Technological progress is associated with many human losses. Don't believe? Look at the statistics: the number of deaths in car accidents is much higher than the number of deaths due to falling from a horse. Modern man is surrounded on all sides by killer machines: from hair dryers in the bathroom to TVs that can explode.

Fantasts solved this problem a long time ago: in order not to be afraid of machines, one must become an automaton himself. By the way, a cyborg man may well become a reality in the near future. After all, progress does not stand still. Cyborg - who is this? Let's figure it out.

They are among us

So, for many, a cyborg is Robocop, Terminator and other heroes from the screen. Let's remember the brightest and most iconic of them.

T800). This well-known cyborg was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. His famous "I'll be back" and "Hasta la vista, baby" are known to everyone, even those who have never watched the saga. The film was a huge success, so the authors shot more than one sequel. And even in 2015, the next part of the "Terminator" is planned.

Robocop is a cyborg cop. According to the scenario, it was produced by the OSR company, and Alex Murphy, an employee of the police department, served as the basis. The film was shot in 1987, and in 2014 its remake was released.

Another picture that received universal recognition, is the "Universal Soldier": Van Damme's cyborg confronts Lundgren's cyborg.

But still, the very first real cyber-man in the movie was not the Terminator or RoboCop, as you might think, but a sniffling and whistling character from Star Wars. This is Anakin Skywalker, or rather what is left of him, enclosed in a special life-support suit. It was he who paved the way for all the other "brothers" in the big cinema. The cult series "Doctor Who" also tells about the uprising of cyborgs who came from the 10th planet solar system.

However, cinema is not the only arena for cyber-humans. They can be found in large numbers in the world of fighting (computer games) - " Mortal Kombat”, “Soul Calibur” and others. Also today, all kinds of constructors, toys, figurines, etc. are very popular. For example, Lego cyborgs.

Terminology

Let's deal with the term. In the conventional sense, a cyborg is a bionic person, i.e. creature with a mechanical body. This term appeared somewhere in the early 60s. The word "cyborg" (cyborg) contains two concepts. The first - the second - organism (organism). This term refers to a "living organism" that has been improved with the help of special mechanical devices.

Technological progress has its own peculiarity: the desire for minimalism. So, large landline phones have turned into small mobile phones that we carry with us every day. Players, watches, phones, tablets - today a person without them is like without hands. Thus, man and technology evolve together. And it is quite possible that sooner or later this will be the beginning for real cyborgs.

Fake, by the way, already exist today. These are people who wear prostheses, pacemakers, titanium plates on bones, hearing aids, contact lenses and ceramic teeth, after all. Now imagine that somewhere there is a person who has all this installed at the same time. Isn't it a cyborg?

Today, such a person is rather a disabled person than a superhero from the screen. So far, implantable devices only compensate for the shortcomings, but over time, the situation will change. This can lead to an increase in the physical capabilities of a person.

Robot or cyborg

Cyborg - who is this? A living organism in which mechanical devices are built? Or a robot that contains biological components? Initially, a cyborg was called a person who was on the verge of dying. All mechanical devices served him as a substitute for what he lacked due to certain circumstances. Technical implants of arms, legs, internal organs, etc. Today, even purebred robots, who have never even been people before, have come to be called cyborgs. For example, terminators from the saga of the same name. But still, this is wrong.

Terminators (T800, for example) and others like him are machines, robots. Cyborgs are, first of all, people, living biological beings. Therefore, calling the terminator a cyborg is not correct. The word "android" would be more appropriate here.

limbs

Over the past 50 years, mankind has advanced far in the field of organics. Today it is possible to replace up to 60% of the human body. The highest achievements are in the field of creating artificial limbs. The innovation was the creation of Touch i-Limb by the company. This device is able to read the muscle signals from the remaining limb and interpret the movements that a person is trying to make.

The most breakthrough invention is considered to be an artificial limb, presented by the Defense Technology Agency (DARPA). The peculiarity of this prosthesis is that you can control it mentally! The device is connected to the muscle tissue, thereby reading brain impulses. This, of course, is not the only development in this area. But they all have one common fat minus: high cost and complexity in operation.

Bones

On this moment it is the simplest replacement for anything in the body. Most often, artificial bones are made of titanium. However, since 3D printing has become widely used, high-precision plastic elements have also been used.

With might and main there are developments to strengthen the skeleton. Scientists are developing new technology: concrete bone reinforcement with titanium powder and polyurethane foam. This should allow the porous structure of the implant to overgrow with bone tissue, which in turn will lead to a strengthening of the skeleton. So far, can these developments be successfully completed and find practical use but the idea is worth it.

Organs

It is much more difficult to artificially reproduce than bones or limbs. However, progress does not stand still here. The furthest advance in medicine has been in the field of creating an artificial heart. And every day this technology is getting better. Scientists predict the imminent creation of kidneys. There are successes in working with the liver. However, this is only development so far.

