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Message no. 1
From: Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2000 16:39:26 +1100
-----Original Message-----
From: Tenkilian <jed7466@******.isc.rit.edu>
To: shadowrn@*********.com <shadowrn@*********.com>
Date: Wednesday, November 08, 2000 12:30 AM
Subject: Re: new cyber/bioware

>Mmm. . .cyber wings. Too bad that even at half body weight, you still need
a
>wingspan of something like 14 feet,
>plus you couldn't generate enough power internally to lift yourself. You'd
need
>some sort of additional power source,
>like a battery in your chest. Too bad, too. Cyber wings sound like a really
cool
>idea until someone remembers the laws
>of physics. :)

Ever see a condor fly?
Message no. 2
From: Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 16:36:26 +1100
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Collins <paulcollins@*******.com>
To: shadowrn@*********.com <shadowrn@*********.com>
Date: Wednesday, November 08, 2000 10:53 PM
Subject: Re: new cyber/bioware


>
>
><Snip>
>
>Thinking back to high school biology and things,
>
>I think the person would die within a few days to weeks without some major
>medical intervention on a regular basis. All that icky stuff in the middle
>of the bones, which you seem to be leaving out, is bone marrow. This is
the
>part of the body that makes the red blood cells, and many of the bodies
>white blood cells. Oh, and the platelets as well.
>
>While I'm sure the cyberware could be designed around this, it is definatly
>a limiting factor.
>
>Annachie


No, I factored that in, I'm sure I said somewhere in the post that it would
have to be compensated with implants, possibly nanites.
Anyway, there are other bird adaptations that could be put over into humans.
Their eyesight, for example. Although the human eye is more complex, birds
are famous for being able to see for kilometres. Imagine, having the
benefits of telescopic vision constantly, without losing any short range
eyesight. A bird's respiratory system is also much more efficient than a
mammal's. This means not getting tired as quickly, and not needing to
breathe as often. Actual bird wings are a bit far, but a folding glider
could get you airborne.
Why stop at birds? Kangaroos have a specialised achilles tendon that stores
and returns far more energy than a human one. You could jump further and run
much longer before getting tired. Camels have a host of survival mechanisms
that could be adapted, including ears and nostrils that can be completely
sealed at will (the hump might be a bit much), many animals have subdermal
fat layers to insulate against the cold, dolphins and whales can hold their
breath for huge periods of time and never get the bends, and a host of
desert animals rarely if ever need to drink water due to efficient digestion
and waste removal. You could make super survivalists, soldiers vat grown for
specific conditions.
Anyway, a friend of mine studied animal biology in university, and bird
anatomy is a pet love of his. I shall have to rack his brain, when I find
him.
Message no. 3
From: Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 17:56:43 +1100
Sending this post again, didn't work for some reason. Anyone else getting
delivery failures?


