World Cup Dream Kickoff Article

[Pendulum^-1]

An extensive article on the "Dream Kickoff" scheduled to kickoff the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. A lot of information on the development of the science, and the development of the Brain Machine Interface (BMI) necessary to operate the exoskeleton.

http://grantland.com/features/world-...earch-brazil//

The following quote should seem familiar to us involved with FIRST.
QUOTE:

"I boarded a flight from New York to São Paulo on April 29. As I settled into my seat, the teenager next to me asked why I was traveling to Brazil. “I’m working on a World Cup story,” I said. He cringed. Before I could say more, he began explaining why the government should be spending money on education, not stadiums. An 18-year-old in his final year of high school, he said he should have graduated six months earlier but teacher strikes over the past two years delayed his progress. At that moment, he added, the teachers were striking to protest the Cup. I decided to steer the conversation in another direction: “I’ll actually be interviewing a scientist.”

“Oh, Nicolelis?” he cut in. “I’ve read about his work.”

As a young researcher, Nicolelis left Brazil in search of better opportunities in the United States. He has since made it his mission to inspire Brazilian students to think about careers in science, and to create opportunities for them at home. In the mid-2000s, he convinced the government to build a state-of-the-art neuroscience research facility, a women’s health clinic, and two science-focused elementary schools in one of Brazil’s poorest cities.

“We want kids to think that they can think about science,” Nicolelis explains. “They don’t need to just play soccer.”

Nicolelis had already managed to inspire my seatmate. “I want to do work like his,” the young man told me. Then, as we took off, he added: “[Brazil] doesn’t have a Nobel laureate. He should be the first.”

End of quote