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Turtle Receives First-Ever 3D Printed Titanium Jaw Implant of Its Kind

Posted by Soulskill on from the also-is-not-a-ninja dept.

ErnieKey writes: A wounded loggerhead turtle showed up in Turkey, with significant damage to its upper and lower jaws. It was taken to the Sea Turtle Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center at Pamukkale University (PAU) for help. The PAU team, working with BTech Innovation, was able to make a 3D printed titanium jaw implant for the turtle. The operation was a success, and the patient — the world's first sea turtle to receive a 3D printed implant — is recovering.

71 comments

  1. Does that mean by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Logo will be in 3D now?

    1. Re:Does that mean by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2

      I find it hard to believe this is the really first Turkish loggerhead turtle to receive a 3D printed titanium jaw. Maybe someone did it before and we just never heard about it.

  2. Starlight Glimmer 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Vote Starlight Glimmer for President in 2016. As the equalist candidate, Starlight invites all of America to experience true friendship for the first time. Starlight believes in an America where people don't flaunt their special talents because they have no special talents to flaunt.

  3. Meanwhile by rodrigoandrade · · Score: 0

    There are idiots killing turtles for fun.

    http://now.snopes.com/2015/05/09/200-year-old-turtle/

    1. Re:Meanwhile by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      Your own link states that the turtle was used for meat and is legal game (with limits) where that one was killed. Sounds to me like it's in the same category of hunting deer, turkeys, or any other wild animal that's then used at least in part for food.

    2. Re:Meanwhile by sideslash · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I wouldn't kill a turtle myself, but I do eat beef and other delicious meats regularly. According to the Snopes article, the incident depicted is credibly alleged to be a legal hunting kill in Louisiana wherein the hunter ate the meat. Snopes provides evidence that it wasn't a casual killing with a sawsall like the hysterical Facebook post claimed, but rather a couple of 22 bullets in the turtle's head. What's depicted is the butchering process -- which by the way is just as ugly when it's a cow, we're just not used to seeing it.

      So simmer down a bit!

    3. Re:Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Its not just idiots, and not just turtles, but it always always is just for fun. People only kill things because they want to, not because they're going to starve and need the food, not because there's too many of something and what they're hunting will starve which is often forwarded as some great thing that killers do for us, and not because they are helping us to remember the culture of whatever, 100,000 years of hunter-gatherers. We don't need hunting, or hunters. They serve absolutely no purpose, other than to entertain themselves by killing. I do, however, respect the hunter that does so with nothing but his teeth and nails and guile. Also, the solo fisherman, rod, reel... perhaps a cold beer. But any hunter that needs any handicap, such as a gun or a bow and dart, anything but a stone knife, gives humans as apex predators a bad name. Anyone that truly respects life will not so causally take it away.

    4. Re:Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Your own link states that the turtle was used for meat and is legal game (with limits) where that one was killed. Sounds to me like it's in the same category of hunting deer, turkeys, or any other wild animal that's then used at least in part for food.

      Ah. "used at least in part for food," a new moral standard. Nothing immoral about killing some things... so long as you eat it. This, at least, gives those that choose to kill things, reason not to feel bad about it or question why they want to kill things. I think it tastes good, so I killed it! Sure, lots of stuff they sell at the store might taste good... but you don't get to kill it!

    5. Re:Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, they killed it for you already. And the animals we eat are less intelligent than us (way less intelligent). You'd eat a horse, you wouldn't eat Fluttershy.

    6. Re:Meanwhile by GLMDesigns · · Score: 1

      So knowing how to live off the land is simply foolish? Knowing how to track, kill and prepare game is simply foolishness? The only people that should have this knowledge are ranchers, butchers and cooks? I don't think so. I think it's useful to know how to use a compass; how to make fires; etc...

      --
      If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
      Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
    7. Re:Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In addition to "-1: Troll" we need "-1: SJW."

    8. Re:Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a difference between having the knowledge to survive, and actively killing animals on a regular basis for "sport". Hunting for sustenance is how the rich boys from Jersey justify hunting trips to the wilderness to kill animals. Another favorite is "herd management" as if nature has no in-built systems for controlling itself, us humans have to step in and show nature how shit works. There is no need for the average hunter to kill animals, and hunting seasons only exist to satisfy our caveman blood lust.

    9. Re:Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please tell me how you can afford internet access to post on slashdot but cannot obtain food from a store and have to kill and harvest your meals to feed your family back in the mud hut.

    10. Re:Meanwhile by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      Yea! Down with Mario!

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    11. Re:Meanwhile by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net...

