Science Friday > Archives > 2004 > October
> October 29,
2004:
Hour Two: News Roundup: New Human Species / Antibiotic Resistance / Robot Prosthetics
Scientists working towards new medical technologies for people with disabilities announced that they had trained a monkey to control a robotic arm using a neural implant well enough to feed itself. We'll talk about the work, which was discussed at the Society for Neuroscience meeting this week. How close are we to robotic prosthetic devices?
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Then, we'll turn our attention to new findings in the world of anthropology. Researchers reported this week that they have found the remains of a group of small hominids that may be a new species of human -- one that may have existed on an island near Indonesia as late as 14,000 years ago. The dwarf species of human was found in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. What does it mean to be a 'new species,' and does the finding of these proto-humans shake up the human family tree? Finally, we'll look at the problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Are researchers and manufacturers doing enough to develop new angles of attack against these medical threats? Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern). |
 A skull of Homo floresiensis next to that of a modern human. (image copyright Peter Brown). |
Guests:
Andrew Schwartz
Professor of Neurobiology
University of Pittsburgh School
of Medicine
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
-----------
Rick Potts
Paleoanthropologist
Director of the Human
Origins Program
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC
-----------
Dr. Carl Nathan
Chairman, Department of Microbiology
and Immunology
Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell
University
New York, NY
This segment produced by Karin Vergoth
Archived Audio:
prosthetics
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Flores man
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antibiotic resistance
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Related Links:
Signals
from monkey's brain move robot
Advent
of the Robotic Monkeys
July
9, 2004, Hour One: NIH Confict of Interest/ Monkey Brains and ...
October
24, 2003, Hour Two: Monkeys Move Robot Arm / Human ...
Mini
Human Species Unearthed
Flores
Man: Human evolution writ small
"Hobbit"
Discovered: Tiny Human Ancestor Found in Asia
Bold
New Initiatives Are Needed to Address the Crisis of ...
Antibiotic
Resistance
Antibiotic
resistance
The
Problem of Antibiotic Resistance , NIAID Fact Sheet
Books/Articles Discussed:
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