The world's first head transplant surgery might be one giant hoax
Apr 23, 2015, 02:24 IST
Remember that recent story about the 30-year-old Russian man who volunteered to be the first person to have his head transplanted onto another human body? Well, it might all be one giant hoax.Kotaku UK published a comprehensive breakdown on this conspiracy theory that suggests Dr. Sergio Canavero, the controversial real-life neurosurgeon from Turin, Italy, who has published more than 100 papers, is actually helping market a new game called "Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain."Here's the lineup of evidence that suggests this is the case:
- As the Kotaku UK report points out, it all started with a post on the video game forum NeoGAF, which showed off the uncanny similarities between Canavero and a character from the game.
NeoGAF
- Valery Spiridonov, the 30-year-old volunteer who is allegedly getting the transplant, is a CG artist and a game development supervisor.
- Dr. Canavero held his TED Talk in Cyprus, where the hospital scene in "Metal Gear Solid 5" allegedly plays out.
- TED Limassol, where Canavero gave his TED Talk, is an anagram for "Solid Metals."
- The head transplant project is called "HEAVEN," which is also a reference to the bad guys in the "Metal Gear Solid" series.
- Dr. Canavero has written many articles on the phenomenon called "phantom pain," which is also the subtitle of the next "Metal Gear Solid" game.
- Hideo Kojima, who heads up the "Metal Gear Solid" franchise, tweeted about his next project in 2010: "The next project will challenge a certain type of taboo. If I mess up, I'll probably have to leave the industry. However, I don't want to pass by avoiding that. I turn 47 this year. It's been 24 years since I started making games. Today, I got an ally who would happily support me in that risk. Although it's just one person. For a start, it's good."