60 Minutes

Robotic Breakthrough

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Robotic Breakthrough

Last weekend, 60 Minutes re-ran a story about a robotic breakthrough that may revolutionize prosthetics.

Here is an introduction to the story: 

In a decade of war, more than 1,300 Americans have lost limbs on the battlefield. And that fact led the Department of Defense to start a crash program to help veterans and civilians by creating an artificial arm and hand that are amazingly human. But that’s not the breakthrough. We don’t use that word very often because it’s overused. But when you see how they have connected this robotic limb to a human brain, you’ll understand why we made an exception.

 

As we reported last December, to take this ultimate step they had to find a person willing to have brain surgery to explore new frontiers of what it is to be human. That person would have to be an explorer with desperate need, remarkable courage and maybe most of all, a mind that is game.

 

The person they chose is Jan Scheuermann, a Pittsburgh mother of two and writer, with a mind nimble enough to match wits on “The Wheel of Fortune” in 1995.

“Kahn Academy: The Future of Education?”

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

“Kahn Academy: The Future of Education?”

Several months ago, 60 Minutes ran a story about the Kahn Acamedy,  a non-profit educational website.  I was so inspired by the story that I wrote a letter to the editor of the Scranton Times-Tribune (below).   

 I have two questions for NEPA parents. First, do you remember everything (or anything ) from high school algebra or biology? Second, do you have children asking you to help them with polynomials or the phases of mitosis?

 

It is not uncommon for parents, even parents who were once exceptional math and science students, to no longer have the foggiest notion of how cell division works or what a polynomial even is. However, there is an answer – the Khan Academy.

 

Recently, “60 Minutes” ran a segment on the Khan Academy and its revolutionary vision for education. The Khan Academy is a website run by Salman Khan, an American educator with multiple degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard.

 

While I suggest that all students, teachers and parents go online and watch the “60 Minutes” story for themselves, the gist of it is that Khan’s website has thousands of short (15-20 minute) and engaging math and science lessons (as well as SAT prep).

 

The most amazing part is that it is all free. No longer does getting a tutor depend on whether you can afford it. So, the next time you or your child or your student is struggling with math or science, Internet search for “Khan Academy.” It will blow your mind or, at least, greatly expand it.

Counterinsurgency in Springfield?

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Last night, 60 Minutes ran a fascinating story about an innovative approach to policing being implemented in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Here is how the story gets started: 

In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, our soldiers have been waging what’s known as counterinsurgency. They’re supposed to be both warriors and community builders, going village to village driving out insurgents while winning the hearts and minds of the population. But counterinsurgency has had mixed results – at best.

 We met a Green Beret who is finding out — in his job as a police officer — that the strategy might actually have a better chance of working, right here at home, in the USA.

 Call him and his fellow officers counterinsurgency cops! They’re not fighting al Qaeda or the Taliban, but street gangs and drug dealers in one of the most crime ridden cities in New England.

The measures which Springfield is taking to reduce gun/gang violence is similar to those of Syracuse Truce.

 

Remembering…or More Importanly… Not Forgetting Sandy Hook

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Remembering…or More Importanly… Not Forgetting Sandy Hook

Last Sunday night on 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley interviewed the families of Newtown victims.  Although the Newtown families have been successful in pushing for comprehensive gun control measures in Connecticut (which were  signed into law  last Thursday),  they face Republican opposition in the Senate.  Republican lawmakers, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have vowed to filibuster any gun control bills that are introduced to the Senate.  Yesterday, President Obama spoke in Newtown to make what Politico calls a “last gun control push.”  The President stated that a gun control filibuster is just “not right.”

Hero or Arsonist: Wrongful Conviction?

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Hero or Arsonist: Wrongful Conviction?

Last night, 60 Minutes told the story of Louis Taylor.  In 1970, Taylor was charged with setting the historic fire that led to the destruction of the Tuscon, Arizona landmark, the Pioneer Hotel.  The fire killed twenty-eight people including some who jumped to their deaths in order to avoid being burned alive.  That night, Taylor helped fireman by knocking on doors and alerting hotel guests of the fire.  The next morning, the sixteen-year-old Taylor was charged with twenty-eight counts of murder.  Although the evidence against Taylor was very weak, he was convicted on all counts.  

Subsequent investigation demonstrated that Taylor was likely “railroaded.”  Using new advancements in fire science, scientists who have reassessed the evidence of the Pioneer Hotel fire have determined that the fire was not the product of arson.   Also, the original fire investigator, a key witness at the trial, recently made some racially questionable statements that would appear to indicate that his investigation was tainted.  

The segment runs 13:04 minutes.