The man who turned his leg into a hotspot

A comic book-style review of attending a biohacking conference

When Andrew Greenstone attended a biohacking conference in Austin, Texas, he didn't expect to walk away a newly implanted member of the techy cadre. Partway through the event, he paid $150 to have an NFC chip inserted into his right hand.

Hacking the body for a future that didn't happen

Journalist Adi Robertson experimented with one of the most accessible biohacks: magnets. Having a tiny magnet in their right ring finger meant they could sense magnetic fields, attract small metal objects, and more. But magnets weaken over time, eroding this new sense. Such implants do more than offer a new way of interacting with the world, they also pose new complications, such as the inability to get an MRI.

Biohacking to boost personal health has become a concept that encompasses everything from vitamin regimens and cryochambers to brain implants and red light therapy.

Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson's mission to live forever

Johnson has invested millions of dollars into developing a biohacking program he believes will extend his life beyond typical expectations, relying on medical professionals to reduce his "biological age." Most notably, he drew significant public attention with reports of blood-swapping with his teenage son.

My experience with biohacking

A general approach that employs technology to enhance the functioning of the human body, biohacking enthusiasts are continuously seeking new ways to optimize their performance. Martin Kremmer, an entrepreneur who became interested in the topic after experiencing burnout, explores his own experiences in biohacking his own diet and lifestyle in pursuit of a longer, healthier life.

Biohacking: The effort to optimize health and extend life through technology

Biohacking seeks to optimize human health and performance through everything from simple lifestyle adjustments to more radical interventions like body modifications and experimental technology. At its core, biohacking covers a wide spectrum—ranging from improving sleep and focus to implanting devices that integrate technology with the human body.

Neuralink brain implants have enabled a paralyzed person to play video games

As one of twelve test subjects in Neuralink's PRIME study, Rob Greiner's implant translates his brain's activity into digital commands for the 'Battlefield 6' game. He can now also design 3D models and 3D-print objects using his thoughts.

An experimental bionic knee has been directly integrated into the user's muscle and bone—not an external socket—marking a significant prosthetic advancement.

What is biohacking? An overview

Biohacking is a broad collection of self-improvement techniques meant to enhance a human's health, lifespan, or ability. There are basic biohacks, like the use of caffeine, and more extreme ones, like under-the-skin implants. The difference between biohacking and standard medicine is that biohacking is primarily a do-it-yourself approach and is mostly unregulated.

An essay exploring how living day-to-day with a brain implant helps restore a sense of identity

Companies like Neuralink are experimenting with volunteers who have lost control over their bodies. Many of the program's participants claim the most significant benefit from the tool is the ability to perform simple, mundane tasks, such as playing video games or shaking hands, rather than more obvious milestones like walking or eating. This essay explores what it's like, day to day, to use a brain implant.

The scientist that biohacked a buff frog

If a tree frog was injected with a DNA mixture containing follistatin, a gene that may influence muscle growth, would it become buff? Josiah Zayner hopes so. By learning how to biohack animals, he hopes people are one step closer to feeling more comfortable "whipping up DIY gene therapy."

Watch the engineering challenges overcome in turning a 3D printer into a tattoo machine

The DIY project required reprogramming the printer to operate on a curved, 2D surface rather than making flat layers in 3D, editing replacement firmware to bypass temperature safety checks, and developing a rapid system to stop the tattoo in case of an emergency. The final product printed "LEG" on a volunteer's leg.

Elon Musk's Neuralink's N1 chip can wirelessly read brain signals from over 2,000 electrodes

The device is a battery-powered brain implant that transmits data via Bluetooth. Neuralink's near-term objectives for the device focus on unlocking new treatments for paralysis, neurological disorders, and some psychiatric conditions.

Dave Asprey is considered one of the fathers of modern biohacking

Entrepreneur Dave Asprey wants to live longer than anyone else, a desire that's led him to biohacking. Asprey relies on supplements, stem cell treatments, rigid dieting, exercise, and more. The inventor of Bulletproof Coffee has no medical or nutritional training, though that's not unusual among biohacking's DIY experimenters.

