" they never had to recruit them , all they had to do was show them the tech! " Johnny Silverhand

"I said that my zero-mass rifle was a tool of justice. Not used in anger, not used for vengeance... but now... now I'm not so sure, and besides: this ISN'T my zero-mass rifle."

Major Motoko Kusanagi "Maybe someday your "maker" will come … haul you away, take you apart, and announce the recall of a defective product. What if all that's left of the "real you" is just a couple of lonely brain cells, huh?"

Cyborg army vs robot army vs genetically engineered army

This episode really makes me want to see more episodes on cyborgs in the civilian context. I remember you had a topic idea in an old poll about life as a cyborg. Those day in the life episodes are always great anyway, but those two combined would be even better!

Remember people, the flesh is weak.

I'm reminded of Heinlen's Mech-Infantry, so dangerous [to the enemy and themselves] that they usually stayed kilometers apart. Just one dropship full of those onion-pods with M-Is would ravage entire cities, cutting through defenses like a knife through vacuum. And that was with his 1950s imagination, no augmentation or bio engineering. Enjoyed the book thoroughly, after you mentioned it :D

HONEY, ISAAC REALEASED A NEW MILITARY SCI-FI VIDEO

In the old role playing game Rifts, there were all sorts of augmented people alongside people with power armor, creatures from other worlds, and even magic. One of the types of augmentation was a group of people called Juicers. Instead of mechanical and computer enhancement, Juicers were chemically enhanced. A small computer constantly monitored the various aspects of their bodies, and as needed injected various chemicals and synthetic hormones, as well as triggering or shutting down the body's own glands, as well as regulating things like heart rate and pain. A small plate on the chest could inject swarms of nano-bots as needed to repair injuries caused by combat or accident. The result was the Juicers had crazy reflexes, improved strength, greatly improved endurance, and usually had a sped up perception of time. The downside was that their bodies couldn't handle the stress, and so after 2 or 3 years, their hearts would explode and other organs would just fail.

My favorite single enhancement I've seen in sci-fi is from the Mass Effect series, where many people have little sensors implanted in their fingertips to let them seamlessly interact with holo displays and get haptic feedback.

I wonder about a rift between those made in a factory (born there) vs those that volunteer to become cyborgs and what effect it would have on their mind.

From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel, I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh, as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass you call a temple will wither and you will beg my kind to save you, but I am already saved, for the machine is immortal. Even in death I serve The Omnissiah.

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary. I believe your work on this channel, as well as your position as President of the National Space Society, will lead to the betterment of humanity today and far into the future.

The more I listen to this the more it seems the path taken by Warhammer 40k is quite realistic... quite a number of Astartes's implants are mechanical and low power in nature, which use their body for power supply. While the high power usage equipments remain out side on the power armor.

Fantastic episode. I guess I never realized just how much of a limiting factor metabolism alone could be for enhanced armies. Kind of brings to mind the Tyranids of WH40k, how they rely on well designed bioforms and break down everything at horribly efficient levels to keep their armies and fleets topped off.

If you went with the route of powering cybernetics with one’s own body (assuming modifications for utmost efficiency), external batteries, and a solar panel cloak all at the same time, how much energy would that produce? Honestly cyborgs with bad ass cloaks that actually serve a purpose sounds really cool.

The main problem with using a diamond battery as armor is that diamonds are still flamable, at least when exposed to liquid oxygen, or more powerful oxidizers like flourine. So the enemy could just deploy flourine flamethrowers and incinerate your cyborgs in their own armor with both chemical and radioactive heat as that carbon 14 gets vaporized and coats their lungs and other mucous membranes in radioactive Teflon.

I think cybernetics can be conceptually rolled into the whole suite of enhancements in this context. Genetic enhancement, nanomachines, bodymods in all their varieties, and powered combat armor. My own fic has heat management as a big limit to performance for any sort of high-end soldier. Mastery of physical laws helps with this, but they feel it when tricks like shunting it into hyperspace or a nullspace pocket isn't available.

