3D printer helps repair the hole in one two-year-old's little heart

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A two-year-old girl who was born with a serious heart defect has had a life-saving operation thanks to a 3D printer.

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Modern technology is awe striking. One modern technological feat can be seen in the 3D printer. It has expanded the possibilities within the realms of multiple domains, including architecture, the arts, automotive technologies and even medicine.

Engineers are able to 3D print spare parts for vehicles and build homes these days, utilizing such materials as plastics, glass, metal, concrete, and foodstuffs. The technology has also entered into the market, having become relatively cost-efficient to use for things such as eyeglasses, jewelry and furniture. 3D printing has been used to create models and replicas of everything from toys and novelties to full blown body parts.

The BBC reported on Tuesday that one two-year-old girl owes her recovery to such a model. Upon birth, her mother, Natasha Buckley, had been told that she had about a 50 percent chance of living due to a serious heart defect. A hole lying between the two chambers of her heart since before birth made it difficult for the young one to even breathe or eat properly.

Doctors used a 3D printer to make a plastic printed replica of Mina Khan‘s little heart to help them understand the defect and plan accordingly towards a successful operation. The Daily Mail reports that the two-year-old is now thriving post-surgery. “They [the surgeons] were able to perfect the complicated procedure needed to cure Mina,” they say. Little Mina can breathe and eat normally, now. Her hair has begun to grow and she is thriving, growing as any two-year old child does.

The replicated heart was a sort of map that surgeons used to create a game plan pre-operation. It helped them to pinpoint what exactly they were looking for and how to go about repairs. While repairing holes in the heart is not an uncommon procedure, The Tribune reports that the replica heart printed by Dr. Tarique Hussain enabled surgeons to go in to the surgery room with confidence.

The replica was created from CT scan images that Hussain then segmented out “into format using special software suitable for printing,” creating a life-sized and precise copy of the girl’s heart. The replica showed the exact size of the hole that surgeons were to look for.

In Wales, 3D printing is also being used to create implants for patients (not just models or replicas). The BBC reports that “Hip implants or models for reconstructive facial surgery are all produced from resin using high intensity lasers.” These implants prove to be time efficient and money saving solutions to what would otherwise be very expensive procedures.

Want to learn more about how 3D printing works? We found this informative video which explains some of the history behind 3D printing, along with how the technology is used and how it may affect the future.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com

White-nose syndrome is killing off millions of already endangered bats

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Over 5 million bats have died across 19 states, due to white nose syndrome, or WNS, a fungus that infects cave dwelling bat populations. Now conservationists in Tennessee are testing out a new way to protect the bats from the debilitating fungus....

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Many are not aware of the importance bats play in ecosystems worldwide. With news that they are carriers of mass infectious diseases (such as rabies and ebola), not to mention their connoted relationship to death (but also good luck and rebirth!), people may turn up their noses upon the news that bats are endangered. Diseases such as white-nose syndrome and loss of habitat are playing key roles in the demise of millions of the winged mammals.

PA Game Commission (can use per website)

Many species of bat eat pesky bugs such as mosquitoes and other crop destroying insects, while spreading seeds and pollinating plants and flowers, taking over where the daytime bees have left off. However, come springtime, there may be considerably fewer bats doing those jobs, as a new wave of white-nose syndrome is sweeping through whole populations, reports the Washington Times via the Associated Press, Jan. 24.

In Michigan, the first reports of white-nose syndrome infected bats have turned up. That means that the light at the end of the tunnel that we saw last summerin lieu of last year’s white-nose syndrome victims may have dimmed. Per the AP report, the Department of Natural Resources expects die-offs from the disease to be widespread. They say that “people may see dead or dying bats on the ground or roosting on trees or buildings,” and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Efforts are in the works by scientists and conservationists to come up with solutions that may save the bats. However, solutions may not come soon enough. Last year, the disease spread to half of the US and it’s estimated to have killed more than six million bats on the east coast since 2006. The disease is moving west and into Canada at an alarming rate. If a colony of bats is infected, 100% of the creatures living there can die.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com

Dolphi, the world's smallest washing machine may make traditional ones obsolete

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Dolfi is a compact device that is more delicate on your clothes and may make traditional laundry machines obsolete.

Dolfi on YouTube

The laundry. It’s a chore that many people kind of dislike. Especially with the bustle of the work-a-day life where an hour or more at the laundry whittles away at the precious few moments that are left after the work week has played its course. And it’s not just the time spent at the laundromat, or folding and putting away the clothes that is irksome, it’s what happens to the actual clothes. They get mangled and shrink. Colors bleed and fade. As a result, the garments that went in to the wash are often times not the same ones that come out.

