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Robot performs complex 'keyhole' intestinal surgery on pigs without human aid
A robot has successfully performed "keyhole" intestinal surgery on pigs without any aid from humans.
Hasbro's flurry of 'The Mandalorian' toys includes an animatronic Baby Yoda (updated)
Disney's bid to cash in on The Mandalorian's success has come a long, long way from when the company was scrambling to release crudely-designed shirts. Hasbro is releasing a deluge of toys and games meant to capitalize on the streaming show, and it won't surprise you to hear that The Child (aka Baby Yoda to everyone outside of Disney) plays a starring role. Most notably, there's an honest-to-goodness animatronic figure. The little one wiggles his head and ears, makes squeaky baby sounds and even tries to use his Force powers in the most adorable way possible. It will cost you $60, and yes, it is already available for pre-order on Amazon.
Samsung targets 100 percent renewable energy use by 2020
Samsung has announced plans to power its US, Europe and China operations entirely by renewable energy sources within two years. It's already making good on its sustainability commitment in Korea, where the company is installing 42,000 square meters of solar panels in its Digital City, and is working on generating geothermal power at Pyeongtaek campus and Hwaseong campus by 2020.
Doctors perform first penis transplant in the US
Thomas Manning from Halifax, Massachusetts lost most of his penis to a rare form of cancer in 2012. He likely never imagined he'd gain the organ back, but the 64-year-old bank courier has become America's first penis transplant recipient. A surgical team from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) performed the 15-hour operation on May 8th and 9th after perfecting their technique for three full years. Manning "continues to recover well, with blood flow established to the donor organ and no signs of bleeding, rejection or infection," the hospital said in a statement.
Watch the first live VR surgery stream on April 14th
Virtual reality has already been used to assist with surgery, and now it's giving you a chance to see that surgery as it happens. Medical Realities says it'll host the first live VR stream of surgery on April 14th, using a 360-degree camera to show the entire operating table. You'll only need the company's app and Google Cardboard (or a viable alternative) to tune in. The surgery isn't particularly risky (it's a fairly standard tumor removal), but the company is aware of the dangers -- the feed is delayed by a minute in case something goes awry.
Violinist fiddles with a smart bow to help his brain surgery
It's common for brain surgery patients to stay awake. That's how surgeons know everything is going smoothly, after all. When concert violinist Roger Frisch started suffering from tremors that are only a problem when he's playing, however, Mayo Clinic doctors had to resort to some rather unusual technology to find out if they were installing the necessary brain pacemaker correctly. The surgical crew gave Frisch a bow equipped with a motion-tracking sensor and asked him to fiddle during the operation; the team knew it had electrodes in the right spot when the musician's performance was steady.
Why WildStar's name reservations were screwed up
So WildStar's name reservation system didn't work quite right. It's working now, but when it went live it wasn't working at all, and for a first-come-first-served thing that's kind of a catastrophic problem. Compensation has been announced, but why did everything go wrong? Carbine's director of operations posted in the forums about how things went from bad to worse and where the breakdowns in communication took place. The short version is that it started when a big information drop introduced a lot of new assets to the site, causing even more load than was expected for the page when the name service went up. After that was handled, however, another problem surfaced with the site's feedback, leading to what is described as the server performing what amounts to a DDoS attack against itself. And once that was fixed, another problem surfaced. If you'd like to see the whole breakdown in detail to understand how everything got messed up, take a look at the full post on the official forums.
Surgeon Simulator to save or ruin lives on iPad tonight
Surgeon Simulator will launch on iPad tonight, providing the game follows the common trend for UK and US iOS app releases that hit the same day as New Zealand. The game is out now for New Zealanders, and has players guiding the shaky hands of returning surgeon-of-sorts Nigel Burke through operations on "the world's unluckiest patient, Bob." The game includes a multiplayer mode, the heart and double-kidney transplants from the bloody PC version of the game as well as new teeth and eye transplant objectives. Given the game's new touch controls, developer Bossa Studios opted to hack away Nigel's left arm, so it no longer floats around the operating room in the iPad version. Those with iPad 4 devices or better can also record and upload their surgeries for the amusement of others. Surgeon Simulator will cost $5.99 for US players and £3.99 for wannabe doctors in the UK, according to Pocket Gamer. [Image: Bossa Studios]
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's Dread War, part 1
When I freed the Dread Masters on the prison world of Belsavis, little did I know that a year and a half after the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I would not only be fighting against these amazing foes but trying to destroy them. As I mentioned the last couple of weeks, the Empire and the Republic found the secret base of the Dread Masters on the planet Oricon, where they have been hiding and experimenting on the local fauna while amassing their subjugated army. Eventually, a strike team will have to invade the Dread Master's fortress, and in the two new operations of Update 2.4: The Dread War, you will get to do just that. Although I'm still not sure where this falls on the fun scale when compared to other SWTOR operations, I can tell you that it is challenging and exciting. I'll break it down for you, and if you hadn't guessed already, there will be spoilers. That said, I will limit the story-related ones.
