Science news in brief from around the world

Last updated at 12:44 03 May 2007


Scientists may have found a mate for Lonesome George, a giant tortoise thought to be the last of his kind.

There were once thousands of giant tortoises roaming about Pinta in the Galapagos Islands, but they were wiped out after centuries of sailors hunting them for food.

Now geneticists on nearby Isabela Island have stumbled upon a breed of tortoise with signs of Pinta ancestry, and the hunt is on to find a female for George so he may now be able to continue his species.

Women are willing to put up with more pain for their best friends than they are for family.

Men, on the other hand, will always put family members ahead, according to New Scientist magazine.

Scientists studied how much pain people were willing to withstand for family members and friends.

The basic finding was the closer the relationship, the more pain people would put up with - with women holding out for friends and

men for family.

An ageing gene has been discovered that increases lifespan when diet is restricted.

Calorie restriction has been associated with long lifespans in creatures such as mice, fruit flies and worms and, according to the journal Nature, scientists in California now believe a particular gene plays a key role.

Tests are under way to see if the effects would be the same in humans.

CCTV cameras which respect your privacy could soon be used in public places.

The new system employs face recognition techniques to pinpoint any faces in a scene before blanking them out automatically with a white dot.

The cameras can still spot crimes taking place, but without jeopardising privacy.

If the police have good reason they could get a warrant to have the white dots removed.

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