# Hugh Herr on Reddit (u/Hugh_Herr)

Part of Scientists on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/scientists-on-reddit/hugh-herr

Hugh Herr: Bionics engineer at MIT and climber.

- Reddit account: [u/Hugh_Herr](https://www.reddit.com/user/Hugh_Herr/) (AMA only)
- How we know it's theirs: [The 2016 r/science AMA, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/4z0a06/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/science (20)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2016 to 2016
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Herr

## Moments

### u/Hugh_Herr in r/science, Aug 22, 2016 · Personal story

Replying to a redditor:

> I heard your story on the radio. How tall have made yourself with the fake legs? Is it hard to balance when the legs get extended that much?

> Years ago, when I was climbing actively, I on occasion made my height very very excessive. There was one occasion where I was 3m high! And yes indeed, it is very hard to balance (and a large distance to fall!).

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/4z0a06/comment/d6s2jgp/ · 36 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/Hugh_Herr in r/science, Aug 22, 2016 · Explains things

Replying to a redditor:

> How well do current bionics wear with time? In other words, how much maintenance and replacement do current technologies require, and how do you see this changing in the future? Also, about how long would you estimate it will take for hand-replacing bionics to roughly match…

> The performance of biological systems is of course phenomenal, one characteristic of animals is extraordinary robustness or durability. Sometimes we go 80 years or more without maintenance or repair. Engineered machines go a very short time before needing repair – for example the bionic limbs that I invented and am wearing right now (BiOMs) are designed to work and be functional for only 5 years. To get a machine to emulate a biological body part and to go for more than 5 years is an extremely hard technological challenge. To truly emulate biological function, biological durability would require that the machine repairs itself. Before we have this, our machines will be very limited in their capacity.

(Excerpt.)
Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/4z0a06/comment/d6s20l0/ · 209 points as of Nov 7, 2026