What Neuralink Is Missing

Until recently, in all of human history, the number of true cyborgs stood at about 70. Ian Burkhart has kept a count because he was one of them--a person whose brain has been connected directly to a computer. Burkhart had become quadriplegic in a swimming accident after a wave ran him into a sandbar and injured his spine. He was later able to receive an implant from a research study, which allowed him to temporarily regain some movement in one hand. For seven and a half years, he lived with this device--an electrode array nestled into his motor cortex that transmitted signals to a computer, which then activated electrodes wrapped around his arm.