Can machines-improved humans beat the performance of regular folks...? I think yes. A South African sprinter, Oscar Pistorius, whose both legs are amputated below the knee, completed a 100-meter sprint in just 11.16 seconds that is only 1.4 seconds more than the record of the fastest human alive.

The reason for the awesome performance is that Pistorius is using some high tech gear to compensate for his missing legs. He is currently using Cheetah-brand Foot Modules, that are the carbon-fiber based prosthetics shaped like an upside down question mark sign.

These prosthetics work by flexing when in contact with the ground and then regaining the shape with 95% efficiency. After some training and hard work the user can meet and sometimes exceed the performance of normal humans.

Such prosthetics can also be used for some other adventure sports such as climbing. The director of the Biomechatronics group at the MIT media Lab, Hugh Herr, who also has suffered a bilateral amputate has replaced his missing feet with some ice climbing equipment that he uses to change his own daily height based on his mood.

Via: popularmechanics