Telepathy is a Reality
By Ashwini Rao, Biochemistry, 2017
For years, the idea of telepathic communication — the ability to transmit information between two people without physical interaction, or the use of our five known senses — was just that: an idea.
However, recent research led by experts from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, and scientists from Starlab Barcelona in Spain and Axilum Robotics in France, has proved that telepathy could be possible in the near future. Their study, published in August, was able to use technology to send a simple message between two different people without any physical interaction.
Utilizing an electroencephalogram connected to the Internet, electromagnetic induction called transcranial magnetic stimulation and electrodes attached to the subjects’ heads, subjects were directed to concentrate on a specific word, translated into binary code, while the electrodes would externally pick up the signal in their brain. This signal was then sent via the Internet to receiving subjects approximately five thousand miles away, who had similar apparatus’ set up on their scalp. Remarkably, the recipients were able to determine the original word that the subjects had thought of.
On the left, the BCI subsystem is shown schematically, including electrodes over the motor cortex and the EEG amplifier/transmitter wireless box in the cap. Motor imagery of the feet codes the bit value 0, of the hands codes bit value 1. On the right, the CBI system is illustrated, highlighting the role of coil orientation for encoding the two bit values. Communication between the BCI and CBI components is mediated by the internet.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105225.g001
Although the findings and procedure are still considered to be rudimentary by the scientific community, researchers are hopeful this technology could be used when treating patients who have suffered from a stroke, and perhaps allow communication between the patient and their loved ones. According to Giulio Ruffini, a co-author of the article and a theoretical physicist with Starlab Barcelona, the researchers “hope that in the longer term this could radically change the way we communicate with one another.”
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