the Guardian has a long article on a truly astounding, and very exciting, discovery -- that many people in a persistent vegetative state may be revived by -- of all things -- a sleeping pill! The discovery was made, quite by accident, in South Africa, where a number of severely brain-damaged people have now been helped by the daily ingestion of a particular type of sedative. Whether the effects will continue noone yet knows, but the first patient to be revived is still reacting well after seven years on the drug. It's not a cure-all, but to have someone conscious and capable of talking and remembering, when they have been a "vegetable" (as the rather cruel term has it), is a miracle to family and friends.