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Deep in thought

The news of a microchip implanted in a human skull is sparking conversations about the future of humanity and how private our thoughts really are.

Brain implants have been sparking conversation about the future of humanity after Elon Musk's company Neuralink announced it has embedded a microchip in a human skull. It has fired up people's imaginations and led some to wonder whether these devices that connect to our brain could be a stepping stone towards the ideas more often found in sci-fi, and maybe even create a tool to read people's thoughts. Marnie Chesterton and the panel discuss whether our privacy is at risk or whether we are already an open book. They try to understand the concept of backing up our brains, and they meet Dr Michael Winding from the Francis Crick Institute in the UK to hear about a pioneering study to map the pathways of a brain, and you might be surprised how small that brain was.

Plus, Katie Tomsett looks at how tattoos could be used to indicate the health of our bodies. In Under the Radar we learn how batteries could one day charge through sound, we hear the story of an alleged spy pigeon caught in India, and we highlight the wonderful tale of a beluga whale.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Kai Kupferschmidt
Producer: Tom Bonnett, with Alex Mansfield, Dan Welsh, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee

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50 minutes

Last on

Sun 11 Feb 2024 20:06GMT

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Broadcasts

  • Thu 8 Feb 2024 10:06GMT
  • Fri 9 Feb 2024 00:06GMT
  • Sun 11 Feb 2024 01:06GMT
  • Sun 11 Feb 2024 20:06GMT

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