the possibly accurate nowWed, 17 May 2006
[09:46] What do you call a man with no legs who climbs mount Everest?
Mark Inglis!
It's not funny because it's not a joke. I read today that Mr Inglis (who lost his legs to frostbite whilst stuck on top of Mt Cook in what he described as "a very public hiccup to my climbing profession") reached the summit of Mt Everest on Monday (15 May, 2006) under his own steam.
I think this is particularly interesting, nay amazing, for two reasons:
- A guy with prosthetic limbs climbed the highest mountain in the world!
I've not got a massive interest in prosthetic limbs because, so far, I've still got all of mine but I am interested in the concept because it's people who need the crappy prosthetics that we have today who are going to be among the first "proper" augmented humans. Look at the Rheo-Knee or listen to the interview with Jesse Sullivan who has prosthetic arms and is currently actively working with his doctor (Todd Kuiken)to make them a lot better. All of this is REALLY cool technology.
There's a guy who I sometimes ride past on London Bridge on the way to work in the morning who has a leg that looks very similar to those that Mr Inglis is sporting in a couple of pictures on his site. How long before he's powering past me with some kind of exo-skeleton?
- He was in near-constant telephone and e-mail contact with his wife and able to update his blog whilst up the mountain!
I'll admit that I've not been actively on top of how satellite technology has been progressing (I assume that's what they're using because the websites are unfortunately skimpy on technical details) but I still think that's pretty cool that in some of the most extreme environments on Earth you can hang out in your tent and surf the 'net!
category:
/life |
permalink | Comments suspended due to spamwhores