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Scientists have successfully wired a state-of-the-art artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm. Its creators say the device, called “SmartHand,” resembles a real hand in function, sensitivity and appearance. In order to develop such an intelligent artificial prosthetic hand with all the basic features displayed by a real one, the SmartHand team integrated recent advances in nanobioscience, cognitive neuroscience and information technologies.
The artificial SmartHand, built by a team of top European Union and Israeli scientists, features four electric motors and 40 sensors that are activated when the SmartHand touches an object, not only replicating the movement of a human hand, but also providing the wearer with a sensation of feeling and touch.
Robin af Ekenstam of Sweden, the project’s first human subject, has not only been able to complete extremely complicated tasks like eating and writing, he reports he is also able to “feel” his fingers once again.
“I am using muscles which I haven’t used for years. I grab something hard, and then I can feel it in the fingertips, which is strange, as I don’t have them anymore. It’s amazing,” Ekenstam told a television interviewer. Thankfully the SmartHand will belong to Ekenstam as long as he wishes. While the prototype looks very “bionic” now, in the future SmartHand scientists plan to equip it with artificial skin that will give the brain even more tactile feedback. The researchers will also study amputees equipped with the SmartHand to understand how to improve the device over time.
Although the SmartHand project focused on hands, the researchers say they could also have built bionic legs to be wired to the brain. The team first chose to build a hand, however, because of its unique challenges. “The fingers in the hand are the most complex appendages we have,” Prof. Shacham-Diamand observes. “The brain needs to synchronize the movement of each digit in a very complicated way.”
The SmartHand project is a collaboration between Tel Aviv University (Israel), ARTS Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy), Aalborg University (Denmark), Tyndall Institute (Ireland), Össur (Iceland) and SciTech Link HB (Sweden).
(via Gizmag)
So this happened.
He’s more machine than man now. Twisted and evil.
FYI: That blonde….in the hat….
Don’t tell her
But she’s my forever….
She might not..or she may already realize it
(she better after 4 years this week haha)
But I just want it out there
For EVERYONE…even those that might turn their head from it.
We raise a beautiful child. She is my forever.
Forever ;)
I love my Tumblr friends.
You’re a beautiful couple!
The Denver Post followed high school graduate Ian Fischer as he enlisted in the Army, went through training, left for Iraq, and returned home; the photos tell quite a story. (via Jason Kottke)
Captivating. Compelling. If it had pages, it’d be a real page turner. I dunno. I got caught up in it. Maybe you will, too? Have a look.
My work day ended very, very happily.
You may be saying “gee, Kate, that’s lovely! What was it that made the end of your day so wonderful?”
Well, the first thing was the fact that I successfully freed myself from the grips of a panic attack utilizing skills I worked on in therapy for multiple years. I stopped going to therapy in August, so this incident made me realize that I made the right decision to stop going. At least for right now.
MORE IMPORTANTLY: My co-worker arrived at the office after several days in the field and dropped off a lot of lithics from a site. A lot.
BUT MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT is the fact that two of the bags were chock full of prehistoric ceramics and OH THE GLEE THAT WAS ON MY FACE BECAUSE PREHISTORIC CERAMICS ARE MY FAVORITE AND I HAVEN’T HAD ANY TO LOOK AT IN OH SUCH A LONG LONG TIME. They’re rather fragile so I’ll need to take my time figuring out how to clean them.
I can’t wait for Monday, people.
I <3 Kate.
(via bookshelves)
Some might reblog this for the Neil Gaiman. For me it’s Terry Pratchett. He makes me LOL.
The Mote in God’s Eye, Niven/Pournelle. Classic.
Laugh
Laugh until the marketing shills have to change their tack. Laugh until all billboards are just polite requests. “Please investigate our new product online if you have a moment. We’re really quite proud of it. Thank you ever so much.”
We didn’t have a TV for most of my childhood, and it’s scary to look back and notice its efficiency, before and after. Its introduction brought neediness; I found my young self distressed that I did not have all the toys and clothes I wanted. After I learned what an Eddie Bauer edition car was (precisely what we didn’t have—tinted power windows, premium sound system, leather everywhere), I used to play a game in my head: each time I saw a car I fancied, I’d say/think “I want that in Eddie Bauer.” Eventually it was just shortened to “That,” and, although inaudible, it didn’t count unless I formed the word with my mouth. I spent a few years touching my tongue to the back of my front teeth, quietly coveting a dozen or dozens of cars each day. “That. That. That. That. That. That. That. That.”
A young boy consciously cataloging all the things he’d never have—how depressing.
But it was precisely the desired outcome.
Now days I can’t watch television for more than a couple minutes without becoming apoplectic. Hernia-inducing levels of rage. “How dare they insult our intelligence like that? Cleansing micro-beads? Really!?” and on and on.
So I try to laugh instead. I laugh to drive away the knowledge that marketing ‘wisdom’ still works on a great many people. I laugh in hopes of looking like less of a cynic. I laugh to try and broadcast the insanity of it all.
I don’t want to say who, but someone earned herself a timeout for eating stuff out of the trashcan again.
Mary’s a grown up. She can eat what she wants to. And just because it’s called a “garbage plate” doesn’t mean it came out of a trashcan. Sheesh.
Cream cheese doesn't expire, right? I mean, it says it has on the package but I was too hungry to take it seriously.
Sometimes I see beautiful mothers bringing their kids to school, and I think, "Man! Isn't Life Fantastic!"
I wish there was some kind of acronym for that….
