London, April 28 : In a head to head challenge of man versus machine, IBM is all set to pit a supercomputer code-named ''Watson'' against human contestants in the famed trivia quiz show Jeopardy.

According to a report by BBC News, ''Watson'' is a new question-answering system based on natural language.

"The aim is to get Watson to think and interact in human terms," said Dr David Ferrucci, an IBM artificial intelligence researcher and team leader on the project.

Washington, Apr 28 : Children''s short sleep duration even without sleeping difficulties increases the risk for behavioural symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), says a new study.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Helsinki and National Institute of Health and Welfare, Finland, examined whether decreased sleep leads to behavioral problems similar to those exhibited by children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

London, April 28 : In a new research, ecologists have determined that hurricanes can reduce the ability of forests to store carbon dioxide (CO2) and turn them into overall emitters of the toxic greenhouse gas.

According to a report in New Scientist, for the research, ecologist Jeffrey Chambers of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and his colleagues, took the example of the forests in the US, which have been severely affected by the destruction wrecked by hurricanes over the past 150 years.

London, April 28 : The General Electric (GE) company has unveiled a disc that can store 500 gigabytes (GB) of data, equivalent to 100 DVDs.

According to a report by BBC News, the micro-holographic disc, which is the same size as existing DVD discs, is aimed at the archive industry.

But, GE believes it can eventually be used in the consumer market place and home players.

Blu-ray discs, which are used to store high definition movies and games, can currently hold between 25GB and 50GB.

London, April 28 : Astronomers have spotted the most distant object yet confirmed in the universe, which is a self-destructing star that exploded 13.1 billion light years from Earth.

According to a report in New Scientist, it detonated just 640 million years after the big bang, around the end of the cosmic "dark ages", when the first stars and galaxies were lighting up space.

The object is a gamma-ray burst (GRB) - the brightest type of stellar explosion.

London, Apr. 28 : Former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher last night branded the Gordon Brown Government's treatment of brave Gurkhas as "disgraceful".

Backing The Sun's campaign for justice, Thatcher told her aides that she was "very distressed" after ministers brought in new rules shutting thousands of Gurkhas out of Britain.

The Iron Lady - who sent Gurkhas into battle in the Falklands War - rarely speaks out in public since quitting politics but wanted to voice her sense of outrage.