arthritis

MIT body suit helps you feel old

Body suit simulators are nothing new. Earlier this year the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan unveiled Mommy Tummy 8.0, designed to help the partners of expecting moms--as well as teenagers thinking about getting it on--to understand the physical ramifications of, well, getting it on.

Now students at MIT's AgeLab are taking this empathy concept to another level with AGNES, the Age Gain Now Empathy System, a suit designed to help wearers understand the physical ramifications of neglecting our bodies for decades on end. (AGNES is meant to emulate a 75-year-old with arthritis and diabetes.)

The suit incorporates shoes that compromise one's sense of balance and shorten one's gait; knee and elbow braces that limit joint mobility; earplugs that tune out soft or high-pitched sounds; a helmet that compresses the spine; and gloves that reduce not only strength and mobility in one's hands and wrists but also tactile sensation.… Read more

70 percent of Kindle owners over 40?

Back in March, I did a post titled, "What's the average age of Kindle owners?" I cited a thread in Amazon.com's forums discussing Kindle owners' ages.

Well, I have a little follow-up on the whole issue. Apparently, someone went ahead and tabulated 700 of the responses in that Amazon thread (that represents about 75 percent of all the posts) and broke out the numbers. Here they are:

0 - 19: 5% 20 - 29: 10% 30 - 39: 15% 40 - 49: 19.5% 50 - 59: 23% 60 - 69: 19.5% 70 - … Read more

What's the average age of Kindle owners?

In April of last year, a user on Amazon.com's forums opened a discussion thread entitled, Average Kindle Owner's Age.

Amazon, of course, doesn't provide any sales numbers or data detailing who's buying Kindles, but it's an interesting question to ask on the day of the Kindle 2's launch (according to reports, the device has already started shipping).

Apparently, a lot of senior folks bought the Kindle--and now the Kindle 2--partially because the digital reader is easier to handle than regular books for arthritis sufferers. It also helps that you can increase the … Read more