of Sculpture Conservation at Tate Galleries.

"Our methods could remove much of the guesswork from planning conservation treatment and could become an indispensable tool in the care of collections.”

"Most of the UFO sightings here are probably misidentifications of aircraft lights and meteors," said Nick Pope, the man responsible for investigating the sightings at the MoD.

"But some are more difficult to explain, and include UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, and cases where UFOs have been tracked on radar."

Folklore expert Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University has been assisting the National Archives in the release of the documents.

As one of the few academics to take UFOs seriously, Dr Clarke has in-depth knowledge of UFO encounters that cannot be dismissed easily.

One of the reports in the archives was filed from an anonymous small airport near the east coast of England.

Experienced air traffic controllers described how they were guiding a small plane coming in to land, when they saw a brightly lit object approach another runway without clearance.

"Everyone became aware that the object was unidentified," the report reads.

"SATCO [code name for a controller with 14 years experience] reports that the object came in 'at speed,' made a touch and go on runway 27, then departed at 'terrific speed' in a 'near vertical' climb."

"They were absolutely astonished," Dr Clarke said.

"It was a bright, circular object, flashing different colors, and after it touched down it disappeared at fantastic speed."

Dr Clarke is convinced that the report should be taken seriously as the men involved were air traffic controllers with eight years experience on the job.

"The report comes from very qualified people, and it's one of the few that remained unexplained."

The MoD has always maintained that there has never been any contact with aliens, despite a plethora of conspiracy theories to the contrary.

A ministry memo from 1983 says: "The sole interest of the Ministry of Defence in UFO reports is to establish whether they reveal anything of defence interest (e.g. intruding aircraft)."

"The Ministry of Defence does not deny that there are strange things to see in the sky."

"It certainly has no evidence that alien spacecraft have landed on this planet."

Having examined the documents in the archives, Dr Clarke can find no physical evidence for alien contact.

"The Ministry of Defense doesn't have any evidence that our defences were breached by alien craft," he said.

"They never found one, no bits of one."

"That's all we can say."

Supporters of the two officers -- both white -- claim that the vehicle was parked near a fire hydrant, giving them just cause to question the driver.

For reasons that are unclear, Zeigler apparently identified himself as a fellow officer but his ID badge wasn't trusted.

Doubts have been expressed anonymously about the behaviour of the officers.

"How you can not know or recognise a chief in a department SUV with ID around his neck, I don't know," according to an unnamed source inside the force.

The NYPD appear to be taking Zeigler's side, with their official spokesperson claiming that the officers attempted to wrest open the door, even after the chief had made efforts to identify himself.

"He dealt with the chief in a discourteous manner, which is unacceptable," said Paul Browne for the NYPD.

The incident is the latest in a long line of controversies involving race and the NYPD.

There have been recent protests against the acquittal of three police officers accused of killing an unarmed man as he left his own stag party.

"You can't make this stuff up!" said the Reverend Al Sharpton, in his condemnation of the Zeigler incident.

"The problem isn't that they didn't recognise him."

"It is that they don't recognise our rights!"

Criticism of the officers' behaviour also came from New York politicians.

"Something is wrong with our Police Department and their interactions with people of colour," said State Senator Eric Adams, a former police captain representing Brooklyn.

One of the officers involved, Michael Granahan, has now been stripped of his badge and gun.

He has now been placed on 'modified duty', pending a full investigation.

They sit about 12 to 16 inches above water, giving them a low profile that radar can't track easily.

"There has been information that the semi-submersibles have existed for about 10 years," said Rear Admiral Joseph Nimmich, director of the Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West, Florida.

"But 2006 was the first time US law enforcement actually saw one."

The semi-subs are between 45 to 82 feet long, travel at 8 mph and can have a range of up to 2,000 miles -- and can carry between eight to ten tons of cocaine.

"It's in fact a logical progression," Nimmich said.

"As we get better at interdiction, they move to try to counteract our success."

It is estimated that 25 to 40 semi-subs left South America loaded with cocaine in 2007, with that figure expected to double this year.

The US Coast Guard is now working with Congress to make it illegal to even be aboard an unflagged semi-sub in international waters -- whether or not cocaine is present.

Such a new crime would carry a 20-year prison sentence.

"This vessel has no purpose other than illicit trafficking," said Nimmich.

Intelligence agencies are now helping to detect the semi-subs, using all the techniques at their disposal.

"We’re using the same kinds of technologies that we used to hunt submarines in the Cold War to try and find these semi-submersibles," said US Southern Command Admiral Jim Stavridis.

