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Real-Life Cyborgs / Body Hacking & Augmentation

Would you, if you had the chance..

  • ..replace your body with an identical-on-the-outside cyborg?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ..augment your nody by genetic-manipulation or nano-tech?

    Votes: 6 60.0%
  • ..replace your body with a giant cyborg fiddler crab?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ..stick with what nature gave you?

    Votes: 4 40.0%

  • Total voters
    10
You can't beat a genetically enhanced nano-tech powered nody. Just ask Big-ear.
 
Nobody is augmenting my nody! It's fine as it is thanks very much :mad:
 
you need to check out the Transhumanist website.

"The World Transhumanist Association is a nonprofit membership organization which works to promote discussion of the possibilities for radical improvement of human capacities using genetic, cybernetic and nano technologies."

but I can't stop thinking of the nanites from Mystery Science theatre 3000...
 
Another webpage touting a particular vision of our cyborgean/transhuman future:

http://cyborgdemocracy.net/


Cyborg democracy is a nexus for progressive transhumanists, or as we say "for democratic transhumanists, nanosocialists, revolutionary singularitarians, non-anthropocentric personhood theorists, radical futurists, leftist extropians, bioutopians and biopunks, socialist-feminist cyborgs, transgenders, body modifiers, basic income advocates, world federalists, agents of the Culture and the Cassini Division, Viridians and technoGaians - transmitting a sexy, high-tech vision of a radically democratic future

They do provide some freaky science links from http://www.betterhumans.com
 
God, I would do it in a heartbeat - no hesitations!

The human body, while amazing & beautiful (well, not always beautiful) just isn't made to last. If I could swap it out for a 200 year warranty model, it would be a no-brainer. I wouldn't even care if it looked identical to a human body.

Stupid bodies! Always letting you down. :x
 
Implants turn humans into cyborgs

Radio frequency identification chips replace house keys

Gillian Shaw
Vancouver Sun

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Cyborgs have stepped out of science fiction and into real life with a small but growing group of tech aficionados who are getting tiny computer chips implanted into their bodies to do everything from opening doors to unlocking computer programs.

Amal Graafstra and his girlfriend Jennifer Tomblin never have to worry about forgetting the keys to her Vancouver home or locking themselves out of Graafstra's Volkswagen GT.

They can simply walk up to the door and, with a wave of a hand, the lock will open. Ditto for the computer. No more struggling to remember complicated passwords and no more lost keys.

As Graafstra puts it, he could be buck naked and still be carrying the virtual keys to unlock his home.

"I did it for the very real function of replacing keys. It saves me having to walk around with a huge chain of keys in my pocket," said Graafstra, 29, who spends a lot of time in Vancouver, although he calls Bellingham, Wash. -- where he operates several businesses -- home.

It's all thanks to tiny radio frequency identification (RFID) chips -- costing about $2 each -- that are already in fairly common use for applications from livestock identification to merchandise tracking.

Think of the tiny ampoule that your vet implants under the skin of your dog or cat for identification if the animal is lost. All it takes is a special reader flashed over the skin and Fido can be on his way home.

Graafstra did much the same, only the three-by-13 millimetre chip was put under the skin of his left hand by a surgeon. A second one, measuring two-by-12 millimetres, is in his right hand.

Using his computer skills, Graafstra was able to modify the locks on his car and his house so they would be activated by a built-in reader.

Graafstra, whose book RFID Toys is already listed on Amazon.com and due out in February, said he got the idea from pets' tags.

"I'm a project, gadget-builder kind of guy and I saw cats and dogs getting these tags and I spent a few years thinking about the different ways they could be used," he said.

It was only when he came upon non-proprietary parts that he could hack up to use in his own applications that Graafstra asked a surgeon he knew to implant the tiny tag in his left hand. It was a five-minute operation with a scalpel and the tag sits under the skin in the webbing between his thumb and index finger. That was last March, but most recently Graafstra had the second chip implanted, this time with an injector needle by a family doctor.

"It wasn't a big deal," he said. "I can't even feel it unless I push on it with my finger."

The RFID reader for Graafstra's chip is made by a University of Calgary spin-off, Phidgets Inc., which sells the reader for $65 Cdn. Graafstra found it through the company's U.S. reseller Phidgets USA, which sells readers and tags.

The company's technology is used in similar personalized identification applications, such as a U.S. university that issues tags to students that they slip in front of a reader to find information in their schedules. However, the students and most people who rely on the technology carry it around in cards in their wallets, not in their bodies.

