Artificial polymer muscles

Over the past few years there has been a great leap in the technology of development of prosthetic limbs. Today companies create prosthetics that feature "mechatronic" elements, which are usually used in creating robots. These elements turn simple prosthetics into functional substitutes for missing body parts.

But that is about to change as surgeons Craig Senders and Travis Tollefson of the University of California, Davis, look forward to apply artificial polymer muscles to revive the facial features of patients suffering from severe paralysis.

"The face is an area where natural-appearing active prosthetics would be particularly welcome," surgeons write in a current patent application. The two experts hope that their latest invention in science will provide a solution. They reported that the tests carried out on cadavers proved to be successful.

A complete example provided in the patent document explains the way artificial muscles work in helping regain control over eyelids of the patients that suffered spinal injuries or have nervous disorders such as Bell's palsy. There are a number of different disadvantages for people who lost control over their eyelids, including the fact that eyes can become ulcerated, which can lead to blindness.

The two surgeons propose using the arrangement presented in the scheme, to handle those problems. Senders and Tollefson describe their invention by saying that a polymer muscle attached to the skull pulls on cords that hook up to the upper and lower eyelids. In case a person attempts to close their eyes, the move generates electrical activity in the muscles that would close the patient's eyelids. The polymer muscle identifies this action and contracts, dragging on its cords to entirely close the eyelids.

Across the Java Sea

Over the years I've had many opportunities to work with professionals from various fields. In every endeavor, computer technology is utterly transformative. But not every field gets this. Some scientists, licencsed experts, and professionals are allergic to new technology.

I had an epiphany recently on why some varieties of professionals are more welcoming of disruptive technology than others. I realized the types of pros who are most eager to employ the latest technology are those fields which have already been Turing'd.

We have this long list of tasks and occupations that we humans believe only humans can do. Used to be things like using tools, language, painting, playing chess. Now, one by one they get Turing'd. A computer beats them. Does it better...

Computer scientists are great to work with, because in general they are completely fearless. They were Turing'd long ago. They grok that many of the tasks they used to do can be done much better by computers. On the other hand, doctors as a rule are loathed to accept new technology because what they do is hard to delegate to computers. Ditto for a lot of biologists.

Within biology there are certain fields that have already been Turing'd. For instance, phylogeny, the study of taxonomic trees, how different species are related to each other. Figuring out phylogenetic trees turns out to be something computers can do better than even the smartest, most learned humans -- even though nobody believed this only a little while ago. So phylogenists are Turing'd and very open to new ways of doing things...

Once you are Turing'd it is much easier to believe other occupations which we humans used to do uniquely, can be done by computers. You tend to be open to disruptive technology in all parts of your life.

Maps Satellite

Over the past decade, the number of people on Earth shot up by more than 13 per cent, to nearly 6.8 billion people. To make room for all the hungry, breeding, CO2-emitting bodies on our small planet, we’ve ravaged Earth’s surface with staggering feats of deforestation, irrigation and urbanisation — and Nasa satellites have captured it all.