Bionic Leg

Stroke survivor learns to walk again thanks to revolutionary bionic leg which PREDICTS her movements

• Sue Sandars lost nearly all the use of her left arm and leg following stroke
• But thanks to the robotic leg, she is hoping to get rid of her wheelchair
• The device is controlled by a super-sensitive insole in her trainer
• This then decodes her intended manoeuvre through tiny initial movements
• Device builds up her muscles and also retrains parts of her brain which were damaged when she had her stroke

By Anna Hodgekiss
PUBLISHED: 12:15 GMT, 27 December 2013 | UPDATED: 13:27 GMT, 27 December 2013

A stroke survivor is learning to walk again with the help of a revolutionary robotic leg - which predicts her movements.
Sue Sandars, 51, lost nearly all the use of her left arm and leg following a blood clot in her brain.
But thanks to the new leg - and hours of hard work - she is hoping to get rid of her wheelchair for good.

Mobile: Sue Sandars lost nearly all the use of her left arm and leg following a blood clot in her brain. She is now learning to walk again with the help of a revolutionary robotic leg which predicts her movements

One of just two in the UK, the thigh-high device is controlled by a super-sensitive insole in her trainer which decodes her intended manoeuvre through tiny initial movements.
The £30,000 gadget then instantly moves - as if reading her mind - doing some of the work needed to help the wearer walk or stand up.
It helps the mother-of-two build up her muscles and also retrains the parts of her brain which were damaged when she had her stroke.

 

Mrs Sandars, of Blockley, Gloucestershire, said: 'The leg is amazing. There are little electrodes that go in the insole in my trainer and when I start to move just a tiny bit it stimulates the bionic leg to move, taking away some of the effort needed to walk or stand.
'It reacts to what I do, almost calibrating how much effort I am doing myself. I’ve only been using it for two or three months but I can notice the difference already.

Unique: Mrs Sandards has one of just two of the devices available in the UK. The thigh-high device is controlled by a super-sensitive insole in her trainer which decodes her intended manoeuvre through tiny initial movements

'My mantra in life is that I kissed death and now I’m hugging life. If I didn’t have that determination I would never be where I am now.'
Unaware she was experiencing tell-tale signs of a stroke, Mrs Sandars had trouble typing on her keyboard the day before her clot fully formed in July 2010.
She put it down to a migraine and took painkillers before driving home, making dinner and heading to bed.
But when she woke up at 2am to go to the bathroom, she smacked her head off the shower door.
Sue said: 'My head was banging against the shower cubicle and my husband woke up and came into see me and realised that my face was dropping. 

Stroke patient uses AlterG to help rehabilitation

Moving: The £30,000 gadget then instantly moves - as if reading the wearer's mind - doing some of the work needed to help them walk or stand up. It also helps them retrain the parts of the brain which are damaged during the stroke

'His father had a stroke so he knew what he was looking at.
'He rang 999 and I could hear him saying I was having a stroke. I remember thinking "that can’t be right - I’m 48, only old people have strokes, how the hell can that be happening to me?’"'
Mrs Sandars slipped in and out of consciousness for three days after she was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Progress: Mrs Sandars is hoping to get rid of her wheelchair soon

She was transferred to a specialist rehabilitation unit in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after two weeks, where she spent four months regaining some use of her arm and leg.
Mrs Sandars - who uses a stick and a wheelchair - has been using the bionic leg at The Gym in Cheltenham for three months.
It has been loaned to personal trainer Dan Fivey by U.S. inventors AlterG, who are keen to get UK feedback on their newest invention.
Mr Fivey said: 'It helps people walk further, faster and for longer and gives them the confidence and self esteem that they can do it without the bionic leg.
'They can do activities like squatting, cross training and walking, standing up and sitting down, without falling over and without their walking aids.
'When they have been walking for ten to 15 minutes with the leg on, when we take the leg off the muscles as switched on.
'They are ready to go doing that activity again and the brain sort of remembers that muscles needed and how to work without the leg on.'
Mrs Sandars, who returned to work in telesales in January, added: 'I can feel the difference already. I’m determined. I’m going to be out of that wheelchair for good sooner or later.'

Eighth wonder of the world

Brunel's Eighth Wonder of the World restored: Grand entrance to world's first underwater tunnel will return to glory after 145 years

• Thames Tunnel in south east London was built by legendary engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc
• A million Victorian thrillseekers descended through its grand entrance in its first month but it shut in 1869
• Exclusive: Volunteers plan to give it a full restoration next year with a new stairway and Victorian-themed attractions
• Museum director: 'We're going to convert this space into what it once was - a palace of delight and entertainment'

By Dan Bloom
PUBLISHED: 21:06 GMT, 24 December 2013 | UPDATED: 10:19 GMT, 25 December 2013

For more than a century this grand chamber lay neglected and damp under the streets of south east London, echoing only to the sound of passing trains.
Now the entry shaft to the Thames Tunnel, whose sweeping staircase teemed with a million visitors in the month after it opened in 1843, is being restored.
Touted as the birthplace of the modern Metro system, the first underwater tunnel in the world - built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc - is one of the most important sites in engineering history.