"I saw the tiny ampoule tags and fell in love because they are so tiny and look so futuristic, but I never had an idea people would put them in their bodies," said Phidgets USA CEO Matt Trossen. "When we found out about it we immediately had to put up a disclaimer, because these things are just kept in a drawer -- they're not sanitized. We're a hobby company not a medical supplier."

Graafstra's experiments piqued the interest of geeks around the world and he estimates there are perhaps more than 20 people who have implanted the RFID tags. There's even an online group, the "Tagged" RFID implant forum, where members share their implant stories and photos and vigorously debate the merits and risks of putting computer chips under their skin.

While the ogre of Big Brother, (or George Bush as some forum participants fret) looms large in the debates, the RFID experts say users have little to worry about, since the technology transmits no more than a few inches. And Graafstra said his implant has encryption so even if someone were two inches away with a reader, they would learn little.

"There aren't a lot of people doing implants, because there aren't a lot of doctors willing to do the implants," said Dan Henne, vice-president of Calgary's Phidgets Inc. "And there is always the unfounded fear that somehow government is going to use this to track people.

"But the technology has its limitations. If you had an entire research group you might be able to read a person's tag a couple of metres away. It takes an awful lot of science to do that.

"I'm sure the CIA would love it but it won't work."

Aside from the Big Brother and privacy concerns, Dr. Morris VanAndel, registrar of the British Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons said there are no ethical considerations that would prevent a doctor from implanting the chips.

So if your boss tells your doctor to implant your company pass card info into your arm, the answer would be no. But if you're tired of being locked out of the house, or your gym club is threatening to bar you if you forget your pass one more time, an implant could be the answer.

"People get breast implants," said VanAndel. "A foreign body in somebody's body is nothing new.

"It's a personal consideration and I can't imagine it having much of an ethical consideration."

VanAndel said the ethics would depend on the purpose of the implant.

"If the purpose was to monitor your blood glucose if you were a diabetic, I could see nothing wrong with that. But if this is Big Brother wanting to keep track of us as we go about our business -- the futuristic scenario -- that would have privacy concerns and ethical considerations."


--------------
© The Vancouver Sun 2006

Source
 
See also this site for a first hand (apologies for the pun) account of self-chipping with an RFID tag. Also includes video footage of the procedure.

Wow, we are getting all cyber-ised, what with the back street bone men chipping you for a small fee... ;)
 
Conceptualizing a cyborg

conceptualiz.jpg


Schematic of stretch-grown axons, showing axons growing on electrodes on right and computer-controlled motor pulling axons to left. Blow-up is close-up of stretch-grown axons. Credit: Douglas H. Smith, MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine describe the basis for developing a biological interface that could link a patient's nervous system to a thought-driven artificial limb. Their conceptual framework - which brings together years of spinal-cord injury research - is published in the January issue of Neurosurgery.

"We're at a junction now of developing a new approach for a brain-machine interface," says senior author Douglas H. Smith, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at Penn. "The nervous system will certainly rebel if you place hard or sharp electrodes into it to record signals. However, the nervous system can be tricked to accept an interface letting it do what it likes - assimilating new nerve cells into its own network".

To develop the next generation of prosthetics the idea is to use regions of undamaged nervous tissue to provide command signals to drive a device, such as an artificial limb. The challenge is for a prosthesis to perform naturally, relaying two-way communication with the patient's brain. For example, the patient's thoughts could convert nerve signals into movements of a prosthetic, while sensory stimuli, such as temperature or pressure provides feedback to adapt the movements.

The central feature of the proposed interface is the ability to create transplantable living nervous tissue already coupled to electrodes. Like an extension cord, of sorts, the non-electrode end of the lab-grown nervous tissue could integrate with a patient's nerve, relaying the signals to and from the electrode side, in turn connected to an electronic device.

This system may one day be able to return function to people who have been paralyzed by a spinal-cord injury, lost a limb, or in other ways. "Whether it is a prosthetic device or a disabled body function, the mind could regain control," says Smith.

To create the interface, the team used a newly developed process of stretch growth of nerve fibers called axons, previously pioneered in Smith's lab. Two adjacent plates of neurons are grown in a bioreactor. Axons sprout out to connect the neuron populations on each plate. The plates are then slowly pulled apart over a series of days, aided by a precise computer-controlled motor system, until they reached a desired length.

