A 31-year-old software engineer will attempt to make history on Sunday by climbing . After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, Zac Vawter signed up to become a research subject at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, helping to test a new kind of prosthetic controlled by his thoughts. The climb, called the 鈥淪kyRise Chicago,鈥 is a fundraising initiative by the Institute and will feature almost 2,700 other climbers. However, researchers will be watching Vawter鈥檚 progress the closest. While most prosthetics are what the University of Michigan鈥檚 Daniel Ferris calls 鈥渇ancy wooden legs,鈥 Vawter鈥檚 bionic leg responds to electrical impulses in his hamstring, essentially allowing him to control it with his thoughts as he would his natural limbs. The $8 million project is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Defense.
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