Hi everyone,
The topic is Biohacking. So what is Biohacking? Really the term is evolving. Bio hacking involves technologies that are advancing in a rate that allows to 3D print organic tissues, to develop protocols and methods for hacking the mind and body. Biohacking can be defined as a combination of biology with hacker ethics i.e., any technique that uses science to change human capabilities. Those who participate in biohacking are called ‘Grinders.’ Grinders are do-it-yourself cyborgs that are upgrading their own bodies with hardware to improve their own human capabilities and do the impossible.
Biohacking makes the technology more advances that we can open a door with just a wave of our hand. Lke in the movies, yes, when we are entering the office, there is no need for us to carry any access cards or use our fingerprints, just we can show our hand and the door opens. This is done by injecting a chip under the skin of our fingers.
Biohackers think in a different way. We have five senses, but the bio hackers think in a different way, why not seven or eight. They think why not implanting a magnet on our finger and thus having a sixth sense and thus can feel and reach out magnetic fields which we never felt before.
Why is biohacking so controversial?
Biohacking for many is considered a highly radical version of hacking which involves unregulated science.
Despite our opinion on this experimentation, the fact is, biohacking may pose a security risk. With no government regulations and no legal ramifications for anyone who steals more than your data, but your biology, we are entering into unchartered territory.
This is not to say that biohacking is all bad. Rather, it requires due diligence on us to ensure we are creating these microchips and techniques with security in mind. Since biohacking is relatively new, we must establish a precedent for how it is created, implemented and monitored.
Patrick Mylund Nielsen, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky asks us to consider, “What happens when our private keys are under our skin? Can somebody become a virtual copy of me by shaking my hand?”
Privacy is a top concern for security professionals and the general public alike, so the trepidation for many stems from the unknown of what could happen if one’s microchip is hacked whereby hackers misuse this technology against the victim or public. Keeping in mind that with the advance in technology, the techniques leveraged by hackers and cyber criminals can also advance.
Over two years ago, a hacker implanted a small NFC chip in his hand to hack Android smartphones and bypass almost all security measures, demonstrating the risks of biohacking.
Some of the recent bio hacking experiments are listed below:
1. A group of biohackers have developed eye drops with a substance found in sea called Ce6. This substance is used in cancer treatment and to treat night blindness in people. Gabriel Licina, a grinder injected in his eyes to achieve night vision and he can now see objects 160 ft away in a dark field.
2. Kevin Warwick is an engineer who is well known for his studies in connecting technology with the human body. Since the 1990s Warwick has implanted various chips and electrodes in his body that allowed him to receive new sensory experiences. A silicon chip transponder in his forearm allows him to operate doors, lights, heaters and computers without lifting a finger.
3. Ben Greenfield is a fitness coach who uses biohacking methods to take his and his clients’ health to the next level. To boost performances he uses neurosimulation, which delivers low current to specific areas of the brain and can also be effective against depression.
4. Dave Asprey another grinder who has spent over $300,000 over the past 15 years and hacking his own biology to lose 100 pounds and improve his IQ score. He is most famous for his Bulletproof coffee, a toxin free coffee which, mixed with butter and MCT oil, can boost your performance.
5. Transhumanist Tim Cannon is the first known human to implant a chip transmitting biometrical data to an Android device. Text messages are sent if the body reaches 100 F and the medical data is stored in the device allowing Cannon to track his health with his phone.
6. Neil Harbisson is the first person in the world with an antenna implanted in his skull and the first cyborg to be recognized by a government. As he is color blind, his antenna uses audible vibrations to translate colors and images into sounds directly into his brain. His wifi enabled device also allows him to connect to the internet and to receive signals from satellites.
7. In 2013, physicist Stephen Hawkin explained the brain is like a programme in the mind, which is like a computer so its theoretically possible to copy the brain onto the computer and so provide a form of life after death. Many biohackers claim that with quantum computers it’s possible to have a map of all neurons and their connections and then artificially activate groups of neurons to basically have the copy of a person’s brain thus maybe transfer it to another body.
8. Industrial designer Naomi Kizhner has developed a concept for a jewellery collection that converts kinetic energy from the body into electricity. The pieces can harvest energy from blood flow and from the electric pulses sent from the neurological system through the wearer’s spine. Other physiological functions can also be used to produce energy, which would be infinite as long as we live meaning that reaching a form of immortality would also provide infinite renewable energy for our needs if the concept is developed.
Thank you!
