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These Ingenious Middle Schoolers Used Advanced Technology To Help A Little Penguin

Saving penguins between P.E. and band practice like it’s no big deal

Remember when putting the latest Black Eyed Peas song on your iPod felt like a scene from a sci-fi movie? These days, middle schoolers are taking it up a notch—actually, make that several notches.


According to Mashable, 23-year-old African penguin Yellow Purple, known around the lab as Purps the Penguin, tussled with another bird in 2011 and injured her left leg. Since then, vets at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, have been bandaging her foot to manage the pain and help increase mobility.

With a little help from the high-tech students at Mystic Middle School, Mystic Aquarium and ACT Group were able to 3D print a new boot for little Purps’ banged-up foot. Thanks to the support of a boot that’s molded specifically to her leg, Purps the Penguin is now able to easily walk around the sanctuary with much less discomfort.

Amid talk of personalized 3D-printed clothes and accessories revolutionizing the fashion industry, it seems Purps the Penguin may be the first to don technologically advanced footwear. Talk about being stylish and practical.

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