Thought-Controlled Prosthetic Arm

Hey everyone!

Two undergraduate students, Michal Prywata and Thiago Caires, from Toronto's Ryerson University have created a prosthetic arm that is powered by compressed air and controlled by thoughts (brain signals) of the wearer. The wearer does not have to undergo surgery to get this arm because it is attached by straps. This prosthetic arm also has a fuller range of motion than other arms. In order to move the arm, the amputee wears a headset that detects brain signals. Whenever the signals in the brain match one of the established command signals, the arm moves accordingly.

One interesting tidbit about the creation of this arm is the fact that it took about a year to develop the software but the actual arm only took 72 hours to build.

As of right now, the two students are trying to get the fingers to move individually. They are also trying to establish a sense of capacitive touch into the fingers as well.

This students have also established their own company Bionik Laboratories, Inc. in order to commercialize their arm.

Interested to see the original article? Check it out! http://www.gizmag.com/pneumatic-thought-controlled-prosthetic-arm/18289/

Solar Powered Military (Suits)

Wow guys!

Apparently the Engineering and Physical Research Sciences Center in the United Kingdom is currently working on camouflage uniforms that use solar power and body heat. It would keep power going for their radio, GPS, and even some of their weapons. The fabric that they are creating uses solar photovoltaic cells and thermoelectric devices (along with lightweight batteries). This suit would even help hide a soldier more effectively with infrared cameras. Other militaries are also looking into this source but these suits will be quite expensive. The project alone costs 1.4 million dollars.

I think this sounds like a really neat idea if the power can be harnessed and used correctly. I'm not sure how well it would work in some situations but I can see these being especially helpful in deserts.

What do you guys think?

Here's my source: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/%E2%80%98solar-soldier%E2%80%99-project-could-lighten-load-british-infantry-while-keeping-soldiers-safe

A Stretchable Catheter for the Heart

Hey everyone!

Here's a new science development for you all. Scientists have just recently created a single catheter that does the work of the usual two used to treat arrhythmia. Arrhythmia is the fancy word for an irregular heartbeat. Usually cardiologists will put in a catheter that maps out the heart and finds the source of the irregularity. The second catheter then gets directed to the location (through the use of the electrode on the end) and kills the aberrant cells.

This new catheter is a "flexible meshwork of linked sensors and electrodes onto a conventional endocardial balloon catheter. It looks like this:

Those sensors (that you can see on the picture) measure various things such as temperature or electrical activity and then use the data to lock onto the aberrant cells. Then, just like before, the cells are destroyed. The other neat thing about this catheter is that it will inflate when it is inserted in order to open up blood vessels and then it will deflate once the source of arrhythmia is gone.

Pretty neat, huh? Check it out here: http://www.gizmag.com/balloon-catheter-with-stretchable-electronics/18098/

Machinima Links and Videos

Hey guys! If you happened to find anything I said remotely interesting, here's the couple of links I used to do my research.

http://www.machinima.com/

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/218111/the-13-best-machinima-projects/

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Here's the youtube videos that I used, and the one I didn't end up showing about the "Trashmaster."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxIota-k8rA - The Leet World, Episode 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHhKPFw-WMo&list=SL - Sanity Not Included, Save the World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVYCXw-dSKE - The Trashmaster trailer

Lastly, I really hope you guys like(d) my presentation -- and have a great week!!! : )