Science & Technology
Science & Technology
Designers Use 3D Printing for Beautiful Prosthetics and Space Food
Ari Armstrong May 29, 2013
Businessmen and researchers continue advancing the boundaries of 3D printing. Scott Summit, founder of Bespoke Innovations, asks us to “wonder what would happen if an industrial designer had a go at making prosthetic legs, things that are beautiful [and] . . . don’t neglect the esthetics.” Summit’s company makes fairings,…
Science & Technology
Recognition of Property Rights is the Key to Bakken Development
David Biederman May 29, 2013
This March, North Dakotans overcame brutal winter storms and produced a record 782,934 barrels of oil per day, a 35 percent increase over production last March. This increase was made possible largely by a 26 percent expansion in the number of wells, with 1,712 wells added over the year. What…
Science & Technology
Innovative Doctors Save Infant’s Life with 3D Printing
Ari Armstrong May 26, 2013
It is a parent’s nightmare: Your infant has severe breathing problems—intermittently ceasing to breathe and then breathing again—and there seems to be no way to fix the problem. This was a horror that April and Bryan Gionfriddo faced when their six-week-old son, Kaiba, temporarily quit breathing due to a collapsed…
Reviews, Science & Technology
Review: Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis, by John C. Goodman
Jared M. Rhoads May 20, 2013
Jared M. Rhoads reviews Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis, by John C. Goodman.
Science & Technology
New Prototype Shows Promise in Medical Diagnostic Imaging
Daniel Burritt May 19, 2013
A promising new medical device for detecting electromagnetic disturbances in the brain can rapidly screen patients for intracranial swelling or bleeding. The medical journal PLOS ONE depicts the helmet-like apparatus as a safe, portable, and relatively inexpensive tool to determine whether patients require further imaging with CT (computed tomography) or…
Science & Technology
Scientists Advance 3D Printing toward Fabrication of Living Tissues and Functional Organs
Mikayla Callen May 9, 2013
A recent post by Ari Armstrong about the wonders of 3D printing applied to the field of medicine concluded, “What’s next we can only imagine.” Now, just a few weeks later, we have an indication. Researchers are on course to print functional, customized human tissues and organs. On May 3,…
Science & Technology
Thank Industry for Protecting Us From Nature
Roberto Sarrionandia May 9, 2013
Many widely used phrases and bromides—including “mother nature” and “living in harmony with nature”—imply that nature is a benevolent and loving place. Yet natural disasters, such as the recent California Springs fire, show that nature can be lethal and that we need the products of industrial civilization to protect ourselves…
Science & Technology
Good News Abounds: Space Tourism, Medical Marvels, and More
Ari Armstrong May 6, 2013
Terrorism at home, chemical warfare abroad, continued economic problems most everywhere . . . The bad news can be overwhelming. It is important, then, to keep an eye on the good news, both as an act of justice toward the rational and productive people who inspire the headlines, and as…
Science & Technology
Estimated Oil in the Bakken Region Doubles
David Biederman May 4, 2013
American energy producers keep finding and developing more usable oil and natural gas. Recently the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) increased its estimate of the recoverable oil in the Williston Basin spanning parts of Montana and the Dakotas—the region famous for Bakken shale. The USGS’s new estimate of 7.34 billion barrels…
Science & Technology
Think You Have Health Insurance? Think Again, Explains Beth Haynes
Ari Armstrong May 1, 2013
Dr. Beth Haynes makes a surprising but warranted claim in her recent article for Huffington Post: “Very few Americans have health insurance . . . because what people call health insurance really isn't insurance at all.” Real insurance, Haynes explains, covers high-cost, catastrophic events, not routine care. What usually passes…