Julian Brown, a 22-year-old self-taught inventor from Georgia, USA, has developed a solar-powered microwave pyrolysis system.

His groundbreaking invention converts plastic waste into usable fuels like diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel—offering hope for regions battling severe plastic pollution, including Africa.

Brown, founder of NatureJab, began experimenting in high school and has built multiple prototypes of his “Plastoline” reactor. The process uses microwave heating—powered by solar panels—to break down plastics in an oxygen-free environment, producing refined fuels that independent lab tests confirm are functional and cleaner-burning than some conventional options.

Despite suffering second-degree burns from an early explosion and facing funding challenges (raising only tens of thousands toward a $1 million goal), Brown has demonstrated the fuel powering vehicles, including a recent test in a Dodge Scat Pack.

His innovation builds on established pyrolysis technology but focuses on small-scale, renewable-powered units suitable for local waste management.

In Africa, where massive plastic dumps contribute to environmental and health issues, such decentralized solutions could transform waste into affordable energy while reducing pollution.

Brown gained viral fame on social media in 2025 but briefly went offline amid personal security concerns, later confirmed safe by family.

Experts note scalability and safety challenges remain, but his work highlights grassroots innovation in sustainable energy.

Long before Dr. Michael Pami Obeng became a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon with a global client list and a multimillion-dollar practice, he was a boy in Ghana who shared a single pit latrine with neighbours and wiped with corn husks because his family could not afford toilet paper.

Today, he drives a Rolls-Royce through Los Angeles and is regarded as one of the most in-demand Black plastic surgeons in the United States.

A new short documentary clip by filmmaker and storyteller Steven Ndukwu—now trending across social media—follows Dr. Obeng through a full day in Beverly Hills, offering a rare window into the journey behind the success.

“If Beverly Hills is the cosmetic capital of America, then Dr. Obeng is one of the names shaping that empire,” Ndukwu narrates. “There are more plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills than the entire continent of Africa—and he’s one of the few who rose to the top.”

Dr. Obeng’s career has been anything but ordinary. At just 33, he became the youngest chief of plastic surgery at his hospital, earning around half a million dollars a year. But it is his reputation for taking on “surgeries nobody else can do”—complex reconstructive procedures, often for patients who have been turned away elsewhere—that has cemented his place in the field.

“My first encounter with him was through a viral School of Hard Knocks interview,” Ndukwu says in the video.

The filmmaker then follows Obeng from patient consultations to the operating room, capturing the contrast between the surgeon’s Los Angeles lifestyle and the circumstances he left behind in Ghana.

“I knew I didn’t want to live in Ghana,” Obeng reflects in the clip. “We grew up without a toothbrush… fast-forward 30-something years later and here I am.”

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His candor is striking—not dismissive of home but clear about the hunger that pushed him to pursue opportunities abroad. Ndukwu’s upcoming series, which features Africans building businesses across the U.S. and Canada, frames Obeng’s story as part of a growing wave of African professionals reshaping industries far from the continent while remaining deeply connected to it.

Obeng’s journey—raw, improbable, and determined—continues to resonate with audiences who see in him an epitome of ambition without apology.

A British nurse who was disciplined after declining to use female pronouns for a transgender inmate is now fighting her employer in court.

Jennifer Melle, 40, says she was racially abused by the patient and unfairly punished by the hospital instead of protected.

Melle a nurse at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Surrey, was caring for a transgender inmate from a high-security men’s prison in May 2023 when the encounter unfolded. According to her account, the patient objected when she addressed them as “Mr.” Melle says she told the patient she could not use female pronouns because it conflicted with her Christian beliefs, but offered to use the patient’s name instead.

The patient allegedly responded by lunging at her and directing three racial slurs at her. The attack was classified as a racially and religiously aggravated assault.

Despite being the target of the abuse, Melle was investigated by the hospital several months later. In October 2024, she received a final written warning and was referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which enforces professional standards. The NMC’s code instructs nurses not to express personal beliefs while delivering care.

Melle has now filed legal action against the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust, accusing it of harassment, discrimination, and breaching her human rights.

“I was racially abused in my workplace, and instead of protecting me, the Trust punished me,” she said in a statement. “My Christian faith teaches me that sex is immutable. I should not be forced to deny that truth to keep my job.”

Her case comes as the U.K. health sector waits for updated guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is expected to clarify how single-sex spaces should operate after a major April Supreme Court ruling. The court held that, under the Equality Act, sex is defined biologically and that protections for “women” apply only to those born female — a decision that could reshape policies across hospitals, public venues, and local councils.

But the government has not yet published the long-delayed 300-page guidance submitted by the EHRC in September, leaving employers and unions unsure how to navigate disputes involving gender identity, patient care, and staff obligations.

A leaked version raised concerns from some Labour MPs who argued it could lead to transgender people — and even non-transgender women who “don’t look feminine enough” — being challenged in single-sex areas.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the influential professional union for nurses, has also drawn criticism from Melle. She argues the organization should have defended her but instead told members it would wait for the formal EHRC guidance before offering advice on how the Supreme Court ruling applies to nursing practice.

Advocates supporting Melle argue the case could set a national precedent. Andrea Williams of the Christian Legal Centre, which is backing her legal challenge, said:

“If professional bodies can disregard Supreme Court rulings and fail to protect the very people they were set up to look after, then the rule of law itself is at risk.”

A spokesman for the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said the organization expects all staff to follow professional standards and condemned the racial abuse Melle reported.

“As our internal proceedings are still ongoing, it wouldn’t be right for us to comment further,” the spokesman said.

The RCN and NMC did not provide comment.