>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Paul Collins <paulcollins@*******.com>
>To: shadowrn@*********.com <shadowrn@*********.com>
>Date: Wednesday, November 08, 2000 10:53 PM
>Subject: Re: new cyber/bioware
>
>
>>
>>
>><Snip>
>>
>>Thinking back to high school biology and things,
>>
>>I think the person would die within a few days to weeks without some major
>>medical intervention on a regular basis. All that icky stuff in the
middle
>>of the bones, which you seem to be leaving out, is bone marrow. This is
>the
>>part of the body that makes the red blood cells, and many of the bodies
>>white blood cells. Oh, and the platelets as well.
>>
>>While I'm sure the cyberware could be designed around this, it is
definatly
>>a limiting factor.
>>
>>Annachie
>
>
>No, I factored that in, I'm sure I said somewhere in the post that it would
>have to be compensated with implants, possibly nanites.
>Anyway, there are other bird adaptations that could be put over into
humans.
>Their eyesight, for example. Although the human eye is more complex, birds
>are famous for being able to see for kilometres. Imagine, having the
>benefits of telescopic vision constantly, without losing any short range
>eyesight. A bird's respiratory system is also much more efficient than a
>mammal's. This means not getting tired as quickly, and not needing to
>breathe as often. Actual bird wings are a bit far, but a folding glider
>could get you airborne.
>Why stop at birds? Kangaroos have a specialised achilles tendon that stores
>and returns far more energy than a human one. You could jump further and
run
>much longer before getting tired. Camels have a host of survival mechanisms
>that could be adapted, including ears and nostrils that can be completely
>sealed at will (the hump might be a bit much), many animals have subdermal
>fat layers to insulate against the cold, dolphins and whales can hold their
>breath for huge periods of time and never get the bends, and a host of
>desert animals rarely if ever need to drink water due to efficient
digestion
>and waste removal. You could make super survivalists, soldiers vat grown
for
>specific conditions.
>Anyway, a friend of mine studied animal biology in university, and bird
>anatomy is a pet love of his. I shall have to rack his brain, when I find
>him.
>
>
Message no. 4
From: Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 17:51:38 +1100
How feasible do you think it would be to implant pneumatic, hollow bones
into a character to dramatically reduce their body weight? They would
probably have to be cloned, then reinforced with plastic or kevlar bone
lacing (without actually getting the benefits of regular bone lacing since
it is just lending strength/support that natural bone would give, not adding
more).
The benefits would be that the muscular strength would remain, though there
is much less body weight for them to move. Your effective strength would be
much higher, especially in the legs. You'd also be able to pull off amazing
acrobatic feats, as seen in many Hong Kong action movies. Climbing, jumping
and falling would all be much easier and less potentially damaging. Grapple
lines could be smaller and lighter, as could flight/gliding devices. Finally
you would look a lot more graceful, which may add to your charisma. There's
probably more benefits too.
The drawbacks would be that you do less damage in unarmed combat, since you
don't have the mass to cause much damage. Getting hit is also more likely to
knock you down, though you might actually take less damage from the blow.
Bones are more than just support struts, they supply all sorts of things,
blood being a main one. Bioware bones could do the same job, but it is
unlikely they'd do it as well. A secondary system, possibly nanites, would
be needed. Your bones obviously would break more easily, even with the
lacing, and healing would be more difficult. The system for this might be
longer heal times and more difficult recovery rolls for serious or deadly
wounds. Less mass would mean more likelihood of being blown away by strong
winds and such. Lastly, you'd have to be careful what cyberware you get, no
dermal plates or things that might add weight and lose the advantage of the
bones. Again, there's likely more drawbacks.
So, I think that if they can give you cat eyes, they can give you bird
bones. The Body cost would be huge of course, but your bones make up a great
deal of your body weight, more than half that weight could be removed. The
next step is cyber wings.
Can anyone draw up likely essence cost, nuyen cost and exact stats?
Message no. 5
From: Tenkilian jed7466@******.isc.rit.edu
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2000 08:30:40 -0500
Simon and Fiona wrote:
<SNIP>



> So, I think that if they can give you cat eyes, they can give you bird

> bones. The Body cost would be huge of course, but your bones make up a great
> deal of your body weight, more than half that weight could be removed. The
> next step is cyber wings.
> Can anyone draw up likely essence cost, nuyen cost and exact stats?

Mmm. . .cyber wings. Too bad that even at half body weight, you still need a
wingspan of something like 14 feet,
plus you couldn't generate enough power internally to lift yourself. You'd need
some sort of additional power source,
like a battery in your chest. Too bad, too. Cyber wings sound like a really cool
idea until someone remembers the laws
of physics. :)

~Tenkilian
Message no. 6
From: Damian Sharp zadoc@***.neu.edu
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 03:04:46 -0500 (EST)
On Tue, 7 Nov 2000, Tenkilian wrote:

> Mmm. . .cyber wings. Too bad that even at half body weight, you still need a
> wingspan of something like 14 feet,
> plus you couldn't generate enough power internally to lift yourself. You'd need
> some sort of additional power source,
> like a battery in your chest. Too bad, too. Cyber wings sound like a really cool
> idea until someone remembers the laws
> of physics. :)

There you go, not using the full extent of the tech.
Sure, you couldn't just lift off from the ground on the force of the
wings, but you could get wings that allow gliding, I'm sure.
To take off? Rocket pack. :)

