Buzz
While many of these scientific feats are undoubtedly groundbreaking and will greatly benefit humanity, each one carries with it an underlying unsettling element. For instance...
10. Artificial Organs
The liver, often subjected to strain from excessive alcohol consumption, drugs, poor diets, and more, is one of the most vulnerable organs in the body. Currently, there are no truly effective artificial liver replacements, with only a few experimental solutions like the ELAD showing promise.
The good news is that the demand for a solution has not gone unnoticed. Takanori Takebe and his team from Yokohama City University in Japan have recently combined liver cells with umbilical cord cells, creating a small but seemingly functional liver bud. It appears that scientists have been experimenting with lab-grown organs since 1988, with some limited success in growing bladders, hearts, and kidneys. One of the main advantages of this approach is that the organs can be made from the patient's own cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs.
While this remarkable scientific achievement deserves recognition, there are concerns: critics argue that Takanori's liver replicas may not be as promising as they seem, pointing out that the liver cells are not significantly different from the cancer-prone cells produced in previous experiments. Additionally, the experiment with mice only lasted for a month, which critics say is insufficient to determine whether the cells were cancerous. Another issue is that the organs are too small to support an entire human body at this stage. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the unpredictability of man-made organs, which, like all artificial creations, can malfunction at any moment. This could be particularly devastating for someone relying on one of these organs to survive.
9. Cyborg Humans
We are both anticipating and fearing the moment when machines begin to take on human form. Rex, a robotic exoskeleton, represents the latest in human prosthetics and artificial organs, costing a hefty one million dollars. This 2.0-meter (6.5-ft) tall robot includes an artificial spleen, pancreas, trachea, and kidney, as well as a battery-powered heart, infection-free synthetic blood, and a lifelike face that closely resembles one of its creators.
Rex is modeled after psychologist Bertolt Meyer, who himself wears a bionic hand. The robot is designed for display at London's Science Museum, as well as for the documentary titled How To Build A Bionic Man. For those concerned about the potential for a Terminator-like scenario, Meyer reassured the public, stating: 'I’d say it’s highly unlikely that, in our lifetime or in that of our grandchildren, we will see a fully articulate human body with an artificial intelligence.'
8. Brain Control from Afar
This fascinating piece of science isn't exactly new: back in 1963, Yale researcher Jose Delgado discovered that brain neurons could be electrically stimulated to control involuntary movements, influence emotions, or, perhaps most impressively, stop a bull mid-charge.
Jose demonstrated this by standing in a ring with an enraged bull. He let the animal charge at him, only to halt its aggressive attack with the simple press of a button. The device he implanted, called a 'stimoceiver,' transmitted electronic pulses to calm the bull through its brain neurons. While modern research into brain control in humans likely focuses on restoring function to parts of the brain affected by strokes or brain damage, as well as offering new hope for treating diseases once thought incurable, like Parkinson's, I can't help but feel uneasy about the potential dangers of brain manipulation. Call me a skeptic.
7. Combat Robots
It’s painfully clear that members of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have never watched a science fiction movie. Why else would they design a war machine modeled after a cheetah? So, if it malfunctions, you won’t be able to outrun it? Military robots are now being built to tap into the natural abilities that animals have honed over centuries of evolution. The cheetah robot is one of the latest war machines in development. While it doesn’t exactly resemble a cheetah, it matches the animal’s agility, speed, and impressive locomotion, reaching 28.3 mph in a 20-meter (65-ft) sprint. That’s faster than Usain Bolt’s world record for running, though the treadmill used in the cheetah's case means its strength is focused on leg movement rather than propulsion.
If the cheetah robot wasn’t enough to make you uneasy, it’s already been joined by a robot called Big Dog, originally designed to mimic a pack mule. However, carrying weapons of mass destruction wasn’t enough, so Boston Dynamics added a mechanical arm that lets it throw cinder blocks at warehouses, and (presumably) people. Now, Big Dog is voice-controlled, enabling soldiers to easily deploy it in battle. It can run and use its impressive strength to move debris off fallen soldiers, then throw it at their enemies who, hopefully, have no cheetah-like robots of their own.
6. Full-Body Head Transplant
This is not to be confused with a brain transplant; instead, the entire head of one person is transplanted onto the body of another (with consent, ideally, though an evil scientist scenario is also possible). Head transplants were once considered more of a theoretical concept than a practical reality due to the difficulty of reconnecting the delicate spinal cord. However, a nerve regeneration breakthrough in the US has made head transplants seem possible, with scientists predicting that this procedure will soon become a viable option.
So far, successful head transplants have been performed on rats, dogs, and monkeys, but since the spinal cord couldn’t be reattached at the time, the heads couldn't control their new bodies. If you’ve seen images of two-headed dogs or adult rats with baby rat heads screaming from their thighs, you might question whether calling this 'successful' is even accurate. In theory, the procedure is meant to help people suffering from incurable diseases, too many organ failures to be addressed by surgery, or those who are quadriplegic. However, since this has never been tried on humans, who knows what the consequences might be. Will you still be the same person after being Frankenstein-ed back together?
5. Google Glass
Google Glass is now available (though probably not to you, but definitely to someone). The glasses themselves are not particularly disturbing. It’s the ideas they’ve sparked that are raising concerns. Google Glass will allow us to do everything we already do on our phones, but in a more refined, hands-free, and decidedly James Bond-like manner. Fascinating as they are, we should have known that anything created for the advancement of science is never the final product; it’s just the beginning.
