Tsuyoshi Takado, professor of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, displays an artificial bone (white piece) which fits neatly into patient’s skull, at his laboraotory in Tokyo on November 17, 2008. The custom-made bones are created from the calcium phosphate powder and a solidifying liquid which is more than 80 percent distilled water, using computer-assisted design. In the same way that an ink-jet printer propels droplets onto a piece of paper, a device squirts the liquid on a 0.1-millimetre-thick layer of the powder to form a desired shape. (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO, AFP/Getty Images)
In this image from NASA TV, astronaut Stephen Bowen maneuvers down the cargo bay of the space shuttle Endeavour as he prepares to assist astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper. (NASA / Associated Press)
An image from NASAs Aqua satellite shows the Los Angeles metropolitan area on Sunday, where smoke from fires can be seen spreading west over the Pacific Ocean. Places where the sensor detected active fires are outlined in red. Two of the blazes -- the Sayre fire near Sylmar and the Freeway Complex fire -- are now 40% contained, authorities said today. The Tea fire that started in Montecito is 90% contained. (NASA / MODIS Rapid Response Team)
Engineers and technician run a structural mass properties test on a test module of the Orion crew exploration vehicle at NASA‘s Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)