In the near future, studies of the intestines, bladder, lymphatic system, spleen and gallbladder are planned. But what about the most important and complex organ of the human body?

Brain

This is perhaps the most difficult task. There are two stages here. The first is the creation of artificial intelligence. The second is the reproduction of the structure of the brain itself. Engineers with help computer technology relentlessly trying to replicate the human thought organ. However, they are far from the brain. For example, the Spaun software simulator projected in 2.5 hours what our main organ reproduces in 1 second. Another project called SyNAPSE can simulate about 530 billion neurons, thus lagging behind the brain by 1500 times.

However, creating a neural network is far from everything. She needs to be made to "think". Those. create artificial intelligence. At this stage it is still empty. There are small advances in Apple - the so-called Siri. But that's all. In general, many scientists raise doubts that at this stage of development, humanity is capable of anything like that.

Cyborg - is it real?

So, how close is humanity to creating a real cyborg with a living brain and a metal body? You can answer this way: in the next twenty years it is hardly technologically possible.

There is an opinion that in the future cyborgs with an artificially grown body in the laboratory, and not a metal one, are possible. Such "people" will have improved abilities. But what should they be called then?

But still, the main reason is the unwillingness of people to accept the existence of cyber-people. Remember how hard it was for society to get used to the idea of ​​cloning. Some believe that this is unnatural and contrary to the will of the Creator. Others are shackled by fear for their future, representing the rise of the cyborgs and the complete annihilation of all life. Of course, this idea has many supporters. But, most likely, it will take more than one decade until social and religious divisions subside.

Today, the development of biotechnology is at an early stage. Therefore, it is difficult to even imagine what a cyborg of the future will be like. But one thing is clear that the famous cyborg cop will remain a film director's fantasy, which is not destined to come true.

In what bodies will we meet the year 3000? And will the defrosted cryochamber patients be able to talk to us? What happens if the aging gene is permanently disabled? Read about it in a special story on the Moscow Trust TV channel.

Elixir of eternal youth

year 2014. NY. Manhattan. Archaeologists dug up the entire Bowery Street in search of a German courtyard that stood here at the end of the 19th century. Nothing foreshadowed making these excavations unique, until one of the archaeologists found a strange vial with an unknown liquid. The Latin inscription on the bottle was translated and the press was immediately called. Scientists were impatient, because in their hands was the elixir of youth, a drink that would hardly have been refused by at least one inhabitant of the earth. The recipe for the elixir turned out to be quite simple.

The pharmacist of the Moscow pharmacy recreated it in the smallest details. It turned out that the elixir of youth is a common medicine for digestive system. Another sensation turned out to be a dummy. "It's a rather bitter elixir, since it all refers to bitterness. It is they that regulate the digestion process, they stimulate the electrolyte balance of the blood," says pharmacist-analyst Artem Buslaev. However, for the Europeans of that time, whose average life span barely exceeded 40 years, this remedy could well extend both youth and life. Now we live twice as long, we age later, we die more comfortably, but we still dream of being young forever. Is eternal life possible? "Modern technologies allow us to do much more than elixirs of incomprehensible production and quality," says Artem Buslaev.

Mikhail Batin, president of the Science for Life Extension Foundation, is sure that our grandchildren will already face the question of not who to be, but in what body to live. If they want, they will be cyborgs, but they don’t like metal - they will be able to grow their own, but new bodies. While waiting for scientists to find a way to make his dream come true, Mikhail froze his grandfather. "I loved my grandfather very much. Cryonics is the best remedy in the worst circumstances. We don't know much, and therefore we can freeze the brain and see what happens, because it won't get any worse," Batin said.

He is going to freeze himself entirely, so that in the future he will first get out of the permafrost himself, and then pick up a decent body for his grandfather. And then for two to eat a pill for old age. "I would like to be myself: love to be loved, eat, travel, sex, games, joys ... But for all this you need to be alive," says Mikhail Batin. Mikhail is sure that if everything is done according to science, the cold will preserve his biological tissues until the moment when scientists learn how to properly defrost them. And there is not far from complete immortality. He will have to wait for the resurrection from the ice here. Birches, butterflies - a classic house in the village. Only behind the fence, instead of a greenhouse, is a cryostorage, you can’t call it a cemetery.

"We are located in the Moscow region, where our cryogenic storage is located. Our patients are stored in it at an ultra-low temperature," says Andrei Shvedko, technical director of the cryogenic company.

Glycerin instead of blood

Mikhail Batin's grandfather is waiting for the resurrection in the company of relatives of almost all the company's employees - a total of 37 people. And another 120 of those who came according to the announcement are waiting for their turn. After death, their blood will be replaced with a solution based on glycerin - it will protect the tissues from the harmful effects of ice crystals. This process is called perfusion.

