The $60,000 Woman

[Dave]

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Remember the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman?

Here is the first real Bionic arm and it is only $60,000! Wired to muscles in her chest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5348458.stm
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060914_bionic.htm
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2006/09/14/woman_gets_bion.html

 

[BookStop]

I saw her on GMA yesterday - pretty cool, now she'll be able to do things she couldn't before. We still have a long way to go though - I guess they are working on a way to make a prostetic that has a touch sensation - I definitely think this is a worthwhile endeavor, even at 60,000 a pop.

 

[Wishful]

That's pretty amazing. It always astonishes me how today they're able to just hook up human nerve fibres to electronic equipment.

 

[carrie221]

This is neat... I saw an article about it on aol yesterday.

 

[nixie]

I seen it on the news this morning.Shame they aren't widely available to everyone who's lost a limb.

 

[dustinzgirl]

I can think of a few appendages for my husb......

um

Anyways How cool is that?

I want a bionic arm so that dishes get washed faster and I have more time for doing the important things in life.

 

[Briareus Delta]

Yet another example of science fiction becoming science fact. Slightly worrying though. Shades of the Cybermen here - how much of the central nervous system can you replace with electronics before it starts to affect your emotions and ultimately your humanity? Answers on a postcard.....

Or perhaps we should look at it more positively. Asimov's Bicentennial Man wasn't human at all by physical characteristics - but better than humans in all other respects.

Im confused, and so am I.....

 

[Dave]

I see a huge difference between linking muscles to cybernetic limbs, and linking the brain with computers. (I do realise that the brain is just a large muscle though.)

I have my own reservations about linking my brain with a computer, but I've been thinking about this concept for a few years now. Despite all the SF doomsday scenarios - you mention 'Cybermen' - but I can think of many others - Michael Crichton's 'Terminal Man', Neal Stephenson's 'Interface', Larry Niven's 'Saturn's Race' - there are some advantages that are so great that people are still going to queue up to have the operation.

I have absolutely no doubts that this will come soon, and that the people who don't have it will be severely disadvantaged. I really hope that people continue to control the technology, and that it doesn't control us.

 

[iratebeaver]

that's crazy! i wonder how the get it to respond to th nerve pulses?