Jul 10 2009
Science Performs the Supernatural
Don’t look to prayer to transport you from Florida to Vermont in a little over three hours. Jet Blue has a direct flight. And we can thank science for their ability to fly –cheaply and safely at that. For a person to make a 1500 mile journey in less than a day, that ain’t natural. And while the speed may not be supersonic, it is certainly super.
Similarly, religion can’t heal the blind. Though religious groups can raise money to make their lives easier. In some cases, science can restore sight. In other cases, it can develop technologies to help blind people live better lives.
Although this does not qualify as a technology, a group a scientists led by Juan Antonio MartĂnez of the University of Alcalá de Henares in Spain are developing the use of echolocation to aid the blind.
Echolocation? In the future it may not be just for bats. What are the researchers doing to help the blind? Distinguishing the best sounds for echolocation and teaching individuals to make them; devising a protocol for training in the use of echolocation; and testing the effectiveness of the entire enterprise. A type of tongue click apparently works best and two hour a day of training seems to do the trick for many subjects.
The scientists recognise that they are still at the very early stages, but the possibilities that would be opened up with the development of echolocation in humans are enormous.
Cool! And, praise be to science!
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