“Human blood is replaced by several solutions specially prepared, studied a thousand times on cells and animals. When frozen, ice crystals become very small, and they themselves are small, round, and do not damage the cell,” explains Valeria Udalova, general director of the cryocompany. Valeria Udalova's pet dog became the world's first frozen dog. "14 animals have already been cryopreserved, and there are several contracts for the future, people signed in advance," says Valeria Udalova.

Only when the glycerin completely replaces the blood will the body be cooled and taken to cryostorage. Thermos, dewar, perhaps the most monstrous communal apartment in the capital. The people in it, frozen, are suspended in a circle for 1,200,000 rubles per seat. In the center are the brains, the place is estimated at 400 thousand rubles, and the animals are in free zones, the cost depends on the size of the pet. The rest of the patients is disturbed only once a month, when liquid nitrogen is added to the dewar.

"Our patients are here at a temperature of -196 C. This temperature stops any processes in the body and allows you to keep any biological object intact almost forever," says Andrey Shvedko.

The demand for freezing after death is so high that it looks like Mikhail will have to spend the winter not in the garden, but inside the whole city. The University of Land Management has developed a project of "Cryonopol", which is going to be built in Vladivostok. The building will combine a modern necropolis and a modern room for cryopatients. In the same building, on different floors, frozen people and those who were buried forever will be stored.

"The cryostorage is located in this part, in the rocky soil, i.e. directly under the rock. And the second room of the cryostorage is located under the temple building, on the first floor," says Alexandra Kraeva, the author of the Cryonopol project. In terms of cost, the developers compare the project with the construction of two metro stations. And it will be possible to provide jobs for 1000 people. "These are drivers and nitrogen tankers, safety, work with vacuum technologies, artistic decoration of the storage devices themselves, organization of places for ritual ceremonies," explains the professor of the Department of Architecture State University land management Mikhail Lemonade. In addition, there will be a registry office in the ice palace. The designers of "Cryonopol" took care of storing the documents of those who might still wake up. “We must ensure the safety of their documents. It is the dead who are deprived of citizenship, but they are not dead - they are cryopatients. We will freeze and unfreeze them as beautiful as today, only they will not have any acquaintances. They are all like Einstein according to the theory of relativity, they will go to the grave, and you will live with a completely different composition of faces," says Lemonade.

In another body

However, no one guarantees defrosting and revival even in the distant future. This is written in the contract. “We will keep the agreements until they are revived or until science proves that this is absolutely impossible. We do not give full guarantees, because, on the one hand, there is force majeure: war, a meteorite fall, anything, but on the other hand, On the other hand, we assume that the development of technology will allow people to be resuscitated, and what if we are mistaken - therefore there is no full guarantee," says Valeria Udalova.

“I don’t believe that cryopreservation, especially with the clumsy methods that exist now, can lead to the fact that people will be revived. This is some kind of fantasy and simplification. In general, in the field of preserving youth and eternal life a large number of simplistic people," says Maxim Skulachev, a leading researcher at the Faculty of Biology at Moscow State University. "Imagine a computer that has some kind of memory that is erased when you turn it off. The brain is just such a memory. It is in constant interaction with the nerves. Impulses that rush between billions nerve cells This is our memory. It is worth stopping the movement of the impulse - everything will be erased, as RAM in computer. You can defrost even if intact cells remain, but the content will disappear. There will be absolutely soulless matter,” explains Alexander Kaplan, head of the laboratory of neurophysiology at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University.

"You can freeze the brain, but someone tried to unfreeze it - I do not know of such work. I think this is a commercial approach," says Elena Tereshina, Doctor of Biology. Opponents of freezing asked the question: What if, a second before the complete shutdown, the human brain is placed not in the cold, but in the most comfortable conditions? Can it then be expected that he will be able to wait for the appearance of an immortal body? "The brain ages because of the body. Neurodegenerative processes occur due to the fact that the body poisons the life of the brain, aging. How can you save the brain, in what environment - that's what I would like to do," says Elena Tereshina.

If the dreams of scientists come true and the brain can be saved, then it will need a body. Ideally, a terminator. Scientists assemble the immortal iron body piece by piece. In America they created eyes and ears, in Japan they created a mouth. And if light terminators are not required, then without a heart, he, like a person, cannot.

