Athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games had perfectly designed prostheses to help them run, jump or swim depending on the demands of the events. Today, the technology behind these prostheses is available to ordinary people who need them and, perhaps, to those who don’t. Augmenting Capable Bodies for Superhuman Functions: What Could Go Wrong?
Sponsored by Alumni Ventures
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With
Kira Bindrim is the host of the Quartz Obsession podcast. She is a managing editor who works on global newsroom coverage and messaging products. She is obsessed with reading and reality TV.
Samanth Subramanian is a senior reporter at Quartz covering the future of capitalism. He is obsessed with submarine cables, adaptations of PG Wodehouse and King Lear.
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Carbon fiber legs used by Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius
Ancient Egyptian prosthesis, a big toe made of wood and leather (1069 to 664 BC)
2016 brain implant that allowed a paralyzed man to move a robotic arm with his mind
False eye prosthesis in bitumen paste (2900 to 2800 BC)
Herodatus book 9 chapter 37, the Persian soldier Hegesistratus cuts off his foot and replaces it with a wooden one.
Roman general Marcus Sergius had his right hand cut off in battle
Ear trumpets (17th century)
13th century glasses
Long John Silver’s peg leg, Captain Hook’s hook
Flex-Foot, the prosthetic foot inspired by Van Phillips’ cheetah
“The Extended Mind” by Andy Clark and David Chalmers, 1998
Elon Musk’s Neuralink
Exoskeletons for military applications
Exoskeletons for work
The Ethics of Artificial Organs
Tycho Brahe
This episode uses the following sounds from freesound.org and Free Music Archive:
Brewing.aif coffee maker by MegaPenguin13
Alarm.wav by Tempuser
Happy to be stuck inside by HoliznaCC0
Read the full transcript or a slightly edited version.
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