A biohacker named Meow-Meow implanted an Opal card into his hand. That's all.

Smart kitty.
 By 
Molly Sequin
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Public transit can be a nightmare. Endless amounts of people and fumbling with your transit card are pretty much unavoidable, and that's before you even get on that crowded train.

Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow, an Australian molecular biologist and the founder of citizen scientist lab Biofoundry, literally took matters into his own hands to find a solution to this problem.

Meow-Meow uses the Opal card -- the equivalent of London's Oyster card -- to get on public transit in Sydney. Instead of remembering to bring the physical card with him every day, Meow-Meow decided to get a little bit creative. He had the chip from his card professionally implanted beneath the skin in his left hand.

The near-field communication (NFC) chip was encased in a bio-compatible plastic and placed in his hand by a professional piercer. NFC uses electromagnetic radio fields to connect two objects in close proximity. To use it, Meow-Meow's hand has to be within one centimeter of the reader in order for his chip to scan. This is closer than actual cards need to be held, due to the smaller antennae of his chip. It's not perfect; sometimes he has to make multiple attempts before his personal chip is read by the machine.

But for the ease of having your card with you all the time, this is a pretty small inconvenience to endure.

ABC News Australia spoke to Meow-Meow about his new chip.

"My goal is to have frictionless interaction with technology," said Meow-Meow. "It gives me an ability that not everyone else has, so if someone stole my wallet I could still get home."

The Australian biohacker also noted that technology in our bodies isn't really that wild of a concept, as we already rely on things like pacemakers and birth control devices. He thinks we will start to see the intersections of our bodies and technology much more in the future.

Meow-Meow has actually been in the headlines for over a year now. He ran for the Science Party in the 2016 Australian federal election.

While he didn't win, Meow-Meow was certainly a crowd charmer.

And Meow-Meow's future Opal card biohack becomes much less surprising when you see his election platform.

"Meow is a passionate molecular biologist, entrepreneur, and futurist. He believes that the major challenges facing the world currently are solvable through scientific research combined with technological action," the Science Party noted. "He is heavily involved in the democratisation of science through his work in co-creating a network of internationally connected biohackers and physical community laboratories."

Later in 2016, Meow noted his desire to give anyone born after 1950 the ability to live as immortally as possible.

"Live forever, or die trying. Personally my goal is to achieve escape velocity – that is to increase life expectancy by more than a year per year," Meow-Meow told ABC News last October. "Once you can get to that you are functionally immortal."

By the looks of it, this is just the start to what Meow-Meow is up to. With Meow-Meow at work, maybe we'll all be walking technology before we know it.

Topics Innovations

Mashable Image
Molly Sequin

Molly is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While there, she studied life sciences communication and conservation biology. Molly has worked in multiple communications positions at UW and recently acted as a science intern at Business Insider in NYC. She is a lover of all things science and tech related, and is always ready to take on a new challenge. When Molly isn't writing, she fills her time training for IRONMAN events, acting as the unofficial #1 Wisconsin athletics fan, and trying as many new foods as her budget will allow.

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You

Get a free $10 Best Buy gift card when you buy a $100 Wayfair gift card
Living room scene featuring yellow chair, gray couch, medallion rug, vases, and flowers

It's your last chance to snag $30 off this Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro + $30 Amazon Gift Card combo
Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro + $30 Amazon Gift Card on pink and purple abstract background

How to check or reload your Amazon gift card balance
Amazon gift card with colorful background

The One Piece Learn Together Deck Set is now around market price at Amazon
The One Piece Card Game's Learn Together Deck Set on a green and orange background

More in Tech

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 4, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 4, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Google launches Gemma 4, a new open-source model: How to try it
Google Gemma
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!