Article: A Sixth Sense for a Wired World - implanting a magnet in your finger

[mouser]

cool!

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Body-mod artists Jesse Jarrell and Steve Haworth's original idea was to implant a magnet to carry metal gadgets. It turns out that doesn't work: If you try to carry something magnetic on your implant regularly, the pinched skin between the magnets dies and your body rejects the implant. But they came up with a new application when a mutual friend suffered an accident that left a shard of iron in his finger. He worked with audio equipment, and found that he could tell which speakers were magnetized from the sensation that passed through his finger at close range.
That gave Jarrell and Haworth a new direction: Could they obtain that effect deliberately, extending the sense of touch into a sense of magnetism?
Todd Huffman, a graduate student at Arizona State University with a background in neuroscience, joined the project and brainstormed with Jarrell and Haworth about how, and where, to best implant a powerful magnet. He helped come up with the most effective design for an implant, and eventually became the first recipient. "The fingertip was chosen because of the high nerve density, and because the hands are constantly interacting with the environment, increasing the chances of sensing electromagnetism in the world," Huffman says.
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http://www.wired.com...-0.html?tw=rss.index

from boingboing

[Carol Haynes]

The was a program on TV the other day about people in Germany (at least I think it was Germany) lining up to be 'chipped' so that they can be their own credit/membership card at night clubs. If they want to buy a drink at the bar the barman simply scans their shoulder. This is happening for real now ... over my dead body I say (though given the political climate in the UK I wouldn't be surprised if all corpses aren't tagged before long!).

Orwellian or what ... maybe a new corporation called 666 is about to emerge and the post apocalytic age is about to start.

[Deozaan]

That would be cool until you accidently ruined your USB flash drive or any other EM sensitive device.