Iconic: The 42ft high, 50ft wide entrance to the Thames Tunnel was descended by a million Victorian thrillseekers in its first month. But it closed in 1869 when the twin tunnels below (see top) were converted to take trains. Now a concrete floor has been installed (bottom) and volunteers have won a grant for a full restoration

Stark: The chamber has reopened for the first time with a concrete floor separating it from the trains, and volunteers have grand plans for it. They have won a grant to restore the entrance to its Victorian glory with bazaars and underground attractions. Pictured, the outline of the original staircase can still be seen clearly on the wall

Legendary: The chamber teemed with people as Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel, top, waved his hat to admirers after it opened. The two tunnels now take trains

Urban history: About 4,000 people have flocked to see the tunnel chamber since it was made safe, and it will now be given a full restoration by the Brunel Museum

Traffic: As the first footway under a navigable river, it was a huge relief to traders who claimed it could take longer to cross the Thames by boat than the Atlantic. Construction had to be abandoned in 1828 after the partially-built tunnel was totally flooded, almost killing Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The tunnel opened in 1843

The double foot tunnel alleviated crisis congestion on the Thames, which merchants claimed could take longer to cross than the Atlantic.
In its heyday it hosted market stalls, fire-eaters, an infamous fundraising banquet when still part-finished, and later, unwanted prostitution.

 

But the tunnels were converted to take trains in 1869, leaving their 50ft-wide entrance redundant. They still take trains today and their shaft was completely inaccessible until recently, when the chamber was separated from the railway tracks for the first time with a £250,000 concrete floor.
Visitors must wriggle through a 4ft entrance passage before descending a tower of scaffolding onto the ground, where they can feel London Overground trains rumbling below.
MailOnline can reveal the Brunel Museum, which adjoins the site in Rotherhithe, London, has won a grant to restore a full entrance and permanent stairway into the shaft for the first time in 145 years, a move they hope will turn it into a major tourist attraction.
The details of the grant have not yet been announced, but it is thought to be worth about £250,000 and the work can start as soon as next summer. A second phase worth £1 million will connect the shaft to the museum, in Brunel's old boiler house.

Family affair: The tunnel was a joint project between the engineer Marc Brunel (top) and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel (bottom), who went on to achieve legend status

Impressive: Marc Brunel's first underwater tunnel in the world - which he built with his son Isambard - is one of the most important sites in engineering history

Imprint: All that remains of the once-grand staircase into the tunnel shaft is this ridge along the wall. Soon the 170-year-old chamber will become a full tourist attraction

Tribute: One of the only items inside the chamber now is a statue of Brunel looking up to the only source of light. Bottom, visitors must descend a scaffolding tower

Squeeze: Today the only way into the 42ft high tunnel shaft is to wriggle through an entrance passage, pictured, and down a scaffolding tower

 

Museum director Robert Hulse, 60, said the money was 'in the bank'. He added: 'You take a Metro train anywhere in the world and your journey really began here. It's the birthplace of the underground transport network and in that sense it's the birthplace of the modern city.
'They originally intended it for cargo, but they couldn't afford the ramps to get the cargo into the tunnel. So what they opened was a cargo tunnel that couldn't take any.
'Instead they turned it into a market. There was dancing and performing horses - God knows how they got the horses down there - along with sword swallowers, Ethiopian serenaders and fire-eaters.
'We're going to convert this space into what it once was - a palace of delight and entertainment.'
The gigantic, 1,000-tonne circular shaft was built above ground and then sunk into the soft London earth before construction on the tunnels could start.
The tunnels were revolutionary because they used the first ever tunneling shield, an iron box divided into 36 'cells' each containing a worker. It protected them as they dug out the soft earth and has since evolved into the tunnel boring machines used today.
A previous attempt without a shield had to be abandoned in 1808 when it collapsed just 200ft from the end.

Revolutionary: The tunnel was the first to use a shield, an iron box divided into 36 'cells' each containing a worker which has evolved into modern tunneling machines

Grandiose: The tunnel hosted a fundraising banquet in 1827, before it flooded. In the foreground are Marc Brunel and his son, the only known image of them together

Eighth wonder of the world: Once the new attraction was finished it teemed with visitors, 50,000 of whom attended on its first day and a million in its first month

History: A London Overground worker inside the main section of the Thames Tunnel, which still takes regular trains despite being the oldest of its kind in the world

Iconic: Isambard Kingdom Brunel went on to design the Clifton suspension bridge, pictured, and has been named as one of the worthiest Britons in history

Digging under the Thames clay was still a dangerous business, however. Workers could bear only two-hour shifts until they collapsed from exhaustion. The whole tunnel flooded midway through its construction in 1828, killing six workers and very nearly handing Isambard Kingdom Brunel the same fate.
Legend has it the great engineer - who would go on to design the Clifton suspension bridge - swam through the torrent as it rose until he was hauled unconscious from the exit.
Mr Hulse is the only paid member of a team of volunteers which has spent years lobbying for the chamber's restoration.
His efforts have won the former teacher and actor the Freedom of Bermondsey, meaning he has the right to drive sheep across London Bridge. Though he added: 'I haven't exercised it yet'.

