Late Night Open Thread: 3-D for Good, Science Fair Super Inventor, and It’s Weiner Weather

Good Evening!

Three quick links for you tonight.

Another story about those 3-D printers: Splint made by 3D printer used to save baby’s life

A baby’s life has been saved by using a device to help him breathe created by a 3D printer. The operation, carried out in the US, follows the development of a controversial 3D-printed gun openly available online.

It is hoped that further objects with a more positive purpose, treating other medical conditions, could also be developed through the 3D printing process – structures that are being developed for use in ear, nose and throat surgery.

This is wonderful news.

The groundbreaking intervention was made after the parents of Kaiba Gionfriddo begged doctors to help their six-week-old son, who collapsed and turned blue when the family was at a restaurant. In the following months he stopped breathing regularly and had to be resuscitated on a daily basis.

Kaiba had been born with the main arteries to his heart and lungs misplaced; they were squeezing his windpipe, causing a rare condition called tracheobronchomalacia. Most affected children grow out of it by the age of three, but in severe cases it can cause death.

Doctors working with Professor Scott Hollister, a biomedical engineer at the University of Michigan, used a 3D printer to make a device like a vacuum cleaner hose which was implanted into Kaiba’s chest to act as splint to hold his airway open.

Three weeks after the operation in February 2012 – which has only now been reported, in The New England Journal of Medicine – he was taken off the ventilator and has not had trouble breathing since.

In other science news, there was a huge invention that came out of this years national science fair.  18-year-old’s breakthrough invention can recharge phones in seconds

An 18-year-old science student has made an astonishing breakthrough that will enable mobile phones and other batteries to be charged within seconds rather than the hours it takes today’s devices to power back up.

Saratoga, Calif. resident Eesha Khare made the breakthrough by creating a small supercapacitor that can fit inside a cell phone battery and enable ultra-fast electricity transfer and storage, delivering a full charge in 20-30 seconds instead of several hours.

The nano-tech device Khare created can supposedly withstand up to 100,000 charges, a 100-fold increase over current technology, and it’s flexible enough to be used in clothing or displays on any non-flat surface.

It could also one day be used in car batteries and charging stations not unlike those used by the Tesla Model S, which includes “supercharger” technology that promises to charge vehicles in 30 minutes or less.

“I’m in a daze,” Khare told CBS San Francisco after being honored among the three winners at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix over the weekend. “I can’t believe this happened.”

Over 1,600 finalists from around the world competed in the science fair for a $75,000 scholarship grand prize awarded by Intel.

Seriously, Eesha Khare is a fabulous role model for girls in school rooms everywhere!

And finally, y’all have heard…the Weiner is back:

Ringside Seat: First Sanford, Now Weiner?

Will Anthony Weiner be able to pull a Mark Sanford in the upcoming New York City mayoral race?

He certainly hopes so. If you remember from a few weeks ago, Mark Sanford was the disgraced former South Carolina governor who rocketed back to political relevance after winning a special election for a vacant House seat. The voters of the South Carolina first district weren’t happy with his affair, but were willing to forgive him (it also helped that he was a Republican running in a conservative area).

Anthony Weiner didn’t cheat on his wife, but he did send pictures of his crotch to random women on the internet, which is almost more embarrassing. He was forced to resign from office, and entered a long period of seclusion. Today, however, he officially announced his bid for mayor of New York City. It’s entirely possible he’ll be successful, and follow Sanford’s example.

Then again, there are important differences between the two men and their situations.

Mark Sanford was running to represent the district he left to become governor. He had history with voters, and in turn, many still held him in high esteem. Indeed, when Sanford was eventually forced out of office, he held an approval rating in the mid–50s. Affair or no affair, South Carolinians still liked him.

Weiner has never been mayor of New York, and doesn’t have political experience in large areas of the city. It’s a bad combination of traits: Infamous but unable to claim goodwill.

Again, none of this is to say Weiner can’t win. Stranger things have happened in politics, after all. But it’s fair to say it would be a surprise.

‘I hope I get a second chance’: Anthony Weiner launches bid to become NYC mayor – NBC Politics

Anthony Weiner, whose career as a congressman collapsed after he posted sexually suggestive pictures of himself on Twitter, has announced that he’s running for mayor of New York City.

After months of speculation, the former congressman announced via a YouTube video that he will be running for mayor of New York City, nearly two years after he resigned from Congress over a sexting scandal. NBC’s Mara Schiavocampo reports.

“I made some big mistakes and I know I let a lot of people down. But I’ve also learned some tough lessons,” the Democrat said in a video posted on his website late on Tuesday.

“I’m running for mayor because I’ve been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life,” he added. “I hope I get a second chance to work for you.”

The video, which features his son and wife Huma Abedin, an aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, focused on his middle-class roots in Brooklyn.

Yup…okay then.

This is an open thread…