A US military veteran has received the world’s first eye transplant after suffering a devastating accident back in 2021, with researchers ‘truly amazed’ by his progress.

Aaron James, 46, was working as a high-voltage utility lineman when he survived a devastating electrical accident.

The dad had been holding a neutral wire when he was struck in the face by a live wire with a 7,200-volt charge.

Although Aaron’s life was spared, he lost most of his face in the incident before going through a facial tissue and eye transplant.

Incredibly, over one year on from the 21-hour surgery and Aaron is making huge progress, with his donor eye maintaining pressure, size and even blood flow.

The operation saw surgeons inject into James special stem cells from the person who donated the eye, in the hope of spurring the repair of the optic nerve.

But there’s one question that’s always asked – can Aaron see out of the transplanted eye?

(NYU Langone Health)

Discussing Aaron’s incredible journey, YouTuber and doctor, @DrEyeGuy explained: “[Doctors] had to connect the eye muscles, create adequate blood supply to the outside and inner part of the eye, and they had to connect the donor optic nerve with Aaron’s optic nerve which is amazing.

“Now, unfortunately, he can’t see out of that eye, but I don’t want that to lessen the miracle here.

“They’re reporting good blood flow to the eye, the eye is able to hold its pressure, and they’re showing that the brain is actually receiving electrical signals through that optic nerve.

“If Aaron is able to develop any vision in that eye that’s going to be a crazy step.”

Researchers at NYU Langone Health are hopeful that one day, Aaron may be able to see out of the eye again.

“The outcomes we’re seeing after this procedure are quite incredible and could pave the way for new clinical protocols and inspire further research into complex transplants involving critical sensory organs,” said Dr Vaidehi Dedania, Aaron’s ophthalmologist.

In a study detailing the progress, authors explained that after evaluating the retina’s electrical response to light, they found that the light-sensitive nerves in the eye survived the transplant.

“This electrical response converts light into signals that ultimately the brain could interpret for vision, giving hope for the future of whole-eye transplants with an aim to restore sight,” they said.

The team hope that Aaron may one day be able to see from the eye (NYU Langone Health)

Eduardo D. Rodriguez, senior author of the study and lead surgeon explained that the team are amazed with Aaron’s recovery.

“Our discoveries over the past year mark promising initial results, laying a foundation for further advancements and ongoing research,” he said.

“We are truly amazed by Aaron’s recovery, with no episodes of rejection. Our methodical approach to the matching process, ensuring that Aaron received the most favorable donor match, along with our unique immunosuppression regimen, has set the standard for eliminating and avoiding early rejection episodes.”

Meanwhile, speaking about his experience, Aaron added: “This has been the most transformative year of my life. I’ve been given the gift of a second chance, and I don’t take a single moment for granted.”

A man has taken things to a whole other level by building his own knockoff of the Apple Vision Pro.

YouTuber, Basically Homeless, set out to create something which tried to emulate the principle of Apple’s new product.

YouTube/Basically Homeless

And while it’s clear the result is nowhere as sleek and mobile as the Apple Vision Pro, it does manage to emulate its basic functionality.

This includes the things like being able to use your hands to open menus on the device.

That’s pretty impressive considering that he managed to build that using parts and items obtained from a thrift store.

Let’s just say that the final result is not exactly sleek, in fact, ‘ramshackle’ might be a better way of putting it.

But that didn’t stop viewers from being mightily impressed by the YouTuber’s creativity and ingenuity.

So how on earth did he manage to build a functioning knock off of the Apple Vision Pro?

He started by trying to put a monitor, PC, and camera directly onto his head with a strap.

But this method was quickly shown to not be viable as they were too heavy.

The YouTuber solved this problem by simply putting everything onto a helmet.

While he was able to click things using his hands, he didn’t quite have the same augmented reality that the Apple Vision Pro has.

Instead, he effectively live streamed what the camera was filming in front of him as the background on the screen.

He could then click and manipulate things in front of him on the screen.

Obviously this is not a complete emulation of Apple’s latest big release, but there’s no denying it’s still mightily impressive to be able to put this together.

And people in the comments were universally impressed by the YouTuber’s efforts with his device.

YouTube/Basically Homeless

They took to the comments to express their admiration.

One person humorously compared the YouTuber to Marvel character Iron Man, joking: “‘BASICALLY HOMELESS WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAVE, WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!’- Tim Cook”.

Another commended the YouTuber for taking a more creative approach to the new product.

They wrote: “While every other YouTuber was busy getting their hands on the Apple Vision Pro and record the exact same review everyone else already uploaded my man built his own. Absolute legend.”

Someone else was delighted by the video, writing: “Bro is definitely a crazy genius and I love it.”

Finally, one person made a rather poignant observation that ‘rough tech’ videos like this might be entertaining, but also show people what’s possible.

They wrote: “This dude unknowingly inspiring the next generation of innovative scientists.”

