The progress update was announced several weeks ago, though the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of Tesla and SpaceX has provided snippets of information since. Neuralink is a project that aims to install technology into the human brain.
Regarding this week’s announcement, Mr Musk has claimed there will be a demonstration of “neurons firing in real-time.”
It is unclear what he means by this – indeed, a lot of how the technology will actually work or what it will do is unclear.
The company has said it has developed a robot which will able to surgically implant electrode ‘threads’ into the brain, and has tested this technology on “at least” 19 animals, according to Elon Musk news site Teslarati.
Mr Musk has previously said the eventual goal of Neuralink would be to “achieve symbiosis with artificial intelligence.” In other words, mix computers with the human brain.
However, the entrepreneur has recently taken to Twitter to answer a range of questions about what the technology will eventually be able to do.
He suggested it will be able to do other things such as allow users to listen to music ‘directly’ from the implanted chips.
Responding to a Twitter user who asked him whether this would be the case, Mr Musk simply replied: “Yes.” He did not provide further details.
READ: Space mystery: Scientists left baffled by repeating radio bursts from deep space
Another user asked whether Neuralink would be able to “help the people with hearing disabilities, or the deaf to hear.”
He responded: “Yes. Could also extend range of hearing beyond normal frequencies and amplitudes.”
The company has also suggested its technology could be used to help people who are affected by brain disorders.
A research paper published by the company mentions ‘brain-machine interfaces’ or BMIs, which would take the form of flexible ‘threads’ of electrodes implanted into the brain.
DON’T MISS:
‘Time to leave Earth’: Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s end of the world warning as Sun ‘gets hotter’ [REPORT]
SpaceX news: Elon Musk gearing up for more ambitious Starship test [REPORT]
Climate crisis: Earth lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice in just 23 years [INSIGHT]
The paper states BMIs “hold promise” for restoring bodily functions in people.
Asked on Twitter whether the technology would be able to work at “spinal cord level,” Mr Musk responded it “should be possible” to restore movement even in people with fully severed spinal cords.
He said this would be possible via something called a “neural shunt” from the brain’s motor cortex to “microcontrollers in muscle groups”.
In February, Mr Musk suggested Neuralink technology could be embedded into a human as soon as this year.
It remains to be seen whether this is what will be announced at the upcoming presentation this week.
Meanwhile, Mr Musk’s other company SpaceX has completed a static fire test – the latest test for its Starship rocket prototype.
Starship is eventually intended to carry astronauts to the moon and Mars.
Source: Read Full Article