Out on a limb

In the past few weeks I have written two pieces that related to artificial limbs.

Most recently, I wrote about Terry Fox who attempted to run cross-country with a prosthetic leg. Prior to that I had redrawn the image of my friend's father who had a hook for a hand and I asked the question of why there were no better alternatives when so many other "superficial" plastic surgeries had become available. Today, it looks like that question is about to be answered.

This story from the BBC explains that scientists may be on the verge of truly leaping forward in developing artificial hands with a robot-like hand that includes working fingers and, more incredibly, an opposable thumb.

Congratulations to the minds who developed such a solution. Here's hoping they can successfully take it from prototype to a readily available product.