Imagine being able to consciously regulate your body's temperature; instantly grow additional muscle that you may need for a specific task; or even control your television, computer or car by just thinking about doing it.
These things seem like they are rooted in science fiction, and they may well have begun there. However, scientists and researchers are close to making some of these ideas a reality.
Most of us have heard of using technology to enhance ourselves. Would these enhancements be accepted if they were huge and obvious supplements to the human frame?
Probably not. The solution is to turn inside. And that is what is quickly becoming the new scientific craze.
Think about today's computers. The major computer and component manufacturers are constantly racing to make systems not just faster, but smaller.
Medical science has several projects that are scaling down organisms to find out exactly how they act and react. Some of this is done to fight disease and develop better cures, but come on!
The big payoff is realizing some control at that tiny, tiny level. Once things are mapped and separated, they can be studied. After studying them, we will begin to understand them. After understanding, we'll begin to develop artificial versions of them.
Then we'll begin developing enhanced versions of them. Does this sound far off? It's not, at least we should hope it's not.
Forget about all the negative connotations and speculation about misuse. Whatever is developed is always misused by some small percentage of the people that have access to that development.
Take the simple MP3 player. It was the greatest thing on earth for a minute. Then the download services started. Now, we have the digital-rights police everywhere.
They don't even want us to have multiple copies of the music we purchased with our hard-earned cash! The point is that with new innovation comes new exploitation, followed by new controls to limit or eliminate this.
I had the pleasure of seeing a movie recently, "The Last Mimzy," with my daughter. I was captivated by the possibilities it presented for our future. Imagine having so much knowledge about the human eye and the complex system that the brain uses to determine focus, color and depth of field.
Now imagine everyone having "perfect" vision or even being able to see across different wavelengths of light. Would you sign up to have the enhancement that allowed you to see in near darkness just as well as you can in full sunlight
Would you agree to have small blood cell-sized machines inserted into your body to work all day scraping contaminates from your lungs, and plaque from your veins and arteries?
What about having your bones strengthened by growing diamond around them?
Bone degradation is one of the major problems with long-term habitation in space or any other zero- or low-gravity environment. Automated bone replacement and enhancement would surely solve this issue.
What about being outfitted with gills? No more drowning, maybe.
These all sound like just the bantering of some sci-fi junky. Even though that may be true, these ideas are being developed, and they, or similar devices, will probably be available within our lifetime.
Now my palms are sweaty just thinking about all this wonderful stuff we'll be able to do.
