Biohackers Implant a Hard Drive

I can't resist posting about this story – biohackers have successfully implanted a hard drive into a person's body. They modified parts scavenged from a Raspberry Pi.

Pegleg v2 is built on a Raspberry Pi Zero W, and as portable computers small enough to be inserted under your skin go, it’s relatively large. It’s 2.56 inches long, 1.18 inches wide, and 0.196 inches thick—about the size of a Hershey’s mini chocolate bar. 

To make Pegleg v2, Laufer and his team removed from the Raspberry Pi both Micro USB connectors (one for power, one for data), the Mini HDMI connector, and the camera connector. They then soldered on a second Wi-Fi chip to enable it to transfer data to another Pegleg and allow other devices to connect to it, as well as an induction coil to enable it to be powered by a wireless battery resting in a contiguous sports armband or pants pocket. They enabled Bluetooth for future functionality, inserted a 512GB microSD card for storage, and updated the firmware. Finally, they coated the hacked device in a biocompatible acrylic resin to prevent it from interacting with the recipient’s body and to diffuse the heat it emanates. 

Shades of Johnny Mnemomic, eh? I don't think this will become widespread until drives and networking components become much, much smaller. For a more likely future, see the "smart dust" in Vernor Vinge's A Deepness on the Sky.