I came across this article in Wired magazine today that features a graduate student at Arizona State University who implanted a rare earth magnet into the tip of his ring finger. The magnet gives off a noticeable oscillation when exposed to electromagnetic fields, giving him the ability to locate electric stove tops and motors, and pick out live electrical cables. It is even hinted in the article that you would be able to sense whether your hard drive was about to crash before it happened.
I know that I proclaimed in this post that I will someday own an implanted cell phone but I am by no means a hardcore body-modification kind of guy. Just the same, I have to say that this is pretty cool. He has given himself the ability to sense EM fields! This may not excite you all as much as it does me but my fellow nerds out there who have been reading about this kind of thing in science fiction for years know how I feel. I've always felt a bit limited by having only five senses anyway. Here's to the next step.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Adopting New Senses
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2 comments:
Ok, implanting some things in your body seems like it could have use. Perhaps some sort of electric generator, for example, that transmitted juice to some wireless electronic device you have. That would be handy. But a magnet in your finger? I mean, if you live a life where you're worried about touching a live electrical wire then you probably need to just buy a voltmeter or something.
I'm not saying that it has any practical application at this point; I just think that it's cool that people are trying this stuff out. It could lead to better uses or ideas and it breaks down the societal taboos fueled by the Luddites out there.
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