No one has conversed with Eric Ramsey since 1999, when a car crash paralyzed him, leaving his conscious mind trapped inside an unresponsive body. The rare condition is called locked-in syndrome, and it has left Ramsey unable to even blink. But now, scientists and engineers are helping him reconnect with the outside world.
Five years after the incident, scientists implanted a device in his brain linking it directly to a speech synthesizer. After years of practice, Ramsey can now generate vowel sounds just by thinking of them.
Four years ago, Fanxing Science and Technology of China created AIC-AI, “the world’s first cooking robot,” which can rustle up thousands of disparate Chinese dishes. Since AIC-AI burst onto the culinary scene, the New York Timesreports, roboticists around the world have devised “a veritable army of new robots designed to serve and cook food.”
Japan’s Motoman SDA10 has spatula arms that can handle savory pancakes. The Famen restaurant in Nagoya, Japan, serves ramen, a soup, prepared by two giant robot arms. The Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, came out with the Chief Cook Robot, which can make omelettes — provided someone first cracks the eggs.
A neuron cell diagram – click the image for more details
Neural engineer Matthew Schiefer may have discovered an important lead in one of neurology’s most challenging problems: how to reanimate paralyzed limbs. Working at Case Western Reserve University, Schiefer was able to “hack” a nerve bundle in an unconscious subject’s leg using a small eletrode (image after jump), causing the leg to twitch .
Forget your cellphone charger at home? IPod battery running low? Soon you won’t have to worry, because your body will recharge your electronics (and no, not in a creepy Matrixway).
Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of cellphones, recently filed a U.S. patent for a phone charger that harvests kinetic energy. The technology would allow cellphones to be charged partially through the movement of the owner’s body.
As the number of cellphone users increase, so does the demand for energy, which is jeopardizing efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and increase energy efficiency.
