Woman Grows Hair for 21 years

A Chinese woman who hasn't cut her hair for 21 years now has hair that measures 3.6 metres in length.

Jiang Aixiu from Fushun, central China's Henan Province, last had a haircut in 1990. Jiang explained: "I went to get my hair cut, but the hairdresser suggested me to keep it as its quality is good."

Jiang never expected her hair would grow so fast and so long. She added: "I didn't eat anything special or use any special shampoos."

Each year Jiang's hair grows up to 20 centimeters. She continued: "I have to wash my hair section by section, and it takes at least 2 hours to wash it all."

Jiang has been offered 10,000 Yuan for her hair, but she refused. However, now Jiang plans to cut off her long hair, as doctors say the long hair absorbs too much nutrition from her head, which is not good for her health.

"It's better for me to take it off, as it's too much on my head," Jiang concluded.

Blind Girl Works as Interpreter

A blind schoolgirl who is fluent in four languages has become the youngest interpreter to work at the European Parliament - at the age of 10. Alexia Sloane, from Cambridge, lost her sight when she was 2-years-old after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour whilst on holiday in France.

But despite her disability the little girl has excelled at languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent in English, French, Spanish and Mandarin - and is learning German. Now she has fulfilled her dream of working as an interpreter after East of England MEP Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament in Brussels.

"There is usually a minimum age requirement of 14 just to enter the European Parliament so for Alexia to interpret there at the age of 10 was amazing," said mum Isabelle.

Alexia has been tri-lingual since birth as her mum is half French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. "She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age," added Isabelle, who also has a 4-year-old daughter Melissa.

Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was 6 and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year.

She asked if she could shadow interpreters and MEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. "It was fantastic and I'm absolutely determined now to become an interpreter," said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me."

Armless Man Loves to Paint

A man without arms has become the vice curator of an art museum in China. Huang Guofu, 41 is the vice curator of Chongqing Talents Museum, and is planning to paint a long scroll of the scenes of old Chongqing.

By biting a chopstick in his mouth and using his right foot to clamp a pen to touch the keyboard, Huang can use the computer agilely. "I am searching materials and pictures of old Chongqing, and preparing the materials for my upcoming creations," said Huang.

Last year Huang was appointed the vice-curator of the newly established museum for his never-give-up spirit and his artistic achievements. Huang was born in Tongnan, Chongqing. When he was four, he lost both his arms after suffering electric shocks.

He started to have a strong interest in painting when he was 12. Each day after school, Huang would paint works with his feet of the pictures in his textbook. His works were recommended for an exhibition in the local culture center, and won great success. Then Huang started his professional studies in the city arts centre.

SWITL to Replace Human Hand ?

SWITL Robotic Hand, a patent-pending robot hand - originally revealed back in October, seems to be capable of picking up liquids, messy mayonaise and other sauces without altering or changing its gooey shape.

Created by the food industry machine developer - Furukawa Kikou, the SWITL robotic hand was developed with the baking industry in mind. The device uses some sort of conveyor system to automate certain parts of a bakery's production line, handling various products that are deemed too soft for our clumsy human hands.

Unfortunately, Furukawa Kikou is not revealing any details about the science behind SWITL.

Doctor Serves Patients on Horseback

As inhabitants live scattered around the plateau, it is not easy for local people to see doctors. So Dr. Sonam's mobile clinic, also known as "clinic on horseback", has become very popular because he rides his horse to deliver medical services to patients homes every day over the past 13 years at Niandi town in northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Niandi Town is located 3,250 meters above sea level on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. About 300 families live in this 15-square-kilometer mountain area. It has become an everyday work for Dr. Sonam to gallop over hills to provide medical services to residents living on the other side of the mountain. 

It takes at least 4 to 5 hours to ride from Sonam's home to the nearest village. He often cannot see anybody in hours, so he can only sing to the mountains to cheer himself up in his lonely trip.

"When I feel lonely, I would start singing. This song is about Tibetan New Year, and I sing it to express my best wishes for my patients to recover soon," said Sonam. 

Dr. Sonam’s mobile clinic is well loved and respected and locals look forward to his frequent visits.