Nimmich is sure that semi-subs will continue to grow in popularity, unless the authorities can find ways to stop them.

"Drug runners will continue to do this until we become more successful than they are," he said.

"The advantage of our Clean Gum is that it has great taste, it is easy to remove and has the potential to be environmentally degradable," said Professor Terence Cosgrove.

The key innovation is a polymer that attracts water in saliva -- this forms a thin film around the polymer which prevents it from becoming sticky.

"With this gum, you always get a film of water around it, and that's one of the reasons it's easy to remove and in some cases doesn't stick at all," Professor Cosgrove said.

The effort has been so successful that a company called Revolymer has now been spun off from the University to commercialise the research.

As well as being tested on the streets of Bristol, the gum was also stuck in the hair of the CEO's daughter.

Unlike conventional gum that has to be cut out with scissors, the non-stick gum was removed after several applications of shampoo.

“I am delighted with our progress," said Roger Pettman, CEO of Revolymer.

"In eighteen months we have converted UK technology into a commercial product significantly changing the pollution issues facing chewing gum."

“Removable, degradable chewing gum is becoming a reality."

This new approach has now yielded £2m in venture capital from Swarraton Partners and their co-investors Top Technology Ventures, the venture capital subsidiary of IP Group plc.

As part of the deal, Stephen Brooke, managing partner of Swarraton Partners, is joining the company as a non-executive director.

"I have been following the company for some time and was impressed with the speed with which it has moved from developing technology to developing products," Brooke said.

With other investments from institutions and private investors, Revolymer now has a war chest totalling £10 million.

As well as helping to commercialise Clean Gum, the company will also use the money to finance research into using polymers for detergents and drug delivery systems.

But first they have to overcome the hurdle of regulatory approval from the EU so the polymer can be used as an additive in chewing gum -- which could signal the end of a frustrating problem for local councils.

"Of all the things that end up on our streets, chewing gum is the hardest to shift," said Leith Penny, director of environment and leisure at Westminster council.

"The problem with campaigns to stop people disposing of chewing gum irresponsibly is that they do nothing to stigmatise the behaviour."

"The campaigns that did -- for drink-driving and dogs fouling the streets -- worked very well."

The 'Iolani Palace is currently a museum, open for school groups and paid tours.

Employees, volunteers, and tourists were prevented from entering during the occupation -- only members of the media were allowed inside.

"This is our seat of government and always will be," said Mahealani Kahau, elected leader of the secessionist group.

"As long as we have breath to speak, we'll be here."

The group claims that more than one million acres in the Hawaiian Islands were illegally seized during the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, 11 years after the 'Iolani Palace was built.

"If you know the culture, how Lili'uokalani was overthrown, then you would understand the urgency of the Hawaiian people," said Marialena Kalamau, a member of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government.

"The white man came and made us think the government was overthrown -- it was not," added Kalamau's mother Dixie, also a member of the Government.

The protesters plan to re-establish the 'Iolani Palace as the seat of their Government.

"This is the manifestation of the frustration of the Hawaiian people for the loss of sovereignty and land," said Kalani English, a Native Hawaiian State Senator.

"This made a statement."

"It got the word out about the plight of the Hawaiian people."

Kippen de Alba Chu, executive director of the 'Iolani Palace, was highly critical of the protest.

"It is historically wrong for any individual or group to state that the palace is to serve as a Government building," said Chu.

"We welcome any group who would like to celebrate the history of 'Iolani Palace and Hawaii's monarchy in a historically appropriate manner that embraces all visitors."

Although little of Sappho's work remains, she garnered a reputation as a poetess of great talent.

According to an epigram in the Anthologia Palatina attributed to Plato:

Some say the Muses are nine: how careless!
Look, there's Sappho too, from Lesbos, the tenth.

But the islanders contend that Sappho never practiced same-sex love -- a notion refuted by modern scholars.

Now they want modern-day lesbians to stop using the term and have turned to the Greek courts for redress.

They have targeted a group called the 'Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece' (OLKE), saying that their use of the term 'insults the identity' of the islanders.

"My sister can't say she is a lesbian," said Dimitris Lambrou, one of the litigants.

"Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos."

"This is not an aggressive act against gay women."

"Let them visit Lesbos and get married and whatever they like.

"We just want [the group] to remove the word lesbian from their title."

Lambrou's contention is that lesbian has only been used as a term to describe gay women for decades.

"But we have been lesbians for thousands of years," said Lambrou.

The group targeted by the lawsuit sees it as the product of 'prejudice'.

