In my research life, we accomplished a lot. We published over 200 refereed research papers in a bit over 32 years. That's more than a paper, on average, every 2 months. I know few people realize it, but that is a LOT!.
Like most scientists, I guess, I still had some projects I didn't get to complete. Here, for posterity is a few I wish I could have gotten to:
1) Complete the development of a LOW-COST lever-powered wheelchair with 3 or more gears. Our current propulsion means for human-powered wheelchairs is not very good, and it would make wheelchair users so much more mobile, and healthy, than the current chairs. There are lever chairs out there but they are VERY pricey. We have/had a working model in our lab.
2) Living in a home with stairs- good or bad for elderly. As Brenda and I age, we wonder about stair use. Our current home has the laundry and the garage down the stairs. Getting groceries can require multiple trips up and down. We tried to do a study to assess this, but weren't successful. Maybe using the stairs can be protective, since the motion required--leg extension--is very helpful to health.
3) Drinking seawater--yes, if sufficiently diluted you can drink it. But why? Because in a survival situation--airliner goes down at sea--the life rafts can only carry so much water. Well, if quart seawater can be added to 2 qts pure water, we have just expanded our water supply by one third without anything except knowledge. In fact, adding a bit of salt would probably extend life a bit.
There are more, but these are my favorites. Maybe one of you folks could study these research questions. It could save/extend a life!
Like most scientists, I guess, I still had some projects I didn't get to complete. Here, for posterity is a few I wish I could have gotten to:
1) Complete the development of a LOW-COST lever-powered wheelchair with 3 or more gears. Our current propulsion means for human-powered wheelchairs is not very good, and it would make wheelchair users so much more mobile, and healthy, than the current chairs. There are lever chairs out there but they are VERY pricey. We have/had a working model in our lab.
2) Living in a home with stairs- good or bad for elderly. As Brenda and I age, we wonder about stair use. Our current home has the laundry and the garage down the stairs. Getting groceries can require multiple trips up and down. We tried to do a study to assess this, but weren't successful. Maybe using the stairs can be protective, since the motion required--leg extension--is very helpful to health.
3) Drinking seawater--yes, if sufficiently diluted you can drink it. But why? Because in a survival situation--airliner goes down at sea--the life rafts can only carry so much water. Well, if quart seawater can be added to 2 qts pure water, we have just expanded our water supply by one third without anything except knowledge. In fact, adding a bit of salt would probably extend life a bit.
There are more, but these are my favorites. Maybe one of you folks could study these research questions. It could save/extend a life!
Liver powered wheel chairs?
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