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Technology

Cybernetic Prosthetics for Amputees 252

Posted by michael from the 100mph-fastball dept.
A. J. Perkins writes "Returning amputees from Iraq are getting computer-driven artifical limbs allowing greater balance and mobility. These futuristic limbs have hydraulic pumps visible through its clear plastic shell. They are loaded with an on-board CPU and rechargable batteries. The Utah3 Arm, which allows simultaneous motion in the elbow, hand and wrist, offering movement old prosthetics could not. These are coupled with the SensorSpeedHand, which has electronic sensors in the fingertips that make it easier to grip objects. The C-Leg monitors motion 50 times per second to assist with balance."
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Cybernetic Prosthetics for Amputees More

Cybernetic Prosthetics for Amputees

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  • Hm... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Fjornir ( 516960 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @02:35AM (#11295365)
    Will this come in time to save us from the terrible secret of space?
    • Nothing can save us from the terrible secret of space.

      Unless we have protection.
      • Do you have stairs in your house?

        Pushing is the answer.
        Humans must be pushed.

        Pushing will protect you.
        Pushing will protect you from the terrible secret of space.

  • Boring (Score:2, Informative)

    by smart_ass ( 322852 )
    For people in the industry this is OLD news ... the CLeg has been around for ages.

    http://www.ottobockus.com/about/press_room_view_it em.asp?id=140 [ottobockus.com]

    Many alternatives from different companies exist for the CLeg.

    The myoelectric stuff is at least cool, but the CLeg?

    Come on ... news should be new.
    • amen

      i swear the advances in prosthetics are evolutionary, and far from revolutionary these days.

      i guess the comparison would be moving from the body powered egg-beater to an electric egg beater. same thing but with a motor. :)
  • I admit it would prolly be considered poor form, but it would be nice if I could replace my four limbs with prosthetics, then they wouldn't be so pisspoor excuses for arms and legs and wouldn't be so sore so often, my legs especially. Besides, my feet are shot to shit. Please don't ask me to explain.

    Moll.
    • Actually that is an interesting comment. I have often wondered about that same topic. Will people, in the distant (or maybe even near?) future volunteer to swap their human body parts for machine replacements?

      If technology keeps developing at the rate it has been, how long will it be before prosthetic limbs become superior to the ones we are born with? Imagine super stong mechanical arms or legs, which are controlled through your nervous system. Imagine replacement livers and hearts and maybe even brains

      • Re:What would be nice... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by TWX ( 665546 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @03:14AM (#11295499)
        "Will people, in the distant (or maybe even near?) future volunteer to swap their human body parts for machine replacements?"

        I wouldn't. My body is relatively self-healing, so if I mess something up it has a pretty decent chance of fixing itself to at least a functional state without outside intervention. It's a system that has functioned in billions of units for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years.

        Machines break. Electronics suffer from bad programming. Technicians might not be easily found, and if my arms stopped working I'd have a hard time fixing them myself. My arms are also submersible to fairly extreme depths, able to withstand hot and cold to a significant degree, and capable of extremely fine motor control and motion.

        Body part replacements for me would be a last resort if my stock ones were failing.

      • Will people, in the distant (or maybe even near?) future volunteer to swap their human body parts for machine replacements?

        Every playes "Syndicate"? "Volunteer" is relative :-) .oO(Cooper Team)

      • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @06:39AM (#11295986)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • If technology keeps developing at the rate it has been, how long will it be before prosthetic limbs become superior to the ones we are born with?

        Genetic discovery is also evolving very fast and I wont be surprise that it will be easier to inject ourselves a DNA enhancer that will augment our muscular performances, boost our immunization and healing capacities, give us some "bath like" radar vision and really enlarge some part of the human body by some 3 to 6 inches. Of course you all understood I was tal

    • dosius said:
      Besides, my feet are shot to shit.
      heh...reminds me of this exchange:

      Sarge: Son did you just shoot yourself in the foot?

      Simmons: Yeah...I do that now sometimes. I don't really know why.

      Sarge: I'm sure it's user error.

      - Red vs. Blue [redvsblue.com] Season 2, Episode 38.

  • The C-Legs.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    So the C-Leg helps with balance 50 times per second, eh?

    Sounds like the C-Leg might be a good replacement for someone who already lost their sea legs.

    Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night...

  • Good news (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Profane MuthaFucka ( 574406 ) <busheatskok@gmail.com> on Saturday January 08, 2005 @02:40AM (#11295377) Homepage Journal
    This is good news, but you know, it doesn't put a smile on my face. If there were a story here entitled "Thousands of kids didn't lose their leg in the first place" that would make me smile.

    • Re:Good news (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Zakabog ( 603757 ) <.moc.guamj. .ta. .nhoj.> on Saturday January 08, 2005 @03:05AM (#11295467)
      You can't report something that didn't happen, how are you supposed to know if it was going ot happen if it didn't? Otherwise the news might be a lot better "Millions of people didn't die today, as a nuclear weapon was not launched at NY." I'm sure thousands of kids DIDN'T lose their legs, I'm sure it was millions even, all because of some thing that may of happened recently that made some other thing much safer. But like I said, you'd never know about it because it is something that didn't happen.
      • I do think you missed the point of your parent. The last sentance in his post was quite obviously tongue-in-cheek.

        But thanks for pointing out the obvious anyway

    • Re: Good news (Score:5, Informative)

      by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @03:09AM (#11295479)


      Supposedly the "average wound" in this war is worse than in any previous war, partly because most of it is done by explosives rather than bullets, partly because of improvements in body armor for the head and torso, and partly because improved medical technology is saving a lot of people who would have just died in any previous war.

      BTW, you can see the overall casualty counts (wounds and deaths separately) at globalsecurity.org [globalsecurity.org]. (Notice the running-average plots at the bottom, which show the trends.)

      • I wish they would make the distinction between serious injuries (going back home) and minor injuries (will be back on front line within a month or less).

        The injury counts are always misleading, and usually worthless, unless you have some way of qaulifying them. After all, getting a tiny piece of shrapnel in your arm still counts as an injury, but hardly means it's life altering. In fact, minor wounds such as that, usually means the man is back in service in the next day (or les).

      • Supposedly the "average wound" in this war is worse than in any previous war

        You're kidding, right? I wish I could find an online version of the picture of the German Major who got his frickin face blown off in WWI. No upper jaw, no nose, his eyes were gone. He survived and lived to 80 years or something like that. Most injuries in WWI were like that - parts of people got blown off. That's the effect of massive artillery against infantry.

        I don't think that WWI will ever be matched again (short of a nucle

      • BTW, you can see the overall casualty counts (wounds and deaths separately) at globalsecurity.org. (Notice the running-average plots at the bottom, which show the trends.)

        Anyone know where to get an RSS feed or similar machine readable counts of this? How about Iraqi casualties? I would like to see such statistics as widely published as possible.

    • Re:Good news (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 )
      While I agree to some extent, I also feel there is no point in posting about it. I mean, this is akin to yelling at people who buy expensive toys that "they should be donating their money to starving children".

      The reality is people lost limbs, the good news is they are getting replacements that are much more advanced than they used to be. Lets be happy and leave it at that.

    • This is good news, but you know, it doesn't put a smile on my face. If there were a story here entitled "Thousands of kids didn't lose their leg in the first place" that would make me smile.

      The first step to get a headline like this would be to stop the production of anti person land mines.
      This has already happend, many major countries have agreed to to stop production and distribution of this mines, but there is one major country left whos military can't guaranty the national security without anti pers
    • This is good news, but you know, it doesn't put a smile on my face. If there were a story here entitled "Thousands of kids didn't lose their leg in the first place" that would make me smile.

      Boy do I have news for you!

      Cheer up: Billions of kids didn't loose ANY limbs at all!
      In the united states alone, hundreds of millions of kids didn't loose their legs during the 20th century! Hazzah!

      But for those that did, this is reason to smile.
  • As with many military innovations, it will be interesting to see the future of computerized limbs when they reach the civilian population. I've met a few people with prosthetics, and devices like this would certainly help them. Despite views on war, this can only help.

  • Wrist-Action (Score:3, Funny)

    by Indy Media Watch ( 823624 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @02:45AM (#11295394) Homepage
    The Utah3 Arm, which allows simultaneous motion in the elbow, hand and wrist, offering movement old prosthetics could not

    Woohoo! Now I won't need that other battery operated prosthetic device.

