AN Irish woman has become the first adult in the world to receive a revolutionary REMOTE CONTROLLED 'ROBO SPINE', which uses magnets to combat the effects of scoliosis. Deirdre McDonnell, 34, from Drogheda, County Louth, can now stand tall for the first time after undergoing the pioneering MAGEC rod operation. The operation, also known as the magnetic expansion control system, involves the insertion of a magnetic rod that is screwed onto the spine and controlled externally in order to correct the curvature caused by scoliosis. Up until now, the £15K procedure has only been performed on children, as it was thought only to be effective for early onset scoliosis - typically diagnosed before the age of ten.
A weightlifter has lost a whopping 12st after swapping biscuits for biceps .
FROM COLOURFUL autumn leaves to living trees at first glance you might miss these people blended with nature .
A northern potoo shows it is a master of disguise as it perches on a tree stump and blends into the bark .
STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS- This could be the fearsome scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as a flock of 40,000 starlings bask in the heat of a wonderful British sunset .
AN American accountant has grown the world's biggest MELON and smashed his way into the record books with his mammoth 350 .
A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
A man who was stabbed ten times in a frenzied and random attack has told how, two years on, he is too scared to leave his house without his STAB VEST .
A woman was left fighting for her life after an eczema wound became infected and caused a deadly flesh-eating bug to ravish a hole in her arm .
A young mum has told how a phantom pregnancy almost destroyed her dream of having a second child .
LINED up one by one on a deer’s back, these little birds give their wings a break as they catch a ride across London .
A diver explores the crystal clear waters of the Silfra canyon in southern Iceland, which is the only place on Earth where you can dive or snorkel between two continental plates .
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .