The last few months of Anna Nicole Smith’s life were marked with both happiness and tragedy. She welcomed her daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, on September 7, 2006. Three days later, Anna Nicole’s son, Daniel Wayne Smith, passed away. Just five months after giving birth to her daughter and losing her son, Anna Nicole Smith passed away unexpectedly. Dannielynn’s father, Larry Birkhead, stepped into the world of single parenthood. He’s been a wonderful dad to Dannielynn and recently showed up with her at the Kentucky Derby. @accesshollywood Dannielynn Birkhead is speaking to being yourself and letting her authenticity shine ♬ original sound – Access Hollywood – Access Hollywood Dannielynn Birkhead Has Grown into a Lovely Young Woman Dannielynn and her dad spoke with  Access Hollywood ahead of the 152nd Kentucky Derby. The 19-year-old sported a short and funky hairstyle and a smile reminiscent of her late mother. She shared a sweet message about Anna Nicole with viewers. “I just want people to know that I love my mom, and she’s so beautiful. But I’m also my own person, obviously,” she said. “And I hope that’s a bit more clear now.” Dannielynn added that when it comes to her style and appearance, she knows who she wants to be and doesn’t care what others think. “I’m not going to let someone dictate what I want to do or who I want to be. Because life is short, and I think you should be who you want, no matter what,” she said. Seeing how poised Dannielynn is made many people proud of her father. “This is evidence of what a stellar job Larry did as a father. Well done Larry. What a sweet young lady,” someone wrote. “I love the way her father is protecting with his presence, but keeping his thoughts to himself and allowing his daughter to speak about learning to be herself,” another person added. We know that her mom would beam if she could see who her daughter is. “Anna Nicole would be so proud seeing her legacy shine through Dannielynn today,” a fan shared. This story’s featured image is by Barry King/WireImage

There are a few people who can make us laugh with just a twitch of their eye or a move of their shoulder. Physical comedy is difficult, but if you can master it, you could have a very long and rewarding career. Carol Burnett is one of the best physical comedians of all time. The 1976 Went with the Wind sketch on The Carol Burnett Show will go down in history as one of the best moments on television, ever. For decades, Carol has lived to make people laugh, and we’re all grateful. This year, for her birthday, she dined at Lucky’s Steakhouse in Montecito, California, with her husband, Brian Miller, according to Page Six. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Good Hang With Amy Poehler (@goodhangwithamy) Carol Burnett Looked Happy on Her Birthday She didn’t have a big celebration, but Carol Burnett’s birthday appeared to be just what she wanted. Leading up to her birthday, Carol Burnett appeared on Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang with Amy. The Parks & Recreation star told Carol how happy she was that the legend was born. “You’re everything to me,” Amy said. Amy then told her idol that she’s the reason she got into comedy in the first place. Carol Burnett appeared both stunned and honored to hear the funny lady’s words. “Thank goodness @itscarolburnett was born!” Amy captioned a clip on Instagram. Seeing Amy Poehler and Carol Burnett together touched the hearts of fans. “This episode felt like girlhood in its purest, most tender form. Watching Amy talk with her best friend, hearing Carol speak so lovingly about hers, and listening to them reflect on the women they admire and helped them get to where they are had me happy crying the entire time. It was a beautiful reminder of how powerful friendship, connection, and shared admiration can be. A truly proud-to-be-a-woman moment from start to finish,” someone wrote. This story’s featured image is by Oscar Abolafia/TPLP/Getty Images.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A girl born without the ability to hear was having everyday conversations with her mother four months after a single injection into her inner ear. She was seven years old. The treatment did not give her a hearing aid or implant. It gave her a gene she had been missing. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, working with hospitals across China, published results in Nature Medicine last month from a trial involving ten patients with congenital deafness caused by mutations in a gene called OTOF. Every patient showed measurable improvement. Most started noticing changes within one month. By six months, the average level at which participants could detect sound had shifted from 106 decibels to 52, roughly the difference between a jackhammer and a normal conversation. What OTOF does and why its absence silences people The OTOF gene encodes a protein called otoferlin, which functions as a molecular switch at the inner hair cells of the cochlea. When sound waves cause those cells to vibrate, otoferlin triggers the release of neurotransmitters that carry the signal to the auditory nerve and on to the brain. Without it, the mechanical process of hearing is physically intact. The ear can receive sound, but nothing gets transmitted. The signal stops before it begins. The therapy used a synthetic adeno-associated virus (AAV) to deliver a working copy of OTOF directly into the cochlea through a single injection at the round window, a thin membrane at the base of the inner ear. The AAV acts as a delivery vehicle, carrying the corrected gene into the hair cells without altering the surrounding tissue. Younger patients showed the sharpest gains Children between the ages of five and eight responded most dramatically to the treatment. The auditory cortex in younger patients appears better able to reorganize itself around newly available signals. Even so, the trial’s defining detail is that adults improved, too. “Smaller studies in China have previously shown positive results in children, but this is the first time that the method has been