    I wonder if these things also make that ch-ch-ch-ch-ch noise when I bend things or jump over stuff...
  • hegot 2 prosthetics, a manual version and this computer version. he is using the simple clamp prosthetic 'cause the computerized version breaks too often and the batteries dont last long. The one he actually uses just has a cord that goes to his shoulder, when he wants the clamp to open, he just flexes his arm a certain way. He put his computerized arm in the closet after it keept running down..

  • Love the sense of normalcy (Score:3, Insightful)

    by fuzzy12345 ( 745891 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @02:51AM (#11295425)
    Now that miscellaneous events have succeeded in pushing the war to the back pages, with the occasional unfortunate flare-up, it's good to see stories about all the good things that war is bringing us. Freedom is on the hobble!


    • > Now that miscellaneous events have succeeded in pushing the war to the back pages

      Unfortunately, between tsunami fatigue, upcoming elections, and predictions of escalated violence intended to disrupt those elections, I suspect Iraq is going to start dominating the news again in a week or two.

    • Yes, it is bad that soldiers are being wounded at all. That is the nature of war however, and it is a mark of Americas worth that we are at least outfitting those unfortunate recipients of major battle wounds with the best limb replacements available.

      We have the technology. We can make them better, at least compared to a peg leg.

      I know you didn't support the war, but I'm sure you at least endorse outfitting these cats with the best limb replacements possible. Please stop confusing administrative policy
      • Solidarity goes to the soldiers, that's out of question. Some may torture, coldly execute unarmed & wounded locals but the average soldier is not to blame.

        It's human nature where perfectly sane, even humane, people get sucked up in a savage frenzy. Bump into an averagely educated, perhaps sub-average income, guy in a normal situation and he behaves as normally expected from a citizen. Throw them in the midst of a hooligan riot, or meet them outside a disco club before his male pals and a bunch of hot
  • Do the limbs run Linux?
    If so...can you imagine a cluster of those!?

    Not sure I'd want Microsoft controlling my body parts though.
    People could mistake you for having epilepsy due to its constant rebooting. :->


  • I can see that the technology of prosthetics is slowly catching up to 80's cartoon terminology.

  • Join the Army and Win a Chance to Become a Cyborg! (Score:3, Funny)

    by acz ( 120227 ) <z AT hert DOT org> on Saturday January 08, 2005 @03:02AM (#11295459) Homepage
    Join the Army and Win a Chance to Become a Cyborg!

    How long do you think it will it take before they run an advert like that?

    They already do their best to recruit Counter-Strike players
    on Gamespy! (I am not kidding!)

    Anthony
    --
    Bellua Cyber Security Asia 2005 [bellua.com]
    21-22 March - The Workshops - 23-24 March - The Conference
    • ... or perhaps just the possibility of getting to beat people. Or chain them in painful positions for hours on end.

      The problem with decent people joining the Army is the possibiltiy that they will be given jobs that a decent person would find extremely disturbing to perform.

      Although this certainly isn't the first time that has been true.

    • They already do their best to recruit Counter-Strike players on Gamespy! (I am not kidding!)

      So we'll have an army of guys trying to bunny hop across the battlefield, and getting shot up because they ran out into the middle of an open area to retrieve an RPG dropped by the enemy? Johnny's dying words? "See you in three minutes, sarge".

  • Good and Bad (Score:5, Interesting)

    by atlasheavy ( 169115 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @03:09AM (#11295478) Homepage
    It's good to hear that returning veterans are being treated better and more rapidly than in the past, and that technological improvements are going to improve their quality of life. Nonetheless, if it wasn't for the failed war policies of this administration, kids our age (and yes, at 22 I definitely consider myself a kid) wouldn't be put into this sort of horribly traumatic situation in the first place.

    Mod me down as flamebait or a troll if you want, so be it, slashdot karma isn't worth glorifying the mess our great nation has ended up in due to the arrogance of a small group of people in Washington.

    • Re:Good and Bad (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "due to the arrogance of a small group of people in Washington."

      Unfortunately that small group of people won by an (ill-gotten, assuredly) majority.. so at least to a majority of the world, it's not just a small group of people in DC. It's a large group of people who want that small group of people in power.

