Slashdot Mirror


Amputee Has Prosthetic Hand Wired To Nerves

New submitter kalman5 writes "Dennis Aabo Sørensen is the first amputee in the world to feel sensory rich information — in real-time — with a prosthetic hand wired to nerves in his upper arm. Sørensen could grasp objects intuitively and identify what he was touching while blindfolded. The surgical team 'attached electrodes from a robotic hand to a 36-year-old volunteer's median and ulnar nerves. Those nerves carry sensations that correspond with the volunteer's index finger and thumb, and with his pinky finger and the edge of his hand, respectively. The volunteer controlled the prosthetic with small muscle movements detected by sEMG, a method that dates to the 1970s and measures electrical signals through the skin—unlike the electrodes attached to his nerves, sEMG is not invasive.' The results? 'The volunteer was able to complete the requested tasks with his prosthetic thumb and index finger 67 percent of the time the first day and 93 percent of the time by the seventh day of the experiment, Micera and colleagues report. He found the pinky finger harder to control: he was only able to accomplish the requested grip 83 percent of the time by the end of the experiment.'"

72 comments

  1. This may prove useful for me by dmomo · · Score: 4, Funny

    As I offer to give my left foot to keep Slashdot Beta away.

    1. Re:This may prove useful for me by LookIntoTheFuture · · Score: 1
      Remember kids, newer is ALWAYS better. If you are old, you should kill yourself now.

      Now that's sarcasm!

      --
      Brave Sir Robin ran away. ("No!") Bravely ran away away. ("I didn't!")
    2. Re:This may prove useful for me by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      and I'm picturing the "ch ch ch ch ch" sounds from a 70s series.....

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    3. Re:This may prove useful for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I had to click on the "We can annoy you with the evil Slashdot beta before you read the story" window before reading the story. I told it to go away and NEVER come back again, but I have a feeling, Dice will inflict this pain on us in the future, and we will have to leave and never come back before they say "sorry, sorry, we promise never to bring back that awful beta crap again".

  2. Only a matter of time before.... by bazmail · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You can download sensory information to be replayed to your sensory nervous system. I for one will welcome that, and the inevitable uses the porn industry come up with.

    1. Re:Only a matter of time before.... by buswolley · · Score: 1, Offtopic
      to which I say,

      Fuck Beta. Fuck Beta a replayed time.

      --

      A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.

  3. Confessions Of an Ex-SLASHDOT BETA user by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Day 1: It wouldn't stop, the redirecting. At first I thought it was malware. Had my first drink in a long time.

    Day 2: Barely had the strength to carry on as the BETA REDIRECTIONS continue.. trying not to talk to hallucinations at the bar and in the bathroom which laugh at me about these redirections.

    Day 3: Discovered the BETA redirections were random, and while at first they looked somewhat usable, when I looked at me and my monitor screen in the mirror, a horrible woman with flesh hanging off of her body looked back, trying to lead me into a dance as the word BETA appeared across her rancid breasts.

    Day 4: These BETA corridors go on FOREVER! On the plus side, I've taken up disassembling vehicles to corner this BETA beast and sacrifice myself rather than lead others to discovering it. I ate some red snow.

    Day 5: Finding it harder to concentrate. I've ate some more of the red snow. The taste is starting to grow on me.

    Day 6: This typewriter is the only entertainment I have, apart from throwing things at the walls, trying to get some response from the BETA which is now taking over my mind.

    Day 7: Hahahahahha! Would you believe it? I'M STILL BEING REDIRECTED TO SLASHDOT BETA PAGES! AHAHhahahaah! Type, type, ding, ding! Wooo!

    Day 8: The hallucinations are actually real! Would you believe it? They have offered to help me if I agree to work for them. I'm thinking about patenting this delicious red snow, the taste is unreal!

    Day 9: Having black out sessions where I cannot remember large passings of time. Found some makeup, thought I'd paint a joker smile on my face to amuse the people only I can see!

    Day 10: Productive today, part of what I wrote for my new screenplay:

    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
    I cannot opt out of Slas

    (drops of blood on paper)

    1. Re:Confessions Of an Ex-SLASHDOT BETA user by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good day sir, where might one obtain some of this red snow you speak so highly of?

  4. I do not want Slashdot Beta by chebucto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they follow through on their threats that might be it.

    Who knows, maybe a mass exodus to Kuro5hin will revive that old refuge just as Slashdot dies.

    --
    The English word fart is one of the oldest words in the English vocabulary.
    1. Re:I do not want Slashdot Beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time..