"The claim is based in serious prejudice and hatred," said Andrea Gilbert, spokesperson for Athens Pride 2008 and a member of OLKE.

"The term lesbian to define women who love women exists in every dictionary of just about all UN member nations."

"The term is recognised universally."

"OLKE, the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, is a legal entity whose name is legally accepted and registered in Greece."

"It has existed since 2003."

"This is a ridiculous claim that most Greeks find laughable."

"However, the underlying homophobia and reactionary sentiment is no laughing matter."

"We 'despised, name-usurping lesbians' from all over the world bring tons of money to the island in the form of tourism."

Gilbert is alarmed that the islanders seriously believe that Sappho was in fact heterosexual -- in contradiction to writings by the poetess in the first person that contain references to love for other women.

"According to them, the notion that she practiced same-sex love is a heinous distortion," said Gilbert.

"This would be hilariously funny if it wasn't so pathetic -- and so scary."

"Since it's a universally legally recognised term, their case will likely be thrown out, but with the New Democracy regime, one never knows how much pandering will go on."

In the medieval era, bread contaminated with ergot had caused a debilitating condition known as St Anthony's Fire, which has symptoms including gangrene and loss of limbs.

But the alkaloids in ergot were felt by some to have potential benefits and in 1935, ergonovine was first isolated from the fungus.

As it causes strong muscular contractions, it has since been used medically to induce labour and to control haemmorrhaging.

This work spurred Hofmann to investigate what other applications the ergot alkaloids could be used for.

But his initial 1938 research into LSD was fruitless -- studies failed to show any effects on animals and he abandoned the approach.

It was five years later when Hofmann decided to go back to his previous work with LSD.

After inadvertently inhaling some vapours from synthesised LSD, Hofmann experienced an altered state of consciousness.

"On a Friday afternoon, April 16, 1943, while working in the laboratory, I was seized by a peculiar sensation of vertigo and restlessness," he said.

"Objects, as well as the shape of my associates in the laboratories, appeared to undergo optical changes."

"I was unable to concentrate on my work."

"In a dreamlike state, I left for home, where an irresistible urge to lie down and sleep overcame me."

"Light was so intense as to be unpleasant."

"I drew the curtains and immediately fell into a peculiar state of 'drunkenness', characterised by an exaggerated imagination."

"With my eyes closed, fantastic pictures of extraordinary plasticity and intensive colour seemed to surge towards me."

"After two hours, this state gradually subsided and I was able to eat dinner with a good appetite."

Three days later, Hofmann took the smallest possible dose of LSD -- 250 micrograms -- in an attempt to discover the exact action of the drug.

After taking the drug in the laboratory, he asked his assistant to help him cycle home.

"On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms."

"Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror."

"I also had the sensation of being unable to move from the spot."

"Nevertheless, my assistant later told me that we had travelled very rapidly."

The dose wore off after six hours, thus ending the world's first LSD trip.

Hofmann's employers, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, decided that the drug had potential in psychotherapy and began distributing the drug to therapists.

As a result, hundreds of papers were written by academics that detailed the use of LSD to treat a variety of disorders including addiction -- but all that research ended in the 1960s as the drug was banned around the world.

Although Hofmann worked extensively with psychedelics after the discovery of LSD, he was critical of the approach of Timothy Leary, an advocate for the liberal use of drugs.

He eventually encountered Leary in 1971 at the railway station buffet in Lausanne.

Hofmann expressed his regret that academic research into LSD had ended as a result of the controversy generated by figures such as Leary.

He also expressed doubts about the wisdom of encouraging young people to consume drugs.

“He maintained that I was unjustified in reproaching him for the seduction of immature persons to drug consumption."

According to Hofmann, Leary believed that American teenagers 'with regard to information and life experience, were comparable to adult Europeans' and were therefore equipped to make their own decisions.

After many decades of inactivity, the field of academic research into LSD has experienced a resurgence.

Hofmann had been due to speak at a recent conference in Basel, but ill-health prevented his attendance.

"[Albert and I] spoke on the phone the day after the Basel conference and he was happy and fulfilled," said Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

"He'd seen the renewal of LSD psychotherapy research with his own eyes, as had [his wife] Anita."

"I said that I looked forward to discussing the results of the study with him in about a year and a half and he laughed and said he'd try to help the research however he could, either from this side or 'the other side'."

He is survived by his three children with his wife Anita, who predeceased him in late 2007.

Dr Albert Hofmann: January 11th 1906 -- April 29th 2008.

"The use of mushrooms can produce hallucinogenic effects which can lead to extreme or life-threatening behaviour," read a statement from the health ministry.

