Human Liver Grown Inside a Mouse

Photo Credit: Takanori Takebe/PA

Photo Credit: Takanori Takebe/PA

A human liver has been grown inside a mouse, giving hope that patients could receive new organs created from their own skin cells within a decade.

The breakthrough would eradicate donor waiting lists and the risk of the body rejecting a replacement organ.

Japanese scientists used stem cells to create liver ‘buds’ within mice which grew into a piece of human tissue measuring 5mm.

It is hoped the work carried out by researchers at Yokohama City University could also be used to grow other replacement organs.

‘This science opens up the distinct possibility of being able to create mini-livers from the skin cells of a patient dying of liver failure that, when transplanted, would not be subjected to immune rejection as happens with conventional liver transplants today,’ said Prof Malcolm Alison, stem cell biologist at Queen Mary, University of London.

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Dennis Rodman Wants a Nobel Peace Prize For His NBA Diplomacy (+video)

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Jessica Chasmar. Dennis Rodman sat down with Sports Illustrated’s Franz Lidz to talk about his controversial trip to North Korea, saying that his efforts in world diplomacy should be enough to earn him a Nobel Peace Prize.

“My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries,” he said. “Why it’s been left to me to smooth things over, I don’t know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it’s the black guy’s [Obama’s] job. But I’ll tell you this: If I don’t finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something’s seriously wrong.”

The former NBA player recently traveled to Pyongyang with a few members of the Harlem Globetrotters and a crew from HBO’s television series “Vice,” Sports Illustrated reported.

Mr. Rodman said he knew very little of North Korea or Kim Jong-un before the trip. Read more from this story HERE.

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Dennis Rodman says he should be considered for Nobel Peace Prize

By Cindy Boren. It’s been a busy year for Dennis Rodman, the former NBA bad-boy-turned-diplomat.

He’s traveled to North Korea. He’s talked with Kim Jong Un and pronounced him a “friend for life.” He’s gone to Vatican City and kindly offered to assist with the selection of a new pope. All of which leads him to one conclusion: He should win the Nobel Peace Prize, like some sort of blond, pierced, tattoed version of, oh, Jimmy Carter or Al Gore.

“My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries,” Rodman told Sports Illustrated in an interview for its annual “Where are they now?” issue. “Why it’s been left to me to smooth things over, I don’t know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it’s the black guy’s [that would be President Obama] job. But I’ll tell you this: If I don’t finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something’s seriously wrong.”

Rodman, who said in March that “I want to be anywhere in the world that I’m needed,” plans to return to North Korea next month.

“I’m just gonna chill, play some basketball and maybe go on vacation with Kim and his family,” Rodman said. “I’ve called on the Supreme Leader to do me a solid by releasing Kenneth Bae.” Read more from this story HERE.

Woman, 62, Jailed On Felony Battery Charge After Kissing Cop On The Nose

Photo Credit: The Smoking Gun

Photo Credit: The Smoking Gun

A Florida woman is jailed on a felony battery on a law enforcement officer charge after she allegedly kissed a cop on the nose.

Peggy Hill, 62, was arrested late Saturday evening outside her Bradenton residence by Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies who had arrived at the home in response to a call about a dispute between Hill and a neighbor about a fence between their properties.

As Hill was conversing with Sergeant Randy Lamb, “she approached him and kissed him on his nose against his will.” Lamb, an 18-year veteran, stepped away from Hill and “wiped off the saliva from his nose”…

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Sheriff Joe’s Jail Guard’s Ear Bit Off, Inmates Come to Her Rescue (+video)

Photo Credit: Fox Phoenix

Photo Credit: Fox Phoenix

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio gave pizza to jail inmates for lunch after some of them came to the rescue of a detention officer.

Authorities say Rachel Harris had part of her ear bitten off during a scuffle with an inmate Monday afternoon in the Lower Buckeye Jail.

Harris, 22, was conducting a routine check of the cell when inmate Bobby Ruiz allegedly jumped on her back and attacked her.

Authorities say some other inmates came to the aid of Harris, who was hired by the sheriff’s office about one year ago.

Read more from this story HERE.

Indian Airline Recruits ‘Slim’ Women to Save Fuel

Photo Credit: CNN

Photo Credit: CNN

An Indian airline has hit on possibly the worthiest excuse yet for hiring slim women as cabin crew — it saves fuel and therefore money.

While some airlines admit to hiring women for their sex appeal, budget carrier GoAir has told The Times of India it will be hiring predominantly female flight attendants in future because they are 15-20 kilos lighter on average than men.

The airline estimates each extra kilo on board costs Rs3 ($0.05) per flying hour, and the new policy will save it up to $500,000 annually.

A spokesman for the airline denied to CNN that it had implemented a gender-biased recruitment policy. But he confirmed that the airline’s male-female cabin crew ratio of 40:60 was among the most male-heavy in the industry in India.

Read more from this story HERE.

Student Buys Bottled Water, Gets Thrown in Jail

Photo Credit: dotjay

Photo Credit: dotjay

When a half-dozen men and a woman in street clothes closed in on University of Virginia student Elizabeth Daly, 20, she and two roommates panicked.

