London, Jan 11: Stanford University scientists have discovered the secret to creating an elixir of youth by finding how the body ages.

The discovery could pave the way for new treatments to stop the aging process.

The researchers believe that by influencing the chemical processes that regulate the lifespan of cells they can reduce organ and tissue degeneration and increase longevity.

The scientists at Stanford University in California discovered two connected triggers that determine a cell's lifespan.

In the study, researchers found two proteins that seem to affect ageing. One, known as SIRT6, protects against cell ageing and another, NF Kappa B, promotes it.

The study has been published in the journal Cell.

New Delhi, Jan 11 : In a new survey, environmental group Greenpeace has called for more efforts to produce "the greenest consumer electronic products" on the market.

Consumer electronic products today have "a smaller environmental footprint than those sold a year ago", but the industry as a whole still has plenty of room for improvement, officials from Greenpeace said in a new survey released at the ongoing Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the survey entitled "Green Electronics: the Search Continues," Greenpeace assesses the progress made over the past year by consumer electronic companies on their public commitments to green their products.

Berlin, Jan 11 : Scientists have determined that the observed increase of warm years after 1990 is not a statistical accident as has been claimed by some climate skeptics.

Scientists at the GKSS Research Centre of Geesthacht in Germany and the University of Bern in Switzerland have investigated the frequency of warmer than average years between 1880 and 2006 for the first time.

Between 1880 and 2006 the average global annual temperature was about 15 degrees Celsius. However, in the years after 1990, the frequency of years when this average value was exceeded increased.

The researchers' result indicated that the observed increase of warm years after 1990 is not a statistical accident.

London, January 10: While being the biggest and meanest is thought to be the only way to become the alpha male with a choice of mates among most mammals, being nice appears to be a tactic to obtain this status in chimpanzee society.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota''s Jane Goodall Institute Center for Primate Studies collated 10 years of behavioural data on three male chimpanzee in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, to work out which tactics chimpanzees of dramatically different sizes used both before and after they became alpha males.

They observed that Frodo, the 51.2 kilograms second-largest male ever weighed at Gombe, proved to be the quintessential bully. With consistent high rates of aggression, he was alpha male from 1997-2003.

Washington, Jan 10 : Students from the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech in the US have made highly durable bricks composed of a lunar rock-like material, which one day might be used to build dwellings in colonies on the moon.

The invention won the In-Situ Lunar Resource Utilization materials and construction category award from the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems
(PISCES).

The team of students, under the advisement of Kathryn Logan, a professor in the materials science and engineering department, designed the brick as a potential building tool for future colonies on the moon.

Washington, Jan 10 : Very often people forget where they are, but luckily enough, the feeling of being disoriented doesn''t last for more than a few seconds-all thanks to the mind. Now, scientists have described how our brain works as a GPS device and tells us the right direction.

The researchers have indicated that animals and young children mainly rely on geometric cues (e. g. lengths, distances, angles) to help them get reoriented.

On the other hand, human adults can also make use of feature cues (e. g. color, texture, landmarks) in their surrounding area.