A man paralyzed (瘫痪的) in 2011 has regained the ability to stand and walk with the help of implants (植入物) placed in his brain and spinal cord.

The patient, Gert-Jan Oskam, was told he would never walk again after a biking accident. Now, using the implants, “we’ve read the thoughts of Oskam and translated these thoughts into stimulation (刺激) of the spinal cord to reestablish voluntary movement,” said Grégoire Courtine, a neuroscientist in Switzerland.

The technology enables natural control over the movements of Oskam’s legs and he can walk and stand without support. “Months ago, I was able, for the first time after over ten years, to stand up and have a beer with my friends,” Oskam says. “That was pretty cool.”

The new technique involved placing two implants in Oskam’s brain. When he wants to move, the implants read his brain signals and send that information to sensors on a device on his head. A computer uses these signals to predict how Oskam intends to move, then turns his intentions into commands and sends these commands to another implant in the spinal cord. Finally, the spinal implant stimulates Oskam’s muscles according to his intended movement. Through this “digital bridge”, the researchers re-opened a line of communication between Oskam’s brain and spinal cord.

For now, the device is still at the experimental stage. Next, the researchers would like to be able to make the device’s hardware, which Oskam carries in a backpack, more compact (小巧). Harvey Sihota, CEO of the U.K. Charity Spinal Research, says the technology still has a long way to go before becoming available to the public, but the results are “very encouraging”.

A 27-year-old inventor, Joco Paulo Lammoglia, has come up with a new device named the AIRE mask, which is capable of converting the wind energy provided by the wearer’s breath into electrical energy. This means breathing has become a source of renewable energy. The inspiration for the invention came from his watching children blowing on pinwheels(玩具风车).

The device is worn like a mask equipped with tiny wind turbines(涡轮机) and it can work its magic even while people are sleeping, jogging or hanging around, since energy is created from one’s breath. The principle of this AIRE mask is simple. The invention uses the wind flow created by breathing and changes it into energy that can charge mobile phones and iPods. Simply put this mask connected to your mobile phone on your face. The rest takes place naturally through your breath that provides power to run turbines which produce electricity.

Lammoglia explained how useful he hopes the AIRE will become. He said, "I hope to bring the concept into production and reduce the carbon footprint. It can be used indoors or outdoors, while you’re sleeping, walking, running or even reading books. "Apart from saving energy and contributing to the environmental protection, it also encourages the practice of physical exercise. This is an entirely all-time renewable energy source. Its energy is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Lammoglia explained why he thought the AIRE was so useful, saying, "Though many of our modern devices offer benefits, they tend to consume a high amount of electrical energy. This may cause environmental problems, especially if the energy used by these devices is obtained from non-renewable energy sources.

The AIRE mask will be the future cheaper energy source of charging mobile phones. It would save energy and allow people to never have to worry about their phone dying unless they stop breathing.

3M and Discovery Education announced Sean Jiang from Gilman School as one of the top ten finalists from across the nation for the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge. It’s a competition that encourages students to identify an everyday problem and submit a video showing the science behind the solution he or she came up with.

14-year-old Jiang decided to help those who can’t see. Blind people had a hard time navigating (导航) objects that are medium to far range. So Jiang wanted to design something to give them a heads-up on obstacles (障碍) that may be incoming.

Jiang’s inspiration came from the powers of the hearing system. “I learned in school that bats and whales are able to use echolocation (回声定位) to help them navigate and just use their sense of hearing and I also saw on YouTube some very skilled blind people that use echolocation to help them walk,” said Jiang.

Jiang started with a virtual reality setting and then made it a reality. His creation uses a depth camera that can detect how close objects are, thus giving enough time to dodge the obstacles. When a blind is walking with the device, the sensor of the depth camera gathers the information regarding the obstacles’ position and distance. Then the AI system in it will turn the distance data into musical sound guidance. This could significantly increase the walking speed of a blind person as well as decrease the number of obstacles they hit.

Some other similar programs were alright at finding objects that were in close range, but Jiang still wanted the blind to experience the world even fuller so they were able to see stuff that was much further away than their circle of reach.

In October, the top ten finalists will compete in person in Minneapolis for the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” and a $25, 000 prize.