Tameca L Coleman

That’s where Dolfi, “the world’s smallest and gentlest washing device” comes in. It’s awashing machine that’s about the size of your smartphone which may, as Yahoo News put it on Jan. 18, make washing machine history. With just a sink or container filled with water and some laundry detergent, Dolfi gets to work on dirty clothes and gets the job done in 30 minutes.

Supposedly, the device cleans clothes just as well as the classic washing machines but without the side-effects such as fading, stretching and discoloring. The process is much less harsh on clothes than traditional washing machines. Digital Trends notes that the device uses ultrasound technology that “sends out the ultrasonic soundwaves, creating powerful water micro-jets as the resultant bubbles implode. These jets do all the cleaning, so you don’t have to.”

The idea came out of entrepreneur and Dolfi founder Lena Solis’ frustration with trying to do laundry while traveling. She was inspired by the “amazing benefits of ultrasound.” Ultrasound technology is also used in other home products, as well as in chemistry laboratories. Solis spawned the idea and then the Swiss engineering lab MPI Ultrasonics designed it.

The device works so gently that delicates can also be washed with it. Lace and even “dry clean only” cashmere won’t get mangled in the wash, nor will special contraptions be necessary to keep precious delicates from being destroyed as they would have in a traditional machine. According to PSFK, Dolfi is also soundless and is 80 times more energy efficient than traditional washing machines.

Want to try one of the devices out for yourself? Dolfi will set up an Indiegogo campaign on Jan. 20. For $89 you can have a portable device that washes clothes on the go and treats your delicates just right. While there is some doubt whether the device will truly make washing machines obsolete, this innovation promises to change the way people wash their clothes.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com

The Choose Your Own Adventure genre is revived on Twitter; still fun and creepy

Choose your own adventures books had their heyday in the '80s and '90s but seem to be making a comeback via social media sites like Twitter.

An array of Choose Your Own Adventure book covers

Many who were 10 to 14-year-old kids in the ‘80s and ‘90s will remember the Choose Your Own Adventure game books which took young readers on adventures where they made choices that would determine the ultimate outcomes of their stories. The readers were the main characters in these books and they searched for secrets and treasure or experienced strange things happening in their worlds until a choice led to an ending that maybe tied everything up, left things in the air, led to some strange and horrible death, or made loops throughout the book where no ending naturally came.

Though the heyday of these books has seemingly passed, The Rakyat Post reported, Jan. 18 that via Twitter, the Choose Your Own Adventure genre has taken another form. Instead of pages, readers can click their way through winding paths of Twitter accounts which lead them through many scenes that are, despite the 140 character limit, creepy.

According to Motherboard, “A Dreadful Start” takes players through 23 different Twitter accounts, some of which have posts from this month, others, with posts dating five to seven years ago. That in and of itself lends to some of the creepiness as the game first appeared on Twitter, Jan. 11 of this year. Another creepy detail is that each of the Twitter pages feature occultish images which gives a foreboding quality to each click of the game.

Below follow spoilers. If you’d like to try to play the game before reading further, then go here. Will you run or will you hide?

There’s no set up to the story. The player just starts, already in the middle of an adventure where monsters are ready to consume and destroy the player. Each player seems to die multitudes of times before they are able to make a choice that allows them to live. When a player has successfully maneuvered through the accounts, they are led to an Amazon page for a horror novel called “The Wanderer.” The book was written by Timothy J. Jarvis and was published late last summer.

While this may seem a little disappointing, the marketing ploy is brilliant. The game was developed by Terence Eden, a mobile developer at The Lab UK, after he had read “The Wanderer.” Eden wanted to try his hand at creating something as eerie as the book he had just read for a bit of a “teaser trailer.”

Eden utilized old Twitter accounts, garnered some from a friend and created more for his story. Each account made up one of the 23 chapters. To make it happen, he had to delete old tweets on defunct accounts and make them new. To piece it all together, he used an online tool called Inklewriter that allows “anyone to write and publish interactive stories.” According to Eden, using the site was much better than trying to deal with a large sheet of paper, post-it notes and string (let alone “an interlinking HTML document).