For the interface, one of the plates is an electrical microchip. Because Smith and his team have shown that stretch-grown axons can transmit active electrical signals, they propose that the nervous-tissue interface - through the microchip - could detect and record real-time signals conducted down the nerve and stimulate the sensory signals back through the axons.

In another study, Smith and colleagues showed that these stretch-grown axons could grow when transplanted into a rat model of spinal-cord damage. The team is now is the midst of studies measuring neuronal electrical activity across newly engineered nerve bridges and the restoration of motor activity in experimental animals.

Source: University of Pennsylvania


http://www.physorg.com/printnews.php?newsid=88346219
 
Six Million Dollar Man Prosthetics? Developing Intelligent Materials That Are Better Accepted By The Human Body
29 Jan 2009

The futuristic technology of the Six Million Dollar Man -specifically a part metal and part flesh human being - won't be exclusive to Hollywood anymore. While the main character in the Six Million Dollar Man was outfitted with metals to enhance his performance, a multidisciplinary team of scientists led by the Université de Montréal has discovered a process to produce new metal surfaces that promise to lead to superior medical implants that will improve healing and allow the human body to better accept metal prostheses.

According to new research published in Nano Letters, the scientists capitalized on recent advances in nanotechnology to change how metals can influence cell growth and development in the body. A critical aspect of the finding is that the surfaces can directly stimulate cells - thereby eliminating the need for pharmaceuticals and resulting side-effects. The study is a collaboration between the Université de Montréal, McGill University, the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS-EMT), Plasmionique Inc and the Universidade de São Paulo.

"Using chemical modification, we have produced metals with intelligent surfaces that positively interact with cells and help control the biological healing response," says Antonio Nanci, the study's senior author and a professor at the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Dentistry. "These will be the building-blocks of new and improved metal implants that are expected to significantly affect the success of orthopedic, dental and cardiovascular prostheses."

Etching produces nanoporous surfaces

Dr. Nanci and colleagues applied chemical compounds to modify the surface of the common biomedical metals such as titanium. Exposing these metals to selected etching mixtures of acids and oxidants results in surfaces with a sponge-like pattern of nano (ultra small) pits. "We demonstrated that some cells stick better to these surfaces than they do to the traditional smooth ones," says Dr. Nanci. "This is already an improvement to the standard available biomaterial."

The researchers then tested the effects of the chemically-produced nanoporous titanium surfaces on cell growth and development. They showed that the treated surfaces increased growth of bone cells, decreased growth of unwanted cells and stimulated stem cells, relative to untreated smooth ones. In addition, expression of genes required for cell adhesion and growth were increased in contact with the nanoporous surfaces.

Different etchants have different effects

Uncontrolled growth of cells on an implant is not ideal. For example, when using cardiovascular stents, it is important to limit the growth of certain cells in order not interfere with blood flow. Also, in some cases, cells can form an undesirable capsule around dental implants causing them to fall. The scientists demonstrated that treatment with specific etchants reduced the growth of unwanted cells.

"An important element of this study is how we demonstrated the selective cellular effects of etching," says Dr. Nanci. "With subtle changes in chemical composition of etching mixtures, we can alter the nanopatterns that are created on the metal surface and control consequent cellular responses."

"Our study is groundbreaking," adds Dr. Nanci. "We use simple yet very efficient chemical treatments to alter metals commonly used in the operating room. This innovative approach may ultimately hold the key to developing intelligent materials that are not only easily accepted by the human body but that can actively respond to the surrounding biological environment."

About the study

The article "Nanoscale Oxidative Patterning of Metallic Surfaces to Modulate Cell Activity and Fate" was published in Nano Letters and was authored by Antonio Nanci (Université de Montreal), Fiorenzo Vetrone (Université de Montreal and INRS-EMT), Fabio Variola (Université de Montreal and INRS-EMT), Paulo Tambasco de Oliveira (Universidade de São Paulo), Sylvia Francis Zalzal (Université de Montreal), Ji-Hyun Yi (Université de Montreal), Johannes Sam (Université de Montreal), Karina F. Bombonato-Prado (Universide de São Paulo), Andranik Sarkissian (Plasmionique Inc. Varennes), Dmitrii F. Perepichka (McGill University), Federico Rosei (INRS-EMT) and James D. Wuest (Université de Montreal).

Partners in research

This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies, the São Paulo State Research Foundation and the Canadian Bureau for International Education.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/137109.php
 
MUCH RIGHTFUL SNARK and scorn has been thrown at the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, the multi-multi-multi-billion dollar jet meant to be the mainstay of allied air superiority for the next half-century.

