Internet telepathy, an exciting breakthrough.

Earlier this week a collaborative team of researchers announced that they have successfully transmitted a single word thought between to participants thousands of miles apart. Specifically one was in France and the other in India, a second experiment succeeded in transmitting between France and Spain. Although it was simple one word messages, "hola" and "ciao" this represents the first verifiable claim of human telepathy, albeit with technological intervention. From a biomedical standpoint this is an extremely exciting accomplishment and the ramification could be huge, both positive and negative.

How it works;



We start with a BCI (Brain Computer Interface, an exciting innovation in its own right) connected to a volunteer. What these interfaces do is interpret the electronic signals produced by the brain and uses them to control a prosthetic device, such as the cursor of a computer or recently, artificial limbs. Instead of using the BCI to control a robotic arm or some such this persons thoughts are converted into binary code and uploaded to the internet. On the other side the recipient receives these messages (message in this case) via a CBI (Computer Brain Interface) and the signal is relayed into the brain itself via TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation). The recipient then sees this message as a phosphene, which is a small flash of light in the peripheral vision. Think of it as a type of neurological Morse code or code signaling, only far more advanced.

These phosphenes are decoded and interpreted, after being sent by humble email. While this may not the most glamorous way to transmit messages it is an exciting beginning to being able to communicate without speaking, typing or any other form of physical movement. While this may seem like a the perfect breakthrough to further laziness, imagine the possibilities if you will. People suffering from *******is, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, or any other of a number of debilitating conditions could benefit greatly from so-called 'Internet Telepathy.



People who are completely paralyzed could communicate with family that is spread over the entire globe, patients could more efficiently communicate with doctors vastly increasing the quality and thoroughness of care. There is great power and potential in technology like this, it could further increase how connected we are as families friends and as a global society.

Even though internet telepathy and related technologies are in their ******y, it is easy to see the possible benefits. But along with these benefits come potential pitfalls, ramifications that could adversely effect us in a more effortlessly connected world. Think about how easy it is to communicate electronically now, at this moment people are able to read this because of the internet, this blog entry itself is on a social network of sorts, comprised of people that have found a connection with each but are disconnected physically. How many times has one been to dinner and seen people sitting together but constantly on their phones, or popular depictions of families spending time together but all of them isolated in their own electronic worlds.



If it was easy to connect with others while sometimes losing connection with those around us now, imagine how easy it will be when you can upload your very thoughts online and send them to your friends. While this is a somewhat distant prospect, it will be reality faster than most people realize. There are also questions of independence of thought and privacy, if you can upload your daily life onto the internet with various sharing tools whats to stop people from uploading every thought unto similar neuro-social networks? Probably nothing, but is that a good thing, every stray thought online for all to receive. While this could have the power to dramatically increase the overall intelligence of our species it could also have disastrous consequences on our individuality.

As a species we are advancing rapidly, we have great power to effect change to the foundations of our world through technology and innovation. Currently the SAM Project is allowing paralyzed former race car driver Sam Schmidt, who was rendered quadriplegic in a tragic racing accident, to drive a car on the track again. Arrow Technologies is using similar brain-machine interfaces and unloading technology to allow Mr. Schmidt to control the car. This is an encouraging innovation but it has possible negative repercussions, such as use in cheating or criminal activity. We have built the technology but it will (hopefully) be our ability to reason and emotional maturity that allows us to use it responsibly.



We live in a rapidly changing world where things that were science fiction twenty years ago are now commonplace. Humanity has more communication in one day than we did in the millennia before, it is a great power but also a great responsibility. Information can now be shared and alarming speed and we need to make sure that the information being shared is of meaning. While this meaning can be different for every person we must make sure that we grasp the potential of this technology and use it to further our connection as a race.

There is a lot of v******e in today's world, but compared to many periods in history we are relatively peaceful. There are strides being made and something like internet telepathy among many other types of technology can be a boon to us all when used with benevolence. It is through communication, education, and mutual understanding that we can move past our petty differences and establish the society that this planet, which is unique to us for now, truly deserves. Internet telepathy may only be a small part of a larger puzzle but I think it has the potential to be an important one. We now have the ability to share simple messages via thought and electronics in a laboratory environment, soon we will have the ability to share complete thoughts seamlessly among our friends. Whether this will be benefit or hindrance will depend our us, and our ability to understand each other in an increasingly complex era.

Thank you as always, for reading.

(References:

1) http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/internet-telepathy-thoughts-transmitted-online-140903.htm

2) http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0105225

3) http://www.ballaerospace.com/page.jsp?page=30&id=586