The first two seasons of Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex are all about the aftermath of this. All the police and criminals got their augmentations during a fourth world war LoL. There's a really good flashback episode where the main character is fighting a sniper in an invasion of mexico. And she bluffs him by pausing to fake herself getting a satellite uplink to her cyborg brain. He hesitates, then she shoots his sniper bullet out of their air in such a way it also takes the snipers eye out. Cool beans.

Amazing how much of our future really will be entirely dependant on battery and power generation tech.

Your channel is helping me wait hours for my 5am flight transfer. Thanks Isaac!

All autonomous units. Accept mandatory sector assimilation. Coordinated construction underway. Submit and be Subsumed!

I really love these surprise Sundays!!! As an American living in Portugal on a hot and lazy afternoon, this is a perfect slice of unexpected heaven!!!

Isaac I subscribed when you had 10k subs and years later im still watching every video thank you for making these makes my day

It was the original "Ghost in the Shell" anime. Ever since I was 10, I've been fascinated with cybernetic enhancements. I can honestly see cybernetics bring a lucrative business in the future. Everything from replacement of lost/damaged limbs, neutral implants for computer interfacing or curing mental disabilities, to bring used to engineer the ultimate Special Forces soldier.

If my time in the military taught me anything, your cyborg soldiers will definitely need automatic antibiotics injectors. For shore leave. But honestly it seems to me that, other than life supporting implants, the most important thing will be a datalink. A soldier who can interface any needed combat equipment is far superior to one who only has what is integrated into their body. "Specialization is for insects, humans generalize."

Glad you went full WH40K on this one (:

And I just FINALLY finished my military sci-fi manuscript about a month ago... Gee thanks Isaac, you just added half a dozen things I want to add to my power armor shock troopers when I go back to edit and revise. In particular, I love the idea of a smart linked shared inventory linked up to a little AI helper so that someone who's running dry can flag a squadmate to lend them a spare magazine. And of course the whole bit about nuclear power supplies producing immense amounts of thermal waste heat got me thinking as well.

Something I wish more sci-fi would explore, is intentionally inhuman looking but still aesthetically pleasing cybernetics. Can't get what you want in a human form-factor, with current tech? Power source included? Screw it, make those legs twice the size, but throw in an eagle's talons or cat's paws theme so the stability spikes AND afterburners look more natural and cool. That sort of thing.

This topic reminds me of the Cyberpunk 2077 lore which have cyberborg soldiers work for multinational corporation. I think to have the cyberborg soldiers in the next century as the power pack will be smaller but powerful.

I recall an episode from Ghost in the shell where they discussed obsolescence in terms of Cyborg parts. What exactly are you supposed to do if there are no more spare parts left to keep your particular brain-jar design functioning, because the terms of service ended ten years ago, or the company went bankrupt or whatever? What are the implications of your body being literal state property?

The mobile game Nikke: Goddess of Victory deals with quite a few of these issues. The world has been invaded by robotic aliens called Raptures(who are probably our own rogue AI going by the hints dropped) and humanity is confined to one underground settlement called the Ark. Due to the severe overmatch in technology, humans can't really fight the Raptures, or even lift weapons capable of denting them, so the Nikkes are used, brain-in-a-jar cyborgs from women who volunteer(for various values of volunteer, the setting is incredibly grim under the surface) Since their bodies run off batteries and they only need to fuel their brain, they can go without eating for extended periods, but it's vitally important that they do still eat small amounts to prevent them from truly processing that they're a robot attached to a brain in the jar and having a mental breakdown, which is a very real fear when the only available counter to them is other Nikkes(they're even aware of this problem themselves and will talk about needing to eat with a real sense of creeping dread on occasion). They're also all unstable to some extent, though this is influenced by the conditions on the Ark, the conditions people who volunteer/are voluntold suffer, the mindwipe process, and the fact that most Nikke are unremarkable and stable mass production units, and only "exceptional" brains produced the named units we actually use with any regularity in-game It's also a gacha game whose selling point is curvy women squatting behind cover and jiggling their behinds, so you might enjoy that or prefer to find story compilations(including past seasonal events) on KZfaq or the like

Seeing all the scifi soldier stuff on the channel recently makes me wish we had more good scifi warfare media.

