A REMEDY FOR DEATH

A few days ago here we posted " A step closer to mind-reading technology"  about an experiment at Duke in which electrodes were implanted in the brains of two rats, one at Duke, the other in South America.  The research indicated that the rat with the "encoder" was able to send signals through the ether to the guy with the "decoder."  Granted, those signals were enhanced, not just electrode to electrode.

But it -- and much other research -- is making that point that brain waves or signals can be transmitted outside the skull: transmitted and read.

Now back in the old days, before all this, that was termed "mind reading", "telepathy", and "allegedly psychic".  Bad words all, leaving bad tastes in the mouths of "true" scientists.

But now "real" scientists are exploring.  I'm short of time today, so I'll just post the links to a pair of intriguing articles

In Slate we have "Telekinesis without the woo: how people move things with their minds"

And in Salon "Mind reading is possible!"      (That's an excerpt from a book THE BRAIN SUPREMACY: NOTES FROM THE FRONTIERS OF NEUROSCIENCE by Kathleen Taylor, published by--get this-- Oxford University Press.) Link to the book on Amazon

Updates:

(1)   A report on work at the University of Michigan :   Non  -invasive brain implant could somedday translate thoughts into movement"   "BioBolt does not penetrate the cortex and is completely covered by the skin to greatly reduce risk of infectionResearchers believe it's a critical step toward the Holy Grail of brain-computer interfacing: allowing a paralyzed person to "think" a movement.

(2)  And from research at Brown University, in the same general track:  "This wireless brain implant could make telekinesis a reality"

Note, however, that the Brown work involves going into the skull to perform the implant. "The purpose of the project was to develop a neural interface device that could eventually help amputees, spinal cord injury victims, and those living with severe neuromotor disease (like Parkinson's) overcome their physical limitations. The challenge, however, was in developing a system that's safe, effective — and durable. Brain implants are not the kind of thing physicians want to be implanting and extracting on a regular basis."

So far, the experiments have been on animals.  (George Dvorsky authored that article in io9)

Granted, these are all different aspects of what I'm broadly terming "mind reading," close enough to get us started.  More another time.