Are you a fan of Dr Who? Well The Doctor spends much of his time saving the Earth (and other places) from various alien menaces. His arch-enemies are the Daleks - metallic monsters which screech "Exterminate!" when they are about to shoot their victims. But in the new series the 10th Doctor is reunited with another deadly foe from his past - the Cybermen! These silver giants have replaced most of their organs with machinery. So is it possible to replace bits of the body with machines? Well yes. In some cases people who have lost arms and legs can have robotic limbs known as prosthetics fitted. Also damaged heart valves can be replaced using mechanical valves. Pacemakers are small machines fitted to the heart to maintain a regular heartbeat. Cochlea implants are machines which enable deaf people to hear. A small microphone inside a headpiece is worn behind the ear like a hearing aid. It picks up sound and sends it down a wire to a microcomputer. Signals are then picked up by a tiny radio receiver under the skin, which is connected by a wire to tiny electrodes implanted in the cochlear (part of the ear). This sends messages to the brain that are interpreted as sound. Wow! This technology is amazing! And we’re not finished yet.
The Doctor is a 900-year-old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He has two hearts, and when his body gets worn out he can "regenerate" and change his appearance. A young British girl had two hearts when a donor heart was transplanted into her body to work alongside her damaged heart and allow it to rest. Ten years later doctors removed the donor heart and now her own heart is working again. As for regeneration…many fish and amphibians can regrow internal organs or even whole limbs. However humans can regenerate their liver provided at least a quarter remains intact, as well as their blood and outer skin, but no other organs regrow. So look after yourselves, we don’t get a second chance! And no, our technology is not so advanced that we can be like Cassandra - the last member of the human race five billion years in the future - she's just a face on a stretched piece of skin!
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