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    12. Re:Meanwhile by mOzone · · Score: 0

      Use to be this place on mississippi river by quad citys that would have turtle soup/stew that was to die for ...had tons of friends that use to go turtle hunting
      usely its a 22 or get it to bite a stick then you hack its head off with a hunting knife

    13. Re:Meanwhile by FictionPimp · · Score: 2

      Yes, let's all stop hunting deer in Indiana and Michigan. The ...something will eat them and they won't starve, get sick, and destroy our crops, smash into our cars, invade our lawns and bring diseased ticks. We killed all the predators a hundred years before I was born. We are the only thing keeping the herd in check.

    14. Re:Meanwhile by FictionPimp · · Score: 1

      How is picking up a slab of beef and the store morally different than taking down a few deer?

    15. Re:Meanwhile by dugancent · · Score: 1

      There is no longer any built-in systems. Wolf and bear have been virtually eliminated from Indiana.

      --
      SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
    16. Re:Meanwhile by Spugglefink · · Score: 1

      I killed around a dozen deer in 2013. One of them did $25,000 worth of damage to my truck.

      I was almost literally the only guy at work who didn't hunt, so in 2014 I decided to go deer hunting. I figured I may as well eat a few of the damn things before they got splattered in the process of damaging motor vehicles.

      It was a pretty radical paradigm shift for me, I have to tell you. I used to tow the liberal treehugger party line about "caveman blood lust" and all that. I looked down my nose at all the disgusting redneck vermin in my midst. I have to say that having gone hunting really changed my outlook on caveman blood lust.

      For one thing, it's a LOT more difficult to kill one of those damn things than you'd think. I invested on the order of $1,000 and around 100 hours, and I never fired a shot. My hunting partner, who was showing me the ins and outs of deer hunting woodcraft, did shoot a small buck, and he walked me through gutting it. That was interesting. Deer are made out of stuff that looks and feels just like meat from the grocery store, except it's very warm.

      They come apart almost like someone designed them to be used for food. It's pretty easy to remove the guts, and what's left is a big shell of meat and bones that even has a membrane separating it from all the internal stuff. I guess that would be the peritoneum, but when you look at a peritoneum in that context, it's just a convenient barrier that separates all the pissing and shitting parts from the tasty muscle. Fascinating.

      The whole caveman blood lust thing is hard to describe. All your senses are heightened, and you feel like a predator. I see why guys who are much less repressed than I am live and breathe this stuff. My scrotum is too empty to really get into the whole chest pounding animal lust thing, and I'm probably not going to become an avid hunter. I'm going to go out again next year, and try my luck though. I'd like to eat one of these things one good time, just for the hell of it. If I didn't eat it, somebody would eventually hit it with a car anyway.

  4. I want to study engin eering now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Oh very cool. I had always wanted to be an ani mal doctor safing dieing animals from dieing but now I see waht titanium 3d printer can do! When I'm big, I want to study engin eering now and not ani mal doctors like I wanted since I got my barbie animal doctor set from mommy.

  5. Raphael? by goombah99 · · Score: 2

    or Michelangelo?

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Raphael? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sal Governale

  6. They tried this on a duck by fustakrakich · · Score: 4, Funny

    He fainted when he saw the bill...

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:They tried this on a duck by jmcwork · · Score: 1

      I would have thought AFLAC would have handled that for him.

  7. I, for one, welcome... by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 1

    our new titanium-jawed turtle overlords. Ruuuuuuuun... very slooooowly.

    1. Re:I, for one, welcome... by RadioTV · · Score: 1

      It is a sea turtle. You can't swim that fast.

      --
      I have great faith in fools - self confidence my friends call it. - Edgar Allan Poe
    2. Re:I, for one, welcome... by Greystripe · · Score: 1

      Maybe not but you'd be amazed at how well I can completely avoid large bodies of water.

  8. /.'s 3D printing obsession is unhealthy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nobody fucking cares.

    1. Re:/.'s 3D printing obsession is unhealthy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least it's not another Tesla ad.

    2. Re:/.'s 3D printing obsession is unhealthy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You wouldn't download a car.

    3. Re:/.'s 3D printing obsession is unhealthy by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

      If you tell them you're a turtle, maybe they'll 3dprint a damn for you to give.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  9. david icke ? by amias · · Score: 1

    isn't this one of david icke's predictions of markers of beginning the end of the world ?

    --
    [site]
  10. You know this has to come... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I like turtles.

  11. Science RULEZ! by freeze128 · · Score: 5, Funny

    All the 3d printing printing aside.... That is now the most BADASS looking turtle that I have ever seen.

    1. Re:Science RULEZ! by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      What could possibly go wrong?

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    2. Re:Science RULEZ! by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Infection, Nerve inflammation, Phanom Jaw syndrome,

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:Science RULEZ! by tomhath · · Score: 1

      But does he look as tough as Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou?

