Colin Farrell has said he’s not sure he’s up for a second season of The Penguin because it’s really hard wearing all of the required prosthetics. It takes a whole lot of time and effort to transform him into the much larger Oz Cobb. But while Farrell grew tired of wearing all that extra bulk by season’s end, he still appreciates how his makeup team went the extra mile to make sure he had all the…girth…he need in the show’s premiere. The Penguin star said even though we didn’t see it, he was wearing an anatomically correct little penguin during his nude scene.

The Penguin‘s first episode ended with a naked Oz Cobb tied to a chair. Sofia Falcone had him tortured while questioning him about her brother’s murder. While a fantastic scene on its own, it really highlighted just how talented the show’s hair and makeup really are. We got to see all of Oz in all his glory. Mostly. Though completely naked we didn’t see the Penguin’s personal…south pole. Turns out if we had we would have seen a properly sized henchman for the character.

Farrell told Variety the show’s prosthetics designer Michael Marino was “kind enough to make Oz, shall we say, anatomically correct.” Marino did that by constructing a “velcro piece to stick on” to Farrell’s other body prosthetics. And as if that wasn’t enough, for extra naked authenticity, Farrell shared his character was also sporting “a nice retro bush.”

That’s how we looked after reading that. If you need a moment/lifetime to get over knowing this information, so do we. So. Do. We.

As for actually filming as a nude Oz Cobb, Farrell said it was “strange” and “discomforting.” Even though he wasn’t actually naked, he felt as though he was. In-between takes he asked for a towel to cover up because he “felt incredibly exposed,” even though he knew he was anything but.

Would he have felt that way without his phony phallus? Maybe. Maybe not. Unless he returns for a second season and films another nude scene without one on we will never know. What we do know is we’ve already thought about the Penguin’s penis too much already.

The post THE PENGUIN’s Colin Farrell Wore an Anatomically Correct Prosthetic Penis for His Nude Scene appeared first on Nerdist.

Lucas the African penguin has new footwear and a new way to move through life. He lives at the San Diego Zoo but has a chronic condition called bumblefoot that slows him down. The wildlife specialists at the zoo tried treating Lucas with pain medicine, physical therapy, and even acupuncture. A spinal infection caused him to stand oddly and created sores on his feet. But now he has custom booties. And they’re made of neoprene, the same material used in wetsuits, so he can wear them waddling or swimming. The team at the zoo have already seen improvements in his gait and posture.

“I’ve known Lucas for a long time, so having the ability to provide him with a chance to live a normal life brings a smile to my face,” said Dr. Beth Bicknese, senior veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo. “The boots are cushioned and Velcroed in place, so they will help Lucas to fully participate in the colony and showcase behaviors that are more typical for a penguin—such as climbing the rocks, swimming, nesting and finding a suitable mate.” 

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance teamed up with Thera-Paw, a company that makes products for animals with special needs. There are tons of sweet pictures of pups getting a second chance at life on their Facebook page. We first saw this feel-good story on NPR, thanks to a link my husband sent me because he knows I couldn’t resist an article about footwear for penguins. And clearly neither can you.

This is just the latest device to help animals thrive with chronic conditions or injuries. There’s a sea turtle with a 3D-printed shell brace, chihuahuas missing front legs with prosthetic wheels, and even a whole new foot for a duck. 

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth. 

The post Adorable Penguin Gets Custom Orthopedic Boots appeared first on Nerdist.

Not everything in life is complicated. Some things are simply good and pure, without any modifiers. Like helping an animal born without its two front legs get around more easily. There is a way to top that act of kindness, though: do it for two of them. Which is what one prosthetics company did for a family’s two young chihuahuas. The pair of adorable dogs each got a set of wheels to replace their missing limbs.

This clip from National Geographic Wild‘s The Wizards of Paws series (which we first came across at Laughing Squid) shows how the excellently named Thor and Turbo Roo got a major assist in getting around. The two dogs are missing their front legs. They learned to move pretty well on their own. But their owners AJ and Ashley wanted to make it possible for the dogs to live more normal lives.

To help, certified pet prostheticist Derrick Campana of Bionic Pets built each dog their own miniature cart. The plastic pieces with two wheels strap comfortably on the dogs’ undersides. With a denim coat to cover their body wraps, they look like two dudes hitting the rode for a motorcycle rally.

