Transhumanism – News & Rumors | ExtremeTech

Posts Tagged transhumanism Googles smart contact lenses for diabetics: Another step towards the Google-powered cyborg January 17, 2014 at 9:28 am

Google X, the secretive research lab famed for its work on Glass and Googles self-driving cars, has unveiled its next product: Smart contact lenses. The first smart contact lens, aimed at diabetics, takes a glucose level reading every second from the tears that wash over your eye when you blink, and transmits that data wirelessly to a nearby device. Google doesnt say what device, but presumably a smartphone or Google Glass. Yes, if Google X has its way, we will soon all look like cyborgs, our bodies becoming networks of implants and augmentations.

With a retail Google Glass on the horizon, and the modern man and woman being glued to their smartphones 24 hours a day, the world is moving ever closer toward literally being attached to their mobile devices. In the German town of Essen, biohacker Tim Cannon implanted a small computer and battery inside his arm without the help of a doctor or even anesthesia.

The first human-to-human, brain-to-brain noninvasive interface has been created by researchers at the University of Washington. The system allows one researcher to remotely control the hand of another researcher, across the internet, merely by thinking about moving his hand. The researchers are already looking at a two-way system, to allow for a more equitable telepathic link between the two human brains, and the telepathic communication of complex information.

DBS implants can dramatically short-circuit a debilitating tremor, and let those afflicted eat a steak dinner unscathed, but the average Joe wont be wanting one of them anytime soon. On the other hand, the new Nucleus 6 system from Cochlear now offers some incredible new features with a much more universal appeal.

Providing us with a delightful glimpse of the future of humanity and bionic implants, Second Sight the developer of the first bionic eye to receive FDA approval in the US is currently working on a firmware upgrade that gives users of the Argus II bionic eye better resolution, focus, and image zooming. The software update even provides users with color recognition, even though the original version of the device only provides black and white vision.

Researchers at Harvard University have created the first noninvasive brain-to-brain interface (BBI) between a human and a rat. Simply by thinking the appropriate thought, the BBI allows the human to control the rats tail. This is one of the most important steps towards BBIs that allow for telepathic links between two or more humans which is a good thing in the case of friends and family, but terrifying if you stop to think about the nefarious possibilities of a fascist dictatorship with mind control tech.

After an interminably long wait, the first brain-boosting tDCS headset has finally received FCC approval and will begin shipping in the next few days. Dubbed the Foc.us, the headset jolts your prefrontal cortex with electricity, improving your focus, reaction time, and ability to learn new skills. The Foc.us is being targeted at gamers looking to improve their skillz, but tDCS has the potential to improve or more accurately to overclock almost every aspect of your life.

Researchers at MIT have implanted false memories into the brains of mice, causing them to be fearful of an event that didnt actually occur. This is a very important study that demonstrates just how unreliable memories can be, and goes a long way to explaining why humans regularly recall things that didnt actually happen such as alien abductions, or when giving eyewitness testimony that they believe to be true, but is actually a false memory.

If high-quality headphones are too big and bulky for you or ruin your marvelous hair and youre sick of having to replace earbuds every few months because the wires inevitably break in some fashion, Rich Lee has a solution for you. He implanted magnetic headphones into his ears.

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Transhumanism - News & Rumors | ExtremeTech