Anon Donor Pays for Girl’s Life-Changing Operation

We all want our children to grow up to be happy and healthy, and we will do anything we can to make sure that happens. But there are some things beyond our control. Take Kaitlin Nguyen from California, for example. She is only three years old, but she was born with a lymphatic malformation in her face. There is a lump in one of her cheeks, next to her mouth, which makes it difficult for her to do certain things we take for granted, such as talking or eating. The lump is quite large but isn't cancerous or life-threatening. However, Kaitlin's mother, Thuy, was hoping that it could be removed before the little girl started school, to avoid bullying from other children who don't understand. A lymphatic malformation is a build-up of fluid called lymph that can appear anywhere on the body, but typically in the neck or armpits. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system, a network of vessels that lymph circulates through. A lymphatic malformation forms when these vessels fail to form correctly during the first few weeks of pregnancy, and as they occur so soon after conception that they can't be prevented. The family approached Dr Gregory Levitin, who is the Director of the Vascular Birthmark Center in New York . Unfortunately, their California-based insurance company was unable to pay for the surgery in New York, and it was too expensive for the family to afford on their own. In the past, a person who wishes to remain anonymous reached out to the doctor, wanting to pay for the surgery of a man with a large birthmark. This man couldn't afford to pay for the operation, so the donor stepped in and paid the costs. The donor was so please the results that he informed Dr Levitin that he would be willing to pay for the operation of someone else who wasn't able to afford it. "These are people who have fallen through the cracks and wouldn't have gotten surgery otherwise," explained Dr Levitin. So Dr Levitin spoke to this unnamed person about Kaitlin, showing him a couple of pictures and telling her story. The donor fell in love with the little girl in those pictures and said he would be happy to pay for her surgery. On April 7, Kaitlin went into the operating theatre to undergo the long and challenging operation of having the lymphatic malformation removed from her face - and it was a success! "This was a real game-changer operation," described the doctor. "It's my expectation that she will be just like any other three-year-old girl who walks down the street with beautiful brown eyes and a cheery smile." Kaitlin is recovering well, and it looks like she can look forward to the bright and happy future her parents wanted for her. And this is all down to an anonymous person who just wants to help other people. "I wanted to say, 'Thank you,' to the donor who made this happen for Kaitlin," her mother said. "I would love to thank him!"

“Significant” Oil Find Near Gatwick Airport

According to UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) , there could be around 100 billion barrels worth of oil lying underneath the south of England, and it could be removed without having to resort to fracking! In October, we told you about a new oil field that had been discovered in the North Sea , a location that has produced around 45 billion barrels' worth of oil over the last 40 years. It is thought that more than twice that amount is in the ground near Gatwick Airport in West Sussex. UKOG drilled at their Horse Hill-1 well last year, and their analysis indicated that there could be more than 150 million oil barrels per square mile in the local area. They believe that only a fraction of this amount would actually be accessible, but further testing and drilling is required to find out more. The area of focus is called the Weald Basin, which spans Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. There are already 13 oil production sites across the Weald Basin that have been producing onshore oil for decades. But after drilling deeper than they had in nearly 30 years, UKOG discovered possibly the largest potential oil resource in that time. "We think it has national significance," said the company's Chief Executive, Stephen Sanderson. He went on to explain that UKOG is hoping to recover between five and 15% of the oil, if not more. Such large quantities would mean that UKOG would be producing up to 30% of the UK's oil by 2030, just from the Weald Basin. Ultimately, it could also have a positive impact on Britain's future economy. In addition to the find, a study from the Imperial College London suggests that much more oil could be recovered from the region than previously indicated. Professor Alastair Fraser from the university has been analysing rock samples from the Weald Basin and believes that up to 40 billion barrels could be removed from the ground. "Now, that's getting significant," he announced. "That's a resource; that's what's there in the ground - we've still got to get it out." UKOG Chairperson David Lenigas said it would take a long time for production of the site to begin, but once it did, there would be thousands of new jobs. "The key thing is there is a potential resource of significance here, but the fast track or the slow track is really going to be determined by Westminster," he pointed out. Of course, there are many people worried about the find and how it will be removed from the ground, but the company has insisted that fracking is not on the agenda. When oil or gas is trapped inside rocks, some companies use fracking to pump water, sand and chemicals into these rocks to free up the resources inside. But according to UKOG, the rocks at the Horse Hill well are naturally fractures, which would mean traditional methods, such as horizontal drilling, could be used and fracking would not be necessary. "Horse Hill is a conventional well, with conventional testing, and we've got permission from the governmental authorities for a conventional programme," Mr Lenigas explained. "There will be no fracking at Horse Hill."

