Try GOLD - Free
TECH TO TURN YOU INTO A CYBORG
BBC Science Focus
|July 2025
A future where humans can lift incredible weights, see in the dark and fly sounds far-fetched, but actually... it's already here
We're already familiar with the ways to artificially restore our bodies to their natural peak. Wearing prescription glasses can correct your vision, and hearing aids can mitigate against hearing loss. Now, new tech is on the way to enhance the human body and help us do more than ever before.
Users of these new technologies become an amalgamation of human and machine, augmenting their bodies to achieve things once thought impossible.
But these aren't just conceptual devices, they're emerging technologies that are – or soon will be – commercially available.
Take to the skies
Flight has long been a dream for humanity, from the Greek myth of Icarus to the flying cars in science fiction films like Blade Runner. But while personal flying tech may seem fanciful, it already exists today, in the form of the Gravity Jet Suit.
Though we once dreamed of rocket boots lifting us off the ground, these would (unfortunately) be inherently unstable. The thrust would be applied away from the wearer's centre of gravity.
Instead, the Gravity Jet Suit uses five engines to gently manoeuvre the wearer through the air. Pilots are able to hover, turn and even fly short distances over water or land.
A 1,050-horsepower gas turbine on the back provides core lift, while two smaller jet turbines on each arm offer stability and control.
This story is from the July 2025 edition of BBC Science Focus.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM BBC Science Focus
BBC Science Focus
HOW UNLIKELY IS OUR UNIVERSE?
Our understanding of the Universe has revealed that its existence, and indeed our own, relies on a particular set of rules.
1 mins
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
DOES YOUR NAME AFFECT YOUR PERSONALITY?
Research is revealing that nominative determinism isn't as easy to dismiss as you might think
5 mins
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
HOW DIFFICULT WOULD IT BE TO FLY THROUGH THE ASTEROID BELT?
In the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo and friends try to escape pursuing imperial forces by flying through an asteroid field. Droid C-3PO remarks, \"the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1\". The scene depicts a chaotic, dense field of rocks swirling and spinning through space. This scenario has been played out many times in the cinema.
1 min
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
HOW CAN I BE MORE PERSUASIVE?
Most of us like to think we're rational people. If someone shows us evidence that we're wrong, we'll change our minds, right? Well, not necessarily, because it's not always that simple. Being wrong feels uncomfortable and sometimes threatening. That's why changing someone's mind is often much harder than it seems.
2 mins
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
This bizarre optical illusion could teach us how animals think
By seeing which animals fall for a classic visual trick, scientists are uncovering how different brains make sense of the world
1 mins
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
LIFE AT THE PARTY
The secret that keeps the superagers so sprightly could be socialising
3 mins
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH
Could an exoskeleton help you scale every peak with ease? Ezzy Pearson straps on some cyborg enhancements to find out
5 mins
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
A slice across the sky
The green flash slicing through the skies in this shot is a fireball.
1 min
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
TB is surging. Should we be worried?
Cases of the world's deadliest infection are climbing in the UK and US. Why is tuberculosis returning and how do we fight back?
4 mins
December 2025
BBC Science Focus
I survived the worst fire in the history of space exploration and had to keep it a secret
Astronaut Jerry Linenger opens up about one of the worst accidents in space, and the cover-up that followed
1 mins
December 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size