      The current US leaders are a symptom of a problem. They are not the problem. The problem is the basic culture of the United States. As a country we have forgotten what the american dream means, what fr

    • Re:Good and Bad (Score:2, Insightful)

      by CMRichar ( 610129 )
      due to the arrogance of a small group of people in Washington.

      Now, now, I'm sure that the 'small group of people' had very worth-wile reasons for doing what they did such as ... OH MY GOD!!!! LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT DISTRACTION!!!!

      carrier lost....

    • Re:Good and Bad (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Charcharodon ( 611187 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @05:26AM (#11295796)
      I hate to tell but all wars are the result of "failed" policies and this particular one has been brewing for the last 50 years not just the last 5.

      As for the small group of the arrogant Washington I think you are being to selective. It would be more like a large group of arrogant gits around the globe are why we are in one of these messes every decade or two.

    • Re:Good and Bad (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mangu ( 126918 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @07:00AM (#11296034)
      Mod me down as flamebait or a troll


      Sorry, I'm out of mod points right now.


      slashdot karma isn't worth glorifying the mess our great nation has ended up in due to the arrogance of a small group of people in Washington


      Arrogance, yes, small group of people, yes, but not in Washington. The current mess in the Middle East began a long time ago, in 1919, when the British and French diplomats divided the Ottoman Empire, which had been in the losing side in World War I. If they had done their homework, they would have known they were creating a nation, Iraq, composed of three different regions, with three different groups: shiites, sunnites, and kurds. An inviable country, whose most probable form of government is a dictatorship.


      Now, what is the right thing for the POTUS to do? Should he be an isolationist? If Woodrow Wilson hadn't been one in 1914, WWI would have lasted less, with less victims, and probably none of the great convulsions of the 20th century. A short war might not have caused the birth of nazism. Possibly even Russia wouldn't have gone through communism.


      And even if nazism did happen, if FDR had gone to war in 1939 instead of waiting two years for the inevitable, WWII would have been less traumatic. Or better, if FDR, Chamberlain, and Daladier had stood up to Hitler in 1938 there would have been no war. If Bush senior had done the right thing and invaded Iraq in 1991 you wouldn't have all this mess today.


      Looking back over the last hundred years, I get the impression that arrogance isn't what starts wars. Wars start because of indecision. When a dictator feels that other leaders fear him, he thinks he can get away with anything. The best way to avoid wars is to make it clear to all the Saddams and Hitlers that tyranny isn't an accepted form of government, anywhere. Such rulers should be removed from power, using the necessary force. When this becomes the usual procedure we may say goodbye to all wars.

      • Re:Good and Bad (Score:5, Insightful)

        by nagora ( 177841 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @08:30AM (#11296276)
        The best way to avoid wars is to make it clear to all the Saddams and Hitlers that tyranny isn't an accepted form of government, anywhere. Such rulers should be removed from power, using the necessary force.

        Perhaps, then, America shouldn't hire people like Saddam to assassinate leaders, and put them in place once the old leader is dead. Perhaps, then, Donald Rumsfeld shouldn't sell people like Saddam biological weapons of mass destruction and perhaps, then, people like George Bush shouldn't send "experts" in to help with the "calibration" of those weapons. Perhaps, in fact, tracing the history of Iraq back to 1919 is simply a handy way of ignoring the actual and immediate fact that these soldiers are dying for a government which caused the problem in Iraq and who decided to attack it on the feeble pretext of the War on Terror in order to, as Wolfowitz's said, secure America's economic future (ie, oil).

        A little less pointing the finger at long dead people and their wars and a little more pointing it at the people in power today who are sacrificing their people for money today might help fix this mess.

        TWW

      • Re:Good and Bad (Score:2, Insightful)

        by snorklewacker ( 836663 )
        And even if nazism did happen, if FDR had gone to war in 1939 instead of waiting two years for the inevitable, WWII would have been less traumatic.

        Perhaps. But we were at war in all but title by then anyway. Maybe we would have ratched up a fearsome enough war production that it would have convinced Japan to leave us alone, and they would have kept much of their conquests.

        Maybe if Chamberlain had declared war back then, Hitler would have gone after a much weaker England sooner and convinced its populac
    • It's nice to see that some of us have the luxury to consider themselves to be kids at the age of 22.

      Good for you.

