The researchers showed that light was activating in the mice a protein, melanopsin, which also has a role in regulating the body clock, and is present in people. However, whether the same processes take place in people or other animals is unknown.
He said more research was still needed, but the findings may lead to considerations of light levels during pregnancy and efforts to grow retinas in the laboratory.
By installing a small digital camera above a cash machine criminals can literally watch people keying in their pin codes to access their accounts. They then trap the accompanying cards in the machine, sometimes using metal loops or false sleeves - to recover afterwards.
"He was also not afraid to laugh at himself and rejoiced in the huge postbag of letters which poked gentle fun at him - often he would forward particularly insulting letters that had been sent straight to him for inclusion alongside his column. He will be greatly missed.
He established his own film company, Scimitar, in the mid-1960s and made a number of satirical films starring Oliver Reed, including The System and I'll Never Forget What's 'Is Name.
These were avoided by a last-minute deal between the Republican-dominated Congress and the White House. However, economists warned at the time that fears of an abrupt cut in government spending were undermining business and consumer confidence.
In particular, the oceans are also vital as sponges for green house gases, taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere through two processes - dissolving straight into the water column and also through photosynthesis by phytoplankton.
However, there was some speculation in Spanish media that Mr Rajoy, in one of his answers at the press conference, appeared to have admitted that some of what the El Pais newspaper published was correct.