All over the world are trying to invent a mechanical heart. Demand for it has been consistently high for a long time. About a hundred hearts are transplanted at the transplant center every year, so far from donors. Mikhail Ogilko waited for someone else's heart for two and a half months, but it never beat in his chest. “They had an operation, but the implant didn’t work. What to do: either die or look for a lucky break,” says Mikhail Ogilko. There was only one way out: to connect an artificial heart and hope for a miracle, for a new human heart. It was a lucky chance that at that time another donor was being prepared for surgery. Mikhail did not feel the mechanical beating of his third heart under anesthesia. This heart will more accurately be called a mechanical circulatory support system. It is often used as a temporary measure, because this system cannot replace the heart for life. "This device has been around for several decades, but the dimensions are like a refrigerator. A heart that can be inserted into a human body is only being tested now," says Alexander Kaplan.

artificial heart

Russian scientists have developed the left ventricle of the heart for the human of the future. It consists of two parts: the valve itself and the charger for it. "The valve weighs a little, about 200 grams, and the battery - 400. And a person needs to carry two such chargers as a bandolier," explains Sergey Gauthier, director of the Federal Scientific Center for Transplantology and Artificial Organs.

Perhaps in the future, an artificial heart will beat in the chest of the terminator, but now it is inserted into living people. With an artificial half heart, a person can live for about 5 years, but every day you need to make sure that the battery does not run out - it lasts for 6 hours - and that an infection does not get into his body. "The channel through which the cable runs can serve as a way for infectious factors to penetrate and infect the machine as a foreign body," says Sergey Gauthier.

Mikhail did not need such a mechanical heart. While he was lying on the operating table, another donor heart miraculously appeared in the hospital. At the moment when it made its first blow in the chest of Mikhail, a thousand kilometers away, in France, the real heart of the terminator began to beat. Not the left or right ventricle, but the whole thing. This artificial organ has been developed for 20 years. It is able to provide small and big circles blood circulation and almost completely replace living heart. "This is a very fine and precise development. And at the moment this" Capatti's heart "was implanted in one patient exactly. I think this work will be continued, and soon humanity will receive good model human heart,” explains Sergey Gauthier. The French heart is made of polymeric materials and tissues of pigs. The only drawback of the heart is that it weighs 1 kilogram, it is not suitable for everyone, and the price is still high - 3.5 million rubles.

In the morning Mikhail woke up a different person, with a new heart and new plans for a long, preferably eternal, life. He is sure that in 30 years he will be able to replace the donor heart with a modern prosthesis, but what is the heart - the whole body. "I have a good imagination, I can imagine a lot, including this. If a person is bored with himself, then he does not need it. And I can live in someone else's and in an artificial body, I can enjoy life . I want to live,” says Mikhail.

Cyborg people

Few people doubt the inevitability of the appearance of cyborgs. "It seems to me that the creation of the main organs - the heart, liver, kidney - can be within 10 years. Everything else is 50-60 years. But this is a foreseeable future. And now we are talking only about artificial organs," says Alexander Kaplan.

"We are talking about a robot that will not have any biological tissues inside it. It is quite possible to create such a robot, but only gradually, that is, at some stage it will be a cyborg - a connection of a person with electronic devices," says the doctor of biological sciences, Professor Alexander Frolov.

Two-time champion of the 2006 Paralympic Games, 2010 medalist, Honored Master of Sports of Russia Vladimir Kiselev, lost both legs at the age of 12. After 2.5 decades, he was finally able to get prostheses that replaced his legs. “After only 25 years, I was able to experience these delights of life in comparison with previous prostheses,” says Vladimir Kiselev. "The most interesting thing about this system is the knee mechanism. One of the latest developments in the world. It completely imitates human movements," explains orthopedic technician Andrey Nakonechny. Prostheses of the new generation give the owners incredible opportunities. On such artificial legs, it is easy to climb stairs and even ride a bicycle. And with the help of a computer via Bluetooth, you can choose the appropriate mode.

The athlete received the prosthesis for free after winning the Paralympic Games. The market price of such a leg is about two million rubles. A bionic prosthetic hand costs about the same. The artificial hand can turn, bend and unclench fingers, as if alive. “The electrodes read the muscle signal and transmit it to the processor, which converts the muscle signal into an electronic one, and then, with the help of the flexor and extensor muscles, the hand opens and closes,” says orthopedic technician Alexei Velichko.

Unlike its predecessors, the new prosthetic hand has all working fingers, even the big one. But the artificial body of the future can still be radically modified, according to young scientists from Moscow State University. Terminator can be made by Shiva with any number of hands. "This is a wearable manipulator that can be controlled in parallel with human limbs," says Daniil Kiryanov, a graduate student at the Faculty of Biology at Moscow State University. The third hand prototype is currently being tested. Scientists are trying to find a way to control it effortlessly. "For example, I'm sitting writing something, then the phone rang, and I thought I should pick up the phone, but my manipulator did it - it's possible," says Alexander Kaplan.

So, the terminator of the future will have artificial internal organs, iron arms and legs, he will be able to add all the new necessary parts of the body. "While all this is available separately, it will be necessary to tie it all together, make it work. We will need a special computer and special equipment," explains Kaplan.

