Microchips are changing the future

Beth Boscardin

 

"Pressure rising. Levels too high. Stop - it's too late! Self destruct."

 

These are shoes of the future. Extreme shoes, but an example nonetheless. While typical shoes will not include a self-destructing feature, they will be "smart," able to detect pulse and blood-oxygen levels.

 

Without inserting anything into the feet, the tiny one hundredth of a cent microchip is the brain of the operation. Using waves that can pass through and detect different types of mediums, these chips can measure and report data even as insignificant as the perspiration levels in the foot.

 

Not only are shoes getting educated, all clothes and even medical apparatus are wising up. Pacemakers are being given increasing capabilities, including the ability to detect heart failures and oncoming strokes, giving the potential victim enough time to receive help. 

 

Chips move inside. Doctors will insert chips into blood, via a normal injection. These chips act as minidoctors, storing temperature, pulse rate, and most biological functions. Instruments and programs then will compile a ≥report≤ for doctor diagnosis.

 

Also acting as alarms, these chips have detectors that inform the body of life-threatening conditions.

 

Even with all of the health benefits available, people have also found ways to complain. They worry about privacy issues and the ever-threatening "Big Brother."

 

Afraid information stored on the chips can be used in inappropriate ways or as a means to keep tabs on every member of society, many critics threaten to oppose any attempt at creating a society based on these chips.

 

Raising an even bigger outcry, researchers propose placing a microchip under the skin of every being, right after birth. This chip would serve as a life long I.D. card.

Along with preventing identity theft, these I.D. chips could also be a means to find lost or kidnapped children.

 

They also provide a level of practicality unattainable through modern methods. As children get older, new information can be stored on the chip, so the ID can serve also as a driver's license. All check stands in stores and on each new computer manufactured, I.D. scanners will be implemented.

 

While critics again cry, "Big Brother is watching," proponents believe these chips actually prevent anyone from viewing personal information.

 

First of all, the software used to encrypt the information is so complex; it takes giant computers to even attempt to crack it. Plus, average checkers at the grocery store couldn't see names or birthdates. The computer would automatically approve or deny acceptance.

 

Check shoe stores near you in early 2006.