3D printing in a medical environment saving a baby’s life [Article]

No longer science fiction: how 3D printing in a medical environment gave 18-month old Kaiba Gionfriddo a new lease of life. His lungs were blocked, and needed a splint to carve a pathway through his blocked airway. They printed the splint to exact specifications of the baby’s, using a powder called PCL (polycaprolactone). Doctors then took the splint, measuring just a few centimeters long & 8mm wide & surgically attached it to Kaiba’s collapsed bronchus. They saw results within moments:

“When the stitches were put in, we started seeing the lung inflate and deflate,” Green said. “It was so fabulous. There were people in the operating room cheering.”

The Childhood Age That Predicts Future Success | LiveScience [Article]

If you want to see which kids will grow up to be the most successful adults, visit their second grade classroom, according to some new research from the University of Edinburgh.

“These findings imply that basic childhood skills, independent of how smart you are, how long you stay in school, or the social class you started off in, will be important throughout your life,” said the study’s authors, Stuart Ritchie and Timothy Bates.

Sixteen thousand feet over [Article] @DanDotLewis

Dan Lewis (@dandotlewis) runs a daily newsletter called Now I Know. I loved this one on how they handle death if it happens mid-flight.

Why don’t airlines suggest moving a passenger who dies in-flight into a restroom? … while that used to be done, airlines soon learned that this was a big mistake. Getting the body into the lavatory isn’t terribly difficult, but getting it out often is, because rigor mortis sets in during the duration of the flight. The now-stiff body is difficult to move.

Big Data & its sibling, Little Data [Article HT @dsearls]

Mark Bonchek has a suggestion for those businesses fascinated with Big Data. Writing in the HBR review, here’s what he’s got to say (HT Doc Searls)

If you want to build loyalty, spend less time using data to tell customers about you, and spend more time telling them something about themselves.

The Obstacle is the path [Article]

Leo Babauta reminds us that The Obstacle is the Path

 when there’s an obstacle, don’t go around it. Don’t run from it. Go into it. Work with it. Explore it. Learn how to be with it and deal with it, and you’ll have a skill for life.

And what’s more: you will no longer be limited by obstacles in your path.

Australia’s national treasure: Paul Kelly [Article]

Guest butler Julia May shares her love for Paul Kelly, one of Australia’s iconic musicians.  Some classics in there – like “They thought I was asleep” and “From Little things big things grow” and a long list of others.

The first thing to know about Paul Kelly — really, the most important thing to know — is what his strength is as a singer and songwriter. It’s this: He articulates the feelings you know but cannot name, conjuring the first, worst, best, most lusty or loneliest love; that person’s smell, the particular flavor of that heartbreak. He also transports you into other bodies, other lives.

Warning (the author’s, not mine, but I concur): A few songs, and Paul Kelly can form part of your life’s soundtrack