Nat Geo Wild

Thor took to his quickly. As soon as he got outside he started taking his cart for a test drive. Turbo, though, was reluctant at first. The little chihuahua seemed frozen and unsure of what to make of the device. That’s not unusual. Campana said not every animal takes to their prosthetics. But with a little coaxing and some patience, Turbo finally started to rev up.

Which meant more to Turbo’s owner than just helping out an animal. These pets are therapy dogs for AJ, a veteran with PTSD. They’ve helped him during his recovery. Helping them was his way of giving back. And there’s nothing complicated about that kind of love.

The post Two Chihuahuas Without Front Legs Get Prosthetic Wheels appeared first on Nerdist.

While prosthetics for people are constantly growing in sophistication, it’s less often we see inventors apply equal effort to animals. It was all the way back in 2016, for example, that Derby the dog received his bouncy, 3D-printed front legs. Now, however, a duck named Waddles has been fitted with a new, cool, prosthetic leg. And watching him use it is just quackin’ adorable.

Laughing Squid picked up on Waddles first-ever go-round with his new, prosthetic leg. The crew at Bionic Pets made the leg for the wildly cute duck in an attempt to vastly improve his quality of life. And in the video clip above from the National Geographic show, The Wizard of Paws, we see Derek Campana from Bionic Pets strap Waddles to his fun, faux leg for the first time.

As Campana shows Waddles’ owner—guitarist Ben Weiman of Suicidal Tendencies—his team used a mold of Waddles’ working leg to translate it into rendering software. They then 3D-printed it; with a small tub at its top where Waddles could insert his non-functional leg.

Nat Geo WILD

The big test comes about a minute into the video. And, at first, things don’t look great. Waddles has trouble figuring out what this new plastic part of his body is supposed to do, and doesn’t dare to put weight on it. Less than half a minute later, however, the gleeful duck is walking over the place. With a decently natural gait too.

Campana says this tech’s “not only cool for Waddles, but for all the birds to come” who’ll also benefit from cutting-edge prosthetics. Indeed, we’ve perused the Bionic Pets site, and Campana and company are working on some seriously cool animal prosthetics. Such as the prosthetic pig legs in the video immediately below. Which don’t look as state-of-the-art as Waddles’ leg, but definitely still deliver the same level of triumphant cuteness. (Incidentally, who else wants to adopt a farm animal now?)

Feature image: Nat Geo WILD

The post Adorable Duck Uses Its Prosthetic Leg for the First Time appeared first on Nerdist.

While we’ve seen some extraordinary prosthetics recently—including one that is a real steampunk dream come true—a company by the name of Esper Bionics has developed a bionic hand that appears to work better than most others. In the video below, a wearer by the name of Nika shows off the hand. Using it do everything from peel yogurt tops to wield a beefy knife.

Esper Bionics posted the demonstration to its YouTube channel, noting in the video’s description that the company aims to “transform” the prosthetic industry. “A lot of human augmentation technologies will be born [from this company] to fulfill and prolong the life of people,” Esper says in the description.

In the video, Nika places the bionic hand on her arm, then proceeds to perform a large assortment of tasks. As the video shows, Nika’s able to use the bionic hand to grasp objects, including smaller ones like grapes; something she’s able to do by clasping together the hand’s forefinger and thumb together.

A report from the Ukranian news site, LIGA.net, describes how Esper’s bionic hand works; noting that the prosthetic contains myoelectric sensors as the inputs for movement. “Myoelectric” is the term for the electric properties of muscles. And myoelectrically controlled prosthetics like this one use myoeletric inputs—that is, the electrical signals generated naturally by one’s muscles—as the impetus for movement.

On top of interfacing seamlessly with its wearer, Esper’s bionic also improves over time. The company says the bionic hand’s accompanying phone app sends the myoelectric inputs to the cloud. That, in turn, allows its creators to study and improve the algorithms that translate those inputs into digit movements.

Esper Bionics

Featured Image: Esper Bionics

The post This Bionic Hand Actually Improves Function Over Time appeared first on Nerdist.

Although it isn’t yet common to see somebody walking around with extra robotic appendages like Doctor Octopus, that may change soon. Numerous researchers are working on robotic limbs that augment the human body; including a bunch of prototypes that focus on the hand. Like this “Third Thumb” from researchers at the University College London, which has a knack for rewiring people’s brains.