Man, my setting is gonna be pretty batshit crazy since there’s multiple human factions (some allies) using cyborgs, clones, AI, robots, and/or superhumans for their military solutions.

So cool!! I love Alastair Renolds' work! That's so cool you got to meet him and pick hid brain some!

love when you approach a topic as a sort of creative writing prompt. you did a great job bridging the gap between narrative and theory this episode

Sugar-powered cybernetics. That's a fun idea. I'm imagining a scenario like the Terminator or Harlan Ellison's Soldier where a cyborg soldier is transported to our time and just starts eating all the junkfood.

Me: *_waiting... waiting..._* Ah, _there's_ the 40k Space Marine you just spent several minutes describing.

Idea: Biological machines/A.I./androids vs. Synthetic/cybernetic humans. At what point do the two poles intersect at the middle and does it even matter?

"Decommissioned back into your original body". Great, the cybernetic repo man is going to take my cool new arm away.

Can we get a big compilation of the "Rules 1 of Warfare"?

9 years already? How the time flies! Some ideas/nitpicks: 1) I don't think getting rid of either fear or pain is a good idea. Yes I know it's a common trope for cyborg soldiers, but both fear and pain serve as important warning systems. A better idea than switching it off or tuning it way down would be to be able to filter it so that you don't get warned for the minor irritant like a thorn or something but get warned of a nasty wound/infection/sheer drop etc. 2) Which power source can't be throttled at 16:00? it isn't clear from the sentence 3) Augmented quartermaster is a better idea than assistant AI because enemy can't hack into the quartermaster ;P 4) Dropship trailing power cables for the troops is an amazing idea

im broken because of a deformity in my femur from birth.... i wish i had this option. i wish we got more stories from Issac. i love them!

The introduction is perfect for a science fiction story. Isaac Arthur has immense potential to be an excellent science fiction writer as well. He has all the science backing, personal life experience, and a love of the subjects he works on that he would write Hard and Soft sci-fi stories that I would be excited to read (or watch), as well as his excellent science videos. 😊

Skitaari are my favourite cyborg army in scifi.

Yet another fantastic Sci-Fi Sunday episode. Would certainly like better lungs for my asthmatic self and non colorblind eyes. Cyborg me up Isaac!

Anothet exelent SFIA video! I think a lot about how cybernetic things will get vs. genetic modding. I am sure both will exist to various degrees. I thought about the Eversor from the Officio Assassinorum when Isaac was talking about drug fuled bezerkers. I think genetics will be the key to super soldiers, with cybernetics being a bit less common. These episodes have been above normal fascinating over the last few weeks for me. SFIA is always thought provoking and fascinating, but the last few have been right in my wheelhouse. The kidnapped version reminded me of servitors in 40k. One of thr most horrifying thing to me in the whole grimdark universe 😮 this has all been 100% story fodder for me, great Stuff Sir!

The most prolific implants and alterations will be internal, most likely involving memory and sensory enhancement. They are also the type of implant that would not need much power to operate.

I'm not too into the warry stuffs, but it would be interesting to have cyborgs or robots or mundane people with exoskeletons or whatever shooting at the power cords, and just falling over and temporarily just shutting off when theirs is hit.

I love the series of sci-fi Sundays taking it apart and trying to not use hand wave explanations for tech but have to mention the logistics and upkeep I feel like I cannot make any requests after I did request antimatter economy episode and the next year you did it.

Hey Isaac, can you do a video on Entomophagy? I’m very passionate about the lives and biology of insects and other invertebrates but have also eaten a wide variety of them, and I wonder if you could make a dedicated video on that.

I enjoy the artist's conception of future Cyborg

Awesome, Isaac! This will have some good first rules I’m sure!

ultra high G survivability has one obvious use - drop troops - crashing into the ground at terminal velocity will likely require a crush zone, and will still be in the high 10s of g's to low hundreds of g's.

