How close are we to Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface?

Story highlights Entrepreneurs want to enhance human capabilities through brain-computer interfacing Despite challenges, researchers are excited about its huge potential Just as ancient Greeks fantasized about soaring flight, today’s imaginations dream of melding minds and machines as a remedy to the pesky problem of human mortality. Elon Musk wants to merge man and machine; here’s what he’ll need to work out Similarly, some limited virtual sensations can be sent back to the brain, by delivering electrical current inside the brain or to the brain surface. Because even our best implants only allow us to listen to a few small patches of the brain at a time, we can do some impressive things, but we’re nowhere near understanding the full conversation. Similarly, the brain can learn to interpret new types of sensory information even when it’s delivered noninvasively using, for example, magnetic pulses.