Posted on 07/12/2006 6:07:06 PM PDT by neverdem
A paralyzed man with a small sensor implanted in his brain was able to control a computer, a television and a robot using only his thoughts, scientists reported today.
The development offers hope that in the future, people with spinal cord injuries, Lou Gehrig’s disease or other ailments that impair movement might be able to better communicate with or control their world.
“If your brain can do it, we can tap into it,’’ said John P. Donoghue, a professor at Brown University who led the development of the system and was the senior author of a report published today in the journal Nature.
In separate experiments, the first person to receive the implant, Matthew Nagle, was able to move a cursor, open e-mail, play a simple video game called Pong and draw a crude circle on the screen. He could change the channel or volume of a television set, move a robot arm somewhat, and open and close a prosthetic hand.
Although his cursor control was sometimes wobbly, the basic movements were not hard to learn. “I pretty much had that mastered in four days,’’ Mr. Nagle, now 26, said in a telephone interview from the New England Sinai Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Stoughton, Mass., where he lives. He said the implant did not cause any pain.
A former high school football star in Weymouth, Mass., Mr. Nagle was paralyzed below the shoulders after being stabbed in the neck during a melee at a beach in July 2001. He said he was not involved in starting the brawl and didn’t even know what sparked it. The man who stabbed him is now serving ten years in prison, he said.
There have been some tests of a simpler sensor implant in people, as well as tests of systems using electrodes...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Neuronal ensemble control of prosthetic devices by a human with tetraplegia The whole magilla for which you may have to register with Nature.
ping
Or maybe the robot is really controlling the man's thoughts?
the good uses. can't wait till we start reading about the bad ones. gonna be some tough times ahead.
Fascinating - this is really neat stuff
It is the first post from mojo_the_migo. Welcome to FreeRepublic.com!
Might have to marry my robot. A wife that knows when you want it as soon as you do....starts toward the kitchen when you think about food in the fridge...knows when to not be there the list could go on.
More American creativity at work making the world a better place. While in other parts of the world those that kneel to the black rock do nothing but make the world a worse place.
"...a little too much vermouth?"
LOL, I was a serious drunk many years back and found myself in need of booze at 3:00 AM... DO NOT EVER DRINK VERMOUTH TO GET DRUNK!
Excerpt from Chapter Eleven of "Reaction!"
“Are you tired, Brian? It is late in the evening, after all. Most everyone else is asleep.”
“No, I’m sorry. I was just distracted.” Wanting to change the subject, he looked away as a thought occurred to him.
“Pearl, you said you didn’t want any humans to know about this secret. I’m mostly human. Why are you willing to trust me?”
She looked at him. He could swear he saw a smile playing around her lips.
“Let me show you.” She took his hand and led him to the door into the darkened hallway. They went through.
And it was no longer dark! Instead, it was lit with a garish red light, and smoke filled the air.
Brian looked over at Pearl, and he saw that she was now dressed in a lovely white gown, with a pair of huge white wings spread out from her back.
He looked more closely, and saw a golden halo glowing and gleaming as it encircled her head.
Heat was all around them, and noxious gases burned his throat with every breath. Pearl smiled at him, and they began walking.
They turned a corner, and encountered a gargantuan creature. His eyes blazed out from a demonic bright red face below huge curling horns, and waves of heat came from his body. Puffs of flame came out of his nostrils as he breathed.
He looked at Brian without a trace of pity, and leaned his pitchfork toward him.
“You are not dressed appropriately.” He said in a booming voice. A flame shot out of the tips of his pitchfork, and Brian was engulfed in fire all over his body!
The heat had been intense, but this was agony! His clothes fell in smoking embers at his feet, and even his sandals were burned off.
The flame stopped, and Brian could see his skin still glowing red from the heat. His subcutaneous nerves were still shrieking in agony as he stood naked in Hell.
He glanced to his right, and saw that he was still holding the hand of his Angel, and her lovely white gown was not even singed.
The booming voice came again. “Since you are visiting, you will need a hand stamp.” He turned the pitchfork around so that the end of the staff pointed at Brian’s left hand. Like a magnet being pulled, his hand came up and touched the end of the pitchfork.
Again, agony enveloped him, as the flesh of his hand was seared away by the heat! When the demon drew the tool away, his hand was branded with a glowing red scar.
“You may enter now.” The demon gestured, and Brian was led further into the pit.
Flames were everywhere, and Brian’s naked feet and exposed skin felt the heat with every step. It was inescapable, and unendurable, but moving his feet rapidly only made the pain worse. Brian grimly attempted to control and endure the pain.
*** (Exceptionally Unpleasant Interlude) ***
Brian felt faint, and terribly nauseous. His lungs ached with fiery torment. He turned this way, and that, but nowhere did he see any sign of human mercy or comfort.
“Pearl....Please! No more ...” Brian pleaded. His knees felt as though they would soon buckle.
Pearl lifted her hand, and Brian rose away from the burning rocks. She pulled him to her, and her wings folded around him. The heat, and the smoky light, yielded to darkness.
He took a breath. He was safe again. Protected.
Brian opened his eyes. They were standing one step into the darkened corridor right next to the Squirrel’s Nest. Pearl was holding his hand, and she was dressed in a blue play suit.
His clothes had returned to normal also. He looked at his left hand. It was unmarked.
He shuddered.
“Pearl, why?” His voice quavered.
She looked at him. “As long as I exist, Brian, I will be aware of everything you do and say. I know that you would never betray me.” She smiled at him. “That is why I know I can trust you.”
This is not new. John McCain hasbeen doing this with Linsey Graham for some time now.
I think about that often.
Many "fiction" novels portray it to be much more complicated than rock.
I can't help feel there's something to those stories.
Is truth is stranger than fiction, or is fiction no stranger to truth?
There's nothing significant about that black rock except that it is one of the first things Mohammed stole, while murdering everyone who lived there that no one wanted to rape and enslave.
A religion about a rock thief, how sucky is that?
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Most of his misdeeds were actually documented for him.
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