tested in teenagers and adults, too,” said Dr. Maoli Duan of Karolinska Institutet, one of the study’s corresponding authors. “Hearing was greatly improved in many of the participants, which can have a profound effect on their life quality.” The youngest patient in the trial was one year old. The oldest was 24. Safety findings and what comes next No serious adverse reactions were observed during a follow-up period of six to twelve months. The most frequently reported side effect was a temporary drop in neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that plays a role in immune response. OTOF mutations account for a relatively small share of genetic hearing loss. GJB2 mutations are considerably more common and are among the leading causes of congenital deafness worldwide. TMC1 mutations affect a different protein critical to the mechanical function of hair cells. Both are harder to treat than OTOF, partly because of how they interact with surrounding tissue and partly due to the size of the proteins involved. “OTOF is just the beginning,” said Dr. Duan. “We and other researchers are expanding our work to other, more common genes that cause deafness, such as GJB2 and TMC1. These are more complicated to treat, but animal studies have so far returned promising results. We are confident that patients with different kinds of genetic deafness will one day be able to receive treatment.” The research was funded in part by Otovia Therapeutics Inc., the company that developed the therapy and employs several of the researchers involved. Full disclosures are available in the published paper. Long-term follow-up is ongoing, and the research team is monitoring how durable the effects prove to be. What the current data shows is that every person enrolled in this trial heard more after treatment than before it. Source study: Nature Medicine– AAV gene therapy for autosomal recessive deafness 9: a single-arm trial     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post The gene behind congenital deafness, and how a single shot is fixing it first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The flower moon came and went on May 1. Most of what makes this month interesting is still ahead. This week: the Eta Aquarids The Eta Aquarids run from late April through late May, but their peak falls overnight on May 5 and 6. They’re fast, bright, and known for long glowing trails, which makes them more satisfying to watch than a lot of showers. Under dark skies, you can see a few dozen per hour at peak. The Southern Hemisphere gets better rates than the Northern, but it’s worth going out either way. The catch this year is the moon. It’s in its waning gibbous phase, which will wash out anything faint. The best window is the pre-dawn hours, when the radiant point in Aquarius is highest, and the moon has dropped lower in the sky. It takes twenty minutes for your eyes to adjust. Face east, and stay away from streetlights. May 12 to 13: a planetary lineup at dawn Step outside about an hour before sunrise on May 12th or 13th and look east. Mars, Saturn, and the crescent moon are nearly in line just above the horizon. By May 14th, the moon has thinned to a sliver, and the three objects shift into a loose pyramid shape. A clear, low horizon helps here, a hilltop or a lakeshore if you have one nearby. May 16: the darkest sky of the month There will be no moon on May 16. Pair that with a genuinely dark location, somewhere the city glow isn’t flooding the horizon, and the Milky Way core will be clearer than it’s been all year so far. It rises around 11 p.m., depending on latitude, and stays up through the early morning. It is also the best night of the month for telescope work on faint objects. The Whirlpool Galaxy is near the handle of the Big Dipper; the Sombrero Galaxy sits close to the bright star Spica. Both are worth finding. May 18: Venus, the moon, and two more planets at sunset After sunset on May 18, look west. The crescent moon and Venus will be close together above the horizon, bright enough to find before the sky has fully darkened. Jupiter is above them. Mercury is also on the western horizon, so all four are in the same general sweep of sky if conditions are clear. One thing: wait until the sun is fully down before pointing binoculars or a telescope in that direction. May 31: a rare blue moon May ends with its second full moon. The lunar cycle runs about 29.5 days, which occasionally fits two into a single calendar month. NASA puts it at roughly once every two to three years. It won’t look blue. Like the flower moon at the start of the month, it will probably glow yellow or orange near the horizon, an effect of the atmosphere bending light at low angles. That same illusion makes it appear larger close to the horizon than it does overhead. Moonrise and moonset are the times to watch. All month: Jupiter as a guide Jupiter holds position in the western sky throughout May, close to Gemini’s two brightest stars, Pollux and Castor. It’s also a useful reference for tracking Venus: the two start the month about 40 degrees apart, roughly ten fist-widths held at arm’s length, and close to around 14 degrees by Memorial Day. Mercury joins the western horizon in the second half of the month, building toward its greatest eastern elongation in mid-June. A telescope helps with some of this, but not most of it. Dark sky, clear night, and you’re in.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post 8 sky events all stargazers should catch this month first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

New research reveals oak trees deliberately delay sprouting their leaves by three days to avoid being infested by hungry caterpillars, after it happened the previous year. The trees’ clever tactic to outwit potentially deadly predators was detected by scientists in Germany using data from satellite. They found that many insects, particularly caterpillars, hatch in the […] The post Oak Trees Will Delay Sprouting Leaves to Avoid Hungry Caterpillars That Devoured the Trees in Previous Year: Study appeared first on Good News Network.