My favourite part of the below video was at 21:33 when he said, “Um… You can see how it just passes through the skin permanently. That’s an interesting part but we won’t talk about that.”
That’s a very interesting part. I wish he would talk about that.
Yeah, the best I’d thought of for implants that physically interface to outside the body would be something like a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter), but that comes with all kinds of infection risks. I’d thought about maybe having some sort of pre-manufactured easily swappable sanitary bandages. Think of it like changing the filter on a mask, but the bandages are coated in some sort of sterilization solution in a manner like a box of wet wipes.
That makes it more convenient but still the flesh is quite the chore to deal with. My thinking had only gotten so far as maybe having some sort of drip of sanitizing fluid, so you’d slot something like an ink cartridge and leak something like snot.
But now that! I like that idea! That would be wonderful if we could get something like that working. Now, ingrown toenails and other such physiological errors are quite the chore in themselves, but perfecting a design like that means we just eat more jell-o and occasionally trim away excess and we’re good to go.
Years ago we already managed to grow human ears on the backs of rats, so growing nails on our stumps sounds viable.
I suppose we transhumans are in a position to begin experimenting with implants under the nails we already have. Like the blades under Molly’s fingernails. Maybe a small cable protruding from under a toenail. Molly wore fake nails over hers. I sense potential to exploit such a casing, maybe a hatch that glues to the nail.
It’s bad if it makes the nail grow the wrong way or gets fungus under it, but if we can get it working, it proves the concept. An interface on our fingertips or toes is a bit in the way, prone to stubbing and other undesirable forces, so we would remain motivated to test the nail cuticle growth further from the extremities, maybe on the torso or the limbs close to the torso. Step by step, I could see us arriving at the use of such an interface for prosthetic limbs.