Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on 'Life Support' Using The Whole Animal
Interesting design concept brings out the idea of using animals to help human beings with their medical problems in a very visual way. (Read
the complete story)
| "Not quite pairing, but, there was a passage in Frank Herbert's Dune series. (can't recall wich book) Where the mentat Thufir, is captured by the Baron Harkonnen, and in order to survive he was paired with a cat. The process of course, killing the cat. There's another reference, but for the life of me, I can't think of it." (Galeanthropist 7/8/2008 10:25:34 AM) |
| "This is gross. Interesting, but gross." (Zac Hunter 7/8/2008 10:36:08 AM) |
| "Actually, there was an interesting case that was recently reported that is kind of similar. A physician has intentionally infected himself with hookworms to determine if there is any benefit, as has been reported. Apparently, some people who are infected with hookworm rarely suffered from autoimmune-related illnesses. The physician theorizes "The allergic response evolved to help expel parasites, and we think the worms have found a way of switching off the immune system in order to survive,” Dr. David Pritchard said. “That’s why infected people have fewer allergic symptoms.”" (Bill Christensen 7/8/2008 11:22:48 AM) |
| "Reminds me of the whole "kill the familiar, kill the witch" thing. Wasn't there some of that in "Golden Compass"?" (Blue Monkey 7/8/2008 4:17:54 PM) |
| "In an episode of "House" in its first season, I think it was "Sports Medicine". House used a pig to filter a mans blood of heavy metals to save the mans life." (Hugshug 7/8/2008 4:31:05 PM) |
| "What about E.T. and Elliot?" ( 7/9/2008 6:20:08 AM) |
| "Do non-"cute little animal" types count? There've been plenty of stories involving symbiots, of varying degrees of helpfulness and familiarity. The one that springs most quickly to mind is the one from David Weber's book: The Apocalypse Troll. Tho that symbiot looked like a slime mold, if it was separated from its host, it offered a fairly large amount of help to the host. (rapid healing/"Wolverine" like regeneration, effective near-immortality, enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, etc...)
And in the MMORPG Anarchy Online, you can implant symbiots to provide stat/skill bonuses. (you can implant cybernetics, also, but the symbiots can be more useful, if you can get good ones)
And the Geneforge games are even more closely fitting to this. They "create" creatures to do stuff that they need done, custom grown to fit whatever the task is. (need some general purpose tools? grow them. Need a dart gun? grow it.)
And the Yuuzhan Vong in the Star Wars novels do this also. Tho they show the "evil" side of doing it." (Ashley 7/9/2008 8:24:32 AM) |
| "Hugshug - this seems to be based on real science. There have been cases in which perfusion through an pig's liver can help stabilize patients with liver failure. Here's an article on Treatment of Hepatic Failure with ex Vivo Pig-Liver Perfusion. "ex Vivo" meaning that the organ is harvested from the pig, but at least it's possible." (Bill Christensen 7/9/2008 10:22:25 AM) |
| "Ashley - I was thinking about symbionts as well. Human beings have vast numbers of bacteria living in the gut that live with us and help us digest our food, of course. Sfnal symbionts are close to what I was looking for." (Bill Christensen 7/9/2008 10:28:21 AM) |
| "The babelfish from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." (Jon Watkins 7/10/2008 6:17:07 AM) |
| "Jon - that's a pretty good example. As I recall, the babelfish feeds on brainwave energy provided by the host." (Bill Christensen 7/10/2008 7:01:36 AM) |
| "Startrek Deep Space Nine symbiots? Stargate badguys Gaould (in Jaffa hosts)? Starship Troopers neo dogs? His dark materials Deamons? Vampires? All close, but not quite the same.
" (Bajab 7/10/2008 8:44:00 PM) |
| "Now that I check again, I must admit that, while they use custom built creatures for all sorts of things, I wasn't able to find any case of one actually being "connected" to a person in the Geneforge games. They're basically just used as fantasy replacements for more conventional magic/tech devices and artifacts." (Ashley 7/11/2008 6:35:23 PM) |
Get more information on 'Life Support' Using The Whole Animal
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned; if you have a comment, send it to bill at this site (include the story name) and I'll post it.
More Articles
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...'
Solar-Powered Space Trains On The Moon
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These
There are alternative names that are probably in the public domain by now.
How Old Are Tesla Designs?
You be the judge.
Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
'The field-minder finished turning the top-soil of a two-thousand-acre field.'
Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'
Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
Please, no stingers.
Are The Thought Police Listening To Everyone All The Time?
'... they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to.'
Finally, Robot Conductors On Autonomous Buses
'Wardour Street,' he told the robot-conductor.'
RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'
Giant Robotic Hands At Gundam Next Future Science
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.'