      • This isn't to say that I live in my parents' basement, or anything else along those lines. I finished up my B.S. degree over a year ago, and I work full-time for a large corporation doing software development. But still, attempting to label myself as an adult in comparison to some of the people I work with (especially those with kids) is just a joke.

  • As cool as the tech is... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SealBeater ( 143912 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @03:12AM (#11295492) Homepage
    I bet that he would rather have his leg back.

    SealBeater

    • I bet that he would rather have his leg back.

      Reminds me of a classic sports interview question by a clueless journo to a guy in a wheelchair - "Have you alway wanted to be a paralympian?" Reply - "No, I used to have legs."

      So long as a few countries continue to deploy land mines we will see a lot more of this - war is going to happen somewhere or another, but it's a good idea to follow international treaties on land mines, biological weapons and treatment of prisoners or it will come back and bite you in

  • Return to Combat (Score:5, Informative)

    by Sean Clifford ( 322444 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @03:15AM (#11295503) Journal
    From the article: These improvements allow amputees improved mobility over the Vietnam era, with many limbless veterans already contemplating running, skiing, and even a return to combat, according to veterans officials.

    You get your leg amputated after your second tour, get an artifical leg, do rehab, then...get sent back to Iraq for tour #3?

    Hopefully soldiers returning to combat after amputation have volunteered to do so. Imagine getting sent back again involunarily after losing a leg.

    These soldiers deserve the best gear and care we can give them. Tragically they're not getting it [optruth.org], especially critical after-care, follow-ups, meds, counseling, etc. Clinics and a few hospitals are closing, and new soliders are having many medical benefits phased out because their incomes are judged to be "too high." We're not talking Generals here, we're talking folks that make under $40k a year.

    Take a look at the unclassified stats for WIAs [optruth.org] (pdf).

    • The limbless veterans are the ones doing the contemplating, not the brass.

      Its been done before, with pilots who lost legs, and there was that diver from Men of Honor* who got a replacement limb, then went back to duty. Believe it or not, some people actually think they are doing the right thing being over there, and could feasibly want to continue doing it with a fake leg.

      http://imdb.com/title/tt0203019/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxte D 0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9TWVuIG9mIEhv bm9yfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__ [imdb.com]
      • The limbless veterans are the ones doing the contemplating, not the brass.

        A soldier usually has the option; however, given the shortage and stop loss situation I wouldn't be surprised to see amputees being involuntarily put back in the mix, perhaps in a support role rather than combat arms. It wouldn't be the most f***ed up thing the Army has ever done, but it would be close.

        Believe it or not, some people actually think they are doing the right thing being over there, and could feasibly want to contin

  • This is so much better than having their actual limb intact still almost 2 years ago.

    Sorry for the outburst. Please moderate offtopic.

  • Its great that these limbs can come so close to bringing back function to the missing limbs. However, when will we start seeing limbs that can perform BETTER than the old limb?

    I mean, obviously there are some sensory and control issues to be worked out, but why shouldn't someone who lost their arm be able to get one that is 5 times stronger? Or that has other enhancements like a computer interface (or an mp3 player/camera! JOKING!!!)?

    What I'm basically asking about is, why simply settle for replacement wh

    • Even if it's five times stronger, it still has to attach to the body. That attachment would have to be significantly stronger than it naturally would be for it to work. This device (the C-Leg) obviously has a long way to go despite being top of the line: all it does is swing more naturally than a 'dead' prosthetic.
  • Anybody else thinking "starship troopers" here?

    On a more serious note, the proportion of the US population that must've been affected by this war by now is scary. I wonder when it'll end - will we get Vietnam 2.0, or will they manage to resolve things (hopefully NOT by killing everybody who disagrees with them) before it gets to that?
    • Err no? Exactly what proportion are you talking about? The number of Americans dying on the roads every month still out numbers the total dead of Iraq and Afganastan put together?

      We're talking women and children here not volunteer soldiers. It could be anyone you know anywhere any time. It could be you.

      Some how we seem to be managing pretty well, so how does Iraq suddenly become "scary" when it's smaller by a factor of 50?

      Really people get a clue and some sense of perspective.

      And for the record

    • "The Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives." Winston Churchill
  • I bet they cost an arm and a leg.

  • It might be cool to have, instead of a wheelchair or prosthetic legs, a Segway-like 2-wheel thing.

