A team of 8 relatives of disabled children and 8 professionals have come together to invent a smart wheelchair that can be used by kids with severe disabilities. Most electric wheelchairs are operated by joysticks, making them unusable to children who don’t have the right motor or cognitive abilities. But the new wheelchair is customizable and can be operated by a simple push of a button, tilt of the head, voice command, or a pacifier, depending on the needs of each child.
Uber, the popular ride sharing app, has taken a lot of business from taxi companies and changed the way people buy rides today. Not surprisingly, it’s run into its fair share of opposition and controversy. Back in August, we wrote about how the United Spinal Association was opposing Uber’s presence in New York City because most Uber drives don’t have wheelchair accessible cars.
The Smart Walker is being developed by Dr. Xiangrong Shen at the University of Alabama. This walkable robot has four jointed smart legs and can operate in two different modes: smart power assist and smart mule.
7 year old Lily-Grace Hooper is blind and uses a cane to get around her school. Or at least she did until her school, Hambrook Primary, banned her from using the cane, claiming it posed a tripping risk to Lily-Grace’s teachers and fellow classmates.
The life expectancy of girls born today is 82.8. For boys, it’s 78.8. But a group of scientists believes they may be able to extend humans’ life expectancy by one third, making it a whopping 120 years. How? With a cheap diabetes pill.
Yep, it’s that time of year once again-- the holiday shopping season. If you’re not sure what to get your senior parents, allow us to make a few suggestions.
Patrick Joyce, an inventor from the city of Wells in the UK, has won top prize at the 2015 Hackaday Conference for inventing an eye-driven wheelchair.
Joyce’s invention, the Eyedrivomatic, uses the same Eyegaze software which allows users to control computers through eye movement, but instead hooks it up to the controls of a powered wheelchair.
Many drinks contain antioxidants or other compounds that help fight diseases associated with aging. Here’s a list of five, ordered from least to most fun.
Singapore is one of the fastest aging countries on earth. In 2011, 9.3% of the population was over 65. By 2030, it’s estimated that 19% will be over 65. Fortunately, they have a comprehensive plan to help their senior citizens as they age, one that experts say the US would be wise to emulate.
Scientists may have discovered a powerful new anti-aging drug in the commonly used asthma drug montelukast (Singulair).
One of the causes of degenerative brain disorders is inflammation of the brain. Asthma drugs like montelukast fight inflammation by blocking receptors which trigger it. So scientists from the Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg, Austria hypothesized that such drugs may improve cognition as well.
A few weeks ago, we wrote about a company developing a smart wheelchair. So it shouldn’t be that surprising that now another company has developed the smart rollator.
The secret to a long and healthy life may be to simply delete the genes that cause aging, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of Washington and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging joined together for a 10 year research project on aging, in which they discovered 238 genes that cells actually live longer without.
