Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Elon Musk's Neuralink Has Implanted Its First Chip in a Human Brain. What's Next?

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January 31, 2024

On Monday, billionaire technologist Elon Musk announced on X that his company Neuralink has implanted its brain-computer interface into a human for the first time. He said the trial participant is "recovering well," but gave no additional details. Our new technology editor Ben Guarino spoke to John Donoghue, an expert in brain-computer interfaces at Brown University, about what this step means for the burgeoning technology. Read more in his story below!

Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor
@AGawrylewski

Health Care

Elon Musk's Neuralink Has Implanted Its First Chip in a Human Brain. What's Next?

The wealthiest person on Earth has taken the next step toward a commercial brain interface

By Ben Guarino

Pharmaceuticals

AI Program Finds Thousands of Possible Psychedelics. Will They Lead to New Drugs?

Researchers have doubted how useful AI protein-structure tool AlphaFold will be in discovering medicines—now they are learning how to deploy it effectively

By Ewen Callaway,Nature magazine

Artificial Intelligence

AI Audio Deepfakes Are Quickly Outpacing Detection

An alleged voice recording of racist remarks exemplifies the challenges of our new AI normal

By Lauren Leffer

Fossil Fuels

Why New Liquified Natural Gas Infrastructure Is on Hold

A Biden administration review of natural gas exports could show the U.S. was relying on outdated assumptions about gas's impact on renewable energy and carbon pollution

By Jean Chemnick,E&E News

Mathematics

Tomorrow's Quantum Computers Threaten Today's Secrets. Here's How to Protect Them

Researchers are racing to create codes so complex that even quantum computers can't break them

By Kelsey Houston-Edwards

Artificial Intelligence

AI Survey Exaggerates Apocalyptic Risks

A speculative survey about AI's future may have been biased toward an alarmist perspective

By Chris Stokel-Walker

Quantum Computing

Will Quantum Computers Upend Cryptography as We Know It?

Experts are starting to plan for the moment when a quantum computer large enough to crack the backbone of the math that keeps things secret will be turned on.

By Jeffery DelViscio | 10:35

Dinosaurs

Robotic Dinosaur Tests How Dinos (and Birds) Got Wings

Scientists built a robotic dinosaur to terrify grasshoppers, all in hopes of understanding how truly pathetic wings could offer prehistoric animals an evolutionary advantage

By Meghan Bartels

Renewable Energy

Renewable Power Set to Surpass Coal Globally by 2025

Renewable energy will surpass coal power by 2025 and, with nuclear energy, will account for nearly half the world's power generation by 2026, the International Energy Agency forecasts

By Jason Plautz,E&E News

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"You can get a gloomy lawyer like me moaning on about the ethics, but it's important to remember the enormous upsides. Neurotechnology might alleviate quite a lot of human suffering."

Allan McCay, a fellow at the University of Sydney's Law School, in the Washington Post

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Brain-Reading Devices Allow Paralyzed People to Talk Using Their Thoughts

Two studies report considerable improvements in technologies designed to help people with facial paralysis to communicate

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