Amputee’s delight with pioneering ‘bionic’ hand
From our archives
5years ago
AN amputee fitted with a revolutionary bionic hand that works out its grip by “seeing” things has described the experience as “completely mind-boggling”. Doug Mcintosh, 56, from Westhill near Aberdeen, lost his right hand and forearm to cancer in 1997 and had previously used a prosthesis controlled by muscle movement. He is one of the first people to be fitted with the new device, developed by scientists at Newcastle University. It gives the wearer the ability to reach for objects without thinking. A camera fitted to the hand rapidly takes a picture of the object in front of it and feeds the information to an electronic “brain”.
10 years ago
A LONG-TERM series of loans between one of the richest private collections of art in Scotland and the National Galleries will begin this month. The Marquess of Bute, also known as Johnny Dumfries, and his family have agreed to lend the National Galleries of Scotland masterpieces from their ancestral home of Mount Stuart for at least three years, with further loans or co-operation likely. The Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh will display 19 of the family’s Old Masters collection, particularly its Dutch and Flemish pieces.
25 years ago
THE weather was pretty cool for meerkats yesterday – the latest attractions at Edinburgh Zoo. Three of the desert-dwelling species of the mongoose family from Southern Africa went on show for the first time since their Easter arrival. Sometimes meerkats, wellknown for their communal living, gather in groups as large as 30, sharing the forging for food, the need to act as look-outs against birds of prey, and baby-sitting duties. The main task yesterday of Edinburgh Zoo’s three – a male called Zulu and two females named Kasai and Meru – was to avoid the rainy weather. Meerkats are said to have very keen eye-sight and stand on their hind legs to help them get an even better view.
50 years ago
A MODEL of the winning design for the new gallery to house the Burrell Collection is to be on show in Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow, during this year’s Clyde Fair International.
DURING the fair, from June 14 to July 2, a number of items from the collection will be seen in the gallery, forming part of a major exhibition, “Aspects of the Clyde.” The exhibition is being mounted by Kelvingrove’s department of art, and, of 70 pictures which will be on view, several have been specifically loaned for the fair. These include a water colour buy Turner, from the City of Liverpool.
100 years ago
AT Falkirk Sheriff Court yesterday proof was heard, in a charge preferred against Falkirk and District Tramways Company of having used a mechanically propelled vehicle, namely, a motor tower repair waggon, for which a licence under the Finance Act, 1920, as amended by the Roads Act, 1920, was not in force. For the prosecution it was stated that the Tramways Company had made application to the Stirling County Council for a licence, for which a postal order for 5s was enclosed. The County Council, not being satisfied this was the appropriate duty for the vehicle in question, which could not be classified as a tractor, declined the 5s.