What's the Business Model For Commercializing Cyborgs? 43
An anonymous reader points out an article about Backyard Brains, a small company notable for turning cockroaches into cyborgs. The article explores how such an odd use of science and technology can actually form the basis of a business. They primarily work with educational organizations to bring their brand of DIY neuroscience to students and other interested parties. School budgets are often small, so a key part of Backyard Brains's goal is to make things inexpensive. "We want to inspire a generation of citizen-scientists. If we can lower the barrier to entry so the only limit is creativity, that might help with finding treatments for neurological disorders." As they find success, they're developing more research kits, and finding more ways to make cyborg insects into a business.
Duh (Score:1)
Cyborg sex dolls. Japan already invented this business model in anime.
Re: (Score:1)
More like "Your payment of $45.68 for continued use of your enhancements today has exceeded your credit limit. Please have someone make the payment for you to reenable the use of them." (you "hear" this in your head as you lie on the floor, unable to move)
"He has a pace maker..." (Score:2)
GODDAMNED CYBORGS WILL BE THE DEATH OF US ALL!!!!11!1!!!!!!!
my apologies to silicon valley. liberties taken with actual quote.
Is obvious, yes? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Nah, TL;DR.
It's going to be about sex [pinimg.com].
What's the business model? (Score:1)
Backyard Brains, a small company notable for turning cockroaches into cyborgs.
Get the cyborg cockroaches to scavenge for parts and start converting other cockroaches into cyborgs too. Once you have enough, you demand "One Billion Dollars" from the governments of the world, or risk being invaded by terminator roaches.
What could possibly go wrong?
Re: (Score:1)
http://people.csail.mit.edu/brooks/papers/fast-cheap.pdf
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Is this ethical? most people eat meat and have no problem for using animals as things, but this is a little more evil that that isn't?
It is more evil. I eat meat, i benefit from experiments on animal, i hunt/fish, i used animals for other things, e.g., horse-carriages, i even turtured creatures as a kid, but i also find this is "a little more evil" - i may be a hypocrite, but i feel questions about ethics must be raised.
Re: (Score:2)
but this is a little more evil that that isn't?
What's more important? A little more protein in the diet or educating the next generation of scientists? See? It's more good.
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Depends on what you mean by "cyborg" (Score:4, Interesting)
Is this "cyborg" as in "Allows the paralyzed to walk," "Allows the small-dicked to be big-dicked," "Allows a soldier or cop to be bulletproof"?
Or is it "cyborg" as in "We can't actually do anything that anyone would pay for yet, and probably never will."
Because if it's the former, just issue a press release and stand back. If it's the latter, then the answer is "You can't."
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know about that, but I do know a man in his late '70s who had a pump and reservoir installed to work around certain issues that were getting in the way of proper marital relations. It worked so well that he eventually wore it out after about ten years and had it replaced.
Maybe it's only a matter of time. (Score:1)
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Robot horses with A.I. that can negotiate a battlefield are a reality already.
No, some very loud prototype, tethered, horse-sized robots have been show to be able to walk up a hill.
Artificial Intelligence poses an increasing potential threat.
No, but it can do pretty good on Jeopardy--just as long as you type in all the questions in advance and let it have a high speed internet connection to access at all times.
Give a dexterous robot A.I. behaviour, and it becomes a threat, and - with access to weapons - potentially deadly.
No, it probably just becomes a robot that even the stupidest human soldier can defeat by tipping it over or doing something even remotely unexpected.
Teach the cyborg cockroaches a useful skill (Score:2)
Re:Teach the cyborg cockroaches a useful skill (Score:5, Funny)
Or a cyborg cockroach to go and eradicate the other cockroaches. RAID pesticide company might be interested.
What better way to kill cockroaches than having a terminator cockroach. And if you network then Worldwide, we could finally eradicate every living cockroach everywhere. And some fly, too! I really don't see any downside to it at all.
Send it back in time to kill the first cockroach.
Re: (Score:3)
I am not sure cockroaches are the right insect because they are particularly filthy, eating their own poop and all.
However a few years ago a friend of mine remarked how useful ants would be for such a role, for cleaning the floor of crumbs.
I think if you could find a way to borgify insects the profitable sector would be in agriculture.
Sell dragonflies and mantises programmed so seek out and destroy corn pests. Sell engineered grasshoppers who leave the corn alone but eat everything else.
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Well, according to certain industry spokespersons, there is a shortage of cockroach coders.
Developing the Next Generation (Score:1)
Of ethically challenged humans.
school budgets are not small (Score:2)
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at least, public school systems aren't. yes, they don't spend enough on this, and spend too much on that, but they aren't small.
Some public schools are in that category. And some public schools are in the category of only having a chemistry class because the teacher donated equipment.
Same as that for slavery (Score:1)
So, in short, similar to nail salon workers or shrimping boat workers.
Leave it to the loonies (Score:1)
every step towards automation is said to be useful (Score:1)
Surgery is the business model (Score:2)
Some people are getting magnets installed in their hands - to detect electro magnetic fields and others get an NFCS chip in the hand - to unlock any electronic lock coded to it. Those tend be done in Tattoo parlors.
They can also implant other things. Real life Geordie is here - his name is Neil Harbisson. He was born color blind but has an antenaa installed in his head. It directly connects
Count me out! (Score:2)
yeah. or.... (Score:2)
>>> "We want to inspire a generation of citizen-scientists. If we can lower the barrier to entry so the only limit is creativity, that might help with finding treatments for neurological disorders." ...and besides, making it easy to send uncomfortably large pulses of electricity directly into the middle of a cockroach's brain is waaay cool
Next up: Sharks. (Score:1)
They've done cockroaches; next up is sharks with lasers implanted in their heads.
Business Model? (Score:2)
The business model is finding Sara Connor.