NOLAND Arbaugh, 29, was a student and athlete at the Texas A&M University when he was paralysed during a diving accident eight years ago. Arbaugh had at the time been working at a children’s summer camp. Since being paralysed he has not been able to do many of the things he used to do. He has no sensation of anything at all below his shoulders.

This changed recently when Arbaugh received a brain chip implant from Neuralink, a company owned by Elon Musk. Started in 2016, the company had been working on creating a brain chip that would allow paralysed patients to accomplish tasks simply by focusing their brain waves on them. Last week, in a livestream, Neuralink showed Noland Arbaugh playing chess simply by using his brain waves. In an interview, Arbaugh said that the technology had already changed his life because he was able to play one of his favourite games Civilisation VI that he had been unable to play since he became paralysed. The brain chip had been implanted in Arbaugh in an operation he described as simple enough to be discharged from the hospital after only a day. As soon as he could, he played Civilisation VI for eight hours straight. All this only using his brain waves.

The brain chip technology implanted in Arbaugh’s skull truly seems miraculous. The idea that human beings can do tasks simply using their brain waves seems something out of science fiction. But, while Neuralink rushed to show the world what the chip can do, it is not the first nor........

© Dawn