Fraunhofer iPad app guides liver surgery through augmented reality
Liver surgery is more than a little dangerous -- with so many blood vessels, one wrong cut can lead to disaster. Fraunhofer MEVIS has just tested a new generation of augmented reality iPad app that could minimize those risks. The tool puts a 3D vessel map on top of live video of a patient, telling the surgeon where it's safe to make incisions. Doctors who do need to cut vessels can predict the level of blood loss and remove affected vessels from the map. The trial was successful enough that Fraunhofer MEVIS sees the new technology applying to surgery elsewhere in the body. If all goes well, there should be fewer accidents during tricky operations of many kinds -- a big relief for those of us going under the knife. [Thanks, Urban]
SWTOR's Scum and Villainy operation charges up nightmare mode
One thing we know about Star Wars: Villains like saying "So be it!" One thing we know about Star Wars: The Old Republic: Players chew up operations, spit them out, and keep asking for tougher ones. BioWare's hoping that today's Update 2.2.2 will give even the most ambitious team a tough go at it, as the studio has patched in the nightmare mode for Operation: Legions of Scum and Villainy. Where there are new challenges, there are new rewards, of course. For players who can survive the carnage, there is the elite Kell Dragon armor set and the cool Titan 6 Containment Mode mount to snag. If operations aren't your bag, then there are always Ewok companions, Czerka dailies, and bounty hunting contracts on the horizon.
Hyperspace Beacon: Six reasons Rise of the Hutt Cartel makes SWTOR better
I don't work for BioWare, and I definitely don't believe that Star Wars: The Old Republic is the greatest, most ambitious project in videogame history. However, I do believe that SWTOR is a great game, and its expansion Rise of the Hutt Cartel only makes the game better. It's not because Makeb has waterfalls. (Sure, a concept artist said that, but did that really need to make it into the final promotional video?) I think fans forget that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is not just Makeb. There are multiple additions to the core game, like new armor sets and questlines. Over the past month, I've had the opportunity to play through all of it. And for the first time in a long time, I can't wait to play through the single-player questline. Let me give you the highlights of my experience and what I believe are the best parts of RotHC.
Hyperspace Beacon: A wretched operation of Scum and Villainy, part 2
Thankfully, we can all stop wondering when the expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic is releasing and get down to the business of preparing our characters for the new content. Part of preparing for Rise of the Hutt Cartel is knowing what you're getting into when it comes to the new operation. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to run Scum and Villainy with Memories of Xendor, one of the top guilds in the game. You might remember these guys from my Hyperspace Beacon about the tools of the raid. This group created the real-time combat parser that my own guild and I use regularly. Last week, I reported that the first three bosses were just the calm before the storm. That storm begins right away with the Operations Chief, thunders mightily with Olok, gusts onward with the Warlords, then reaches its pinnacle with Dreadmaster Styrak.
SWTOR dares you to face the Legions of Scum and Villiany
Mos Eisley isn't the only place where ne'er-do-wells congregate. Star Wars: The Old Republic says that there's another desert planet, Darvannis, that's also under the thumb of the Hutt Cartel and needs a little player intervention to thwart a gathering army. An operation dealing with this story will take place in the upcoming Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion. Called Legions of Scum and Villiany, this operation will challenge level 55 players to infiltrate a Hutt town, smack down a few bosses, and figure out what's going on. A couple of interesting twists, including a stealth portion and a droid dealer, promise more angles than a straight-forward fight. The operation will come in both story and hard modes. BioWare Senior Operations & Flashpoints Designer George Smith gives an overview of Legions of Scum and Villiany in a new dev blog along with the team's philosophy behind the high-level content. When you're done checking that out, don't forget to read our recent hands-on with the expansion and a deeper look at this operation in Hyperspace Beacon.
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR, a wretched operation of Scum and Villainy, part 1
Sometimes it's good to be me. When I mentioned that I had not had a chance to test out the latest operation in Star Wars: The Old Republic Rise of the Hutt Cartel on the public test server, one of my Twitch followers known as Jedi Consular put me in touch with the Memories of Xendor guild. You might remember that guild from my column about the tools of the raid. Its members made the real-time parser that I use all the time. MoX invited me to join a 16-man Scum and Villainy operation last Thursday. When we started the raid, I was shocked to find out that we were running hardmode. My groupmates told me they don't even run storymodes anymore. They skip right to the most difficult. I want to give a big thank you to Tensa, Jedi Consular, and MoX guild for helping make this article possible. Because of this group of awesome gamers, I experienced the complete raid. From Dash'roode to Dread Master Styrak, we fought every boss. SWTOR has expanded as a raiding game; each boss has its own merits and shows the game's growth from the previous raids. Read on to get my breakdown. However, I will warn you: There are major mechanics and story spoilers.