And what's wrong with a battery in your chest? It's just a big procedure,
to get wings that you could use, but certainly not impossible.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Damian Sharp of Real Life, College Graduate |
| Zauviir Seldszar of Wildlands, Scribe of House Maritym |
| Xavier Kindric of Shandlin's Ferry, member of Valindar |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't speak Latin in front of the books"
Message no. 7
From: Paul Collins paulcollins@*******.com
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 22:51:03 +1100
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon and Fiona" <sfuller@******.com.au>
To: "Shadowrn" <shadowrn@*********.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 5:51 PM
Subject: new cyber/bioware


> How feasible do you think it would be to implant pneumatic, hollow bones
> into a character to dramatically reduce their body weight? They would
> probably have to be cloned, then reinforced with plastic or kevlar bone
> lacing (without actually getting the benefits of regular bone lacing since
> it is just lending strength/support that natural bone would give, not
adding
> more).


<Snip>

Thinking back to high school biology and things,

I think the person would die within a few days to weeks without some major
medical intervention on a regular basis. All that icky stuff in the middle
of the bones, which you seem to be leaving out, is bone marrow. This is the
part of the body that makes the red blood cells, and many of the bodies
white blood cells. Oh, and the platelets as well.

While I'm sure the cyberware could be designed around this, it is definatly
a limiting factor.

Annachie
------------------------------------------------

-----"I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your
head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that
some favors come with too high a price. I'd look up at your lifeless eyes
and wave like this. Can you and your associates arrange it for me, Mr.
Morden?"
-----Vir
Message no. 8
From: Damian Sharp zadoc@***.neu.edu
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 06:57:34 -0500 (EST)
On Wed, 8 Nov 2000, Paul Collins wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Simon and Fiona" <sfuller@******.com.au>
> To: "Shadowrn" <shadowrn@*********.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 5:51 PM
> Subject: new cyber/bioware
>
>
> > How feasible do you think it would be to implant pneumatic, hollow bones
> > into a character to dramatically reduce their body weight? They would
> > probably have to be cloned, then reinforced with plastic or kevlar bone
> > lacing (without actually getting the benefits of regular bone lacing since
> > it is just lending strength/support that natural bone would give, not
> adding
> > more).
>
>
> <Snip>
>
> Thinking back to high school biology and things,
>
> I think the person would die within a few days to weeks without some major
> medical intervention on a regular basis. All that icky stuff in the middle
> of the bones, which you seem to be leaving out, is bone marrow. This is the
> part of the body that makes the red blood cells, and many of the bodies
> white blood cells. Oh, and the platelets as well.
>
> While I'm sure the cyberware could be designed around this, it is definatly
> a limiting factor.

Well, given the tech, they _could_ probably use nanites to do the same
thing, or simply implant something else in your body, to perform the
function of bone marrow, without needing the bone marrow in your bones.

Not something I'd want to do on a whim, or frankly, not something _I_
would ever want to do, but we're designing real freaks, sometimes. :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Damian Sharp of Real Life, College Graduate |
| Zauviir Seldszar of Wildlands, Scribe of House Maritym |
| Xavier Kindric of Shandlin's Ferry, member of Valindar |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't speak Latin in front of the books"
Message no. 9
From: Peter Steen Kristiansen sds@**.auc.dk
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 13:00:39 +0100 (MET)
On Wed, 8 Nov 2000, Paul Collins wrote:

>
> I think the person would die within a few days to weeks without some major
> medical intervention on a regular basis. All that icky stuff in the middle
> of the bones, which you seem to be leaving out, is bone marrow. This is the
> part of the body that makes the red blood cells, and many of the bodies
> white blood cells. Oh, and the platelets as well.
>
Well, it seems to work for the birds. How I do not know, but if birds
can have hollow bones, then maybe it should be possible to make a set
for a human. I got this feeling that somebody _really_ want to be an
angel O;-) May I suggest physical mask and levitate O;-)