Brilliant as it is, “A Dreadful Start” is not an original idea. Eden writes on his blog how he came up with the story and notes two other fun Choose Your Own Adventure Twitter games. He also offers tips on how to fine-tune the process in writing such interactive social media games in a seeming invitation for others to play along.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com

CNN, FAA and Georgia Tech team up to test drones for journalism

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Seeking to hasten the use of drones for newsgathering, the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday announced it has signed a research agreement with CNN to share data from the network's ongoing study of the issue with the goal of creating a...

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Our love affair with drones is increasing. For example, this month, CopterExpress will nix the middle man in pizza deliveries with the first ever drone delivery system. It promises to deliver your pizza in under 30 minutes with the extra boon of not having to tip the driver. On YouTube, there are videos posted showing new views of our landscapes that we wouldn’t have gotten without drones and their accompanying GoPros. From wildlife, to protest coverage, and from art projects featuring Cirque du Soleil or an up-and-coming hip-hop artist, drones have made significant moves in becoming integral to today’s useful technologies.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

UPI reported on Jan. 12 that the world of journalism is also taking to drone tech. CNN is seemingly in the lead, as they team up with the Georgia TechResearch Institute. The news media company has gotten the go-ahead from the FAA to work on what looks akin to a beta program where drones will be tested in news gathering and reporting.

The collaboration with the Georgia Tech Research Institute will oversee collection of information about how the drones will work in the gleaning of news. The FAA will use that information to create rules and guidelines within which future organizations will operate.

CNN and the Georgia Tech Research Institute aim to utilize quality drone tech and to find out, ultimately, the possibilities of what can be done in the realm of video journalism. Their aim also includes creating high quality journalism that follows guidelines that will keep the airways safe.

According to Gizmodo, CNN has already been testing drone tech for months but they haven’t been the only news organization using the tech, nor have they been the first. Other news agencies, like the Associated Press, have been using drone tech to get aerial views of disaster sites, for example. Journalism schools had also been using drones in classrooms before the FAA decided that idea would not fly. In 2011, an organization of “Drone Journalists” was established, touting itself as “the first international organization dedicated to establishing the ethical, educational and technological framework for the emerging field of drone journalism.”

The usage of drones in journalism has been stoking the fires of the First Amendment rights conversation, as well. When the FAA has squashed such things as the incorporation of drone tech into university classrooms, major media agencies countered, saying that the usage of drones in journalism is a First Amendment right that should be fully protected and even more so than in the case of hobbyists and commercial users. Further, media companies should be included in the rules and guideline-making process when the government moves to create strictures on the way drones can be used or whether or not they can be used at all.

CNN has made the first collaboration out of all the news agencies, it seems, with a government entity. It’s not certain when drones will officially be used in news reporting, but it may not be long before drones take the airways. This seems to be a very big step and includes major parties in the decision process of how drone journalism will be used in the maybe not so far future.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com

Study reports that alternative therapies to hysterectomies are underutilized

Many woman who have received hysterectomies didn't need them. Alternative therapies exist that are not prescribed enough.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The United States performs the most hysterectomies in industrialized countries, with the procedure coming second only to the cesarean. About 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year and something like 20 million women in the states have had a hysterectomy performed.

That seems like a pretty steep number of women going through the surgery, especially since the experts seem to suggest that hysterectomies should be performed only when a life-threatening situation is at hand. Such situations include invasive cancers of the organs of the female reproductive system, unmanageable infection or bleeding and serious complications resulting from childbirth.

Statistics show that 1 in 3 women will have undergone the procedure by their 60th birthday (as approximately one third of all women up to their 60th birthday have had some sort of pelvic health issue). However, according to a new study reported by Medical News Today on Jan. 11, 1 in 5 women may be undergoing the procedure needlessly. This is significant, especially in lieu of the statistic that nearly 40 percent of women who have reproductive organ maladies are not offered treatments other than hysterectomies when they go to the doctor with their complaints.

A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus which may also result in the removal of the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes and other features of the female reproductive system. According to WebMD, hysterectomies are performed for myriad reasons and are done as a last resort in noncancerous cases when other approaches have proven to be unsuccessful. Causes leading up to them can include painful uterine fibroids, uterine prolapse, uterine cancer, endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain.

Though hysterectomy rates are falling in the U.S., hundreds of thousands of women still undergo the procedure. The Medical News Today (MNT) notes that the guidelines set forth by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists urge health care officials to suggest other modes of non-surgical treatments such as myomectomy or uterine artery embolization (in the case of fibroids) and endometrial ablation, hormonal therapies or a prescription of NSAIDs (in the case of heavy or unmanageable menstrual bleeding).

