So archaeologists are desperately trying to record as much of these sites as they can.

And, in contrast to Indiana Jones and its low-tech bullwhip, they're using the latest technology to do it.

But it may already be too late for the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria. This once-rich oasis straddling age-old caravan routes, featuring colonnaded porticos and the sleek sandstone Tower of Elahbel, fell to IS on 21 May 2015.

The city is now strewn with landmines.

And according to reports, the militants promptly destroyed the 1,900-year-old Lion of Al-lat statue.

No wonder archaeologist Roger Michel is in a hurry to preserve - if only in digital form - the relics lying in the militants' onward path.

Mr Michel's team from the Institute of Digital Archaeology - a joint venture between Harvard University and the Classics Conclave - is hoping to flood the area with 3D cameras and enlist local partners to photograph as many items of historical interest as they can.

"If we can get 5,000-to-10,000 [3D cameras] in the field in the next three or six months," he says, "then, if we can't protect these things at the ground, we can at least preserve a highly detailed record of what's there."

He is relying on a patchwork of local museums, non-governmental organisations and volunteers to carry out the digital archiving.

But taking and uploading complex photos in hot, desert conditions where internet access is patchy is challenging.

The cameras need to be robust, have a long battery life and be capable of uploading large files.

"We're working a lot on the battery, since there will be limited access to electricity," Mr Michel says.

They have partnered with New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World to store the 3D images, and with Massachusetts Institute of Technology Three Dimensional Printing Laboratory to print them.

The threat from IS has added a new urgency to archaeologists' attempts to record mankind's cultural history.

The Universities of Oxford and Leicester have been using satellite imagery and aerial photography as part of a project called Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa.

The £1.2m project will create an open-access database, registering information about each site and its condition, all in easily accessible Geographic Information System [GIS] format.

Remote monitoring is particularly useful in war-ravaged countries like Syria, Iraq, and Libya where on-the-ground surveys are dangerous.

A charity said it was one of the most important findings in breast cancer treatment for a decade and could save 1,000 lives a year in the UK.

The data from 18,766 women, published in the Lancet, showed the drugs prevented secondary tumours growing in the bone.

The drugs are not currently available for this purpose on the NHS.

By the time a tumour is removed from the breast there is always a risk that tiny fragments have already spread.

Bone is the favourite second home of breast cancer where it can lie dormant for years.

Bisphosphonates are mainly used to prevent bone loss in osteoporosis.

It is thought they can effectively starve any cancerous cells that do spread to the bone to stop them growing.

Some women take them after a cancer has been detected in their bones.

But the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group, co-ordinated by the University of Oxford, analysed the impact of intervening earlier.

It analysed data from 26 separate trials of women who were given the drug for up to five years after a cancer was removed from their breast.

The results showed a 28% reduction in cancers emerging in the bone, but only in post-menopausal women.

Deaths were cut by 18% over the 10 years after they were first diagnosed.

Prof Rob Coleman, who analysed the data at the University of Sheffield, told the BBC News website: "The magnitude of the benefit on mortality was bigger than we had anticipated - a risk reduction of 18% is quite sizeable."

However, the drug is not licensed for use unless a cancer has been discovered in the bone.

And as the drug is out of patent there is little financial incentive for a pharmaceutical company to change the licence.

Prof Coleman added: "The access issue is an important one. It would be a great shame if the systems we have to work with prove to be a block.

"Normally the problem is we can't afford [a new drug] but this is peanuts, it's that there isn't a mechanism for this and there needs to be."

Lady Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: "We believe that this is one of the most important steps forward in breast cancer treatment since the introduction of Herceptin over 10 years ago, but this time we're talking about a few pence rather than thousands of pounds, and millions saved by the NHS.

"However, despite costing less than five pence a day per patient, this treatment runs the risk of 'sitting on the shelf', and not realising its full benefit for the 34,000 [post-menopausal] women who could be eligible to take it each year."

An NHS cancer task force led by the head of Cancer Research UK new guidelines to be produced on bisphosphonates.

The Pi, and its community web pages, try to tempt the public and students to burrow beneath the bonnet of their computers, beyond Facebook, and try their hand at coding.

