An overview of The Neuralink Company:
The marvels of technology and sciences have left the world completely astounded. Everyday, we are introduced to some innovative technological advances. Even in its emerging phases, there are a myriad of technologies that are sure to bring radical shifts in future.
One of the emerging and much-anticipated technological corporations is The Neuralink Company. It is a neuro-technological company based in San- francisco. It was established in 2016 and is co-founded by Elon Musk. The Company has hired Neuro-professionals and experts from the eminent Universities to take an upward quantum leap in Neurotechnology. Neuralink has already received a large sum of around $158 million for funding it’s research and work.
Goals of Neuralink:
The Neuralink Company has grabbed public eyeballs ever since its declaration that it will be working on communicating with human brains. In 2017, Neuralink announced that it will be working to build devices to treat serious brain complications like Alzheimer, dementia, paralysis and others. In recent years, Neuralink opened up more about making a device that will work like a sewing machine and implant threads in the brains.
The Neuralink Company also highlights that its neural implant is unique and different since it has all the requisite components required for a neural implant including a battery, processing chips and bluetooth devices and around 1000 electrodes. In this way, Neuralink tends to alter the regular brain machine interface procedures.
Latest Innovations:
Neuralink has been experimenting with the neurons and technology for quite a while now. Recently, they have unveiled the following innovations that include:
Robots and Probes:
During a live presentation in 2019, Neuralink introduced the procedure of carrying out the brain implant that will involve ultra thin probes. These probes can detect brain signals through electrodes. The system consists upto 3072 electrodes per formation.
The probes are inserted by robots specially made for insertion of probes. The robots can insert 6 probes per minute.
Gertrude – The pig with the chip:
To further exhibit the applications of neurology interface, Neuralink in another live demonstration showed insertion of a chip in Gertrude- the pig’s brain. The chip was described as “Fitbit in your skull” and was designed to record the neural response of the pig. The chip sends wireless signals that show neural activity in her about when it looks for food.
Monkey playing video games:
Just a few days back, Neuralink stole the limelight after introducing us with a monkey playing video games. In a short video released by Elon Musk, the monkey is first shown to play Pong using a joystick. A moment later, the money played the game with its mind after the joystick was disconnected. The astonishing part was the monkey wasn’t just able to play games telepathically but it even adapted to the given situations well. It showed great results with higher difficulty levels of the game.
Criticisms:
The latest innovations have created a buzz everywhere.
Some neuroscientists and MIT commented on the real intention behind Neuralink’s neurotechnology.
A prominent neuroscientist, Mary Lou has voiced her views regarding the rejection reaction from the brain, on insertion of the probes.
An American animal organization, PETA, has also shown concern over the experiments being performed on monkeys and pigs.
Future Expectancy:
Neuralink might not have been well-received by various scientific societies, however, it has a great potential to bring about a digital revolution. Looking forward, we can anticipate humans controlling mobiles, machines and devices through telepathy. Treatment of brain complexities can also be anticipated. In the long run, the symbiosis with artificial intelligence, is also expected to be achieved. It is exciting to see these innovations unfold in future.