  • Returning amputees from Iraq are getting computer-driven artifical limbs allowing greater balance and mobility.

    Let me guess... the returning amputees from Afghanistan, who aren't getting these artificial limbs, are compensated instead with compilers for the self-same computers, hence allowing them to make the amputees from Iraq go dancing around like Natalie Portman with hot grits down her britches?

    Just conjecturing about why only the Iraqi amputees get this cool stuff.

  • As a prosthetist... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by soulee ( 610711 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @04:50AM (#11295702)
    All I can say, is shame on this administration.

    Now please, don't get me wrong. We in the field are enjoying the publicy and the chance to show off the advancements of the past fews years. And yes, the advancements in prosthetics technology are slow due to funding and lack of research. But what I'm more concerned about is the need for people like me in this war.

    Honestly, when this war began many of us in the industry recieved notices about new patients arriving in as new amputees and we were being asked to write manuals for surgery procedures that are archaic! And endorse the use of out-dated concepts.

    It's appauling the way these troops are being handled. They are not recieving optimal surgeries such as the ERTL procedure. Nor are they all recieving C-legs and Utah-arms. Do you have any idea how much these costs?! No. Not every solider will be getting one and if they did, watch your insurance rates skyrocket. It's just not realistic.

    All I'm saying is that, thank you for the publicity but you are being lied to. This is not what is honestly happening at clinics. This is a poster pin up to make you feel better about the war and the injuries.
    • [I]f they did, watch your insurance rates skyrocket.

      The United States Military provides health-care to its members. So, if they were providing C-legs and the like, then it wouldn't affect any civilian's insurance rates because they are wholly seperate entities. This is much like regular insurance, if you have insurance through company A, and I have insurance through company B, my getting expensive surgery doesn't affect your insurance rates.
      • Not quite. Insurance companies buy insurance against the rare huge claims from other insurance companies (though I'm not an expert, I worked for one indirectly writing budgeting software). Your insurance company will most likely take small risks and cover the small claims, but buy insurance from other companies against the large claims so they don't get caught with their pants down when the s**t hits the fan.
        Increases in large claims ripple across the industry as the bigger underwriters are forced to raise
    • wow, what a bunch of useless people have replied to you so far. This is my worst insult to those, who replied to you - they are useless people.

  • "Hand, pick up the ball! Pick up the ball!" *WHACK*

    And of course, the question, do they give out prosthetic foreheads?

  • I'd prefer biological replacements... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by moz25 ( 262020 ) on Saturday January 08, 2005 @06:45AM (#11296003) Homepage
    While these developments are quite good, I think the best would be biological replacements. Is there any development in that area?

    On the other hand, I wonder if these replacements have any use in making the wearer of it stronger than with the (original) biological component.

  • From TFA: "I think I killed over 20 people," he said. "You could see them, through your scope, 40 meters away, get hit by your bullet. Later in the day you thought, wow, I just killed someone. But it's not like they're innocent."

    Instead of an artificial leg, they should have given him a new brain.

    Yes, call me a troll, or say I'm OT. But I can't stand these abused sentences any more. You killed somebody, for heaven's sake! It's not like YOU are innocent at all. And you thought "wow"?

    World isn't UT2004,

  • Do they have computer driven strap-on's yet?

    (didn't RTFA)
    (also, spell "strap on" backwards)
  • What do the children in Iraq get for their missing limbs?
  • Can't we strap all these things to a notebook computer, mount some fake tits, insert a copy of _In the Zone_, and each have our own eBritney to shake for us?
  • Several years ago, an acquaintance with an electric wheel chair sought my help in 'noise hardening' his chair. In areas with lots of A/C line noise, generators, motors, etc., his chair would go beserk. We never had any success. The manufacturer refused to acknowledge any problem. Do these prosthetic limbs have the same potential problem?
  • Here's a link to the website of the company that makes the Utah Arm 3: http://www.utaharm.com/products.htm [utaharm.com].

  • that the rest of the ten or twenty or fifty thousand casualties to be coming from Iraq (and Iran, and Syria, and Saudi Arabia, and North Korea) will all be able to look like Arnold...

    Wonder if any of these devices are available to the hundred thousand Iraqi civilian casualties...or the million more to come...

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