DELAWARE RESEARCHERS ARE USING LEGO PLASTIC TO PRINT LIGHTWEIGHT ROBOTIC EXOSKELETONS FOR GROWING KIDS.

In the last few years, we’ve seen everything from handcuff keys to prescription medication emerge from the beds of 3-D printers. But Emma Lavelle’s story is one of the most compelling examples of the technology in recent memory.

We don’t know when it will arrive. We don’t know what it will cost. We don’t even know — for certain — if it will ever materialize.

But we do know this: Google’s $199 Nexus 7 is quick, slick, and pocketable. The fact Google’s 7-inch tablet has done so well since its earlier this month only ups the odds Apple will respond. And if, as rumored, Apple does launch a compact version of its iPad tablet computer, it will almost certainly crush Google’s Nexus 7.

The great smartphone boom is about to end. That’s according to one savvy tech prognosticator, Bill Whyman, head of the investment research firm International Strategy & Investment‘s tech strategy research team, who tends to look more than a couple quarters ahead.

The masterful engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are busy working on a type of 3D display capable of presenting that elusive third dimension without any eye gear. We say “elusive” because what you’ve been presented at your local cinema (with 3D glasses) or on your Nintendo 3DS console (with your naked eye) pales in comparison to what these guys and gals are trying to develop: a truly immersive 3D experience, not unlike a hologram, that changes perspective as you move around.