Private Firm Blasts Man Into Space

History was made when Scaled Composites became the first private company to blast a man into space. CNN News reports the firm set a new civilian altitude record of 40 miles in a craft during a test flight above California's Mojave Desert. Burt Rutan's firm is one of 24 companies competing for the $10 million X Prize, which will go to the first privately funded group to send three people on a 62.5 mile high suborbital flight, and repeat the feat within two weeks with the same vehicle. The Rutan-designed White Knight blasted SpaceShipOne to 50,000 feet and after 50 minutes the spacecraft separated from White Knight, rocketing into space. The 62-year-old pilot Mike Melvill told CNN News, "There was tremendous acceleration. We went very, very fast, and I went straight up" for two minutes, and then floated weightlessly while levelling out at 212,000 feet. "I feel great, it was fabulous. I would pay a million dollars to do that again," Mr Melvill said.

Green Veges Make Cancer Mortal

British scientists have found out why a diet high in green vegetables helps stave off cancer. Chemicals released when veges such as cabbage or brussels sprouts are chopped, cooked, chewed and digested make cancer cells mortal, stopping them from proliferating indefinitely. The scientists at the Institute of Food Research say the protection comes from sinigrin, a chemical compound which gives the veges their slightly bitter taste. They say the anti-cancer mechanism is the same as that of some cancer drugs. It has long been known that a diet high in fruit and veges can halve the risk of cancer, but exactly how has been unclear till now.

London's emergency services would struggle to cope with a multiple terrorist attack according to the BBC's Panorama programme.

London under Attack reveals some serious gaps in the government's emergency planning system, which would come into force in the event of an attack. The docu-drama, to be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday, focuses on how the emergency services would cope with multiple terrorist explosions in the capital. The programme which features a fictional terrorist attack, has already been criticised by the Home Office, who declined to co-operate with the making of the programme and have called it "irresponsible and alarmist". The programme reveals that police, ambulance and fire services communications systems are incompatible with each other in London and across the UK and that in the deep underground, Metropolitan Police radios do not work. Radios incompatible: The communications system used by Civil Contingency Reaction Force (CCRF) - a specialist groups of reservists whose role is to help out in the event of disaster scenarios - is also incompatible with any of the emergency services. This means that in the event of a disaster - none of the emergency services would not be able to talk to each other on their own radios. Panorama reveals that the Metropolitan Police CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) specialist reserve has 30 officers and that 19 out of every twenty frontline police officers is not trained for an attack of this kind. It also discovered that both London underground and local authority staff in England and Wales have had no training in how to deal with terrorist attacks. The Home Office withdrew its support from the Panorama programme because the BBC refused to bow to requests to change the scenario being explored in the programme. Almost beyond belief: After admitting they hadn't seen the programme, the Home Office issued a statement saying: "We are disappointed to learn that the BBC appears to have adopted an irresponsible and alarmist approach to what is understandably an emotional and frightening subject." The BBC has responded by saying: "Our view is that it would be irresponsible not to explore the subject given that the Government and everyone else in civil defence is warning that an attack is imminent." That view has been backed up by Crispin Black, an intelligence expert and former civil servant in the cabinet office, who appears in the programme. He said it was "almost beyond belief" that London Underground staff had received no training about how to deal with a terrorist attack. Mr Black, who sat in on the emergency COBRA cabinet meeting after the September 11 attacks, added that the scenario "might be at the lower end of what terrorists on a good day might achieve." BBCNews.