In a medical first, surgeons have used a robot to operate inside the human eye, greatly improving the accuracy of a delicate surgery to remove fine membrane growth on the retina. Such growth distorts vision and, if left unchecked, can lead to blindness in the affected eye.
Currently, doctors perform this common eye surgery without robots. But given the delicate nature of the retina and the narrowness of the opening in which to operate, even highly skilled surgeons can cut too deeply and cause small amounts of hemorrhaging and scarring, potentially leading to other forms of visual impairment, according to the researchers who tested out the new robotic surgery in a small trial. The pulsing of blood through the surgeon’s hands is enough to affect the accuracy of the cut, the researchers said.
In the trial, at a hospital in the United Kingdom, surgeons performed the membrane-removal surgery on 12 patients; six of those patients underwent the traditional procedure, and six underwent the new robotic technique. Those patients in the robot group experienced significantly fewer hemorrhages and less damage to the retina, the findings showed.
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The technique is being called “a vision of eye surgery in the future.” air009/Shutterstock
A 23-year-old Phoenix man has been charged with killing nine people in a series of shootings last year that stoked fear across the city and stymied police.
A tip from the community led investigators to Aaron Saucedo, 23, and detectives were able to link him to the string of attacks by analyzing surveillance video and witness statements and ballistics evidence — including a handgun he pawned, police said.
“Today is a good day in the city of Phoenix,” said Mayor Greg Stanton, praising the law enforcement task force that hunted the shooter for nearly a year.
“They had a clear mission: bring this killer to justice and get it right.”
The gunman’s targets included men, women and children, many of them ambushed near their homes in a working-class neighborhood from August 2015 to July 2016. A woman and her 12-year-old daughter were shot dead in one incident; a man and his 4-year-old nephew escaped unhurt in another.
Four Liberty Township, Ohio brothers, Nigel, Zach, Aaron, and Nick Wade, known as the “Wade Quads” are now being called, the “Ivy League Quads” now that they have all been accepted to two top elite colleges in the country.
“I was just stunned,” Nigel said. “I was speechless because I didn’t think, I couldn’t believe that it was actually happening and I actually got in.”
The 18-year-olds were in track practice the moment they received acceptance emails from Yale and Harvard University. When their parents got the word they had been accepted, they were overwhelmed.
“I was at work like always when they texted us with the news and then I was home, like, when the last one came in, you know,” said their mother Kim Wade. “And I remember I think reading that, “Oh, my goodness. All of them, you know, got in?”
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Quadruplets, from left, Zachary, Aaron, Nigel, and Nick Wade pose at Lakota East High School in Liberty Township, Ohio, on April 5. Greg Lynch / AP
Prosecutors were preparing murder charges on Monday in the brutal slaying of two engaged doctors at their penthouse apartment in Boston against the alleged killer — an ex-convict who authorities believe knew of the couple.
Lina Bolaños, 38, and Richard Field, 49, were found dead at a luxury condominium in South Boston on Friday — reportedly with their throats slit and their hands bound — by police responding to a call of a man with a gun on Friday night.
The Boston Police Department said the suspect “immediately began firing” after encountering the officers at around 8:38 p.m. The officers shot back, and wounded the suspect, 30-year-old Bampumim Teixeira, who was taken into custody after the violent struggle and hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
. Dr. Lina Bolanos (L), Dr. Richard Field (R) NBC News
The mayor, one of three patrons in this small town bar on a Monday night, lights his cigarette. He knows it’s illegal to smoke in here.
“I don’t give a s–t,” says the honorable Greg Janzen.
The town is Emerson, Manitoba. The bar is a literal two minute walk to the United States border.
For the past few months, it has become a hotbed for people illegally crossing the border into Canada.
And Janzen is angry.
Most had come to the U.S. from halfway around the world to seek asylum, but said they feared a crackdown under President Donald Trump. So they continued north, where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made it clear that such asylum seekers are welcome.
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A group of migrants who said they were from Djibouti and Somalia walk along railway tracks after crossing the border at Emerson. Chris Wattie / Reuters
Putting the care puzzle together for aging parents requires a mix of legal, financial, and governmental resources. And it’s a problem many people haven’t planned for.
In order to be able to take care of your parents from a legal perspective there are certain pieces of paper you need to have in place — and nearly half of the adult population doesn’t.
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African American woman helping father use walker. Terry Vine / Blend Images via Getty Images
Najee Ali watched the first flares of unrest in South Central Los Angeles from home, heeding his better instincts to stay out of trouble after four police officers were cleared in the beating of Rodney King.
He changed his mind when a group of black men pounded a white trucker unconscious live on TV.
Ali felt sorry for the victim, but he also felt moved by the countless other beatings, killings and daily injustices heaped upon the black community. He got in his car and drove into the heart of the fury, ready to smash and burn anything that represented society’s boots on the necks of African-Americans.
He saw rage and sadness in neighbors’ faces, gang members pooled in the streets, women banging pots and pans, and cops looking frightened.
“If you were non-black on that day, there was no compassion for anybody except for black people,” Ali recalled.
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“We still have a lot of voices in South Central L.A. that are not being heard,” said Najee Ali. Michael Rubenstein / NBC News
On President Trump’s 100th day in office, thousands of climate activists descended on Washington, D.C., to send the president a message — climate change is real.
Demonstrators braved temperatures above the 90s Saturday to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, chanting “water is life” and “keep it in the soil, can’t drink oil!” The gathering, already a familiar sight during Trump’s nascent presidency, came together under the banner of the People’s Climate March.
Participants surrounded the White House complex and staged a choreographed sit-in, beating their chests 100 times to symbolize both the president’s time in office and the heartbeat of the environmental movement. Trump was in residence at the time.
The Sierra Club helped organize the event, which drew celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, former vice president Al Gore and climate and clean water activists like Mari Copeny, best known as Little Miss Flint.
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Demonstrators march on Pennsylvania Avenue during the People’s Climate March in Washington DC, on April, 29, 2017. JOSE LUIS MAGANA / AFP – Getty Images
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
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Sideways Earth
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin wore a SK-1 pressure suit on April 12, 1961, when he became the first human to journey into space.
James' World 2 