Despite issues manifesting in its first implantee, the Food and Drug Administration has given Neuralink the green light to implant a brain chip in a second human test subject.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, Neuralink appears to have gotten the go-ahead because it proposed a fix for the problems suffered by its first patient, 29-year-old quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh.
As previous reports indicate, a majority of the 64 thread-like wires connected to Arbaugh's chip began to come loose, causing him to lose some of the implant's functionality just a month after it was inserted earlier this year.
To fix it, an anonymous insider told the newspaper, the Elon Musk-owned company plans to jam the wires, each thinner than a human hair, even deeper into the next subject's brain — which yes, sounds pretty gruesome to us, especially considering the monkey death toll associated with the company.
Despite how freaky all of that sounds, the description of what's happening to Neuralink's first test subject are more emotionally tragic than physically disturbing, and there appears to be some hope that the fix for the second implant might improve upon the failures of the first go-round.
In interviews with Bloomberg and the WSJ, Arbaugh described the incredible highs of having experiences restored to him, such as being able to better communicate with friends and play video games using his mind, only to start unexpectedly losing them.
"[Neuralink] told me that the threads were getting pulled out of my brain," Arbaugh told Bloomberg. "It was really hard to hear. I thought I’d gotten to use it for maybe a month, and then my journey was coming to an end."
As he noted in both interviews, that rapid loss of functionality so soon after it had been bestowed upon him took a huge emotional toll.
"I was on such a high and then to be brought down that low. It was very, very hard," he told the WSJ. "I cried."
According to Bloomberg, Neuralink has implemented algorithmic workarounds to better interpret the data from Arbaugh's implant, as only 15 percent of the threads remain intact and continue transmitting data remotely.
With FDA approval in place, the company's next steps will be to approve one of the more than 1,000 applicants who've applied, according to the WSJ's source. The company hopes to do the implantation sometime in June, that insider added.
While it's good that things haven't gone worse for Arbaugh, it's clear now that Neuralink is applying Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" adage, coined by Musk's nemesis Mark Zuckerberg, to its approach to human test subjects.
More on Neuralink: Neuralink Knew Its Implant Likely to Malfunction in First Human Patient, Did Brain Surgery Anyway
The post Neuralink Jamming Wires Deeper Into Second Patient's Brain appeared first on Futurism.
Read the original here:
Neuralink Jamming Wires Deeper Into Second Patient's Brain
- Futurist Serata featuring artist Luca Buvoli at Brown (Nov. 20) [Last Updated On: November 7th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 7th, 2009]
- FUTUR1SM00GGI [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- ‘Futurism on Film’ Series this month in NYC [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Schedule of Futurist Events in NYC (PERFORMA 09: Nov 1-22) [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- ‘Futurismo/Futurizm: The Futurist Avant-Garde in Italy and Russia’ (Nov. 13 + 14) [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- ‘Beyond Futurism: F.T. Marinetti, Writer’ conference at Columbia (Nov. 12+13) [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Futurism and Cars at the Museo Nicolis [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- MoMA Film Series Marks Centenary of Futurism with Films [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- ‘Bergson+Futurism. Speed in thought’ - Madrid (Nov. 5) [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- ‘The Future in Five Senses: Echoes of Italian Futurism in New York Architecture and Design’ Nov. 16th NYC [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- New World-Wide Climate Treaty in 2010 More Likely [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Tar Sands CCS Myth Shattered [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Smart Grid and Smart Meters Get Big Grants [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Pollution Makes Methane Even More Dangerous [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Climate Change Bill Hearing Video [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- New Satellite to Monitor Water and Plant Growth [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Spiritual Battle Awaits the Deniers and Skeptics [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Effects of Climate Change are Observed World-Wide [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Get Yer Global Warming Science Here [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- TckTckTck Wake up Call — Delay Kills [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Canada’s Awful Gold Rush [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Climate Change Talks Spark Global Backlash by Businesses [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- World May Need Extra Year for Climate Treaty [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Senator Boxer Moves Climate Bill Despite Republican Obstructionism [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Lights out for incandescent lights? [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Sutures from Bacteria [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Remote-Controlled Pigeons [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Apple Announces iPhone Release Date [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- UK Government Envisions a Grim Future [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Top Ten Emerging Technologies for the Environment [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- DIY Mobile Networks [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Stem-Cell Treatment Cures Type 1 Diabetes [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Is Tesla Getting the Electric Car Right? [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- The Future of TV News [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Bruce Sterling on Earth-Friendly Pervasive Computing [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- First Step Toward Organ Regeneration in Humans [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- IBM's "Five in Five" [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Outsourced Journalism [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Is True Global Democracy the Next Great Political Movement? [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- The Risks of Autonomous Robots [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Microsoft Introduces "Tabletop" PC [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Britain Piloting First Biofueled Train [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Self-Healing Plastic [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Bird Population Falls Over Past 40 Years [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- The iPhone Revolution? [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- The End of "Cheap Food"? [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- How to Stop -- Or Live With -- Global Warming [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- MIT Demonstrates "Wireless Electricity" [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Unintended Consequences of Biofuels [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2009] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2009]
- Time to Focus on the Big Picture in Copenhagen [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2009]
- Protests in Copenhagen [Last Updated On: December 12th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 12th, 2009]
- Mario Guido Dal Monte exhibit [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Futurism News Bulletin, xvi [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Viva il Futurismo! (video trailer) [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- 3 exhibits in Gorizia! [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Forthcoming: ‘Antidiets of the Avant-garde’ by Cecilia Novero [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Pubblicità e propaganda. Ceramica e grafica futuriste at the Wolfsoniana [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Balla’s home scheduled to open in 2010 [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Futurismo a Savona [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- ‘Zang Sud Sud’, Cosenza [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Conference in Rome (Dec. 10) [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Climate Hackergate: A Well-Orchestrated Campaign of Harassment [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- The Sad Story of Cap and Trade [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- How to Waste Trillions on Capturing Carbon [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Smack the Email Hack Attack [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- EPA About to Declare CO2 a Public Danger [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Copenhagen Summit Starts with Virtually There Media [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Climate Scientist Gets Blunt on Trading Scheme [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- One Climate Change Editorial in 56 Newspapers, 45 Countries [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- This Decade Will be Hottest Ever on Record [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Divide and Conquer [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Leave the Coal in the Hole! [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- COP15: Two Agreements Coming [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Climate and Copenhagen News December 10 [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Sea Level Already Rising on Atlantic Coast [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- ‘Umbria Veloce’ in Perugia [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2009]
- An Instable CO2-Filled Ocean [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2009]
- ‘Futurismi a Ravenna’ opens Dec. 19 [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
- ‘Futurism and the Technological Imagination’ – 30% discount until Jan. 15 [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]
- Protecting Our Lungs at Copenhagen [Last Updated On: December 15th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 15th, 2009]