    2. Re:I do not want Slashdot Beta by demontechie · · Score: 1

      Wish I had some mod points... +1 Deeply Appropriately Funny and spoken on a site that is soon to die in battle.

  5. Boycott by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I propose that we boycott stories and only discuss the abomination that is Slashdot Beta.
    Moderators - only spend mod points on comments that discuss Beta
    Commentors - only discuss Beta
    Keep this up for a few days and we may finally get the PHBs attention.

  6. Immediate fine motor control? by tysonedwards · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As someone who has gone through physical therapy on my arm, the thought of very good immediate fine motor control and reliable control within a week of training is incredible. I remember spending weeks trying to reliably touch the tips of my thumb and pinky together. Even now, I have difficulty with my ring and middle fingers doing what they are supposed to unless I have them in the corner of my eye.

    --
    Thirty four characters live here.
    1. Re:Immediate fine motor control? by Common+Joe · · Score: 1

      Ignore the AC that posted to you. What an ass.

      Anyway, I just simply came to say what a shame it is that the beta site conversations have completely taken over Slashdot. Although I fully support the beta site conversation take over, it has ruined a potentially interesting good conversation about this story. I have a very good friend who was paralyzed less than two years ago and I've worked with people with disabilities. Although I have no physical disabilities of my own, I am very much aware of how difficult this is and how important a breakthrough this is.

      -- Common Joe

      Slashdot Valentines Day Massacre: Boycott Slashdot because "Fuck Beta!": February 10 - 17

      And Support Okian Warrior's Alternate Slashdot Idea!

  7. Thanks Beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've been wasting time here for a little more than a decade now. Won't have to anymore.

    1. Re:Thanks Beta by buswolley · · Score: 2

      free, free at last!

      --

      A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.

    2. Re:Thanks Beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty much where I am at this point too. If beta comes, I'll just have to spend more time on fark.

    3. Re:Thanks Beta by LookIntoTheFuture · · Score: 2

      lol. I've been a lurker since KDE3 first went stable. I heard about slashdot from a banner in tux racer. I just recently created a profile. This whole thing feels a bit like when KDE4 came out and they threw KDE3 into the garbage can. Even though KDE4 was hardly a replacement at the time.

      --
      Brave Sir Robin ran away. ("No!") Bravely ran away away. ("I didn't!")
    4. Re:Thanks Beta by LookIntoTheFuture · · Score: 1

      I think it was tux racer.

      --
      Brave Sir Robin ran away. ("No!") Bravely ran away away. ("I didn't!")
    5. Re:Thanks Beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't like this KDE comparison, and especially KDE4. While KDE4 was incomplete, it was in fact a like-for-like replacement. The only thing I truely didn't like (and still isn't fixed) is no Quanta. KDevelop is just an ugly eclipse/netbeans clone...still... but I digress. The slashdot FUCKBETA, OTOH, is just a marketing dot-com-bubble style rubyesque garrish nightmare of douchebaggery that goes completely counter to the core values of those of us that have been here for 15+ years.

      Personally, I think comparing it to anything lessens it, because it is truely epic level fuck you to their core users way beyond anything we've ever seen before.

      FUCK BETA

  8. Interesting choice. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Smeggy detector ehh?

  9. What a dick move by willthiswork89 · · Score: 2

    They give this eye the gift of feeling in a long-gone arm, only to take it away a week later. Thanks for helping us, but get the hell out of here now!

    1. Re:What a dick move by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they should have just designed and implanted the permanent gizmo straight away without any of this silly experimentation, and testing, and caution.

      That sarcastically said, I'd hope this guy's at the top of the list for the final product.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:What a dick move by Tynin · · Score: 1

      That struck me as harsh as well, but sometimes life isn't fair. Not everyone gets to bring home the projects they work on.

  10. Have you noticed the motto change? by Max+Hyre · · Score: 0

    The Beta motto is ``News for Nerds''. Looks as if they're admitting that the changes don't matter.

    --
    I refuse to believe corporations are people until Texas executes one. -- desert rain on http://www.dailykos.com/user/
    1. Re:Have you noticed the motto change? by buswolley · · Score: 3, Informative
      Just submitted a story to the Firehose: Once Slashdot beta has been foisted on me, what site should I use? Why don't you take a drink and plus it.

      http://slashdot.org/recent

      --

      A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.

