An Italian doctor claims that he has been able to diagnose the illnesses suffered by some of the people in the world's most famous paintings.

Dr Vito Franco of the University of Palermo says the intriguing smile of the Mona Lisa was the result of very high levels of cholesterol.

He came to this conclusion by studying the details of the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, where he says he can see a build up of fatty acids around her left eye.

But he has not stopped there, he has analysed a host of renaissance works -- finding that most subjects suffered from one disease or another.

It sounds to us like someone has been watching too many episodes of House. 

A computer scientist has used a humble desktop computer to calculate Pi to a record 2.7 trillion digits.

Fabrice Bellard says it took his computer 131 days to make the calculation which beats the previous record - set using a supercomputer - by 123 billion digits.

He used a custom program on his PC to work out the gargantuan number which takes over a terabyte of hard disk space to store.

Apparently the number is so long that if you were to recite it at a pace of one number a second, it would take more than 49,000 years… but it would still be more interesting that Celebrity Big Brother.

Women have a better sense of touch because of their smaller hands and fingers, researchers have found.

Boffins tested the tactile acuity and sensitivity of 100 students by pressing progressively narrower parallel grooves against their stationary fingertips.

It was found that people with smaller fingers could discern tighter grooves thanks to having more closely spaced sensory receptors in their tiny digits.

The boffins from McMaster University say that this explains why in previous tests women were found to have more acute sensation in the fingers.

It also explains why women who wear extra-large gloves aren't generally that 'acute'.

Boffins say they have finally cracked the all important Christmas secret of ensuring you win a cracker pull.

They say the formula 0=11xC/L+5xQ - which uses info on the length, circumference, and quality
of the cracker - can be used to make sure you end up with the prize.

Using the formula is said to give a two digit figure between 20 and 55 degrees, the ideal angle below the horizontal at which to pull.

While countless people will be sure to use the calculation to work out the angle with which they need to pull the cracker to get the big bit, it's not exactly be in the sprit of Christmas is it?

Boffins claim the distance between a woman's eyes and her eyes and her mouth are the key to her being attractive.

Researchers say they have now found the ideal facial feature arrangement and ratio which ensures a woman's face will be attractive to other people.

Apparently the space between their eyes and the mouth should be 36 percent of the face's length and the distance between their eyes 46 percent of the face's width.

This means celebrities including Liz Hurley and Jessica Alba have scientifically perfect facial proportions… like we need science to tell us Jessica Alba is sexy.

People think the same wine tastes better if they are drinking it in a room with red or blue ambient lighting, scientists have found.

German psychologists got 500 people to taste Riesling wines in a variety of lighting conditions.

They asked the drinkers to rate the plonk and say how much they would pay for a bottle as they went.

It was found that the same wine tasted better when exposed to red or blue ambient light rather than green or white light and drinkers said they were consistently willing to pay more for it.

Just don't show this article to the landlord down at your local, he will be putting some red lightbulbs in a hiking the price of his wines.

Some people really do exhibit 'werewolf tendencies' during a full moon and become more violent, it has been found.

An 11 month research project at an Australian hospital looked at the way in which patients behaviour changed with the lunar cycle.

Scientists discovered that patients were twice as likely to be admitted to the emergency department displaying 'violent and acute behavioural disturbance' during a full moon than any other lunar phase.

In this state they were much more likely to attack staff by biting, spitting and scratching them. It was concluded violence manifested more commonly during the full moon… but there was no growth of fangs or excessive hair.

Next up they will test the Teen Wolf hypothesis that a full moon makes people better basketball players.

Boffins claim they have worked out why some footballers are better at taking penalties, and it's all about anxiety and eye position.

Researchers say that footballers like Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch naturally feel anxious when taking part in a penalty shootout, and that this controls their behaviour.

Anxiety causes a player's eye gaze to focus on the centrally positioned goalkeeper - which in turn impacts they motor control and kick.

The team from the University of Exeter say that this means a shot is more likely to end up at the centre of the goal, making it more easier for the goalkeeper to save.

In that case Chris Waddle (are we showing out age here?) must have a lazy eye.

Boffins have created a complex equation which they claim shows the best way of getting a car into a parallel parking space, if you are good at sums.

Maths professor Simon Blackburn came up with the formula after hearing that 57 percent of drivers lack confidence in their parking ability.

He claims being able to park is about understanding the angles and dimensions involved and with that anyone could park their car into a street space. By using his formula he says drivers will know exactly when to turn the steering wheel to fit into the space perfectly.

Obviously there is one mistake in his logic. Their maths ability is the one think most people worry about more than their parking skills.

Researchers claim they can now scientifically answer the age-old question "Which are better, dogs or cats?"

A team from New Scientist magazine looked at the various benefits of each pet across 11 traits - before coming to a considered conclusion. Dogs are better, but only by a whisker.

While cats came out top as far as factors such as brain size, popularity, noise, senses and eco-friendliness were concerned, dogs pipped them to the overall title.

The pooches were deem to be scientifically better in terms of domestication, bonding, understanding language, problem solving, training and usefulness.

While we are not going to say where we come in of the dog versus cat debate we would like to remind you (and the scientists) what great pets goldfish make?