Terrifying footage which shows a plane landing on its belly without its wheels has resurfaced online in the wake of the tragic South Korea plane crash, that took 179 lives just days ago.

Live television captured the horrifying moment a Boeing 767 carrying 231 passengers crashed onto Poland’s Warsaw Chopin airport runway in 2011 without its wheels deployed.

The jet had traveled to Poland from Newark, New Jersey, when pilots of the Polish LOT airlines flight noticed a problem and circled the airport for an hour, before making the tough call to land on the tarmac without the proper gear.

The nail-biting landing was watched live by millions and while the jet suffered a small fire and could be seen smoking on the runway, miraculously, no one was injured.

The re-emergence of the clip comes just days after a similar crash landing took place in South Korea on Sunday, December 29.

But, unlike the Polish LOT jet, the Jeju Air plane landing ended in tragedy as all but two people of the 181 on board died in what is now considered the worst aviation disaster in the country.

Video footage shows the plane hit the runway at Muan International Airport on its belly as part of an emergency landing – which was the plane’s second attempt of landing – traveling at high speeds before it smashed into a concrete barrier at the end of the runway and exploded into a deadly fireball.

While the exact cause of the crash is yet to be determined, many have been drawing differences between the two landings and speculating why Jeju Air’s landing ended in disaster.

It is considered the worst plane crash in South Korea’s history (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)

Aviation expert Julian Bray told The Sun that pilots and crews have ‘rehearsed’ emergency landings like these ‘many times’ through regular simulators, and that most aircrafts have manual levers to deploy landing gear if the hydraulics fail.

Yet the expert pointed out the Polish jet landed ‘far more relaxed’, which he explained was because the pilot had time to dump fuel and slow down to 120 miles per hour – and had two working engines.

Meanwhile, he suspects the South Korean pilot was forced to wrestle with a sudden engine failure or other damages in the sky, possibly caused by a bird collision.

Mr Bray said: “You don’t know whether you’re running on the reserve electrics because the generator’s not working – that of course works the hydraulic pumps and enables the wheels to come down and a dozen other things. So if he hasn’t got that, he’s got a problem.”

Mr Bray explained the pilot could’ve got the wheels down on the first landing attempt but when trying on the go around, ‘there might have been a bird nest and that might have f

“We don’t know – we’re going to have to find out,” he added. “The point is the wheels go up, they’re locked and that’s it, they remain locked. So he hasn’t got a lot of time, and he’s got a lot of things distracting him.”

The insight comes after reports suggest the pilot issued a mayday call to ground control about a bird strike, and the video shows the jet was approaching the runway when its right engine was ‘struck’.

As for the concrete ‘wall’ at the end of the 2,800-metre runway, Mr Bray said it’s not a wall but a slab that should’ve collapsed upon impact.

He added: “I’m afraid they didn’t have a chance. If that wasn’t there, then there’s a good hope that everybody could have been saved.”

With electric vehicles slowly taking over the motor industry, it was only time before an electric ‘muscle car’ was released.

As of last year, there were nearly three million new electric cars on US roads – up 1.7 million compared to 2022.

And it’s hoped that there will be a staggering 30 to 42 million electric cars on US roads by 2030.

Understandably, not everyone wants to be whipping around in a Tesla – as popular as they may be. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s nice to have options.

With this in mind, Dodge have now unveiled its first fully electric vehicle and it promises not only style, but highly quality performance too.

News of the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona broke in recent days, and its spec sounds pretty impressive.

The two-door EV boasts 496 horsepower, with Scat Pack models having 670 horsepower coming from two separate electric motors.

Range wise isn’t too bad either for an electric car with so much power, with Dodge having a target of 317 miles range for the Road and Track vehicles.

In comparison, Tesla’s Model 3 has a range of 267 – 333 miles.

Images of the highly anticipated new car have been doing the rounds online, and it’s safe to say it’s had a mixed response.

Dodge

“ELECTRIC AND MUSCLE CAR MUST NEVER BE IN THE SAME SENTENCE PLS ISSA ABOMINATION [sic],” penned on nay-sayer on X.

“Agreed. Not sure what the word is but it’s not muscle,” someone else replied to the message.

A different person wrote: “That looks like the android version of Cybertruck.”

Elsewhere, another social media user insisted that the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona was ‘not a real muscle car’.

“I don’t know how to put it but something about ‘electric muscle car’ don’t sound right,” someone else added.

Others were less critical, however.

One X user said of the Dodge vehicle: “Lowkey sexy ngl [sic].”

“This a nice car,” wrote another, as a third went on: “Looks fire, hope it’s not s**t.”

Muscle cars like the Charger were known for their deafening exhausts, but the EV version of the new model will still have sounds built into it so people still know you’re coming from a mile off.

According to CNN, these cars ‘will have an “exhaust” system solely to pump out loud sounds as the car as being driven’.

Dodge are yet to announce the cost of its new EV, but it’s rumored to be in the price range of $50,000 – $60,000.