Having an antenna permanently drilling into your skull can sometimes be a real pain in the head, the world’s first and so far only cyborg admits.
Since 2004, Neil Harbisson has lived with a flexible metal rod dangling over his forehead. Colourblind, he uses sensors in the antenna to enable his brain to experience colours.
“Sometimes I have antenna aches in same way someone might have a toothache or a headache,” he revealed. "But there's no tablets for antenna aches yet ,so I just take a headache tablet.”
Mr Harbisson, 33, is attending the World Government Summit in Dubai as a participant at the Edge of Government pavilion, which explores cutting edge technologies, being developed around the world, in his case literally.
Born in Catalonia, Spain, he is now a citizen of the UK and co-founder of the Cyborg Foundation which defends the rights of cyborgs.
His antenna is permanently wired into his head, although it has been upgraded over the years and now connects him to the internet via Bluetooth.
“If I connect to Nasa's International Space Station I can then receive colours from space or many people directly to my head,” he said.
He has never seen his colour blindness, a rare version which means he only sees in black and white, as an impairment, saying “I see this as a condition or a peculiarity.
“There are any advantages of seeing in greyscale that people seeing in colour don’t have. That's why I never wanted to change. I didn’t want to see colour - I want to feel colour.
“Greyscale vision gives me greater night vision for example, and I can see longer distances. I can memorise shapes more easily, because colour doesn’t distract me.
Each colour frequency produces a distinct vibration inside his head. He can detect light frequencies from infrareds to ultraviolets, so well beyond the normal capacity of a human.
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Read more:
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Global 3-D artists in Dubai to test your perceptions
Cyborg artist hears colour to make music
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Life as a cyborg “Creates all sorts of reactions, from good to bad,” he says. “Some people think this is unnatural or dangerous. Some people see it as something against humans or against God.
“That’s the negative reaction. Other people think it's the natural evolution of our species, now we are merging with technology psychologically, and the next stage is we will merge biologically.”
“Sometimes they react very negatively. They don’t understand how I cannot remove it and it takes a long time to get through.”
In general though “I always have something to talk about. It’s a good way of starting conversations. Since 2004 I’ve spoken to strangers every day.
Mr Harbisson plans to undergo another modification later this year. “It’s a new organ for the sense of time. It will be implanted between the skin and the skull, and it will be circular and give me point of heat that will take 24 hours to do the complete circle, so I will feel the rotation of the Earth around my head.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
FIGHT%20CARD
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Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
WHAT ARE NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.
An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.
This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
