CAJ Abstract analysis

Well it seems that somehow my post about articles about my CAJ disappeared. I honestly don't know it it was deleted or if it didn't upload correctly.

To sum up, here is what I found.

http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=784743

An article from Kevin Warwick, a well known transhumanist and co-founder of this whole hype.

Honestly, I couldn't have wished for something better than this, as there is everything in there which has to be in an abstract.
He includes the Objective, the setting/range, the findings and a conclusion. He explains the methods as well, just in a larger scale, as it contains to much information to be compressed.

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Another paper related to my topic was this one, which i only could read the abstract as the entire book would cost around €35 .

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:ETIN.0000006870.65865.cf
"The era of the Cyborg is now upon us. This has enormous implications on ethical values for both humans and cyborgs. In this paper the state of play is discussed. Routes to cyborgisation are introduced and different types of Cyborg are considered. The author's own self-experimentation projects are described as central to the theme taken. The presentation involves ethical aspects of cyborgisation both as it stands now and those which need to be investigated in the near future as the effects of increased technological power have a more dramatic influence. An important feature is the potential for cyborgs to act against, rather than for, the interests of humanity."

This one lacks a little bit in conclusion and/or recommendations, but explains well why this topic is important, the objective and the methods used. 

Ciao,
Fabio

Currently used subdermal gadgets:

What kinds of artificial objects do humans already use without complaing about them?
This blogpost will be followed by one referring to newer, not so popular gadgets.

First of all, people who share the opinion that transhumanism is far away and that we should not think too much of it are in the wrong.
Humans already use many gadgets which ameliorate their everyday life, and even help them to live.
This might seem overly exaggerated, but in all honesty, how many people would die if there were no pacemakers? With all the chronic diseases my family has, I am happy to say, and i hope i don't jinx it, no-one in my family needs a pacemaker. But for all those who need a pacemaker, this little apparatus implanted into the chest to avoid abnormal heartbeats by mildly shock the heart to get it into the right rhythm. This little gadget helps humans immensely, but isn't this as well interfering in "god's creation"? Don't we just trick death so that we can live for a few more years?

Of course, you can start now a debate about natural selection and that the human race becomes weaker and weaker with every generation, but I will not go into that today.

A second gadget are artificial limbs.
I haven't met anybody who thought artificial limbs were a bad thing. They help humans to live their life as if nothing ever happened to them, just with some minor constraints. Artificial limbs are in my opinion a good example why we should fund the research of transhumanism and similar studies.
Giving a man artificial limbs is as you would give them back one of their senses. They lost a part of their body as a result of mostly a horrible accident. And humankind managed to find a solution for that. On the example of a soldier, years ago men were left on the battlefield once you saw that his legs were blown off. Now due to medicine and the advancement in technology, we can give them back their lives.

And i think that's similar to the debate whether people should be able to increase their capacities by using technology. People try to improve themselves every day. They work out, they study or they go to school. Mankind seeks to improve itself. And this is the next step in our evolution. People may not be the same after this revolution, but in my opinion we are on the verge to space age. With so many advancements in technology, we could be closer to Sci-Fi-films than we know.

The third gadget humans use are RFID chips. I know i said I didn't want to mention anything not popular, but once I tell you what it is, you might have an aha-experience.

If anyone of you readers out there has a pet, you know what I am speaking of even if you have never heard of this thing. It is the little chip that is implanted into your dog or cat for the case it runs away and is picked up by a dog/cat catcher and brought into an animal home. There they are scanned and if they are chipped they are returned to their respective families.

And basically the same thing exists for humans. A chip the size of a grain of rice is implanted somewhere under the skin and can be used to store medical history, name, address, zip code, credit card data, passwords and so much more.
People implant those chips under their skin either for fun, for utility reasons or for medical reasons if they are dementia-patients.
In my opinion those implants are one of the best things you could get implanted, and if I had the chance, I would probably do it.

Well next time the same thing but more underground!
See you soon!

Shocking Implant Video

As I already have written about the insertion of magnets into one's finger to enhance one's senses, I recently stumbled over a video while browsing the web for information for my CAJ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRKqUqrkeR8

Generally people who did this post in forums that it is not a smart idea to do this operation alone at home, simply because of the reason that so much could go wrong. You could cut to deep, mess up the cut, get the wrong magnet coating and you will probably die from a heavy metal intoxication, you could mess up the stitches, you could get infected by bacteria getting into the wound. The dangers are endless. and while watching this video I realized why I could never work as a surgeon.
I had to pause watching this video as I could not see how this guy hollowed out the tip of his finger using nothing but nail scissors. And while I paused this video I am writing this post. To be honest, I am currently still baffled that people would actually do that.
Of course, this is only a small operation and apparently you could do it at home, but for bigger surgeries you should definitely go to a piercer who knows how to properly anesthetize the body part in which you would like to get the implant.

How do instant photographs work?

Developing a photo is one thing, but understanding the process is another one. Especially in the case of instant cameras, the complete process of developing a photo is compressed into several steps with a waiting time of only 15 seconds to 2 minutes.

First, the shutter release is pressed which opens the shutter and makes it possible for the light to penetrate the lenses and project a picture onto the photographic film. The shutter closes to avoid overexposure, and then developing process begins.

The film usually used is a composed of a negative and a positive side and a layer of chemicals, which make the instant developing possible.

While pulling the photo out of the camera the layers are compressed by two rolls inside the camera and the chemicals (developing agent) in the middle layer, between the negative and positive, are spread between the sheets. The negative develops quickly and by the silver halide grains the picture is projected onto the positive. After the indicated developing time the negative is separated from the positive and the final picture is fully developed.

