There are certainly scientific advances all around that have brought us miles closer to the inventive worlds of science fiction in movies and TV.
For starters, steady research and progress in the field of prosthetics has brought us robotic limbs which are now able to send haptic input to the central nervous system, so that the wearer can actually approximate the sensation of feeling in the limb!
LinkAlong the same tack, a recent episode of NPR's Fresh Air tells the story of Hugh Herr, a mountain climber who lost his legs to frostbite in 1982 and who has been working with MIT to develop prostheses that not only allow the wearer a measure of physical comfort, but also have amazing specialty uses that allows him to climb mountains that no one could climb before!
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