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The video above is worth watching for two reasons. One, the amount of engineering and hard work put into these arms and legs is astounding. It should make any engineer applaud. Second, and more importantly, it shows people trying to fix a huge problem and pay back a debt we owe to the soldiers that defend our country.

The video is a segment from the US show “60 Minutes” that describes DARPA’s work into developing a prosthetic arm. It closely profiles the work done by Dean Kamen’s DEKA company in creating the world’s most sophisticated (and useful) arm, dubbed the “Luke” arm after the famous scene from Star Wars. Also shown is some cutting edge work at Duke University (just down the road from me!) on creating an arm that is controlled via electrical signals from the brain to the now missing arm. Pretty amazing stuff. It’s well worth watching. The point where Fred Downs describes what it was like to have a hand after 26 years is very moving. You can also read an accompanying article here.