Biologically enhancing the effect of magnets?

Wasn't sure where to put this as it combines biological modification with implants but I think here is most appropriate.

As everyone here is no-doubt aware you can't simply insert a magnet anywhere and get a good result because only a few select places have a high enough nerve density, but what if we could?

What I'm suggesting is finding a way to implant a magnet somewhere more fleshy and convenient such as the palm and then find a way to promote new nerve growth so the magnetic sense would be just as good if not better than would in be in the finger tips.

Any idea how to go about this?

Also I've been trying to find images of nerve density maps on google but I haven't been able to find anything, does such a thing exist?

Comments

  • Welcome to the forum @DrEvilOne. We had a discussion about whether using conductive tattoo ink would cause nerves to attach to it or not. If such a thing is invented at some point it might help increase sensitivity. There was a gene that I was looking at which increases vibro-sensitivity in nerves (usually picked up by hair). I have been combing the internet and can't seem to find it at the moment.

    Those are the methods that come to mind immediately, but I'll think on it more, because this could be very useful. Patches of super sensitive cells around an actuator might mean less power consumption overall, if less output is required for it to be noticeable.
  • Thanks for the reply. If this could be done do you think it would be possible to make southpaw obsolete by having enough sensitivity to use say a 1 by 6 mm rod to sense north?
  • I doubt even then there would be enough sensitivity to detect geomagnetism, but you never know until you try I guess. Many animals can do it. Some bird have a strange crystalline structure in their face that houses bacteria that contain a lot of iron. The bacteria swim north I guess, causing some kind of sensation that tells the birds which direction north is. I am likely butchering this explanation. Here is the bacteria:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetotactic_bacteria

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