New Scientist reported on the Third Thumb, which prosthetics designer, Dani Clode, developed for her masters project four years ago. While the prototype is several years old, however, Clode and her colleagues have performed new experiments using the Third Thumb; experiments they outlined in a study published in the journal Science Robotics.

As Clode’s video (above) shows, she and her colleagues gave 36 participants a Third Thumb to use for five days. In the lab, Clode et al. had the participants learn how to use the robo-appendage via a series of “fun and engaging” tasks. Tasks such as: playing Jenga, building block towers, opening bottles and…stirring things. (To be fair, one-hand stirring does indeed look thrilling.)

Amazingly, it seems all the participants were able to adapt to using the Third Thumb during the five-day trial; even though users needed to control the appendage using only two pressure-pad inputs from their big toes. Indeed, after just a few minutes, participants were able to grasp various objects with the state-of-the-art add-on.

Dani Clode

To study the effects of the Third Thumb on users’ brains, Clode and her co-authors looked at their brains inside of an fMRI scanner. (That is, a functional MRI.) What they observed was something strange: a “shrinkage of the natural hand presentation” in the brain. Meaning, the scientists say, that “The neural representation of individual fingers had become more alike” to accomodate the extra thumb.

“In our augmented population, on the right hand, the representation of individual fingers collapsed on each other,” co-author Paulina Kieliba told New Scientist. I.e. after training, the brain began to perceive each finger as more similar than it did prior to the experiment. The changes wore off after about three months though. Far less time, we assume, than it’d take to recover from the removal of four robotic tentacles.

Dani Clode

Featured Image: Dani Clode

The post Robotic Thumb Is an Extra Appendage That Rewires Users’ Brains appeared first on Nerdist.

Oregon-based mechanical engineer Ian Davis is in the midst of building an extraordinary prosthetic hand. The partial hand—in the videos and pictures below—is stunningly intricate and now, after two years of development, working flawlessly. It’s also steampunk (and a little cyberpunk) AF.

The videos of Davis’ mechanical hand prosthetic, which come via Gizmodo, are on his eponymous YouTube channel. Davis’ channel is dedicated to outlining the journey he’s been on to build the electromechanical prosthetic hand; a journey that began in 2019 following an accident in his shop.

Davis told KDRV News that his healthcare provider informed him his fingers were not “medically necessary” post surgical operation, and the indefatigable engineer, who is also battling cancer, stepped up and decided to take on the task of building the prosthetic himself. Now, two years later, the prosthetic works so well it almost seems like its functionality is a special effect.

The mechanical prosthetic is mostly aluminum, and consists of a series of linkages and levers; some of which even use bike chains. When Davis moves his hand or wrist, the links and levers transmit that movement to the aluminum fingers; allowing the engineer to make fists, splay his fingers, or do pretty much anything else one can with a hand. Once complete, the hand will also have electronics allowing it to, say, monitor a wearer’s heart rate. It will also be able to connect via bluetooth to attachments, such as this mini chainsaw.

Davis ultimately wants to team up with a biomedical engineering department at a university in order to build hands like this one for other amputees. “There’s a need and it just needs to be filled,” Davis told KDRV news. He added that his greatest desire is to see his prosthetics on other people, helping them the way the devices help him.

Ian Davis

Originally published on June 6, 2020.

The post Mechanical Hand Prosthetic Blends Steampunk with Cyberpunk appeared first on Nerdist.

Special-effects prosthetics specialist, Sophie de Oliveira Barata, is an expert at making lifelike limbs. (So lifelike you’ll wonder if Barata doesn’t have Dexter working in her back office.) But for the Alternative Limb Project, which Barata founded, the builder makes genuine, wearable art. As in, the prosthetic limbs are frequently on display at galleries and museums.

Sadler Wells Theatre

According to her LinkedIn profile, Barata founded the Alternative Limb Project (or Art Limb Pro) in 2011. Since then, she’s apparently been working on numerous prosthetic limbs that look like something out of a fairytale. Or a sci-fi movie.

The prosthetic in the image above, for example, is a bespoke build with a cherry wood structure. It has metal accents, as well as a built-in working clock, and bell pendulum. In the video immediately above, “Cuckoo,” dancer Welly O’Brien shows off the limb, and how it serves as both a functional leg, and art piece.

