Today the AP reports that “a robotic hand has been successfully connected to an amputee, allowing him to feel sensations in the artificial limb and control it with his thoughts,” thanks to a group of Italian engineers. The “LifeHand” experiment lasted over a month and is a significant step forward in the sphere of prosthetic limbs. [AP]
For more on robotic limbs, read about the work of Yoky Matsuoka.
The new X-Flex Blast Protection wallpaper, created Berry Plastics and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, promises to help walls keep their shape and guard against flying debris in the face of explosions. Watch as a heavy wrecking ball fails to tear down a brick wall lined with a single sheet of this amazing stuff. [PopSci]
One of the exciting things about engineers is their ability to inject new life and variation into seemingly mundane and ordinary objects. Case in point: the chair. Recently the design blog Core 77 has featured a few truly nifty chairs that demonstrate just how clever engineers can be when faced with real-world issues.
The Setu Chair, created by German design team Studio 7.5, tackles the complications that arise with adjustable office chairs. Since many people share the same workspace these days, having a chair that must be constantly readjusted can be awkward. So the engineers and designers at Studio 7.5 came up with the Setu, a chair with a flexible “spine” that shifts to accommodate the weight and body contours of different users. The team made over 35 functional models in their Berlin workshop before presenting the final product.
If you plan on visiting the University of Rochester tomorrow, be sure to watch out for flying pumpkins:
“Local students will test their engineering prowess by slinging pumpkins with catapults and trebuchets of their own design on the day before Halloween in what has come to be one of the campus’s most entertaining and anticipated rituals.
Update 11/02/2009: It seems some engineers got a little overzealous with their pumpkin tossing this past weekend: a cannon built by students for a contest at California State University in Fullerton accidentally launched a pumpkin over 120 yards, directly into the Titan Stadium scoreboard. The impact apparently left a small hole, but luckily the scoreboard still functions and “nobody seemed to be in a huge panic.” [UPI]
