Naked Scientists Newsflash

Pitting one alien against another may be the way to fight an invasion, especially if the alien is Japanese Knot Weed - we'll find out more in this week's Naked Scientists News Flash! Also, we find out how reading brain activity could mean a new lease of life for paralysed people, why the colour of your childhood TV set may affect your dreams and how a 50 year old experiment has been brought up to date to tell us about the origins of life on Earth.

A safer way to test for Down's Syndrome and how sponge-swallowing could reveal oesophageal cancer feature in this week's Naked Scientists, along with a discovery that could delay diabetes in obese people and the nanotechnology that may let you climb walls like spider man! Plus, we hear from South Africa about why the bush meat industry is a problem, and how a new meningitis vaccine programme could safeguard millions of people.

Using your own red blood cells as a Trojan horse to sneak-in chemicals which boost the power of body scans, the spread of ocean dead zones, what a fossil form of HIV can tell us about the origin of AIDS and how beetles create their own antibiotics all feature in this week's Naked Scientists News Flash. Plus, we get the latest news from the National Cancer Research Institute conference, and discover a 7km train transporting ore across South Africa!

Gene therapy for blindness, more efficient engines, extinct tortoises and the numeracy of bees all make an appearance in this week's Naked Scientists NewsFlash. Plus, we hear about how gold nanoparticles show antibodies travelling from breast milk to baby's blood, and a new facility in Uganda could supply affordable HIV drugs across Africa.

In the NewsFlash this week, we discover the stem cells that allow muscle to grow and recover and progenitor cells which become body fat. Also, why Fungi fruiting bodies fire spores at super speed, and how to turn plants into petrol! Plus, we find out how to block bacteria from detecting the immune system, and so stop them from becoming virulent.

In the very first Naked Scientists News Flash, we find out how unmanned spy-planes can speed up medical diagnoses in rural countries, how Internet anti-spam technology is helping to interpret ancient manuscripts, and the first water bears in orbit - how tardigrades survived a trip into space, without a suit! Plus, we hear how the human heart can be pre-conditioned to cope better with a heart attack, and the plans for a giant Solar Power Tower in Nambia.