by Are we nearing the Age of the Bionic Warrior God with the recent news of electrodes that melt in your brain, not in your mouth? The notion that science is able to deconform objects from one state to another is both delightful and alarming.
Scientists have developed a brain implant that essentially melts into place, snugly fitting to the brain’s surface. The technology could pave the way for better devices to monitor and control seizures, and to transmit signals from the brain past damaged parts of the spinal cord.
“These implants have the potential to maximize the contact between electrodes and brain tissue, while minimizing damage to the brain. They could provide a platform for a range of devices with applications in epilepsy, spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders,” said Walter Koroshetz, M.D., deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health.
What’s next on the melted science front?
Clothing that becomes a form-fitting second skin to protect from cuts and abrasions?
How soon will the military want in on the melting? Can you imagine a
“bomb” that soldiers might have melted onto their arms for easy carrying
into battle? They would peel off the skin-thin explosive, “plant” it
and then arm it — and then watch the melty bomb re-deconform to
whatever object it was placed on for detonation: Totally invisible and
effectively deliverable.
The melted bomb could even be triggered
by particular terrorist body odor to save the innocents from slaughter.
The real trick of these melting — and invisible and undetectable —
armaments will be the slow release of viruses and other biological
elements. These malignant deliverables could be placed, and then melted into streets and windowsills and bushes and other in situ wild elements — and set
to self-release on a set schedule to match the direction and intensity
of the wind or the movement of the infrequent passerby.
I love the idea of electrodes melting in brains —
but taking the next logical leap into the militarization of the same
technology — sends cool chills along any cogent conscience.
I’m quite intrigued by the idea of odor. Who nose where the terrorists can be found?
I wonder if the melt technology could help people improve their memory, cognition, etc?
I, too, think the idea of tracking odor is fascinating — though it seems like it would be sort of easy to beat if you ate/drank an anti-tracker potage. Melt technology might help with memory.
I just can’t get my mind away from the idea of an ice-cube WMD: Unwrap it, let it melt away… trigger when ready. I’m certain that idea is coming to a battlefield/city/village near us all, soon.