Cyborg City

At first I can't say I was real happy to see this development.

European researchers have managed to create a "neuro-chip" where neurons and silicon circuits are able to communicate.

"To create the neuro-chip researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.

They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.

"They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.

This article dated February 2003 shows that neurons and silicon have been talking for at least three years. I'm not sure what they were saying and I'm not a rocket scientist so I'm not sure what the implicatons are. But I can dream.

I went to this site to see what smarter (allegedly) people think and ran into moonbats ranting about secret gubmint mind reading programs instead.

This whacko thinks it may be the first step to immortality.

I think that more research should be immediately prioritized regarding neuro-chips and prosthetics devices. If neurons can be "grown" on an integrated circuit, the possibility of giving our war wounded actual prosthetic devices that their nerves can control are real. Imagine a new limb that enables a vet to actually sense his weight and apply pressure! Small motors that can be activated by finding the correct neural path from the brain!

Good stuff. Exciting stuff.