And it was developing a mobile DNA sampling kit to match body parts with animals.

BBC: Google cash buys drones to watch endangered species

Rather than going on new high-tech aircraft and ships, the money will be spent keeping Russia's nuclear arsenal safe and usable, and upgrading basic infantry kit such as radios and body armour.

ECONOMIST: Russia��s arms industry

The MoD says the new body armour has "all the stopping power of the kit it is replacing, but is lighter, closer fitting and easier to move in".

BBC: UK troops to get new body armour

For example, the ancient "painting kit" contained red ochre and was likely used as body paint, just as the Himba people of Namibia use it today.

CNN: African roots of the human family tree

UK, the offshore industry's trade body, is more bullish, arguing that British firms can make the kit as well as manage it.

ECONOMIST: Carbon-capture technology offers a new use for old assets

We weren't given any dates or specs for this piece of kit, but if all goes well, we may well see a brand new full-body suit at CES 2012 in January, so stay tuned.

ENGADGET: Cyberdyne HAL robotic arm hands-on (video) Hands-on

When Woodside, California, mom Dana Sanderson asked her daughter Kit, then 6, what would help her sleep alone, Kit decided she needed a bigger night-light and a "Mommy pillow, " a body pillow with her mom's image traced in fabric paint.

CNN: Six big kid sleep problems