concrete tunnel under the border

Chinese smugglers build concrete tunnel under the border with Hong Kong to smuggle trade

• Underground path had one end in a rented garage in Shenzhen
• The other end was found in a thicket of reeds in Hong Kong

By Tara Brady
PUBLISHED: 14:24 GMT, 25 December 2013 | UPDATED: 15:09 GMT, 25 December 2013

Smugglers dug a 'professional' concrete tunnel into Hong Kong equipped with lights, vents, steel reinforcements and even rails to transport goods.
The underground path had 'one end in a rented garage in Shenzhen and another in a thicket of reeds in Hong Kong, totally concealed', said a report posted on the official website china.com.cn.
'It was dug in a totally professional way,' it said.

A tunnel which was built by smugglers near the border of Hong Kong, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province

Semi-autonomous Hong Kong, along with Shenzhen in mainland China, are both important trade hubs for the fast-growing and massive market.
But the two have very different tariff systems.

 

The as-yet unidentified smugglers sought to exploit their proximity by building a 40-metre-long underground passage and installing a rail track and wagon with a block-and-tackle system to ferry goods such as cell phones and tablet computers.

The tunnel stood about 0.8 metres wide and one metre high, just big enough for an adult to crawl through.

A soldier checking an underground tunnel leading to Hong Kong from Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province

A soldier checking an underground tunnel built by smugglers between Hong Kong and China

Soldiers moving equipment out of an underground tunnel leading to Hong Kong from Shenzhen

It started from a remote area of Shenzhen, in a garage full of bags packed with sludge dug up from the tunnel, and ended in a cluster of tall reeds a few metres past a river dividing mainland China and Hong Kong, with the nearest village 20 metres away.
The project was estimated to have cost three million yuan ($490,000) and taken four months to build.
Border officers discovered the tunnel a week ago, and a nearby resident said she heard drilling noises for one or two nights but assumed they were for renovations.
The man who rented the garage had used a fake ID, authorities were quoted as saying.

Border officers discovered the tunnel linking Shenzhen with Hong Kong a week ago

Barbed wire fence at Hong Kong's Nam Hang Border divides Hong Kong from China's city of Shenzhen

