Elon Musk's brain chip: BBC News Review

Could brain chips let us control our phones with our minds?

That's what Elon Musk hopes.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English,

where we help you understand news headlines in English.

I'm Beth. And I'm Phil.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary

that you need to talk about this story.

And remember to subscribe to our channel to learn more English

from the headlines. Now, today's story.

A wireless chip has been successfully placed in a human brain by Elon

Musk's Neuralink company.

The device is able to read brain signals linked to movement

and send them to a computer. Musk said that future innovations may allow

us to control our phone or computer

just by thinking. You've been looking at the headlines,

Phil. What's the vocabulary that people need to understand

this news story?

We have 'implant', 'interface' and 'cyborg'.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

This is from the BBC. Elon Musk announces first Neuralink

wireless brain implant.

Now, this headline is about the announcement from Elon Musk

that his company have successfully put an implant

into someone's brain. 'Implant' is the word

we're looking at. Phil,

what can you tell us about it?

OK, so the word 'implant'

is a verb and a noun, and in this headline

it's a noun referring to the device that was physically put

inside someone's brain. That machine is the implant.

Now, implants aren't particularly new,

although this one is,

but there are lots of different kinds of implants, aren't there?

Yes, you could have implants that

keep your heart beating, implants can help people hear again.

You can use implants to replace joints, things like knees or hips.

That's the noun. What about the verb? Does it just mean

to put an implant into someone's body or can it mean anything else?

Well, literally that's what it means

here. You can see the prefix 'im-' which means to put in or to go in.

But as well as being able to physically implant something into someone's brain,

we could also implant things into their minds.

OK, so you could put an idea or a feeling into someone's mind –

you could implant it.

Yes, and if an idea or thought becomes implanted in your mind,

then you accept it or you believe it very strongly.

OK, so we should try and implant

this word into your vocabulary. Let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline.

This is from The Register. Elon Musk's brain-

computer interface outfit Neuralink tests its tech on a human.

Now, this is about Elon Musk's company Neuralink and their new technology.

We are looking at the word 'interface', which can be a noun and a verb.

It's a noun in the headline. Now,

'interface' – I know that

it means two systems coming together.

But what does it mean in this headline?

OK, well, the implant in this story is a brain-computer

interface and it's the device that lets someone's brain communicate with

and work with a computer, but an interface can be a lot simpler than

that. The interface on the software on your computer is just what you can see

and what you can click on. OK,

but it's not just computer systems –

it can be much more than that.

So, here in the story,

the interface is between technology and biology

and how they link together. Yeah,

it's not just gadgets. Ideas and concepts can have an interface between them.

OK, let's look at that again.

Next headline, please.

This is from the Mail Online.

Rage against the machine:

Americans warn Elon Musk to 'stop creating cyborgs'

after he revealed the first human has had Neuralink's brain chip.

This headline is about people being worried by these brain implants.

We're looking at the word 'cyborg'.

This sounds like something from science fiction.

That is where it comes from.

But like the word 'robot',

it is also used to describe things that actually exist.

Now, originally a cyborg was something that is part-human

and part-machine. OK, I know about robots.

They actually exist -

I have a robot hoover. But cyborgs, do they actually exist?

They sound quite futuristic. OK, well, in news articles and headlines,

the word 'cyborg' is more likely to be used as a comparison

to describe things that are similar to cyborgs from science fiction.

You might read about 'so-called cyborg' insects or bacteria.

OK, let's look at that again.

We've had 'implants' -

something placed inside the body. 'Interface' -

a connection between two systems. And 'cyborg'-

part-human, part-machine.

Now if you want to learn more about the brain implants, click here to watch this episode of Lingohack.

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