She's got a long hair there but, not yet record-breaking

With her long golden hair, schoolgirl Katy White could be Wales' answer to fairytale heroine Rapunzel. 

Katy, a pupil at Amman Valley Comprehensive, isn't short of admirers, who stop her to marvel at the length of her hair - which is almost the same height as her. 

Katy, of Bishop Road, Ammanford, is 4ft 11in and her hair, which flows to the back of her knees, measures 3ft 4in.

'There was a time, when Katy was about six, when she decided to cut two big chunks out of the front of her hair,' said mother Barbara.

'I saw the hair in the bin and assumed Katy had thrown a doll away. When I pulled the hair out I turned around and saw that Katy had two huge steps in the front of her hair. Apart from that she's only ever had it trimmed at the hairdressers, and only three times.'

But as well as attracting admirers, Katy's hair also creates it own problems. 

'It may be beautiful but it can also be pretty deadly,' laughed Barbara. 'She practices the martial art Choi Kwang Do, and to do that we have to put her hair in a plait. 

'The only problem is that when she spins, her hair whips round, and people have to move out of the way. It's like a secret weapon.'

On average, Katy's hair takes an hour to wash and just as long to dry. 'People stop me to ask about my hair all the time, I'm used to it now,' said Katy. 

'I can't imagine having it cut, although I do have it tied back most of the time, especially when I'm in school.'

Despite its head-turning capabilities, a spokesperson from the Guinness World Record said Katy's hair is not yet record-breaking but added: 'That is some long hair for a girl of her age.'

Asha Mandela and her 55ft long dreadlocks currently hold the world title.

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Louis van Gaal was furious with Van Persie for pulling-off his shirt after injury time goal against Chelsea

Louis van Gaal claimed Manchester United’s fighting spirit will take them back into the top four after Robin van Persie’s last minute equaliser against Chelsea.

But the United boss criticised his striker’s ‘stupid’ reaction in ripping off his shirt after scoring the goal, earning him a booking.

United were seconds away from their third defeat this season when Van Persie smashed the ball home beyond 10-man Chelsea’s defence, the first goal of the Van Gaal era in what used to be known as ‘Fergie time’.

Van Gaal said: ‘Chelsea tried to kill the game, they made the pitch big and we had to run a lot but we fought till the end.

‘When we scored it was deserved. We created a lot of chances - far more than Chelsea.

Van Gaal admitted he was furious with Van Persie for ripping his shirt off after scoring. ‘It was a stupid reaction after the goal,’ he said. ‘I can see he was excited but after he was booked it was not so smart.’

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Scientists have developed a new method to Target and Kill Cancer

Scientists have developed a new method for fighting cancer that involves unleashing killer stem cells specially created to fight the disea

A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have successfully tested the method on mice and published the findings in the journal Stem Cells. By engineering stem cells to secrete a toxin that kills cancer cells, they were able to remove brain cancer from the mice without harming any healthy cells. 

"Cancer-killing toxins have been used with great success in a variety of blood cancers, but they don't work as well in solid tumours because the cancers aren't as accessible and the toxins have a short half-life," lead author Khalid Shah told BBC News. "Now, we have toxin-resistant stem cells that can make and release cancer-killing drugs."

In other words, if this method proves successful, doctors may actually be able to target cancer cells — and only cancer cells — to destroy them while leaving others unharmed, which would be a major revolution in the field of cancer treatment. 

How it works: The researchers first took mice with brain cancer and surgically removed their tumors. They then extracted the genetically engineered stem cells, which were placed at the former tumor site in the form of a gel.

Because the stem cells were designed to produce a toxin that kills cancer cells, the big challenge was making sure the toxin didn't kill healthy brain cells or other stem cells. Luckily, this part was a success, and this success is what makes this potential treatment method so exciting. 

The next step, Shah said, is to try the process using different types of cancers. He told BBC News he hopes there can be clinical trials in the next five years.

What it means: This doesn't mean we can now cure brain cancer, since the technique has yet to be tested on humans and will likely require plenty of work before it can be used outside of a laboratory environment.

Still, this is good news. The deadly and complex disease that it is, finding any new and promising method to fight cancer is always a step in the right direction. And from the initial findings of this stem cell treatment method, experts are calling this a major step in cancer treatment research. 

"This is a clever study, which signals the beginning of the next wave of therapies," Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, told BBC News. "Cells can do so much. This is the way the future is going to be."

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