    2. Re:Have you noticed the motto change? by rmdingler · · Score: 0
      Yes, yes I have.

      A crafty ploy, removing the long-flying nerd banner from the /. Classic site, only to herald the much maligned Beta site with our former Standard.

      Beta, for the REAL nerds.

      The only logical explanation is the Beta dev is sleeping with management.

      P.S.: The Vader-like robotic hand is sweet!

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    3. Re:Have you noticed the motto change? by mcgrew · · Score: 0

      The Beta motto is ``News for Nerds''.

      I guess the definition of "nerd" changed, you can't use any HTML in that gawdoffal clusterfuck. They HAVE to have some underhanded reason to want to kill slashdot, because once they remove classic this place will be empty and the cleanmypc guy and the goatse guy and APK and ethanol-fueled will be all that's left.

      So, if nerds don't code or do science or engineering or repurposing stuff, what are we called now? And is it a pejorative, like "nerd" was when I was in high school?

      I'll miss slashdot.

    4. Re:Have you noticed the motto change? by citizenr · · Score: 0

      Just submitted a story to the Firehose: Once Slashdot beta has been foisted on me, what site should I use?

      https://news.ycombinator.com/n...

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    5. Re:Have you noticed the motto change? by jenningsthecat · · Score: 0

      I'll miss slashdot.

      Yup, me too. It kinda felt like it was about to jump the shark even before Dice took over, but after that point the writing was on the wall in great big letters and it was clearly only a matter of time. Fonzie is lining up for the jump right now, and as soon as Classic is no longer available I'm so outta here.

      I tried posting this comment on Beta, and I couldn't even preview it, much less post it, so I'm back on Classic; this interface is SO much better. But even before I found out that Beta SIMPLY DOESN'T WORK, I realized that there's no pressure there anyway, 'cause it sucks as hard as it blows. Tiny text box, no 'quote parent' button - they're obviously trying to manipulate us into posting shorter comments. Well, Dice, guess what? When Classic disappears, my comments will be VERY short. Zero words - is that short enough for ya?

      So long Slashdot, and thanks for all the fish - except for the fucking shark. No thanks at all for that.

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    6. Re:Have you noticed the motto change? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Some folks are working on a new slashdot. It looks like they're using wikipedia code right now, the page says they're converting to slashcode. No content there yet. I opened an account this morning.

  11. Eh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I kinda like it. Seems more professional.

    1. Re:Eh... by buswolley · · Score: 2, Funny

      says the developer of beta

      --

      A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.

    2. Re:Eh... by dmomo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah. Shows how out of touch the people in charge of the site have become. They don't understand what keeps people here. I imagine they don't care. I imagine it's about getting new people in and traffic numbers up. There's some project manager who is under pressure to get these numbers. Beta is their baby. I feel bad that they have to keep an optimistic face, and pretend they like the monster that they created. .. all while knowing they've cock punched their oldest fan base. More of us old-fogeys with 1,000,000 user ids need to speak up.

    3. Re:Eh... by Musc · · Score: 0

      You haven't been on slashdot very long if your user id is 256005.

      --
      Hamsters are at least as feathery as penguins. HamLix
    4. Re:Eh... by David_Hart · · Score: 0

      Yeah. Shows how out of touch the people in charge of the site have become. They don't understand what keeps people here. I imagine they don't care. I imagine it's about getting new people in and traffic numbers up. There's some project manager who is under pressure to get these numbers. Beta is their baby. I feel bad that they have to keep an optimistic face, and pretend they like the monster that they created. .. all while knowing they've cock punched their oldest fan base. More of us old-fogeys with 1,000,000 user ids need to speak up.

      I like the Slashdot Beta. I'm pretty sure that they understand that the only way for the web site to thrive is to continually get new blood. Compared to other social web sites (And Yes, Slashdot is a social web site, just not as main-stream as Facebook), Slashdot doesn't just look Old, it looks Ancient. It's way past time for a change. Personally, I'm disappointed that they weren't working on a 3D VR interface. Maybe in the next update 15 years from now...

      However, what it really shows is just how out of touch the old timers have become. It's time for you guys to buy a tablet (grin). Like it or not, we are entering the age of the touch-screen, mobile computing, completely GUIfied world. I for one welcome our GUI overlords...

    5. Re:Eh... by Thanosius · · Score: 1

      I've been on Slashdot since 2002 but keep making new accounts so that no-one can properly build a profile based on my comment history - not due to privacy concerns but rather to avoid any bias toward seeing my username and modding based on the name rather than the content of my posts.

