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🧠 Human brain implanted with Neuralink chip for first time, reveals Elon Musk

🧠 Human brain implanted with Neuralink chip for first time, reveals Elon Musk

Plus: Dubai jetpack races, sound wave sensor power up

Tim Snaith
January 31, 2024

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In a momentous milestone toward futuristic human-computer symbiosis, Elon Musk announced via Twitter that neurotechnology company Neuralink has successfully installed its revolutionary brain interface device in a human subject.

While details remain scarce, Musk confirmed that promising neural activity has been detected in initial experiments. Jump to today’s Must Read to learn what we know so far.

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What you need for better GenAI applications

Learn more from Pinecone Research on how Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) using Pinecone serverless increases relevant answers from GPT-4 by 50%.

- The larger the search data, the more “faithful” the results.

- RAG with massive on-demand data outperforms GPT-4 (without RAG) by 50%, even with the data it was explicitly trained on.

- RAG, with a lot of data, ensures state of the art performance no matter the LLM you choose, encouraging the use of different LLMs (e.g., open-source or private LLMs).

MUST READ

🧠 First human receives Neuralink brain chip implant, Elon Musk announces

Musk disclosed that Neuralink’s first clinical trial participant had surgery to implant the firm’s N1 sensor/transmitter device. If functioning as designed, the Neuralink implant could enable users to control devices via thought alone.

Musk also revealed the impending advent of the company’s first commercial telepathic “brain-machine connection” product, called Telepathy. While timelines are unclear and past Neuralink primate experiments faced ethical issues, melding the human mind with AI may be on the horizon.

CULTURE

🏁 Dubai to host world's first jet suit race which will take to the skies

Dubai announced the world's first jetpack racing event slated for February 2024 as gravity-defying technology moves mainstream. Eight pilots using customized four-engine backpacks will compete overhead the iconic skyline in a global first after years of live demos. The race is a collaboration between the city’s tourism leaders and UK-based propulsion company Gravity Industries.

INNOVATION

🔊 Scientists power sensors with sound waves, ditch batteries for energy

Swiss engineers created self-powered sensors from silicone that generate electricity from sound rather than batteries, reducing electronic waste. Using metamaterial principles, their precisely structured plate design converts only specific desired frequencies into energy for tasks like equipment monitoring.