After years of delays and more than $60 billion dropped on development, the jet is finally just about ready, and it’s bringing some pretty slick tech along with it—including a brand new helmet that will let the pilot see through the plane, aim missiles with his eyeballs, and keep an eye on key data no matter where he turns his head.

The F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System, developed by a joint venture led by defense contractor Rockwell Collins, takes the head-up display (HUD) usually projected onto on a piece of glass at the front of the cockpit, and puts it on the helmet. That means the pilot’s always got it in his field of vision, and can see useful data like the horizon, airspeed, altitude, and weapons status wherever he’s looking.

More than keeping the pilot’s cranium safe from smacking against the canopy, and mounting stuff like a sun visor and oxygen mask, the Gen III helmet is designed to improve the pilot’s situational awareness. At engagement altitudes of a few thousand feet and speeds of up to Mach 1.6, it’s crucial to know what’s going on ahead of, to the side of, above, and below and the jet.

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/helmet...missile-slinging-cyborgs/?mbid=social_twitter
 
Body hacking in London.

At a trendy east London bar, a group of body hackers are putting forward their reasons for human augmentation to a packed audience of mainly under-35s, many of whom are sporting piercings and tattoos. Putting a chip under your skin is not so very different from getting a piercing or tattoo, argued one of the panellists - except there was often less blood.

For some, transhumanism - the theory that the human race can evolve beyond its physical and mental limitations with the help of technology - is a crucial part of the advancement of society.

Bio-hacker Lepht Anonym has nine implants and strongly believes what she does will benefit humankind as well as her own curiosity. But she admits it can be painful.

"The magnets in my fingers really, really hurt. They hurt so much that your vision goes white for a bit. Really, really painful."

The magnets allow her to sense electromagnetic radiation so she can tell if a device is on or off, whether a microwave is running and identify where power lines are. All of which, she admits, is "not hugely useful".

She also has a chip under her skin that lets her interact with her phone and unlock doors.

She hopes that the "primitive results" she has achieved can be used by other, more skilled people, to build something better.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42887405#
 
And the DIY world of CRISPR genetic sequencing https://www.broadinstitute.org/what...-spotlight/questions-and-answers-about-crispr

Certainly the problems of this century will be quite different to those of other centuries

Then this may interest you!

China’s CRISPR twins might have had their brains inadvertently enhanced
New research suggests that a controversial gene-editing experiment to make children resistant to HIV may also have enhanced their ability to learn and form memories.
by Antonio Regalado
February 21, 2019

The brains of two genetically edited girls born in China last year may have been changed in ways that enhance cognition and memory, scientists say.
The twins, called Lulu and Nana, reportedly had their genes modified before birth by a Chinese scientific team using the new editing tool CRISPR. The goal was to make the girls immune to infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Now, new research shows that the same alteration introduced into the girls’ DNA, deletion of a gene called CCR5, not only makes mice smarter but also improves human brain recovery after stroke, and could be linked to greater success in school.
“The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains,” says Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose lab uncovered a major new role for the CCR5 gene in memory and the brain’s ability to form new connections.
Continued:​
 
So the Village of the Damned is in China and not Europe?

Or will "Charly" be Chinese?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Then this may interest you!

China’s CRISPR twins might have had their brains inadvertently enhanced
New research suggests that a controversial gene-editing experiment to make children resistant to HIV may also have enhanced their ability to learn and form memories.
February 21, 2019

The brains of two genetically edited girls born in China last year may have been changed in ways that enhance cognition and memory, scientists say.


The twins, called Lulu and Nana, reportedly had their genes modified before birth by a Chinese scientific team using the new editing tool CRISPR. The goal was to make the girls immune to infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Now, new research shows that the same alteration introduced into the girls’ DNA, deletion of a gene called CCR5, not only makes mice smarter but also improves human brain recovery after stroke, and could be linked to greater success in school.
“The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains,” says Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose lab uncovered a major new role for the CCR5 gene in memory and the brain’s ability to form new connections.
Continued:​

Unfortunately, nobody knows whether this supposed enhancement of the brain, could also have detrimental effects later in life, e.g. an increased risk of depression. And it's potentially the beginning of a designer baby boom, where the rich pay to have "enhanced" offspring.
 
A terminally-ill British scientist dying from a muscle wasting disease says has fully completed his transition into the world's first full cyborg - called Peter 2.0.

