Weekly Filet #80: Self-Made Cyborgs. And more.
Who needs body enhancements when you can have this: Weekly Filet #80 is here. Read it here or over at Das Magazin.
This week's top recommendation
They can't wait for cyborg body enhancements to become available. So they build and implant them by themselves. This is a thrilling (in all possible senses) report on «body hackers». They have magnets implanted in their fingertips to feel electrical waves and wear permanently attached computerised glasses. Their next challenge: Implant an LED-display under the skin of the forearm to display heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure. What makes this such a compelling read: Here you have the somewhat crazy DIY-wannabe-cyborgs, but then again this is pretty much the direction medical technology, nanotechnology and the likes of Google are leading us to.
→ Cyborg America: inside the strange new world of basement body hackers (The Verge)
Further recommendations
Jaw-dropping thread on Reddit. One user posts that he can hear for the first time in his life and asks for listening suggestions. More than 14 thousand comments so far. In two days.
→ I can hear music for the first time ever, what should I listen to? (Reddit)
In its series "Will We Ever?", the BBC tackles the big questions of science (fiction). Now that Curiosity is exploring Mars, the latest column is an obvious one: Will we ever…find life elsewhere in the universe? It's a great read.
→ Will We Ever? (BBC)
Just a friendly reminder: It's very likely that your digital security settings can be easily improved. And they should.
→ Strong Passwords Aren’t Enough (Lifehacker)
In China, the rich and powerful can hire body doubles to do their prison time for them.
→ Double Jeopardy (Slate)
You want more? No problem. Browse the archive of more than 350 recommendations: weeklyfilet.com