ઘરમાં દુકાન અને દુકાનમાં ઘર

કેટલાક માણસો જીવનના અંત સુધી લગામ છોડતા નથી. તેઓ માને છે કે પોતાના જેવું બીજા કોઈ કરી શકશે નહીં. તેઓ મંદિરો અને ઉપાશ્રયોમાં પણ દુકાનો સાથે લઈને જાય છે અને ભગવાન સાથે સોદા કરે છે જીવન દર્શન - મહેન્દ્ર પુનાતર માણસને જીવન જીવવાની કલા હસ્તગત થઈ જાય તો બેડો પાર. જિંદગી સુધરી જાય. મોટા ભાગના માણસો જીવન જીવતા નથી, ઢસરડો કરતા હોય છે. તંગ દોર પર તેમની જિંદગી ચાલતી હોય છે. જીવનભર ફાંફાં મારે છે અને છેવટે જે પ્રાપ્ત કરે છે તે વ્યર્થ બની જાય છે. જીવનના અંત સુધી મોહ જતો નથી અને માયા છૂટતી નથી. દરેક ધર્મની વિચારધારામાં જીવનને સુખમય બનાવવા માટેનો માર્ગ બતાવવામાં આવેલો છે. જૈન ધર્મે અહિંસા અને અપરિગ્રહ પર ભાર મૂક્યો છે. માણસ સૌ પ્રત્યે પ્રેમપૂર્વક વર્તે અને મોહ-આસક્તિ ઓછી કરી નાખે તો જીવન પ્રસન્ન અને આનંદદાયક બની શકે છે. જીવનની બધી દોટ ઈચ્છાઓ અને અપેક્ષાઓમાં છે. આપણાં સાધનોમાં આપણે આનંદપૂર્વક જીવી શકીએ તો તેના જેવું બીજું કોઈ સુખ નથી. માણસ જિંદગીભર મહેનત કરે છે, પૈસા કમાય છે. ગમે તેટલું હોય વધુ મેળવવા આપાઘાપી કરે છે. ધન હશે તો જિંદગીનાં છેલ્લાં વર્ષોમાં આરામથી રહીશું એવા મનસૂબા ઘડાય છે. માણસ વિચારે છે હજુ થોડું વધુ ભેગું કરી લઈએ પછી વાંધો નહીં, કશી ચિંતા રહેશે નહીં. મોજ કરીશું, પરંતુ સમય હાથમાંથી સરકી જાય છે. જિંદગી મોજના બદલે બોજ બની જાય છે. માણસ આ ધરતી પર વરસોનાં વરસો સુધી રહેવાનો હોય એવી તૈયારી કરે છે, પણ સમય રહેતો નથી અને બધું ફોગટ જાય છે. હાથપગ ચાલતા હોય, બધી ચેતનાઓ સાબૂત હોય ત્યારે માણસે જીવી લેવું જોઈએ. એક સામટા સુખની ઈચ્છા વ્યર્થ છે. માણસે પોતાની સમક્ષ આવતાં નાનાં નાનાં સુખો અને આનંદના અવસરોને માણતા રહેવું જોઈએ. શરીરમાં શક્તિ અને સ્ફૂર્તિ ન હોય તો બધાં સુખો નકામાં બની જાય છે. માણસને આનંદથી જીવવા માટેની જે ચીજો જોઈએ છે તે તો ક્યારની મળી ગઈ હોય છે, પરંતુ સંતોષ થતો નથી. ભવિષ્યની ચિંતા છે. પરિવારની ચિંતા છે. પેઢીની પેઢી સુધી ચાલે તેટલું મૂકી જવાની એષણા છે. પરિગ્રહ છે એટલે ભય છે અને ભય છે એટલે સલામતી નથી. માણસ વર્તમાનમાં જીવે અને ભવિષ્યની ખોટી ચિંતા ન કરે તો કોઈ દુ:ખ નથી. મનમાંથી જો ભય દૂર થઈ જાય, શ્રદ્ધા વિશ્ર્વાસ જાગે તો ચિંતાઓ દૂર થઈ જાય. ધર્મ આપણને ભયરહિત બનવાનું શીખવે છે. જે ડરે છે તે ક્ષણે ક્ષણે મરતો રહે છે અને સંસારમાં વધુ ને વધુ ડૂબતો રહે છે. મોહમોયાના પથ્થરો ગળે બાંધેલા છે. માણસ આ બંધનોને હટાવીને હળવોફૂલ જેવો બની જાય તો ભવસાગરને તરી જાય. ઉંમર થાય, તબિયત લથડે એટલે લોકો કહેશે તમને આરામની જરૂર છે. ખરેખર આરામની નહીં, જંજાળ છોડવાની જરૂર છે. માણસ કામ કરવાથી થાકતો નથી, પરંતુ ચિંતાઓ અને ઉપાધિઓ તેને થકવી નાખે છે. જિંદગીનાં છેલ્લાં વર્ષો પ્રસન્નતાથી વીતે, મન પર કશો ભાર રહે નહીં તે જરૂરી છે. જિંદગીની જંજાળ છોડવાનું બધાને માટે શક્ય નથી. કુટુંબનો બોજો જેમના માથે હોય, આવક ઓછી હોય, સંજોગો વિપરીત હોય તેમને અસ્તિત્વ ટકાવી રાખવા માટે દોડાદોડી કરવી પડે એ સમજી શકાય છે. તેમને આરામ પરવડી શકે નહીં, પરંતુ પ્રભુએ જેમને બધું આપ્યું છે, સંતાનોએ કારોબાર સંભાળી લીધો છે અથવા સંભાળવા શક્તિમાન છે એવા ઉંમરલાયક માણસોને રાત-દિવસ કામના બોજા હેઠળ ઢંકાયેલા, ચિંતાગ્રસ્ત, તાણ અનુભવતા જોઈએ ત્યારે આપણને થાય કે આ બધું ઐશ્ર્વર્ય પૈસો, ધનદોલત શા કામની? તેનાથી શું સુખ પ્રાપ્ત થાય છે? દોડવાનું જ હોય તો હોય કે ન હોય શું ફરક પડે છે. જિંદગીને સાચી રીતે સમજતા નથી એટલે કામનું ફેંકી દઈએ છીએ અને પછી સમય વીતી જાય છે એટલે અફસોસ કરીએ છીએ. ઓશોએ ટાંકેલી એક દૃષ્ટાંત કથા આ અંગે પ્રેરક છે. વહેલી સવારે સૂરજ ઊગ્યા પહેલાં એક માછીમાર સમુદ્ર કિનારે માછલાં પકડવા ગયો. કિનારા પર ચાલતાં તેના પગ સાથે કાંઈક અફળાયું. તેણે નીચે વળીને જોયું તો એક થેલી પડી હતી અને અંદર પથ્થરના નાના ટુકડાઓ હોય એવું લાગતું હતું. માછીમારે થેલી ઉપાડી લીધી અને જાળને એક બાજુએ મૂકીને પાણીમાં રહેલા એક મોટા પથ્થર પર બેસી ગયો અને સવારનું અજવાળું થવાની રાહ જોવા લાગ્યો. સમય પસાર કરવા માટે થેલીમાં રહેલા પથ્થરના ટુકડામાંથી એક એક ટુકડા ઊછળતાં મોજાં પર ફેંકતો રહ્યો. ધીરે ધીરે સવાર થયું અને અજવાળું પથરાયું. થેલીમાંથી બધા પથ્થરના ટુકડાઓ ફેંકી દીધા હતા. એક છેલ્લો ટુકડો થેલીમાંથી બહાર કાઢીને ફેંકવા માટે ઊભો થયો ત્યાં તેની નજર પડી ને જોયું તો હાથમાં પથ્થરનો ટુકડો નહીં, પણ હીરો હતો. થેલી ખાલી થઈ ગઈ હતી. તે કલ્પાંત કરવા લાગ્યો. પેઢીની પેઢી સુધી ચાલે તેટલી દોલત હાથમાં આવી હતી, પણ અજાણતાં સમુદ્રમાં ફેંકી દીધી હતી. છતાંય નસીબદાર હતો એક હીરો બચ્યો હતો. સામાન્ય રીતે જિંદગી વીતી જાય છે. સૂરજ ઊગતો નથી. મનની અંદર અજવાળું થતું નથી અને જીવનનાં રત્નોને પથ્થર માનીને ફેંકી દઈએ છીએ અને પછી અફસોસ કરીએ છીએ. કેટલાક ભાગ્યશાળીઓ છેલ્લો એક ટુકડો બચાવી શકે છે. મોટા ભાગના લોકોના હાથ ખાલી રહે છે. વ્યર્થ છૂટતું નથી, સારું પકડાતું નથી. કેટલાક માણસો વિચારે છે મેં આ બધું પરિશ્રમથી, મહેનતથી મેળવ્યું છે તે બીજો કોઈ બચાવી શકશે નહીં, સાચવી શકશે નહીં. જાણે કે દુનિયા તેના વગર ચાલવાની નથી. આવા માણસોને બીજા પર ભરોસો અને વિશ્ર્વાસ હોતો નથી એટલે જિંદગીના છેલ્લા શ્ર્વાસ સુધી તેઓ લગામ છોડતા નથી. મોહ અને આસક્તિથી છૂટવાનું એટલું આસાન નથી. જિંદગીનો સૂૂર્યાસ્ત થવા આવ્યો હોવા છતાં કેટલાક લોકો જાગતા નથી. બોધ થતો નથી. મેળવવા કરતાં છોડવાનું બહુ આકરું છે. એક માણસ મરણ પથારી પર હતો. અંતિમ સમય હતો. પાસે પત્ની બેઠી છે. તેણે પૂછ્યું, ચુન્નુ ક્યાં છે? પત્નીને થયું મોટો દીકરો યાદ આવતો લાગે છે. નામ હતું ચુનીલાલ, પણ ઘરમાં બધા ચુન્નુ કહેતા હતા. પત્નીએ કહ્યું: ચિંતા કરો નહીં, ચુન્નુ અહીં બેઠો છે અને તમારા પગ દબાવી રહ્યો છે. થોડી વાર થઈ ત્યાં તેણે પૂછ્યું: મુન્નુ ક્યાં છે? પત્નીએ કહ્યું મણિલાલ પણ અહીં છે. ફિકર કરો નહીં પાછું વળી તેણે પૂછ્યું છુન્નુ ક્યાં છે? નાના દીકરા છગનલાલનું પણ નામ દીધું. પત્નીને થયું કે બાપને પુત્રો માટે પ્રેમ છે, એક પછી એક બધાને યાદ કરે છે, તેણે કહ્યું: આપ તદ્દન આરામ કરો. બધા દીકરાઓ અહીં આપની સેવામાં હાજર છે. આ સાંભળીને બાપે પથારીમાંથી ઊઠવાનો પ્રયાસો કર્યો અને કહ્યું: બધા અહીં છો તો દુકાનમાં કોણ છે? મરવાનો સમય હતો, પણ દુકાન ભુલાતી નહોતી. તેણે રોષપૂર્વક કહ્યું: નાલાયકો, આમ નોકરોના ભરોસે દુકાન છોડી દેશો તો દેવાળું કાઢવાનો વારો આવશે. બાપે દીકરાઓને યાદ કર્યા, પણ વહાલથી નહીં. તેને પ્રેમ સાથે કોઈ સંબંધ નહોતો. દુકાનો ચાલતી રહે અને નોટોની થપ્પીઓ જમા થતી રહે એટલે જીવન સાર્થક થઈ ગયું. માણસ અપૂર્ણ ખંડિત જીવન જીવી રહ્યો છે. જીવનની સાથે તેનો કોઈ મેળ નથી. ખાતાં-પીતાં, બેસતાં-ઊઠતાં, સૂતાં-જાગતાં વિચારોના ઘોડાઓ દોડી રહ્યા છે. એકસાથે બધું કરી લેવાની ઝંખના છે એટલે કોઈપણ પ્રવૃત્તિમાં તે આત્મસાત્ થઈ શકતો નથી. માણસે ઘરને દુકાન બનાવી દીધી છે અને દુકાનને ઘર. ઘરમાં હોય ત્યારે દુકાનની ચિંતા અને દુકાનમાં હોય ત્યારે ઘરની ચિંતા. ટેલિફોન અને મોબાઈલ પર ઘરમાં પણ ધંધાની વાત અને ઓફિસમાં હોય ત્યારે ટેલિફોન પર પત્ની સાથે બે-ચાર વાતો કરી લીધી. બાળકોના ખબર પૂછી લીધા એટલે સબ સલામત. બાપને ઘરમાં પત્ની અને બાળકો સાથે શાંતિથી વાત કરવાની ફુરસદ નથી. એક ઘરમાં રહેવા છતાં વૃદ્ધ-માતા-પિતા, પતિ-પત્ની અને બાળકો એકબીજાથી દૂર હોય એવું લાગે છે. માણસ જમતો હોય, ખાતો હોય, પીતો હોય પણ દુકાનો અને ઓફિસો તેમનો પીછો છોડતી નથી, કેટલાક તો મંદિરોમાં, ઉપાશ્રયોમાં અને દેરાસરોમાં પણ દુકાનો સાથે લઈને જાય છે. ત્યાં પણ ટેલિફોનની ઘંટડીઓ રણકતી રહે છે. ભગવાન સાથે પણ સોદાબાજી થાય છે. આટલું કામ થશે તો પૂજા ભણાવીશ, આરતી કરીશ, યાત્રા કરીશ. હાથ ભગવાન સામે જોડયા હોય છે, પણ મન ભટકતું રહે છે. જીવનનો અર્થ સીમિત બની ગયો છે. પૈસા કમાવા સિવાય જીવનનું બીજું કોઈ ધ્યેય નથી. માણસ સારો-નરસો, સફળ-અસફળ, બુુદ્ધુ-હોશિયાર બધું પૈસાને તોલે તોળાય છે અને મપાય છે. આરામ કરવો, નિવૃત્ત થવું એટલે તેનો અર્થ એવો નથી કે કોઈપણ જાતના કામ વગર બેસી રહેવું. અહીં આરામ કરવો એટલે ખોટી ચિંતાઓ અને ઉપાધિઓમાંથી મુક્ત થવું અને મનગમતી પ્રવૃત્તિઓ કરવી અને જીવન પ્રત્યે નવો રસ કેળવવો. થોડું નિજાનંદ માટે જીવવું. વૃદ્ધોને બાળકો સાથે રમતાં, ગાર્ડનમાં મોજથી ફરતાં અને આનંદ-મસ્તી કરતાં જોઈએ ત્યારે એમ થાય કે બાળકો ને વૃદ્ધોમાં કોઈ ફરક નથી. બાળક જેવી નિર્દોષતા જો માણસમાં આવી જાય તો પ્રેમ પ્રગટ થયા વગર રહે નહીં. બાળકો વર્તમાનમાં જીવે છે. તેમના પર ભૂતકાળ અને ભવિષ્યનો ઓથાર નથી. આપણે પણ વર્તમાનમાં જીવીએ તો બાળક જેવા બની શકીએ, પણ ઊલટું બને છે. ઉંમર વધે એમ માણસ પાકો અને રીઢો બનતો જાય છે, પરંતુ બાળક જેવી કોમળતા, મુલાયમતા અને નિર્દોષતાનાં દર્શન થાય ત્યારે એમ થાય છે કે સંધ્યા ખીલી ઊઠી. આપણે બધાને કહીએ આ બધું છોડી દો. સલાહ આપવી અને સાંભળવી બહુ સહેલી છે, પરંતુ તેનો અમલ કરવાનું મુશ્કેલ છે. કેટલીક બાબતો પ્રકૃતિજનક અને સ્વભાવગત છે, જ્યારે કેટલીક બાબતો સંજોગોને આધીન છે. આ બધામાંથી જાતને પર કરીને કેવી રીતે સુખ અને શાંતિ અનુભવી શકાય તેની કોશિશ કરવી જોઈએ. સારી રીતે જીવવું અને જીવન તરફનું સાચું વલણ ઊભું કરવું એ એક કલા છે. માણસ સાપની કાંચળી જેમ બધાં આવરણો દૂર કરી પ્રેમથી, શાંતિથી અને સહજતાથી જીવે તો જીવન સુખનો સાગર છે. જીવન તરફનો સાચો અભિગમ જ સુખ-શાંતિ આપી શકે.

