Monday, February 29, 2016

Artistry of Wet Men 5: Bathing In 500 lbs Of Liquid Glass

Vat19's staff is clearly in love with putty. 
Their last experience with the strange material: take a bath in 500 lbs of putty.

It doesn't sound like a very wise idea to me.
How about you? 
Let's find out. Take a look and see.

This stuff is pretty thick. It takes a 2 hr. time-lapse just to show it running out of it's container











And here's the video...enjoy.
Time for a trip to Home Depot?

Animal Tales: Odd Couples and Other Oddities













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The same tactic is practiced with racing horses, except that they use goats.
Racing opponents would literally attempt to kidnap (no pun intended) each other’s goats in an effort to upset the horse and cause them to lose the race.
Hence the origins of the idiom of getting someone’s goat.
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Cadiz is in the southern part of Spain and in the late 1980’s there lived a man who had a dog named Canelo. On the surface, Canelo looked like just an average dog of the area - nothing unique stood out about him from his appearance. But he was very unique on the inside and had a huge heart that loved his owner beyond belief.


His owner lived alone and Canelo was his only true friend and companion. Every morning the local people would see them walking together through the quiet streets of the city when the old man took Canelo for a walk. But the man was also very ill and once a week they would walk to Puerta del Mar Hospital, where the man was undergoing dialysis treatments due to kidney complications.

Because the hospital’s rules did not allow animals inside, he always left Canelo waiting at the door. The man would undergo his treatment, meet Canelo at the door on his way out, and together they would head home. This was a routine that had been going on for a long time for them.

Sadly one day the man suffered complications in the middle of his treatment. The doctors were unable to revive him and he passed away in the hospital. But, Canelo as always, was waiting outside on his own lying by the door of the health center only to have his owner never come out. Canelo sat there, day after day, waiting for his owner. Neither hunger nor thirst would persuade him to walk away from the door. In the cold, rain, wind or heat, he continued lying at the hospital’s door waiting for his friend to come out so they could go home together as they always had.

The local people soon realized the situation and decided to care for Canelo but to still allow him his freedom. They took turns to bring him food and water, and even arranged for a pardon from the local dog pound when he was picked up by them. During this time, Canelo waited for twelve long years outside the hospital for his owner to return. He never sought a new family. He only knew that his only friend had gone through that hospital door, and that he would wait for him so they could return home together someday.
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The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms, was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.


“It is incredible … a-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , said.

“After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,” the ecologist added. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added.

“The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,” he explained.




























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Doodlebug loves his teddy… [he] will lay in the grass next to the teddy, will cuddle the teddy and even practice his kicking against the teddy. He has company; it’s like mum is always standing there beside him, which is what would be happening in the wild… So, teddy fulfils a huge role in his life.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Penis Transplants offer hope for wounded veterans


Up to 60 wounded US soldiers to get penis transplants to help them start families 

  • Wounded soldier will become first to undergo penis transplant in the US
  • Patient lost most of his penis and sustained serious groin injuries
  • Injured in a bomb blast, while serving in Afghanistan
  • Surgeons hope to perform the op on 60 veterans in the coming months 
  • Donated organ from deceased man should provide full function 


Dr Richard Redett is one of the surgeons at Johns Hopkins University set to perform the first penis transplant in the US
Dr Richard Redett is one of the surgeons at Johns Hopkins University set to perform the first penis transplant in the US.


Surgeons are to give 60 soldiers new penises in the first ever transplants of their kind in the US.

The first patient, who has not been identified, lost most of his penis and sustained serious groin injuries in a bomb explosion while he was deployed overseas.


Media reports have suggested he was wounded while serving in Afghanistan.

And now dozens of injured US veterans are to also have the surgery so they can start families.

Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore will perform the surgery on the man - the first transplant of its kind to take place at an American hospital.

Surgeons hope a donated organ from a recently deceased man will provide full function including urination, sensation and sex.

The surgery requires joining nerves and blood vessels under a microscope. Doctors and advocates who work with wounded soldiers note that the loss of the penis is one of the most emotionally traumatic injuries because it affects a sense of identity and manhood, especially for men hoping to become fathers.

