TED: How my legs give me superpowers

"So people that society once considered to be disabled can now become the architects of their own identities and indeed continue to change those identities by designing their bodies from a place of empowerment."
----Aimee Mullins from her TED talk





[Image captured from http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Aimee_Mullins]

Prosthetic Arm Update

Here are a couple of updates on the prosthetic arm Dean Kamen is working on. I blogged about this about a year ago. It is an amazing piece of engineering.



Found this video via a short article on BotJunkie. Picture from another short article on Wired.

Dog Prosthesis

While driving through a back street in Boulder, Colorado last week on my way to a hiking trail, a dog ran in front of our car. That wasn't all that unusual and we braked to keep from hitting him. The unusual part was that he had a home made prosthesis built from what looked like old bicycle wheels to hold him upright. I couldn't tell if he was missing his legs or if they were damaged but he seemed to be able to move just fine.

I wondered if it was this kind of behavior that got him into that doggy wheel chair in the first place.

This article made me think of that back street dog. Her prosthesis is more sophisticated and a little more polished but they both get the job done. [Note: The video doesn't show Hope using her prosthesis....wish they had included a little footage of her in action.]

[Image: captured from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028681/Pictured-The-puppy-born-legs-whos-using-model-aeroplane-wheels-around.html]