    4. Re:Science RULEZ! by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      Snapping turtles with razor sharp titanium beaks, what will they think of next? Laser implants for sharks?

      PS: please don't be at loggerheads with me about the specific type of turtle involved.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    5. Re:Science RULEZ! by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      Kaiju!

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
  12. Keep an eye on the news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...after they release that turtle back into the wild.
    I bet we start seeing reports of ships with bites taken out of them by titanium jaws!

  13. 3D printing titanium by phantomfive · · Score: 2

    I understand extrusion machines, but how can you print titanium?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:3D printing titanium by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2

      I understand extrusion machines, but how can you print titanium?

      Most likely a sintering process, using layers of titanium powder.

    2. Re:3D printing titanium by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Didn't read TFA, but aluminum sintering printers use a powdered print material and heat it with a laser. I'd assume the titanium printer works the same way.

    3. Re:3D printing titanium by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Informative

      Sintering, perhaps?

      Put down a thin layer of titanium powder, flash over it with a laser to fuse powder particles together. Add another layer of powder, repeat.

      Whether or not you call that 3D printing, well...

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    4. Re:3D printing titanium by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Titanium melts at over twice the heat required to melt aluminum. I'd really wish they'd go into some detail about the process. I would easier believe this was 3D modeled then created with a CNC mill.

    5. Re:3D printing titanium by amicusNYCL · · Score: 2

      Sounds like a laser printer to me. It checks out. I''ll allow it.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  14. Damn by SpankiMonki · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sounds like this turtle has a better health plan than I do. If I could find out who his provider is, I would switch plans in a snap - but his insurer seems to be hidden behind a maze of shell companies.

    1. Re:Damn by Higaran · · Score: 1

      Why does he need that hard of a jaw if he is only going to eat pizza?

  15. obligatory by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

    Do you want Gamera? Because this is how you get Gamera.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  16. The Six Million Dollar Turtle by Snufu · · Score: 2

    We can rebuild him. Better, stronger, not quite as slow as most turtles.

    1. Re:The Six Million Dollar Turtle by Snarky+McButtface · · Score: 1

      It is the six million lira turtle.

  17. wait, what? by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    You can't 3D print titanium. I think they mean they CNC'ed it out of a block of titanium. That technology has been around for decades. It's how they make most expensive alloy rims for tires.

    1. Re:wait, what? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      It's good that we have a 3D printing expert here. How do they 3D print other metals? Like the jet engine that was on Slashdot yesterday, for example.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    2. Re: wait, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure they can. I've seen it with my own eyes. Machinists generally get hazard pay when working with it, though, because titanium powder is somewhat explosive! It might not be pure titanium, though, but rather an alloy.

    3. Re:wait, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Selective laser sintering. Used for 3d printing metals, including titanium.

    4. Re:wait, what? by slashmydots · · Score: 1

      By calling CNC machines 3d printers because it's a buzz word.

  18. Finally! by jbmartin6 · · Score: 1

    the world's first sea turtle to receive a 3D printed implant

    Turtles have come a long way. I suppose it had to happen sometime.

    --
    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
  19. Isn't the special? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Isn't the special? People over there are dying left and right, and they're saving fucking turtles.

    1. Re:Isn't the special? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well to be fair, we have an excess of people. Turtles? Notsomuch.

    2. Re:Isn't the special? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are a lot of humans. Not so many turtles.

  20. Spoiler alert! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks for ruining the ending to the new Entourage movie.

  21. Jaws... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The next Bond villain?

  22. I hope... by pahles · · Score: 1

    they fasten that one screw that is sticking out quite a bit.

    --
    Sig?
  23. Name it by RoccamOccam · · Score: 1

    Name it "Baron Ünderbheit".

  24. Alien Prosthetics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It would be cool to be abducted by a more advanced species and given awesome new prosthetics.

    Someone should make a movie of that. Oh, wait.

  25. MY#OU FAIL IT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    From one folder on United States. and other party Are you GAY Troubles of Walnut to stick something EFNet, and aaply fact there won't asshole to others

  26. Behold our creation ... the HenchTurtle! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This turtle will soon be hiring itself out to supervillian turtles, and trying to take a bite out of 007turtle ("a turtle who has a license to kill"). Just wait and see.

  27. Are you a turtle? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    You bet your sweet ass I am.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  28. Titanium is expensive by ltorvalds024 · · Score: 1

    they could have saved some money by using plastic; scientist not so smart han ;-)

  29. And So It Begins by Toad-san · · Score: 1

    http://wow.mmosite.com/fanart/...