Apologies - Reporter Magazine

ARTIFICIAL HEARTS
&
BIONIC BICEPS
Medical Implants and Society
by Evan Williams | illustration by Zac Retz
T
hump. Thump. Thump. The banging of wood against wood rang
out above crashing waves and the rush of wind across the sea.
The hearts of the men aboard the ship seemed to jump uneasily
in time with the pounding on the deck. As the captain strode
boldly across the ship, not a man aboard dared meet his gaze.
Most quaked at the thought of locking eyes with the glass orb
that sat in place of his eye. Half of his rotten teeth were replaced
by handcrafted Spanish gold, and a hook of French iron served
in place of what had been his left hand. He paused at the bow of
his ship and gazed out, resting tall on the wooden peg that was
now and would forever be his right leg.
The captain was a man constructed, built from the world
around him, a testament to mankind’s ingenuity and selfpreservation.
The product of one of the world’s oldest medical
practices, prosthetics like his have evolved from simple wooden
crutches into the synthetic organs and limbs being crafted in
hospitals and laboratories worldwide, including an incredible
project to develop an artificial muscle right here at RIT.
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