BRISTOL, England, May 20 (UPI) -- British scientists say they have created a technique that enables a damaged aircraft to mend itself automatically -- even during flight.

Bristol University researchers said that with the technique, should a tiny hole or crack appear in the airplane, epoxy resin would "bleed" from embedded vessels near the site and quickly seal the rupture, restoring structural integrity. By mixing dye into the resin, any of the repairs could easily be pinpointed during subsequent ground inspections.

The Bristol engineers said their technique has potential to be applied wherever fiber-reinforced polymer composites are used. And, since the light-weight, high-performance polymer composites are also used in cars, wind turbines and spacecraft, the new self-repair system could have a wide impact.

"This approach can deal with small-scale damage that's not obvious to the naked eye but which might lead to serious failures in structural integrity if it escapes attention," said Ian Bond, who led the project. "It's intended to complement, rather than replace,,,, conventional inspection and maintenance routines."

The researchers said the new self-repair technique could be available for commercial use within about four years.

New drug fights kidney cancer progression

NEW YORK, May 20 (UPI) -- A U.S. study has found an experimental targeted drug therapy significantly delays cancer progression in patients with metastatic kidney cancer.

The data from the international, multicenter Phase III clinical trial found the drug, everolimus, significantly delays cancer progression in patients whose disease had worsened on other treatments.

The study was led by Dr. Robert Motzer, an attending physician at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

"This study has given us a new and clearly useful tool for treating renal cell tumors, and everolimus is an important step forward in terms of disease management and quality of life for patients living with this disease," said Motzer.

Everolimus, a once-daily oral therapy, targets the mTOR protein, which acts as a central regulator of tumor cell division, cell metabolism and blood vessel growth. It is currently being evaluated for the treatment of several other cancers, including lymphoma and neuroendocrine tumors.

Motzer will present the findings in Chicago during the May 30-June 3 annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology

NASA approves May 31 space shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 20 (UPI) -- National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials have selected May 31 as the launch date for space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission.

Commander Mark Kelly and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off for the International Space Station at 5:02 p.m. EDT that day.

Discovery's 14-day flight will carry the largest payload so far to the station and the mission will include three spacewalks. It's the second of three flights to carry components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The crew will install Kibo's large Japanese Pressurized Module and Kibo's robotic arm system.

Discovery also will deliver new station crew member Greg Chamitoff and bring Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman back to Earth after a three-month stay aboard the space station.

Kelly will be joined on STS-124 by U.S. astronauts Ken Ham, Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum, Chamitoff and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.

Drug may be first to treat the common cold

ST. LOUIS, May 20 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they've discovered a smallpox drug might also target the adenovirus -- one cause of the common cold.

The researchers at St. Louis University said their findings might lead to the first human testing of a drug to target the adenovirus, which not only causes the common cold, but also several severe upper-respiratory infections.

There are no drugs approved specifically to treat adenovirus infections, in large part because there has been no animal model in which to test drug candidates -- a key prerequisite before testing in humans.

Now, the SLU scientists and their collaborators report two breakthrough findings: an animal model suitable for adenovirus testing -- in this case using Syrian hamsters -- and a drug that successfully attacks the adenovirus in the animals.

The drug, hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir is under development by Chimerix Inc. as a biodefense agent to meet the threat of smallpox or monkeypox viruses, and as an antiviral agent in transplant patients.

The SLU research appears in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.