Bionic Limbs: An Ingenious New Technology That Allows Prosthetic Legs to Move and Feel Like the Real Thing
A Virtual Conversation with Gideon Gil, Managing Editor of STAT
Wednesday, March 2, at 7 PM EST on Zoom
Hugh Herr’s legs were amputated below his knees in 1982 after a climbing accident. From his knees down to the floor, he is completely artificial. In an interview with NPR Herr said, “My limbs that I wear have 12 computers, five sensors and muscle-like actuator systems that enable me to move throughout my day.”
Besides wearing artificial legs, Herr designs them as well at MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics Group, where he is the director.
His story is the subject of a new documentary, Augmented, which will debut on NOVA, the preeminent television science program, on February 23 at 9 pm ET/ 8 CT on PBS stations nationwide. Here is the trailer.
Gideon Gil (@GideonGil) managing editor of STAT, worked on this feature-length documentary for the last five years. The film was directed by his former STAT colleague Matthew Orr, a contributing documentary producer for STAT and an assistant professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Gideon will talk to SWINY co-chair David Levine (@dlloydlevine) about the making of the documentary and how this extraordinary technology will change medicine forever.
About Gideon Gil
Gideon Gil is a managing editor at STAT, overseeing STAT’s investigative journalism, special projects, and science coverage. He joined STAT at its founding in 2015. He previously was the Boston Globe’s health and science editor for a decade and had a hand in three Pulitzer Prizes.
A 2014-15 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, Gideon earned a biochemistry degree from Harvard College and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University. He is also chair of the Finance and Development Committee of the Association for Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) and leads AHCJ’s Boston chapter.
Have a question for Gideon you would like answered? Submit it here!
When:
Wednesday, March 2
7 to 8 pm EST
Register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LXE5UYW0Qwqs-ljhIOsqrA