The decision to ban mushrooms came about partly as a result of the death in March 2007 of Gaelle Caroff, a young French woman on a school visit.

She had consumed mushrooms before jumping off a bridge -- and her face was splashed in newspapers across the Netherlands, prompting a national debate on how to prevent such deaths.

Amsterdam's Mayor Job Cohen had proposed a three day waiting period for mushroom purchases.

But the health and justice ministries advised an outright ban due to natural variations in the potency of mushrooms.

"It's impossible to estimate what amount will have what effect," said Wim Van der Weegen, spokesman for the justice ministry.

A number of other incidents involving mushrooms also raised questions, such as the 22-year-old British tourist who ran amok in a hotel, breaking his window and slicing his hand; the 19-year-old Icelandic tourist who thought he was being chased and jumped from a balcony, breaking both legs; and the 29-year-old Danish tourist who drove his car wildly through a campsite, but miraculously managed to avoid injuring anyone.

Although such incidents are described by figures inside the government as 'rare', high profile media coverage has helped create impetus for a ban.

"The main danger to the user is that he will somehow hurt himself," said Marjan Heuving of the Trimbos Institute, the drug policy arm of the health ministry.

"I should add that that's extremely rare."

The proprietors of the 'smart shops' that sell magic mushrooms believe that the move is part of a wider campaign to end the liberal drug policy of the Netherlands.

"If they succeed with this mushroom ban then I am sure they will try to ban things like cannabis as well," said Freddy Schaap of the VLOS, the trade association of smart shop owners.

"This is part of a wider trend."

An international team studied the maternally-transmitted mitochondrial DNA from subjects in southern and eastern Africa.

Paleontology has revealed that our species originated in Africa approximately 200,000 years ago.

Previous studies using mitochondrial DNA have traced modern humans to a single 'Eve' alive at that time.

This latest study shows that that humans separated into small populations prior to the Stone Age.

One reason for this could be a series of severe droughts that struck Eastern Africa around 100,000 years ago.

When conditions improved, the isolated populations began to come together and eventually left Africa to colonise the world.

"It was only around 40,000 years ago that they became part of a single pan-African population, reunited after as much as 100,000 years apart," said Doron Behar, of the Rambam Medical Center at Haifa.

From that tiny population of 2,000 individuals, the human race has now grown to around 6.6 billion, according to the latest estimates.

"This study illustrates the extraordinary power of genetics to reveal insights into some of the key events in our species' history," said Spencer Wells, National Geographic Society explorer in residence.

"Tiny bands of early humans, forced apart by harsh environmental conditions, coming back from the brink to reunite and populate the world."

"Truly an epic drama, written in our DNA."

The researchers went to the Bamiyan region of Afghanistan -- notorious for the demolition of Buddha statues by the Taliban.

Although the caves were also targeted for destruction by the Taliban, a number of paintings on their walls survived from the 5th to 9th century AD.

An international team of scientists deployed a variety of complex techniques to analyse the paintings, including infrared micro-spectroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence, micro X-ray absorption spectroscopy and micro X-ray diffraction.

"On one hand, the paintings are arranged as superposition of multiple layers, which can be very thin," said Marine Cotte, a scientist at the Centre of Research and Restoration of the French Museums.

"The micrometric beam provided by synchrotron sources was hence essential to analyze separately each of these layers."

"On the other hand, these paintings are made with inorganic pigments mixed in organic binders, so we needed different techniques to get the full picture."

It emerged that 12 out of the 50 caves were painted with oil paints, probably derived from walnut or poppy seed drying oils.

Apart from the oil-based paint, some of the layers were made of natural resins, proteins, gums, and occasionally a resinous, varnish-like layer.

The presence of proteins could indicate the use of hide glue or even egg.

As well as rewriting the history of art, the findings are a welcome addition to the otherwise scant knowledge of the Silk Road's artists.

"Due to political reasons, research on paintings in Central Asia is scarce," Taniguchi said.

"We were fortunate to get the opportunity from Unesco, as a part of conservation project for the World Heritage Site at Bamiyan, to study these samples and we hope that future research may provide deeper understanding of the painting techniques along the Silk Road and the Eurasian area."

"The project was successful," said Lim Jae-Yong, the project manager for the team working on the cloning effort.

"This is the first time that cloned dogs have been used as sniffer dogs."

Seven cloned embryos were created using cells taken from a Canadian Labrador Retriever called Chase and successfully implanted into three surrogate mothers.