Medieval Eye Infection Remedy Kills MRSA

Who would have thought that something as simple as an eye remedy could be the key to killing superbugs resistant to antibiotics, like MRSA? But that's what scientists have found after recreating a treatment for eye infections found in an Anglo-Saxon manuscript. The manuscript in question is called Bald's Leechbook; a leather-bound book detailing remedies for various ailments. It is usually kept in the British Library and dates back to the 9th century, making it more than a thousand years old! The Leechbook is one of the earliest examples of a medical textbook, containing advice for treatments, medicines, and salves. One such salve, Bald's Eye Salve, was being put under the microscope, so to speak, with the recipe being followed exactly as translated by Anglo-Saxon specialist Dr Christina Lee. "Medieval leech books and herbaria contain many remedies designs to treat what are clearly bacterial infections," Dr Lee explained, going on to list other health problems for which the book offers treatment advice. Dr Lee, from the University of Nottingham, found that the recipe was relatively simple. It involves rather mundane ingredients such as garlic, either onion or leeks, and English wine, but with added "oxgall", which is the bile from a cow's stomach. However, the method of preparation was very specific, citing the use of a brass vessel for brewing and a strainer to purify the concoction. The instructions also indicated that the mixture had to be left for nine days before it could be used. A microbiology team from the university made four separate tests of the salve. They also created a control treatment, using just the distilled water mentioned in the recipe in the brass vessel, without any of the other ingredients. With each test, the individual ingredients were tested against the MRSA bacteria, as was the control solution and the finished salve they had made. As was expected, when the ingredients were applied on their own, they all only had a small effect on the bacteria. But when they were combined, the scientists were in for a shock. "We thought that Bald's Eye Salve might show a small amount of antibiotic activity," said Dr Freya Harrison, lead researcher in the lab. "But we were completely blown away by just how effective the combination of ingredients was." The remedy was found to kill up to 90% of the bacteria! Dr Harrison explained that the project was a way of exploring new approaches to modern health care, using medieval remedies with ingredients that were found to kill bacteria or affect their ability to cause infection. "I still can't quite believe how well this one-thousand-year-old antibiotic actually seems to be working," she exclaimed. "When we first got the results, we were just utterly dumbfounded. We did not see this coming at all." Dr Steve Diggle is another member of the team, and he agreed that he didn't expect anything of this magnitude to happen either. "I was genuinely amazed," he said. According to Dr Lee, there are many other medieval books along the same lines as Bald's Leechbook. These books contain treatments for what appear to be bacterial infections, but years before bacteria were even discovered. "We were genuinely astonished at the results of our experiments in the lab," she said. "The potential of these texts to contribute to addressing the challenges cannot be understood without the combined expertise of both the arts and science." The findings were replicated by Dr Kendra Rumbaugh, a microbiologist from Texas Tech University. She explained that MRSA and other such wound infections are very difficult to treat and that before she was able to replicate the results herself, she was sceptical about the outcome. "However," Dr Rumbaugh concluded, "this ancient solution performed better than the current gold standard, and killed more than 90% of the MRSA." The findings were presented to the Annual Conference of the Society for General Microbiology in Birmingham, which started on March 30. Here's the recipe (though, we don't recommend trying this at home!): - Equal amounts of garlic and another Allium (onion or leek), finely chopped and crushed in a mortar for two minutes - Add 25ml (0.87 fl oz) of English wine - taken from a historic vineyard near Glastonbury - Dissolve bovine salts in distilled water, add and then keep chilled for nine days at 4°C

