The information: Eight years in the past, a affected person misplaced her energy of speech due to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s illness, which causes progressive paralysis. Now, after volunteering to obtain a mind implant, the lady has been in a position to quickly talk phrases at a fee approaching regular speech.
Why it issues: Even in an period of keyboards, thumb-typing, emojis, and web abbreviations, speech stays the quickest type of human-to-human communication. The scientists from Stanford University say their volunteer smashed earlier information through the use of the brain-reading implant to speak at a fee of 62 phrases a minute, 3 times the earlier finest.
What’s subsequent: Although the examine has not been formally reviewed, specialists have hailed the outcomes as a major breakthrough. The findings may pave the best way for experimental brain-reading know-how to depart the lab and grow to be a helpful product quickly. Read the complete story.
—Antonio Regalado
Resolving to stay the Year of the Rabbit to the fullest
By Zeyi Yang, China reporter
This previous Sunday was the Lunar New Year, crucial vacation for Chinese and several other different Asian cultures. It’s speculated to be a possibility for us to reset and seize new alternatives.
In that spirit, I’ve not too long ago revisited a few of my favourite China-focused MIT Technology Review tales from the final 12 months and gone again to the folks I interviewed. I requested them whether or not they’d resolved any troubling challenges, and what they’re hoping for within the Year of the Rabbit.