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William Wilberforce ‘brought back to life’
Anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce has been “brought back to life” by 3D technology in his home city, 210 years after the passing of the slave trade abolition legislation he championed. Experts from the University of Hull and the Glasgow School of Art have created a real-time, interactive 3D version of Wilberforce, using motion capture technology, to mark the anniversary of the 1807 Slave Trade Act. Virtual Wilberforce will be available to see at his birthplace, Wilberforce House, throughout Hull’s tenure as the UK’s City of Culture.
Breakthrough for anti-ageing drug
A drug that reverses ageing, promotes DNA repair and could even help astronauts travel to Mars by reducing the impact of cosmic radiation, may be on the market in three years, scientists have claimed. Researchers working with two biotech companies hope to begin testing the treatment on clinical trial patients in the next six months. In early experiments, the drug nicotinamide mononucleotide had a
dramatic rejuvenating effect on ageing mice, said Professor David Sinclair from the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Men who jumped from Portsmouth tower wanted by police
Police are hunting two men who broke into the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth before base-jumping from the top. The men are alleged to have caused criminal damage when they broke into the 107m-high viewing tower in Portsmouth Harbour on the evening of 9 March.
The first man is described as white, aged in his late twenties to early thirties, of medium build with bald or short-cropped hair and he was wearing a light beige, long-sleeved T-shirt and light blue jeans. The second man is white, aged in his mid-twenties, with long, dark, scruffy hair, with a full beard and distinctive tattoos on both forearms. He was wearing a red short-sleeved T-shirt and dark tracksuit bottoms.
Hospitals ‘failing to offer fresh food to patients’
NHS staff are more than twice as likely as patients to be served fresh food in hospitals, according to a new report. The Campaign for Better Hospital Food found that just 30 per cent of London hospitals cooked food fresh on-site for patients, but 77 per cent had canteens offering fresh food to staff. Almost a fifth (17 per cent) of hospitals also served food to patients in ready-meal packaging, the investigation found. Furthermore, a fifth of hospitals failed to provide a hot meal for patients who missed a mealtime.