Barata says on LinkedIn that her aim is to “provide alternative limb covers that, not only delight the eye, but also help to break down social barriers and encourage a positive dialogue about the human body and difference.” She adds that “Alt Limb Pro [works] with amputees and their prosthetist from the conception of ideas to the final work, with the on-going objective of reflecting the clients [sic] imagination, personality and interests through their limb.”

There’s no doubt the prosthetic pieces fire up everyone’s imagination, however, as they’ve all clearly been made with love. It’s impossible to pick a favorite piece, but the prosthetic “Vine Arm” in the video above is quite spectacular. The “Light Leg” in the video beneath that is also definitely a showstopper. Speaking of which, you can find all of Barata’s upcoming exhibits on this page. Or watch her TED talk if you don’t plan on flying to Europe any time soon.

Feature image: Sadler Wells Theatre

The post These Prosthetic Limbs Are Literal Artistic Masterpieces appeared first on Nerdist.

It would be fair to think that somebody with a robotic arm might not be well suited to playing the piano: That’s one of the most dexterous things I can think of doing, and artificial limbs are often clunky and not terribly precise. It’s different with Johnny Matheny, though: Since losing much of his left arm to cancer, he was given a technologically amazing robotic arm thanks to Johns Hopkins University, and as he’s gotten better with it, he’s been doing some legitimate piano playing (via LaughingSquid).

Matheny controls the arm with his mind via wireless sensors, and the narrator in the video above “the most advanced robotic arm in the world.” Matheny is trying to learn how to play “Amazing Grace” on piano by the end of the year, and the footage shows that, while he still has a long way to go, he’s definitely getting there. It can’t be an easy process, but he has an optimistic outlook: “This is not a prosthetic arm: This is my arm now. We are not just a couple: We are one.”

Since the technology is still being developed, Matheny has to deal with malfunctions and other roadblocks, but of course, it’s still beneficial. Elsewhere in the video, we see clips of Matheny doing other everyday things like cooking and doing yardwork, showing that he’s able to lead a relatively normal life, or at least as normal as somebody with a technological marvel strapped to their arm can.

Just how good do you think Matheny can get at operating his robotic arm? What other things do you think Matheny should try doing with the arm? Let us know what you think in the comments?

Featured image: Quartz

More of the latest in nerdery!

• The Addams Family animated movie announces kooky voice cast!
• Justice League #1 restores the team to greatness!
• The RiffTrax guys give their takes on the top 10 movies of 1988!

[brightcove video_id=”5792060269001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=”rJs2ZD8x”]

The post This Guy Can Control His Robotic Arm With His Mind And Play Piano appeared first on Nerdist.

You’re watching season five, episode eight of Game of Thrones, a.k.a. “Hardhome,” and here comes the part where the Night King steps slowly onto the frigid docks to peer into his enemies’ souls. With glowing blue eyes, he raises his arms, bringing to life a fresh army of the dead, and it becomes crystal clear that this icy blue nightmare is a thing of pure horror… Except he’s not. He’s a shirtless actor who’s gone through four hours of makeup, and had his face plastered with prosthetics. And if he’s the king of anything, it’s being very itchy.

In a video that comes via No Film School, we’re given a peek into how many of the non-human (or grayscaled) characters in Game of Thrones are brought to life. And if you’ve ever wondered how Wun Wun, the Wights, or even all those severed limbs in battle scenes look so realistic, it’s due to an army—of the dedicated!—that has put in enormous amounts of time into molding prosthetics and applying makeup to actors.

[brightcove video_id=”5543142464001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=“rJs2ZD8x”]

The fifteen minute video takes us through the creative process that starts with the prosthetics designers, writers, directors, and producers of the show discussing how to best bring unique faces, bodies, and body parts from the realm of imagination into reality. The process is hugely complex, and requires a stunning amount of detail. For example, at around 7:50 in the video an Art Finishing Supervisor discusses how a prosthetic arm that’s going to be torn off in battle needs to be molded based on a real arm, intricately painted to look like human-esque flesh, and incised with individual hairs. And yes, they use real pre-curled human hair.

The video reveals how a show like Game of Thrones requires enormous amounts of work from all of the show’s creative departments in order to come to life with such unbelievable quality. The attention to detail, to everything from Wun Wun’s wiggly hands to the Night King’s nostrils, is stunning. There’s a good chance that after you watch this video, you’ll be looking at the background Wights’ hairlines instead of Jon Snow’s face during the next big battle. (OK, you’ll still be looking at Jon Snow.)

