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[Lagslayer]

Glorious 6-Armed Master Race

[smjjames]

I can't wait till they come up with gene therapy that cures me of having only two arms.  Life as a mere two-armed person is kind of lame.   

They're working on the extra arms bit:

http://www.gizmag.com/mit-supernumerary-robotic-arms/32793/

Robot arms with AI that can sense what you're doing and help out automatically.

Just when I thought transhumanism couldn't sink any lower. They don't even want your mind to control your own limbs.

They'd have to make a brain-machine interface that doesn't involve installing a port into your skull first.

[Frumple]

But... but...! My skull port! Skull ports are sexy. Just think of what you can stick in them!

... like wireless connections to one of those crowd suppressing drones or something. Impress your neighbors, terrorize your other neighbors, all from the comfort of your own mind (and many thousands of dollars of self-propelled crowd control)!

Seriously though you can't have cyberpunk and transitional transhumanism without the plug-in chic, damnit.

[Duuvian]

I was watching Stan Lee's Superhumans the other day and there was a father and son who according to how the show put it are around 200 times as resistant to electricity as normal people are. That could be a fun mutation if it has no down side.

Geez, I wonder what kind of bizarre accident happened to them that led them to finding that out.

I don't remember if they said how they discovered it but they showcased their ability at the start of the episode by taking apart a light fixture and creating a circuit through their arms while the host used a meter to measure the current. I'm not an electrical expert by any means so I have to take their word that it was an impressive amount of electricity. One of the tests observed the heart while electricity went through their body. I was in the bathroom during that test though. When I got back they were wrapping up and I think they said there was no ill effect on the heart.

[Moghjubar]

Eyeball ports.  Its like the sockets are already there!

[Mech#4]

I'd hope they'd be for things other than carrots.

[TheDarkStar]

I can't wait till they come up with gene therapy that cures me of having only two arms.  Life as a mere two-armed person is kind of lame.   

They're working on the extra arms bit:

http://www.gizmag.com/mit-supernumerary-robotic-arms/32793/

Robot arms with AI that can sense what you're doing and help out automatically.

Just when I thought transhumanism couldn't sink any lower. They don't even want your mind to control your own limbs.

They'd have to make a brain-machine interface that doesn't involve installing a port into your skull first.

Don't they have those to some extend already? IIRC there are some devices that can sense electrical signals through the skin.

[MaximumZero]

But... but...! My skull port! Skull ports are sexy. Just think of what you can stick in them!

... like wireless connections to one of those crowd suppressing drones or something. Impress your neighbors, terrorize your other neighbors, all from the comfort of your own mind (and many thousands of dollars of self-propelled crowd control)!

Seriously though you can't have cyberpunk and transitional transhumanism without the plug-in chic, damnit.

No can do. I want to keep my long hair.

[Frumple]

You should be able to keep the long hair! Or at least grow it back. Hiding dataports under long hair is totally a cyberpunk thing. Hidden sockets are part of the style.

[MaximumZero]

Fair enough. Sounds good to me, then.

[Osmosis Jones]

I just want to say, while transdermal implants are possible... they are really a terrible idea. The area is ripe for potential infection or injury.

Most likely, any future data-jack will be a high-bandwidth wireless link situated near, but importantly under, the skin, which allows our skin to actually do it's job and keep crud out. Put a couple of magnets there to help with orientation, and you're set (just make sure they're not too strong to pinch the skin excessively).

[smjjames]

I just want to say, while transdermal implants are possible... they are really a terrible idea. The area is ripe for potential infection or injury.

Most likely, any future data-jack will be a high-bandwidth wireless link situated near, but importantly under, the skin, which allows our skin to actually do it's job and keep crud out. Put a couple of magnets there to help with orientation, and you're set (just make sure they're not too strong to pinch the skin excessively).

Those already exist in the form of cochlear implants.

[Arx]

Geoengineering experiments starting in the next two years.

Seems pretty neat to me. Not sure how efficient it'll be in the long run, though.

[Sirus]

Crossposting from the Happy thread:

Today is Bill Nye's birthday! Be sure to do some science today in his honor.

!!SCIENCE!! optional.

[smjjames]

Geoengineering experiments starting in the next two years.

Seems pretty neat to me. Not sure how efficient it'll be in the long run, though.

Um, one of the experiments involves releasing a kilogram of sulfur, wouldn't that potentially contribute to acid rain on larger scales? I know it's a tiny amount and the only way we will find out how things will behave is to do the experiments.

There is the whole butterfly effect at a simpler level hanging over the whole thing, doing one thing would have a cascade of effects.