London, Mar 26 : A US Defence Department report has said that China is developing “disruptive” technologies for nuclear, space and cyber warfare, resulting in the shifting of military balance in Asia which would have implications beyond the region.

The Pentagon report criticises Beijing again for showing no transparency in reporting on its military spending and security policy, but welcomed the rise of a peaceful, stable and prosperous China.

The report comes after a confrontation between US and Chinese ships in South China Sea, during which China accused the US of spying.

Washington, March 26 : In a new research, scientists have suggested that the lizards’ tail-shedding ability has been shaped mainly because of pressure from venomous vipers, which are the number one enemy of the wall-crawling reptiles.

Tail-shedding, known to scientists as caudal autotomy, is a common anti-predator defense among lizards.

When attacked, many lizards jettison the wriggling appendage and flee. The predator often feasts on the tail while the lucky lizard scurries to safety. Later, the lizard simply grows a new tail.

Washington, Mar 26 : Researchers at Medical College of Georgia have found that circadian clocks that set the rhythmic motion of our bodies for wakeful days and sleepy nights can also set us up for vascular disease when broken.

During the study, they found that mice with mutated or missing ‘clock’ genes were prone to thick, inflexible blood vessels with narrow passageways, unhealthy changes typically associated with risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Washington, March 26 : While it is thought that men remain fertile throughout life as compared to women, Swedish researchers have now shown that a fertilising sperm can get help from the egg to rejuvenate.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, say that their finding is an important step towards future stem cell therapy.

The researchers highlight the fact that the risk of chromosomal abnormalities in the foetus is highly correlated to the age of the mother, but is nearly independent of the age of the father.

According to them, one possible explanation is that egg cells have a unique ability to reset the age of a sperm.

Tokyo, Mar. 26 : The North Korean Government is likely to use the two American journalists it has detained as bargaining chips in its feuds with the outside world, analysts and politicians in South Korea have claimed.

No matter what charges are made against the journalists, North Korea will probably use them -- and the timing of their release -- as leverage in negotiations with the United States and other countries over aid, nuclear weapons and, most urgently, the planned test launch in early April of a long-range missile, several analysts said.

Washington, Mar. 26 : The United States has announced a reward of five million dollars to anyone revealing the whereabouts of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud.

US State Department statement also said that a similar bounty has been put on the senior leader of the Haqqani group, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and a million dollar reward on high ranking Al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi.