At summer invention camp he invented an automated egg cracker and a remote-controlled submarine. While in grade school he started an inventor’s club. They took apart old computers. “It was loads of fun until we got shut down because I accidentally blew all the fuses in the library,” he says. Clites is now an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. He still likes to figure out how things work. His latest invention is a medical procedure that makes it possible for people without feet to feel like they have biological feet. He still regularly blows fuses.
WHAT IS YOUR FIELD CALLED, AND WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THESE DAYS?
I am in rehabilitation robotics—a field in which it is immediately possible to see the impact of my work on people’s lives. Currently, I’m designing an advanced prosthetic leg for runners. This new leg will allow people with leg amputation to run in different conditions, just like people with intact biological limbs do.
I’VE HEARD THAT PROSTHETIC FEET DON’T HAVE TOES. HOW CAN SOMEONE RUN ON A PROSTHETIC FOOT WITHOUT TOES?
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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This story is from the April 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
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SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
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EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.
