The Basics of Biohacking

Hand with planned insertion point for
Verichip device (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Carl Weiss

Is your body letting you down?  How much time out of your daily schedule do you relinquish for exercise?  Are you tired of moving heaven and earth to support that bag of chemicals and water we call our bodies?  Do you wish you could enhance your senses or even add new capabilities to your existing body?  While this used to be the realm of science fiction only a few years ago, current and rapidly emerging technologies allow you to repair, replace or enhance that old bag of bones here and now.  In this week's Working the Web to Win blog, I will take you into the lab to explore bio-tech that is being used to repair, replace or enhance human beings.  I will also introduce you to a new cult of devotees who are ready, willing and able to undergo painful medical procedures to take the cyborg plunge and bio-hack their way to a better life. 

Birth of the Bionic Man

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of Flickr

“Astronaut Steve Austin, a man barely alive.  But we can rebuild him.  We have the technology.”

Or so the story goes in the TV series starring Lee Majors that ran from 1974-1978.  The stuff of fiction in the 20^th century, during the past few years many of the innovations portrayed in the original series have gone from science fiction to science fact.  There are now such things as prosthetic arms and hands with tactile

sense, rudimentary bionic eyes that help the blind see, and cochlear implants that help the deaf hear.  While we don’t yet have the ability to equip amputees with fully functional legs that can go from zero to sixty in five seconds, we can offer robotic exoskeletons that can help paraplegics regain the ability to walk on their own.  Plus there are other man/machine concepts that are either in the prototype phase or on the drawing board that can amp up the capabilities of us mere mortals.  In this week’s blog, we will take a look at these technologies, as well as the ramifications of enhanced human beings who will soon make Colonel Austin seem as antiquated as much of the technology of the 1970s.

A Borg in Every Boardroom - Cyber Augmentation for All

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of AF.mil

Have you noticed all the new cybernetic devices coming out lately? Prosthetic legs that allow you to run faster than normal, artificial eyes and ears that “see and hear”! Add to this the augmentation for our regular senses, our strength and our ability to use avatars for remote sensing plus do work. Do we have a brave new world just over the horizon or is it here already! If you’re wondering if there is an upgrade in your near future, read on and find out if there is a Borg in every Boardroom – Cyber Augmentation for all!