3D Printing for the Hospital Setting

Surgery is hard, there is a reason why school is so long for the profession. Making the job easier and smoother for both patients and surgeons is valuable for all parties, which is why [Mayo Clinic] is now working on including 3D printing into its more regular medicine pipeline.

Prepping for surgery often requires examining CT scans of patients to figure out, well, what they’re even going to be doing. Every body is different, and complex surgical procedures require checking to see where certain organs or features are located. This can be made much easier with a physical model of where the bones, organs, or nerves are specifically located in a patient. While this isn’t true in every case of treatment, there are even cancerous cases where custom equipment can be used to decrease side effects, such as mini-beam collimator adapters.

What if you could use the same pipeline to print what was lost from certain procedures? In a mastectomy, the breast tissue is removed, which can cause negative attention from curious gazes. So why not 3D print a custom breast? Cases like these are generally considered poor commercial investments from industry, but are relatively easy for an existing medical facility to add to treatment.

[Mayo Clinic] is far from the first to consider 3D printing in the medical setting, but seeing the technology see actual applied use rather than future seeking is exciting. Medical hacking is always exciting, and if you want to see more examples, keep sure to check out this commercially available simulator (with some free models).

hackaday.com/2025/11/28/3d-pri…

Live Train Departure Screens Keep You Abreast of Transit Developments

If you want to know when the train is coming, you could pull up a webpage on your phone, or walk all the way to the station to look at the displays there. Or, like [eastfamilyreddish], you could build a neat little train info display to decorate your desktop instead.

The build is based on the work of [gadec-uk]—who developed a train information display some time ago. It’s based around an ESP32 D1 Mini, paired with a 256 x 64 OLED screen to display relevant train information. It accesses a National Rail API for train status information—known as the Darwin LDBWS (Live Departure Board Webservice). Configuration is via a web GUI hosted by the ESP32 itself.

[eastfamilyreddish] took the concept further by adapting this hardware into a more pleasing form. The ESP32 and OLED screen are built into a neat little hanging sign setup that apes one you might expect to see at a real railway station. You might expect that 3D printing was involved, but instead, this was achieved with lasercut parts and resin casting to create something with a beautiful finish. They even went so far as to include a wireless phone charging module in the base, making the device extra useful to really earn its place on the desktop.

The fact is, around these parts we love both trains and the displays you find around them. If you’ve got a railway-adjacent project, or you’ve just built your own awesome railway, don’t hesitate to let us know on the tipsline!

hackaday.com/2025/11/28/live-t…

Build Your Own Compact Temp Gun

Sometimes you need to know what temperature something is, but you don’t quite want to touch it. At times like these, you might want a temp gun on hand to get a good reading, like the one [Arnov Sharma] built.

The build is a relatively simple one, and is based around an Waveshare ESP32 C6 development module that comes with a small LCD screen out of the box. The microcontroller is set up to read an MLX90614 infrared temperature sensor. This device picks up the infrared energy that is emitted by objects relative to their temperature. The sensor has a great range—from -70 C to 380 C. The readouts from this sensor are then displayed on the screen. Battery power is from a small 600 mAh LiPo cell, which is managed by a IP5306 charge module.

It’s worth noting that these infrared temperature sensors aren’t infallible devices. The temperature they perceive is based on certain assumptions about factors like an objects emissivity. Thus, they don’t always give accurate readings on metallic or shiny objects, for example. It’s also important to understand the sensor’s field of view. Despite many commercial versions featuring a laser pointer for aiming, many of these infrared temperature sensors tend to average their reading over a small spot that gets larger the farther away they are from the object being measured.

Tools like portable temp guns are pretty cheap, but sometimes it’s just fun to build your own. Plus, you usually learn something along the way. Video after the break.

youtube.com/embed/WrRs6STve8M?…

hackaday.com/2025/11/28/build-…

UK National Emergency Briefing, 27th November 2025

TL;DR
This video is a recording of a "National Emergency Briefing" held in Westminster on 27th November 2025. Hosted by Mike Berners-Lee and Chris Packham, a panel of UK experts argue that the country faces an existential "poly-crisis" due to climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. Key points include the failure of COP30, the "death" of the 1.5°C target, and the immediate risk of catastrophic tipping points (like the collapse of the Atlantic current which would freeze the UK). The speakers call for "World War II style leadership," a radical shift to plant-based diets, and a mandated public information campaign to counter fossil-fuel-funded misinformation.

Detailed Summary

Introduction & Context

* Chris Packham opens by criticising the recent COP30 conference, describing it as "trashed" by fossil fuel lobbyists and resulting in no meaningful action. He argues that government and media are failing to convey the gravity of the situation.

* Mike Berners-Lee (Chair) states the purpose of the briefing is to "reset the national conversation" and face the escalating crisis together.

The Scientific & Environmental Reality

* Nature Crisis (Prof. Natalie Seddon): Describes nature not as a luxury but as "critical national infrastructure." The UK is in the bottom 10% globally for biodiversity. Restoring nature is essential for flood defence, food security, and economic stability.

* Climate Policy (Prof. Kevin Anderson): Declares the 1.5°C target "dead" and warns the world is heading for 2–4°C warming. He dismisses "delay technologies" like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and argues the UK must eliminate fossil fuel use by around 2039 to meet fair equity targets.

* Extreme Weather (Prof. Hayley Fowler): Highlights that UK winter rainfall has increased by 10% since 1980. She warns that Victorian-era infrastructure (like dams) is at risk of failure and that heatwaves are intensifying faster than models predicted.

* Tipping Points (Prof. Tim Lenton): discusses the risk of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) collapsing. If this tips, it would radically alter the UK climate—potentially dropping Edinburgh winter temperatures to -30°C while summer heatwaves continue, effectively destroying UK agriculture.

Societal & Economic Impacts

* Food Security (Prof. Paul Behrens): The UK imports ~50% of its food. Climate chaos in global breadbaskets threatens this supply. He advocates for a rapid shift to a plant-rich diet to free up land (an area the size of Scotland) for carbon sequestration and nature restoration.

* Health (Prof. Hugh Montgomery): Frames the climate crisis as a medical emergency. He warns of economic collapse making the NHS unsustainable and cites huge potential savings (e.g., £126bn/year) from addressing obesity and diet alongside climate action.

* National Security (Lt. Gen. Richard Nugee): Describes climate change as a "threat multiplier" leading to conflict over resources (water, food). He notes the military is adapting but warns that cascading crises could lead to an "ungovernable state."

* Economy (Angela Francis): Argues that the green transition is cheaper than inaction ("bad argument: we can't afford it"). She stresses that the UK cannot rely on the "old world" economy and must change market rules to reward sustainable businesses.

* Energy Transition (Tessa Khan): Points out that fossil fuel reliance caused the recent cost-of-living crisis. Renewables are described as the only path to affordable, secure energy, with a call to break the link between gas and electricity prices.

Call to Action

* Public Awareness Campaign: Actor Olivia Williams reads a letter addressed to the government and major broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4). It demands they fulfill their legal obligation to inform the public by holding an urgent, televised national emergency briefing and running a comprehensive engagement campaign to explain the risks and necessary actions to the British public.

youtube.com/live/2-PFKT1SNc4?s…

Generated by Gemini from GBNews YouTube recording.