UK’s First National Videogame Arcade

Have you ever thought, "If only there were a place dedicated to the art and history of video games in the UK?"... Well, now there is! The National Videogame Arcade (NVA), the UK's first national centre dedicated to video games, opened its doors to the public. The £2.5 million NVA can be found in Hockley in Nottingham and boasts an array of activities. Across its five floors, you can find interactive exhibits, cinema, café, education space and vintage arcade machine - enough to send every big kid's heart racing! And while the exhibits are likely to change and adapt over time, as with any cultural centre, there will be a permanent fixture. This comes in the form of an interactive exhibition called A History of games in 100 Objects, mapping the history of video games in Britain. A permanent fixture to the centre is an interactive exhibition called A History of Games in 100 Objects, which will map the history of video games in Britain. The centre will also be holding regular events and evening classes for those interested in learning how to make their own video games. But why Nottingham? According to Ian Livingstone, the city was chosen because of its long legacy of gaming. Mr Livingstone is considered one of the founding fathers of the gaming industry in Britain, co-founder of the Games Workshop (which is behind Warhammer) and based in Nottingham. He said that it was about time that the UK had its own centre devoted to video games. Mr Livingstone pointed out that there is evidence of video gaming around us all the time. From people playing on their smartphones whilst travelling on public transport, or getting home from a long day's work and turning on their games consoles, video gaming is portable and everywhere. "It's not just guys making games for guys," he added. "There is cultural and diverse content and also diversity in creation, which is more important." The games entrepreneur is hoping that the centre will encourage children who want to play games to grow up wanting to make games. "Computer science is the new Latin," he pointed out. "It underpins the digital world just as Latin did the analogue world, and games encapsulate all the ways in which it marries the arts and sciences." The opening of the NVA may have been prompted from the success of GameCity, an annual festival celebrating video games as cultural works. The event started back in 2006, in conjunction with Nottingham Trent University, and with the backing of Nottingham County Council, the event has been going strong ever since. Jonathan Smith is one of the centre's director and said that he hopes the place will become a sort of gathering place for people to enjoy the art form, as well as becoming a unique visitor attraction. He believes video games to be great learning tools for children, not only encouraging social interaction with others, but also creativity and experimentation. "[Video games] are a part of a healthy diet of different learning techniques and of different activities," he explained. He added that they played just as important a role as running around outside and making things with your hands. Jonathan and his colleagues believe, like Mr Livingstone, that the centre could help some children realise their dreams of becoming games developers when they are older. "Games are made by people who are constantly learning and trying to do the best they can," he said. "We want to demonstrate that everyone can participate in that process in some way. Everyone can make games." Come opening time - 10am on Saturday morning - queues of gamers were eagerly awaiting the doors to open. "It has been really exciting!" Jonathan exclaimed. "We have invested so much in resources and emotionally. Luckily, we have been able to see the place full of excited people." It was hoped that the centre would attract a huge and diverse crowd of people, and that is just what they got. "We couldn't be happier with where we are!" If you're interested in visiting the NVA or simply learning more about it, you can find out more information on its website, here .

