“I’ll make the following claim: If a person has lost a leg in this Boston attack — if they’re motivated and generally healthy and reasonably athletic — they could, given current technology, they could walk or run across the finish line at the Boston Marathon this time next year.”
Making that bold statement is Hugh Herr, the renowned prosthetics and assistive technology expert who heads the Biomechatronics research group at MIT’s Media Lab (and is himself a double amputee). That’s what he said in response to my question about the future of the many victims who lost legs in Monday’s Marathon bombing. The current count, according to area hospitals, is 13 amputations.
Crossing engineering with current events. Engineering with a strong purpose.
This is a blog for philosophizing, writing, and the occasional art. Oh, and a bunch of other random stuff.
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MIT Expert: New Tech Means Bomb Amputees Could Run 2014 Marathon
“Although I am a typical loner in my daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has prevented me from feelings of isolation.”
— Albert Einstein (via fernsandmoss)
(Source: untilasinglesolitonsurvives, via dragonsheep)
Saudi man has no connection to bombing in boston
He was injured in the blast and was running away like everyone else. But a bystander thought that was suspicious and tackled him. Police grilled him and ransacked his apartment. The new York post calls him a suspect immediately. Drudgereport links it under a screaming headline. World media pick it up. Everyone thinks he’s behind it. But. It’s. Just. Not. True.
I like how an innocent, injured, and scared man was tackled by bystanders, taken into custody, and defamed in the international media just for his skin color and his audacity to run from a fucking bombing and this warrants one tiny paragraph in an article about how “vigilant” they’re being in their investigation.
all of the ignorant, racist fucks on tumblr need to read this
(via uprootedandrunning)
“A group of skinheads demonstrated in the streets of Växjö, Sweden in 1985. This woman, a Holocaust survivor, was one of the first to rush in and attack these men. Moments later, thousands of angry citizens swarmed the men and chased them until they finally locked themselves in a bathroom in a train station and had to be rescued by police.”
—from PopChassid’s 20 Photos That Change The Holocaust Narrative
(via verbotensheep)
Right now in Venezuela right wing extremists are burning the free medical care facilities provided by the Cuban government for the people of Venezuela. These are your great champions of democracy, who violently attack doctors when they can’t win the election.
(Source: determinatenegation, via love-among-the-tombstones)
People ask to see stars - my camera does its best in dim light. Our atmosphere glows in the dark.
sucks to be anybody: maarnayeri: THE US BOMBED A WEDDING IN AFGHANISTAN TODAY.
What is...
THE US BOMBED A WEDDING IN AFGHANISTAN TODAY.
What is supposed to one of the most festive and exciting days in someone’s life. Two people, a man and woman living amidst such grave occupation, hearing about their country people being massacred in the most heinous ways, decided…
![matthen:
Organisation can emerge from chaos in complex systems made of relatively simple parts. This mathematics of emergence helps understand networks in the brain, structures in societies, and how groups of fireflies can flash in sync without requiring a leader to keep the beat. These animations show one mathematical model where runners running round a track can synchronise to the same pace with no leader. Each runner runs at their own pace, but adjusts it slightly if they feel they are slower or faster than their perceived average. [This can be succinctly written as a set of simple differential equations]. In the top row, each runner is more strongly coupled to the group than the bottom row. [The two animations on the right are the same as the ones on the left, except the camera is rotating with the group.] [more] [code]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/d9ce74dd04190448b981ad7e81ba1d4e/tumblr_mlax4nhWSW1qfg7o3o1_250.gif)
Organisation can emerge from chaos in complex systems made of relatively simple parts. This mathematics of emergence helps understand networks in the brain, structures in societies, and how groups of fireflies can flash in sync without requiring a leader to keep the beat. These animations show one mathematical model where runners running round a track can synchronise to the same pace with no leader. Each runner runs at their own pace, but adjusts it slightly if they feel they are slower or faster than their perceived average. [This can be succinctly written as a set of simple differential equations]. In the top row, each runner is more strongly coupled to the group than the bottom row. [The two animations on the right are the same as the ones on the left, except the camera is rotating with the group.] [more] [code]
“Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it. And by doing it, they’re proven right. Because, I think there’s something inside of you—and inside of all of us—when we see something and we think, “I think I can do it, I think I can do it. But I’m afraid to.” Bridging that gap, doing what you’re afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that—THAT is what life is. And I think you might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that’s special. And if you’re not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself. Now you know. A mystery is solved. So, I think you should just give it a try. Just inch yourself out of that back line. Step into life. Courage. Risks. Yes. Go. Now.”
— Amy Poehler (x)
(Source: tinytruant, via awriterandnothingelse)
my dictionary
Sometimes when I flip through the pages
I forget what I’m looking for.
When the sun sets and I’m straining my eyes, that’s what it feels like to keep trying.
When I go to sleep I forget that I try so hard to forget
because those are the moments when everything becomes clear
when all my yearnings, and fears, and hopes become apparent.
If I learned to speak at an early age I could tell each one of you what I meant when I said that I love you.
But even now I can barely express my thoughts
because each experience has taught me a new word
and it’s a struggle learning how to pronounce all the syllables
so the process will be slow and painful
because each time I utter those words
I need to learn a new language,
a new set of nouns and verbs
and how to pronounce them
and when I flip through the pages
I forget what I was looking for
because the definition always changes
This fucking show
“Remember Arnold, always wash your berries before you eat them. And fly towards the sun!” - Pigeon Man
(Source: bryko, via a-fine-shrine)
