D Wednesday, November 18, 2009 METRO Over 55,000 people have already come back. They came back for great service and the widest range of great value packages, like our new fixed price bundle. Call us today and find out why you should switch. Were always there to help. 1800 431 432 or eircom.net/switch Subject to availability. Terms and Conditions apply. 56,265 residential and business accounts have switched back from 01.09.08 to 31.08.09. Science world rocked by rolling stones THESE are real-life rolling stones boulders that move hundreds of metres on their own. Amid the silence and the 50C heat of Californias Death Valley these rocks, some as heavy as 113kgs, move in straight-line patterns across the earth. Scientists believe the phenomenon is caused by a melting pot of specific weather conditions. Studies suggest a combination of 145kmh winds, ice formations at night and thin layers of wet clay on the surface of the desert combine to push them along. Photographer Mike Byrne, 40, has spent years documenting the movements of the stones. He said: Some of these rocks are as heavy as a person. Most of the stones are found on an old lake bed, known as the Racetrack Playa, where the ground is particularly flat. I know some climatologists believe that the phenomenon could disappear in a few years as the temperatures continue to rise. The strongest theory about what makes rocks move is that water rises from underneath the sand and is pushed by the wind, creating a surface that the rocks can move along. Death Valley, the lowest point in the US, at 86m below sea level, holds the record for the second-highest temperature ever recorded, 56C. Rock n roll: The stones that move across the Death Valley desert leave distinctive tracks Picture: Caters Weve hit on a drug for cancerMILLIONS of breast cancer sufferers could be helped by a drug which sci- entists undertaking gene therapy re- search stumbled across by chance. A team testing medication designed to treat the effects of paralysis after a stroke found it could also kill off can- cer cells, paving the way for a more effective treatment against cancer. If we had tried to look for some drug that would do this, it would have taken us a lot of time, said Prof Mal- ka Cohen-Armon of Israels Tel Aviv University. In experiments with female mice, the compound was injected with sev- eral types of cancerous tissue, partic- ularly breast-cancer cells. She said she was amazed to discover the drug temporarily suspended cell division in cancerous and normal body cells but while cancer cells never recovered, normal ones were back in business within 12 hours. The potential applications of the drug are enormous, say the researchers. We have found the Achilles heel of the cancer cell. As soon as you can target cancerous cells without killing healthy ones, you can produce medi- cations that would cause a lot less suf- fering to the patient, said Prof Malka Cohen-Armon. We can even give a much more ag- gressive treatment without worrying about harming healthy tissues, Prof Cohen-Armon added. Breast cancer sufferers currently undergo chemotherapy and radiother- apy, both of which are aggressive treatments that kill both cancerous and healthy cells causing severe side effects in the patient. In some cases, patients undergoing chemotherapy can even die from the side-effects of the treatment. The Israeli researchers hope the drug, set to be available within five years, can eventually be used to eradi- cate a wide range of cancers. By MILES ERWIN index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html