Thermal Regulation

There are a wide variety of environmental protections afforded by Implants. Temperature Tolerance takes several stripes and enhanced forms, covering anywhere from 60 C to -200 C in the right environment. These sorts of protections are simple, but sometimes costly and follow a basic form - and they have a limit to how much they can protect. The Fat Storage (p. 197 Transhuman) augmentation is in a similar vein, allowing a body to more efficiently store water, and adjust fat distribution "on the fly" which does not grant a specific rating of protection, but rather increases overall tolerance by a rough percentage. But, nano-ecology groups like Black Eden have begun developing a new, more technologically advanced answer to the issue of environmental protection.

Thermal Regulation: This nanoware embeds temperature-sensitive nanites in all parts of the body. In cold extremes, the nanites can cause minute changes to increase heat transmission, generate small amounts of heat or energy to keep the body stimulated, or bind or destroy ice crystals directly like an advanced antifreeze. If it is too hot, the nanites act as a nanofluid which greatly enhances the body's natural cooling capacity, wick heat away from vital areas, and can even store the energy or convert it to other forms (such as if paired with Eelware). The end result is that much of the body acts like a temperature-sensitive smart material - making it ideally paired with actual temperature tolerance mods. This results in taking half DV (round up) from any damage which is caused by extreme heat or cold alone, such as from a severe environment. At the moment, the regulation is not fast acting enough or capable of storing enough heat to properly react to directed energy weapons - which often involve secondary damages besides flash-heating. [Moderate]

It should be noted that for an unprotected biomorph, Thermal Regulation may not seem to do much - but when combined with other implants to grant a morph greater protections it can combine to absorb a great deal of harm to the body in an emergency situations which cause extreme environmental exposure. When combined with Medichines to rapidly heal the damage, morphs can be very versatile to temperature extremes. As nanoware efficiency and capability arises, it may one day be possible to get nanites which can begin to absorb and transmit extra heat from energy weapons fast enough to alleviate their damage as well.

Photosynthetic Skin

Advances in biotechnology and nanotechnology have allowed Transhumans to greatly decrease their resource consumption, and extend the amount of time they can survive without needing to consume normal foods. The Personal Power Plant (p. 153 Gatecrashing) utilizes exotic and rare isotopes combined with nanomachines to generate bodily energy for decades. The implant for Long Term Life Support (p. 189 Rimward) puts maker nanites directly in the body to recycle food and air, if the morph can stay supplied with chemical supplements and raw materials. Efficient Digestion (p. 197 Transhuman) optimizes the body to use less calories, at the expense of its natural aptitudes, while Digestive Symbiote (p. 198 Transhuman) nanobots allow the body to consume almost any organic material. Nano-ecologists have been able to produce their own tech which advances the Transhuman body's ability to survive on minimal supplies, though its environmental constraints limit its use.

Photosynthetic Skin: Developed by nano-ecologists, this nanoware implant places active nanite groupings in the skin of the morph, which absorb the energy used by sunlight, and use water and the body's natural waste CO2 to produce limited amounts of chemical energy. While it would be possible to use genehacking to simply build morphs with cells designed for photosynthesis, the implant is able to accomplish this with an efficiency without heavily altering existing structures, making it more cost-effective. This allows a morph with this implant to survive without eating up to a month using just sunlight and water, though as with the personal power plant, certain vitamins and other supplements may be needed for cell replenishment or to avoid unpleasant deficiencies with extended use. However, this comes at certain "cost", which is that in order to function, the morph must expose a majority of its bare skin to the sunlight for approx 8 hours a day, more or less depending on local light conditions - though certain artificial lights also meet this requirement. [Low]

Due to the sunlight and skin requirements, the Photosynthesis upgrade has very limited applications. As Mars gets more terraformed, it becomes possible for those in the Outback to utilize this to reduce food consumption, and certain Gatecrashers have been interested for use on exoplanets, as this can avoid problems with consuming "local" flora or fauna for extended periods. Where the implant is getting the most traction, however is with Reclaimers. Damage to the Earth's biosphere means natural food is fairly limited and will take much time to replenish, but with basic toxin filtration to remove worry about contaminants, there is still a great deal of water left on the planet which could allow a bimorph to survive extended periods on the surface. Supposedly, this application is "purely hypothetical" at this state.