That led to Daly spending a night and an afternoon in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. Her initial offense? Walking to her car with bottled water, cookie dough and ice cream just purchased from the Harris Teeter in the Barracks Road Shopping Center for a sorority benefit fundraiser.

A group of state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents clad in plainclothes approached her, suspecting the blue carton of LaCroix sparkling water to be a 12-pack of beer. Police say one of the agents jumped on the hood of her car. She says one drew a gun. Unsure of who they were, Daly tried to flee the darkened parking lot.

“They were showing unidentifiable badges after they approached us, but we became frightened, as they were not in anything close to a uniform,” she recalled Thursday in a written account of the April 11 incident.

“I couldn’t put my windows down unless I started my car, and when I started my car they began yelling to not move the car, not to start the car. They began trying to break the windows. My roommates and I were … terrified,” Daly stated.

Read more from this story HERE.

Study: TV’s Newest Obsession Is Serial Killers

Photo Credit: Hollywood Reporter

Photo Credit: Hollywood Reporter

In the wake of mass killings at Sandy Hook elementary school, a movie theater in Colorado and the Boston Marathon, some have sought to blame — partially or in full — the glorified violence on film and television. Seeking to add momentum to that theory is an analysis due out shortly that ridicules TV’s latest obsession: serial killers.

The analysis, obtained exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, says that seven new shows glamorizing serial killers were added at networks this season, bringing the total 20.

The analysis also quotes Hollywood insiders either defending or criticizing their own product, and it cites instances where real-life murderers said their crimes were inspired by TV shows, linking to news stories in each case. Showtime’s Dexter, a show about a serial killer who kills serial killers and which will ends its eight-season run this year, comes under particular scrutiny.

Besides linking to a Dexter kill list that enumerates 125 gruesome deaths, the study says “at least three brutal murders and one attempted murder have been inspired by the show.” In each case, the study includes a quote from the real-life murderer. Example: “I made a few attempts to chop her up like Dexter with Masters power tools but I was afraid it was too loud and it sucked at cutting flesh … I thought … it would be simple, like Dexter,” said a San Diego woman who confessed that Dexter showed her how to murder and mutilate a woman in 2012.

The analysis also excoriates The Following, a Fox show where Kevin Bacon plays an FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer portrayed by James Purefoy; Bates Motel, an A&E series that is a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho; and Hannibal, an NBC series based on the Hannibal Lecter character, the brilliant cannibal featured in the best picture Oscar winner The Silence of the Lambs and its follow-ups.

Read more from this story HERE.

Three Years After Texas Woman’s Suicide, a Question Lingers: Who Was She?

Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is “Jane Doe,” a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her family’s driveway after spending decades using stolen identities to erase a past that remains mired in mystery.

For two years, Social Security investigator Joseph Velling has been working to uncover the real identity of Lori Erica Ruff, who was Lori Erica Kennedy before marrying into an East Texas family in 2004. Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child. Velling, a seasoned government sleuth, has been stumped in figuring out the true name and background of this Jane Doe, who took on aliases with spy-like sophistication.

“She created a false identity for the sole purpose of getting lost in America,” Velling told FoxNews.com. “It must have been for some horrific reason…either she was running away from a crime or an abusive family or relationship.”

“She wanted a complete break from her past,” said Velling. “By changing her name, she created a clean identity – a person with no past.”

The mystery surrounding Jane Doe’s identity begins in May 1988, when the unknown woman requested the Bakersfield, Calif., birth certificate of a 2-year-old girl, Becky Sue Turner, who died in a 1971 house fire in Fife, Wash., Velling said.

Read more from this story HERE.

What’s the Secret to Magician’s ‘Bus Levitation’ Trick? (+video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

A British magician working with Pepsi Max wants people to “live for now” and witness the “magic that’s all around us.”

In order to capture their attention, the magician who goes by Dynamo performed a “bus levitation” trick. While the double-decker rolled along London streets, Dynamo appeared to be floating in the air alongside the bus with nothing more than what seems to be his arm holding him up.

Naturally, onlookers were amazed, but the first thing they do, as you can see in the video, is whip out their phones to take photographic evidence.When you watch the clip, see if you can count how many people have their phones out to document the trick.

Read more from this story HERE.

A Man Killed a Leopard in His Yard in Indiana the Other Night (+video)

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

An unidentified southern Indiana man shot and killed a leopard on his property just outside Charlestown, Indiana late Thursday night.

The man and his also-unidentified girlfriend had allegedly been on guard because of a recent spate of unexplained attacks on local cats and dogs, reports Louisville FOX affiliate WDRB. The couple owns several cats and feared the pets might be mauled, or worse.

“She’s got cats that are basically her family,” said Donna Duke, the local resident who alerted WDRB about the feline fracas.

The concerned couple got in touch with a local wildlife official. He theorized that a bobcat might be on the loose and suggested that the couple look out for one — particularly at night.

During the couple’s vigilant watch on Thursday night, they spied an unidentified beast lurking in the shadows not far from the backyard pool. The man got his gun and shot the pacing creature.

Read more from this story HERE.