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Bones Could Become Conduits For Data Swaps

Posted by Zonk on from the shin-bone-connects-to-the-rj-45-jack dept.

Billosaur writes "New Scientist Tech has an intriguing article about researchers at Rice University in Houston, TX who are looking at ways to use the human skeleton to transmit data. The idea is to use bones to conduct sound waves, with 0's and 1's being represented by different frequencies. Preliminary results, shared with a conference on body networks in Florence, Italy, this week, show that bones can conduct even low-power vibrations with few errors. The idea is that the conduction of sound along bone would be more secure than that via radio waves, leading to the possibility of swapping data with someone by shaking their hand."

18 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. That makes sense. by hkgroove · · Score: 4, Funny

    I knew they got it wrong. Tinfoil does not stop the transmissions to my teeth!

    1. Re:That makes sense. by monk.e.boy · · Score: 4, Funny

      My bone already has the ability to pass enough data to make a baby.

      But not through a hand shake.

      Insert joke about hand shandy.

      :-P

      monk.e.boy

      --
      Open source, flash charts
  2. when it breaks by qw0ntum · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lends new meaning to the term "broken pipe."

    --
    'Every story, if continued long enough, ends in death.' --Ernest Hemingway
  3. Re:I can see this really taking off by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

    You're thinking too small. Think "Data Centers in graveyards".

    Think of the possibilities: Even after death, you could live on as an Ethernet cable for an AOL mail server!

  4. Re:I can see this really taking off by hobo+sapiens · · Score: 4, Funny

    no way, dude! Zombie computers would take on a whole new, different, and frightening meaning.

    And remember, when trying to escape a level 4 zombie outbreak, a dirigible is an excellent means of escape.

    --
    blah blah blah
  5. as a software pirate let me just say by thegnu · · Score: 4, Funny

    Arrrrrr! Shiver me timbers!

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    Please stop stalking me, bro.
  6. Funny... by Fx.Dr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The vast majority of people I meet can barely transmit their own data through their brains.

  7. More details... by Tmack · · Score: 5, Funny
    During their extensive research and experiments, scientists discovered that sharing information between two people worked best with direct pelvis to pelvis contact, and have coined the term "PtoP" networking...

    tm

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    Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
  8. Re:I can see this really taking off by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny

    An implanted vibrator that would allow me to securely send data from my phone

    We're talking about permanently implanting a vibrator and communicating with your phone is the best idea you can come up with?

    Also I'd expect that the vibrations would exit through your feet and allow for snooping from ground based devices.

    Your average shoe has a chunk of closed-cell foam rubber in it, I doubt it.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  9. Muahahahaha by Experiment+626 · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, human bones can be used to transmit data? Now, not only does my necromantic fortress of doom's decor scare the crap out of my enemies, I can save a fortune on cat-5 and fiber cabling.

  10. Obligatory by thegnu · · Score: 3, Funny

    Incoming Squirt!
    Cancel or Allow?

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    Please stop stalking me, bro.
  11. Re:Who funded this? by Otter · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I need to find out who funded this research. With the chance for practical usage ever at about 0.001%, it's clear that someone just has money to piss away if this is the research they're doing.

    As is frequently the case here (think yesterday's story about the judge supposedly demanding that RAM be turned over), if you read a blurb here and think "If true, that person must be really stupid!", it's worth R'ingTFA.

    As usual, the submitter completely missed the point of the link.

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  12. Weather Prediction. by pavon · · Score: 3, Funny

    A storm's a-coming, I can feel it in ma bones.

    Yeah yeah gramps, we all can. It's just the hourly SkyNet Subcutaneous Weather update.

    Galdarn kids these days, no respect.

  13. Re:I can see this really taking off by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Funny

    An implanted vibrator

    Sorry, you completely lost me after that. That's just so wrong. ;-)

    Cheers
    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  14. What would the interchange be called by grahamsz · · Score: 3, Funny

    We're using to "beaming" ecards to one another. The zune lets you "squirt" things.

    Logically we'd have to say "Let me bone you my business card", and i'm not sure i like that.

    1. Re:What would the interchange be called by ls+-la · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Logically we'd have to say "Let me bone you my business card", and i'm not sure i like that. Just depends who the recipient is.
  15. another verison of this from 1996 by fikx · · Score: 3, Informative

    quoted from the write-up: "... The idea is that the conduction of sound along bone would be more secure that via radio waves, leading to the possibility of swapping data with someone by shaking their hand."
    This general idea was also tackled by Thomas Zimmerman doing research for IBM. His idea did the same thing using signals carried on the skin (which didn't need the FIRM handshake to work :) Not sure how that compares to this, but both manage the same trick
    Here's a link : PAN Fact Sheet

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    AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM
  16. New RIAA tactic by frdmfghtr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now when the RIAA sues you for "an arm and a leg," they won't be kidding!

    --
    Government's idea of a balanced budget: take money from the right pocket to balance...oh who am I kidding?