赛博格,英译词,英文原为Cyborg。根据Random House Dictionary里面的定义,Cyborg被定义为:
A person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device” (Dictionary.com).
虽然有机物和无机的混合早在十九世纪就有提到,但是”Cyborg“这个概念最早还是出现在1911年法国作家Jean de La Hire向世界介绍了他的第一个赛博格英雄,”Nyctalope“。当然”Cyborg“这个词是在1960年被 Manfred Clynes 和 Nathan S. Kline这两位科学家在他们的文章”Cyborg and Space“里正式使用的。
“It is possible that in the future, myomer fibres could provide fabric suites that soldiers could wear with a power pack to provide them with extra strength on demand without needing to wear a bulky exoskeleton” (Withington).
这项新兴技术是由现在最常用的充电电池,锂离子细胞电池的发明家John B. Goodenough在2016年十二月的“Energy and Environmental Science”发步。 在这篇报告里Goodenough声称玻璃基固态电池的能量密度是原锂电池的成倍之多,同时玻璃基固态电池的充电速度也是比锂电池更快。在这之上,玻璃基固态电池比锂电池安全的多,可以大幅度避免锂电池的短路现象,而且玻璃基固态能适应更加严酷的环境,即使在-20摄氏度的情况下仍然能够正常运作。最后, 玻璃基固态电池的造价也不会太高,因为其主要制造材料可为低价的钠而不是更高价的锂。
大部分的玩家可能觉得游戏里面的技术很神秘,只能在梦里见到,但是实际上我们现在的技术离游戏里面的距离并没有我们想象的这么遥远。在2016年Saika Angana的文章“Recent advancements in prosthetic hand technology” 中总结了近年假肢技术领域的进展:
“In conclusion, the study found that a huge amount of research efforts in terms of kinematics, dynamics, modelling, and control methodologies are being put in to improve the present hand technology, thereby providing more functionality to the prosthetic limb of the amputee. This would improve their quality-of-life and help in performing activities of daily living (ADL) tasks with comparative ease in the near future” (Angana, etc.).
我们也能在近年的“Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands”,甚至在去年上海交通大学的人脑成功控制蟑螂的实验里面看到近似的结论:基于现在的神经学的发展速度,人类离可以像正常人手一样活动自如的假肢已经不在遥远了。
“'Depending on what components you get on it, [the cost] can vary greatly,’ said Glenn Garrison, director of prosthetics and orthotics at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. ‘They're probably in line with a cost of a car. It can be a pricey thing to work with.’" (Torres, 1).
当然,这个问题也不是没有解决的方法,不少科学家都尝试过寻找更加廉价的假肢制作方法。在这之中,由来自克瑞顿大学的Jorge Zuniga教授带领的团体开发的“Cyborg Beast”项目。他们使用Computer Aid Design(CAD)设计可以3D打印的前假肢。他们在文章“Cyborg beast: a low-cost 3D-printed prosthetic hand for children with upper-limb differences”里提到他们的3D打印假肢能够大幅度降低假肢的价格:
“The recent popularity and low cost of desktop 3D printers make the prosthetic hand described in the current investigation conveniently accessible. The proposed distance-fitting procedures can make this device accessible to a great number of children in need of this type of device around the globe” (Zuniga. Etc, 1).
聊完了实际的东西,我们把时间线往回拉一拉,聊聊一些更超前的,或许现在还不是很实际但是在未来可能会极大影响人类社会秩序的赛博格技术。没错,我们要聊的就是著名女权研究者,科学界和女权界的学者,来自加尼福尼亚大学的唐纳·哈拉维(Donna Haraway)教授和她在 1985写下的震惊世界的《赛博格宣言》("A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century" )。
哈拉维教授的这篇《赛博格宣言》在当时的女权界可谓是一石激起千层浪,一瞬间在接下来的十年里,多少女权家都费劲心思来对《赛博格宣言》发出不同的看法。虽然这些文章大部分是评价这篇文章里对科学和女权的联系,但是也有不少提到了哈拉维教师在文章中对”赛博格技术“这个词的应用。来着乔治亚大学的哲学&伦理教授Victoria Davion博士就是其中的一员。Davion教授在她的文章《Theoretical Versus Applied Ethics: A Look at Cyborgs》中指出,哈拉维教授在《赛博格宣言》里面形容的赛博格技术和二战时期美国政府在本土宣传的反日本的赛博格政治宣传一样,都是建立在”theoretical technology“(理论技术)而不是“application technology”(实用技术)。并且两者都非常的激进,在大众之中对赛博格技术的印象产生了负面印象。
Davion, Victoria. "Theoretical Versus Applied Ethics: A Look at Cyborgs." Ethics & the Environment, vol. 4, no. 1, June 1999, p. 73. EBSCOhost, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6830051&site=ehost-live.
Haraway, Donna J. "A Cyborg Manifesto." Manifestly Haraway (1985): 3-90. Web.
Li, Guangye and Dingguo Zhang. "Brain-Computer Interface Controlled Cyborg: Establishing a Functional Information Transfer Pathway from Human Brain to Cockroach Brain." Plos ONE, vol. 11, no. 3, 16 Mar. 2016, pp. 1-17. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0150667.
Macdonald, Kate. "The First Cyborg." History Today, vol. 66, no. 5, May 2016, pp. 31-36. EBSCOhost,. search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=114740543&site=ehost-live
Withington, Thomas. "The Incredible Hulks." Armada International, vol. 34, no. 5, Oct/Nov2010, pp. 31-33. EBSCOhost, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=54422748&site=ehost-live.
Zuniga, Jorge, et al. "Cyborg Beast: A Low-Cost 3D-Printed Prosthetic Hand for Children with Upper-Limb Differences." BMC Research Notes, vol. 8, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 155-171. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s13104-015-0971-9.
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