These prosthetics break the mould with third thumbs, spikes, and superhero skins

Historically, prosthetics designers have regarded to the human physique for inspiration. Prosthetics had been seen as replacements for lacking physique elements; hyper-realistic bionic legs and arms had been the holy grail. 

However we’re now witnessing a motion in various prosthetics, a type of assistive tech that bucks conference by making no try to mix in. As a substitute of creating units that mimic the looks of a “regular” arm or leg, a brand new wave of designers are creating fantastical prosthetics which may wriggle like a tentacle, gentle up, and even shoot glitter. Learn the complete story.

—Joanna Thompson

Joanna’s story is from the newest print difficulty of MIT Expertise Assessment, which is all about design. Join for a subscription to learn the complete factor when it comes out later this month.

We don’t must panic a couple of fowl flu pandemic—but

How fearful ought to we be about fowl flu? Some have warned that avian flu would be the subsequent lethal pandemic. Others have mentioned the chance is not any completely different from what it was a number of years in the past.

There’s no denying that outbreaks of the virus have had a big impact on birds in current months, and that the present outbreak is considerably worse than what we’ve seen prior to now. However though we’ve seen a small variety of instances in folks, there’s no proof to recommend it poses an even bigger risk to people now than prior to now. Learn the complete story.