Lester D. Stone, EL 65, The Cyborg Self, Brown University, 2006

Cyborgs and Space

After earlier African influences and Carlyle's naming of the cyborg, the cyborg in space travel becomes apparent to mankind technologically and spiritually. Man has to decided if its bodily functions should be altered or provide some sort of earthily environment in space. The idea then becomes to alter the body of man. The cyborg in the context of space travel incorporates exogenous components extending the self-regulatory control function of the organism in order to adapt it to new environments.To stop the man in space from becoming a slave to the machine by having to check things and make adjustments to keep alive, a cyborg becomes the solution. The cyborg's purpose provides an organizational system in which such robot-like problems are taken care of automatically and without thought leaving man to carry on with normal lives. The osmotic pressure pump is one method in which the cyborg can be achieved. S Rose developed the pump for continuous slow injections of biochemically active substances at a biological rate. The pump works through the incorporation of it into the organism and allows administration of a selected drug at a particular organ and at a continuous variable rate, without any attention on the part of the organism. The capsules are available and have already been used on rabbits and rats. and continuous heparin injection in man. The combination of an osmotic pressure pump capsule with sensing and controlling mechanisms can form a continuous loop which will act as an adjunct to the body's own autonomous controls. In this manner, these controls can be changed to the desired performance characteristics under various environmental conditions. If these characteristics were determined, such a system would be possible today with the selection of appropriate drugs."[pg 31] Systolic blood pressure can be sensed, compared to a reference value based on the space conditions encountered, and regulated by letting the difference between sensed and reference pressures control administration of an adrenergic or vasodilator drug.

History of the Cyborg: Index


Course Website cyborg Body & Self

Last modified 30 December 2006