Related Sections: Future Tech Lists
5 technologies that improve mankind, maybe a little too much
Athlete Oscar Pistorius, a 21-year-old from South Africa, has been ruled ineligible to compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on the grounds of an unfair mechanical advantage. Pistorius lost both his legs when he was 11 months old and now runs on a pair of carbon-fiber Flex Foot Cheetahs, also known as running blades. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) says that the use of the Cheetah blades allows Pistorius to consume less energy while sprinting, based on a study performed by Professor Peter Bruggemann on Pistorius and six other able-bodied athletes.
Oscar Pistorius plans to fight the ruling. Is he in the right to do so? Prosthetics like the Flex Foot Cheetahs, which are shown to outperform their biological counterparts, toe the line between a prosthetic and a "body hack." And it's not the first time the artificial has revealed the inadequacies of the natural. In 1997, world chess champion Garry Kasparov was pitted against IBM's supercomputer, Deep Blue, and lost. Are we not ready to admit that our creations may be able to surpass ourselves?
Click Continue to explore one of the hardest battles emerging technologies have to fight: acceptance.
5. Limbs that could outperform our own
In an effort to restore abilities to those who have lost limbs and mobility from birth disorders, accidents and amputations, the world of prosthetics has progressed in leaps and bounds. But how will these people be treated if they want to use these new limbs to compete with "regular" athletes? Would a weightlifter with bionic arms, for instance, be allowed into a competition against others who are completely natural?
We're talking about replacement limbs that take training to use and even more effort to master. We're talking about ordinary people who are out to explore the only body they've got.
Sports are heavily segregated based on gender and ability in the interest of having a fair match. Events such as the Paralympic Games are venues for people with physical, mental and sensory deficiencies to compete. But when a world-class athlete emerges, do we keep him out of able-bodied competitions to be fair, or because we're afraid what it would mean if we lose?
4. A match for the ages: man versus machine
The May 1997 victory of IBM supercomputer Deep Blue over chess champion Garry Kasparov proved without a doubt that something man-made could triumph over our very best in a given field. Deep Blue went six rounds against the champion, winning twice, losing once and drawing three times. In response to his loss, Kasparov accused IBM of cheating.
The version of Deep Blue Kasparov went up against is capable of processing 11.38 gigaflops and the machine was specially fitted to play the game. It wasn't the most powerful supercomputer of its day, nor was it invincible — before the match in May, Kasparov went up against the machine in February, winning three times and only losing one round.
Supercomputing has come a long way since '97, and the information crunched is measured in teraflops rather than gigaflops, which is a vast difference. If pitted against a machine once more, would our best chess player even stand a chance? Are we getting closer to supremely strategic machine minds, à la WarGames?
3. Blurring the lines between man and machine
In Japan, power-assisted exoskeletons are being heavily researched to allow its graying population to work longer and with less strain. Here in the States, the technology is under development for military purposes, allowing soldiers to perform in much the same way by enhancing their capabilities in the field.
Unlike prosthetics, power-assisted suits enhance instead of replace. While they are clunky in their current forms, there's no telling how close we are to having working suits as technology continues to get better. It may sound like science fiction — and the genre has heavily explored the concept, such as in Starship Troopers written by Robert A. Heinlein — but computers used to be as big as rooms and use punch cards to compute data, and here I am typing on a laptop the size of a bound notebook.
2. The robot: the forced evolution of man?
Robots are nothing new. Centuries ago, craftsmen made air-powered mannequins that could perform simple tasks such as writing and drawing and those were seen as little more than a novelty. Today, however, entire industries rely on advancements in robotics, like in automobile manufacturing, and humanoid 'bots are moving forward in leaps and bounds.
Take the Asimo, for example. It's serving drinks at Honda's HQ in Japan. Sony's QRIO charmed the world with its whimsical dancing, and then even found a place amongst youngsters in daycare centers. The kids even began to see it as one of their own, covering it with blankets when it laid down as if it might get cold. Artificial intelligence hasn't reached a point where robots are replacing human beings in less labor-intensive positions, but we've already seen robotic tour guides, janitors and medical assistants.
