Imagine you can insert a memory card in your brain and go all Keanu
Wow, I know Jiu-Jitsu! Reeves. It's actually not that far away: Scientists have created a chip that allows rats to instantly
know things. It's amazing.
After
studying the chemical interactions that allow short-term learning and
memorization in rats, a group of scientists lead by Dr. Theodore
Berger—from the University of South California's Viterbi School of
Engineering—have built a prosthetic chip that uses electrodes to enhance
and expand their memory abilities. The chip is capable of storing
neural signals, basically functioning as an electronic memory, allowing
rats to learn more and keep it in the devices.
Dr. Berger's description is almost frightening:
"Flip the switch on, and the rats remember. Flip it off, and the rats
forget [...] These integrated experimental modeling studies show fo
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