By the power of thought

In order for the brain to learn to control an artificial body as if it were its own, first of all, you need to learn to understand without words what it wants. And then send these commands separate parts body. Scientists can already do such a trick with the hand. The brain-computer interface works like this: sensors attached to the head read the brain's response to certain actions. The computer remembers it and turns it into a command for an artificial hand.

“We first train a person, peep in electrical activity, what happens in it when a person does not do something, but simply thinks about it, and then we use this hint. Everywhere the principle is the same: we must study this particular person in advance and then tune in to it," says Alexander Kaplan.

In this case, you need to carefully monitor the flashing lamps on the fingers of the prosthesis and think about each of them. The sensors read the reaction of the brain and transmit it to the computer, and the next time you want to bend your little finger, the program will understand this and send a signal to the artificial arm.

The technology for controlling artificial body parts is being developed by several laboratories at once, competing in the speed of reading thoughts. The faster the devices begin to decipher the intentions of the brain, the easier it will be to control the artificial body. These sensors determine not only the electrical activity of the brain, but also changes in the chemical composition. "When you have some part of the brain involved in solving a problem, the blood flow to it increases, and the ratio of oxidized and non-oxidized hemoglobin naturally changes. This is the basis of the fMRI effect (functional magnetic resonance imaging - ed.)", - explains Alexander Frolov.

But no matter what perfect body awaits us in the future, the brain, frozen and preserved in comfortable conditions, will still someday die. "In general, the specific life expectancy of a person is 120 years. After 60 years of life, a person was given another 60 years so that he could think, give out an intellectual product," says Elena Tereshina.

Avatars instead of the brain

So what kind of immortality can we talk about, if even in an artificial body the brain lives up to a maximum of 120? Activists of the public movement "Russia 2045" believe that in the future we will not need this part of the body at all. They believe that a person will become immortal in 30 years, and they divide this path into 4 stages, each of which should give the world its avatar. The first should end by 2020. It will be a copy of a person that can be controlled from a distance.

They want to create Avatar B by 2025 - they want to transplant the human brain into an artificial body. The next stage of evolution - Avatar B - is an artificial copy of a person, into which only the consciousness of a person is transferred, the brain is no longer needed. Consciousness is digitized and stored in a computer. The ultimate goal of the project is to turn a person into a hologram - this should happen in 2045. How exactly we will dissolve in space and become a hologram is not yet clear, but the idea of ​​​​creating an immortal prosthesis for the human brain is beginning to come true.

"There is a professor Theodore Berger at the University of California, he is trying to make a prosthetic hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is responsible for short-term memory. Now scientists are conducting tests on rats, but soon they plan to do it on humans. And gradually it will be possible to remove this tissue with this prosthetics. I think this is a softer and more progressive way. It will be possible to create a symbiosis of electronics and nervous system", - explains Alexander Frolov.

It seems that our cyborg is ready - an artificial body and an artificial brain. For those who do not like robots, there is another way - to grow new organs from stem cells and endlessly change them if something goes wrong. At the Institute of Transplantation, they learned how to create cartilage in this way, the tests were successful. “The knee cartilages of rabbits were destroyed and then filled with a matrix containing the stem cells of this rabbit. As a result, we got the restoration of cartilage surfaces and the corresponding functions,” says Sergey Gauthier.

Scientists can grow internal organs, skin and even bones from stem cells. Soon the turn will reach the most difficult parts of the body.

"Time will pass, all this will develop, and we will approach the creation of multifunctional tissue - these are the nuclei of the brain, the retina of the eye," says Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Alexander Teplyashin.

Every person has stem cells, they are responsible for restoration, regeneration. When a cut on the hand heals or liver cells gradually regenerate, it's all their job. As we age, stem cell division slows down. But if you stock up on this biomaterial in advance, you can create your own inexhaustible source and use it for the rest of your life. This is the idea behind the cell bank created by Professor Teplyashin.

“We store purified stem cells in Dewar vessels. It is miniature, and about 3.5 thousand people fit into each barrel. This is an inexhaustible source that can be periodically thawed and used almost throughout life,” says Alexander Teplyashin. The bank is replenished with elements from adipose tissue, skin, bone marrow. After processing in the laboratory, this reserve can be used, for example, in the treatment of complex fractures.

"There are bone marrow cells that are involved in creating bone tissue. This is the basis for the creation of the biological equivalent of the bone, which we have made - human trials will begin soon. I have never seen this anywhere in the world. You can grow a piece of bone, insert it, and it will take root in three months," explains Teplyashin.

How to gain immortality

A man of the future, grown from his own cells, may seem much more attractive than a cyborg. But it is still far from ideal. But what if we make sure that our body simply does not grow old and does not wear out?

