A drug that prevents the devastating damage caused by a heart attack could be on the horizon, according to new research. Scientists restored the organ's function in mice by targeting a specific set of proteins - and are hopeful the same method may work in humans. The breakthrough offers hope to the 270,000 Britons who suffer a heart attack each year, often leaving them with heart failure and shortness of breath. It could also lead to new treatments for people...

A large plastic pollution clean up has collected 15 tonnes of plastic off the coast of the Russian Arctic Ocean in a single day. The shocking discovery, made on the coast and sea off Murmansk, North East Russia, which was previously considered to be one of the globe's most pristine bodies of water, has heightened existing fears as to the impact of manmade pollution on the world's oceans. In response to the worrying findings, a new organisation The Slava Foundation...

Labour jumped from fourth to first in Halton-with-Aughton and from third to first in Thetford Priory in a huge night of council by-elections.  The party won Halton-with-Aughton (Lancaster) for the first time ever with a gain of +18.0. They edged out the Green Party and the Conservatives who picked up 27.2 per cent and 26.2 per cent of the vote respectively. Huge ground was also made up in Norfolk where the party took Thetford Priory from the Conservatives with a swing of +28.0. The...

Dementia can be accurately predicted five years before symptoms develop with a simple smell test, according to new research. A study of almost 3,000 older people found those who cannot identify at least four out of five common odours were more than twice as likely to develop the disease. And the worse their sense of smell, the bigger the risk, said scientists. The aromas in order of increasing difficulty were peppermint, fish, orange, rose and leather and could be used...

A long-lost painting by one of history's most influential painters, the Flemish artist Sir Peter Paul Rubens, has gone on public display in Scotland. The portrait, thought to be a copy of a lost original, was previously on show at Pollok House, Glasgow when it was identified by art historian Dr Bendor Grosvenor. The rare 17th-century portrait of the Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers, featured on BBC Four's Britain's Lost Masterpieces. Conservation work carried out on behalf of the programme...

An amateur historian digging in a farmer's field has told how he found a once-in-a -lifetime hoard of 2000-year-old Roman silver coins - worth up to £200,000. Mike Smale, 35, found the hoard of 600 rare denarii in a farmer's field in Bridport while hunting with his pals from the Southern Detectorists club. A single one can sell for up to £900 so the fisherman was astonished when he uncovered one pristine coin after another dating back to 32BC. Some...

The average sofa will witness 1,236 arguments, have 2,728 drink and food spillages on it – and see blokes sleeping on it after getting kicked out of bed 191 times, a study has found. Over the course of the average 11-year life of a sofa, it will also see couples kiss 2,105 times, families sit down to watch 3,135 films and 2,299 hours – almost 96 days - of phone conversations. It will also be home to people watching a...

A 12-year-old school boy who was bullied for being a vegan went home and hanged himself, an inquest heard. Louie Tom Fenton, 12, was found hanging in his family bathroom on January 19. He had endured years of bullying because of his veganism and had meat thrown at him during his lunch break, Hertfordshire Coroner's Court in Hatfield heard yesterday (thu). His mother, Catherine Fenton, wrote a letter to the court about the bullying he suffered. She wrote: "He had been...

Earlier this year, high street bathroom chain Bathstore was accused of using cowboy fitters for its installations. Incorrect products were installed, tiles were fitted upside down and radiator leaks left properties permanently damaged. One customer was forced to endure 18 days without a functioning toilet, while another described the process as “the worst experience of my life.” Getting a new bathroom fitted should never be as disastrous as this. To ease your mind, and ultimately protect your home from damage,...