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It is even worse when people confuse silicon (the base material for computer chips) with silicone (a polymer material used in breast implants).
Does that explain why this idiot is always having computers implanted into his flesh?

Couldn't agree more with the parent. I used to work in the AI department of BT's research labs, and this guy was a constant embarassment to us with his ill-informed drivel. We'd try hard to build some kind of reputation in the field, and this moron would undo it all with his "robots will destroy humanity by the middle of next week" toss. He's like a less-scientific Captain Cyborg (if such a thing is possible).

I was recently looking into this area and I'm actually surprised that bionic prosthetic arms aren't commonplace by now. Granted, I'm a bit new to all this stuff, but for example, let's say you have an amputee who's lost his arm from about halfway between the elbow and shoulder. The median nerve is a large group of nerve cells that runs through the center and controls most of the muscles below the elbow (you'd have to tap some other nerves for elbow control). Now, with groups of needle sensors implanted in the nerve (and I'm pretty sure placement wouldn't have to be exactly on specific nerve cells, but enough needles that you'd get pretty good coverage over the various nerve cells running through the median nerve), you could then use a fairly basic neural net to interpret the signals and program the arm.

Basically, you'd train the neural net as follows: Tell the patient to bend their pinky, for example. Of course, they don't have one, but they have the knowledge of how to move one and while it wouldn't be there, the nerves would be stimulated. The neural net would then learn what the bent pinky nerve impulses are. You'd have to do various degrees of movement and different types of movements, but I'm fairly certain this would all be pretty doable.

The nerves of the arm are pretty robust and while there might be some breaks in the nerves after the sensors are implanted, the nerves would regenerate with maybe some minor crossover, but that wouldn't really matter since the real limb wouldn't be there anyway.

But like I said, this isn't my field. I could be completely off base, but it seems to me that this is pretty doable and I suspect this isn't too far off from what Kevin Warwick did to control his robotic arm. And if a single professor with some students can come up with this system, why can the prosthetic industry not do it?

I was recently looking into this area and I'm actually surprised that bionic prosthetic arms aren't commonplace by now. Granted, I'm a bit new to all this stuff, but for example, let's say you have an amputee who's lost his arm from about halfway between the elbow and shoulder. The median nerve is a large group of nerve cells that runs through the center and controls most of the muscles below the elbow (you'd have to tap some other nerves for elbow control). Now, with groups of needle sensors implanted in the nerve (and I'm pretty sure placement wouldn't have to be exactly on specific nerve cells, but enough needles that you'd get pretty good coverage over the various nerve cells running through the median nerve), you could then use a fairly basic neural net to interpret the signals and program the arm.

Basically, you'd train the neural net as follows: Tell the patient to bend their pinky, for example. Of course, they don't have one, but they have the knowledge of how to move one and while it wouldn't be there, the nerves would be stimulated. The neural net would then learn what the bent pinky nerve impulses are. You'd have to do various degrees of movement and different types of movements, but I'm fairly certain this would all be pretty doable.

The nerves of the arm are pretty robust and while there might be some breaks in the nerves after the sensors are implanted, the nerves would regenerate with maybe some minor crossover, but that wouldn't really matter since the real limb wouldn't be there anyway.

But like I said, this isn't my field. I could be completely off base, but it seems to me that this is pretty doable and I suspect this isn't too far off from what Kevin Warwick did to control his robotic arm. And if a single professor with some students can come up with this system, why can the prosthetic industry not do it?

Is it just me or is it a coincidence that this was in Warwick, also the last name of Captian Cyborg.
Read The Register for more info on Capt. Cyborg. I guess they can't make so much fun of him anymore :(

It looks like he's giving Professor Kevin Warwick a run for his money...

Next step: interfacing with computers using mind control!

... the Borg might be here a lot sooner than that!
Does the name Kevin Warwick ring any bells?

From the above link:
In 1998 he shocked the international scientific community by having a silicon chip transponder surgically implanted in his left arm. A series of further implant experiments have taken place in which Kevin's nervous system was linked to a computer. This research led to him being featured in February 2000, as the cover story on the US magazine wired. Kevin also presented the Year 2000 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures with great success. Kevin's new implant experiment called 'Project Cyborg' got underway in March 2002 and is providing exciting results.

That's Kevin *Warwick* of the University of *Reading* &^)

Check out his page here

The nutcase with the implant is Kevin Warwick, a professor of Cybernetics at Reading University, UK.

Steve Mann, who wrote the compositing code that this Slashdot article is about, is a professor at the University of Toronto, teaching wearable computing, and is the one who had his (non-implanted, despite what the slashdot post says) hardware ripped off in Newfoundland.

THEY ARE NOT THE SAME PERSON.

Besides, scientists have always had a history of experimenting on themselves: Newton died of mercury poisoning from his experiments, Kevin Warwick has been having chips implanted in his body, and where do you think Antony van Leeuwenhoek got the sperm he observed under his microscope?

Try the (ahem) Kevin Warwick Watch: www.kevinwarwick.org.uk if you want something more interesting than www.kevinwarwick.org.

FEAR KEVIN

If this has your interest, UK professor Kevin Warwick definatly will. He had a chip implanted in 1998, making him a cyborg (not the first though). He researches robotics and decided to get the implant for a week or so, which communicated with the university where he worked through a radio link (his story in Wired).

THIS year, he is taking it to the next step. "Project Cyborg 2.0":
This phase will look at how a new implant could send signals back and forth between Warwick's nervous system and a computer. If this test succeeds with no complications, a similar chip will be implanted in his wife, Irena. This will allow the investigation of how movement, thought or emotion signals could be transmitted from one person to the other, possibly via the Internet.

I heard on BBC, where he was interviewed, that he wanted to find out, if they could transfer/share pain, he and his wife. Interesting stuff.

What I personally find cool about Kevin (yes, he is a first name kinda guy ;) is that he is doing this on himself. There are actually health risks involved in the operation, which is why he chose to get it in his left arm, as he is right-handed. I guess someone would argue that it's unscientific experimenting on yourself, rather than a test subject, but for me it shows how much he burns for this subject, and if see an interview with him, I think you will agree.