Slothop the Rat

[cj hurtt]

this story dove tails nicely into the one about the guy at oxford who just 
became the first "cyborg". both of these projects do have the potential to 
help disabled people, but god they're creepy. besides since when is the 
dept. of defense interested in helping people do something other than kill 
or die?
it would seem that because of the control issue remote control critters (and 
maybe one day people) would be more of a bioethical controversy than say 
cloning. ugh.
of course, remobilizing paralyzed people would be more than great.
well, off to find a phillip k dick universe to crawl into...less creepy 
there.

>It's funny that the news media are heralding this as a boon for future 
>search and rescue mission for, say, people buried in collapsed buildings.  
>Sure.
>
>It's actually not a new thing.  My freshman psych 101 class (back in 1976) 
>showed us a film of a cat w/ a wire attached to its head.  They could make 
>it jump, sit, etc.  That scared me way back then.  The only thing new about 
>this rat is that it's remote controled, which is of course the logical next 
>step.
>
>I have heard one potential positive use for this technology: paralyzed 
>people could be made mobile again.  But I think that will require far more 
>extensive wiring beyond the brain.
>
>David Morris


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