Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip
 

Wouldn't it be great to have a computer in your head where you can store information.

Although the government can control us.

Are you for computers in peoples heads or not?


The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together.

The achievement could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons.

To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.

They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.

"They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.

The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons.

It could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.

"Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said.

The researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neuro-chip.

source >> http://www.livescience.com/humanbiol...uro_chips.html

Sounds like Vaporware to me...

Don't believe the hype especially when they "forget" to mention the name of the lab that is conducting the reported experiment.

Would it support some kind of long-range wireless? It'd have to for me to be interested...

The BBC has some info on this sort of thing in their archives. It's not vaporware... The american defence department are trying to get it to work on animals, to control them... sharks specifically. It's horrible.
Although other uses are much more appealing, recently (no sorry can't remember where, but I think I read it in new scientist mag) tests where done on implanting a chip into the brain of people with paralysis who could not use computers, the chip allowed them to control the mouse etc without contact (so yes wireless).

So a microchip in my head and then I could drop microchips into the ink wells of all my pens and presto, no more business for the newsagent from me!

I like this idea...

I already have a computer in my head that can store information.
It's called my brain, and that's enough for me.

The ramifications of a software bug in hardware that is grafted to my brain is somewhat terrifying.

Given that a colleague (who used to work for a microchip manufacturer) once informed me that at no point has the simple 'addition' function on a chip ever been fully tested (and will likely never be) i'd be loathe to introduce any such device into my brain.

But i'm all for the sci-fi idealism of it.

What's the worst that could happen? It's not like you could get brain damage or something and wind up a vegatable. :eek:

What would be great is that this computer fused to the head records everything that you see. And you can go back and view it anytime you want. It would be great if I can view what I saw for an entire day 15 years ago. This would also stop most crime because the Police can view the victims recording. It would be better if the computer was not fused to the head but communicated by beams or lasers.

"What would be great is that this computer fused to the head records everything that you see. And you can go back and view it anytime you want"

Uh yeah... GREAT!
So you get arrested for suspicion of a crime you didn't commit, and now the police can watch your intimate moments with your girlfriend/boyfriend, watch you tell your most personal secrets to your best friend, see you naked in the shower or on the toilet.
Yeah, like you said... GREAT!

Being naked is not a crime and everyone gets intimate

Plus the victim will have the option of showing it or not

Before we reject the idea of organic fusion, maybe we should consider the true difference between our brain and the computer chip.

So now there's a some way to connect? :confused: My tinfoil hat is going to get some use after all.


So how do we know what is shown is real? and if being naked is not a crime, you haven't taken a stroll past the police station in your birthday suit. :D

The whole idea sounds like somebody has a thing for Seven of Nine... ;) (she was hot by the way)

Make the computer like a blackbox found on planes where you cannot enter it. The computer can only record if it reads your genes. Can be viewed by you or the Police. You should even be able to edit the recording. Erase things you don't want on there.

You can store php tutorials, movies. etc.

There are a number of possibilities of making it secure

So let's talk logistics of this "device"...
rejection.
From what I know about organ transplants it's not a stick it in and everything is fine. Anti-rejection drugs are used to keep your body from rejecting donated organs. The body seems to find ways of rejecting outside material.

Interface for the device.
So are we just supposed to automatically use it? Will it be any easier than just figuing out how to use a larger % of your brain?

Failure/corruption/outside interferance
So what happens when it fails? Sorry boss my brain implant failed I can't come to work until I learn everything again...

If chips can be planted in dogs, cats, etc.

Than there will be no problem planting them into people

take a look >> http://www.avidmicrochip.com/answer.htm

the cat below should have had a chip

Crazy Cat Terrorizes Connecticut Town
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Mar 29, 7:24 AM (ET)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) - Residents of the neighborhood of Sunset Circle say they have been terrorized by a crazy cat named Lewis. Lewis for his part has been uniquely cited, personally issued a restraining order by the town's animal control officer.

"He looks like Felix the Cat and has six toes on each foot, each with a long claw," Janet Kettman, a neighbor said Monday. "They are formidable weapons."

