Encounters with the Posthuman

This reminds me of the practice of implanting a very small, very powerful magnet into the tip of your finger - which then allows you to feel magnetic fields.

http://discuss.biohack.me/discussion/278/so-you-want-to-put-...

http://io9.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-getting-magnetic-...

>how can we define aliveness without necessarily referring to the human?

Is there another way to progress in this area, besides gaining a better understanding of how human brains work?