And with five million sold, it is today Britain's fastest-selling personal computer, a $35 (£25) successor to kit - or unassembled - computers like the Heathkit H8.

Eben Upton, Alan Mycroft, and four other academics at the University of Cambridge's Computer Laboratory had noted a decline in skills and numbers of students applying to read Computer Science.

Twenty years before, applicants would have been avid tinkering hobbyists; lately, they may have only done a small amount of web design.

The European Commission has predicted a shortfall of 900,000 adequately skilled programmers and other technology professionals in Europe by 2020.

So the sextet founded the Raspberry Foundation as a charity to revive Britain's garage-geek spirit.

When British astronaut Tim Peake heads to the International Space Station this November, he will bring two augmented space Raspberries, called Astro Pis.

They will run experiments devised by primary and secondary school students, says Dr Upton, Raspberry's chief executive. The older students will also code them.

Programming is changing briskly.

Coding in the cloud is one trend likely to carry on, spreading collaborators across continents.

So also is the explosion of new languages, like Facebook's Hack scripting language or Apple's Swift, alongside classical tongues like C and Java.

We're likely to learn to code younger, and differently. The has 6.2 million registered users.

The Internet of Things, driverless cars, and drones will all yield more programmable platforms - but will coding for your cappuccino maker drastically change programming?

And what will the coding workplace be like, when today's Raspberry rugrats have grown into tomorrow's programming prodigies?

One interesting facet of the last 15 years is how little programming languages have changed.

Then and now, C and C++ dominate programming at deep, or highly-optimised levels.

One level up, C-derived languages - objective C and ones resembling C in syntax, like Java and Microsoft's C# - are in fashion for running most applications.

Then at the top, there is a big brace of scripting languages, like Perl, Python (named after Monty Python), and PHP, which is often used as glue for sticking together programmes to build a complete system.

Scripting languages live in a rich environment, with large numbers of links to other programmes, says Daniel Kroening, professor of computer science at the University of Oxford.

The UK medicines watchdog wanted after concerns were raised about its safety.

The panel concluded that the best time to use the drug is up to four and a half hours after the start of symptoms.

But some other doctors are still not convinced by the evidence.

Most strokes are caused by a clot blocking the flow of blood to the brain.

Many patients are given the drug alteplase to break down and disperse the clot - a treatment known as thrombolysis.

The independent expert panel, chaired by Prof Sir Ian Weller, said it had looked at all available data on alteplase and decided that the earlier the drug was given to patients, the greater the chance of a good outcome.

Used up to four and a half hours after the onset of symptoms, the benefits of the drug were found to outweigh the risks.

But it added that the benefits of using alteplase to treat strokes were "highly time-dependent" and, in a small number of people, there was a risk of haemorrhage.

Prof Weller explained: "The evidence shows that for every 100 patients treated with alteplase, whilst there is an early risk of a fatal bleed in two patients, after three to six months, around 10 more in every 100 are disability-free when treated within three hours."

Five more patients in every 100 are left with no disabilities when treated between three and four-and-a-half hours after a stroke, he said.

However, there are still medical experts who have concerns.

This might sound a theatre critic's dream, but Craigslist's "Get $5 for Yelp review" leaves less room for such notions.

It's the seamy side of an online reviews industry which has enticed clickfarms in Bangladesh, lawyers in London, and New York's Attorney General.

And now, the UK's Competitions and Market Authority (CMA) as well, which is opening an investigation using its consumer enforcement powers, and pondering further action.

The CMA is also planning an international project on online reviews and endorsements, to coincide with Britain's year-long presidency of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network, which starts 1st July.

It's big business, these new crowdsourced yellow pages of the internet. A hearty 62% of British consumers say they are likely to be affected by positive online reviews - with negative ones, that soars to 89%.

Several other fossil snakes have have been found with hind limbs, but the new find is estimated to be a direct ancestor of modern snakes.

Its delicate arms and legs were not used for walking, but probably helped the creature to grab its prey.

The fossil shows adaptations for burrowing, not swimming, strengthening the idea that snakes evolved on land.