-----Peter (sds) Kristiansen-----
Nihil Antequam Temetum
Message no. 10
From: Matt Bond MBOND@******.demon.co.uk
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 12:32:54 -0000
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Steen Kristiansen [mailto:sds@**.auc.dk]
> Sent: 08 November 2000 12:01
> To: shadowrn@*********.com
> Subject: Re: new cyber/bioware
>
>
> On Wed, 8 Nov 2000, Paul Collins wrote:
>
> >
> > I think the person would die within a few days to weeks
> without some major
> > medical intervention on a regular basis. All that icky
> stuff in the middle
> > of the bones, which you seem to be leaving out, is bone
> marrow. This is the
> > part of the body that makes the red blood cells, and many
> of the bodies
> > white blood cells. Oh, and the platelets as well.
> >
> Well, it seems to work for the birds. How I do not know, but if birds
> can have hollow bones, then maybe it should be possible to make a set
> for a human.

Human bones *are* hollow, it's just that the hollow bits are surrounded
by thick, dense bone. Bird bones also have air spaces within the
surrounding bone, which is thinner in any case...

So yes, if you can come up with a substance that is a strong as a thick,
human bone, yet as light as a scaled up Avian bone and still contains
marrow and blood vessels etc, then you can lose a few kilos of body
mass... woo-hoo!

Oh yes, it'd be nice if it was self-repairing so that cracked ribs etc
don't require surgery to heal...

Personally, if I wanted to fly I'd use magic or a jet-pac...

Matt
Message no. 11
From: Peter Steen Kristiansen sds@**.auc.dk
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 14:02:45 +0100 (MET)
On Wed, 8 Nov 2000, Matt Bond wrote:

> > Well, it seems to work for the birds. How I do not know, but if birds
> > can have hollow bones, then maybe it should be possible to make a set
> > for a human.
>
> Human bones *are* hollow, it's just that the hollow bits are surrounded
> by thick, dense bone. Bird bones also have air spaces within the
> surrounding bone, which is thinner in any case...
Well, as I mentioned before my knowledge of avian anatomy is extremely
limited. But what I've heard is that bird bones are hollow, and human
bones are not. Maybe it just means that the sceletal structure of an
avian is even "more hollow" than that of a human.

>
> So yes, if you can come up with a substance that is a strong as a thick,
> human bone, yet as light as a scaled up Avian bone and still contains
> marrow and blood vessels etc, then you can lose a few kilos of body
> mass... woo-hoo!

Well, I would guess (please note.. a guess) that if we took an avian
bone and scaled it to human size we would loose quite some body
weight. Is the reason for hollow-bird-bones not that they are lighter
and therefore requires less energy to move. Since birds do fly around
one just have to assume that they manage to make all kinds of blood
vessels and platelets O;-)


>
> Personally, if I wanted to fly I'd use magic or a jet-pac...
>
Yup.

-----Peter (sds) Kristiansen-----
Angel you say?? Wait a sec' .. one Physical Mask and a homebrewed-fly
spell later..
Message no. 12
From: Tenkilian jed7466@******.isc.rit.edu
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2000 09:11:50 -0500
Peter Steen Kristiansen wrote:

> Well, I would guess (please note.. a guess) that if we took an avian
> bone and scaled it to human size we would loose quite some body
> weight. Is the reason for hollow-bird-bones not that they are lighter
> and therefore requires less energy to move. Since birds do fly around
> one just have to assume that they manage to make all kinds of blood
> vessels and platelets O;-)
>

Actually, according to the National History Museum site on birds (
www.nhm.org/birds ), a birds skeleton has the same weight as a mammal of the
same size. Probably best to use magic, and maybe get the wings anyway just for
show.

~Tenkilian
Message no. 13
From: Peter Steen Kristiansen sds@**.auc.dk
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 15:13:13 +0100 (MET)
On Wed, 8 Nov 2000, Tenkilian wrote:

> Actually, according to the National History Museum site on birds (
> www.nhm.org/birds ), a birds skeleton has the same weight as a mammal of the
> same size. Probably best to use magic, and maybe get the wings anyway just for
> show.
>
Well. I sit corrected.

