Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Cloaca No. 5 Bionic Bowel, At Last
Bionic arms? Got'em. Robotic hands? Got'em. Robotic legs? You bet. Mechanical heart? Temporary replacement version, check. How about an artificial, mechanical gut?
Cloaca No. 5 is just what we've all been waiting for. No more dependence on our own digestive systems. Cloaca No. 5 is a bionic bowel, a mechanical gut. Behold the future of digestive mechanics.
(Cloaca No. 5, the bionic bowel)
An art project created by Wim Delvoye, Cloaca No. 5 takes leftovers from museum and gallery cafeterias, and does what you and I do best - turn whatever it consumes into fecal matter. Which it presents in packaged form.
There is actually a more serious side to this device. Cancers of the stomach, colon and intestine are very serious; there is no real replacement for these organs. Might this be an early step towards a solution to the problem?
Update 05-Feb-2009: Moved by the peristalsis-like proddings of readers, I did some more looking and found an artificial stomach created several years ago in 2006.
(Norwich's Institute of Food Research artificial stomach)
This device was constructed at Norwich's Institute of Food Research; the intent is to spur the development of foods. It has about half the capacity of a typical human stomach, and seems to be a vegetarian so far.
Software sets the parameters of the artificial gut — how long food remains in a particular part of the stomach, predicted hormone responses at various stages, and whether it is an infant or adult gut.Unlike previous gut models, Wickham's model incorporates the physiological elements of digestion, including the stomach contractions that break up food and move it along the assembly line of human digestion.
"There have been lots of jam-jar models of digestion before," said Dr. Martin Wickham of Norwich's Institute of Food Research. "This model is important because it gets the science of digestion right."
End update.
As far as I know, even Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man, never had any bionic replacements for this organ. Truly, the future is here today.
From Wim Delvoye via Gizmodo.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/4/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 10 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'- Alfred Bester, 1956.
Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans
'... drugged and chilled and stowed in sleep tanks.' - Robert Heinlein, 1951.
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.' - Robert Heinlein, 1956
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'
Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'
Prufrock-3 'The Monster' Ready To Launch
Just go for it.
Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'
Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.
Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'
Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'
AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'
Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Wood-Panelled LignoSat Launched
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories
'His contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory.'
'Iceberg House' Of Travis Kelce Reflects Science Fiction Of Past Century
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock that folded up to underlie the ridge...'
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...'
