Technology news in brief

Published on Saturday 26 July 2008 20:05

Primate test riseThe number of monkeys and other non-human primates used in animal experiments is expected to rise as new therapies are developed for complex diseases.

Scientists made the prediction as it emerged the number of procedures on animals carried out in the UK last year was just over 3.2 million – the sixth year in a row that the figure had increased.

Experts warned that progress in stem cell research and the development of new antibody-based treatments was likely to increase primate experiments. Animals more closely related to humans than the traditional lab rat or mouse are needed when investigating ways to tackle many diseases.

ON THE MAKEMAKE

A dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune has been designated the third plutoid in the solar system and given the name Makemake. The red methane-covered dwarf planet formerly known as 2005 FY9 or "Easterbunny" is named after a Polynesian creator of humanity and god of fertility.

NUCLEAR DECISION

A Pakistani court upheld the detention of nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, above, last week and barred him from talking to the media about nuclear proliferation. Khan, lionised by many Pakistanis as the father of the country's atomic bomb, was pardoned but placed under house arrest in 2004 soon after he confessed to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

WHOLEY STORY

The oldest surviving copy of the New Testament, a 4th-century version that had its Gospels and epistles spread across the world, is being made whole again – online.

The British Library says that the full text of the Codex Sinaiticus will be available by next July, digitally reconnecting parts that are held in Britain, Russia, Germany and a monastery in Egypt's Sinai Desert.