DARPA
kcollins | June 3, 2011The human hand - four fingers and a thumb. When we lose it due to injury, we've lost something that truly makes us human. That's a key reason why the Pentagon's "Revolutionizing Prosthetics" program, a $100 million multi-disciplinary effort in science and engineering is so important. It is working towards building a robotic arm with a fully functioning hand -- a feat never before accomplished in medicine.
The need for such a development is accentuated by the number of wounded soldiers returning home after service in Iraq and Afghanistan, many having suffered the amputation of their arm. "We…
cagapakis | November 13, 2010Everything has a unique chemical signature. Every body, every place. When you smell home you're sensing all the chemical traces that make up the place you grew up. When you smell your mate, you're smelling the unique combination of their body and the microbiome of their skin.
The unique smell of a city is something that my Synthetic Aesthetics partner, Sissel Tolaas, has been interested in for a long time. Yesterday in her lab I got to smell her recreations of the smells of Paris--the corner bakery, dog poop on the sidewalk, old rusty cars, cigarettes and perfume, sun on the street after…
zooillogix | July 28, 2008This is old but Oysters Garter reminded me of it and I still think it's pretty cool. Also, I love lobsters (see below below).
The Biomimetic Underwater Robot Program based out of Northeastern University seeks to develop "neurotechnology based on the neurophysiology and behavior of animal models." This particular lobster robot is meant to sniff out underwater mines or some such, but I suspect that's just what the researchers told DARPA to get a big check to build a badass robotic lobster.
Perhaps of equal interest are these pics of my wedding cake (for reals):
UPDATE: My lobster cake was…