One of the fondest childhood memories I have is watching "The Six Million Dollar Man" alongside my dad (it was one of our favorite TV series).  Who can forget the Steve Austin character (played by Lee Majors) and his amazing cyborg powers?  Interestingly enough, since I lived in Brazil, where series would come later (due to dubbing, etc.), this series was still playing when I left in 1983, despite the fact it had been wrapped up in the U.S. in the late seventies.

Well, fast forward to some 20-25 years later, and the real first bionic man is a reality.  Granted this is not a Steve Austin, his doctor is not a Rudi Wells working for OSI, and his boss is not Oscar Goldman.  But I got a big adrenaline rush reading about Jesse Sullivan, the world's first bionic man.  Jesse lost his arms during an accident working as a utility lineman in Tennessee.  Now, he is trying out one of the most advanced artificial arms ever created.  Doctors from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago attached his arm nerves to healthy muscles in his chest.  Whenever Sullivan's brain sends a message to his arm to do something, it is done in seconds.  Moreover, Jesse has feeling in his bionic arm.  This is quite a breakthrough, particularly for amputees, spinal cord injury patients and stroke victims. 

So what would be the cost of producing such a bionic arm?  You guessed it... $6 million!  Costs have gone up due to inflation... but still, this was certainly very exciting news to read about, and is a great leap forward in myoelectrics (technology relying on electricity created in muscles to control outside electronic devices).