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IU research's OASIS to aid rehabilitation needs of amputees\nINDIANAPOLIS -- IU Life Sciences may have found the Band Aid of the future.\nIn light of a $1 million donation from the U.S. Department of Defense in January, the Indiana Center for Rehabilitation Sciences & Engineering Research is able to focus more time and money toward the development of a new product that may help future injured solders to heal faster.\nThe product is called OASIS® Wound Matrix. It is made out of a new, revolutionary material specifically designed for deep or hard-to-heal wounds. OASIS serves as a foundation for human cells to use as they repair damaged tissue. In other words, new, uninjured human tissue will be able to grow naturally. \nAccording to an IU press release, a large percentage of traumatic amputees have additional body wounds that limit their ability to undergo rehabilitation. The makers of OASIS hope it may one day enhance the healing process for these amputees to allow for more effective rehabilitation.\n \nResearch shows cell phones and driving do not mix\nWeaving in and out of the lane. Driving 10 miles under the speed limit. Ignoring stop signs. The person who does this may not be just tired or intoxicated -- this person may be talking on his cell phone.\nIn light of his research, Dong-Chul Seo, a lecturer in IU Bloomington's Department of Applied Health Science, said talking on cell phones will driving, or TWD, might actually be equally as dangerous as drinking and driving. \nAfter analyzing a questionairre from 1,291 college students in four states, Seo found that talking on cell phones significantly increased the risk of accidents. In fact, 21 percent of accidents or near accidents occurred when at least once of the drivers involved was talking on a cell phone.\n"Other age groups might be more cautious and more aware of the dangers of talking while driving, compared to younger drivers who really want to talk to their friends or seek emotional support," Seo said in a press release. \nEqually as dangerous, he said, are hands-free cell phones even though they tend to have the perception of being safer than normal cell phones. Only four percent of accidents students reported involved hand-held cell phones -- 14 percent involved hands-free models, according to a study published recently in the Journal of American College Health. \nDue to his studies, Seo said he supports banning cell phone use while driving cars in the United States. Whie several countries have already adopted this policy, only the states of New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. have banned the practice. However, 30 other states are considering similar legislation.\nStudents seem to have a different perspective, Seo said. Although 74 percent of students stated in the questionnaire that TWD increased the risk of accidents, only six percent said they wanted the practice banned in the United States.\nCouple creates IU institute to study early human culture \nOne Bloomington husband-and-wife duo prefers to live in the past - or at least study it.\nScientists at Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick's year-old Stone Age Institute north of Bloomington study the origins of human technology at field sites in Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa and New Guinea. They hope to eventually discover why and how early humans, or hominids, made tools. Finding the answers to these questions could one day lead to a greater understanding of these human ancestors.\nCurrently, Toth and Schick share the 11,400-square-foot, $3 million Stone Age Institute with six other scientists and colleagues. \nToth and Schick, both on leave from teaching at IU, are known for experimental archaeology - studies that attempt to recreate conditions present in prehistoric times in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the human past. \nWhile there are still many questions left unanswered regarding early hominids, right now the couple is focussing on gaining a $20 million endowment to expand the library and fund additional studies.