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Nikolai Dubinin, host of the Trends YouTube channel, spoke about who modern biohackers are and how technology helps to increase the effectiveness of training.
More recently, a helmet, like Professor Xavier from the Marvel Universe, has appeared on the market. He still cannot read thoughts, but he can determine the emotional state and evaluate the concentration of attention. This technology is not yet available to everyone – the cost of a helmet is about $50. In general, such helmets, smart watches and trackers are part of biohacking. We tell you what this phenomenon is and how it helps to improve everyday life.
What is “biohacking” and who are “biohackers”
In simple terms, “biohacking” is almost everything that relates to the concept of “healthy lifestyle”: proper nutrition, “smart” physical activity, tracking your regimen, and even the use of nutritional supplements and drugs. To make this term technological, it is enough to say that the use of a smartphone, trackers and smart watches fits perfectly into the concept of biohacking.
But this is far from a universal understanding of biohacking, and there are different opinions on this matter. Biohackers in the modern world are considered even people who actually turn themselves into laboratory rabbits. For example, Joshua Zainer, who owns startup The ODIN, which creates kits for growing living organisms at home, is considered one of the most famous biohackers. On Live in 2017, Zeiner injected himself with a homemade injection to alter his muscle genome.
Biohacking: From Home Labs to Silicon Valley
The development of biohacking has been compared to the invention of the personal computer, which began when computer scientists, inspired by technological perspectives, connected microcircuits, toggle switches and electromechanical typewriters in an attempt to create desktop computers at home. The biohacking movement began in America in the 1980s and 1990s: then people created their own “garage” laboratories and tried to make biotechnologies accessible even to children. Despite the active dissemination of the views of biohackers, some scientists have challenged their view that biotechnology is as simple and fast as the creation of computer chips.
In 2010, Silicon Valley residents began using biohacking to increase their efficiency and productivity. So, the founder of the Ostrovok online travel agency, Sergei Fage, wrote an entire article about how he spent $200 on biohacking, making himself “happier, calmer and more energetic.”
Scientific biohacking: what is it for?
Biohacking in the scientific view is not “biotechnologies at home” at all, but something that helps athletes and ordinary people increase their efficiency. For example, a cryochamber allows muscles to recover faster after training, and also prolongs the effect of fat reduction. During an hour of regular aerobic training, about 60 grams of fat is burned – a cryochamber helps to keep this process for another three to four hours after sports.
Technology is turned to for several reasons:
- To improve your physical fitness and cope with daily stress like routine work (usually entrepreneurs who work 8 to 16 hours a day do this).
- To identify risks, deviations, determine the capabilities and weaknesses of your body (this is used by athletes or ordinary people who want to increase the effectiveness of their training).
A special test, consisting of two parts, can help with this.
Calculations are carried out based on the amount of power received in watts, then they are divided by body weight. For example, if in the second stage you gained about 776 watts, and your weight is 80 kg, then your strength capabilities are about 10 watts per 1 kg. This is a good indicator for those who do not play sports professionally. Sprinters should have a power of 20-22 W / kg, football players – 19 W / kg. When Roberto Carlos just moved to Anji in 2011, his figure was about 18 W per 1 kg.