Hyperspace Beacon: The SWTOR Terror From Beyond experience
Last week, BioWare launched its fourth major update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Terror From Beyond. This new game content also happens to be the fourth operation (or raid) for the game. Eight to 16 players battle their way across the planet Asation, hoping to close or destroy a rift in hyperspace that has opened on this ancient Gree world. Along the way, many strange creatures and beings from other worlds attempt to stop the strike force from reaching its goal. Just like the other operations (Karagga's Palace and Explosive Conflict), Terror From Beyond continues the story of the Dread Masters. With each new addition to the story, the goal of these six Sith lords becomes more and more clear. Mechanically, this operation consists of five boss fights and a fairly linear path to the ultimate goal, a swirling vortex about a kilometer away from the starting point. Thankfully, none of the boss mechanics is a simple tank-and-spank ordeal, and the trash mobs along the way might cause a bump or two as well. This weekend, my guild ran this brand-new endgame addition to SWTOR in story-mode to get a taste of what it has to offer. I'd like to break down the experience into three major categories: aesthetics, boss mechanics, and overall impressions.
Hyperspace Beacon: Gear grinding is unfun
If you have been following me for the last few years on this column and some of the podcasts that I've done, then you are aware that hardcore progression raiding and PvP are not my thing. You will also know that I don't fault players for having their own fun, but the MMO industry often assumes raiders and PvPers are the ones game developers need to target and pursue. It could be that they are the loudest, the fastest, or maybe just the most competitive. I appreciate the players who blast through content. They are usually ones who make the guides that the slower players use to fight the "unbeatable boss." Unfortunately for developers, these are not the players who stick to the game. BioWare made a lot of naive mistakes with Star Wars: The Old Republic, but one of the biggest is that it listened too much to the vocal minority instead of attempting to make a game that caters to the long-term player. I consider myself and my guild long-term players. We play SWTOR for a multitude of reasons, ranging from basic Star Wars fanboyism to exploring new content to engaging in intense PvP battles. But one thing that is consistent among all of us is that we don't like to gear grind. Don't get me wrong; I understand that there need be a carrot for the players who complete high-level content, but I believe that SWTOR, along with other MMOs, is doing it wrong, and frankly, it's not fun.
Star Wars: The Old Republic previews Terror From Beyond
If you can't wait for the next tier of Operations in Star Wars: The Old Republic, you'll be happy to know that the newest tier is being added in update 1.4. You may be slightly less happy to know that the new operation, Terror From Beyond, is not meant to be a cakewalk by any stretch of the imagination. A new developer diary explains the lore behind the operation and some of the threats that players will be facing on the swamp planet of Asation. Colonized and largely abandoned by the Gree, Asation is a swamp planet that houses a massive hyperspace gate. The Dread Masters, a group of Sith not known for sunny dispositions, have opened the gate and started filling the planet with all manner of horrible creatures. The operation promises to offer new encounters and mechanics beyond what's been seen in previous raids, something for dedicated endgame players to look forward to in the next major content update.
HTC shuts Seoul office, leaves Korea to the Koreans
Having already pulled out of Brazil and shut down a research building in North Carolina, HTC has now closed its office in the South Korean capital of Seoul. The move is part of the Taiwanese manufacturer's efforts to "streamline operations" and focus on selling One-branded handsets in markets where it stands a better chance of success -- rather like Nokia's geographic retreat following its commitment to Windows Phone, but here on a much smaller scale. It's not yet clear how many jobs will be lost, but HTC says it regrets the "direct impact on people who have contributed to the growth HTC has experienced in the past several years." As it stands, analysts reckon that Korean manufacturers like Samsung, LG and Pantech rule a 90 percent share of their home market, leaving HTC with just one or two points that evidently weren't worth clinging onto.
Sony unveils first medical-grade OLED monitor, surgery gets rendered in all-too-vivid color
OLED screens are virtually everywhere, and they're steadily getting bigger, but it was tough to find any in hospitals until now. While Sony's 25-inch PVM-2551MD might not have the most glamorous name, it's the first and only OLED monitor with FDA approval for use in surgery. No, it's not just to give the doctor something more pleasing (or disgusting) to look at while she's removing a gallstone -- the organic display can be a genuine help for surgery through the higher contrast, virtually non-existent blur and more faithful color reproduction versus the LCDs it's meant to replace. Us patients likely won't see the now-shipping 2551MD for much longer than it takes to go unconscious, so it might be hard to appreciate; if it helps surgeons finish operations faster and with fewer mistakes, however, we could all reap the rewards.
