Toggle light / dark theme

There are certainly ways to use AI to reduce the collateral damage and harms of war, but fully autonomous weapons would also usher in a host of new moral, technical, and strategic dilemmas, which is why scientists and activists have pushed the United Nations and world governments to consider a preemptive ban. Their hope is that we can keep killer robots in the realm of science fiction.


We have the technology to make robots that kill without oversight. But should we?

Human sensory and motor systems provide the natural means for the exchange of information between individuals, and, hence, the basis for human civilization. The recent development of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) has provided an important element for the creation of brain-to-brain communication systems, and precise brain stimulation techniques are now available for the realization of non-invasive computer-brain interfaces (CBI). These technologies, BCI and CBI, can be combined to realize the vision of non-invasive, computer-mediated brain-to-brain (B2B) communication between subjects (hyperinteraction). Here we demonstrate the conscious transmission of information between human brains through the intact scalp and without intervention of motor or peripheral sensory systems. Pseudo-random binary streams encoding words were transmitted between the minds of emitter and receiver subjects separated by great distances, representing the realization of the first human brain-to-brain interface. In a series of experiments, we established internet-mediated B2B communication by combining a BCI based on voluntary motor imagery-controlled electroencephalographic (EEG) changes with a CBI inducing the conscious perception of phosphenes (light flashes) through neuronavigated, robotized transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), with special care taken to block sensory (tactile, visual or auditory) cues. Our results provide a critical proof-of-principle demonstration for the development of conscious B2B communication technologies. More fully developed, related implementations will open new research venues in cognitive, social and clinical neuroscience and the scientific study of consciousness. We envision that hyperinteraction technologies will eventually have a profound impact on the social structure of our civilization and raise important ethical issues.

Citation: Grau C, Ginhoux R, Riera A, Nguyen TL, Chauvat H, Berg M, et al. (2014) Conscious Brain-to-Brain Communication in Humans Using Non-Invasive Technologies. PLoS ONE 9: e105225. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.

Editor: Mikhail A. Lebedev, Duke University, United States of America.

Always think positively!


“Our voices help connect us to our friends, family and the world around us, which is why losing the power of one’s voice due to injury or disease is so devastating. This could happen due to various reasons such as ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] or stroke,” resulting in what is known as “locked-in-syndrome,” he added.

“Our ultimate goal is to develop technologies that can decode the internal voice of a patient who is unable to speak,” said Mesgarani.

Such innovations also mean better brain-computer interfacing, which would open up whole new platforms for man-machine communication, he added.

Dimensions: 3.5″ x 3.0″ x 1.8″ Date: 1993 Material: original stone is virginia albamarle serpentine, reproductions silicon bronze Special Engraving: the matrix (0,1 | 1,1) Weight: 4 oz Copyright Notice: © 1993 Copyright Registered: 1996.

The Fibonacci numbers are ubiquitious in nature and mathematics. This palmsize sculpture encapsulates the generating matrix for these numbers. In a problem published 800 years ago, Leonardo of Pisa, a.k.a. Fibonacci formulated his famous rabbit problem: beginning with a newborn fertile pair of rabbits, how many pairs will accumulate monthly if each pair produces another pair from their second month on? The solution of this leads to a recursively defined sequence of integers, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, … This sequence has the property that two consequtive terms added give the next term.

The Fibonacci Matrix Torus has raised (esker) curves or continuous crests which wind around the torus either the short way or both the short and long way. This gives the matrix with first row (0, 1) and second row (1, 1) respectively. The powers of this matrix give matrices whose entries are always Fibonacci numbers.