It's 10 p.m. You may not know where your child is, but the chip does.
The chip will also know if your child has fallen and needs immediate help. Once paramedics arrive, the chip will also be able to tell the rescue workers which drugs little Johnny or Janie is allergic to. At the hospital, the chip will tell doctors his or her complete medical history.
And of course, when you arrive to pick up your child, settling the hospital bill with your health insurance policy will be a simple matter of waving your own chip - the one embedded in your hand.
To some, this may sound far-fetched. But the technology for such chips is no longer the stuff of science fiction. And it may soon offer many other benefits besides locating lost children or elderly Alzheimer patients.
"Down the line, it could be used [as] credit cards and such," says Chris Hables Gray, a professor of cultural studies of science and technology at the University of Great Falls in Montana. "A lot of people won't have to carry wallets anymore," he says. "What the implications are [for this technology], in the long run, is profound."
Indeed, some are already wondering what this sort of technology may do to the sense of personal privacy and liberty.
"Any technology of this kind is easily abusive of personal privacy," says Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "If a kid is track-able, do you want other people to be able to track your kid? It's a double-edged sword."
Tiny Chips That Know Your Name
The research of embedding microchips isn't entirely new. Back in 1998, Brian Warwick, a professor of cybernetics at Reading University in London, implanted a chip into his arm as an experiment to see if Warwick's computer could wirelessly track his whereabouts with the university's building.
But Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. in Palm Beach, Fla., is one of the latest to try and push the experiments beyond the realm of academic research and into the hands - and bodies - of ordinary humans.
The company says it has recently applied to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin testing its VeriChip device in humans. About the size of a grain of rice, the microchip can be encoded with bits of information and implanted in humans under a layer of skin. When scanned by a nearby reader, the embedded chip yields the data - say an ID number that links to a computer database file containing more detailed information.
Chipping Blocks
Most embedded chip designs are so-called passive chips which yield information only when scanned by a nearby reader. But active chips - such as the proposed Digital Angel of the future - will need to beam out information all the time. And that means designers will have to develop some sort of power source that can provide a continuous source of energy, yet be small enough to be embedded with the chips.
Another additional hurdle, developing tiny GPS receiver chips that could be embedded yet still be sensitive enough to receive signals from thousands of miles out in space.
In addition to technical hurdles, many suspect that all sorts of legal and privacy issues would have to be cleared as well.
已經(jīng)是晚上10點(diǎn)鐘了，（如果你的孩子現(xiàn)在還沒有回家，）你可能無法知道他們身在何處，但一枚小小的芯片卻可以幫你的忙。
你還可以通過芯片知道你的孩子是否摔倒了，是否需要急救。當(dāng)醫(yī)務(wù)人員趕到時(shí)，芯片還能夠告訴他們受傷的孩子對(duì)哪種藥物過敏。在醫(yī)院，芯片能夠告訴醫(yī)生小患者的醫(yī)藥史。
當(dāng)然，當(dāng)你趕到醫(yī)院去接孩子的時(shí)候，用健康保險(xiǎn)單結(jié)算醫(yī)院賬單的過程將簡(jiǎn)化為擺動(dòng)一下你植入了芯片的手掌。
對(duì)于一些人來說，這些事情聽上去似乎有些不可思議。但是這種芯片已不再只是出現(xiàn)在科幻小說里虛構(gòu)的內(nèi)容了。并且在不久的將來，這種芯片除了幫助人們尋找走失的孩子和老年癡呆癥患者之外，它還將給人類帶來許多其他的幫助。
蒙大拿州大瀑布大學(xué)從事科學(xué)技術(shù)人文研究的克里斯·哈布萊斯·格雷教授說："事實(shí)上，這種芯片可以具有信用卡或者類似的功能。人們將不用再隨身帶著錢包了。這就意味著，從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)看，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)的發(fā)展前景非常廣大。"
然而有些人不禁要問：這項(xiàng)科技對(duì)人們的隱私和自由將意味著什么呢？
電子前沿基金會(huì)的高級(jí)律師李婷說："任何一種類似的技術(shù)很容易會(huì)被人們?yōu)E用而造成對(duì)個(gè)人隱私的威脅。如果你的孩子真能通過芯片來定位，那么你希望其他人也能夠通過這種方法來跟蹤你的孩子嗎？它（這種技術(shù)）實(shí)際上是一把雙刃劍。"
