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Austria's 'Bionic Man' Dies In Car Crash

Posted by timothy on from the sad-to-hear dept.

euphemistic writes "An Austrian man who became the first person outside the US to wear thought-powered 'bionic' arms has died from injuries sustained in a car crash ... Kandlbauer, who would have turned 23 next month, sustained severe head injuries when the specially modified car he was driving swerved off the road in the south east of Austria and crashed into a tree on October 19. The cause of the accident is not yet known, particularly whether the neurally-controlled arm-prostheses he had been fitted with might have played a role."

34 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Seriously? by pinkj · · Score: 2, Interesting

    To strengthen my observation: Slashdot Capture

  2. I wonder... by zoom-ping · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... if pirates ever crashed ships into rocks, cliffs etc because of their 'bionic' limbs.

    1. Re:I wonder... by T+Murphy · · Score: 5, Funny

      If by "bionic" you mean "rum", and by "limbs" you mean "more rum", then the answer is yes.

      --
      My webcomic
  3. Austrian Cyborgs? by zippthorne · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where have I heard this story before...

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
  4. Re:Seriously? by __aatirs3925 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I don't know about pinkj but I am. Look at my posting time and you'll see exactly what I mean. It's sad that this guy had to die like this. If you read some of the Chinese tabloids they are blaming American technology wtf?

  5. If the arm was the cause? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I wonder if the arm turned blue when it crashed?

  6. Olympic Games deja vu by chrism238 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Great to see that [Australia] is firmly in the tags for this story.

    1. Re:Olympic Games deja vu by 12WTF$ · · Score: 5, Funny

      Correction: Sidney Mourning Harold

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      Cryonics - Keep cool and carry on.
    2. Re:Olympic Games deja vu by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Correction: Throatwarbler Mangrove

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Olympic Games deja vu by brusk · · Score: 3, Funny

      You misspelled Luxury-Yacht.

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      .sig withheld by request
    4. Re:Olympic Games deja vu by nyctopterus · · Score: 2, Funny

      ... purple monkey dishwasher.

  7. I hadn't heard about these. by mirix · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Interesting. I presume there software involved here?
    Any details on how the system works?

    Wouldn't be the first time a bug killed someone, but he could have just dozed off too...

    --
    Sent from my PDP-11
    1. Re:I hadn't heard about these. by AnonymousClown · · Score: 5, Funny

      OR he could have been passing some hot chicks in scant outfits and thought, I need to go talk to them forgetting he was driving down the road.

      OR....seeing the hot chicks, he thought of doing something else with that bionic arm of his on another part of his body and due to a glitch in the message queue for his arm, the arm immediately started doing what he wanted to do on his extremity - the hand made a fist and the arm started jerking up and down very rapidly on the steering wheel causing him to lose control of the vehicle.

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      July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

    2. Re:I hadn't heard about these. by udippel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      OR he could have been passing some hot chicks in scant outfits

      Where do you live? It's late autumn in Austria. And fscking cold, if that's what you had in mind ... .

    3. Re:I hadn't heard about these. by ooshna · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think he was just looking at the ass of the hot girl jogging on the sidewalk next to him. The arms read his thoughts and turned toward what was on his mind.

    4. Re:I hadn't heard about these. by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's the entire "in america" thing where almost everyone who would be visiting a website would know that America uses Fahrenheit to measure temperature.

      Anyways, I was attempting to call the GP silly because 70 kelvin is like -333 F and -203c. And of course 70 C is 343 kelvin and 158 F. When talking about the temp of the weather in a country, I don't think any of those other then 70 f would fit in this world.

  8. Austrian Wildlife to Blame by Hoarse+Whisperer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Recent updates to the story via the Slashdot tagging system suggest that he may have swerved to avoid a Kangaroo, a common cause of accidents in South Eastern Austria.

    1. Re:Austrian Wildlife to Blame by syousef · · Score: 2, Funny

      Recent updates to the story via the Slashdot tagging system suggest that he may have swerved to avoid a Kangaroo, a common cause of accidents in South Eastern Austria.

      What was that skip? Sonny's fallen off a cliff?!? Lead the way skip!

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      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    2. Re:Austrian Wildlife to Blame by ciaohound · · Score: 2, Funny

      Then it will be hell!

      --
      Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
  9. Doesn't at least a part of you want to know... by oliverk · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...if they can rebuild him?

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    1. Re:Doesn't at least a part of you want to know... by crazypip666 · · Score: 2

      I hear they can rebuild him better, faster, and stronger.

    2. Re:Doesn't at least a part of you want to know... by Andy+Smith · · Score: 3, Informative

      ... but still dead.

    3. Re:Doesn't at least a part of you want to know... by ajlitt · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Apparently they don't have the technology.

  10. An interesting motto by tftp · · Score: 4, Informative

    his motto was: "Don't live for others, live for yourself!"

    No further comment is necessary.

    1. Re:An interesting motto by tftp · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think the motto as printed is a mistranslation. Consider this variant: [...] "Don't live through others, live through yourself!"

      I understand your reasons to say so, but here is the original, in German:

      "Lebe nicht für andere, sondern lebe für dich!", war das Motto des gelernten Kfz-Mechanikers, der mit 17 Jahren auf einen Strommasten geklettert war und dabei beide Arme verloren hatte.

      The original English translation seems to be reasonable, since für != durch. Native German speakers are welcome to correct me, if needed. My German is pretty basic.

    2. Re:An interesting motto by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Translation:
      "Don't live for others, but live for yourself!" was the motto of the (car) mechanic, who climbed a utility pole at age 17 and in doing so lost both his arms.

      I'm not sure about utility pole. What I mean is one of the towers that carries power lines.

  11. Re:Austrian? by Nocuous · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, it was Austin. Steve Austin. Don't worry, they have the technology, they can rebuild him.

    Too soon?

    --
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  12. Put shrimp on the barbie! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Kandlbauer crashed after swerving to avoid hitting a koala or possibly a strudel.

  13. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ..some of the Chinese tabloids they are blaming American technology wtf?

    It's a proactive defense of the "...cheap Chinese parts..." accusation which will inevitably manifest.

  14. Easily explainable by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe he was trying to open windows, and crashed...

    1. Re:Easily explainable by udippel · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is funny, but I lack mod points, alas.

  15. Bigger Issue! by shougyin · · Score: 3, Funny

    This brings up a more alarming issue that I believe needs to be looked into before we begin walking around with cyborg parts attached. What if the machines have suicidal tendencies? I'm sure if I was attached to someone else and forced to do their bidding, then I wouldn't be too happy. Maybe his arm wasn't happy enough just being his arm! What if it dreamed of being a cell phone...and watching him talk blissfully on that beautiful piece of machinery just threw the arm over the edge!

  16. Re:Austria != Australia by multipartmixed · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think that last one is "Was die vick, Ihnen!"

    I'm surprised you didn't know that.

    --

    Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
  17. Hope he didn't hurt anyone else by tconnors · · Score: 4, Insightful

    'Kandlbauer "accepted his fate in a manner that commanded great respect from all of us'. What? It's not fate when it was his own stupid choice to climb a high voltage pylon.

    Why was he allowed to drive despite his arms being controlled by an unreliable experimental medical/machine technique? His motto was "Don't live for others, live for yourself!". Meanwhile, he was always far more likely to contribute to other peoples deaths because he was allowed to drive.

    I just hope he didn't hurt or kill anyone else when he crashed.