      --
      Account abandoned. I can't fucking spell for shit and Slashdot doesn't even allow time-limited edits of posts. Plus you'
    6. Re:Eh... by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      You know what? I'll take the new beta site when they stop

      double spacing

      all the lines

      of text

      in a little column

      on the left

      to make room for a giant column that has one ad at the top and is otherwise empty all the way down the entire comment section. I mean fuck, if they want to be all web 9.2 or whatever the version we're supposed to be on, they should have their "promoted" comments on top in their little colored boxes with their ads and shit on the side (just like the old fogey screen) then give us a working nested comment section that doesn't max out at 2 comments on the screen. Case in point: I went to http://science-beta.slashdot.o... and control-f'd your name and found this very comment. On the old fogey screen, your comment (including the quote) takes 11 lines (including the paragraph break after "now..." On the beta with the same screen size, your post takes 29 lines, not counting the fact that line spacing is set to about 1.5 or so. The first line of your post is

      Yeah. Shows how out of touch the people in

      That's all that fits. For the lulz, I hit reply over there and the reply box has a huge amount of padding on the inside. The first line of this comment before it wraps is

      You know what? I'll take the new

      This doesn't look like the new web, it looks like a 150 year old newspaper from back when editors said "fuck everything we're doing SEVEN columns of newsprint!" and a tiny font and that was progress.

      Also, give us back abbreviated view, so nesting works right even if there's a -1 comment in the chain without mycleanpc taking up 50 goddamn screens each. I also feel sorry for the people who aren't in the first 20 or so posters because nobody's going to sit there mashing "more" over and over.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    7. Re:Eh... by seanvaandering · · Score: 1

      Ahh crap... so your telling me i've been doing this wrong?

    8. Re:Eh... by citizenr · · Score: 2

      I'v been in that situation. It was a PC hardware enthusiasts site sold at the peak of .com bubble to an investment fund. Within one month new management started changing the message board, message board that was the heard of the side and brought traffic. After one month they deleted old forum and moved everything into phpBB. Two months after the buyout forum was empty. 2-3 months later original creator of the site launched new portal :D with slightly changed name, and SAME forum software :D. One month later that new site picked up all the old users. Site that was sold closed shop a year later, new one is still running strong. Creator bought a new flat/house with money to spare = everybody wins.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    9. Re:Eh... by khellendros1984 · · Score: 1

      I think they're using some external javascript libraries that my work blocks, and it looks pretty bad. The page layout improves if I completely disable page styles. Of course, all of the behavior of the page is broken anyhow, so it's not much of a benefit.

      My phone seems to display everything OK, but even in landscape, the comment tree quickly becomes about 30 characters wide with a big grey strip off to the right when you get a couple of replies in. The spacing feels too wide overall (both height and width).

      When it works, I wouldn't call the beta "horrible", but I'd say that it still needs some serious tweaking. If I can't view the site on my work machine though, that's basically going to automatically kick it out of the daily rotation for me.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    10. Re: Eh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree, Jeremiah Cornelius is a piece of shit.

    11. Re:Eh... by Trogre · · Score: 1

      Remember, these clowns also own Sourceforge, and look at people abandoning that adware-spewing cesspool like rats leaving a sinking ship.

      It's almost as if... someone else is in control of Dice. Someone who perhaps knows how much Slashdot and Sourceforge meant to certain intelligent people...

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    12. Re:Eh... by XcepticZP · · Score: 1

      Case in point: I went to http://science-beta.slashdot.o... and control-f'd your name and found this very comment.

      I tried that too. And all I got was an empty comment section that read:

      "Shazbot! We ran into some trouble getting the comments.
      Try again... na-nu, na-nu!"

      Sigh.

    13. Re:Eh... by Common+Joe · · Score: 1

      More of us old-fogeys with 1,000,000 user ids need to speak up.

      Or boycott for a week.

      -- Common Joe

      Slashdot Valentines Day Massacre: Boycott Slashdot because "Fuck Beta!": February 10 - 17

      And Support Okian Warrior's Alternate Slashdot Idea!

    14. Re:Eh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I usually don't do this to people, but fuck you. Fuck you. It's bad enough what they've done to slashdot, but you will not assimilate me into the age of fuckin' $500 fisher price toys with games to pacify us like Angry Birds. Why someone would pay that for a disposable phone-like device that's OS is burned in is far beyond me. When smartphones took off, global IQ dropped 10 points. By the way, fuck you.