The crypto city home to biohacking experiments

The DIY nature of biohacking gives the work an entrepreneurial feel, as seen by the emergence of community labs, at-home testing kits, and corporation-backed cities that don't necessarily require government-approved testing standards. Próspera, Honduras, created by a business of the same (first) name, was born from legislation that allowed international businesses to shave off a slice of the country to establish their own micronations.

See what analysis of one man's amputated leg, donated to The Bone Museum, tells us about his otherwise invisible pain.

Listen to how bionic limbs are reshaping what it means to live as an amputee in this award-winning 2022 podcast series covering the stories of two amputees who struggled with shortcomings in prosthetic technology.

Brain implants are restoring movement and communication in early human trials

Several companies developing brain-computer interfaces have begun testing on humans with promising results. These implants have helped reanimate paralyzed limbs and enable communication, though ethical concerns remain about data privacy.

Brain-reading devices are helping paralyzed people to touch

In clinical trials, implanted brain-computer interfaces are allowing dozens of individuals with paralysis to control prosthetics that are restoring a range of skills, including drinking coffee and feeding oneself. One area of related prosthetic research is creating a synthetic sense of touch—coupling the brain implant with pressure sensors in prosthetic robotic fingertips to enable an approximation of a sense of touch.

Interface device implanted into ALS patients restored some of their abilities

Most people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, require assistance with daily life due to loss of motor control. The electrode-coated, stent-like device used motor mapping data and machine learning to translate brain activity into actions.

The story of a bitcoin loophole that gave one man millions

James Parker discovered a glitch in an Australian cryptocurrency exchange that would allow him to cash in credits worth over $20M and make big gifts to his friends. Like most loopholes, the authorities found out, but not before his life was transformed. The first in a six-part series.

Implanted neurotechnology can leave users vulnerable when manufacturers go under

Despite providing relief from neurological conditions, patients are left stranded when the companies that make these devices shut down. The lack of regulation means patients often face technical failure, insurance battles, or risky surgeries to maintain their quality of life.

The journalist who let AI speak with his voice

Journalist Evan Ratliff became the object of his own story: He opted to clone his voice, feed it into an AI chatbot, and have it do the talking. What could seem like a fun experiment ended up revealing just how far the capacity of artificial intelligence can go in imitating our identities. Hear the ins and outs of how Ratliff achieved this in this fun and thought-provoking episode.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

A physician with a rare and deadly disease saved his own life by identifying an existing medication that he repurposed for his condition, and now he's using AI to try to do the same for other patients.

Flexible integrated circuits can be built from carbon nanotubes and elastic materials

Stanford researchers arranged the nanotubes in fishnet-like networks that allow deformation without loss of function. The stretchable ICs have been shown to power micro-LED displays and may be used in smart clothing.

Grinding is a body modification subculture focused technological implants

Grinders seek to increase the intensity and range of body modifications to push "beyond the human norm." The movement's roots stretch back to 1998 when cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick installed an RFID chip in his arm that granted him control over external electronics and became, arguably, the world's first cyborg.

Hear about life as an amputee and how mirror box therapy helped.

Palliative care physician BJ Miller describes his phantom limb pain and itching after losing both legs and half an arm in an accident. Mirror box therapy eventually helped him, alongside physical therapy. This podcast also features neuroscientist VS Ramachandran who explains how he developed mirror box therapy in the 1990s.

One man lived with a gene-edited pig kidney for 271 days, setting a record, before he received a human kidney.

Lee Spencer, a single-leg amputee, broke the world record when he rowed solo and unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean in 2019.

Brain-computer interfaces create a direct link between the brain and external devices

The technology enables users to control prosthetics, computers, or even games using only their thoughts. In 2021, a monkey played table tennis using only its brain, thanks to a Neuralink device, marking a major milestone before human trials began in 2024.

Mind-controlled bionic arms use nerve implants to restore sensation and movement

Unlike traditional prosthetics that rely on surface electrodes or mechanical parts, this system uses implanted titanium and nerve-connected electrodes to enable a seamless brain-to-arm connection. Patients train in virtual reality with their implanted signals before using the physical prosthesis.

Brain wave-reading earbuds are being used by companies to study workplace performance

Limited safeguards prevent governments from accessing and companies from sharing brain data. Foreign governments may also be developing technology to spy on and potentially disrupt human thoughts.