The Healing Power of Blood

Blood, the extraordinary fluid that runs through our veins. It nourishes us and sustains us. If our skin is broken, blood clots and protects the wound. It regenerates our bodies. It is our lifeforce. Despite all of this and decades of research, we still know so little about blood, and we're only just beginning to learn how to exploit its full potential. Our past and ancient mythology are filled with examples of beings surrounded by blood. From the Egyptians to the Romans, Vlad the Impaler and Dracula, besides just being a part of us, blood has also been a big part of our history too. And let's not forget the huge symbolism of blood found in many religions. And a common theory cropping up over all that time is that blood can restore and rejuvenate us. If you asked our ancestors, they might suggest bloodletting. For nearly 2,000 years, bloodletting was a common medical procedure that could even be carried out by your hairdresser. Someone with a fever or infection would have some of their blood removed in order to take away the "overheated" parts that would raise a person's temperature when they were ill. As you can imagine, though, this didn't always end well! In Hungary, towards the end of the 16th century, Countess Elizabeth Báthory believed that bathing in the blood of virgins would restore her own fading youth. She is said to have slaughtered 650 young girls for this purpose, making her one of the world's most prolific female serial killers to date. While these stories in themselves don't sound particularly cheerful - as well as being filled with potential nonsense and unnecessary death! - there might be some elements of truth in this old-time reasoning... So, what would happen to older people if they were injected with that from younger people? University of California biologist Dr Saul Villeda has been carrying out research on mice to find out. His theory was that if you took the blood of a young mouse and injected it into an old mouse, the blood would become transformed and rejuvenated. And he wasn't wrong. The old mice were found to perform much better in memory tests such as finding their way back to their nests, after a blood transfusion from a younger specimen. Like people, when mice age, the neurons in their brains become tired and don't work as well. But when young blood was added to the mix, the neurons starting sprouting new connections to other neurons and became as sprightly and sharp as the young mice they once were. Although most of the studies in this field have only been carried out on rodents, clinical trials on human patients with Alzheimer's disease have begun at Stanford University, which is also in California. These trials involve young volunteers donating their blood to the study participants. "My hope is that we can identify the youthful factors in blood that we want to raise and the ageing factors we have to lower," Dr Villeda explained. He added that isolating these components would lead to a much more controlled process than taking the blood of one person and giving it to someone else. But that's not all. There is also a special anti-ageing fluid inside our blood called platelet-rich plasma, or PRP. This can be obtained by taking a sample of a person's blood, placing it in a centrifuge (lab apparatus that rotates at high speed), and extracting the PRP. Why? Because the PRP can then be injected into a person's face as part of a procedure that has become known as a Vampire Facelift. Of course, you don't do all this yourself, and the PRP must come from your own blood. Back in the UK, Janet Hadfield is the director of Biotherapy Services, which is researching PRP. She said that the process had been used for years already to treat sports injuries and promote the healing of wounds. There have also been trials at the Royal London Hospital to see if PRP could help speed up repair in people with Type 2 diabetes. Patients with the condition are particularly prone to developing wounds that don't help properly, and so far, the results are suggesting PRP could help with this. While it isn't very clear at the moment as to why PRP works in this way, it is thought to be something to do with the spinning action of the centrifuge. Large amounts of growth factors are released from the blood, factors that promote both collagen growth and wound healing . This is where Dr Michael Mosley comes in. Although qualified as a doctor, he makes his living as a journalist for the BBC. He wanted to carry out some experiments on his own blood, one of which was the Vampire Facelift. When he asked Dr Hadfield what he could expect from the treatment, she informed him that after a couple of weeks, the tone and texture of the skin on his face should be improved. So, a couple of weeks later, he checked it out. "Just as promised, there were some subtle changes," he said in his report for the BBC. "But it is expensive and the improvement was not impressive enough to make me want to do it again." But it does go to show that something was happening there. On top of everything else, our blood is actually extremely nutritious, rich in iron, protein and vitamin C, and very high in calories (twice as many than in beer!). Dr Mosley decided that one of his experiments would involve testing out this nutrition for himself. And what better way of doing that than making black pudding out of his blood - and eating it? If you're not quite sure what black pudding is, it's a type of blood sausage usually made from curdle or boiled pork blood. This is then mixed with chunks of pork fat and stuffed into a sausage casing. It may not sound particularly appetising, but is considered a delicacy in quite a few countries - including the UK. Dr Mosley carried out a total of six experiments on his own blood, recorded in his documentary The Wonderful World of Blood. It was aired on BBC Four on March 25, but you can check it out on BBC iPlayer here (it's available until April 29). So, what do you think? Are we all going to become vampires in the future, striving, like Countess Báthory, to find the secret to eternal youth through blood? Perhaps. Or we can simply wait to see what the scientists can discover through their experiments, and there may be a pill for that in no time. Our blood is extraordinary!

