Greenflame

Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture, photography and faith from the Aotearoa New Zealand

Category: Cyborg

  • New Perspectives In Science and Theology Conference

    New Perspectives In Science and Theology Conference will be held 27-28 July 2007 at the Bible College of New Zealand in Auckland. It’s being organized by TANSAA (Theology and the Natural Sciences in Aotearoa Auckland) and Tyndale-Carey Graduate School, and is a Metanexus initiative. The conference speakers cover a range of specialties: Physics & Origins…

  • Mechanical Fingers

    A lot gets written about the ultra-hi-tech prosthetics (Greenflame · The World’s First Powered Ankle) and ‘cyborg’-implants (Greenflame · Mind Over Matter) but this (relatively) low-tech approach to finger replacements looks interesting. See: Gadget Lab – Mechanical Fingers Grant Grip: No Batteries Needed.

  • ‘Plastic’ blood

    In another of those areas where traditional boundaries become contested, scientists are working on developing a synthetic blood substitute for medical emergencies. (BBC NEWS | UK | England | North Yorkshire | Scientists create ‘plastic’ blood) I wonder how this ‘blood’ will be considered by those communities that attach a special significance to human blood.

  • The World’s First Powered Ankle

    Technology Review: The World’s First Powered Ankle has an article on a new prosthetic ankle that functions in such a way as to add energy to walking, helping to reduce the effort required to use the prosthesis. See also: MIT’s Robo Sapiens page and Greenflame » Robot avatars and other such things.

  • Brain-machine interfaces and genuine concern for the other

    A while back Lindsay over at Random Murmurings pointed me towards the podcast of the ABC’s “All in the Mind” radio programme, and in particular this episode, All in the Mind – The Brain Computer Interface (2 December 2006). The episode looks at how technological developments, particularly in digital implants, might aid those with motor…

  • Various convergent technology links

    Various links related to convergent technologies (nano-, bio-, information technologies and cognitive science): Biosingularity – Techno-progressive blog that tracks new developments in bio- and medical technologies. (More on singularitarianism at Greenflame: Pondering the Singularity (Again)). The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines – Alternatives to the big four search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com. The…

  • Direct Brain Control Of Humanoid Robot

    A good example of some of the current research that is leading towards “augmented intelligence”. Ultimately, the robotic system will pick up the human user’s intentions and then use its own artificial intelligence to achieve that goal. I like the non-invasive approach which differs from other approaches such as BrainGate. More at ScienceDaily: Researchers Demonstrate…

  • Living in the Borderlands

    Mark over at Reflections… wanted some more details about last Friday’s talk. So here are some links to related things: The introduction to my talk is here – Cyborg-Intro.pdf. It’s pretty rough and ready as I read it, rather than have others read it. I used the ASB Bank “Streamline” TV commercial as an example…

  • Wired – Interactive Bionics Tour

    The Wired web site has a new interactive bionics feature that allows you to find out more about technology being used therapeutically within the human body. Everything from artificial knee joints through to neural implants of various sorts. Focus is upon mechanical, digital and nano technologies. See Wired – Interactive Bionics Tour.

  • The cyborg as vehicle for engagement with the world

    In her article, “Thoughts on the Status of the Cyborg: On Technological Socialization and Its Link to the Religious Function of Popular Culture”, sociologist Brenda Brasher continues the conversation about cyborgs and their role in society by arguing the metaphor of the cyborg may provide a useful avenue for critical and constructive engagement with technology…