Oscar Pistorius and the Future Nature of Olympic, Paralympic and Other Sports

in SCRIPT-ed – A Journal of Law, Technology & Society
Gregor Wolbring, pp.139-160

Oscar Pistorius is a Paralympic bionic leg runner and record holder in the 100, 200, and 400 meters who wants to compete in the Olympics. This paper provides an analysis of a) his case; b) the impact of his case on the Olympics, the Paralympics and other –lympics and the relationships between the –lympics; c) the impact on other international and national sports; d) the applicability of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. It situates the evaluation of the Pistorius case within the broader doping discourse and the reality that new and emerging science and technology products increasingly generate internal and external human bodily enhancements that go beyond the species-typical, enabling more and more a culture of increasing demand for, and acceptance of modifications of the human body (structure, function, abilities) beyond its species-typical boundaries and the emergence of new social concepts such as transhumanism and the transhumanisation of ableism.

online open access here
Technorati Tags: Technology, Politics, Sports, Pistorius

Another ad with may be the message that we can all be together in sports

Another ad with may be the message that we can all be together in sports

Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society (Perspectives in Nanotechnology) (Paperback)

Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society (Perspectives in Nanotechnology) (Paperback)
by Deb Bennett-Woods (Author)
description here
I have a little piece in there called “Nanoscale sciences and technology and the framework of Ableism:”

Oscar Pistorius and the Future Nature of Olympic, Paralympic and Other Sports

in SCRIPT-ed – A Journal of Law, Technology & Society
Gregor Wolbring, pp.139-160

Oscar Pistorius is a Paralympic bionic leg runner and record holder in the 100, 200, and 400 meters who wants to compete in the Olympics. This paper provides an analysis of a) his case; b) the impact of his case on the Olympics, the Paralympics and other –lympics and the relationships between the –lympics; c) the impact on other international and national sports; d) the applicability of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. It situates the evaluation of the Pistorius case within the broader doping discourse and the reality that new and emerging science and technology products increasingly generate internal and external human bodily enhancements that go beyond the species-typical, enabling more and more a culture of increasing demand for, and acceptance of modifications of the human body (structure, function, abilities) beyond its species-typical boundaries and the emergence of new social concepts such as transhumanism and the transhumanisation of ableism.

online open access here

Human health implications of nanomaterial exposure

THILO PAPP1, DIETMAR SCHIFFMANN1, DIETER WEISS1, VINCE CASTRANOVA2, VAL VALLYATHAN2, & QAMAR RAHMAN3

Published in: journal Nanotoxicology, Volume 2, Issue 1 March 2008 , pages 9 – 27

1Institute of Cell Biology & Biosystems Technology, Rostock University Rostock, Germany, 2National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA, and 3Dean Research & Development Integral University, Lucknow, India

Abstract

Nanotechnology presents countless opportunities to develop new and improved consumer products for the benefit of society. However, as the industrial production and use of nanotechnology products continue to expand at a fast scale, potential human health concerns and ecological safeguards for the environment need to be addressed. Health risk assessment involving different animal species for multi-organ toxicity complimented with molecular investigations in cells is essential for investigating the potential toxic effects of nanomaterials. The purpose of this review is to present the current state of knowledge regarding the potential routes of human exposure to nanomaterials and their biological health effects. Although anthropogenic nanosized particles emitted in the environment are known to produce adverse human health in susceptible populations, much remains to be explored. Exposures can occur from direct exposure or from the use of commercial products made of nanomaterials. Safe manufacturing guidelines for prevention of exposures and recommendations on safe handling and use need to be established on a proactive basis to prevent adverse outcomes.

New Nature Nanotechnology Editorial: Social and natural sciences need to get their act together

more here

Sonic activation of molecularly-targeted nanoparticles accelerates transmembrane lipid delivery to cancer cells through contact-mediated mechanisms: implications for enhanced local drug delivery.

morehere

European Commission is world’s largest public investor in nanotechnology

more here and here

new column of mine is out Bionics

seehere

USA President’s Council on Bioethics Meeting, session on nanotechnology

President’s Council on Bioethics Meeting, session on nanotechnology
When: Friday, June 29, 2007, 8:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m
Where: Hay-Adams Hotel, 16th & H Streets NW, Washington DC
see also here

New column out: NBICS and Other Convergences: The Paralympics, the Olympics, Human Enhancement Technology and the Doping Discourse

More at source

Another of my biweekly columns out

New column here
The column is now published by two sources: Innovationwatch.com (every 15th of a month) and Healthwrights (every 30th of a month)

another of my columns out

Neurodiversity, Neuroenhancement, Neurodisease, and Neurobusiness see here

Is the world ready for cyborg athletes?

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Buy your portable brain-computer interface here

If you can’t wait until next year to get your hands on a Project Epoc EEG cap, never fear: a German company called g.tec (Guger Technologies) is now offering the world’s first commercially available brain computer interface (BCI).
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TR10: Neuron Control

Karl Deisseroth’s genetically engineered “light switch,” which lets scientists turn selected parts of the brain on and off, may help improve treatments for depression and other disorders.
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references for Psychological Enhancements: The Reluctance to Enhance Fundamental Traits

JASON RIIS
New York University – Stern School of Business
JOSEPH P. SIMMONS
Yale School of Management
GEOFFREY P. GOODWIN
Princeton University – Department of Psychology March 1, 2007
Abstract:
Four studies examined young healthy individuals’ willingness to take drugs intended to enhance various social, emotional, and cognitive abilities. We found that people were much more reluctant to enhance traits believed to be highly fundamental to the self (e.g., social comfort) than traits considered less fundamental (e.g., concentration ability). Moral acceptability of a trait enhancement strongly predicted people’s desire to legalize those enhancements, but not their willingness to take those enhancements. Ad taglines that framed enhancements as enabling rather than enhancing the fundamental self increased people’s interest in a fundamental enhancement, and eliminated the preference for non-fundamental over fundamental enhancements.
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Nanotech could revolutionise global healthcare

Nanotechnology has the potential to generate “enormous” health benefits for the more than five billion people living in the developing world, according to a leading professor of medicine.
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My comment: Its much too simple as its outlined in the article more drugs more technology do not good as such if the societal framework (not just related to businesses) is changed. But that does not just mean to direct more tech research priorities towards the needs of the poor. It also means to look at whether new research is actually needed and whether existing tech and sciences can deal with the problem. We have today drugs sciences and technologies who do not reach the people in need. Further more often social changes are much more effective in fighting diseases and preventing the increase of people with a given disease and to make the lives of the poor better than just producing more drugs or technologies.

To slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease, doctors planted electrodes deep in my brain. Then they turned on the juice.

from wired more at source

Nanoparticle Research Offers Hope of Artificial Retinas, Prostheses

Here’s how nano research might pave the way to the development of artificial retinas based on photosensitive nanoparticles:

The world’s first direct electrical link between nerve cells and photovoltaic nanoparticle films has been achieved by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and the University of Michigan. The development opens the door to applying the unique properties of nanoparticles to a wide variety of light-stimulated nerve-signaling devices — including the possible development of a nanoparticle-based artificial retina.

Nanoparticles are artificially created bits of matter not much bigger than individual atoms. Their behavior is controlled by the same forces that shape molecules; they also exhibit the bizarre effects associated with quantum mechanics. Scientists can exploit these characteristics to custom-build new materials “from the bottom up” with characteristics such as compatibility with living cells and the ability to turn light into tiny electrical currents that can produce responses in nerves.

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