Donor kidney removed via vagina

US surgeons say they have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.

Removing the kidney through "a natural orifice" speeds up recovery and gives a better cosmetic result - avoiding a six inch abdominal scar - they say.

The Johns Hopkins team say the 48-year-old woman who donated the organ to her niece on 29 January is "doing well".

Surgeons have also removed gallbladders and appendixes through the mouth.

Diseased gallbladders, kidneys and appendixes have been removed through the vagina before.

But this is believed to be the first time that doctors have managed to harvest a healthy donor kidney for transplantation in this way...

--BBC News

Wisconsin plant treats wastewater with sugar, molasses

Ingredients better suited for a cookie recipe are being used to treat Janesville's wastewater.

Workers are dumping sugar and molasses into the wastewater at the treatment plant.

Utilities director Dan Lynch said that the ingredients replace chemicals that aren't as friendly to the environment...

--WISC TV.com