In the study mentioned above (which was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology), Doctors and staff set out to analyze data concerning use of alternative treatments before hysterectomies were even considered for patients who were not facing life-threatening issues. It was found that among the 3,397 women from 52 hospitals in the state of Michigan who had gone through the surgical procedure for maladies that were not life-threatening, 37.7 percent had no documents in their medical records showing that they had undergone alternative therapies, nor had those alternative therapies been suggested or prescribed. “What is more,” reported MNT, “the pathological findings following surgery among 18.3% women - almost 1 in 5 - did not support the need for a hysterectomy. Further, “Less than 30% of women received medical therapy prior to a hysterectomy, according to the study, and 24% underwent minor surgical procedures beforehand.” More statistics point to the fact that alternatives to hysterectomies are not suggested or employed enough.

*originally published at the now defunct Examiner.com

Stopping the scourge of 'manspreading' and other public transit space-takers

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The Youtube star Johnny T. talks to The New York Times about “manspreading,” the bane of many New York City subway riders. By: Ashley Maas

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It might seem surprising, but the use of public transportation such as buses and trains is increasing at a rate that considerably surpasses the current use of highways. According to the American Public Transportation Association(APTA), public transportation rose to the highest number of riders since 57 years ago, with 10.7 billion trips being logged in 2013. This number is indicative of a 37.2 percent increase that is part of a longtime trend which does not seem to have an end in sight any time soon. The APTA states that the demand for public transportation is predicted to continually increase.

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This means that public transport is often crowded. That is why New Yorkhas prompted riders to “Stop the Spread, Please,” reported CBS news, Jan. 5.

“Manspreading” is the focus of a current campaign in which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is attempting to stamp out a “scourge” of space-takers on public transportation who are laying it all out, sometimes taking up two to three seats to themselves. It’s a habit that has received many complaints and sometimes, annoyed fellow passengers “subway shame” manspreaders via social media outlets.

Well, what is it precisely, this manspreading thing? According to actress Kelley Rae O’Donnell, a woman who has been taking pictures of culprits for the last three years and posting them on Twitter, "Manspreading is when men take up too much room on the subway by spreading their legs in a wide V, like geese traveling."

“It’s the bane of many female subway riders,” wrote the New York Times, and though many men consider sitting with their legs spread their lawful and god-given right, others counter with the commentary that sitting that way on crowded mass transit is simply rude, let alone obnoxious.

It’s not just the manspread that is under fire. Ladies, if you think you’re safe, you might guess again. Though most women don’t sit in splayed out fashion, an oversized purse or backpack taking up more than one sitting space could get some frowns thrown in your direction and an honorary position in the #subwayshaming feed.

Remember, as the MTA says in their current campaign, “Courtesy Counts: Manners Make a Better Ride.” So, close your legs, put away that tuna sandwich, don’t spread out across seats to take a nap and maybe wait til you get home to paint those fingernails. Your fellow passengers would very much appreciate it.

*originally published at the now defunct Examiner.com

More than 2300 volunteers help conservation efforts with Annual Bird Count

Birders brave the winter weather to count and log bird populations across species for the Annual Christmas Bird Count.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The 115th Annual Christmas Bird Count goes through Monday, Jan. 5 and some surprising results are already starting to show up in reports. The results have been gathered from thousands of volunteer bird watchers and enthusiasts who have braved the winter temperatures to aid along in conservation efforts by putting their bird watching skills to work. Volunteers look for bird species and take note. Then, the National Audubon Society and other organizations use the information they have gathered to gauge the health of bird populations across species. 

There were some delightful finds in Chicago, which saw some species of birds above their usual counts for the area,reported CBS Local News, Jan. 2. There were 900 Sandhill crane sightings (up from a previous high of six) and three bald eagles were sighted in the area, as well. The numbers in both of these sightings were unusual, said Chicago area organizer Joel Greenberg, and “extraordinary,” which is good news in terms of conservation efforts. Savannah Now reported that though the red-cockaded woodpecker (which is endangered) and the hairy woodpecker are no longer found in Savannah, other bird species populations have also increased, like those of the Eurasian collared dove.

More than 2300 individual counts have been taking place all across North and South America since Dec. 14. This year, more than 60,000 people participated in the bird count and 9,505,639 have been logged so far according toAudubon’s webpage. Not all of the data has been logged yet but will be soon. You can check in at the link above to keep tabs. The site also has many publications listed that talk about bird conservation and how to get involved next year.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com

Sugar is more addictive than cocaine and a serious epidemic

Sugar damage: Consumption of excess and added sugar is an epidemic.