One Google futurist has already predicted that the next step will be uploading our brains into computers. While this capability remains speculative—since the imaging needed to preserve consciousness in a digital space is still unknown—the computer component may not be as far-fetched as we think. And don’t dismiss it as pure science fiction. After all, we did put a man on the moon, didn’t we?
Immortality inside a machine sounds one thing, but the idea of transcending the way humans think is quite another. But don’t you think the brain would be deeply disturbed to realize it is detached from the body parts it was meant to govern, existing only as electronic data? Once the human mind realizes it’s been placed into a machine, how long before it spirals into madness? Or will it be more like the 'brain in a vat' scenario that philosophers warned us about, where the brain doesn’t even know it’s inside a computer? Who knows, maybe it’s already happening. Perhaps you only think you're reading this because some mad scientist has programmed your isolated brain to make you believe you’re reading this.
And if that doesn’t make you stop and think, consider the suggestion that in just 90 years, our natural human bodies could be replaced entirely by machines. This is another bold prediction made by Google engineers, and judging by the development of Google Glass and the confident statements of its creators, they seem serious.
4. Genetically Modified Babies
While genetically modified babies are envisioned to be free from undesirable diseases and disorders, the idea still feels too full of potential issues to be considered reliable, even though we've successfully modified both food and animals in the past. It’s important to remember that while we have managed to develop these altered organisms, it wasn’t without significant trial and error—emphasis on error.
Though disposing of 'failed' genetically modified plants or animals may be controversial, it still occurs, and the disposal of flawed human prototypes in this genetic gamble would raise serious ethical concerns. That said, genetically modified babies have already been born. These children carry extra genes—one from a man, and two from women—along with other genetic quirks. The aftermath wasn’t as flawless as the scientists had hoped.
As these children reached adolescence, reports started to emerge about how the added genetic traits might manifest in the child or even in future generations. A noticeable increase in autism was one of the more common side effects. Unfortunately, many of these genetically modified babies were never properly monitored, making any definitive conclusions about their outcomes impossible. The FDA is now considering a ban on these so-called 'designer babies,' likely to calm public concern. While some argue that these children are growing up 'just fine,' a quick look at the controversies surrounding genetically modified foods may make you appreciate the FDA’s stance. Perhaps we should perfect plant engineering before attempting genetic alterations on human life.
If it helps ease your mind, scientists have assured us that the creation of 'a new super race of genetically perfect beings with superior intellect and strength' is neither the goal nor, at this point, even possible.
3. Talking Apes
What if a minor tweak in the genetic code could enable chimpanzees to speak like humans? Would that change our perception of sentience? To avoid that never-ending debate, let’s stick to the facts: genetically, chimpanzees are more similar to humans than any other species on Earth. We share a remarkable 98.5 percent of our DNA with them. So, how close does that make us?
If you haven’t heard about 'Washoe,' you should. To summarize: in the 1960s, a chimpanzee named Washoe not only learned but also used approximately 350 words in American Sign Language, and even passed some of these lessons on to her adopted son, Loulis, all without human intervention. Over the course of her 42 years, it was said that Washoe 'broke the barrier' between human and animal communication. Despite her ability to communicate in sign language, chimps still cannot produce the sounds necessary for human speech. The reason for this lies in a gene called FOXP2: while chimps have a slightly different version of this gene, they still possess it. However, this is not the sole gene responsible for speech—FOXP2 alone might not produce the desired results, but it’s a step toward the bridge.
This raises the question: could manipulating the genetic makeup of chimpanzees lead to them speaking? Is it possible? Most likely. Is it a wise idea? Probably not so much.
Should we be concerned about what the chimps might say? What if they start using bigger words than we do? That would definitely sting our egos. And even more troubling, how do we explain the monkey head transplant we experimented on them with earlier?
2. De-Extinction
Many scientists feel we owe a debt to the planet for wiping out some of its species and believe de-extinction is the answer. De-extinction involves cloning extinct animals from DNA found in museum specimens or preserved tissue samples. While the goal is to revive species like the mammoth, there are obvious objections: some ecologists warn that the immense costs of de-extinction could divert crucial funds away from the conservation of species that are still alive today.
As fascinating as de-extinction sounds, it raises the unsettling question of whether this could end up like Jurassic Park. Even if it doesn’t, there are many other more realistic concerns to consider. A species that went extinct millions, or even thousands, of years ago would be reintroduced into an environment that’s vastly different from the one it was originally adapted to. We no longer live in an ice age. In fact, we're heading toward the greenhouse effect.
So, yes, we could bring the mammoth back. However, there’s a catch: science is all about thinking ahead, and bringing a mammoth back into a world where we have no stable place for it isn’t exactly thinking ahead. There are other, perhaps more practical candidates for de-extinction, like the ground sloth, which you might not have realized was extinct until you saw *Ice Age*.
1. New Species
A rat jellyfish might sound like something out of science fiction, but thanks to a team of scientists at Harvard University, you can now watch this artificial creature swim and move as if it were a genuine jellyfish.
Though the rat jellyfish behaves like a jellyfish and looks like one, it’s actually a genetic hybrid made from rat cells. And that’s not even the strangest part: the next jellyfish being considered will be constructed from human heart cells, intended to test how heart drugs react.
Our control over genetic creation is truly remarkable. If we can engineer organisms like this today, what will we be capable of creating in the future? We've already come up with several groundbreaking ways to manipulate genetics, with results that are both promising and alarming. A more rudimentary example of our attempts to create new species is the crossbreeding of animals: in 1956, an effort to breed a 'super bee' instead led to the creation of the deadly killer bee. It will be fascinating to see what other innovations—and potential dangers—our growing genetic capabilities will bring to the world.
