Secret to longer lifespan 'found in heavy water'

Lives can be prolonged with the drinking of "heavy water", or that enriched with a rare form of hydrogen, it has been claimed.

Up to ten years can be added to the lives of people who consume the water, said a former scientist of Oxford University Mikhail Shchepinov.

This is because the added element protects the drinker from chemicals known as free radicals which are believed to cause medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and cancer.

Dr Shchepinov found that when fed the water, worms lived up to ten per cent longer and fruit flies 30 per cent.

Other scientists have pointed out, however, that this is not as straightforward as it may seem.

"Shchepinov's idea is interesting but […] the history in the field is cluttered with hypotheses which are only partially supported by the data," said Tom Kirkwood of Newcastle University.

In other news, a five-year-old wastewater plant in Dublin hit criticism after it took on too much waste and therefore flouted the odour regulations laid out in its environmental impact statement.