Operation Mind Control

My dad is a prosthetist-orthotist and a couple of friends sent me an interesting article yesterday about some new advances being made in prosthetic technology.

Two monkeys with tiny sensors in their brains have learned to control a mechanical arm with just their thoughts, using it to reach for and grab food and even to adjust for the size and stickiness of morsels when necessary, scientists reported on Wednesday.

The report, released online by the journal Nature, is the most striking demonstration to date of brain-machine interface technology. Scientists expect that technology will eventually allow people with spinal cord injuries and other paralyzing conditions to gain more control over their lives.

The full article is here with an amazing video! Monkeys Think, Moving Artificial Arm as Own


A grid in the monkey’s brain carried signals from 100 neurons for the mechanical arm to grab and carry snacks to the mouth.

My father has never made anything as progressive as the mind-control technology, but he has made myoelectric arms, which allows patients to contract or flex a muscle sending a small electrical signal called an EMG that causes the artificial hand to move. With the new mind control technology, they are one step closer to even easier movement for amputees (even though I find controlling stuff with your mind kinda creepy!)


Myoelectric Arms: It's Electrifying!


And just for kicks, below is a video of Cafecita the Llama, a llama that my pops made a leg prosthesis for. He'd never made one for an animal before, but this was a special case. Cafecita would have had to be euthanized without her new leg, but now she's alive and healthy!

Wit' or Wit' Out You

As Memorial Day is a day to remember U.S. troops who have perished in battle, I figured what better way to celebrate it but to travel to Philadelphia, the home of our Liberty Bell and Declaration of Independence!

Okay, in all seriousness, Memorial Day has become more a day of beer blasts and hot dog roasts to many, and Philly is the home of my roommate's parents who offered us a free place to stay and a stocked fridge. Either way, I had a pretty great weekend.

The BF, my roommate, roommate's GF, and I all headed to the City of Brotherly Shove with dreams of Cheesesteaks and a general change of scenery. I shot over a 100 photos, which I don't necessarily remember taking, and are being developed as I type this, so they may or may not be posted in the future.

While in Philly, we visited the one-of-a-kind Mütter Museum, which features an amazing exhibition of medical oddities. On display were torturous-looking medical tools (Ladies, if you thought the gyno was bad now, you should check out some of the stuff on display at this place!), some downright gruesome specimens of diseased body parts, as well as a whole section of conjoined twin wonderment. As a kid, I always loved Ripley's Believe It or Not and the like, so I couldn't get enough of this stuff-- and since the entire museum is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, there is no question about the believability of these anomalies!

Conjoined twin child skeleton.


Collection of eye injuries and diseases.


Enlarged colon, broken neck, various skull injuries, et cetera...