What happens when you outfit a robot with a pair of prosthetic blades and 14 artificial, pneumatic-powered muscles? You end up with a bipedal humanoid who researchers hope will have the ability to run like a sprinter. More »
Oscar Pistorius, double-amputee with carbon-fibre “cheetah” blades failed to qualify for the Olympics. He just missed the needed time in the 400 meter of 45.55 seconds, though it should be noted he posted a new personal best of 46.25. [New Scientist Tech, via Engadget]
A young designer has adapted one of man’s greatest achievements – the S.U.V. – to the Martian landscape. By scaling up the spidery walking legs of NASA’s ATHLETE rovers, the massive Moonstream would be able to slowly but smoothly traverse Mars’ uneven surfaces with a giant payload of people and hardware.
Oscar Pistorius is a sprinter with a difference: he runs on two artificial lower legs and feet fast enough that he may qualify for the Olympics. And that’s something he can now attempt, given that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has just overturned a ruling by the International Association of Athletics that had banned him from competing against able-bodied runners. All because of the specialised carbon-fibre Cheetah Flex-Foot prosthetic feet he uses, which represented an unfair mechanical advantage maintained the IAAF. So the advanced artificial limbs, designed after the shape of a Cheetah’s hind leg, were put to the test in the lab.
Beijing Olympians can count on being cool as cucumbers in Nike’s PreCool Vest, a specially designed piece of clothing that lowers the body’s core temperature. Much like computers, muscles perform better when they’re not dedicating most of their resources to cooling down. Used about an hour prior to a competition, it can help an athlete last up to 21% longer out in the field. The vest is made of two layers of material: the inner one is filled with frozen water and the outer layer is coated with aluminium to act like a thermos, trapping cold in while reflecting radiant heat. Unfortunately, the PreCool is only available for Olympic athletes, so us normal folk will have to find other ways to chill out. [Newlaunches.com]
We’ve shown you NASA’s neat ATHLETE robots before and it looks like the little hexapod machines have been getting more sophisticated. This vid of two ATHLETEs collaborating to lift a heavy habitat load onto the ground sent faint Matrix-esque shivers down my spine. NASA is taking development of the robots seriously, as it turns out their multiple-wheeled dexterity make them perfect for carrying mobile habitats across the rocky, uneven lunar terrain. They’ve even been discussed in the most recent mission planning, so they really might be trotting-rolling across the Moon’s surface in a short bunch of years. Next up for ATHLETE: a mock mobile lunar base trial. [NASA and New Scientist]