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It’s difficult to stave off sugar cravings once you’ve gotten started. For some, a box of chocolates or a pint of Ben and Jerry’s means that the whole box or pint will be downed in one sitting. For others, two to three Starbucks runs per day probably won’t seem too strange, despite the loads of sugar that are pumped into most of the beverages on the menu.

We think that of course, in moderation, our sugar intake is for the most part harmless. Maybe we have one mocha a day instead of three. Maybe that box of chocolates lasts a week or more. But for many, sugar cravings are signifiers of a very serious and hard to reverse addiction that is similar to a drug and quite possibly just as destructive, reported Burlington County Times, Jan. 4.

According to Burlington, the average person consumes 285 calories worth (20 teaspoons) of sugar per day (one 12 oz. soda contains 8-10 teaspoons of sugar on its own. That’s just under half a cup of sugar and something like 14 teaspoons too many. For those who are addicted, sugar cravings can be so great that “you can’t stop eating it, you lose control eating it and you gain excessive weight from it,” said Dr. Fred Bonanni, director of Abington Health’s Institute for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Pennsylvania. It’s an epidemic that sees Americans eating 156 pounds per year, often times without their knowledge. This is a scary and dangerous fact. According to the New York Daily News, sugar “is eight times more addictive than cocaine.”

Much of the sugar that is consumed in America comes from processed foods and sweetened drinks. Burlington notes that even things like ketchup and spaghetti sauce have sugar added. It’s not just the Coca Cola or cookies that you have to watch out for. Look at the labels of your trusted “healthy” cereal, or your teriyaki sauce, for instance.

Here’s the kicker. The body does need sugar in the form of glucose in order to function properly. In the case of added sugars, which offer no nutritional value aside from energy, caution should be heeded. According to the World Health Organization, added sugar should not exceed 10% of anyone’s daily intake of foods. The American Heart Association recommends sugar intake to take up 7% or less of our daily caloric intake. That means a cut back is in order of bagels and other breads, chips, canned and packaged fruits, yogurt, and many other grocery items high in added sugar content which may shock you.

One of the reasons sugar is so addictive is that when it is processed in the body, it literally “activates the brain’s reward center, where a neurotransmitter called dopamine, or DRD2, triggers sensations of pleasure.” And often, sugar consumption causes a “sugar high” that is also followed by a low. Even those who are really good at eating sugar in moderation have probably experienced this. Many try to get back to the high. “You get this rush, your blood sugar drops and you feel crappy and tired and worn out. You put more sugar in to get the same response, and it becomes this vicious cycle,” said Bonanni. In no time at all, you’re back up to three mochas a day and a box of chocolates. Beyond that, there could be more sugar added to your day, as the more sugar consumed causes a higher level of sugar intake needed in order to reach that sugar high.

It takes a lot of discipline to wean yourself from consuming excess sugar. It is, however, pertinent to wean yourself. Consumption of excess sugar causes things like diabetes, excess fat, depression, migraines, poor eyesight, arthritis (and other autoimmune diseases), gout and osteoporosis. The best bet would be to wean yourself completely from excess and added sugars. But don’t go cold-turkey. If you make changes over time, there will be less chance of relapse into the vicious cycle of sugar highs and lows.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com

Wake Up Call at the Grocery Store

Yeah, man. That's the inside of my fridge. I had to 

have some kind of picture here! I didn't think to 

take any in the store tonight. What a shame.

I had quite the wake up call today when I went to the grocery store. Much of the produce shelves were nearly bare or half bare and many other shelves, as well. What produce was left was a bit picked over and there weren't any stocked to the ridge bottles and cans of things today.

There were so many people in the store, too, and I wondered why I didn't happen to hear anyone else asking the store clerks what was going on. I wondered why no one else seemed to be perplexed. It was a little weird to me that business was going on as usual, sales and all, BOGOs and no news anywhere about whether this store was going out of business or whether the store clerks were going to restock anytime soon.

I finally asked someone. "We didn't get our shipment in today," said one of the cashiers at the self-checkout. She didn't seem to think much of it, told me and then went on looking bored. I went on, too. I bagged my things and left the place, realizing just how short of a time it would take to have nothing at all, being so dependent as I am on such things as grocery stores.