'When you meet these guys and you realize what they've given for the country, it makes a lot of sense,' Dr Richard Redett, a plastic surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital who will help perform the operation, told Reuters.
The patient, who has not been identified, lost most of his penis and sustained serious groin injuries in a bomb explosion while he was deployed overseas. Media reports have suggested he was wounded while serving in Afghanistan (file image)
The patient, who has not been identified, lost most of his penis and sustained serious groin injuries in a bomb explosion while he was deployed overseas. Media reports have suggested he was wounded while serving in Afghanistan (file image)

The surgery could occur in the coming weeks. Doctors are looking for a donor who is a good match in terms of age and skin color. The donor's family will need to give permission for the penis to be removed. There have been two penis transplants in the world to date. The first in China in 2006 was unsuccessful, while the second in South Africa in 2014 was a success.


The diagram shows how surgeons in South Africa performed the first successful penis transplant last year. The nerves of the donated penis were joined to the recipient's genital region, in a bid to restore function
The diagram shows how surgeons in South Africa performed the first successful penis transplant last year. The nerves of the donated penis were joined to the recipient's genital region, in a bid to restore function

He said it is likely the scrotum, part of the abdominal wall, groin tissue and part of the inner thigh would have to be replaced as well, in many cases.  'We've sorted out how to take that block of tissue from a donor and give it to a recipient,' he said. The penis transplant does not involve the testes, where sperm are produced, so if a man with a transplanted penis does father a child, the baby would be his genetic offspring, not the donor's. While for now only wounded veterans are being considered for penis transplants, the surgery could eventually be performed on men with birth defects and transgender men and women. The results of the South African transplant offer hope of a success. The 21-year-old patient told the doctors who performed his transplant, in June that he was due to become a father.

The news came six months after the pioneering operation. The nine-hour operation took place at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town. The South African patient, who was not named, lost all but a 1cm stump of his penis three years ago, following a botched circumcision. He was able to resume a sexual relationship with his girlfriend just five weeks after the transplant, doctors said. Professor Frank Graewe, who took part in the nine-hour surgery on the South African man, said last March: 'He gets good quality erections, ejaculates and has frequent sex with his partner.'

Ten years ago, a man in China received a transplant, but asked surgeons to remove the donated penis two weeks after the operation. 
Surgeons who carried out the first penis transplant at Tygerberg Hospital in South Africa revealed months later that their patient was due to become a father
Surgeons who carried out the first penis transplant at Tygerberg Hospital in South Africa revealed months later that their patient was due to become a father

Q&A: DOCTORS REVEAL WHAT PENIS TRANSPLANT SURGERY ENTAILS 



Dr Richard Redett, director of pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Dr Carissa Cooney, the department's clinical research manager, explain more about what the penis transplant operation will entail. 

How will the team identify a suitable donor?
Dr Redett said the organ will come from a deceased person, but added the person's family will have to consent before the procedure can go ahead. He said: 'Many people might think that organ donation means unquestioned consent of all organs. 'That's not the case with the face, hand or penis.' He added that once found, the donor tissue is evaluated on a variety of factors, inclidong blood type, age - within five to 10 years - and skin tone.

How do you identify which patients need a penis transplant?
Dr Cooney said as with other transplant operations, the patient has to be in good physical and mental shape, She said psychiatric evaluations can take up to a year before a patient will be approved to have the operation. 'There’s a significant loss with the initial injury that the patient has to overcome emotionally. 'If the patient has a significant other when he begins working with our team, we also work to educate that person on what to expect. 'We can’t guarantee the outcome or the extent of urinary function, erection, and ability to have sexual intercourse or have children.'

How long do you anticipate before the donor penis will be fully functioning?
Dr Redett said the first priority is to ensure the transplanted tissue has adequate blood supply, to prevent immediate rejection. He said that should be apparent within a few days to weeks. 'The next priority will be to regain function,' he said. 'Nerves grow at a rate of one millimeter per day, about one inch per month. 'We anticipate that acheiving function, including urinary and sexual function, could take between six to 12 months. 'If the patient's testes are still present, he may even be able to father children.'

What precations are taken to try and prevent the risk of rejection?
Dr Cooney said the patient will be given immunosuppressive drugs following the procedure. Ten to 14 days later he will receive a bone marrow infusion from the donor.'By doing that, we have been able to reduce the number of anti-rejection medications the patient will have to take for the rest of his life, down to one pill twice a day,' she explained.