The scientific fountain of youth is imminent

The "ageless society" is coming, says Digital Journal. So predicts Dr Ron Klatz, president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. "Anti-aging is where the medical entrepreneurial spirit has migrated. Breakthroughs are immense and will have an impact greater than the computer revolution," he says.

By Klatz`s definition, anti-aging is any intervention that has to do with early detection, prevention or reversal of age-related conditions and diseases. Today, laboratories are able to extend animal life by up to 300%, he says, in experiments that will become increasingly relevant to humans as the baby boom generation enters its twilight years.

The UN is considering using "flu-casters", modelled on television weather forecasters, to publicise vital information if a global flu pandemic strikes, reports Macon Area. "The flu-casts would draw out the maps and keep people engaged at regular intervals ... beaming it from the WHO bunker," says David Nabarro, the UN`s top influenza coordinator.

The World Health Organisation`s screen-filled Geneva bunker, a $5 million dollar facility built in a former cinema, is the world`s nerve-centre for tracking bird flu and other deadly diseases.

The pandemic preparations will call for novel approaches if officials are to limit the potential catastrophic damage - such as the use of mobile phone technology to distribute questionnaires and information, Nabarro said.

The community of Hope Ranch, California has turned to the emerging science of microbial source tracking to try to pin down the elusive source of the pollution, reports the Monterey Herald.

In recent years, a growing number of government agencies and local communities have used the technology to pinpoint whether they need to fix sewage systems, relocate wildlife or capture waste from livestock.

Rather than simply confirming the presence of faecal bacteria, the tracking methodology often uses genetic fingerprinting to detect what species produced it.