Robot Olympics Winner

Terminated: Japanese humanoid crushes competition to win Pentagon's robot Olympics as NASA's 'superhero' $3M entry comes up with ZERO

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) decided to host a competition that would test the world's greatest robotic technology
• The eight-part 'rescue challenge' was inspired by the nuclear meltdown at Fuskushima during the 2011 Japanese tsunami, where it was realized robots could do very little to help
• Coincidentally Japan won the competition, with its two-legged humanoid 'Schaft' completing all tasks and scoring 27 out of a possible 32
• Three teams scored zero, one of them being NASA

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 02:03 GMT, 24 December 2013 | UPDATED: 10:25 GMT, 24 December 2013

A robot developed by a Japanese start-up that was recently acquired by Google has left 15 rivals for dead at a two-day competition hosted by the Pentagon to see which machine could cope best in the event of a nuclear meltdown.
Team Schaft's machine carried out all eight rescue-themed tasks - including scaling a ladder, opening a door, removing debris and clearing debris - to outscore its rivals by a mechanical mile, taking 27 of a possible 32 points.
However NASA's entry Valkyrie, a $3 million creation, failed to score a single point, in an embarrassing blow to the U.S. space station.
The machine was seemingly designed to much in an astronaut sense, weighing a clunky 125kg, rather than being to help out in a crisis.
Schaft' s closest competitor was IHMC Robotics - which used the Google/Boston Dynamics ATLAS robot - which cored 20 points, the BBC reports.
Three of the other 15 teams that took part failed to secure any points at the event near Miami, Florida, with NASA one of them.