Customs officials have decided to call the puppies 'Toppies', a contraction of 'tomorrow's puppies.'

The Toppies have evidently inherited Chase's talents -- they passed the first round of tests for behavioural patterns and genetic qualities.

"They will report for duty in June after completing a second round of training," said Lee Ho, spokesperson for South Korea's customs service.

The cloning project came about when the customs service decided that it would be easier to clone the best sniffer dogs as opposed to training them from scratch.

For lead geneticist Lee Byeong-Chun, the breakthrough is another first -- he played a key role in the first ever successful cloning of a dog, a three-year-old Afghan Hound.

“The Earth’s biosphere is now in its old age and this has implications for our understanding of the likelihood of complex life and intelligence arising on any given planet,” said Professor Andrew Watson of the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia.

“At present, Earth is the only example we have of a planet with life."

"If we learned the planet would be habitable for a set period and that we had evolved early in this period, then even with a sample of one, we’d suspect that evolution from simple to complex and intelligent life was quite likely to occur."

"By contrast, we now believe that we evolved late in the habitable period, and this suggests that our evolution is rather unlikely."

"In fact, the timing of events is consistent with it being very rare indeed.”

Professor Watson has identified four key stages in the development of life on earth: single-celled bacteria; more complex cells; specialised cells allowing complex life forms; intelligent life using language.

He estimates that the probability of each of these stages occurring during the four billion year life-span of the Earth is no more than 10%.

Therefore the probability of intelligent life emerging is low -- less than 0.01% over four billion years.

“Complex life is separated from the simplest life forms by several very unlikely steps and therefore will be much less common."

"Intelligence is one step further, so it is much less common still.”

Now researchers have found a way to inject magnetic nanoparticles directly into a class of white blood cells known as monocytes.

An external magnet over a cancerous tumour then draws in the magnetised cells to the area where they are needed.

"The use of nanoparticles to enhance the uptake of therapeutically armed cells by tumours could herald a new era in gene therapy -- one in which delivery of the gene therapy vector to the diseased site is much more effective," said Professor Claire Lewis of the University of Sheffield, a lead researcher.

"This new technique could also be used to help deliver therapeutic genes in other diseases like arthritic joints or ischemic heart tissue."

Although the concept of magnetic targeting is not new, this is one of the first successful applications of the idea.

"Though the concept of magnetic targeting for drug and gene delivery has been around for decades, major technical hurdles have prevented its translation into a clinical therapy," said Professor Jon Dobson from the University of Keele, a fellow researcher.

"By harnessing and enhancing the monocytes' innate targeting abilities, this technique offers great potential to overcome some of these barriers and bring the technology closer to the clinic."

Gene therapy has shown great promise, although clinical trials have revealed serious problems -- children have developed leukaemia as a result of treatment, and an adult patient died during a 1999 trial.

"We would hope that this will be safer because we are using a natural mechanism in the body and patients' own white blood cells to deliver the gene therapy," Professor Lewis said.

"We're simply amplifying that with this magnetic approach."

She was one of the founders of St Patrick's Housing Co-operative, which now faces the compulsory purchase of their entire housing stock for subsequent demolition.

"I do not want my home knocking down for a superstore and a football stadium, but that is what will happen if the plans get passed," said Mrs Reid.

The tenacious Mrs Reid decided that the boss of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy, deserved a taste of his own medicine.

Mrs Reid drew up plans in collaboration with architects to demolish Sir Terry's Hertfordshire mansion and replace it with a community garden.

"I thought how would Sir Terry and his family feel if their home was being threatened?" she said.

"That is why I put in an application to knock his house down."

As part of her research, Mrs Reid used Google Earth to get a satellite view of Sir Terry's mansion and the surrounding land.

“It’s massive," she said.

"You would be able to put Everton’s new stadium on his land.”

This controversy has come at a bad time for the supermarket -- profits are under pressure from the credit crunch, their plans for US expansion are believed to be failing, and they are currently suing critics in the UK and Thailand for libel.

Tesco is notorious for maintaining poor relations with the media, and their response to Mrs Reid's campaign was typically bullish.

"This is clearly a publicity stunt and has no chance of ever being implemented," said a spokesperson for the supermarket.

"The only outcome will be to waste council time, effort and taxpayers' money."

Welwyn Hatfield Council has confirmed that Mrs Reid's application will be treated like any other.

"I am appalled our homes are under threat," she said.

"It would mean the break-up of a happy community."

"I have not had any proper consultation over these plans and if I was asked, the answer would be: 'I am not moving and you are not knocking down my home.'"