The neighbors said those weapons, along with catlike stealth, have allowed Lewis to attack at least a half dozen people and ambush the Avon lady as she was getting out of her car.

Some of those who were bitten and scratched ended up seeking treatment at area hospitals.

Animal Control Officer Rachel Solveira placed a restraining order on him. It was the first time such an action was taken against a cat in Fairfield.

In effect, Lewis is under house arrest, forbidden to leave his home.

Solveira also arrested the cat's owner, Ruth Cisero, charging her with failing to comply with the restraining order and reckless endangerment.

source http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060329/D8GL7P580.html

Another great thing to have is brain reader

The other day I was sitting at a kitchen table and saw a cat

Now a cat sees a lot of things. If a cat or a different animal sees a murder or a different crime than there should be a machine that reads than animals memory to find out who commited the crime.

How about subpoenas? How would you like to have the police to be able to trawl your brain? "Anything you think may be taken down and used in evidence against you." Or just that level of invasion of your privacy?

Plus, the only people who could favour such a prospect are those who assume it will never happen to them. Innocent people today, in "democratic" societies get dragged in, interrogated, imprisoned, even executed. Just think what a gift such power would be to a fascist state.

I find it hard to believe that governments would not be pushing that manufacturers should include "back doors" to their brain-implants to allow law enforcement agencies access.

I take it this was intended sarcastically.

Fancy being hacked, having a root kit or trojan installed? Being turned into a literal zombie and be forced to advertise Microsoft?

What a thought!

Rob

That is why you can delete any hour or day in the computer.

The pet isn't exactly interfacing with the chip. If you don't want it to provide information or produce any product then sure. I guess it could be like breast implants or replacement hip.

BTW love the cat story.

It'd be funny at the time we see people upgrading his/her own brain and everyone wanting to have the best and people messed with a buggy BIOS and false memories and so on. You wouldn't even have the chance to demand them.

It is going to cause cancer because the battery of the chip is out of Lithium.On the other hand ,it is against my religious belief.

Theres actually a relegion thats specifically against nano chips?

We should fuse computer chips to everyone coming out of jail. That way they will be afraid of doing crime again

So indefinite punishment for criminals?

How about a big red C on their forehead?

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Cool things to add to your brain:

APU + FPU (fast math calculations)
APU + FPU + CAS (advanced math calculations at the symbolic level)
Cell phone + thought-controlled dialer (those bluetooth earphones are distracting)
Photo and video recorder (and a way to upload them to a drive--maybe a USB port at the back of the neck)
GPU (for daydreaming, visualization, etc)
WiFi + web browser (will need to run linux or openBSD for security)
word processor (type letters with your thoughts)
email client (send the stuff you write)

Actually, what I'd really like to see are eye implants that will grant the user the ability to see deeply into the infrared or UV spectra--our "visible light" is extremely narrow (if the whole spectrum of life were to be drawn on a band that spanned the circumference of the earth around the equator, the area of visible light would only be as wide as a pencil).

I've seen too many bad sci-fi movies to even think about this. Imagine if someone cracked your brain! Linux on the go would be awesome, but it's not gonna work.

I think we should think about using our senses and natural biological signals before we start implanting stuff.
I like this device.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EyeTap
Someones even putting linux on it
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4779
I don't like the way it blocks your view and replaces it with a display though .I would rather project the display onto a lense ,like a transparency.I think eye position sensors may be useful.
I finally get to plug my blog.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/...osition_sensor
There's some other good entries in there.But voice control may be useful too.Both have their advantages.It would be hard to use an eye position sensor and walk at the same time ,but everyone can hear you talking to your computer with voice control.You really have to dumb this stuff down though to make it seem natural.Linux people don't mind using the command line ,Windows people hardly use a keyboard ,this would be like no interface at all.I think even without implants it may be possible to read someones thoughts or influence their behavior.

This short film has good info about the brain, including EBE's
(electronic brain enhancement)

Flash 7 and a sense of humor required. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tQVnQ-kuWk

He who would trade his liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security.