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Robotic Arm Controlled By Monkey Thoughts

Posted by Zonk on from the next-step-is-cyber-monkeys dept.

mallumax writes "The BBC reports that Pittsburgh University scientists have succeeded in creating a robotic arm, controlled by probes inserted into the brain of monkeys. The probes interpret signals from individual nerve cells in the motor cortex. Monkeys were able to grasp and hold food with the robotic arm. Since the number of nerve signals for even small movements is huge the scientists used an averaging algorithm to obtain the movement signals."

5 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Goodbye Carpal Tunnel Monkeys! by KhaZ · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Think of all the porn^H^H^H^Hcode they can watch^H^H^H^H^Hdo with that device...

    --
    - - - -

    KickingDragon

  2. Indiana Jones by thesalodonkey · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    This kind of reminds me of the dinner scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Remember? Indy and all his compatriots were being wined and dined by the prince of a state in india (yeah the little guy who was brain washed with the poison blood from those who opposed of kali ma). And the meal looked really appealing at first and then the camera focused on what people were eating and you saw the sultan cracking open beetles and sucking down live born python babies and other really nasty stuff. and then there were real live monkey brain open to the world ready to be probed by curious scientists. but alas...these monkey brains were'nt controlling any bionic arms. they weren't even controlling monek bodies. they just went to waste.

  3. Zaphod Beeblebrox! by vargasmas · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Now I can get that third arm I've always wanted, in order to improve my Ski Boxing scores.

  4. Clinton by Muttonhead · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Yeah? Well that's nothing. Just the other day Clinton went into the hospital for a "heart" operation, but he was actually having a chip removed. How you like dem apples?

  5. Re:That's not my hand on your ass by BlueCodeWarrior · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Note: I am a Pitt student.

    I wouldn't be suprised if this happened around here...does everyone else at Pitt hate ResNet (our networking infrastructure) as much as I do? This is the extent of Pitt's 'Linux Support.' We're using 802.1x to connect over wires. I'm stuck in shitty Win98 on a daily basis because I can't get my comp to connect in Linux for the life of me, and it sucks. Plus I can't play XBox Live!, because it doesn't support 802.1x either. They could have just left it as pppoe like last year, but nooo, they have to change it...

    Any other Pitt /.ers frustrated out there by this? I wouldn't be suprised if they were playing monkey grabass instead of, you know, supporting thier students' technology.

    I realize that the department that administers our network isn't going to be in charge of inventing this crap, I just needed to vent, sorry.