Neural interfaces offer major medical potential but raise serious ethical concerns

Although brain-computer interfaces can help people recover lost functions and allow direct brain-to-computer communication in the future, surveys have shown little public support for using them to boost abilities like memory or focus in healthy people.

Read why one man agreed to get a pig kidney in 2025 to replace his own failing organ

The 68-year-old New Hampshire man told USA Today that a motivator for the experimental surgery was his belief that he was going to die anyway, and other people suffering from kidney disease could gain valuable insights. Yet the surgery bought him time—he lived 271 days with a pig organ and later received a human kidney transplant. Clinical trials began in 2026 to test the pig xenotransplants in more people.

Listen to an amputee describe what it was like in the aftermath of his partial foot amputation and how his chronic, extreme pain fueled his depression and his decision to attempt to alleviate the pain with the radical surgery.

DNA cassette tapes could store 36,000 terabytes of data

By translating binary code into the base-pair code found in genetic sequences, researchers in China are storing digital data on DNA-coated tapes for compact, durable, and energy-efficient storage. The tapes use a blend of polyester and nylon with barcode patterns for data addressing.

Doctors weigh in: Are wearable fitness devices useful or just entertainment?

In an age where technology is intertwined with our daily routines, there is an evolving relationship between healthcare professionals and the data gained from our wearable devices. This piece, published on The Verge, explores how doctors view and...

Boost your Wi-Fi with aluminum foil

A surprising hack using aluminum foil can potentially improve Wi-Fi signals, to many readers' surprise. Check out the science with this brief article. Wi-Fi signals spread like radio or light waves from a router's antenna, often leading to...

In 2015, a custom virus program was used to destroy and transform art images

At the Art Laboratory Berlin's "bOdy pandemOnium: Immersion into Noise" exhibit, Chicago-born artist Joseph Nechvatal explored viractualism—the interface between the biological and the technological—via a custom virus program that randomly altered images representing the human eye and rectum.

DNA computing allows for storage and processing of massive amounts of data

Although costly and less efficient for simpler tasks, as of 2025, DNA could hold 455 exabytes of data with near limitless parallel computation potential in small data centers. Every movie ever made would fit inside the volume of a single sugar cube.

On average, the human body produces about 100 watts of electricity—enough to power a light bulb—but some people can produce over 2,000 watts in short bursts, such as when sprinting.

Inside the community movement behind DIY synthetic biology

Margaret Talbot spotlights the rise of DIY biology in community labs, where amateur scientists—often outside formal institutions—create everything from insulin to prosthetic prototypes. These grassroots biohackers challenge traditional science by pursuing open, accessible innovation, raising questions about credibility, ethical oversight, and acceptance by mainstream researchers.

Malware has transitioned from notoriety-driven to profit- and data-driven

Many of the first researchers and hobbyists who created viruses and worms showed a natural curiosity in experimenting with and designing such software to make a name for themselves and advance the field of computer science. In the future, AI-augmented malware may adapt in real-time or design enhanced cryptojackers, infostealers, and ransomware for cybercriminals.

How to prevent a worst-case scenario with synbio

Author and entrepreneur Rob Reid reviews the risks of a world where more and more people have access to the technology needed to create a doomsday bug that could wipe out humanity.

One man used an AI band called the Velvet Sundown to conduct what he called an elaborate social experiment.

Neural implants blur the line between personal intention and machine execution

A key ethical dilemma—the contemplation conundrum—explores whether implants might misinterpret mere imagination as intent to act. Neuroscientists have found no brain signal that clearly marks when someone decides to act, making intent hard to detect in neurotechnological systems.

Listen to a podcast episode that goes inside the 2017 Equifax credit bureau hack

This podcast episode details a 2017 credit bureau hack in which Equifax data about millions of Americans was compromised. It dives into the history of credit bureaus, specifically how they became legally allowed to access Americans' financial information without Americans actually volunteering it themselves.

Laser disc technology stores binary data in etched pits and lands

The pits are dips in the LaserDisc, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray surface that do not reflect the laser from the optical drive back to the photoelectric cell, resulting in a coded zero. Lands are reflective plateaus on the surface that code for a one.

Amputees must navigate the challenging medical and economic aspects of limb support and replacement, but advances in technology and research may reduce these costs.