One day, we may even see a robot that wants to run in the Olympics.
1. Make no mistake: Oscar Pistorius is an athlete just like any other.
Who would imagine an boy without legs would become a world-class sprinter just a decade later? Pistorius has secured top honors in the Paralympic Games, a sports competition for athletes with various physical, mental and sensory disabilities.
Yet Bruggemann, who is the director of the Institute of Biomechanics at the German Sports University in Cologne, concluded that the running blades return 30 percent more energy to the sprinter than the human foot does, and that Pistorius may not perform as well against the others if he still had his natural legs. On the one hand, perhaps the Flex Foot Cheetahs do give Pistorius an unfair advantage. On the other, we'll never know how well Pistorius would perform as an "able-bodied" athlete, because the technology doesn't exist to give him back the legs he lost.
His only option now is to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in an effort to overturn the IAAF's decision. But Oscar Pistorius doesn't want anyone to look at his legs as anything other than that — his legs. “I want to be treated exactly the same as any other athlete who was running my time,” he said.
By chad at 3:32 AM ON 01/16/08
surely you have to be able to draw the line somewhere. What if they gave him motorized wheels instead of springs? Should he still be allowed to compete?
By Traveler at 1:04 PM ON 01/16/08
"Athlete Oscar Pistorius, a 21-year-old from South Africa, has been ruled ineligible to compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on the grounds of an unfair mechanical advantage."
This is an UGLY form of discrimination. I usuially wouldn't say this, but he should sue.
By nicholas at 3:00 PM ON 01/16/08
I agree he should sue, but he shouldn't necessarily just be allowed to compete, they certainly have to set rules, I mean heck with materials improving all the time he could just keep upgrading his feet, I mean surely you have to draw the line somewhere, olympic atheletes are allowed to use body repairing regimines, but they also don't get to use 'roids. some sort of a standard would need to be set to allow crosscompetion from the artificially enhanced.
By bsauser at 5:14 PM ON 01/16/08
One correction: Oscar Pistorius was 11 months old when he had his legs amputated.
On what grounds would Pistorius sue?? He is not being discriminated against. Look at the science and the technology. The IAAF is making a ruling that is far greater than one man, we are talking about the idea of technology in competition. If they allow him to compete then what's next?
The study was a clear indication that the technology gives him a competitive advantage. Please read: http://scienceofsport.blogspot.com/2007/07/oscar-pistorius-science-and-engineering.html
This blog is the more thorough on the debate.
By Kevin Hall at 5:40 PM ON 01/16/08
11 months is correct. Thanks, Bsauser
By steroids at 8:11 PM ON 01/16/08
There should be competitions between people with prosthetics and without, however, they don't allow women to compete against men, steroid use, or jet engines. Prosthetics are no different.
By TheAdlerian at 10:26 PM ON 01/16/08
The sprinter isn't operating fairly.
The muscles in the body needed to be fueled through food, grown through work, and are subject to breakage through stress. This guy can never get a muscle pull or a cramp in the middle of a sprint.
That's unfair.
Only something like "cloned" legs would be ok because they'd be natural.
By HurricaneCharlie at 9:23 AM ON 01/17/08
"I lost the ability to run at the age of 8, due to being a fat geek who watched telly instaed of playing football. For that reason, I'd like to compete in the Olympic spints riding a Honda Fireblade" Sounds daft? Well, it's only stretching the point further. There are Paralympic games that Mr. Pistorius can compete in and I'm sure that any Olympic champion would race against him in a 'What if' scenario, but if he were allowed to compete in the Olympics proper, then I believe it would be the thin end of a wedge.
By zentinal at 11:28 AM ON 01/17/08
As biotech improves, and is available to ever greater percentages of the population, organizations like the IOC will have envoke ever more stringent regulations regarding who can or cannot compete in their competitions.
Just as they now find themselves in the business of certifying certain drugs for the treatment of athlete's medical conditions like colds and asthma, they will also end up certifying artificial muscles, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, skin, types of surgeries, etc, etc. If you want an analogy, think of how the FIA regulates Formula 1.
