These cyborg tissues are half living cells, half electronics. As far as the cells are concerned, they're just normal cells that behave normally — but the electronic side actually acts as a sensor network, allowing a computer to interface directly with the cells. In the case of cyborg heart tissue, the researchers have already used the embedded nanowires to measure the contractions (heart rate) of the cells.

The concept of an Interplanetary Internet first came into being in 1998, about a year after the quarter-century anniversary of the design of the Internet. At the time, a man named Vint Cerf was ruminating on the future of the Internet, and with good reason; Cerf co-developed the Internet protocol suite, a set of rules (commonly known as TCP/IP) that helps orchestrate the transfer of data throughout the network of devices we call the Internet.