University Killing Deaf Kittens For CI Research

Students outraged after Australian university made six kittens deaf for a year before killing them for cochlear implant research.

VICTORIA, Australia -- Australian universities are under fire for using cruel animal testing practices as part of various medical and scientific studies.

But one Deakin University student is calling on the prestigious institutions to end their cruel practices.

Alexandra Sedgwick, 24, has kickstarted a campaign against her own university after she suspected Deakin to be using fetal pigs cut from the bodies of pregnant mothers in scientific studies.

Ms Sedgwick organised a meeting on Friday morning with the Dean of the faculty of science, engineering and built environment, to put her case against the university's current animal testing policy.

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But the vegan activist said her message was difficult to get across as she was refused any support in the meeting.

'It was an intense experience. I had requested to bring in people as support which the Dean didn't allow,' Ms Sedgwick told Daily Mail Australia.

Ms Sedgwick said the university branded her view as 'unique' and unsupported as she was not allowed to bring in her support team.

Other Australian universities also use cruel animal testing practices for scientific and educational purposes.

The University of Melbourne made six kittens Deaf before killing them as part of a medical study with the Bionics Institute while Monash University made eight healthy baby monkeys brain dead as part of a brain injury study, Fairfax Media reported.

Despite Ms Sedgwick's efforts, the Dean stood by his position that animal tissue was more effective in scientific studies than non-animal alternatives, and insisted they had already adopted a cruelty-free stance.

'If they were a cruelty-free university, why wouldn't they agree to stop using animals? It doesn't make sense to say we have all these animals but then say we're not going agreeing to stop,' Ms Sedgwick said.

'For me this was never about Deakin, it was about Victorian universities and institutions and I had hoped Deakin would be the first to change,' she said.

She acknowledged the difficulty of being up against a big organisation with extensive resources but hopes to further expose animal cruelty in science through her social media accounts and by connecting with like-minded people.

'I've had hundreds of people contact me and hopefully they will be willing to tell their stories.

'I hope to connect with Victorians, students, researchers and interns who are brave enough to tell the truth about this, as universities are all quite secretive especially in the research department,' she said.

Over 900,000 animals are killed for scientific purposes in Victoria alone, which has been increasing every year for the past 10 years according to the most recent data from 2014.

Ms Sedgwick said this does not include animal organs purchased from slaughterhouses.

While she described the mood as 'devastating', Ms Sedgwick said she will not stop pursuing the issue and urges all students not to participate in dissection.

Trevor Day, Deakin's executive dean of the faculty of science, engineering and built environment, told Fairfax Media that there was 'very limited use of live animals in teaching and training.'

SOURCE - The Daily Mail

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SignAloud Glove Translates ASL Into English

The University of Washington students built a glove that translates American Sign Language into English.

SEATTLE, Washington -- Fast Company: A pair of undergraduates at the University of Washington made a glove that translates gestures in American Sign Language (ASL) into English and speaks it via speakers. The SignAloud glove won them a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize and international attention. Now they're figuring out how to refine their gadget for social good...and make sure they pass their college exams.

The SignAloud glove captures ASL gestures with sensors that measure everything from XYZ coordinates to the way individual fingers flex or bend. That sensor data is sent via Bluetooth to a nearby computer and fed into coding algorithms that categorize the gestures, which are translated into English and then audibly spoken via speaker. But co-creator Navid Azodi emphasizes that SignAloud is still very much in a prototype phase.

"Keep in mind, we have by no means captured the entire language and we’re nowhere near that. [ASL] is more than just words and phrases, and we know that. It has complex grammar structures. What we eventually want to get is for SignAloud to categorize a majority of the language," says Azodi.

The two creators, Azodi and fellow sophomore Thomas Pryor, planned and built SignAloud in their dorms and the school’s CoMotion MakerSpace. After a rough first version built on cardboard and string, they put together the current working prototype for about a hundred bucks in parts.

"Many of the sign language translation devices already out there are not practical for everyday use. Some use video input, while others have sensors that cover the user’s entire arm or body," says Pryor in a UW press release.

Innovating past existing limitations is what earned the team the $10,000 award, which Azodi isn’t sure how they will spend. The money could help pay their tuition or perhaps even get them a nice dinner, Azodi jokes, but refining their gadget is top priority. Both are motivated by SignAloud’s possibilities, both as an input device and an empowerment tool... Read The Full Story.

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