1) One small move of a counter – one giant leap for computer-kind. Scientists in Canada claim to have written a program which can win or draw any possible game of draughts – ever. 500 billion billion possible combinations of movements have been analysed over 2 decades to give the winning (or drawing) formula. What happened to losing gracefully?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6907018.stm
2) What's green and sticky? No, it's not an unfortunate joke. A powerful glue inspired by geckos and mussels may be gluing together space shuttles – or your suture wounds – in the near future: it joins a long list of biological glues, including ones derived from frogs, based on polymers and the strength-in-numbers-power of van der Waals’ forces.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6904175.stm
3) This does sound like a bad joke – vibrating rings designed to guide women around foreign cities safely. A ring on either hand guides you in the right direction. Words fail me.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6905286.stm
4) Size Doesn't Matter – the case of a man with almost a 75% reduction in brain volume has been published in the Lancet. Married with two children and a stable career – living proof of the brain's astonishing plasticity. He came into the surgery with a slight weakness in one leg and left with a picture of a hole in his brain. Astonishing pictures.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12301-man-with-tiny-brain-shocks-doctors.html
5) Another moon has been discovered in orbit around Saturn, bringing the total number up to 60. Saturn's moons have also been described as the location with the ‘best chance of finding life’ in our solar system. Some planets get all the attention. Spare a thought for poor Pluto with only one moon, and now not even a planet any more. Life as an orbiting body just ain't fair.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6908190.stm
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5 Things we didn’t know last week
