Elderly penguins receive custom lenses in "world-first" procedure:
King penguin Theo was one of the animals that received the new lenses. Photo shows him post-surgery in recovery. MANDAI WILDLIFE GROUP
Three elderly penguins from a Singapore zoo underwent successful cataract surgery and received new custom-made lenses – the first known time the procedure's been done for the animals, the Mandai Wildlife Reserve announced Tuesday. Six penguins – three king penguins and three Humboldt penguins – from Jurong Bird Park had the surgery to "enhance their sight and improve their quality of life," which included the removal of cloudy lenses caused by cataracts, the zoo said. Only the three king penguins received the artificial lens – a "world-first," said Dr. Gladys Boo, who performed the surgeries along with a team at Mandai Wildlife Reserve. The penguins made a full recovery two months after the surgery and are currently back with their colony in Jurong Bird Park. Dr. Ellen Rasidi, a veterinarian with the Mandai Wildlife Group, said in a statement that all the penguins are doing well.
Lacking Health Workers, Germany Taps Robots For Elder Care:
Garmi is a product of a new sector called geriatronics, which taps advanced technologies for geriatrics, gerontology and nursing.
A new robot nurse named Garmi has been created by a retired German Doctor and researchers as the Technical University of Munich. Garmi is a product of a new sector called geriatronics, a discipline that taps advanced technologies like robotics, IT and 3D technology for geriatrics, gerontology and nursing. Not only is Garmi able to perform diagnostics on patients, it can also provide care and treatment for them. With the number of people needing care growing quickly and an estimated 670,000 caregiver posts to go unfilled in Germany by 2050, the researchers are racing to conceive robots that can take over some of the tasks carried out today by nurses, caregivers and doctors. Although Garmi is still in its prototype phase it is showing great promise for the future of patient care, particularly for the elderly.
4 Years After Discovery, the First Viking Ship Burial Found in Over 100 Years Reveals its Lost Secrets:
illustration from gjellestadstory.no
When news broke in 2018 that another Viking-Age ship burial had been found on the shores of the Oslo Fjord, it quickly became one of the finds of the century. Excavations began in 2020 and concluded in October of 2021. Early on it was clear that nothing like a ship could be removed from the earth, not only for the condition of the wood, but also the rivets. More than 1,300 of them lined the clinker-built hull, but the iron flaked away at the slightest disturbance, requiring the excavators to remove them in blocks of dirt for CT scans. However, at the bottom of a central trench, the team found the ship’s keel, which is the beam of wood that sits underwater along the central spine of the ship. Tree-ring analysis and carbon dating showed the wood for the keel was felled in the 700s, meaning the ship probably saw action between the late 8th century to the 10th century—primetime for Vikings in that part of the world. The keel was removed and preserved by immersing it in a water-soluble wax called polyethylene glycol which impregnates archaeological wood samples found underwater or in sodden soil.
Sources:
Elderly penguins receive custom lenses in "world-first" procedure - CBS News
Lacking health workers, Germany taps robots for elder care (techxplore.com)