The Paralyzed Rat that Walked

I came across this TED video the other day and I thought it was absolutely amazing for a few reasons. The first was just how amazing Dr. Courtine's Team's accomplishments were to the understanding of how the spinal cord and nerves function in regards to spinal injuries. The second had to do with how his mentors allowed him the chance to explore an idea that went against 20 years of accepted research and to go out and test his idea whether it was right or wrong.

This freedom that was given to Dr. Courtine to pursue his ideas is so fundamental to helping students learn. The process of creating an idea and having a chance to explore and test it is the backbone to a quality learning experience. With the the Common Core High Stakes Testing shaping education today, we are seeing fewer and fewer opportunities for teachers and students to learn through the exploration of ideas. Those organic opportunities that pop up in a class that can offer chances for learning are being stifled as pacing, worksheets, and assessments handed down from the state take up more and more time.

Are we going to make the next big discovery or advancements with this type of instruction?

The other facet of this video that captured my attention was the way team work and collaboration were used to explore the idea. Experts in many fields needed to work together in order to make this experiment possible. Neurology, Biology, Engineering, and Medicine were just a few of the feilds that had to work together in this project. The reason it was so successful, was due to all of these people sharing a goal and working together towards it. That is exactly the kind of thing we needed to be teaching the children of today and tomorrow.

The study itself is amazing and consisted of trying to reactivate the nerves affected by spinal injuries. In most spinal injuries the nerves that are below the injury, can no longer receive signals from the brain, so they go dormant and the organism loses function of them.

The goal of the study was to see if it was possible to use medicines to reactivate the nerves to a high level of arousal and then electronically stimulate them in an attempt the allow the patient, the rat in this case, to regain use of its legs. The study was designed to learn more about how spinal injuries can be treated to hopefully improve the lives of people suffering from them.

To accomplish this a rat was given a surgically induced spinal injury that would cause it to lose function of it legs. It was then outfitted with a special robot that would help support its body, a device to proved electronic stimulation to the nerves below the injury, and medicine to awaken the dormant nerve structures. It was also given lots and lots of Swiss chocolate for motivation!

The rat was put on a special treadmill, and when it was set into motion the legs began to work again! They were not being consciously controlled by the rat, but the stimuli being picked up by the nerves was causing it to be able to stand and walk with its hind legs again! Unfortunately this was not a permanant fix that would give the rat back full function.

It did get the scientists thinking though. They continued to work the rat out on the treadmill with the assisting robot and stimulation regimen, and after a number of months noticed an amazing change. The rat was regaining some of its control of its legs! It was able to consciously move them to help it get to its chocolate treat.

The scientists had found that the therapy they had been giving the rat had been stimulating the growth of neurons and the formations of new pathways for the rats brain to communicate with its legs. Who knows what this advancement will mean for people in the future, but it is definitely a step in the right direction for improving many peoples lives.

All of this because someone had an idea that they were given the chance to explore and follow.

Gregoire Courtine: The Paralyzed Rat That Walked (Ted Video)

Science Needs Science Fiction

I came across this Tweet when I was reading this article on Yahoo the other day about the The 10 Greatest Tweets, and it reminded me of how important Science Fiction has been to the field of science and innovation. Clearly Commander Hadfield was a fan of Star Trek to some extend growing up in order for him to create this awesome response to Captain Kirk's Tweet!

Throughout the last century or so, science fiction writers have been stoking the imaginations of everyone. Their amazing stories contain inventions and feats of science that seem almost impossible for those living in the times they were released. Jules Verne wrote about Captain Nemo who traveled the oceans in a nuclear powered submarine. Isaac Asimov whose writing about robots is responsible for the word "robot" becoming part of our vernacular.

The ideas these men put to paper were pure fantasy at the time, but today we have robots that help us in everything from industry to vacuuming! There are nuclear submarines that stay submerged for months on end traveling the world's oceans. These ideas that were once a dream, have been made possible by those scientists that have devoted themselves to creating the advances in thinking and technology to make these things possible.

Ok... I admit it. I am a geek. I have always loved books and movies about space and all things Science Fiction. Heck... last night I ordered some DVDs from Amazon. Children of Men, Prometheus, X-Men: First Class, and Star Trek. (Yes I know it is close to Christmas, but it was a great sale and I have Amazon Prime!)

 All of these movies delve into scientific topics like genetics and exploring the mysteries of space. Sure they are mixed with plenty of fantasy and many scientific inaccuracies, but they all inspire the imagination to think about these topics in new and unusual ways. This inspiration is what our students and children need to help motivate them to explore the real scientific fields of today, in order to help us discover the ones of tomorrow.

How many of us watched Star Trek and saw Captain Kirk communicate with the Enterprise from the surface of some strange planet with his communicator? Or watched Bones scan someone for injury or illness with a hand held scanner or machine?

When the shows hit the airwaves, these activities were pure fiction. The field of X-ray technology and radiology for medicine were in there infancy and we had do dial numbers on a strange rotary device in order to place a phone call.

In a few decades ,well within the life span of the actor that played Captain Kirk, we have seen medical technologies that can scan the inside of our bodies with amazing detail without breaking the skin. How many of us possess a smartphone capable of sending messages around the world or even from space?

Just think what the future scientists who are watching and reading the science fiction of today will discover and invent. Live long and prosper.

There is a new mapping tool in town... Google Maps Engine!

For years students learned about the world from a rack full of maps that hung over their chalk board. Lucky ones got to see a picture of the Earth that had been peeled like and orange, and the really lucky ones had maps that could show populations and precipitation as well!

This trend started to change when Google Maps hit the internet. With this amazing tool you could now look up almost any part of the world in seconds and then get travel directions or even make measurements. You could find landmarks and even see satellite images of places. The problem was... there was no way to save anything.

Enter Google Earth. This virtual globe allowed students and teachers to explore the entire Earth and even dive into the depth of the oceans. You could see 3D models of geographical features as well as models of landmarks and other man made features. Cities could be explored and many layers of information can be displayed, and even saved for later. The problem... it was not web based and could not be accessed easily on other computers.

Now we have Google Maps Engine! This hybrid allows you the online access of Google Maps combined with some of the navigation and interactive features Google Earth offers. In addition you have the ability to collaborate with other users via Google Apps Sharing tools. You can save, access, and share your own maps using any computer with internet access.

Check out the video and playlist link below if you want to learn more.

Entire Google Maps Engine Playlist