'Anything you can do, humans!': Japanese robot Schaft completes one of the eight DARPA challenges - climbing a steep ladder

Embarassing: The robot created by NASA (pictured) failed to complete any of the eight tasks it was assigned during the two-day DARPA competition

Clean-up: Another task required clearing debris from an entry way. DARPA said the motivated to do the competition are realizing how little robots were able to help during the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown

Four countries took place in the competition - United States, Japan, Korea and China.
Darpa said it had been inspired to organise the challenge after it became clear robots were only capable of playing a very limited role in efforts to contain 2011's Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan.
'What we realised was ... these robots couldn't do anything other than observe,' said Gill Pratt, programme manager for the Darpa Robotics Challenge.
'What they needed was a robot to go into that reactor building and shut off the valves.'

In order to spur on development of more adept robots the agency challenged contestants to complete a series of tasks, with a time-limit of 30 minutes for each.
Among the challenges were driving a utility vehicle along a course, climb an 8ft-high ladder, remove debris blocking a doorwar and cut a triangular shape in a wall using a cordless drill.
More than 100 teams originally applied to take part, and the number was whittled down to 17 by Darpa ahead of Friday and Saturday's event.

Schaft is also capable of opening a door. The two-legged humanoid out-mastered rivals by seven points

Epic fail: In a demonstration video, NASA said they were 'thinking about the competition the entire time' while making Valkyrie, which cost $3 million. Maybe they should have been thinking about it actually working?

Some entered their own machines, while others made use of Atlas - a robot manufactured by another Google-owned business, Boston Dynamics - controlling it with their own software.
One self-funded team from China - Intelligent Pioneer - dropped out at the last moment, bringing the number of contestants who took part at the Homestead-Miami Speedway racetrack to 16.
Schaft's 1.48m (4ft 11in) tall, two-legged robot entered the contest the favourite and lived up to its reputation.
It makes use of a new high-voltage liquid-cooled motor technology that uses a capacitor, rather a battery, for power. Its engineers say this lets its arms move and pivot at higher speeds than would otherwise be possible, in effect giving it stronger "muscles".
Virginia Tech's Thor-OP The robots had to attach a hose pipe as one of their challenges
The machine was developed by a spin-off from the University of Tokyo's Jouhou System Kougaku lab, which Google recently revealed it had acquired.

In case of an emergency, Schaft unhooks a fire hose

Robot Atlas-Iam attempts the ladder challenge during the event in Florida

The team scored 27 points out of a possible 32, putting it seven points ahead of second-placed IHMC Robotics, which used Atlas.
Scores were based on a system that awarded three points for completing a task's primary objectives, and then a bonus point for doing so without any human intervention.
Schaft's robot behaved almost perfectly, but lost points because 'the wind blew a door out of their robot's hold and because their robotic creation was not able to climb out of a vehicle after it successfully navigated an obstacle course,' reported the Japan Daily Press.

Four countries took part in the DARPA competition, including United States, Korea, China and of course Japan

Video

China's Largest Ghost Towns

Inside one of China's largest ghost towns: Development next to nuclear power plant left deserted as locals fear radiation poisoning

• The complex in Huizhou, in the southeast of China, is one of the country's largest white elephants
• Named Dayawan, the buildings stand near to a nuclear power plant which has put people off living in the area
• Recently at night lights were seen on in only two out of 2,328 apartments

By Tara Brady
PUBLISHED: 15:39 GMT, 23 December 2013 | UPDATED: 16:01 GMT, 23 December 2013

This is one of China's ghost towns - a 14 square mile development where no-one wants to live.
The complex in Huizhou in Guangdong province in the southeast of China is one of the country's largest white elephants.  
Named Dayawan, the buildings stand near to a nuclear power plant.

Where is everyone? The complex in Huizhou in Guangdong province in the southeast of China is one of the country's largest white elephants

Locals fear radiation poisoning and have kept away. 
The development is also at least an hour's drive from the nearby major metropolis of Shenzhen, another factor for keeping it empty of residents.

 

Despite the fact that the homes are low cost, developers have been unable to sell them.
Recently at night lights were seen on in only two out of 2,328 apartments.

Named Dayawan, the buildings stand near to a nuclear power plant which has put people off buying properties on the site

The development is also at least an hour's drive from the nearby major metropolis of Shenzhen

White elephant: Rows upon rows of apartment blocks stand empty in Huizhou in Guangdong province

'I will never buy a home here. It’s so scary at night,' said Wen Lin.
But it is not much better in daylight.  
Despite developers promising attractive terms and a free lunch just to look around, there are few takers.