That debate is a long-running one among palaeontologists, and researchers say wiggle-room is running out for the idea that snakes developed from marine reptiles.

"This is the most primitive fossil snake known, and it's pretty clearly not aquatic," said Dr Nick Longrich from the University of Bath, one of the study's authors.

Speaking to Science in Action on the BBC World Service, Dr Longrich explained that the creature's tail wasn't paddle-shaped for swimming and it had no sign of fins; meanwhile its long trunk and short snout were typical of a burrower.

"It's pretty straight-up adapted for burrowing," he said.

When Dr Longrich first saw photos of the 19.5cm fossil, now christened, he was "really blown away" because he was expecting an ambiguous, in-between species.

Instead, he saw "a lot of very advanced snake features" including its hooked teeth, flexible jaw and spine - and even snake-like scales.

"And there's the gut contents - it's swallowed another vertebrate. It was preying on other animals, which is a snake feature.

"It was pretty unambiguously a snake. It's just got little arms and little legs."

At 4mm and 7mm long respectively, those arms and legs are little indeed. But Dr Longrich was surprised to discover that they were far from being "vestigial" evolutionary leftovers, dangling uselessly.

"They're actually very highly specialised; they have very long, skinny fingers and toes, with little claws on the end. What we think [these animals] are doing is they've stopped using them for walking and they're using them for grasping their prey."

Kepler-452b orbits at a very similar distance from its star, though its radius is 60% larger.

Mission scientists said they believed it was the most Earth-like planet yet.

Such worlds are of interest to astronomers because they might be small and cool enough to host liquid water on their surface - and might therefore be hospitable to life.

Nasa's science chief John Grunsfeld called the new world "Earth 2.0" and the "closest so far" to our home.

It is around 1,400 light years away from Earth.

John Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead at Nasa's Ames Research Center in California, added: "It's a real privilege to deliver this news to you today. There's a new kid on the block that's just moved in next door."

The new world joins other exoplanets such as Kepler-186f that are similar in many ways to Earth.

Determining which is most Earth-like depends on the properties one considers. Kepler-186f, announced in 2014, is smaller than the new planet, but orbits a red dwarf star that is significantly cooler than our own.

Kepler-452b, however, orbits a parent star which belongs to the same class as the Sun: it is just 4% more massive and 10% brighter. Kepler-452b takes 385 days to complete a full circuit of this star, so its orbital period is 5% longer than Earth's.

The mass of Kepler-452b cannot be measured yet, so astronomers have to rely on models to estimate a range of possible masses, with the most likely being five times that of Earth. If it is rocky, the world would likely still have active volcanism and its gravity would be roughly twice that on our own planet.

The new world is included in a haul of 500 new possible planets sighted by the Kepler space telescope around distant stars.

Twelve of the new candidates are less than twice Earth's diameter, orbiting in the so-called habitable zone around their star.

This zone refers to a range of distances at which the energy radiated by the star would permit water to exist as a liquid on the planet's surface if certain other conditions are also met.

Of these 500 candidates, Kepler-452b is the first to be confirmed as a planet.

Dr Suzanne Aigrain, from the University of Oxford, who was not involved with the study, told BBC News: "I do believe the properties described for Kepler-452b are the most Earth-like I've come across for a confirmed planet to date.

"What seems even more significant to me is the number of planets in the habitable zone of their host stars with radii below two Earth radii; 12 is quite a few compared to the pre-existing Kepler planet catalogue.

"It bodes well for their attempts to provide a more robust measure of the incidence of Earth-like planets, which is the top-level goal of the Kepler mission."

Certainly investors ploughed billions into electric cars, solar panels and futuristic batteries during the last decade, hoping to get rich while weaning us off fossil fuels.

And pretty soon the sector overheated, share prices toppled and investment tailed off.

But while we still live in a world dominated by fossil fuels, environmentalists have a lot more to be cheerful about.

Global investment in clean energy was last year back near its 2011 peak at $310bn (£200bn), up from $60bn in 2004.

And the price of clean technologies has plummeted, explaining why more wind and solar power was generated in 2014 than any year previously.

