Thursday, December 17, 2009

what's new at globe ?

Man marries the love of his life, his favorite video game character.

Tiger toys from human hair.

what's new at globe?

50 needles found in Brazilian boy.

Solar power gives light to poor.

Artificial retina gives woman limited vision after decades of darkness

It may look like something from Star Trek, but it's helping some people see.
Barbara Campbell's vision began to dim when she was just 12. The first hint that her sight was deteriorating came at school.
Barbara says, "The teacher called my parents in and said she's just not seeing stuff on the page."
As the years went by, her sight only got worse. Barbara remembers, "There was like an open man hole, which I was about to go in," and the whole event was very scary.
Cells on Barbara's retina that detect light had deteriorated. Five months ago, however, that changed. She began seeing glints of light using what some are calling a 'Bionic Eye'.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Lucian Del Priore explains, "It's an artificial device that essentially stimulates the retina electronically."
First, Barbara had an operation to implant a tiny computer chip into the eye. She wears a pair of special sunglasses outfitted with a small camera that transmits images to the chip inside her eye.
Barbara's retina essentially receives electronic stimulation.
Vision researcher Dr. Aries Arditi says, "For patients who have really had no vision for years and years, these are really major milestones. We can take someone who is totally blind and turn them into someone with very, very poor vision. That's really the first time in history we've been able to do that."
Doctors caution that retraining Campbell's eye and brain to see could take years. Right now, her vision is in black and white and will never be perfect.
Barbara says, "My number one hope is to see colors again. If I could see colors again, my plan was to go to the grand canyon!"

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