Wednesday, October 31, 2012

It's the Climb

31 year old Zach Vawter lost his leg in a motorcycle accident in 2009. So he decided to sign up for a research subject helping to test a prosthetic leg that can be controlled by his thoughts, just like a regular leg would. Zach will put this bionic leg to the test by walking 103 flights of stairs to the top of one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, Chicago's Willis Tower. His leg should function with the mere thought of "climb stairs." Researchers have been perfecting the leg.  One day they attached 11 electrodes on Zachs thigh and as the electrodes fed data to the bionic leg he could kick a soccer ball, and climb stairs. He'll  have many spectators cheering him on the climb. Because the number of hands and arms lost are higher than the loss of lower limbs thought controlled arms and hands have already been made. This 8 million dollar project has been funded by the US Department of Defense, and many other universities. In the next 10 years this product with be on the market, and several other advancements in technology will be made to bring more ideas and dreams like this to come true.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9645860/Amputee-to-scale-Chicagos-Willis-Tower-with-thought-controlled-bionic-leg.html


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Whales Talkin Our Talk

Beluga whaleThere are several intelligent animals among the the human race. Animals like pigs, dolphins, dogs and many others but I don't think that the Beluga Whale can even compare to these animals. Researchers have recently discovered a 9 year ole whale speaking in octave that are like the octaves that humans speak in. Eventually researchers trained this Beluga to make these sounds on command  There have been several times where there have been claims of hearing these noises but this has been the first time its been recorded (go to link below). As the whale continued to make these human like sounds they figured out that to make the noises the whale changed the pressure in his nasal cavity very quickly. Along with some other very hard muscle contractions, changing the his lung pressure, and manipulating his own speech mechanics, its obvious this is no easy task for the whale. This whale has been learning these human sounds simply by listening and mimicking. Thats extremely fascinating and remarkable.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20026938

Monday, October 15, 2012

Pakistani Teenage Girl Nearly Killed, Made Hero.

PHOTO: Malala Yousufzai, 12, is seen at her home in the Swat Valley, March 26, 2009, in Peshawar, Pakistan.Many years ago our country made the decision to give women an equal chance to have an education like men. But in other places around the world women are still having to fight for this right. As the years go on the girls who fight for this right get younger and younger. In Pakistan a 14 year old girl was shot in the head and neck on a school bus by the Taliban for fighting for the right to get a good education. She will undergo several MRI's and other procedures before they had the actual surgery. All of her hospital bills are being taken care of by the Pakistani Government. Many people there consider her a "battle victim" in these terrorist wars even though she has taken a very small contribute. The former British Prime Minister stated that he was going to start a petition to get proper education to women. 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Mad Duck

Today a true fighter has left us. ALex Karras was a NFl football player, pro wrestler  actor, writer. He battled cancer and kidney disease. In 1958 he was a first draft pick for the Detroit Lions, he played for 12 seasons there and quickly became one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. But just one year before his football career started he had a pro wrestling contract signed. Aa his football season began to take shape, word had spread that he was placing bets on the NFL games and was then suspended for one season in 1963. During this time he went back to wrestling just for a short while. He played football till he was 35 and along those years he had gone through many head coaches and many controverses. And then in 1968 his fill and tv career began. He was in a many movies and made several appearances on The Tonight Show. The he was a Monday Night Football announcer, and stayed there for about three years and then returned to acting. He kept a journal and it was later published in the Detroit Free Press. Alex was entered into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 and the College Football of Fame in 1991. He coached in 2007-2008, was married twice and had 6 children. With everything he had in his life, with everything he battled and juggled he ended up having several health issues. He suffered dementia, heart disease, cancer and kidney failure. He was a fighter, who didn't waste a moment of his life.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Karras

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The New pet. A Dinosaur.

A sculpture of a fanged dinosaur as it appeared in life.This little guy isn't necessarily new news, it's remains were found about 50 years ago. But in the resent years of advancing technology we have been able to learn new things about what it really looked like, when it thrived and other details.Taking a glance at the picture above would show that it has porcupine like quills, a small mouth almost like a beak and fangs. Research shows that this species would have lived on the forested rivers in south Africa. After  Sereno, a paleontologist, has time to study he said that the fangs resembled those mammals of todays meat and plant eating mammals who would use them to attract and fight for mates, along with self-defense. This little dinosaur was a little ahead of its time not only because of the fangs but because of his jaw structure and molar like teeth. This dinosaur was no bigger than a household cat, so if you really wanted to you could keep this little dino as a pet and train it to not chew off any of your limbs.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121003-new-dinosaur-species-fanged-sereno-science/