Greetings, students. Now that you’re in Year 3 of your American English studies, you will be able to read, and listen to one of VOA’s “Science and Technology” articles, which explore new developments in science, space exploration, environment and technology in the United States of America as well as in countries all over the world. You are encouraged to carefully read the article and the vocabulary words, as well as listen to the article. Finally, you are invited to share what you learned by discussing why this article is important and meaningful in the comments section below.
Directions: Read the article and study the vocabulary below.
Directions: Listen to the audio recording of the article.
Directions: Share your insights about why this article is meaningful and important by writing in the comments section below.
Lesson 3.47.4: Year 3
Science @ Tecnology
” Device Uses Brain Waves of Paralyzed Man to Help him Communicate.”
After reading such articles, I wonder how far science and technology will go. Man made technology left the man far behind.
A team led by Dr. Edward Chang at the university of California, San Francisco said that most of us take for granted how easily we communicate through speech and share our ideas to each other. Now the researchers are at the very beginning of a new chapter, new field to ease the difficulties of patients, who lost that ability. They are trying to use brain waves of paralyzed man, who cannot speak to pronounce words from his thoughts onto a computer. Currently a hot field of study is using brain signals to work around disabilities and those brain signals are sent through a computer to the prosthetic.
Chang’s team developed a method called,” Speach prosneurothetic” the process uses brain waves that normally control the vocal tract or voice system. A thirty-year-old man, who was a brain stem stroke, 15 years ago, volunteered himself for the experiment.
Technology might, one day help people with injuries, strokes or diseases like, Lou Gehrig’s. The researchers are also planning that one day they will be able to develop a computer which will produce voice that could replace text on a computer.