Engineered Enhancers Closer Than You Think
From: EE Times - 12/27/2004 - No. 1352, P. 1
By: Charles Murray

Some scientists see enhancement applications in developing technologies such
as electroactive polymers and nanobots that can be injected into the
bloodstream. Future enhancers will not be as dangerous as today's anabolic
steroids, but will prompt tremendous moral and legal debate before finally
being accepted as inevitable. Although some dismiss visions of bionic eyes or
Olympic Games for enhanced athletes as science fiction, there are currently
in-use technologies that could become important human enhancers.
Electroactive polymers flex in response to electrical charges and are seen as
a possibility for future artificial muscle implants; the technology is used
to wipe the lenses of exploratory robots, and an electroactive
polymer-powered mechanical arm is being pitted against a 16-year-old girl in
an arm-wrestling contest in the upcoming Smart Materials and Structures
Conference. The researchers involved in that project see it being included in
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's exoskeleton project, which
aims to create robotic enhancements so soldiers can carry heavier loads, run
faster, and jump higher. Visual augmentation, such as bionic eye implants
that allow "zoom vision," could become common 30 years from now, says Jerome
Glenn of the American Council for the United Nations University; electronic
devices can be positioned behind the eye and coupled with artificial lenses
to allow long-distance sight. Nanobots deployed in people's brains could
release chemical stimulants that speed anticipation and response. The
military is already reportedly identifying DNA components linked to favorable
traits in elite soldiers such as Navy Seals, says Arlington Institute
futurist and former National Security Council staff John Petersen. 

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