小身材，大用途
將芯片植入人體并非一項(xiàng)全新的研究。早在1998年，英國(guó)倫敦瑞丁大學(xué)研究控制論（對(duì)信息傳遞和控制的研究，尤其涉及人及動(dòng)物大腦與機(jī)器及電子裝置的差異）的教授布雷恩·沃里克就曾經(jīng)將一枚芯片植入自己的胳膊，他進(jìn)行這項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)的目的是為了測(cè)試自己的電腦能否在樓內(nèi)無線跟蹤他的行跡。
位于美國(guó)佛羅里達(dá)州棕櫚灘的Applied Digital Solutions有限公司近期正將這項(xiàng)技術(shù)從學(xué)術(shù)研究的范圍擴(kuò)大到普通人的生活中，即在普通人的手掌和身體中植入芯片。
該公司稱最近他們已經(jīng)向美國(guó)食品藥物管理局提出申請(qǐng)，研制植入人體的VeriChip微型芯片。該公司研制的這種芯片體積大約只有一粒大米大小，里面載入譯成代碼的各種信息，然后將其植入人體表皮下。當(dāng)附近的信息閱讀器掃描到芯片的時(shí)候，這種微型芯片就會(huì)發(fā)送出數(shù)據(jù)，例如發(fā)送該人的身份證號(hào)碼， 而電腦通過辨認(rèn)身份證號(hào)碼，將可以提供此人更詳細(xì)的資料。
芯片研究的種種障礙
大多數(shù)芯片都是所謂的"被動(dòng)"芯片，這種芯片只有在被附近的信息閱讀器掃描到的時(shí)候才能發(fā)送出數(shù)據(jù)信息。但是"主動(dòng)"芯片卻可以隨時(shí)發(fā)送出信息。但是這就意味著設(shè)計(jì)者必須為這種芯片配備某種能量來源，不斷地為其提供能量。此外，這種提供能量的設(shè)備的體積還必須小到能夠嵌入芯片里面才行。
而另一個(gè)不可忽視的因素則是全球定位系統(tǒng)信息接收芯片，它不但要能植入人體內(nèi)，并且還應(yīng)有足夠的靈敏度，以接收來自幾千英里外的太空定位衛(wèi)星群發(fā)來的信息。
除了技術(shù)上的限制外，許多人認(rèn)為這種芯片涉及的法律和隱私問題也同樣是需要解決。
The chip will also know if your child has fallen and needs immediate help. Once paramedics arrive, the chip will also be able to tell the rescue workers which drugs little Johnny or Janie is allergic to. At the hospital, the chip will tell doctors his or her complete medical history.
And of course, when you arrive to pick up your child, settling the hospital bill with your health insurance policy will be a simple matter of waving your own chip - the one embedded in your hand.
To some, this may sound far-fetched. But the technology for such chips is no longer the stuff of science fiction. And it may soon offer many other benefits besides locating lost children or elderly Alzheimer patients.
"Down the line, it could be used [as] credit cards and such," says Chris Hables Gray, a professor of cultural studies of science and technology at the University of Great Falls in Montana. "A lot of people won't have to carry wallets anymore," he says. "What the implications are [for this technology], in the long run, is profound."
Indeed, some are already wondering what this sort of technology may do to the sense of personal privacy and liberty.
"Any technology of this kind is easily abusive of personal privacy," says Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "If a kid is track-able, do you want other people to be able to track your kid? It's a double-edged sword."
Tiny Chips That Know Your Name
The research of embedding microchips isn't entirely new. Back in 1998, Brian Warwick, a professor of cybernetics at Reading University in London, implanted a chip into his arm as an experiment to see if Warwick's computer could wirelessly track his whereabouts with the university's building.
But Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. in Palm Beach, Fla., is one of the latest to try and push the experiments beyond the realm of academic research and into the hands - and bodies - of ordinary humans.
The company says it has recently applied to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin testing its VeriChip device in humans. About the size of a grain of rice, the microchip can be encoded with bits of information and implanted in humans under a layer of skin. When scanned by a nearby reader, the embedded chip yields the data - say an ID number that links to a computer database file containing more detailed information.
Chipping Blocks
Most embedded chip designs are so-called passive chips which yield information only when scanned by a nearby reader. But active chips - such as the proposed Digital Angel of the future - will need to beam out information all the time. And that means designers will have to develop some sort of power source that can provide a continuous source of energy, yet be small enough to be embedded with the chips.
Another additional hurdle, developing tiny GPS receiver chips that could be embedded yet still be sensitive enough to receive signals from thousands of miles out in space.