“Why we age is not completely known. This is one of the mysteries of biology. By all indications, it turns out that aging is a genetic program,” says Maxim Skulachev. Geneticists all over the planet are trying to figure out how to turn off the aging gene. And most importantly - over whom to conduct such an experiment. "Let's say, with the effort of our brain, we will assume what kind of gene it is, we will raise a child with its shutdown. But what if we made a mistake, and this gene is responsible for something else - how are we going to explain this to a person? It's impossible," says Maksim Skulachev.

While geneticists are looking for volunteers, biologists offer their recipe for immortality. They believe that by ridding cells of free radicals, you can give yourself decades of youth. “Everyone who breathes oxidizes natural substances to get energy, they synthesize part of the oxygen for a good purpose, and turn part of it into the strongest poison that rushes throughout our body, oxidizes lipids, introduces a mutation in DNA, and it’s generally not clear why this is happening. And we came up with a way to put an antioxidant in exactly the place where free radicals appear. If everything works out, we can feel 30-35 years old at 60. I would like to live like this: live young and healthy until 90, and then burn out in 5 years," Maksim Skulachev believes.

It is too early to talk about the creation of one universal pill for old age. And it is unlikely that she will ever appear. But Lyudmila Chursina does not intend to give up for years. She visits a cryosauna - you can feel low temperatures during your lifetime. “I have been attending this procedure for a year now, and I do without any pills for my joints, and in general. The cryosauna supports me amazingly,” says People's Artist USSR Ludmila Chursina. The principle of operation of the cryosauna is simple - liquid nitrogen cools the body and causes a protective reaction. "When a person comes out of the cryosauna, his capillaries expand, metabolism improves, because the metabolism starts. Microcirculation opens," says Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Vladimir Potapov.

So how much have we been given: 100, 200, 300, or an eternity? So far, scientists cannot put an end to it, which means that the secret of immortality has not yet been revealed.

Cyborg 3 Genre Fantasy Directed by Michael Schroeder Starring Zach Galligan ... Wikipedia

cyborg- half-man, robot Dictionary of Russian synonyms. cyborg n., number of synonyms: 11 alcoholic (84) and ... Synonym dictionary

cyborg- (from English: Cybernetic organism) 1. Creature in the form of a half-robot, half-human. 2. An electronic being whose functions are programmed by the human brain. E. Ciborg; android D. Cyborg … Explanatory UFO dictionary with equivalents in English and German

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cyborg- I m. 1. Cybernetic organism; robot. 2. A robot created on a biological basis or using biological systems. II m. A person who changes and modifies himself through various kinds of experiments with his appearance, implanting in ... ... Modern Dictionary Russian language Efremova

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Books

• Cyborg and the dream of the bus, Oleg Tkachev. In the near future, the girl has become a cyborg and must work off a huge debt. She has new life, new friends and only fragments of a dream. Only the old diligence does not give up. Unusual AI ... Buy for 176 rubles eBook
• Cyborg and sorcerers. The Mage and the Combat Starship, Lawrence Watt-Evans. 1994 edition. The safety is good. The novels included in this book tell about the adventures of a cosmic cyborg warrior on the planet of sorcerers...

Sheep in wolf skins

Cyborgs

Education has created machines that look like people and people that look like machines.

Erich Fromm

Like it or not, technical progress requires sacrifice. Don't believe? Take the statistics of deaths from falls from a horse in the 19th century and compare them with current reports of accidents. modern man are surrounded by hundreds of potential electromechanical killers, from bathroom hair dryers to exploding mobile phones. Our distant ancestors were afraid of predators in the jungle, and we are afraid to cross road. For science fiction writers, this problem has long been solved. If machines are dangerous to man, man must himself become a machine. Eyes damaged by monitors can be replaced with cameras, flabby muscles can be strengthened with polymer cables, and an Internet chip in the head will make a klutz a know-it-all. But what's next?

The main Shinto shrine, Ise-jingu, was founded in 690. Every 20 years it was completely rebuilt anew ( last time- in 1993). The Japanese believe that the building remains the same. Human nature is not a temple, but a workshop. Will a man remain a man if all the organs in his body are replaced by mechanisms? Or will it be a new kind of creature that will replace us?

Who are you, fantastic cyborgs?

man in a case

What is a "cyborg"? A living organism containing mechanical parts? Or a robot that has biological components in its device? Initially, a cyborg was understood as a person who was "rather alive than dead" and used technical implants only as convenient tools - not "at hand", but in his hand. Or head. Today, cyborgs are called machines with biological appendages and even "purebred" robots - for example, humanoid models of terminators from the movie saga of the same name.

