Super powered cybernetics
The term
cybernetics is commonly used to refer to the replacement of a person’s body
parts with a technological replacement of some kind. These replacements can run the gamut from a
replacement organ to a replacement limb.
In the medical profession the term prosthetic is used when referring to
a replacement limb, and artificial organ when referring to an internal body
part. At the current time modern medical
science has created a wide range of prosthesis to replace missing body parts do
to disease or injury. Some of these
include artificial arms, hands, legs, or feet, depending on the needs of the
patient. Despite the success of recently
disgraced South African runner Oscar Pistorius, these replacement limbs have to
completely match a normally functioning limb let alone exceed it.
Above the knee artificial leg
Below the elbow artificial arm
In the
world of anime and manga however the story is a bit different, with many
characters gaining increased strength and ability from a replacement body part. Some examples are shown below.
Edward Elric Full Metal Alchemist
Motoko Kusanagi
As any
fan of anime can probably tell me right now is that the Edward only has an artificial
arm and leg, while the Major has an entirely cybernetic body. This distinction is important and will be
covered later on in the blog. For now I
will be looking at cybernetics where only part of the body is replaced such at
Edward Elric.
Limits of the human body
The
human body is capable of performing many feats of strength and agility some of
which are listed below.
Clean and Jerk Olympic record 411 lbs.
Squat world record 1268 lbs.
Bench press world record 722 lbs.
Sadly to
have any chance of being a real life superman you need to look something like
this.
Edward
Elric he isn’t, but his size is needed in order to be able to lift such
impressive amounts. You will notice in
the world’s strongest man competitor in the picture below the man’s entire body
is quite large despite using his legs to lift the weight.
The
reason for this actually quite simple if the man’s back and arms were not
strong, the act of lifting the weight would cause them to tear from their
sockets. Now this is not happening on a
regular basis because most people lack the ability to lift a weight heavy
enough to cause their own arms to tear from their sockets.
Partial Cybernetic Replacement
This of
course would be different for a person who was fitted with a super powered artificial
limb if such a device could be built.
Now let’s take for instance Ross Syllabus shown below from Armitage the
Third.
Due to
events in the movie his right arm is replaced up to the shoulder. This enhanced limb allows him to operate heavy
equipment with ease as shown above. Now
let’s examine his potential for greater than human ability. If Ross uses his limb to crush a can or other
object in his hand, then he will not run into any problems. However should he try to use that arm to
perform any action that required the support of the rest of his squishy body
then the following will occur.
Conclusion
Sadly our bodies are squishy and cannot support the extreme
force of super powered cybernetics. As
such super powered cybernetic limbs are
Full Body Cybernetics
There is
however a caveat to the above rule and that is full body cybernetics. In anime a full body cybernetics is used to
refer to a person that has had their entire body except for the brain and or
spinal cord replaced with a mechanical body.
Some of the more famous examples include the previously shown Motoko
Kusanagi, Briareos (Appleseed), or Gally (Battle Angel Alita).
Briareous
Gally
A
completely cybernetic body removes the problem of the squishy human body. This is due to the artificial body supporting the weight removing any biological components from the equation. As such super powered could be used up to the limit of the artificial body. Thus, a completely cybernetic body has the
potential to give a person super powered abilities, provided it can be built in
the future.
Thanks
again for reading and I hope you learned something. List any comments, questions, concerns, or recommendations
below.
Awesome work on your blog! These are really interesting to read!
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