From spin doctor to Doctor Who

Actor Peter Capaldi has been announced as the new star of BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who. The 55-year-old Glasgow-born star will be the 12th actor to play the Doctor, replacing outgoing lead Matt Smith. Capaldi - who had been on Doctor Who before, as Roman merchant Caecilius in 2008 adventure The Fires of Pompeii - is best known for his role as foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC series The Thick of It. But here's something else to be in the thick of right now: the world's first lab-grown burger is to be unveiled and eaten at a news conference in London today (British Summer Time). Scientists took cells from a cow and, at an institute in the Netherlands, turned them into strips of muscle which they combined to make a patty. Researchers say the technology could be a sustainable way of meeting what they say is a growing demand for meat. Critics say that eating less meat would be an easier way to tackle predicted food shortages. But either way, the progress of science will become a reality, especially considering an independent study which found that lab grown beef uses 45% less energy than the average global representative figure for farming cattle. It also produces 96% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires 99% less land. But they'd better get the look and taste right before they start rolling it out to the public because if it doesn't look and taste like normal meat, it's not going to be a viable replacement. I just hope Capaldi, on the other hand, can be a viable replacement for Smith.