Partly driving the trend is the spread of clean energy in developing countries, says Angus McCrone, chief editor at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Reflecting that China invested $89.5bn in the sector last year (up 32%), Brazil $7.9bn (up 88%) and India $7.9bn (up 14%).

"We've got to the point where in 2014, developing countries almost caught up with developed countries in terms of overall dollar investment," Mr McCrone says.

"In some places it's happening without any subsidy support too."

Big business and governments have also increased their support for clean technology - through venture investments in innovative start-ups and subsidies like tax breaks respectively.

"Without them the industry would be in a much tougher position," says Frans Nauta, deputy director of entrepreneurship at Climate-KIC, an EU-funded programme that supports cleantech start-ups.

Perhaps the only piece of the puzzle missing is venture capital (VC) investment, which is significantly down from its peak.

During the last decade, many Silicon Valley VCs dived into cleantech with little understanding of the sector and hoping for quick returns.

Instead they found a slow-moving and highly competitive market, and few were surprised when billion-dollar businesses such as biofuel producer Kior and solar power company Solyndra subsequently went bust.

"In a way it got overhyped and perhaps too many ideas got funded," says Richard Youngman, managing director, Europe & Asia at the Cleantech Group.

"In a world where hype can be a bad thing, a more sober existence was needed."

But Mr Nauta believes the absence of VCs is a serious problem, particularly in Europe.

That's because they are more likely to invest in the most disruptive (and risky) early-stage businesses that are vital to innovation.

"Take solar - I still see incredible opportunities for disruption, whether it's improving the efficiency of the panels, their production, their installation or in terms of financing," he says.

"But while I know many companies making strides in this area, they don't have enough access to funding."

Howman said sport's increasing profitability had led to young athletes becoming more "vulnerable".

Drug testing is limited in non-elite events, and Howman admits teenagers are "under the radar" of doping agencies.

He also said doping could become a criminal offence in five years.

"We have some guestimates based on some research undertaken over the last years," Howman told BBC's Hardtalk.

"It's far more than we would wish it to be - over 10%. That is of concern because those being caught by the system is far lower than that. Not in all sports, in some sports," he said.

"The area of most concern for us is the level of young athletes who have not broken through into the elite who are trying to get that breakthrough and are susceptible to taking drugs because that's a shortcut," he added.

"Not only are they susceptible to taking drugs, they are being encouraged to do so by any one of a number of people that surround them - coaches, trainers, even parents - because it's way to make a lot of money."

Nigerian weightlifter Chika Amalaha, 16, was stripped of her gold medal after failing a drugs test at last year's Commonwealth Games.

Former Wada president Dick Pound has previously said that four out of five cheats are not being caught.

And Howman said he wondered if there were still riders doping on this year's Tour de France after former winner Lance Armstrong was stripped of seven titles following his admission he took performance-enhancing drugs.

Leader Chris Froome has been questioned about his performance during this year's race but the Team Sky rider has denied doping.

Howman said that the numbers of riders doping had fallen "majorly" since Armstrong won Tours from 1999 to 2005, adding: "I have great respect for the way in which the UCI [world cycling's governing body] are now running their anti-doping programme."

In July, the Henn-na Hotel will open in the city of Sasebo, Japan, and its owners hope this will be a new frontier for the hospitality industry.

It will be staffed by 10 life-like robots, with only two flesh-and-blood staff members on the premises.

The robots will greet guests, carry bags, and even clean rooms once a guest leaves. Complete with an eerily realistic female face, they are designed to speak several languages and respond to guest enquiries in the 72-room hotel.

The aim is to create an all-round hi-tech experience, including facial recognition software to open doors.

While not every receptionist or bellboy is under immediate threat from an imminent robot uprising, the wider hotel business is embracing new technologies.

GTRIIP, a start-up founded in Singapore that has opened offices in the US, has developed a documentless check-in service using the iPhone's biometric features.

Guests can securely check in at participating hotel chains using Apple's Touch ID fingerprint recognition technology to access the booking details saved on their device.

At the hotel, receptionists have their own "kiosk app" for checking in guests.

Co-founders Maxim Thaw Tint and Stanley Myo Lwin, both frequent travellers, were frustrated with time-consuming hotel processes and the need to carry multiple IDs or reservation documents.

