# The $60,000 Woman



## Dave (Sep 15, 2006)

_Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man._ Remember the _Six Million Dollar Man_ and the _Bionic Woman_?

Here is the first real Bionic arm and it is only $60,000! Wired to muscles in her chest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5348458.stm
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060914_bionic.htm
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2006/09/14/woman_gets_bion.html


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## BookStop (Sep 15, 2006)

I saw her on GMA yesterday - pretty cool, now she'll be able to do things she couldn't before. We still have a long way to go though - I guess they are working on a way to make a prostetic that has a touch sensation - I definitely think this is a worthwhile endeavor, even at 60,000 a pop.


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## Wishful (Sep 15, 2006)

That's pretty amazing. It always astonishes me how today they're able to just hook up human nerve fibres to electronic equipment.


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## carrie221 (Sep 15, 2006)

This is neat... I saw an article about it on aol yesterday.


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## nixie (Sep 15, 2006)

I seen it on the news this morning.Shame they aren't widely available to everyone who's lost a limb.


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## dustinzgirl (Sep 15, 2006)

I can think of a few appendages for my husb......

um

Anyways How cool is that?

I want a bionic arm so that dishes get washed faster and I have more time for doing the important things in life.


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## Briareus Delta (Sep 29, 2006)

Yet another example of science fiction becoming science fact. Slightly worrying though. Shades of the Cybermen here - how much of the central nervous system can you replace with electronics before it starts to affect your emotions and ultimately your humanity? Answers on a postcard.....

Or perhaps we should look at it more positively. Asimov's Bicentennial Man wasn't human at all by physical characteristics - but better than humans in all other respects. 

Im confused, and so am I.....


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## Dave (Sep 29, 2006)

I see a huge difference between linking muscles to cybernetic limbs, and linking the brain with computers. (I do realise that the brain is just a large muscle though.)

I have my own reservations about linking my brain with a computer, but I've been thinking about this concept for a few years now. Despite all the SF doomsday scenarios - you mention 'Cybermen' - but I can think of many others - Michael Crichton's 'Terminal Man', Neal Stephenson's 'Interface', Larry Niven's 'Saturn's Race' - there are some advantages that are so great that people are still going to queue up to have the operation. 

I have absolutely no doubts that this will come soon, and that the people who don't have it will be severely disadvantaged. I really hope that people continue to control the technology, and that it doesn't control us.


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## iratebeaver (Oct 1, 2006)

that's crazy! i wonder how the get it to respond to th nerve pulses?


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