  12. Hate the new beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why is the feedback for the new beta by email? Previously when the last attempt was made to force everyone onto the new beta they at least provided a simple form for feedback. Now it is a plain email for feedback. Obviously nobody is going to read such emails and digest the feedback. They certainly wouldn't be able to easily collate the results and deduce that most people hate the beta, so I suppose that is why the feedback is effectively /dev/null. Perhaps they want to harvest the email addresses of site visitors who rarely bother to login?

  13. The six million dollar man by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only you don't get what you used to for 6 million anymore.

  14. just wire it up to some nerves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  15. The future... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    ...two wangers

    1. Re:The future... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One on each arm.

  16. Beta Blows by RendonWI · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really, this beta thing... dice you ruined the mobile site, and now you are going to go through with ruining the main site? Fuck beta.

  17. I think I'll wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    for a new version before I get bionic hands. That thing is clunky as all hell and looks terrible lol

  18. The hand that blinds us. by Dutchmaan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Doctors found that male patients, if left alone in their bathrooms, achieved 100% efficiency in under an hour.

    1. Re:The hand that blinds us. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What have his to do with the beta sucking?

  19. How long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Until in-built Wolverine claws are an optional extra?

    Oh, and fuck beta. Fuck em right in the ear.

  20. fuckbeta by zenlessyank · · Score: 2, Informative

    fuckbeta

    1. Re:fuckbeta by nut · · Score: 1

      Mod parent +1 fuckbeta

      --
      Never trust a man in a blue trench coat, Never drive a car when you're dead
  21. beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Headlines are too big, gotta move my eyes a lot just to read them.
    Pictures for the article summaries is cheesy.
    It looks like somebody's Tumblr thing, my brain goes "Where's the yoga pants?"
    You remember when BBC news was stiffer but now it's more like CNN?
    Robot arm, whatever.

  22. huh? by radish · · Score: 2

    You must be seeing a different site than me. I'd say the comments take maybe 70% of my screen width. There's a pretty wide margin on each side which could certainly be reduced a little, and then a column on the right with the search box, poll, and a bunch more panels. There's certainly some wasted space, but nothing like you imply. And nothing is double line spaced.

    FYI, Chrome/Win.

    --

    ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

    1. Re:huh? by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      Have a pic.

      Also chrome on windows.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  23. So did Beta take away your arm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, did Beta cause you to loose the use of your arm? Cause if not, you are off-topic motherfucker.

    Oh, Fuck Beta

  24. test by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Testing testing
    Easy does it
    Silly Silly
    Toast

    (Fuck Beta)

  25. Not so bad by jitterman · · Score: 1

    I remember the last time the layout was changed, and there was the usual round of "oh I hate this." Other than hoping they decide to show member numbers (those of us in the first 999,999 want our cred), I like the new layout, and think it will grow on people over time, just like the current one did.

    Still, great comment :)

    --
    For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
  26. I've always thought it was about the content. by jitterman · · Score: 1

    I don't really care about the layout, what keeps me here after more than a decade is what I read about, and the discussions held here. Look is important if I can't use the site, but this is usable. Some will like it, some will hate it, some will say "meh" to it. As long as I can find stories and conversations that interest me though, I'm good. Just my personal .02

    --
    For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
  27. Weird... by David_Hart · · Score: 1

    I'm definitely not seeing the same screen as you. I am running Firefox 27 and I'm definitely not getting double spaced lines. My comment takes 8 lines, not 11.

  28. Mobile.. by David_Hart · · Score: 1

    It's better for reading, viewing, and replying to on mobile devices.

  29. 2000 words by Qzukk · · Score: 1

    Have a picture of your post: http://imgur.com/YaOtcUk

    And another of this post: http://imgur.com/YvQjTIf

    Note khellendros's post at the bottom of the second pic. Maybe double-spaced is an exaggeration, but your text is (for some inexplicitly bizarre reason) sans-serif and line-and-a-half or so spaced compared to his (for some inexplicably bizaarre reason) serif font, normally spaced.

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  30. Bonus points! by Qzukk · · Score: 1

    I pushed post and naturally my post disappeared from the screen. I waited a bit to see if it would come back (even on "classic" D2 it sometimes took a couple of seconds) but it never did. I had to come back to classic D2 to see that the post did, in fact, submit (so at least the posting part worked, even if there's absolutely no feedback to that effect). While I was here I scrolled through the rest of the comments on Classic to see if there's any particular reason why some of the comments fonts are different than before, and I'm not able to find one. In classic, khellendros's post is exactly the same font as yours.

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.