Unit 20
The Neuralink chip
新知思想/趣味科普
New Knowledge/Fun Science
BRAIN STORM
Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.
What do you think is the Neuralink chip?
VOCABULARY
Repeat these sentences after your teacher.
1. direct interfaces (phr.) 直連接口
Human brains direct interfaces to digital devices.
2. paralysis (n.) 麻痺，癱瘓
A person can experience paralysis in this process.
3. live up to the hype (phr.) 不負眾望
It is hard to live up to the hype today.
4. speculative (adj.) 猜測的；推測的，推斷的
I cannot help but be speculative about his intentions.
5. neurons (n.) 神經元，神經細胞
Your neurons will react to the chip.
6. probes (n.) 探針；探測器
The chip probes you brain.
7. I’m no brain surgeon (phr.) 我不是腦外科醫生（泛指不是專家）
I’m no brain surgeon, so I think it is dangerous.
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
Isaac, the future is here! Elon Musk’s Neuralink will give human brains direct interfaces to digital devices; cure paralysis, mental illness and everything in between!
Well Jacob, as cool or scary as having a wonder chip in your head may sound, current science can’t live up to the hype. Thus, such claims are highly speculative.
But didn’t you see the recent presentation where they unveiled the pig with a brain chip implant and displayed recordings of its neurons firing in real time?
I did. But, this is nothing new to neuroscience. In the late 1990s, researchers began placing probes in the brains of paralyzed people to show that signals could move robot arms.
I had no idea.
Besides, merely displaying the firing of neurons and actually understanding what it translates to is like night and day.
I’m no brain surgeon, but it sounds like what you’re saying is that we still don’t understand the brain enough yet to use Musk’s 1,000 electrode chip technology to achieve AI symbiosis.
Exactly. We basically need to experience a series of massive breakthroughs in neuroscience before science fiction becomes reality.
And even then, there’s bound to be ethical concerns regarding actually placing a coin-sized, Fitbit-like contraption in one’s skull for overall general population purposes.
Without a doubt. Either way, to quote Musk himself, “The future is going to be weird.
Grammar
As + adj. + as sth. may sound, S + V
Today’s use of the “as + adjective + as” grammatical pattern is merely a colloquial way of expressing the term “although.” We often use this pattern to first acknowledge a condition, state or quality of a particular thing, place, person or situation, but then follow this acknowledgment with a negation of some sort.
For example, in today’s lesson Isaac said, “As cool or scary as having a wonder chip in your head may sound, current science can’t live up to the hype.” Here he could have also said, “although having a wonder chip in your head may sound cool or scary, current science can’t live up to the hype.“
Here is the pattern: As + adjective + as + something + is/may sound/seem, subject + verb.
Example: As wonderful as that is, I still can’t afford it.
1.As good as you two look together, I don’t know that you’re meant for each other.
2.As amazing as that sounds, I won’t have the time to go this weekend.
3.As fantastic as this new technology may seem, I’m still highly skeptical of its effectiveness.
DISCUSSION
Make a conversation with your teacher.
1.What is the purpose of the Neuralink chip?
2.Why is Elon Musk creating a chip?
3.What are the benefits of Neuralink?
