3D printing and neurosurgery.

Ed Smith does some fiendishly difficult surgeries. A paediatric neurosurgeon at Boston Children's Hospital, he often removes tumours and blood vessels that have grown in gnarled, tangled shapes. It's detonating -a-bomb-type surgery. Smith prepares for his work by using an unusual tool a 3D printer. Days in advance, hospital technicians use standard imaging to print a high-resolution copy of the child's brain, tumour and all. Smith will examine it for hours, slowly developing a nuanced, tactile feel for the challenge. "I can hold the problem in my hand," Smith says. "I can rehearse the surgery as many times as I want." During the operation, Smith keeps the printed brain next to him for reference. As a visualization tool, it's so powerful that it has reduced the length of his surgeries by an average of 12 per cent. Doctors have long used MRIs and CT scans to help visualize tumors. But when the visualization is physical, it has a haptic impact that screens do not. That's why architects build scale models of their buildings: only by peering around a structure do you "get" what's going on. "You see these spatial relations and depth of field that aren't possible on-screen," Smith says.Read

Purps the penguin walks again with a 3D-printed boot.

Children from Mystic Middle School in Connecticut recently teamed up with a local aquarium and 3D printing firm to create a boot that has helped an injured penguin walk again.The penguin, called Yellow Purple or 'Purps' for short, tore a tendon in her left leg following an altercation with a fellow bird at Mystic Aquarium in 2011. She has been unable to walk properly since.The project not only helped a member of an endangered species, but the students a hands-on understanding of the 3D-printing process. African penguins were classed as endangered in 2010. They are around 60cm tall and typically weight between two to five kilograms as adults. As the name suggests, the species is mainly found along the south African coast, and their braying call has also led to them being known as Jackass penguins As part of a project run by 3D Systems, with ACT Group, the school children modelled a hand-moulded cast of the penguin's foot and then used 3D printing technology to create a perfectly-formed cast to support Purps leg and help her walk once more. The original hand-moulded cast was too heavy for the penguin so ACT Group used 3D Systems' ProJet MJP 5500x to print a lightweight orthotic boot instead. . See

Agriculture and robots.

The future is really wrapped around technology to ensure food security and safety .In the world today, robots have been assigned more tasks than you imagine.Robots are gradually taking over jobs performed by man and a report shows that by 2025 robots will put humans out of work. They are already employed in various industries from administration to agriculture.

 Robots in agriculture ease labor force,ensure expected performance as the case in precision farming. The ability of robots to blend seamlessly with any organization and task makes them indispensible. Nadine, a "receptionist" at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She is friendly, and will greet you back. Next time you meet her, she will remember your name and your previous conversation with her. She looks almost like a human being, with soft skin and flowing brunette hair. She smiles when greeting you, looks at you in the eye when talking, and can also shake hands with you,and she is a humanoid. See 

The role of robots in agriculture and by extension food security has been redefined by a Japanese company that is set to open the world’s first “robot farm”, as agriculture joins other sectors of the economy in attempting to fill labor shortages created by the country’s rapidly ageing population.

Spread, a vegetable producer, said industrial robots would carry out all but one of the tasks needed to grow the tens of thousands of lettuces it produces each day at its vast indoor farm in Kameoka, Kyoto prefecture, starting from mid-2017. 

 The robots will do everything from re-planting young seedlings to watering, trimming and harvesting crops. The innovation will boost production from 21,000 lettuces a day to 50,000 a day, the firm said, adding that it planned to raise that figure to half a million lettuces daily within five years.

The seeds will still be planted by humans, but every other step, from the transplanting of young seedlings to larger spaces as they grow to harvesting the lettuces, will be done automatically,” said JJ Price, Spread’s global marketing manager. Read

Understanding Pokémon Go and catching new types in your city.

In this video we take a look inside Pokémon Go, the new mobile game from Nintendo, and how to catch different types of Pokémon, so you can prepare to battle other players and conquer your own gym!

McDonald's and Pokémon Go.

Companies are cashing in on the frenzy of the pokemon go players to make sales and expand their brand. Many companies are trading with pokemon go spike to grow their sales and consumer base. Pokémon Go's first sponsored location in Japan will be will be McDonald's -Japanese site Excite News reports that the fast food chain will be partnering with Pokémon Go developer Niantic on the game's debut in the land of the rising sun. The possibility of sponsored locations in Pokémon Go to help monetise the free-to-play game was reported last week. Developer Niantic has yet to confirm details, but the scheme would likely see stores and brands paying a fee to be able to offer rare items or Pokémon, enticing players to visit and, hopefully, spend with them. McDonald's Japan has also declined to provide details on what the partnership will entail, only saying it is collaborating with Niantic to ensure the launch goes smoothly. An earlier leak suggests the 3,000+ restaurants across the country could serve as special Gyms where trainers can battle. The size and importance of a partnership with McDonald's can't be understated, though. Japan has the largest number of restaurants for the brand outside of the US, creating a huge portal to expose the game in. Ironically enough, the attention that partnering with McDonald's could bring to the mobile game may have cooled Niantic's boots on when to actually launch. See more

Pokémon Go launches in Japan and servers immediately crash.

Nintendo has finally launched Pokémon Go in Japan, the birthplace of the now ubiquitous game – but the already unstable servers appear to have crashed under all the weight. Niantic Labs, the developers behind the game, announced it was "finally broadcasting" in Japan. The game was first released on July 6 in the US, Australia and New Zealand and has been rolling out globally since. The Japanese launch was reportedly delayed as it firmed up a sponsorship deal with McDonald's. Japanese site Excite News reports the fast food chain is partnering with Pokémon Go developer. Read more

Coca-Cola turns to baobab in new low calorie soft drink brand

Coca-Cola turns to baobab in new low calorie soft drink brand. Coca-Cola has launched a soft drink which counts baobab extract among its ingredients: a beverage that could be rolled out globally in the future. Read more