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PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL STORY: Fabiane Fernando is "seeing" her unborn child for the first time. She and her husband Luis are visually impaired, but new 3D scanning technology has turned a virtual scan of the developing child into an anatomically accurate model. The application of computer software on conventional MRI images, produces a picture of the unborn child in unprecedented detail, both inside and out. SOUNDBITE: FABIANE FERNANDO - VISUALLY IMPAIRED PREGNANT PATIENT, SAYING: "It's like I'm now able to see what the scan is showing, just like any normal person would." Called Human 3D Technology by its Brazilian inventors, the scanning technique was originally developed for educational purposes and as a tool for medical practitioners. The detailed visual information detects abnormalities otherwise unseen with an ultrasound. Designer Jorge Lopes explains. SOUNDBITE: JORGE LOPES, DESIGNER OF HUMAN 3D TECHNOLOGY, SAYING: "I wanted to come up with something that was unheard of and would provide some kind of support to the field of fetal medicine. We've made significant scientific strides in that area, providing an important contribution to medicine, which is pretty cool." Fernando's doctor, Heron Werner, first performs a conventional ultrasound scan. The second part of the procedure takes place in Lopes' studio. The designer processes the scans with a computer program which assembles an electronic 3D model of the fetus. The model can then be printed as a life-size, three-dimensional replica. SOUNDBITE: DR. HERON WERNER, FERNANDO'S PRE-NATAL DOCTOR AND HUMAN 3D TECHNOLOGY CO-DEVELOPER, SAYING: "The technique wasn't initially focused on the visually impaired, but as we realized we could replicate the fetus in a way that was very close to real life, we thought it could be beneficial to blind people. But our original goal when we created this technology was for academic research purposes." Now, the scanning technique is finding fans elsewhere. For the Fernandos and other families, the benefits are clear to see.
Jan. 13 - A combination of scanning technologies developed in Brazil, is giving doctors and expectant parents the opportunity to examine their unborn babies in unprecedented detail, inside and out. The system can not only provide a three-dimensional tour through internal organs where abnormalities might exist, it can also produce a physical model of an unborn child for parents with impaired vision. Tara Cleary reports.
Hard-edged reporting, insight and analysis, Reuters TV breaks ground creating informative news and financial videos. Showcasing Reuters’ 3000 award-winning journalists, Reuters TV delivers high-energy investigative journalism with concise explanations. Check it out and let us know what you think.
Kavi is a healthy 10 year old male Sumatran Tiger. Damai is a three year old female. Together, they are the great hope of the Smithsonian National Zoo's captive breeding programme. SOUNDBITE: MARIE MAGNUSON - ANIMAL KEEPER/GREAT CATS UNIT, SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOO, SAYING: " Sumatran tigers total population of captive and wild is probably about 500 individuals, so it is important that we keep a healthy, genetically healthy population, and every tiger born is a victory." ..and Great Cats keeper Marie Magnuson says that for Kavi and Damai, romance is in the air. In a carefully choreographed courtship, the pair spend time together daily and have actually mated. No announcements yet, but Kanai undergoes a daily ritual to get her accustomed to the feeling of an ultrasound probe against her belly. The treat of frozen blook helps. SOUNDBITE: MARIE MAGNUSON - ANIMAL KEEPER/GREAT CATS UNIT, SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOO, SAYING: "I'm amazed how tolerant she's of been touched. A lot of cats really don't really like it." Female tigers don't ovulate until after they've mated but zoo-keepers believe the chances of pregnancy for Damai are good. The Wolrd Wildlife Fund supports the idea of captive breeding but, according to Sybile Klenzendorf, would prefer that what remains of their natural habitat be left alone. WWF camera traps have clearly revealed what the Sumatran tiger species faces in the wild. A curious tiger appears one night...one week later the same camera records a bulldozer levelling the forest. SOUNDBITE: SYBILLE KLENZENDORF, WWF MANAGING DIRECTOR, SPECIES CONSERVATION PROGRAM, SAYING: "We've seen about 50 per cent of Sumatra's forest lost in the last 25 years and that trend is continuing. However, there is still enough habitat for a good population of tigers, you know, there is 56-thousand square miles of habitat left on Sumatra, that is actually the size of the state of New York, and, you know, with those populations they are being poached and we are losing tigers, in conflict with people as the forest is gone, but I'm still hopeful that we can recover these tigers if we stop deforestation of what's remaining there." In the meantime though, captive breeding can produce a genetically diverse insurance population. The zoo says a litter of cubs for Kavi and Damai would be a boost not just for the zoo but the species as a whole.
