We Can Rebuild Her, We Have The Technology

I first came across the story while perusing the Early Bird at work: a US Marine who lost her arm in a motorcycle accident has been outfitted with a new version of a bionic arm, one that allows her to perform simple movement functions by just thinking about it. That's right, kids, this thing is powered by the mind! It simply amazes me how far prosthetics have come. When I think of prosthetic arms, I think more along the lines of the gag detachable hand my brother tried to scare me with one year at Halloween. This thing, though, is 21st-century level. It's modern technology being used to help real-life people restore their lives to some semblance of normalcy and functionality. Sure, you could make jokes about this being one step closer to cyborgs and robots taking over the world, but to a sci-fi geek like me, this news is fascinating. Hopefully this technology will improve and lead to even more breakthroughs.

The thought control works by rerouting and attaching nerve endings to nodes on the arm itself. So, it's not likely that medical technology will find a way to telepathy anytime soon, but imagine the possibilities if it did. I mean, having your toaster powered by a thought? Brililant!

In other news, you can check this off the list of age-old questions answered. Except that it was with light bulbs, not bolts, NASA. Geez.