In addition to technical hurdles, many suspect that all sorts of legal and privacy issues would have to be cleared as well.
已經(jīng)是晚上10點(diǎn)鐘了，（如果你的孩子現(xiàn)在還沒有回家，）你可能無法知道他們身在何處，但一枚小小的芯片卻可以幫你的忙。
你還可以通過芯片知道你的孩子是否摔倒了，是否需要急救。當(dāng)醫(yī)務(wù)人員趕到時(shí)，芯片還能夠告訴他們受傷的孩子對(duì)哪種藥物過敏。在醫(yī)院，芯片能夠告訴醫(yī)生小患者的醫(yī)藥史。
當(dāng)然，當(dāng)你趕到醫(yī)院去接孩子的時(shí)候，用健康保險(xiǎn)單結(jié)算醫(yī)院賬單的過程將簡(jiǎn)化為擺動(dòng)一下你植入了芯片的手掌。
對(duì)于一些人來說，這些事情聽上去似乎有些不可思議。但是這種芯片已不再只是出現(xiàn)在科幻小說里虛構(gòu)的內(nèi)容了。并且在不久的將來，這種芯片除了幫助人們尋找走失的孩子和老年癡呆癥患者之外，它還將給人類帶來許多其他的幫助。
蒙大拿州大瀑布大學(xué)從事科學(xué)技術(shù)人文研究的克里斯·哈布萊斯·格雷教授說："事實(shí)上，這種芯片可以具有信用卡或者類似的功能。人們將不用再隨身帶著錢包了。這就意味著，從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)看，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)的發(fā)展前景非常廣大。"
然而有些人不禁要問：這項(xiàng)科技對(duì)人們的隱私和自由將意味著什么呢？
電子前沿基金會(huì)的高級(jí)律師李婷說："任何一種類似的技術(shù)很容易會(huì)被人們?yōu)E用而造成對(duì)個(gè)人隱私的威脅。如果你的孩子真能通過芯片來定位，那么你希望其他人也能夠通過這種方法來跟蹤你的孩子嗎？它（這種技術(shù)）實(shí)際上是一把雙刃劍。"
小身材，大用途
將芯片植入人體并非一項(xiàng)全新的研究。早在1998年，英國(guó)倫敦瑞丁大學(xué)研究控制論（對(duì)信息傳遞和控制的研究，尤其涉及人及動(dòng)物大腦與機(jī)器及電子裝置的差異）的教授布雷恩·沃里克就曾經(jīng)將一枚芯片植入自己的胳膊，他進(jìn)行這項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)的目的是為了測(cè)試自己的電腦能否在樓內(nèi)無線跟蹤他的行跡。
位于美國(guó)佛羅里達(dá)州棕櫚灘的Applied Digital Solutions有限公司近期正將這項(xiàng)技術(shù)從學(xué)術(shù)研究的范圍擴(kuò)大到普通人的生活中，即在普通人的手掌和身體中植入芯片。
該公司稱最近他們已經(jīng)向美國(guó)食品藥物管理局提出申請(qǐng)，研制植入人體的VeriChip微型芯片。該公司研制的這種芯片體積大約只有一粒大米大小，里面載入譯成代碼的各種信息，然后將其植入人體表皮下。當(dāng)附近的信息閱讀器掃描到芯片的時(shí)候，這種微型芯片就會(huì)發(fā)送出數(shù)據(jù)，例如發(fā)送該人的身份證號(hào)碼， 而電腦通過辨認(rèn)身份證號(hào)碼，將可以提供此人更詳細(xì)的資料。
芯片研究的種種障礙
大多數(shù)芯片都是所謂的"被動(dòng)"芯片，這種芯片只有在被附近的信息閱讀器掃描到的時(shí)候才能發(fā)送出數(shù)據(jù)信息。但是"主動(dòng)"芯片卻可以隨時(shí)發(fā)送出信息。但是這就意味著設(shè)計(jì)者必須為這種芯片配備某種能量來源，不斷地為其提供能量。此外，這種提供能量的設(shè)備的體積還必須小到能夠嵌入芯片里面才行。
而另一個(gè)不可忽視的因素則是全球定位系統(tǒng)信息接收芯片，它不但要能植入人體內(nèi)，并且還應(yīng)有足夠的靈敏度，以接收來自幾千英里外的太空定位衛(wèi)星群發(fā)來的信息。
除了技術(shù)上的限制外，許多人認(rèn)為這種芯片涉及的法律和隱私問題也同樣是需要解決。