Abstract

WHEN ZOMBIES ATTACK!:!

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF AN OUTBREAK OF

ZOMBIE INFECTION! ! 

The aim of this abstract is to demonstrate the flexibility of mathematical modelling by showing it on the case of a pandemic zombie outbreak. The author admits that the scenarios are in fact fairly unrealistic, as no such modelling ever has been made, but wants to show nevertheless the most effective model. He demonstrates this by using the commonly known slow, stupid zombie as reference point while comparing five common models of zombie outbreaks, namely the Basic Model, Model with Latent Infection, Model with Quarantine, Model with Treatment and Impulsive Eradication. The results brought comparable results as all models showed that human-zombie co-existence cannot prevail as infection rates and death by zombification overwhelm humankind sooner or later, depending on the model. While model 1 and 2 state that the eradication of humanity is just a matter of several days, and model 3 and 4 state that due to the exponential increase of infected people humankind will be eradicated, simply with a bit of delay. The only model that proved successful for this kind of pandemic is the last model mentioned, the Impulsive Eradication, stating that as soon as the infection spreads, every person affected has to be neutralized. Using given equation the conflict of a zombie outbreak would be dealt with in only ten days, avoiding the extinction of humankind. Even though the scenario of a sudden zombie outbreak is purely fictional, the risk of a global disease is not. The only way to stop a pandemic is to act quickly and decisively. 

CAJ Abstract

Bio-Hacking

Body hacking and enhancing human bodies is becoming an increasingly important topic. This CAJ is to show why and to what extend a human body can be modified at in the early twentieth century. As this still is an underdeveloped field of research, there are mostly non-academical papers and online videos, which explain how the process of enhancing the body is carried out. Fact is, that up until now and aside from prosthesis, not many forms of body-enhancing objects exist, which is bound to change in the near future. The combination of human tissue and machines, or currently circuit boards will allow the human body to develop much faster than by natural evolution.

How to kill Hitler in 6 simple steps:

Step 1: First, you have to acquire a weapon of your choice. The simplicity of this task depends on your location and gun possession laws.

- Choose a weapon, which you are comfortable with, range or close combat, as both should do the job.

- Our recommendation is to chose a high-power long range rifle such as the Remington 700 or the Barrett .50 cal to guarantee an optimal outcome.

Step 2: Proceed to find a time machine. Depending on your preferences you can choose either a classical DeLorean with a flux capacitor modification or a “Tardis”, which is usually in the form of a blue police call box.

Step 3: Choose the point in time and space where you would like to kill Adolf Hitler.

- Here it is of utmost importance that you do your research about Hitler’s location very carefully, as you do not want to be caught teleporting in and finding no one except soldiers of the Wehrmacht.                                

Step 4: Conceal you loaded weapon and travel back in time.   

Step 5: Find and kill Hitler.

The difficulty of this task depends on your research and your weapon choice.

Final Step: Return to your time and see what has changed, while claiming your reward for saving millions of people’s lives.

Congratulations! You just killed your first dictator and changed history! Please keep in mind that your actions may interrupt the time-space continuum and that, depending on your timing, you may have just killed the most beloved dictator in the world.                                  

Disclaimer: The author of this instructional guide is not liable for any ruptures in the time-space continuum.

V - 1 Instructional Text - Group Instructional Feedback

Our group agreed that the instruction is helpful, yet there were several things that would need improvement to turn this into a good instruction sheet. First of all, there should be a short explanation on what a camera lucida actually is and what it can be used for. At the top, a list of all the materials needed to build the camera would be useful, otherwise people who start reading the text before having a close look at the pictures might encounter problems. Moreover, the units of length are illegible, therefore it is hard to find out if the author meant centimeters, millimeters, or a completely different unit. Another thing our group would change is the structure of the two paragraphs as we would rather use bullet points to describe the building process. While we think that the pictures are very helpful and that the author obviously put a lot of effort into these instructions, we are convinced that the individual steps could be structured better.

Biohacking and Sixth Sense

Cyborgs.

As already mentioned in a previous post, cyborgs are not too far away as some may think. 
As more and more people use smartphones and other portable electric devices several people dared to a step further. "Biohackers" or biohacking activists search to improve themselves by implanting machines, computerchips or even magnets under their skin. Shawn Sarver, an almost celebrity in the biohacking scene was one of the first to get a magnet implanted in his fingertips so that he could feel electromagnetic fields. As one of the leading biohackers he explains that the goal of this group is to make the human being evolve faster than nature would. 
Personally, I find this to be a very interesting thought, as evolution takes ages to significantly change certain properties. Moreover, with the trend over the last couple of hundreds of years, more and more people survive, and the survival of the fittest is no longer true. Thus, humans will evolve even slower than they already did. Humans no longer have the same immune system people had 50, 100, or even 1000 years ago. 
The modern medicine and the careless use of antibiotics for any little disease or little complaint destroys the body's defenses to a point, where the body can no longer fight on its own against nature. 

But this is already too far away from my topic. 

Biohackers just do what years, centuries or millennia of evolution could have done. They add new senses to their bodies by implanting, as said before, computer chips or magnets under their skin. 

Implanting a magnet under the skin in one or more fingertips is under biohackers already more or less common. The feeling of having another sense appeals to many activists. 
And to be honest: wouldn't it be awesome to feel the electromagnetic shape of an object? 
It is even hard to imagine, and after seeing footage of how the magnets or circuit boards are implanted I am pretty sure I will not do it. 
However, having a sixth sense must be really awesome.

More informations coming up in the following days. 

As always, 
Thanks for reading!

Ciao,Fabio