This robotic extra thumb can be controlled by moving your toes

People equipped with an additional, robotic thumb learned to control it with their toes - but prolonged used may come at a cost of their brains being less certain about how their hands work.
Read more at www.newscientist.com/article/...

[@theslamjamfrincisco2820]

It’d be interesting to raise a child with one of these so they grow up and not have any confusion about it

[@GillyChuck]

Now we can do left to right hand shakes! I love the future.

[@greenisnotacreativecolour]

Where do I sign up for this extra thumb? I'll buy ten!

[@dfgdfg_]

my flute teacher said I was all thumbs already

[@addisonphillips9297]

I wish I knew. It's somthing I've thought about and wanted for about the past seven years. Let me know if you find out. I'll only be buying two myself

[@april5054]

​@addisonphillips9297 it takes two big toes to control one thumb, so with the design as it is, you can only use it on one hand.

[@KimballTho]

Finally I can hold things like General Grievous

[@DVincentW]

Note how there was no audio when the guy is playing guitar.

[@bbdoll9137]

I lost the use of my 4th and 5th digits on my right (dominant) hand when I had my arm half-way ripped off while enlisted in the US Army (27 yrs ago). I would buy this in a heartbeat!!

[@mayankjetly3910]

This is humans accelerating their own evolution.

[@dfgdfg_]

literally nothing to do with evolution

[@Muralidharan001]

There should high pressure for evolution to accelerate, Humans have conquered environment thus evolution will be slow and even negative traits may evolve. I think next stage of evolution will come from genetic engineering.

[@milesbathemess1132]

Where can I buy one

[@mauriciocortespersonal]

new ways to pick your nose

[@Lumavah]

Ah, yes, the time of the WORT WORT WORT has come.

[@earfortrance3776]

surly if any video on youtube deserves a double thumbs up icon this is it

[@Kellnaved]

Until sombody "hacks" your additional bodyparts and uses them against yourself or others.

[@dahliahb.7111]

My thumb went berserk and killed all humans

[@randomguy6994]

Then you smash the damn thing against the wall or table. Aren’t made out of strong if at all metal . Atleast i think anyway

[@marioreds7826]

While I admire the technical skills required to create this, I hardly see any actual use for it. It's a novelty.

[@DasAntiNaziBroetchen]

Really? When I learn new things, my brain physically changes? Wow and I thought the brain is a metaphysical concept.

[@Ctrooper2011]

Can your hand split in half so you can wield two lightsabers? 😂

[@Ctrooper2011]

@the person below me is gay It's "hand" as in singular, not "hands" the plural form. Yes, I meant two instead of four.

[@creonexile8448]

I wonder if i can buy it?

[@martinlaermans1720]

Always wanted to learn to play the guitar, maybe now it's a little easier with thè extra thumb! 😂

[@12345678927164]

I think two extra arms is better. I’d buy that.

[@rowenkylee5627]

Would this mean that the brain will slowly lose some function of the fingers if used for example a year?

[@petertselios]

Alright where do I get this?

[@divijsharma5610]

Now GF would not say you have shorter😂

[@niezdecytowana.k.a.2conten835]

Holly Molly, "Positive Future!"

[@BullShitThat]

Pro: you get an extra thumb to do cool tricks Con: your brain faces existential crisis on whether it knows how to truly control your hands Humans: Sign me UP!

[@Wyatt125]

Well if you just use it forever it wont matter, You just cant ever go back after years of use

[@kevintboy9538]

So can I buy it

[@ryanwilson1789]

That would be great for people with only one hand.

[@misanthrope_sadman]

I'm your fan from Russia. I am interested in the development of prostheses. I wanted to ask you if this technology will be in production and how much will it cost?

[@RC75]

At this moment they are using the information of this project to think about what the possibility’s are in the future with protheses etc. It’s not in production so there are no prices available.

[@gustavdonut2449]

Its too bad... I dreamt about an extra thumb for years, now there are some and I still cant get my stupid useless hands on them.

[@maracachucho8701]

This is an unfortunately mature comment section.

[@dfgdfg_]

something something innuendo?

[@maracachucho8701]

@@dfgdfg_ Lewd!

[@Paulkjoss]

YES

[@codbug]

Lay your dominant hand on top of your non-dominant hand, both palms up, thumbs out, and note how easy it is to adapt to a two-thumbed hand this way. Then wonder why they mapped the sensors to both big toes (used for balance) instead of just the non-dominant hand's thumb.

[@dfgdfg_]

you seem to know about toes, do I need the smallest pinkie toe for balance too? Mine is twisted and aches after I broke it when younger and I kinda want to have it removed.

[@HovektheArtist]

@@dfgdfg_ that depends. There are many people who have evolved stunted small toes to the point they are basiclaly vestigial, while others have longer small toes that aid in balance. One way to tell is the size of the nail on said toe and is size in relation to the toe next to it. If it is under half the size, and has a near non existant nail, then chances are you are among the vestigial evolutionary line

[@squonkusmcfreengle1584]

T O E J E N G A

[@vassilisjavedkhan]

I am pretty sure the participant stirring the tea with one hand is from the subcontinent.

[@aweeb2365]

if only they could detect ur brain that we're controlling our non existent third thumb cos i do that alot

[@graemepennell]

Now all the accidents happen with the poor chopping skills I'll bet.

[@lorenapacora1526]

ford pines would lose his mind

[@MasterKeyMagic]

The borg

[@JoseAntonio-fo2uo]

Ok.

[@ranganathsh989]

ಬಹು ಉಪಯೋಗಿ ಕೃತಕ ಬೆರಳಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಉತ್ತಮವಾಗಿದೆ. ನನಗೂ ಒಂದು ಬೇಕ್ ಅನ್ಸುತ್ತೆ. ತರಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ ವೆಬ್ ಸೈಟ್ ಲಿಂಕ್ ಕೊಡಿ ಸರ್.

[@amadiohfixed1300]

Next time on pointless objects made: A glass that changes in size so you could drink as little as you feel like

[@leonardoresende3232]

They will probably make a prosthetic hand that uses toes as your hands , I mean , that's not useless....

[@johnick451]

It's a little mindless. The human brain is such that it can't fully control two hands. That's why we are left or right-handed. Just imagine fully integrating this extra finger in your automatisms. You flex your fingers and your toes to grab something. What if you're standing on a slope? What if you're moving, running? More of it, why would you stop at sixth finger? Why not ten?

[@FacebookAunt]

Or maybe it could be used to improve prosthetics for people with disabilities. They have determined that humans are capable of learning to control a thumb with their toes. This could be used to help people who have lost the use of a hand and due to nerve/muscle damage can't have a motorized prosthetic controlled by the arm muscles in the usual way.

[@RC75]

Our brain can fully control 2 hands at the same time.

[@matthewhalo1799]

Hecc the cost to my brain I want 2 of these