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World Breaking News
    Gates hints at Vista 'successor'
Microsoft boss Bill Gates has dropped a hint about the next
version of Windows.
He said Windows 7 could be released "sometime in the next
year or so" during a Q&A session at a meeting of the Inter-
American Development Bank.
After the event a Microsoft spokeswoman said the new version was scheduled for
2010 - three years after the January 2007 release of Vista for consumers.
But industry experts warned that Microsoft's estimates about delivery dates have
often proved optimistic.Full story
 Stem cells made to mimic disease
Scientists have taken skin cells from patients with eight
different diseases and turned them into stem cells.
The advance means scientists are moving closer to using
stem cells from the patient themselves to treat disease.
This would mean they could circumvent the ethical and
practical problems of using embryonic stem cells, which has sparked much
opposition. Researcher Dr Willy Lensch, of Harvard Medical School, said the
technique had "incredible potential". He said it could help scientists understand
the earliest stages of human genetic disease. Full story
Intel boss answers your questions
Intel chief executive Paul Otellini answers your questions about the future of computing and the chip making firm. BBC News Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones put your questions to the firm's leader. Full story
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Ancestors had leg-up to trees
The ancestors of humans, apes and monkeys may have taken to the trees because of their small body size.
Scientists have long wondered why early primates inhabited forest canopies, given that climbing appears to consume
more energy than walking.
US researchers studied primates climbing and walking on treadmills.
They say there was no difference in energy consumption for small primates, giving clues to how their ancestors entered
the trees 65 million years ago. Full story
Europe could get manned spaceship
A plan for a manned spacecraft has been announced by the European firm EADS.
Its Astrium division has designed a variant of its space station freighter that could also transport astronauts.
Limited details were released in Bremen, Germany, on Tuesday; further information and a mock-up are expected at
the Berlin Air Show this month.
Europe does not currently possess its own human space transportation system and is reliant on the Americans and the
Russians to get its people into orbit.
European Space Agency (Esa) boss Jean-Jacques Dordain has spoken frequently of his desire to see an independent
system; and the US space agency (Nasa) chief, Mike Griffin, has also urged Europe to build its own crew carrier. Full story
Oldest recorded voices sing again
An "ethereal" 10 second clip of a woman singing a French folk song has been played for the first time in 150
years. The recording of "Au Clair de la Lune", recorded in 1860, is thought to be the oldest known recorded
human voice.
A phonograph of Thomas Edison singing a children's song in 1877 was previously thought to be the oldest record.
The new "phonautograph", created by etching soot-covered paper, has now been played by US scientists using a "virtual
stylus" to read the lines. "When I first heard the recording as you hear it ... it was magical, so ethereal,"
(The recording was made using a phonautograph) Full story Listen to clip
Israel 'has 150 nuclear weapons'
Ex-US President Jimmy Carter has said Israel has at least 150 atomic weapons in its arsenal.
The Israelis have never confirmed they have nuclear weapons, but this has been widely assumed since a scientist leaked
details in the 1980s.
Mr Carter made his comments on Israel's weapons at a press conference at the annual literary Hay Festival in Wales.
He also described Israeli treatment of Palestinians as "one of the greatest human rights crimes on earth".
Mr Carter gave the figure for the Israeli nuclear arsenal in response to a question on US policy on a possible nuclear-armed
Iran, arguing that any country newly armed with atomic weapons faced overwhelming odds.
"The US has more than 12,000 nuclear weapons; the Soviet Union (sic) has about the same; Great Britain and France have
several hundred, and Israel has 150 or more," he said.
Most experts estimate that Israel has between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, largely based on information leaked to the
Sunday Times newspaper in the 1980s by Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at the country's Dimona nuclear reactor.
Source: News, BBC.co.uk