What I find interesting about this latest study is that the technology gave participants skills they could use outside of the lab. And because the stimulator is external, it is more accessible and likely much cheaper. Yes, the newly activated movements are small, but when you hear the palpable excitement of one study participant demonstrating how to move a small ball into a cup, you'll recognize that the incremental gains are far from insignificant. At a press conference last week, Melanie Reid, one of the recent trial participants, said: “there [are] “There are no miracles with spinal injuries, but small gains can change your life.”
For more information, read: MIT Technology Review's archive
In 2017, we received acclaim for our groundbreaking electronic interface technology designed to reverse paralysis by reconnecting the brain and body. There is a story about Antonio Regalado.
An implanted stimulator changed John Mumford's life, allowing him to grasp objects once again after a spinal cord injury left him paralyzed. But when the company that made the device folded, Mumford had few options to keep it running. “A limp limb can be brought back to life by technology, but it can also be made quiet again by basic market economics,” Brian Bergstein wrote in 2015.
In 2014, Courtney Humphries covered some of the rat studies that laid the foundation for the development of technology that allowed paralyzed people to walk.
on the web
There is a lot of news about bird flu this week. A second person in the United States tested positive for the disease after working with infected livestock. (NBC)
Livestock farming, which relies on the transport of tens of millions of live animals, provides ideal conditions for the spread of pathogens, including avian influenza. (NYT)
Long read: How the death of a 9-year-old boy in Cambodia triggered a global H5N1 alert. (NYT)
You may have heard of ways to track viruses through wastewater. H5N1 is the first virus to be tracked through store-bought milk. (statistics)
The first organ transplant from a pig to a human may not have been successful, but scientists are learning valuable lessons about what they need to do better. (nature)
Another lengthy book worth your time: an inside look at how long 3M has known about the prevalence of “forever chemicals.” (New Yorker)