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Body Modding: For Science - A Recovering Physicist's Apology

About Body Modding: For Science

Previous Entry Body Modding: For Science Jun. 14th, 2006 @ 08:43 pm Next Entry
I admit I don't really "get" body modifications. I don't understand why people would get a tattoo or get anything pierced. I do not subscribe to the notion that they enhance beauty, so what is the point? They are not particularly functional, but then I came across what I can only say is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever heard of.

It is a body mod that made me "get" it. You can take a very strong rare-earth magnet and implant it in a finger. The neurons in your finger heal and when you encounter a magnetic field the magnet moves in your finger and you feel the field YOU FEEL MAGNETIC FIELDS!! It cannot be over stated how increddibly awesome this is. Ever since E&M kicked my butt up and down Oberlin's campus I have always really wanted to feel the fields that we talked about. That's the thing about E&M for me it is so distant. Newtonian physics is real: you can go out there and feel force, but you can't feel an electric field (correction: you don't want to!)

But if I could feel magnetic fields, wow. Wow! WOW!

I'm not planning on getting this anytime soon. It sounds like there are some problems with it, but it tops my current "what if...?" scenario list.

Here are two articles if you want to learn more:
Wired article
A body mod online mag (warning a little blood in some of the pictures)
Mood Data: thoughtful100% What if'ing [a.c.]
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From:ndemarin
Date:June 14th, 2006 09:10 pm (UTC)
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the cross-over potential with genital body-mod is terrifyingly beautiful; maybe i can meet robot prostitutes half way.
From:dlcraddock
Date:June 15th, 2006 06:49 pm (UTC)
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I think it depends on WHY you want to modify (whatever term you want to use) your body. For example, The Rock didn't get his samoan tattoo because it looks badass (which it does!!). He got it because it's a part of his culture and tells his story, so to speak, which I think is pretty damn cool. And a lot better an idea than getting "Mom" with an arrow/heart on your left bicep or something. ;)
From:ndemarin
Date:June 15th, 2006 07:53 pm (UTC)
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will, though i have not the afore mentioned tattoo, i do feel it is a valid, albeit silly, medium of expression, and i would not deride anyone who chose to express themselves in that way...at least to there face.
From:dlcraddock
Date:June 16th, 2006 02:38 pm (UTC)
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Yeah, the whole silly or not silly P.O.V. is dependent on culture, I think. For example, I don't think it's the greatest idea either, but... *shrug*. Here's a pic just so you have an idea of what it looks like. I actually think it's quite beautiful, and again, according to Samoan culture, it's not just a random swirl of designs; it tells a story. Many people argue that their tattoos tell stories, but this one actually does. :P

http://www.dennisblackwell.com/modfab/hgb/rock2.jpg
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From:lisl_bo_beazl
Date:June 16th, 2006 10:23 pm (UTC)
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this is quite possibly the coolest thing i've ever seen. new senses. and integrating it into the nervous system directly, and not just outside the body (e.g., tying a magnet to your wrist), it's just unfathomably awesome. now i just want something i could implant that would let me sense ghosts and stuff. that would seriously rock. but magnets are cool too.
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