Shawn Triplett, who now works as a volunteer at a local elementary school, was recently helping out at a shelter when he witnessed a damaging interaction between a mom and her young child after they had been displaced by the tornadoes.

"I saw a child crying in his mother's arms. She was crying too, but you could tell she was doing her best to look strong, " he recalls. "The boy told his mom, ‘I've lost my Christmas.' It was at that moment that I broke down and had to walk outside."

After taking a night to think about how he could best help, Triplett decided to ask friends and family to donate money so he could buy toys for the children who were impacted.

"I was going to give them back their Christmas, " he explained. "There was so much support in the community for water, generators and food, but nobody was thinking about the kids. At least, not in the way it should be, so close to Christmas."

Triplett ended up launching a GoFundMe page to help purchase holiday gifts for the children, which quickly spread on social media. Since launching the page three days ago, he had raised over $44, 000. He also partnered with the local supermarket, which provided a 25% discount on all purchases for him.

While the toys were fully covered by the donors, Triplett said he had been footing the bill for wrapping paper. He planned to deliver the gifts in person in a Santa costume closer to Christmas. "We chose to wrap them so that the kids get the full experience of what Christmas should be, " he said. "We're doing everything we can to normalize a traumatic (创伤的) experience for them, even if just for a few hours."

Robotic surgery is one thing, but sending a robot inside the body to carry out an operation is quite another, which has long been a goal of some researchers to produce tiny robotic devices. These devices are capable of traveling through the body to deliver drugs or to make repairs without the need for a single cut, the possibility of which has just got a bit closer.

However, unlike the plot of one film-which featured a microscopic crew and submarine traveling through a scientist's bloodstream-this device could not be put into blood vessels (血管) because it is too big. While other types of miniature robots that can be swallowed were developed in the past, their role has mostly been limited to capturing images inside the body. In a presentation this week to the International Conference, Daniela Rus and Shuhei Miyashita of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology described a robot they have developed that can be swallowed and used to collect dangerous objects accidentally taken in.

To test their latest version, Dr. Rus and Dr. Miyashita designed a robot as a battery hunter, which might seem to be an odd task. However, more than 3, 500 people in America alone, most of them children, swallow the tiny button cells used in small electronic devices by accident every year. To start with, the researchers created an artificial esophagus (食道) and stomach made out of silicone (硅胶). It was closely modeled on that found in a pig and filled with medical liquid; the robot itself is made from several layers of different materials, including pig intestine (肠), and contains a little magnet (磁铁). This is folded up and wrapped in a 10mmx27mm capsule of ice． Once this reaches the stomach, the ice melts and the robot unfolds which is moved and guided with the use of a magnetic field outside the body. In their tests, the robot was able to touch a button battery and draw it with its own magnet, and during dragging it along, the robot could then be directed towards the intestines where it would eventually be gotten rid of through the anus. After it, the researchers sent in another robot loaded with medication to deliver it to the site of the battery to speed up healing.

The artificial stomach being transparent on one side, the researchers can see the batteries and visually control the robots. If not, that will require the help from imaging system, which will be a bit more of a challenge, but Dr. Rus and Dr. Miyashita are determined to succeed.

Best Overall: LectroFan EVO Sound Machine

Why You Should Get It

This compact, stylish, and affordable white noise machine is very easy to use. With a timer, a headphone connector, and a large range of sounds, you'll be able to find the right set up for you. That's where it comes in to mask all that unwanted environmental noise—or lack of—so you can get more rest.

Keep in Mind

The device isn't battery-operated, so it'll need to stay plugged into a power source.

It does everything you need it to, and then some, for a very reasonable price. It plays non-repeating digital noise in a range of colors: It has 10 fan sounds, 10 environmental noise sounds—including pink and brown noise, and two ocean soundscapes.

The device is super simple to use, and once you've picked your favorite type of noise, it will be saved in the settings, and the machine will auto play that sound each time you turn it on. The speaker produces a clear and crisp sound, and there's a wide volume range. It also comes with an optional timer you can set between one to eight hours, or play continuously, plus a 3.5mm connector for headphones if your partner isn't quite as keen on white noise as you are.

It's compact enough to travel everywhere with you, and as white noise machines go, it looks pretty good, too. It certainly won't look out of place on your bedside table. You can power the LectroFan EVO via USB or the included A/C adaptor, but it doesn't have an internal battery, so it does need to be plugged in.

Price at time of publish: $35

Product Details: Dimensions: It's 4.7 inches long and 3. 3 inches in height. Its width is the same as its length. | Sound options: 22 | Timer: Yes | Power: Plug-in