Dr Peter Scott-Morgan, 61, decided to challenge what it meant to be human when he refused to accept his fate following a diagnosis of motor neurone disease in 2017.

2_Dr-Peter-Scott-Morgan.jpg


This week the world-renowned roboticist returned to his home in Torquay, Devon, after 24 days in Intensive Care, with all medical procedures now complete and able to begin his re-booted life.

But the evolution of his machine-like existence doesn't end there - and he joked he had more upgrades scheduled than Microsoft.

The world-renowned roboticist has had to undergo a series of incredibly complex and risky operations during his journey.

This has included developing a remarkably life-like avatar of his face before he lost any muscle.

The avatar is designed to respond using artificially intelligent body language and he has also explored eye-tracking technology to enable him to control multiple computers using only his eyes.

And the final procedure in his robot transition saw him successfully trade his voice for potentially decades of life. He underwent a laryngectomy, meaning he lost his physical voice, but in doing so, he will avoid the added danger of saliva potentially entering his lungs, due to his condition.

"I’m scheduled to become the world’s very first full Cyborg. Almost everything about me is going to be irreversibly changed – body and brain.

"It goes without saying that all my physical interaction with the world will become robotic. And naturally, my existing five senses are going to be enhanced. But far more importantly, part of my brain, and all of my external persona, will soon be electronic – totally synthetic.

"From then on, I’ll be part hardware / part wetware, part digital / part analogue. And it won’t stop there; I’ve got more upgrades in progress than Microsoft. Mine isn’t just a version change. It’s a metamorphosis."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/terminally-ill-scientist-completes-transformation-20871943

maximus otter
 
Finally, something that feels like the future we were promised.
 
Soon, we'll all be brains in vats...
 
Doesn't he look like the young Steven Hawking ?
 
I'd settle for a few augmentations. Keep the outside (mostly) as it is.

I do remember when I came around after the operation.
I immediately called the surgeon.

But sir, he said, You said make it eight inches long. What's the problem; ok, so it's a sixteenth short; so what'?

You fool, I meant my dong, not my nose.

INT21.
 
A terminally-ill British scientist dying from a muscle wasting disease says has fully completed his transition into the world's first full cyborg - called Peter 2.0.

Dr Peter Scott-Morgan, 61, decided to challenge what it meant to be human when he refused to accept his fate following a diagnosis of motor neurone disease in 2017.

2_Dr-Peter-Scott-Morgan.jpg


This week the world-renowned roboticist returned to his home in Torquay, Devon, after 24 days in Intensive Care, with all medical procedures now complete and able to begin his re-booted life.

But the evolution of his machine-like existence doesn't end there - and he joked he had more upgrades scheduled than Microsoft.

The world-renowned roboticist has had to undergo a series of incredibly complex and risky operations during his journey.

This has included developing a remarkably life-like avatar of his face before he lost any muscle.

The avatar is designed to respond using artificially intelligent body language and he has also explored eye-tracking technology to enable him to control multiple computers using only his eyes.

And the final procedure in his robot transition saw him successfully trade his voice for potentially decades of life. He underwent a laryngectomy, meaning he lost his physical voice, but in doing so, he will avoid the added danger of saliva potentially entering his lungs, due to his condition.

"I’m scheduled to become the world’s very first full Cyborg. Almost everything about me is going to be irreversibly changed – body and brain.

"It goes without saying that all my physical interaction with the world will become robotic. And naturally, my existing five senses are going to be enhanced. But far more importantly, part of my brain, and all of my external persona, will soon be electronic – totally synthetic.

"From then on, I’ll be part hardware / part wetware, part digital / part analogue. And it won’t stop there; I’ve got more upgrades in progress than Microsoft. Mine isn’t just a version change. It’s a metamorphosis."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/terminally-ill-scientist-completes-transformation-20871943

maximus otter
this is from the mirror so I'd take this with a big pinch of salt every one.
 
Is he codding us?

A 24-year-old man from Catalonia, Spain named Manel Munoz has had two fins implanted into his skull. Munoz, who is known artistically as Manel De Aguas claims to identify as a “trans-species,” which means that he wants to live his life, at least partly, as another species.

The silicone fins that have been attached to each side of his head help him fit in with his “cyborg” identity. Munoz says that he has never felt entirely human, so he has sought to become the person he truly believes himself to be. Munoz says that the fins are connected to a microchip that allows him to somehow hear atmospheric pressure, humidity, and changes in temperature.

https://anewspost.com/trans-species-man-has-silicone-fins-implanted-in-his-skull/
 
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