The IOC could simplify their job by banning and and all athletes who take any medications, have had any repairs done, or who take any suppliments. Athletes would have to eat a strict "Olympic Standard" diet specific to their sport, no variations allowed. The only differences between athletes would then be training, mental state (more training), and genetics.
Oh my. Genetics. Now *that's* a can of worms.
By hydrohead at 11:54 AM ON 01/17/08
I am just curious... the concern seems to focus around the excessive amount of energy that the blades return. What if they gave him blades that returned the average amount of energy that the human foot returned? Would there still be a problem?
By zentinal at 12:03 PM ON 01/17/08
@Hydrohead - Do you mean the average amount of energy an average human foot returns or the average amount of energy an Olympic sprinter's foot returns? I'd bet that there is a non-trivial difference.
By hydrohead at 12:33 PM ON 01/17/08
to be fare it would have to be the average of the athlete.
I would also like to see a race between Pistorius and the Olympiads outside of the olympics. I think it would be interesting.
By Aeo at 12:41 PM ON 01/17/08
Zentinal has the right distinction - well played.
By zentinal at 1:57 PM ON 01/17/08
@Hydrohead - Understood. Now let's think about how this would work.
Assume we're talking about Olympic calibre sprinters. The IOC measures the 'springiness' of a cross section of sprinters feet. Wait, will they be gold winners of Olympic trials or a random sample of anyone who competes or any medal winners? I'd bet it would be the middle choice, but it wouldn't be an exact average. It would have to be the average plus or minus a random percentage of springiness, to mimic genetic variation.
So, now the athlete has IOC sanctioned artificial feet to train with. Are these the same feet she'd compete with? Athletes with born-with feet usually have training shoes and competition shoes, good for a few races. Would our hypothethical athete be allowed to do the same and have a pair of competition only feet? Officially sanctioned, of course.
@AEO - Thanks! Transhumanist / posthumanist issues intigue me.
By hydrohead at 2:12 PM ON 01/17/08
I would say an average of all runners who have made to the Olympics over some time span. Say the last 3 to 5 Olympics as an example.
I would be willing to bet that the winners are not always the ones with the springiest feet because we are dealing with a highly variable and complex process in the human body.
By wendytakeabow at 5:00 AM ON 01/18/08
if those with all limbs intact, and are true athletes, they should love the competition.
By collective82 at 8:06 PM ON 01/23/08
these are getting to be iffy issues. they are toeing the line of whats allowed and whats not. sure the paralympic games are for every injury and the olympics were designed for those "natural"(no spare parts included) people. but what about those that are improved? why not make a third set of games? we are already heading into an era like Zentinal mentioned of genetics and also cyborgs. we all know that soon as they hit main stream people will jump on the wagon to lose limbs and have them replaced to make them selves better. hell i would love to be like a Robocop. so why not plan for the future and set games up for improved people? then if they do come in with better replacemant parts they have a games set up and arent trying to beat out natural athletes.
By collective82 at 8:14 PM ON 01/23/08
these are getting to be iffy issues. they are toeing the line of whats allowed and whats not. sure the paralympic games are for every injury and the olympics were designed for those "natural"(no spare parts included) people. but what about those that are improved? why not make a third set of games? we are already heading into an era like Zentinal mentioned of genetics and also cyborgs. we all know that soon as they hit main stream people will jump on the wagon to lose limbs and have them replaced to make them selves better. hell i would love to be like a Robocop. so why not plan for the future and set games up for improved people? then if they do come in with better replacemant parts they have a games set up and arent trying to beat out natural athletes.
By buckminster at 3:24 AM ON 01/27/08
We are Borg (Amputees)
Prepare to be Assimlated (I wish)
I always root for the robots.
Human's totally suck.
Can they breath in space? No.
Can they stand 50G of deaccelleration? No.
The puny humans obviously are helpless so the entire planet should be eliminated. Send for the Vorgons
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buckminster:
We are Borg (Amputees) Prepare to be Assimlated (I wish) I always root for the robots. Human's totally suck. ...More »