-----Peter (sds) Kristiansen-----
Who needs knowledge about those things anyways??
Message no. 14
From: Achille Autran aautran@****.fr
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 16:16:53 +0100
From: Peter Steen Kristiansen <sds@**.auc.dk>

>>>>>>[ Human bones *are* hollow, it's just that the hollow bits are
surrounded
> by thick, dense bone. Bird bones also have air spaces within the
> surrounding bone, which is thinner in any case...
Well, as I mentioned before my knowledge of avian anatomy is extremely
limited. But what I've heard is that bird bones are hollow, and human
bones are not. Maybe it just means that the sceletal structure of an
avian is even "more hollow" than that of a human.]<<<<<

Last time I ate a chicken, its bones were filled with red marrow, but
maybe your birds are weird...Oh, okay, you meant that they were hollow
but filled !
Apart from blured semantics, bird bones qualities result from their
geometry: contrary to mammal bones, they are not just "tubes" (which
alreday have good mecanical properties), they are thin tubes crossed by
many transversal beams, which creates a material both very light and
strong. Industrialy producing such a material is quite a pain, but I
imagine very well a procedure of "bone lightening" along these lines,
without moving the marrow around. It could be made by nanobots, some
scraping the bones to unthicken them, other building the inner beams.
That would take a very long time though.
Message no. 15
From: Nexx nexx@********.net
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 11:42:15 -0600
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Steen Kristiansen" <sds@**.auc.dk>

> Well, it seems to work for the birds. How I do not know, but if birds
> can have hollow bones, then maybe it should be possible to make a set
> for a human. I got this feeling that somebody _really_ want to be an
> angel O;-) May I suggest physical mask and levitate O;-)

Another option might be a pair of mounting hooks on your back, provided you
have reinforced bones, so you could use a much smaller hang-glider.
Wouldn't be perfect, but it would allow you some useful options.
Message no. 16
From: Sebastian Wiers m0ng005e@*****.com
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 17:19:05 -0600
:Well, given the tech, they _could_ probably use nanites to do the same
:thing, or simply implant something else in your body, to perform the
:function of bone marrow, without needing the bone marrow in your bones.

Well, yeah, but then that stuff still has its own mass. Then again,
birds obviusly stash thier marrow somewhere. Its not real dense- I bet its
still in the middle of thier bones. Bird bones are only hollow by
comparison to mammalian bones, whcih generally have a "scaffold" of bone
tissue inside, as well as comparatively thick walls.
Not that that makes an ostrich all that light...

If your just looking to make a human bieng lightweight, your missing the
simplest mass reducing measure. If yah just shoot nutrients right into your
viens from a jar, you don't need any stomach or intesitines any longer.
That's gotta save some mass, right? No more messy eaating, either- just
plug in a new jar a few times a day. You could even remove those heavy
teeth, if yah want.

-Sebastian
Message no. 17
From: Sebastian Wiers m0ng005e@*****.com
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 17:02:53 -0600
:So, I think that if they can give you cat eyes, they can give you bird
:bones.

Removing and replacing an eye (or just the cornea and or retina) is probably
a lot easier than de-boning somebody. There's all those damn tendons to
worry about re-connecting...
I suppose you could re-build the required portions, but the question is, why
bother?

The Body cost would be huge of course, but your bones make up a great
:deal of your body weight, more than half that weight could be removed. The
:next step is cyber wings.

Your bones make up maybe 20% of your weight, IIRC. I'm not sure if that
includes the marrow, which you'd still need. Assuming it doesn't (and my
figure was correct), you could maybe reduce body mass by 10%. I'd rather
just go on a diet, if I needed to be lighter, or add some muscle, if I
needed to be faster. I susspect the human body just isn't shaped properly
to benefit much from having hollow bones.

