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A little bit of hope between retail therapy? Say less!

Doctors in the UK say they are “really excited” about the progress of a three-year-old boy, who has become the first person in the world to undergo gene therapy for a rare condition.

Oliver Chu, who is from California, has Hunter syndrome, a life-threatening genetic disease found mostly in boys, that impacts the brain and body’s development.

Oliver’s family travelled with him to England, where he was treated with an experimental gene-altering therapy at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. A year after receiving the new treatment, which involves a patient being infused with their own genetically-engineered stem cells, the toddler appears to be developing normally.

Trial co-lead, Professor Simon Jones told the BBC that he has “been waiting 20 years to see a boy like Ollie doing as well as he is”, while Oliver’s mum said she wants to “cry because it’s just so amazing.”

Go Ollie, go!

The Olympic flame begins its journey to Italy for the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics, taking place in January next year. A dancer posing as a priestess gives the flame to Greek Olympic rower Petros Gaidatzis.

(Photo: Milos Bicanski via Getty Images)

What have you been doing since 1998?

Me? I’ve lived my entire existence since that year.

Karl Bushby? He’s spent those 27 years walking around the globe, and he’s about to finally finish.

Bushby set out to walk around the world in 1998 and had two rules for himself: He couldn’t use any mechanical transport, and he couldn’t return home until he’d finished.

If you’re asking yourself “why?”, then you’re not alone. When asked, Bushby said: “Life is short and I’ve always wanted to live it to the fullest that I can.”

He’ll finally return home to Hull later this year for the first time in two decades.

So, what does one learn about the state of the world when they’ve seen every corner of it?

Well, Bushby reflects that while “the world has changed, but human kindness has not”.

Talk about a globe trotter!

Patients who listen to music during surgery may recover faster and require less medication, a new study has found.

The goal of the study, which was led by the Maulana Azad Medical College in the Indian capital Delhi, was to understand more about the effects of general anaesthetic, so that patients can be discharged from hospital earlier.

Trial participants were played instrumental pieces via noise-cancelling headphones under anaesthetic.

Doctors noted the “music therapy” patients woke up from surgery more clear-headed and alert, and generally required less pain medication than those who were not played music.

Researchers said: “Since the ability to hear remains intact under anaesthesia, music can still shape the brain’s internal state,” lowering stress levels, stabilising blood pressure, and setting them up for a smoother recovery.

SO. COOL.

We often read about scientific discoveries in scientific journals or newspapers, but rarely do we see the human side of making a significant discovery.

A new video, published by the BBC, has captured the moment Indonesian botanist Septian Andriki discovered a rare Rafflesia hasseltii (a flower). He told the BBC that the emotional discovery came after “13 years of waiting”.

Watch the heart-warming moment here!

Globally, we manufacture over 100 billion kilograms (yep) of textiles, which is more than twice as much as we did at the beginning of the century. As such, finding new ways to recycle these textiles has become an increasingly more urgent task.

Now, a team from Vienna University of Technology have found a new way to separate and sustainably recycle blended fabrics. When we refer to ‘blended fabrics’, we’re talking about textiles that might be a mixture of cotton and polyester, for example.

Researchers have found that by using menthol and benzoic acid, they can completely separate the cotton from the polyester, without damaging the cotton. That means it can then be washed, dried and reused sustainably.

Pretty cool if you ask me!