Using the Mind to Control Prosthetics

This week I read an article on how technology has been developed that allows for the mind to control a bionic prosthetic leg. A video explaining some of this new technology is shown below:



Although they have had  this technology for arms and hands for a while, using it with legs is much more complicated, as if some of the information from the nerves is misinterpreted, there is a good chance that the person using this bionic leg will fall. There is more research and improvements that need to be made, but this technology could make lives easier for many amputees.

Here is a link to the original article:

New Prosthetic: Man Controls Bionic Leg with Thoughts

Using Eels to Detect Disease

This week I found an article on how a protein found in eels will glow when it interacts with a pigment known as bilirubin.

Bilirubin:


Eel Glowing:

This pigment is usually destroyed by the body, but in the case of liver disease, the bilirubin levels will rise, resulting in jaundice, and other harmful effects such as brain damage or even death. Although their is much research to be done, this could be used to help detect when a body is malfunctioning before the full effects of high bilirubin levels do their damage.