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| Neuralink's Surgical Robot. (Creative Commons License). |
How do you feel about an implant inside your brain? While many people will recoil in horror at the thought, Elon Musk thinks having a chip inside the head can help humanity as a whole. This is the point of one of his companies, Neuralink.
What is Neuralink technology all about, and what benefit does Musk hope to bring to humanity with it? The rest of this article will answer these questions and more.
What Are the Benefits of Neuralink?
The possibilities are endless. For example, you will be able to control your phone or other enabled devices with your mind without touching your device. Neuralink has demonstrated something close to this, using a monkey named Pager. The monkey was trained to play a game of ping pong using his mind, with the assistance of Neuralink.
Musk claims a lot of people with medical conditions will benefit from Neuralink. For example, blind people could see again, while people who have paralysis can learn to move their impaired ligaments or appendages again. Neuralink will allegedly help treat depression, addiction, and help people with speech impediments put their thoughts into words.
What is Neuralink?
Neuralink refers to both the technology and the company. However, Neuralink is a device surgically implanted into the human brain, allowing the delicate but powerful organ to communicate with machines and even control them. In other words, Neuralink will blur the line between humans and machines.
Setting up Neuralink involves inserting a chipset, the N1, under the skull. It will then connect to the brain through ultra-thin electrodes. Neuralink has to go beneath the skull to stay within the required distance for accuracy.
Part of Neuralink, which houses the battery, will reside behind the ear and can be removed for charging or updating the software.
Neuralink can also connect wirelessly to other devices, a feature that opens up many possibilities, as you shall see. However, with this groundbreaking technology now closing in on human trials, many people are concerned about safety.
Neuralink refers to both the technology and the company. However, Neuralink is a device surgically implanted into the human brain, allowing the delicate but powerful organ to communicate with machines and even control them. In other words, Neuralink will blur the line between humans and machines.
Setting up Neuralink involves inserting a chipset, the N1, under the skull. It will then connect to the brain through ultra-thin electrodes. Neuralink has to go beneath the skull to stay within the required distance for accuracy.
Part of Neuralink, which houses the battery, will reside behind the ear and can be removed for charging or updating the software.
Neuralink can also connect wirelessly to other devices, a feature that opens up many possibilities, as you shall see. However, with this groundbreaking technology now closing in on human trials, many people are concerned about safety.
Is Neuralink Safe?
Due to the delicate nature of the brain, most people do not mess with it. This is why it is not surprising that some people are apprehensive about poking the organ with human-made objects.
Due to the delicate nature of the brain, most people do not mess with it. This is why it is not surprising that some people are apprehensive about poking the organ with human-made objects.
The monkey was trained to play a game of ping pong using his mind, with the assistance of Neuralink.
Installing Neuralink is painless and carried out with such precision that Neuralink had to build a robot for the job. It could be done in under two hours. With the electrodes so thin, they do not cause any pain or discomfort.
Neuralink has demonstrated the safety of its technology on animals. During its first public demonstration, the company installed Neuralink on a pig (Gertrude by name), revealing the animal had had the implant for months. Neuralink brought another pig with its own implant removed and there was nothing wrong with the animal that spectators could observe.
The next step is human trials, which Musk says will commence this year, following approval from the FDA.
Neuralink has demonstrated the safety of its technology on animals. During its first public demonstration, the company installed Neuralink on a pig (Gertrude by name), revealing the animal had had the implant for months. Neuralink brought another pig with its own implant removed and there was nothing wrong with the animal that spectators could observe.
The next step is human trials, which Musk says will commence this year, following approval from the FDA.
What Are the Benefits of Neuralink?
The possibilities are endless. For example, you will be able to control your phone or other enabled devices with your mind without touching your device. Neuralink has demonstrated something close to this, using a monkey named Pager. The monkey was trained to play a game of ping pong using his mind, with the assistance of Neuralink.
Musk claims a lot of people with medical conditions will benefit from Neuralink. For example, blind people could see again, while people who have paralysis can learn to move their impaired ligaments or appendages again. Neuralink will allegedly help treat depression, addiction, and help people with speech impediments put their thoughts into words.
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