extended body

BEFORE

AFTER

Flying cars are in our future, so why not create flying humans instead?

In researching human attempts at flying, I came across a man in a squirrel suit whose wish is to skydive and land (alive) without a parachute. And although the idea is a spectacular one, wouldn't it be better if we needed no gear whatsoever? Sort of like a bird... or better yet, a bat.

While examining the skeletal structure of a bat, I found that the wings are quite similar to the arms of a human; more so than a bird’s wing. And the fact that bats have skin instead of feathers made me more inclined to create a sort of human-bat hybrid.

As you can likely see in my hybrid, the human arm bones will remain the same, but additional, more bat-like bones will extend down from the upper arm bone (the Humerus), to create the structure for the wing. Skin will grow from the arm, around the bones, and connect to the side. In my initial draft, the bat bones were shorter and, in turn, my wings were smaller. It became clear to me that while this wing-span was suitable for a bat, it would not successfully carry the weight of a human; my proportions were all wrong. This set my project back a bit, but I eventually settled on extending the bones even further while still being able to connect the skin to the side.

Now, although I’m giving humans wings, we still must also be able to use our arms in the same way we do now. But this is not a problem. Each wing bone has a joint that moves as our elbow does, and the skin extends and retracts, allowing us to continue to fling our arms over our heads as we please.

When all is said and done, humans will use their arms as usual, but will also be able to fly as a bat does.

Humans will be genetically modified to grow these wings until it becomes a natural part of evolution. Soon enough, your babies will be born with wings!

References:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/sports/othersports/10flying.html?_r=1

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/skeleton/Skelprintout.shtml

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/bat1.htm

the future?

"complexity and unreliability were synonymous" -Vannevar Bush

An invention is an invention despite the time or place, but its success depends entirely on how advanced the society of the time is --> the span of knowledge, the state of economy, the development of tools. Naturally, things advance as time does; the longer humanity exists, the more humans learn, discover, and create. Life just keeps getting bigger and "better." Tools and technology grow as we do, for tools and technology are human-made.

He talks a lot about compression... devices becoming smaller as technology advances. Like a microworld, nanoworld! Because as things become smaller, they become faster... resulting in a more efficient society. Ultimately, humans can get more done in an increasingly shorter amount of time.
super small + super fast = super advanced.
Efficiency is excellent for the economy.

He talks about selection, and the future of rapid selection.
About credit cards.... "[they] may be in miniature, so that they occupy little space."
It is important that time nor space is wasted; only use what is necessary, move along quickly.
(efficiency, efficiency, efficiency!)

Eventually, (not in his mind, at the time) everything will be digital; machines; robotic.
It's what the people want, to be the greatest we can be. From cavemen to robots. But I think the world as a newborn was just as great as what the future holds...

Hopefully it doesn't go the Terminator route (the negative side of that, all of the destruction and what not)... that would be unfortunate.

But as I read this article, all I could think was "Terminator." That's what I pictured his descriptions. Everything fast, compact, efficient... like a microchip in your brain that has everything you ever need. It sounds like madness to me, but at this rate...

I'd like to see our future world as a thriving, healthy, happy place..... but again, at this rate....

Well, we'll see.