DailyDirt: Augmenting Animals

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There are a bunch of people out there who are into turning themselves into cyborgs or adding to their natural-born abilities. Some of them say they're transhumanists, but others are just super geeks willing to experiment on themselves for fun. (Most folks are probably willing to wait a bit to make sure brain implants are actually safe.) Here are just a few projects that are working on giving lab rats some cool new upgrades.

• Rats have been given an artificial sense -- the ability to detect infrared light. An IR sensor was attached to the rat's head and after a month of training, the animal could reliably sense when researchers directed otherwise invisible IR beams of light on it. [url]
• Some neuroengineers have developed a fully implantable and wirelessly rechargeable brain device that could serve as a brain-computer interface. This implant has lasted for over a year in lab animals, and it can observe, record and process information directly from dozens of brain neurons. [url]
• Rat brains on two separate continents have been connected to work in tandem. The researchers are already working on connecting the brains of four rats at the same time, as well as starting on brains of larger mammals.... (insert ominous music here) [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: bci, biology, biotech, brain implants, brains, hmi, infrared light, neuroengineers, transhumanism

DailyDirt: Melding Humans And Machines

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

"Terminator"-like cyborgs may still be just a thing of science fiction, but modern technological advances in bionics are enabling people to regain or enhance their ability to do everyday things that most people take for granted. Here are just a few examples of some bionically enhanced people (and animals).

• Customized 3D-printed appendages are helping a ~4-year-old girl regain use of her arms. The "magic arms" (as she calls them) attach to a modular body-powered upper-limb orthotic device called the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX). [url]
• The Mercedes Formula One team gave a new bionic arm to a teenage fan, who was born without a left hand, after he offered to sell Mercedes advertising space on his prosthetic arm. The customized i-LIMB Pulse, created with the help of Touch Bionics, allows him to do things like grip a pen to draw pictures and write, tie his shoe laces, and catch a ball. [url]
• Researchers are studying the amazing potential of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and neuroprosthetics. BCIs work because of the neuroplasticity of the brain, which allows neurons to form new connections in response to new stimuli. People, monkeys, and rats have all demonstrated the ability to use BCIs to perform various tasks. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: bci, biotech, human machine interface, neuroprosthetics, prosthetics, wilmington robotic exoskeleton
Companies: mercedes