A protein responsible for repairing damaged DNA may be a vital link to explaining how smoking causes lung cancer, US researchers reported on Tuesday. Lung cells exposed to cigarette smoke produce less of the protein, called FANCD2, the team at Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute reported. Without FANCD2, damaged DNA can cause cells to proliferate out of control instead of destroying themselves as normal cells do.

Barcelona: Perhaps the most striking image of Spain's drought, so severe it has forced Barcelona to ship in water, has been that of the underwater church which emerged from a drying dam. For most of the past four decades, all that has been visible of the village of Sant Roma has been the belltower of its stone church, peeping above the water beside forested hills from a valley flooded in the 1960s to provide water for the Catalonia region.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK New Delhi: The Capital may be suffering from the effects of the BRT corridor, but the Delhi government has found a keen supporter in French transport minister Dominique Bussecreau, who on Wednesday told chief minister Sheila Dikshit that France too faced much opposition when the first BRT corridor came up in Paris. Pointing out that now "all was well' with the project, the French minister revealed that the corridor in Paris stretched over 44 kilometres.

Capa Canaveral (Florida): Nine months ago, Nasa's Phoenix probe blasted off for Mars with an unprecedented mission to sample water on another world. Before that can happen, however, the space agency faces a formidable challenge: landing. The odds are not great. Historically, 55% of all attempts to land on Mars have failed and the method being used for the touchdown of the Phoenix spacecraft on May 25 hasn't been attempted in 32 years.

New Transistor Uses A Material Known As Gallium Nitride Washington: Every household is filled with dozens of silicon-based electronics, whose main component is usually a silicon-based transistor. But now, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student's invention could replace this technology with a new generation of transistors that will not only cut energy consumption but also work under extreme conditions.

Rationing oil cannot address the larger issue

Remarks Come In The Wake Of US Prez Blaming India For Global Food Crisis One way to beat the worldwide grain shortage is for meateaters to turn vegetarian, and the movement should start with US president George Bush, the Indian affiliate of animal rights organization Peta has said. Jumping headlong into the controversy that began with Bush's misconstrued remarks about India's role in the rise of food prices worldwide, Peta India has written a letter to the US president, urging him to become a vegetarian and asking other compassionate Americans to follow his example.

With southwest monsoon moving almost eight days in advance over Bay of Bengal and adjoining regions, the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted its onset over Kerala on May 29

Fallen Trees, Clothes Stuck In Lines Wednesday morning's thunderstorms and heavy downpour brought a pleasant weather change along with frustration of disappearing power supply in the Capital. Ironically, it was day when the Northern Grid had excess power available, yet lights and fans remained off in many homes. According to discom sources, a number of outages were reported from all across the city due to trees and branches falling on the distribution lines. In some areas, residents also complained of short-circuiting.