WEIRD STUFF: Man dies two months after getting pig’s heart

Man dies two months after getting pig's heart

The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment, the Maryland hospital that performed the surgery announced yesterday.

David Bennett, 57, died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors didn't give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier.

Bennett's son praised the hospital for offering the last-ditch experiment, saying the family hoped it would help further efforts to end the organ shortage.

"We are grateful for every innovative moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic effort," David Bennett Jr said in a statement released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "We hope this story can be the beginning of hope and not the end."

Doctors for decades have sought to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Bennett, a handyman from Hagerstown, Maryland, was a candidate for this newest attempt only because he otherwise faced certain death - ineligible for a human heart transplant, bedridden and on life support, and out of other options.

Maryland surgeons used a heart from a gene-edited pig for the transplant. Scientists had modified the animal to remove pig genes that trigger the hyper-fast rejection and add human genes to help the body accept the organ.

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Alcoholic drink can alter brain structure - study

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered - after looking at 36,000 individual MRI scans - that one alcoholic drink in a day is associated with brain shrinkage, but don't know why this happens.

This discovery directly contradicts the common idea that alcohol in moderation is fine, and that it can only be harmful in excess.

The researchers found: "The negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases."

They found that the transition between zero drinks and one drink did not show a large reduction in grey/white brain matter - which is associated with ageing - going from one drink to two or three drinks showed a significant impact.

Daviet, one of the study's authors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: "It's not linear. It gets worse the more you drink."

He added: "Cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a big effect in terms of brain ageing."

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Lost dog took correct bus home

A dog took the bus home by herself after getting separated from her owners in the park.

The pooch, named Pepper, was with Charlotte Jones, 25, and Saffron Caps, 23, in Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage when she disappeared after chasing some geese.

After walking two miles alone, she reached a bus stop and boarded when it arrived, staying on for 15 minutes until she arrived at her stop.

Saffron told The Sun: "A lady on the bus recognised her and was able to get a picture of her. She phoned me and said, 'Your dog is on the number seven bus.' She told the driver the dog was going to stay on the bus until she met her owners. Pepper got up near our stop. The doors opened and she jumped off. It's just amazing."

They adopted Pepper two years ago, when she was five months old.

Charlotte said: "We were so proud of Pepper. It was like something out of Lassie - she not only got herself to the bus station but managed to walk around it looking for our normal stop, which is right at the back.

"When the bus came, she jumped on board and went to the buggy bay, where she laid.

"We were so grateful that we offered to treat the lady for looking after Pepper so well and reuniting us, but she wouldn't take anything."

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Shipwreck found 107 years after vessel sank

Sir Ernest Shackleton's shipwreck has been unearthed. The wreckage of the Endurance - which set off in 1915 - has been discovered just off the coast of Antarctica 3,008 metres deep in the Weddell Sea.

Mensun Bound, a marine archaeologist involved in The Endurance 22 Expedition, the mission that set off last month to locate it, told BBC News: "Without any exaggeration this is the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen by far."

He added of the 144ft ship: "It's upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation."

The remains were found on the 100th anniversary of the explorer's funeral, who died in 1922.