Marilyn Thipthorpe
With more and more people turning to technology to solve their problems, will mankind eventually morph into a race of cyborgs with super-human powers?It may sound far-fetched, but technology and medicine is evolving at such a rate that almost anything is possible when it comes to manipulating the human body.
Spanish artist Neil Harbisson was born with achromatopsia, a rare form of total colour blindness.2 years ago, he convinced surgeons to implant a chip inside his skull – similar to a cochlear implant used by the hard of hearing – that converts images into sound vibrations.
Computer game fanatic James Young lost an arm and a leg when he was dragged on to the tracks between two carriages of a train.A year ago he answered an advert for a gaming company looking for an amputee gamer. He ended up receiving a bionic arm from gaming company Konami , modelled on lead character Snake from Metal Gear Solid.
Rob Spence lost the use of his eye following a shooting accident when he was nine.But decades on, the Canadian documentary maker had the idea of replacing the eye with a camera .
Rich Lee, who describes himself as a biohacker, transhumanist, and space gangster, came to prominence in 2013 after implanting headphones in his ears, which allowed him to pick up audio signals beyond the range of human hearing.Now he has created an implant called the Lovetron9000, which can be inserted beneath a man’s pubic bone to makes his penis vibrate during sex.The Lovetron9000 runs on a rechargeable battery that can operate for about 45 minutes on a single charge, according to Lee. Like a normal vibrator, it offers multiple pulses and rhythms to choose from.
Well where we go from here is still left to be seen but one thing can be acknowledged that Humans are doing wonders in the land of science and discovery, let’s hope we stick to the path!