Here come the cyborgs

[Andrew]

Researchers implanted tiny filaments into a monkey's brain that allowed it to play a video game without any physical movement.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/10/13/monkey.brains.reut/index.html

I don't know about you all, but I could sure use a set of hydraulic limbs.  I'll never have to look for the can opener again.

Oh yeah, if Robert Z'Dar is paralyzed and then outfitted with implants - I am so going to turn into Burt from Tremors.  Must start researching dinosaur alarms and repellent.

[Cullen]

Here we go!  On our way to becoming Cybermen!  Might as well change the name of the planet to Mondas and get it over with.

Doctor Who silliness aside, sounds very interesting to me.  The potential applications go beyond what the article goes into.  I keep thinking of all the hazardous jobs people sometimes do (Spacewalking, exploring the bottom of the ocean, etc.) being done in future by remote control.  Kind of neat, really.

[Andrew]

And then I see this article:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994263

We are all doomed.

[JohnL]

Interesting, but I'm still waiting for them to make Brainscan/Strange Days a reality so that experiences can be recorded and played back. :)

[Cullen]

I'm not worried.  A good street fighter robot can take out a martial arts robot any day...

I don't know where these thoughts come from....

[nshumate]

Maybe, but the fact that it looks like a borged Ro-Man really doesn't impress me much.

[nshumate]

Ah, but look again.  We're not talking about the beginnings of Doc Ock here -- this is where The Matrix came from.  You wonder how the machines forced all of those people into living in The Matrix?  "Forced," hell -- the people demanded it as their God-given right.  Frankly, if someone gave me the option to be fully wired and cyberreal, it'd be very tempting just to get a permanent catheter and roll with it.

'Course, I'm a lot more sedentary than our strapping Marine host.

[Vermin Boy]

Am I the only one unnerved that monkeys get telekinesis before us? This may give them the edge to finally rise up...

[JohnL]

>Am I the only one unnerved that monkeys get telekinesis before us? This may
>give them the edge to finally rise up...

Don't worry, I'm sure this will go  the way of most all promising-sounding new medical developments and you'll never hear about it again. A  couple years ago, I read an article on how doctors were using a small artificial heart for limited time bypassing of the heart to allow it time to relax. Rather than implanting a permanent device, they implant a small electric pump that takes over for the heart, which basically just sits there resting. According to the article, most all the patients they used it on were candidates for a heart transplant and most of them showed improvement to the point where they were considered healthy again. I keep expecting to read about this new technique, but it seems to have completely disappeared.

I'm more concerned with the use of tracking chips in humans. It's being introduced in Mexico as a way to track kidnapped children, but a quote from one article states;

"Other potential uses of the chip, according to company officials, include scanning unconscious patients to obtain their medical records or restricting access to high-security buildings by scanning workers to verify their clearance."

Tracking Junior With a Microchip

[Neville]

I can't believe what I just read, Andrew. This is intolerable animal cruelty for sure. I mean, those crazy scientists made a monkey play video games!

It is that what you wanted us to notice, wasn't it?