What do you think about this behind-the-scenes look at the prosthetics from Game of Thrones? Are you blown away by how much detail goes into every single severed limb? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: YouTube / BAFTA Guru 

The post GAME OF THRONES’ Prosthetics and Makeup Require Inhuman Amounts of Work appeared first on Nerdist.

You’re watching season five, episode eight of Game of Thrones, a.k.a. “Hardhome,” and here comes the part where the Night King steps slowly onto the frigid docks to peer into his enemies’ souls. With glowing blue eyes, he raises his arms, bringing to life a fresh army of the dead, and it becomes crystal clear that this icy blue nightmare is a thing of pure horror… Except he’s not. He’s a shirtless actor who’s gone through four hours of makeup, and had his face plastered with prosthetics. And if he’s the king of anything, it’s being very itchy.

In a video that comes via No Film School, we’re given a peek into how many of the non-human (or grayscaled) characters in Game of Thrones are brought to life. And if you’ve ever wondered how Wun Wun, the Wights, or even all those severed limbs in battle scenes look so realistic, it’s due to an army—of the dedicated!—that has put in enormous amounts of time into molding prosthetics and applying makeup to actors.

[brightcove video_id=”5543142464001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=“rJs2ZD8x”]

The fifteen minute video takes us through the creative process that starts with the prosthetics designers, writers, directors, and producers of the show discussing how to best bring unique faces, bodies, and body parts from the realm of imagination into reality. The process is hugely complex, and requires a stunning amount of detail. For example, at around 7:50 in the video an Art Finishing Supervisor discusses how a prosthetic arm that’s going to be torn off in battle needs to be molded based on a real arm, intricately painted to look like human-esque flesh, and incised with individual hairs. And yes, they use real pre-curled human hair.

The video reveals how a show like Game of Thrones requires enormous amounts of work from all of the show’s creative departments in order to come to life with such unbelievable quality. The attention to detail, to everything from Wun Wun’s wiggly hands to the Night King’s nostrils, is stunning. There’s a good chance that after you watch this video, you’ll be looking at the background Wights’ hairlines instead of Jon Snow’s face during the next big battle. (OK, you’ll still be looking at Jon Snow.)

What do you think about this behind-the-scenes look at the prosthetics from Game of Thrones? Are you blown away by how much detail goes into every single severed limb? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: YouTube / BAFTA Guru 

The post GAME OF THRONES’ Prosthetics and Makeup Require Inhuman Amounts of Work appeared first on Nerdist.

James Young lost his arm and a portion of his leg after being hit by a train. Needless to say, this can be a devastating injury. Not only are there loads of surgeries and a long road to recovery, but the way one goes about their daily life changes entirely when they’re living with fewer limbs. Young had been working down this long road of recovery, and doing quite well, when he saw an advertisement from Konami. To help promote Metal Gear Solid 5, they wanted to find an amputee who was also a gamer, and to supply him or her with a bionic arm. A gamer, a fan of Metal Gear, and a fan of the character Snake (who also has a bionic arm, if you aren’t familiar with Metal Gear), James was immediately interested in Konami’s search.

The team behind the bionic arm is from the Alternate Limb Project, where they work to not only give amputees functional and useful prosthetics, but prosthetics that are an extension of the individual’s personality. So when Young met with Sophie, the head of the team behind his new bionic arm, they not only talked about how they could make Young an arm to make everyday life a bit easier, but also what aesthetic choices and cool things Young wanted on his new limb.The arm that Young ultimately ended up with is nothing short of a work of scientific art. It’s got a flashlight, a built-in smart watch, and a laser. Most impressively the hand is a fully-functioning, working hand that reacts to Young. It also looks totally badass. Young’s journey was documented in a two-part documentary on BBC Three called Bodyhack: Metal Gear Man.

While the project may have been, at its core, a unique marketing technique for Metal Gear, it has also helped highlight the scientific advances being made in prosthetic technology. While Young’s arm had a sizable budget from Konami behind it, as more and more companies start exploring better ways to equip amputees, the access to that amazing technology behind prosthetic limbs will only grow.

Have you or someone you loved lost a limb? What is one thing you wish those who haven’t would understand about losing part of your body? What other advances would you like to see in prosthetic technology? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

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Image credit: TylerEdlinArt/DeviantArt.com

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