I, For One, Welcome Our New Bacterial Overlords

[filkertom]

Too freakin' cool.

Scientists have demonstrated a way to harness the motion of swimming bacteria to turn tiny gears. This bacteria-driven mechanism could someday power micro-machines that combine living organisms and man-made materials.

To build their rudimentary device, the research team first fashioned silicon gears measuring a mere 0.01 inches (380 micrometers) across and 0.002 inches (50 micrometers) thick. With their slanted teeth, the gears look rather like tiny ninja stars.

The microgears were then placed into a nutrient broth swarming with the microbe Bacillus subtilis, the workhorses in this setup. When supplied with nutrients and oxygen the bacteria scoot about randomly.

Nicked from AmericaBlog.

If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em? And, if so, what would they be? Assume Six Million Dollar Man rules, i.e., they feel real and work without stressing the rest of your weak, puny human physiology. I'd likely go for new legs, hips, and lower back at this point, maybe with a few USB jacks in convenient locations.

Comments

[wingus.livejournal.com]

Only want 'em if I can get the ability to rocket-punch installed.

Or use my cybernetic body to turn into the head unit for a giant robot.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em? And, if so, what would they be? Assume Six Million Dollar Man rules, i.e., they feel real and work without stressing the rest of your weak, puny human physiology.

Sure I would. Hell, just take my brain out and put it into an android body looking like my avatar in my icon up above (or to the side, whatever). Or better yet, upload my consciousness to a quantum supercomputer and I'll make copies of my mind that will go into genetically-engineered bodies with computer brains and then be in a million places at once. Maybe conquer the world! MWAH HA HA HA HA!

Aside from the whole conquering the world thing, I was actually serious there.


maybe with a few USB jacks in convenient locations.

Only problem with that is, then cybersex might give you a computer virus. :-D And trojans are good for regular sex, but you definetely don't want any in the case of cyborgsex.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Given the likely advances in state of the art, I'd intellectually prefer detachables - stuff I can remove in under a minute without leaving traces of mechanical or control systems throughout my organics. It'd be pretty damn embarrassing to set off airport scanners in 2040 just because I still had an old fiberoptic control net attached to my skull, or clunky early-gen neurotaps scattered throughout my nervous system.

Something vaguely Doctor-Octopus-like would be fine. A bunch of assorted modular additional arms and widgets that I could use for grabbing things, doing fine detail work, or simply to not have to carry a cellphone, multitool, or mini-scooter around in my pockets. Bonus if it comes with myostimulators able to take the place of exercise.

[antinomic.livejournal.com]

I'm 57 and swim 45 minutes daily, so I'm OK. But I would like to replace that bit that USED to wake up first in the morning. Sigh....

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Assuming they were smart, but no smarter than native human parts, sure. ("Smart"="does not always require full conscious concentration to work properly")

I could use a new set of eyes and ears, my left shoulder which is chronically painful (I need to see an orthopedist to find out why,at some point), a pancreas (diabetes), and possibly a liver (mine was damaged at 18 when I had hepatitis, but it's served adequately since). If limited to strictly mechanical parts, skip the last two.

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

Do you think they might have something to help you loose weight? I mean "you" as in general, not "you" Tom, lol.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see something along the lines of Transformers Beast Machines where technology and organic parts fit seamlessly at a sub-cellular level. The first thing I would do would be to fix my own body's "defects" (weight control, eyesight, depression, trick knee). Next I'd make some general improvements like a better memory and a math-coprocessor (computers are great at math and recalling data) and some self-repair functionality. Computer compatibility would be pretty cool if there was a way to do it securely. Last thing I want to do is catch a computer virus. But if the technology could be worked into my car the computer inside my mind can do the driving while my body slept.

[saganth.livejournal.com]

I'd go for new legs and the lower vertebrae. The rest of my I suppose I am happy with, and if I ain't, I can take steps myself to fix them over time. Tho I admit having nanites in my body to help kill off disease and treat cancer as it occurs would be a total blessing.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

All I want is the Google For My Brain enhancement.

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Heh, you really want to end up like the people in those "search overload (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1AwFY6MuwE)" commercials?

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Clearly, they never learned to write a proper search query. (-:

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

Neat!
And yes, but no idea what, other then maybe a couple of new knees, as well as 1 or 2 toes that prevent me from sitting properly in aikido (if and when I can finally afford to train again).

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em? And, if so, what would they be? Assume Six Million Dollar Man rules, i.e., they feel real and work without stressing the rest of your weak, puny human physiology.

Absolutely.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Although I am not ill or anything, if someone could create an artificial heart that would run forever...

It would be interesting to see what life in 2150 would be like.

If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em?

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

I'd be the same except for bionic eyes...

Re: If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em?

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

What, not a pancreas?

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

I'm in the market for some new eyes and a brain-to-Photoshop interface at this point, I think..

