First 3D-printed car unveiled

THIS is the Strati — the world’s first 3D-printed car with a cool price tag of £11,000. The Strati is named after the Italian term for ‘Layers’ — is built from 49 printed pieces and can be put-together in less than two days.

This revolutionary vehicle runs entirely on battery power, has two 3D-printed seats and can reach a top speed of 40 miles per hour.

While conventional cars are made up of more than five thousands individual components, the construction of the Strati took place during the six-day International Manufacturing Technology Show 2014, in Chicago, where it was finally unveiled.

The two-passenger Strati was conceived and constructed by Arizona-based company, Local Motors.

CEO John Rogers said: “We are the first company to make a 3D-printed car using carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic.”

The good news for anyone picturing themselves cruising at a cool 40mph in the carbon-fibre car, is Local Motors has announced that it plans to offer 3D-printed cars commercially for around £11,000 in the very near future.

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OVER the years, bats have gotten a pretty bad rep. Similarly, bats don’t conjure up cuddly images in your mind the way kittens and puppies always do — until now. The Tolga Bat Hospital in Atherton, Australia, is showing the tiny creatures in an adorable new light. The hospital rescues and releases hundreds of baby fruit bats each year. It is told that about 300 bat pups are orphaned in the area annually, usually when their mother becomes too sick to feed them or they fall ill to tick paralysis.

The care for the winged babies is very similar to that of human babies. They drink milk from a bottle and love to be swaddled in a blanket.

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THIS four-year-old German Spitze has the impressive skill of being able to put humans under her spell and hypnotise them.

This amazing pooch has been performing on stage for the past two years alongside her owner Krystyna Lennon, a qualified in hypnosis. The talented pup’s unique skill sees people fall asleep, which is thought to be linked to the primal ability that dogs are said to possess in able to hypnotise their prey.

Ms Lennon said: “It is definitely not something that just any dog can do, it is a very specific skill. They either have it or they don’t.”

Ms Lennon and Princess (the dog) are currently touring the UK and performing their one of a kind show at university fresher’s events. And the future seems set to get even brighter for the duo as Ms Lennon has even managed to secure slots for them to take the act to Dubai and Australia next year.

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I BET the thought of millions of ladybirds in your house is guaranteed to make your skin crawl, however, the town of Lipova, in western Romania, is helpless against millions of these winged insects that have settled on their houses overnight.

Residents have had to seal up their homes to stop swarms of the bugs taking them over. And despite attempts by town hall officials to control the invasion with pesticides, the determined bugs — members of the beetle family keep coming in waves.

The influx of the creepy-crawlies has left locals scratching their heads and their skin but experts have put it down to a rise in the number of ladybird food, greenflies.

Biologist Mihai Pascu, says the swarm has been triggered by a sudden rise in the number of aphids, or greenfly, the favourite food of ladybirds.

He explained: “The rains led to the increase of aphids and this in turn led to a sharp rise in the numbers of ladybirds. They are just feasting while it lasts.”