Here and There
TUNISIA - A Russian billionaire is planning to build a high-tech hospital in the shape of a giant sailing boat.
Vasily Klyukin said the White Sails Hospital and Spa in Tunisia would be 'the most pleasant hospital in the world'.
He said he was inspired to build a hospital after undergoing health tests for an upcoming trip to space.
"I will fly into space next year. My health condition has to be checked every six months," Mr Klyukin, who made his fortune from co-founding Sovcombank, one of Russia's biggest banks, said.
"That is why I know this feeling very well, every time I'm approaching the white building of the clinic, I don't feel any joy.
"But I would like to show you the hospital, where there is no room for fear. And so that my son could ask about this hospital: 'Daddy, when will we visit the ship again?'"
The complex will be built in the Tunisia Economic City in Enfidha - which has a budget of €50bn. The hospital will be one of the first buildings constructed and contain cutting-edge medical equipment.
The hospital project is backed by Saudi Arabian firm Lalei Al Barakah Est and will be constructed by engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti.
JAPAN - A three-legged ping pong-playing robot has been created which can respond to serves in one thousandth of a second.
But there is still a long way to go before it can beat human players - hitting the ball with some spin causes the 2.7-metre-tall machine to get confused.
It took on human opponents at a technology conference near Tokyo, and is equipped with stereoscopic cameras and computer-vision algorithms to track the position and speed of its opponents and the ball.
It is possible for it to play sustained rallies - provided the player doesn't use too much power or spin when hitting the ball.
Created by healthcare electronics firm Omron, it uses five motors and grips the handle using a mechanism used by factory robots.
The 600kg machine needs some improvements before it can compete with humans, but Omron says it is an example of advanced robotics techniques.
Lead researcher Takuya Tsuyuguchi said: "This technology can be used in manufacturing processes where humans and machines can work together to make things."