Jan. 16 - Washington's Smithsonian National Zoo is playing Cupid to two Sumatran tigers in hopes they will produce offspring to offset falling numbers in the wild. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that only 400 tigers survive in the forests of Sumatra, their habitat decimated by deforestation and poaching. The zoo says a captive population will help ensure the species' long-term survival. Rob Muir has more.
Hard-edged reporting, insight and analysis, Reuters TV breaks ground creating informative news and financial videos. Showcasing Reuters’ 3000 award-winning journalists, Reuters TV delivers high-energy investigative journalism with concise explanations. Check it out and let us know what you think.
Imagine a computer paper-thin and flexible... The technology behind that sci-fi vision made it's debut at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, when Plastic Logic, unveiled a prototype of its, "PaperTab" tablet. The company, which specializes is polymer transistors and plastic electronics, has teamed up with Ontario's Queen's University research team in creating the futuristic paper. Research manager Mike Banach explains. SOUNDBITE Mike Banach, Plastic Logic research manager, saying (English): "What we are really trying to show is a desk top scenario where you have multiple displays on the desktop, where you will be able to transfer the information between the displays using different interfaces, different sensor technology." The PaperTab tablet looks and feels like a plastic sheet of paper. The tablet, though, is fully interactive and is powered by an Intel Processor. Queen's University researcher Aneesh Tarun, demonstrates how it works. SOUNDBITE Aneesh Tarun, "I have my e-mail inbox here and I want to be able to read my e-mail while also wanting to keep an eye out for new e-mails. I can do that by simply taking this piece of paper and tapping it and picking up the e-mail that I just got. Now, I want to reply to this person by sending them a photo. First, I just bend to reply and then I pick up the photo that I have and I just tap it here and it gets attached. Now, I just bend it and the e-mail gets sent. It is as simple as that." PaperTabs can easily be tossed around on a desk while providing a magazine-like reading experience. And they are re-usable. Before everyone gets too excited, the paper tablet is still 5 to 10 years away from finding its way into your hands.
Jan. 11 -The word's first flexible computer made of paper has been unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The device comes from developers at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and a company called Plastic Logic who say it represents the future of desk-top computing. John Russell reports.
It's a familar scene at clinics across the United States but despite an upsurge in vaccinations, the flu has reached epidemic proportions. There's not much more authorities can do, although scientists at Colombia University in New York believe that in the future, they will be far better equipped to spread the word about the spread of the flu. Using web-based estimates from six recent flu seasons in New York City to retrospectively generate weekly flu forecasts, Dr. Jeffrey Shaman was able to pinpoint the peak timing of outbreaks more than seven weeks before they occurred. He says the concept can be applied to future predictions. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEFFREY SHAMAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "We've been doing this at the municipal scale because the Google Flu Trend Observations are at the municipal scale so we can run the models at a municipal scale: it can run for New York city, we can run it for Miami, Dallas, Phoenix, Seattle, what have you. And so, the idea there is that we can predict within those localities when the peak timing of influenza will take place. We can also predict total number of cases, perhaps; we can also try to predict the magnitude of the peak - how many cases there are at the peak, that's the type of information we could potentially provide." And when combined with real time data, such as the number of flu-related search qeries from a given area and regional outbreak estimates from health authorities, Shaman says the public can be better informed. He foresees a day when flu warnings are issued much like weather reports. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEFFREY SHAMAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "You hear there's an eighty percent chance of rain, you're a lot more likely to take an umbrella that day than if you hear there's a twenty percent chance of rain, okay? So if you have that kind of information that you hear the influenza outbreak is coming, you'll prepare: you're more likely to get vaccinated, perhaps; you're more likely to take other preventative measures; you're more likely if you hear a child's sick and you were going to have a play day with that child, for instance, say 'let's not do it right now, let's do it in a couple weeks.' So, it's that kind of information that I think would be beneficial and people have a right to know." ..and that "right to know", could translate into fewer cases of flu. It's an idea that Shaman believes has the potential to go viral.
Jan. 15 - As the flu outbreak reaches epidemic levels in the U.S., scientists are turning to weather modeling to help forecast the future seasonal spread of the virus. Rob Muir reports.