Dead: Recently at night lights were seen on in only two out of 2,328 apartments in Huizhou in Guangdong province in the southeast of China

Despite developers promising attractive terms and a free lunch just to look around there has been few takers

The development where no-one wants to live: An officer stands outside one of the empty buildings in Huizhou in Guangdong province

A man stands in an empty car park in Huizhou in Guangdong which is at least an hour's drive from the nearby major metropolis of Shenzhen

Factory workers in the area already have their board provided for them in dormitories built adjacent to their workplace. 
But developers are still optimistic, believing the block will be prosperous with more and more enterprises coming in the future.
It is not the first town that has been left abandoned in China.
Earlier this year a theme park called Wonderland on the outskirts of Beijing had to be torn down aftr a catastrophic history stretching over 15 years.
Construction work at the 120 acre site ground to a halt in 1998 due to a dispute between the developers and the landowners and a corruption scandal that went right to the heart of the communist party.

Empty: The Tianducheng development in Hangzhou is designed to accommodate at least 10,000 people but it has instead been labelled as a ghost town

As a result, the huge, half-finished, Bavarian-style structures complete with their spires and battlements and a myriad of medieval-themed buildings were simply left to crumble.
The Tianducheng development in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, has been filled with grand European buildings, wide walkways and even has its own Eiffel Tower.
There is also a replica of a fountain from the Luxemburg Gardens in a main square called Champs Elysées.
With China's love of all things French, the developers no doubt expected the town to be a huge success.
But things didn't quite work out as they would have hoped.
Despite being designed to accommodate at least ten thousand people, the town remains sparsely populated.
Pictures showing the large streets remaining virtually empty.

The Miracle of Birth

Baby's first breath: Breathtakingly intimate pictures capture the miracle of birth and the first seconds of life in all their raw glory

• Suste Bonnen was given access to Copenhagen University Hospital
• Respected Danish photographer captures moment baby is given to mother
• Ms Bonnen followed 22 caesarean operations on the maternity ward
• 'Bloody and gory' images are 'testimony to the magical wonder of life' 
• Warning: Graphic content

By Tom Gardner
PUBLISHED: 12:06 GMT, 23 December 2013 | UPDATED: 14:01 GMT, 23 December 2013

A photographer has captured the wondrous, miraculous moment of birth - in all its raw and unglamourised glory.
Taken before a mother has seen her baby for the first time these amazing photographs show the reality of how we all enter this world.
The warts and all pictures are the work of respected Danish photographer Suste Bonnen who was given unprecedented access to mothers while they were in labour.

Intimate: Danish photographer Suste Bonnen captured the moments after a baby was born in a series of extraordinary portraits

Shock: Ms Bonnen said the controversial images are 'testimony to the magical wonder of life'

Suste, 65, who has worked as a portrait photographer for 30 years, was given permission to take these remarkable shots at the Copenhagen University Hospital.

Now she has produced this stunning body of portraits of perhaps the most exposed moment in any person's life.
Her compelling pictures show babies the instant they are born even before they are given over to the safety of their mother's arms.

Compelling: Ms Bonnen said she wanted to show the emotion of birth as a mother set eyes on her child for the first time

Miracle: The thought-provoking series of photographs show birth in excruciating detail

Suste said: 'A life-long theme for my portrait photography has always been the affection and love displayed between a mother and daughter, a father and a son, a brother and a sister.
'I have portrayed heads of states, politicians, celebrities and CEOs, but family is what have always interested me the most.
'What suddenly intrigued me, however, was if that feeling of love for life was detectable at first eyesight. What are we emotionally like at the earliest stage in life? What are we like at the very first second?

Focus: Respected Danish photographer Suste Bonnen followed 22 caesarian operations in Copenhagen University Hospital

Illuminating: Photographer Suste Bonnen did not use special lighting only the lamps in the delivery ward to capture these fascinating and captivating portraits of child birth in Copenhagen University Hospital

'When the idea arose, I was therefore lucky to get exclusive and unprecedented access to the maternity ward, where I followed more than 22 caesarean operations.'
In the working world of the hospital Suste still managed to get great pictures despite having just the surgery lights to shine on her subjects - no flash was allowed.
She said: 'Just as the Dutch renaissance painters, my ability to use light setting as a key element in photography has brought me much acclaim.

Bracing: After nine months in the warm and comfort of the womb, the shock of the outside world does not seem to be a pleasurable experience for his baby

First breath: Ms Bonnen's photographs show the moment a child will take its first breath

'This goodwill followed me all the way into the maternity ward, where there was only one source of lighting to use, the surgery lamp.
'There were no flashes, no additional lamps, so I had to learn to use what was there.
'I admit that the images are deeply controversial, as they on one side are very bloody and gory, but on the other a rare and truthful testimony to the magical wonder of life.
'These are all caesarean operations, so they can't help but being bloody.'

Grasping: This baby shows it was born with a strong grip reflex as it grabs hold of a midwife's sleeve

Access: Respected Danish photographer Suste Bonnen who was given unprecedented access to the moment of birth at Copenhagen University Hospital