I’ve been meaning to point to this blog entry from an engineering magazine called Design News for some time now. I am able to do the pointing — by typing, obviously — in part because I still possess the standard-issue eight fingers and two thumbs.
Which leads to this amazing statistic from the piece: U.S. woodworkers over a typical 10-year period can be expected to lose 25,000 fingers and thumbs to saw accidents.
One might think that kind of carnage would produce a receptive market for any technology that could reduce the number of accidental amputations. In his blog, Design News Technical Editor Charles Murray explains why that wasn’t the case for an amazing technology that is able to let a table saw distinguish the difference between flesh and wood.
If you’ve never seen the demonstration — using a hotdog, not a real finger — it’s definitely worth a look.
(Full disclosure: My wife, Julie, is a former Design News editor/writer and she brought this item to my attention using an extended index finger.)