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

Oh hell yes, I would totally get cyborg parts. I've been waiting for my non-aging, always works reasonably well robot body for about two decades now. I want perfect metabolism, i.e. I can eat anything I want and stay at my ideal weight. I'd like to not age and in fact, reverse what aging has already occurred. I want perfect vision too. And no more joints that creak and ache and don't do what they're supposed to do. A new non-crotchety spine and neck would be lovely.
Mostly I just want to be all I can be, for about 200 years or so with no declination in quality of life. A night vision toggle would be ideal, but not particularly necessary. Infared vision would be fun too, as long as you could switch it on and off as needed.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

I'd like eyes that can read tiny print in very low light without ever getting tired (although seeing anything except super-large hi-contrast text on the computer would be an improvement right now. (I can no longer read books -- and was right in the middle of a Terry Pratchett book, blast it! -- or watch TV or cook, which pretty much sucks.) Excellent hearing would also be a boon. As long as we're fantasizing. *g*

[msgeek.livejournal.com]

Hell yeah.

I want the full Kusanagi Motoko treatment. Nothing but my "ghost" left of my meatware. Actually I'd rather have my brain in the full cyborg body, because who knows what the "ghost" refers to in Ghost In The Shell.

I rail at the limitations of my middle-aged, corpulent, injured body all the time. I would gladly sacrifice my "humanity" if it meant a trouble-free mecha body. And hey, I know far more geeks than I do doctors. If something goes wrong with my cyborg body, and I can be "fixed" by a computer or robotics geek rather than a doctor it would be sweet.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. As long as the ghost could be moved between bodies as better parts become available, while somehow being able to take full advantage of new microprocessor structures. I'd hate to be stuck with an 8-bit mind when everyone else is going native 64-bit.

[realinterrobang.livejournal.com]

Well, in order to fix what's apparently wrong with my legs, they'd have to fix the brain lesions, so that's out. So what I'd really like is sinus cavities that I can snap out of my face temporarily, wash and disinfect as needed, and then snap back in again. Chronic sinusitis is pretty sucktastic.

[fmh.livejournal.com]

New eyes, lungs (both at this point, used to only be the right one), ears, knees, and probably spine. Give me the total eye suite to, infrared, digital camera, and telescopic please. If you could make the color variable that'd be cool to.

[ororo.livejournal.com]

New eyes, definitely. Replacement ever-clear sinusus would be a delight--breathing with both nostrils at the same time is a rare treat.

If I could have a body that looked like mine when I was 23 and still felt things so I could enjoy touch and sex and so forth, upload me now. No hormonal migraines, no more periods, no deteriorating arthritic hips.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't mind being able to switch between age 23 and age 12. I distinctly recall having a much sharper intellectual focus before teenage hormones kicked in.

[bryanp.livejournal.com]

Right now? Sign me up for knees. Hmm, my right foot is sometimes a problem. Let's just redo the the legs from the hips down. Right shoulder could use some work, and both hands give me grief when the weather changes (friggin' arthritis ...).

Oh, and let's make the new parts with a switch for "excess caloric burn" so you can work off that extra slice of cheesecake with the flip of a switch.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

I'd like to upgrade the memory on this meat-machine...

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

Not quite ready for a complete body replacement, but sometimes it is tempting. Espeically if it matches what I really want rather than what I got stuck with.

[birder2.livejournal.com]

I'd really like a new set of feet--knees also would not be a bad thing.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

I have cyborg parts already. I wear glasses, I need tremendously engineered anti-pronation athletic shoes merely to totter about, I use an ergonomic chair nine-tenths of my working life, and I sleep with an APAP machine. Seriously, it's a slippery slope--you know those CPAPS and APAPs? That's the sound of Darth Vader breathing over there. And it's lovely for scaring the cats when they misbehave.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see nano-critters that control fertility -- just blast the egg before it enters the Fallopian tube. Hell, blast all of them if you're so inclined. 100% effective birth control, without taking a pill every day or chewing your hands off if you're 3 days late because you're not really sure the condom didn't slip a little bit...

Which, of course, would be all the incentive the Reich Wing would need to scream about outlawing nanotechnology -- it might make gurlz' lives better, instead of human beings'.

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

I've long believed that super speed is the best of the physical powers, so give me legs that can make at least Mach 2, arms I can whirl fast enough to create a mini-whirlwind, and the time-dilated senses that Barry Allen and his cohorts are famous for.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Well...

New spine and knees, an eye upgrade to 20/20 an ear upgrade to whatever the kids are hearing these days and faster memory would be great.

If we're talking extra parts I'd like a prehensile tail.

[old-fortissimo.livejournal.com]

Dick Cheney. Richard Nixon. Spiro Agnew. Dubya.


What's so new about bacterial overlords, Tom?

Oh, you mean helpful bacteria....

[smparadox.livejournal.com]

"If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em? And, if so, what would they be? Assume Six Million Dollar Man rules, i.e., they feel real and work without stressing the rest of your weak, puny human physiology."

Hells yes! I'd go for legs, eyes, arms, Doc Ock tentacles, lungs, and an internal PC with various jacks and ports in convenient spots. Heck, make that a whole-body replacement with modular swap-out components!

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em? And, if so, what would they be?

*Looks into camera, rolls eyes*