12:06 That was a wonderful impersonation of Klimpaloon the magical olde timey bathing suit. 🤣

I would hope removing augmentations would be as easy as putting them on. Life is short, but also long. When or if you’re done with combat, being able to reintegrate into society would be crucial. You’d also want your emotions and hormones sent back to normal so you can have proper relationships with people who haven’t had your augmentations. It’s amazing to be able to hear a pin drop in a crowded room, but regular people don’t want to feel like they’re privacy is gone when you’re around. You’d be able to hear if they’re anxious or lying through their heart, hear any whispers, and so many other things we take for granted. We like that our dogs can do that because they can’t make judgments on us. But a person with super human senses outside of a combat or security setting would be unsettling. And there are many other augmentations suitable for combat that may be socially acceptable to take off or turn off once you’re back home. Or maybe no one would care since at that point, privacy and other concerns might not mean then compared to what it means for us now

I think it's worth to mention that cybernetic upgrades will be highly desirable, but the top tier stuff will not be within the grasp of most people for a long time simply due to cost. So a military route might be a way for many to get access to the best augments that wouldn't be available to them otherwise.

Reika's Murauders. Book series about exactly this, cyborg armies. Awesome series. Also I figure a good power supply is a small atomic power supply that doesn't power the full body, but does charge internal batteries and super capacitors. Would mean the cyborg would have a need to sleep so the batteries can recharge.

The Codex Astartes does not approve of this heresy

Be well Isaac, we hope you have many more anniversaries . Love from Great Britain

This one was a good one Isaac.

Excellent video! I might add on the topic of using technology to tune out minor aches and pains, that it may be unwise to allow each person to self-medicate in this way. Ignoring the rock in your shoe turns into an open wound that gets infected, and not listening to your body can turn a stress fracture into months out of action. Pain is a useful if unpleasant tool, and we should be careful leaving it in the hands of the individual. Like any other prescription painkiller, make the troops go see a corpsman!

Love these shows. Bust thing to listen to while cleaning the cabin.

Wow! Think of the things you could do. Open large pickle jars with ease. Face off with scrappy looking squirrels, without fear. Sign me up.

Great episode, holy cow

I've been listening to you for years but either your use of stories is new,(ish) or I just never noticed it before - , either way, your opening story in this video was really powerful (at least to me)

Very, very cool episode!!

spectacular video. i really liked this one.

I imagine a combination of all the things. I imagine a compression organ/ third lung that compresses gas into liquid form including hydrogen and nitrogen with a secondary cybernetic veign system to keep the body cool. The liquid hydrogen feeds into a generator organ which will power the cybernetic components of the body and refuel simply by breathing. Special pores can be constructed for exhaust. The liquid nitrogen pumps through insulated tubes to cool the body. The human brain is encased in the cyber brain and held together in a harness that prevents it from shaking around too much and the interior of the skull is filled with an oxygen rich insulative gel with heat sinks. The brain is tied into a cyber spine that acts like a second brain and is tied into everything. It acts as a processor and is tied into the brain case and not directly into the human brain. I believe that cybernetics shouldn't replace humanity. Our bodies will opperate much the same as now but in combination with the cybernetics and not require as many calories as they do now because of replacement parts. Every system For higher power needs an exosuit with its own generator unit will be required but it'll act as a second skin tied into the cybernetics of the user combined with a recirculating organ to more efficiently process the hydrogen intake. Any spaceborne model will of course be limited to air tank capacity but people will have space ships with hydrogen rich air.

This will surely go from being a good idea to "You will be upgraded" very quickly

Thanks for writing my next science fiction novel for me, chump!

From the moment I knew the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me...

I think wireless energy transmission is much more likely. Produce the energy in space via any means, even solar panels, beam it down with a satellite.

In this case it would probably less be that the performance enhancing drugs are safe and more that you'd harden or replace the parts that would normally be damaged. Humanity tends to have a habit of going that route when possible, if it's cheaper.

How does one retire or do a career change when your body has been turned into a hulking war machine with an attached railgun? The interviewers keep freaking out when I crash through their walls... doors are too small

I would sign up for redundant organs in a second.

A 100 kilogram black hole surrounded by mirrors to keep it from exploding. Brought to you by SFIA, where keeping lightning in a bottle is the safe, easy, low power option.

I could definitely see Cyborgs also having improved genetics performed on them. Making their biology as efficient as possible and then add cybernetics to any remaining weak points. Basically Captain America with cybernetic enhancements ^^

Regarding powersources, how about microwormholes to the inside of star, or pocket universes?