-Sebastian
Message no. 18
From: Bira ra002585@**.unicamp.br
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2000 23:57:10 GMT
> Well, given the tech, they _could_ probably use nanites to do the same
> thing, or simply implant something else in your body, to perform the
> function of bone marrow, without needing the bone marrow in your bones.
>
> Not something I'd want to do on a whim, or frankly, not something _I_
> would ever want to do, but we're designing real freaks, sometimes. :)

You _could_ try to give the subject the same factors that make
birds "work" with marrow-filed bones. I know one of them is red blood
cells with nuclei (which make them self-replicating, and
longer-lasting), but I don't remember the others right now.

But then we come across another problem - all the modifications
needed to give someone wings are so extensive that you're better off
doing them to a fertilized egg's DNA than to a fully grown (meta)human.



Bira -- SysOp da Shadowland.BR
http://members.xoom.com/slbr
http://www.terravista.pt/Nazare/2729
Redator de Shadowrun da RPG em Revista
http://www.rpgemrevista.cjb.net
ICQ#4055455
Message no. 19
From: Fyre - AKA Colin alan@******.demon.co.uk
Subject: new cyber/bioware
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 20:26:29 +0000
In article <007701bf5a63$7a2265c0$4b2b8aca@********>, Simon and Fiona
<sfuller@******.com.au> writes

<snip>

>Anyway, there are other bird adaptations that could be put over into humans.
>Their eyesight, for example. Although the human eye is more complex, birds
>are famous for being able to see for kilometres. Imagine, having the
>benefits of telescopic vision constantly, without losing any short range
>eyesight.

Hmm... I, personally, would keep my cyber eyes unless I were sure that
there would be no loss of close-range vision. The thing is that human
eyes probably have a much wider FOV hence replacing them with bird-like
equivalents would, although providing a more detailed ranged view by
default, provide the same problems as a zoom.

>A bird's respiratory system is also much more efficient than a
>mammal's. This means not getting tired as quickly, and not needing to
>breathe as often. Actual bird wings are a bit far, but a folding glider
>could get you airborne.

Yes... but it would use a heck of a lot of torso space simply for
storing the wings not to mention a mechanism for extending them and the
necessary structural reinforcements... A backpack could perhaps do this
but there are allot of problems there too.

>Why stop at birds? Kangaroos have a specialised achilles tendon that stores
>and returns far more energy than a human one. You could jump further and run
>much longer before getting tired.

Now this I could see as a simple bit of bioware. Perhaps an extra die
for relevant athletics tests.

>Camels have a host of survival mechanisms
>that could be adapted, including ears and nostrils that can be completely
>sealed at will

It's okay... The Johnson's not saying what I think he is... I can just
close my ears and nothing bad will happen. The troll beside him dosen't
smell that bad either... It's all a dream.

>(the hump might be a bit much),

Aww :)

>many animals have subdermal
>fat layers to insulate against the cold,

I'd be careful about insulating the body permanently... Without proper
cooing measures you'd get heat-stroke mighty quickly. Having said this:
if you really wanted to make navy _seals_ this is as good a method as
any ;).

>dolphins and whales can hold their
>breath for huge periods of time and never get the bends,

This would be possible... Just basic bioware lung replacement.

> and a host of
>desert animals rarely if ever need to drink water due to efficient digestion
>and waste removal. You could make super survivalists, soldiers vat grown for
>specific conditions.

If it's possible to make the digestive tract digest more I suppose it
should be possible to make it absorb more water etc.

>Anyway, a friend of mine studied animal biology in university, and bird
>anatomy is a pet love of his. I shall have to rack his brain, when I find
>him.
>
It's probably not relevant, but here's an exert from one of my lectures
today:

This is a little known fact: but crickets actually have their ears on
their knees... You can easily prove this: if you make a loud noise near
a cricket _with_ legs it jumps away. If, however, you remove the
cricket's legs (In the interests of science, of course): It doesn't jump
away from loud noises!

Conclusive proof if ever I saw it. The implications are boundless (IE:
completely without bound) :)

Seriously: I see no reason why you couldn't make a removable cyber-hand
(Red-Dwarf Criton style) and use it as a simple scouting drone... But
perhaps with a camera of it's own instead of having to remove an eye.
It's munchie if you think about it, but possible.
DarkFyre
--
fyre@******.demon.co.uk

Further Reading

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