Daily Archives: October 18, 2016

making paralysed people feel through fake hands

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Touch is essential for hand use. Yet, brain-controlled prosthetic limbs have not been endowed with this critical sense. In a new study by Flesher et al ., microelectrode arrays were implanted into the primary somatosensory cortex of a person with spinal cord injury and, by delivering current through the electrodes, generated sensations of touch that were perceived as coming from his own paralyzed hand. These sensations often felt like pressure, could be graded in intensity, and were stable for months. The authors suggest that this approach could be used to convey information about contact location and pressure necessary for prosthetic hands to interact with objects.

In a new study by Flesher et al., microelectrode arrays were implanted into the primary somatosensory cortex of a person with spinal cord injury and, by delivering current through the electrodes, generated sensations of touch that were perceived as coming from his own paralyzed hand. These sensations often felt like pressure, could be graded in intensity, and were stable for months.

Source: Intracortical microstimulation of human somatosensory cortex

Court finds GCHQ and MI5 engaged in illegal bulk data collection

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The mysterious Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which oversees Blighty’s snoops, has ruled that the bulk collection of personal data — conducted by GCHQ and MI5 between 1998 and 2015 — was illegal.

Responding to a claim brought by Privacy International, the 70-page judgment handed down this morning [PDF] found that the spooks’ surveillance activities had been taking place without adequate safeguards or supervision for over a decade; and as such were in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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There are huge risks associated with the use of bulk communications data. It facilitates the almost instantaneous cataloguing of entire populations’ personal data. It is unacceptable that it is only through litigation by a charity that we have learnt the extent of these powers and how they are used.

The public and Parliament deserve an explanation as to why everyone’s data was collected for over a decade without oversight in place and confirmation that unlawfully obtained personal data will be destroyed.

Source: Court finds GCHQ and MI5 engaged in illegal bulk data collection

One win for transparency. Will the UK gov care? Doubt it.

UK wants to monitor fake boobs, claims event 6 years ago is catalyst

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The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR) is intended to prevent a repeat of faulty Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) silicone breast implants scandal in 2010, in which fraudulently manufactured silicone gel implants affected thousands of women.

Its establishment is in response to recommendation 21 in Sir Bruce Keogh’s Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic interventions, which called for a cosmetic implant registry “to provide better monitoring of patient outcomes and device safety”.

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The registry is expected to record more than 20,000 cases of implant surgery annually. Reporting of data will be done by the provider, via an online portal.

Source: New UK National silicone database will help avoid boobs

This makes no sense whatsoever to me, but for the life of me I can’t understand what other purpose the UK has in collecting such a specific set of surgery data.