The T-800 model had a flesh-and-blood coating, which is why it was mistakenly called a "cyborg" (later it was dubbed both the all-metal T-1000 and the hybrid T-X). It is not known whether the Terminator's shell was alive in the biological sense of the word (the absence of heavy bleeding from injuries suggests otherwise). She played the role of camouflage, facilitating the introduction of a mechanical killer into human society. The “meat” of the Terminator did not participate in the functioning of its systems in any way, so it would be more fair to call it an android.

The term "cyborg" - an abbreviation of the phrase "cybernetic (from the Greek kybernao - "I drive") organism" - appeared relatively recently, in 1960. Inventor Manfred Clynes used it in an article about the benefits of self-regulating machine-living organism systems in space exploration.

Progress has one interesting pattern: the desire for miniaturization and approaching a person in the literal sense of the word. Bulky landlines have become pocket cell phones. Players, computers, watches, credit cards - we carry all this on ourselves. There is a joint evolution of man and technology, which sooner or later will lead to the emergence of real cyborgs.

"Fake" is already today. People wear pacemakers, insulin pumps, ventilators, contact lenses, hearing aids, ceramic teeth, titanium plates on their bones... Imagine a person who has all of these at the same time. A significant part of its vital functions is provided artificially. At the current level of technological development, such a cyborg would be an invalid, not a hero with superhuman abilities. So far, implantable machines compensate for the physiological shortcomings of a person, and do not enhance his capabilities, but sooner or later the situation will change.

Where do cyborgs start?

The first prototypes of cyborgs appeared only in the 19th century - unless, of course, South American Indians with gold plates in trepanned skulls are considered “cyborgs”, because at least some, even primitive technologies are needed to create a cybernetic organism.

An early example of a fictitious synthesis of the living and the mechanical is John A. B. W. Smith, a brevet brigadier in Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Man Who Was Chopped to Pieces" (1839). The ruthless Bagaboo and Kickapoo Indians so mutilated the war hero that he had to order parts for himself. When assembled, he looked stunning - athletic appearance, ideal proportions body, enchanting voice. And in the disassembled it was "a bunch of some kind of junk."

In 1908 French writer Jean de la Hire (Count Adolphe d'Espies de la Hire) invented a hero named Leo Saint-Clair, who was nicknamed Nyctalope*. He can be considered the first full-fledged superhero in the history of science fiction - a man with superpowers and fighting evil for a dozen stories. This character had incredible eyes, the iris of which changed color, and an artificial heart.

*Nyctalopia - night blindness. A person has difficulty seeing in low light.

In the early 20th century, cyborgs turned from heroes to victims. Merging with the machine has come to be seen as something like a plaster cast - an effective, but not the most convenient remedy for all diseases, including even death. In Catherine Lucille Moore's No Woman More Beautiful (1944), the dancer Deirdre nearly dies in a fire. Her body is replaced by a mechanical one. He has no face, but it is graceful, mobile and graceful. In the book "The Head of Professor Dowell" (1937) Belyaev, a cyborg was created from a dead head, which was far from enthusiastic about this. But in some other cases, "heads in the jar" live interesting and adventurous lives:

“Next to the earthling was Simon Wright, aka the Brain - a living human brain, placed in a transparent cube with a nutrient saline solution. A loudspeaker and eye lenses were placed on the front wall of the cube ”(Edmond Hamilton“ Captain Future Comes to the Rescue ”(1940).

Am I a trembling creature?

A classic example is Isaac Asimov's short story " bicentennial man"(1976), main character which, the android NDR-113 decided to become a man and methodically replaced his mechanical "organs" with living ones. As a result, he was officially recognized as a man and died safely of old age.

Motoko Kusanagi from " ghost in the shell"- another cyborg that blurs the differences between a machine and a person. The major of the futuristic special forces is almost 100% a cyborg. And about these "almost" she has very big doubts. The girl suspects that she is a robot implanted with false human memories. The "and" are dotted after Motoko's consciousness merges with an artificial intelligence named "Puppeteer", resulting in a completely new creature.

Cyborg's feelings about own humanity(and man's suspicions of his artificiality) formed the basis of the Ridley Scott film "Blade Runner", which in turn was based on Philip Dick's novel Do androids dream of electric sheep". The ethics of cyborgization is sharpened to the limit here: artificial replicants of the Nexus-6 model easily pass the Voight-Kampf test (which detects androids), they can be implanted with a false human memory, so that there is only a terminological difference between a robot, a cyborg and a person.

The financial issue of cyborgization was raised by Martin Caidin in the novel Cyborg» (1972). Few people think that replacing living organs with artificial ones using the technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries costs fabulous money. Test pilot Steve Austin crashed, badly injured and was made into a cyborg in a secret government experiment. The operation cost $6 million, so Steve informally passed into US ownership. He had to work for Uncle Sam and fight terrorism (characteristically, it takes place in the 1970s).

