Is it possible for a prosthetic arm to feel temperature and texture - and communicate these sensations in some way to the user directly?
Surgeon and engineer Todd Kuiken gives a great TED talk to address these questions.
(TED talk by Todd Kuiken)
SF writers have been thinking about this for generations, and the fans have been waiting. The bionic arm imagined by Martin Caidin in his 1972 novel Cyborg had this capability:
"When you think to pick up an object, what happened before with your original arm is repeated. The electrical impulses generated by your brain command everything... The artificial muscles.. which in this case are silastic and vitallium pulleys, then contract, twist, and tighten. You can even sense with your fingertips..."
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
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Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'