Longevity science

In an historic move, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted market approval to an artificial retina technology, the first bionic eye to be approved for patients in the U.S.

Brain-computer interface allows patient to move his paralyzed arm with his mind (credit: ) More than 100 patients or handicapped users have voluntarily

UC Santa Barbara scientists Omar Saleh and Deborah Fygenson have created a dynamic gel made of DNA that mechanically responds to stimuli in much the same way that cells do.

The project has potential applications in smart materials, artificial muscle, understanding cytoskeletal mechanics, research into nonequilibrium physics, and DNA nanotechnology.

Researchers at Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) looking to gain a better understanding of how biological pumps such as the heart work, have created an artificial jellyfish from rat heart muscle and silicon.

This is just neat biological science...

Rex the bionic man shows how close technology is to catching up with — and exceeding — the abilities of the human body, The Guardian reports.

Housed within a frame of state-of-the-art prosthetic limbs is a functional heart-lung system, complete with artificial blood pumping through a network of pulsating modified-polymer arteries.

He has a bionic spleen to clean the blood, and an artificial pancreas to keep his blood sugar on the level.

The bebionic is tightening its grip on its reputation as one of the world’s most advanced prosthetic hands. Watching a recent video of an amputee with the bebionic and it’s clear that bionics are nearing the point where they are no longer awkward and insufficient substitutes but life-changing replacements that give back much of what was so dearly lost.

See video about the 'Terminator arm'

For more on robotic hands:

http://www.gizmag.com/robot-rebuilt-sensitive-robotic-hands/25263/

Using industry-standard manufacturing technology, researchers have integrated ultrathin and stretchable silicon-based electronics, sensors and actuators on an artificial skin that can be worn on the tip of your fingers.

The result is an artificial finger cuff that could be used to produce the ultimate hi-tech surgeon's glove, capable of sensing the electrical properties of tissue, removing tissue precisely using local ablation, or even performing ultrasound imaging with a simple touch.