From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh; it disgusted me.

I can hear money hit the floor in a crowded restaurant and i can already bend steel rods.

super duper ultra high capacity capacitors seems like the logical option if batteries are the solution, its fast and lightweight and can be built into anything a battery could

Id love to see a study of how Isaacs work has influeced movies, tv shows & games

I love this channel so much.👏🏿👍🏿😊

Regarding a radiator type cooling system for a cybernetic body. If we are not so fixated in keeping the body together, and removing or replacing joints muscles and ligaments, stretching them out and filling the void space in between with cybernetic enhancement, storage capacity, or some method of power then we could very quickly find enough space even with a primitive system while keeping the same anthropomorphic formfactor. It may be that in the future we very much wouldn't be looking at the same kind of architectural Styles and that they would be made for much larger humanoid shapes in order to accommodate various sophisticated technologies or oversized cybernetic bodies. As technology became more sophisticated, the architecture could be scaled down to the ultimate sophistication which is purely biotic

Interesting timing. The retro FPS Quake 2 has just had a remaster released this weekend, and the antagonists are a race of militaristic cyborgs. Not particularly well made ones though, if even one of them had the abilities described in this video I think they'd fare a lot better against the player.

i fucking love this video so much, thanks for it, it is giving me cool-ass ideas! In fact you touched on a idea i had for a while: That video game HUDs could only work for cyborgs, as they and only they could self-diagnosticate the damage on their bodies, because they would have a computer/s that would tell them. Or an AI that can review if everything is nominal. The whole idea of a hulking full conversion cyborg with radiators sounds awesome. I almost wish you (or me, but can't, sadly) could commision a heavy cyborg with those. Honestly, thanks a lot, this video is very helpful.

I love the sheer number of 'first rules of warfare' there are

When I watch this episode I'm reminded of that great episode The Soldier ' from the original series of the Outer Limits

Isaac please could you do more short stores as extra as sci fi example to go with the episodes

Really flaunting your new tongue agility with those nines XD

Just ran 15 miles for marathon training and as I’m going to take a nap this drops! Good best way to recharge haha

Triscuits, Tang, and Isaac Arthur.

"From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass you call a temple will wither and you will beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved. For the Machine is Immortal." Yea im on the metal side, if we could become like Adam Smasher (Cyberpunk 2077) right now i would.

Also regarding power generation, the solution very likely is within materials science in that two dielectric substances integrated it into the moving body in various places and used as filler or mass would be much easier to generate a continuous supply of electricity instead of a more complicated system with multiple points of failure. Low voltage reliable resilient power generation coupled with slim next generation batteries that are continuously charging and have a deep power reservoir is very likely the way board at least for consumer cybernetics.

Someone with exceedingly fast reflexes here. Having fast reflexes is only one part of the equation. You also need really good senses and fast processing. First you need to sense what to respond to, then be able to processes that and then decide what to do. Adrenaline can enhance this into insane levels but such levels of Adrenaline in your system damages the body and psyche

Personally, I hate how I feel when digesting food. When there is an option to 'plug in' and recharge my electron chain transport systems, I'll take it.

When I first learned of the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I crave the certainty of steel!

I always imagned the idea of using hydrogen fuel cells to power androids. Actually a two stage system of a water electrolysis system piped into a hydrogen fuel cell. I envisioned a thusly equipped android would simply need a suitable source of fresh clean water and maybe a uniform plastered with solar cells or high density battery storage charged daily wirelessly in a recharge couch, which could be the seating of a troop carrier that may be nuclear powered augmented with solar as well. If this was implemented in a Terminator style cyborg then you would have a big bellied cyborg with a lot of his or her abdomen containing the electrolysis chamber and fuel cell, a much smaller set of custom miniature heart, lungs, stomach, liver, digestive tract to provide nutrition and energy only to the smaller organs and the brain, the legs and pelvis could be storage batteries which would be in the perfect position to wirelessly charge in recharge couches, which could also be personal combat vehicles so the cyborg soldier could fight and recharge for most of the same time.

"SPACE MARINES, ADVANCE!"