Nations Make Climate Pledges to the UN

The US is the latest nation to make a pledge for tackling climate change, making a formal offer to the United Nations. Altogether there are to be 196 of what is being called Intended Nationally Distributed Contributions. The wealthiest nations were given the informal deadline of March 31 to make their pledges, though some failed to submit in time. This early date was set to make sure the submissions were entered in time to be processed before the UN Climate Change Conference, to be held in Paris later this year. The US and China create more greenhouse gas pollution than any other countries in the world. But the US is addressing the issue with restrictions on their emissions. In 2013, they created tougher standards for vehicles and also added new restrictions on power plant emissions. Based on 2005 levels, the US has promised to cut its carbon emissions by up to 28% by 2025. "The target is fair and ambitious," the US announced. "The United States has already undertaken substantial policy action to reduce its emissions. Additional action to achieve the 2025 target represents a substantial acceleration of the current pace of greenhouse gas emission reductions." Brian Deese, White House Climate Advisor, described the offer as "a big deal" in a blog post. He added that not only is the target achievable and ambitious, but the nation has the tools to reach it. In contrast, China has said that it will reduce emissions after 2030, but will produce at least 20% of its energy from renewable sources and nuclear by the same date. Switzerland, Norway, and Mexico are amongst the 33 countries to have committed to specific goals. And the EU as a whole has promised to cut emissions by 40% by 2030, based on the levels from 1990. "The declarations are an important first step," said Dr Jeremy Woods from the Imperial College London, who leads the Climate-KIC's Global Calculator. Once all 196 pledges are in, they will be examined by UN analysts and other countries to determine if they are adequate and fair. This is likely to tide over until the latter end of the year, just in time for the Climate Change Conference starting on November 30.

Graphene Light Bulb to Hit Shelves

The first consumer product made from graphene is set to go on sale within the next couple of months - light bulbs! Graphene is a super-strong carbon material, a micro-thin layer of which is said to be stronger than steel. The material was discovered by Professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at Manchester University, which later led to them both being knighted and receiving the Physics Nobel Prize. The University of Manchester also opened the National Graphene Institute (NGI) earlier this month, with more than 200 researchers working on graphene. The NGI was awarded £38 million from the government through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, as well as a further £23 million from the European Regional Development Fund. Everyone is fully aware of the potential of this amazing material! And because of the unrivalled amount of graphene the University has at its disposal, more than 35 companies from around the world have partnered up with them to develop projects. However, making graphene in large quantities is still incredibly expensive at the moment, but the new dimmable light bulb only uses a small quantity to cover the coat a filament-shaped LED inside. Professor Colin Bailey is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Manchester University, and one of the directors of Graphene Lighting, the company that the light bulb was developed in partnership with. According to Professor Bailey, the graphene light bulb is based on the traditional light bulb design but will use up to 10% less energy. It will also last longer before it needs replacing, with the graphene allowing the filament to conduct heat and electricity more efficiently. Even manufacturing costs compared to other LED light bulbs are lower, and the components are more sustainable. "This light bulb shows that graphene products are becoming a reality," the professor added. "Just a little more than a decade after [graphene] was first isolated - a very short time in scientific terms." The graphene light bulb is expected to be cheaper than other LED bulbs currently on the market, which can cost around £15 each. The University and its partners are now looking into other practical and commercial uses for the material, such as frames for cars and aircraft, working side by side on the graphene products of the future. "This is just the start," said Professor Bailey. "It is very exciting that the NGI has launched its first product despite barely opening its doors yet." James Baker, Business Director for the NGI, explained how the new light bulb was proof that partnering with the Institute could lead to delivering products that could be used by millions of people. "This shows how the University of Manchester is leading the way," he added, "not only in world-class graphene research, but in commercialism as well."