Filming « Robot Cop” cost $ 15 million, but the problems of this film were an order of magnitude simpler. The iron-resurrected cop stayed in the possession of the OCP corporation for only a couple of days, as regular "flashbacks" quickly restored his humanity. Screenwriter Edward Newmyer conceived him as a hybrid of Iron Man and Judge Dredd, so philosophical questions like "Am I a trembling creature or a cyborg?" very quickly relegated to the background, giving way to restoring order by progressive methods: first shoot, and then do not ask anything.

Once a lumberjack Nick fell in love with a girl, but an evil witch bewitched his ax - so that every time, going into the forest, Nick chopped off his own limb. However, the village blacksmith immediately made a prosthesis. Gradually, hand by hand, foot by foot, Nick became completely iron.

The only organ that cannot be reproduced artificially was the heart. The tin woodcutter was looking for the missing spare part for a long time - until the Wizard of Oz (Goodwin) made his heart out of cloth and sawdust. This example is interesting because the authors of fairy tales-"twins" showed an extreme case of complete cyborgization. The only element of the Tin Woodman's humanity is his former mind and personality. In all other respects, he is actually not a cyborg, but a robot.

The Achilles' heel of the Tin Woodman is susceptibility to corrosion (he only had to cry to lose his mobility). The irony is that original hero Baum's name was Tin Woodman. Tin - tin or tin plate that does not rust. Volkov got out of a delicate situation by calling the man "Iron".

Another fabulous arena (in the truest sense of the word) for cyborgs is located on the territory of computer entertainment. Fighting games are games where a fantasy story clashes with mechanical body enhancements. Most often, cyborgization is limited to limb replacements: Yoshimitsu (Tekken, Soul Calibur) and Jax Briggs (Mortal Kombat) get artificial arms, and Baraka (Mortal Kombat) gets his famous retractable blades.

Sometimes the cripples go into battle, in which life is supported by special respirators (Kabal from Mortal Kombat), and sometimes things go even further.

The Lin Kuei ninja clan decided to make all their best fighters cyborgs. Sector came out the most dangerous and vicious. Smoke was cyborgized using nanotechnology. Cyrax turned out to be the least loyal - in the end, he went over to the side of the forces of good and found a way to regain his human body. By the way, cyber ninja Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid in the end, too, he was re-educated and gave his life for Solid Snake. So evil gaming cyborgs often turn out to be good when tested. Somewhere deep in the BIOS.

Modern "urban fantasy" is also not alien to cybernetics. One of the most colorful characters in "Potteriana" - Alastor Moody(Moody) - has full right called a magical cyborg: his right leg, lost in the fight against the Death Eaters, was replaced with a prosthesis, and instead of a gouged eye, a magic eye was inserted that could rotate 360 ​​degrees and see through any obstacles, including the invisibility cloak.

The "Other" section of the catalog of fantasy cyborgs can include any exotic: a hybrid of a man, a demon and a machine (Adam from the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") or the inhabitants of Phyrexia - a gloomy universe from MTG. They are born "normal" (if asexuality can be considered as such), but very soon they undergo the "Finalization" procedure, during which they are stuffed to the eyeballs with magomechanical implants.

Neil Stevenson's novel Avalanche describes Ng Security, a company that produces cyborg fighting dogs. Their "heart" is miniature nuclear reactor. Heat dissipation is provided by movement (if the dogs stop, they will die). Dogs are kept in special boxes connected to virtual reality with a "dog's paradise".

Initially, the main scourge of cyberpunk cyborgs was considered to be “cyberpsychosis”, which arises from the loss of humanity and is fraught with uncontrolled hatred for “imperfect” people. Writers used it to thicken genre colors even more (without special maxims about the price of progress), and the authors of game systems limited the growth of characters' abilities to cyberpsychosis.

The current ideology of cyberpunk has changed slightly. No moral anguish about humanity and insanity on the basis of implants. Merging with the machine is good. The Japanese, who live surrounded by Aibo dogs and robotic toilets, are especially optimistic about this.

For example, one of the main characters of the Appleseed manga is Briares Hekatoncheir, a SWAT officer, 75% composed of various high technologies. It is very pleasant for him to be a cyborg: the armor coating provides a sense of touch, there are 9 eyes on the back of the head, 4 on the face, sensitive sensors in the “bunny ears”, pre-processing of information by the electronic brain and other delights that every second fantastic hero would stand in line for.

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The paradox of Theseus' ship * does not really bother modern authors who come up with new cyborgs. Turning a person into a DIY constructor is no longer fashionable. Today, small comfortable implants are popular, and even better - suits (Mjolnir from the Halo game series, the Iron Man movie). Does this mean that we refuse symbiosis with technology? No. Just nanobots and Genetic Engineering much more effective than iron prostheses.

* The Athenians gradually replaced the rotten boards of the legendary ship until there was not a single original part left in it and someone asked: “Is this the ship?”.