In the futuristic world of Minority Report, Tom Cruise has to have an eye transplant to escape recognition by iris-scanners. Even advertising hoardings scan him and speak his name as he hurries past, trying to avoid detection by sinister government operatives.

Now, in a case of life imitating art that will bring a smile of vindication to the faces of conspiracy theorists everywhere, the CIA has revealed that it is trying to develop iris-scanning technology that can identify people even while they are moving at a distance.

The news emerged at a forum held by the American Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Biometrics, the science of using biological properties to identify a person, is becoming an important part of the Pentagon's counterterrorism efforts. In a comment sure to send a chill down the spines of civil libertarians, one biometrics expert said that in 10 years there would be handheld devices that ''track the person's presence like a bloodhound''.

Warming the wine

We may be running out of time to save the planet from environmental devastation, but at least our tipple in the last-chance saloon will be one to savour. Recent increases in temperature as a result of global warming have improved vintages, according to researchers from Southern Oregon university.

The researchers looked at data from 27 prestigious wine-

producing regions worldwide over the past 50 years. The results showed that the temperature had increased overall by two degrees and the wine was simply better.

A continued temperature rise, however, could change the distinctive characteristics of certain vineyards for the worse, raising the interesting prospect that Chateauneuf du Pape might one day become the poor relation of Country Manor.

Cancer killers?

It is the scary monster of diseases and just as silver bullets kill werewolves, gold ''nano-bullets'' could in future kill cancer cells. The bullets, developed by researchers at Rice university in Houston, are, in fact, tiny particles of silica plated with gold. They are heated by exposure to infrared light and the heat kills the cancer cells, making them a non-toxic, non-invasive alternative to surgery and chemotherapy. The research, which has resulted in the successful destruction of tumours in mice, has been described as ''promising'' by Cancer Research UK.

Breeding battle

A record 16 pandas have been born in captivity this year in China's breeding programme, indicating that the tide is turning in the decades-long battle to save the creature from extinction.

There are only around 1000 pandas left in the wild, due to human encroachment on their habitat and the fact that bamboo dies off periodically. This has prompted conservationists to try captive breeding, artificial insemination, and even research on cloning to boost numbers.

It is no easy task, however, as female pandas only come on heat twice a year, for about two days each time, and give birth to just one or two pandas at a time.