Researchers develop human prosthesis for balance, unfortunately it's not a tail
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Mar 31st 2008 6:00AM
posted Mar 31st 2008 6:00AM
There's hope for those of us suffering from chronic imbalance as a result of staring too long at periodic tables and 20-sided dice. It's an implant developed by neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The implant looks to off-set balance irregularities in the human vestibular system caused by trauma or disease affecting the gyroscopic function of the inner ear. A microprocessor converts signals received from a motion sensor worn on the head into electrical impulses. These are then sent to an electrode implanted into the inner ear. The first test will begin next week on a rhesus monkey. A move which evokes cries of "unfair" from us -- unlike nerds, monkeys already have excellent balance.
¿qué?
ReggieXuk, stop asking dumb questions and learn english first!
First rule of the internet: There is world outside of America and the UK.
fanman are you nuts?
Though I must say it does seem odd that the entire Internet is written in English.
It's an implant from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary... and they have a picture of Houdini... with a Doctor Octopus claw coming out of his butt.... I guess there are more people with impaired balance than we thought.
@ Fanman
If that's the case at least have the decency to construct a meaningful sentence in English. Your lack of proper sentence modality only serves to re-enforce the argument of people who think anyone outside of the US or UK is stupid!
BTW most of us here know there is a world outside of the USA and UK, your axe grinding is perhaps unnecessary.
Fanman is right.
I believe that there are also people in Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand too.
Oh, and 'nh', the entire internet is NOT written in English, but you probably only throw up English results when you type English words into google. Just a thought.
"First rule of the internet: There is world outside of America and the UK."
Second rule of the internet: It is perfectly acceptable to denigrate and ethnocentrically insult said other world.
Third rule: Once you've insulted the people in rule two, you may insult everyone else. Jerk.
@ReggieXuk: While your use of a foreign language disturbs me not at all, you could try to sound more intelligent by asking a question other than "huh?"
Nazis exist....there, this current thread is now over.
I thought the first rule of the internet is: Don't talk about the internet...?
What i typed is less disturbing than that picture. I don't even speak Spanish, i just like that word.
mmmmm, chocolate monkies
that sounds so wrong with your pic
Even I, Ron Jeremy, porn star agree.
Harry Houdini escapes from padlocks whilst getting a colonoscopy from Doc Octopus! What a showman!
Some people maybe find the picture unnecessarily large, cryptic, irrelevant to the story.
Me? I like it.
Firefox's Live Bookmarks cropped the RSS feed's title and i assumed it to be something about a prosthetic ballsack.
Can't they build something useful like doomsday devices or portaltechnology?
No, they decide to build a self-balancing monkey
WAIT, we already have one of those!
nh
@ Mar 31st 2008 7:17AM
>
fanman are you nuts?
Though I must say it does seem odd that the entire Internet is written in English.
<
no its not. if u search for an english word in google, u get english pages. duh. if u look for a dutch word u get dutch pages, etc. and engadget is available in spanish and some asian languages. open your eyes.
But how does Google know which Internet to search?
It's like how a Thermos knows whether to keep your drink hot or cold...
hmm are they talking about that balancing limb that lots of black guys seem to have and white guys.. not so much. (no racism intended, im white i can pick on myself and race for having a generaly smaller sized "piece of equipment" than whites and yellows and that)
dont take things to seriously folks just a joke.
so is this thing going to give me some spiderman super abilities or what?
Am I the only one who noticed the picture in the post....errrrr.
Rhesus Puffs?...
Funny, yet irrelevant. Just like this article's picture.
Agreed...
However, on a more serious note... This device may be useful for people with disabilities. To be able to walk/balance on their own.
Felt I had to contribute some relevant comment.
No, Rhesus Pieces.
Isn't it great to poke fun at experimenting on animals to death?
The first test will begin next week on a rhesus monkey. A move which evokes cries of "unfair" from us -- unlike nerds, monkeys already have excellent balance.
Pretty obvious that thes 'lucky' rhesus monkeys are not going to be *alive* after the implants are put into them without their consent and then they are 'tested'. All this makes Water Bording look like a walk in the park! So yeah, it's so "unfiar" that the monkies 'get' to be terminal test subjects.....
Andreas (an animal like all the rest of us)
Looks like Doc Oc got Steampunked.
I think it's obvious to most people that Engadget's statement was a light-hearted jest. No one was condoning the hurting of adorable monkey friends.
Let me know when I can get myself a tail.
Poor monkeys...
Que = What, so what if I say Que!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so....will this work when your drunk too? thatd be just prime
Will it have bluetooth and will that be compatible with the Wii?
who needs prosthesis when you have
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/22/sunday/main3960219.shtml