On Thursday, November 9th, Elon Musk’s “brainchip” company Neuralink started looking for their first volunteers who are willing to have a piece of their skull removed so that a surgeon can insert a brain chip into their brain. As a matter of fact, the procedure won’t even be carried out by a human surgeon, but by a seven-foot tall robot. This is because the 64 threads that will be pushed into the brain are 1/14th the diameter of a human hair, making them far too small for a human to maneuver. Even the smallest of misplacement can cause severe damage. The company suggests that the ideal first candidate would be a quadriplegic under the age of 40. If the procedure is successful, it would allow the volunteer to control technology with just their thoughts, and potentially regain their ability to move.