"When we researched the existing biometric technologies we found that the Apple Touch ID is out there since 2013 together with the iPhone 5S," says Mr Thaw Tint.

"We decided to leverage on this because we don't want to reinvent the wheel."

GTRIIP is of particular interest to business travellers, says Mr Thaw Tint, who will often choose the same hotel group, due to their loyalty program.

"[This] is good for pre-verified Touch ID," he says.

The start-up is already working with hotels in the US, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, and Myanmar.

The Olympic champion has raced once over the distance this year, clocking a pedestrian 10.12 seconds in April.

"I have worked hard in training so we will see how it is," said Bolt, 29.

Britons Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill are also among a number of star names competing at London's Olympic Stadium this Friday and Saturday.

Sunday will see several of London 2012's Paralympic stars take centre stage as The Stadium hosts the final leg of the IPC Grand Prix Series.

GB stars will include Jonnie Peacock, who is hoping to break a new world record in the T44 100m, David Weir, Shelly Woods and Richard Whitehead.

The 32-year-old Farah will race in Britain for the first time since doping allegations were made against his coach Alberto Salazar last month.

The double Olympic champion, who will line up in the men's 3,000m on the opening night of the two-day Diamond League meeting, has not been accused of any wrongdoing and on Thursday Bolt said he felt sorry for the double Olympic champion.

Both athletes will be under the spotlight when they return to the scene of some of their finest achievements.

There are those who question whether six-time Olympic champion Bolt can successfully defend his 100m and 200m world titles in Beijing in August, particularly given the form of rival Justin Gatlin, the fastest man over both distances this year.

"I'm very excited for Beijing and a little bit nervous," added the world record holder, who will run in the heats on Friday and then the final just over an hour later, should he qualify.

"I set the bar quite high last time [in Moscow]. I am not going there to lose. I always ensure I am ready for Championships.

"For me it just takes one run to get to 9.7. It is the first 40m that is important and if I get that right, I know I'll be ok."

The Jamaican said he wanted to "put on a show" for the fans on Friday, saying: "Everywhere I go there are always a lot of Jamaicans in the crowd, especially in London, and I come here for the fans. They support me and I want to do great for them."

With none of the top three athletes of the season - Gatlin, Asafa Powell and Trayvon Bromell - in London, Bolt's biggest threats are likely to be Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut, whose season's best 9.86secs is equal fourth fastest of the year, and compatriot Kemar Bailey-Cole and American Ryan Bailey.

British 100m champion CJ Ujah and fellow Britons James Dasaolu, Richard Kilty and James Ellington will also be taking part in the 100m.

Organisers say tickets are still available for the event, which has not been a sell-out despite its world-class field.

Many of us attended Jules's funeral in Nice on Tuesday, so it is all so clear in our minds as we arrive in Hungary this weekend for the final race before the summer break.

This year was already hard knowing Jules, who was a racer like all of us, was in hospital. We knew how serious his condition was, but obviously you were always hoping that he would pull through.

So to have heard that he is no longer with us; well, it is hard to believe in this day and age.

In my lifetime, three drivers' deaths have had a big impact on me. The first was Ayrton Senna back in 1994, when I was nine. Then later that year I saw a boy I knew called Daniel Spence die in karting. And now Jules.

Jules's funeral reminded me very much of Daniel's, the all-pervading feeling of sadness and loss. It was heartbreaking to see his family and friends in tears, hurting so much, and just knowing that they are going through the worst possible time.

Jules will be in all of our thoughts this weekend in Hungary but we will go out and race hard for him because, like him, we are all racers. That's what we do, what Jules did, and what he would want us to do.

When someone is lost like that, of course it is a shock, but there is no question in my mind about carrying on in racing, no doubts about getting back in the car.

I have no fear. I'll just get in and drive like I always do - you can't let things like that affect you. And it will make no difference to my focus and commitment.

I am going to Hungary with the intention to win and to extend my championship lead, as always.

Hungary marks the halfway point of the season and I have to say that, from the perspective of my racing, it has been a pretty awesome year so far.