Miguel Nicolelis: A monkey that controls a robot with its thoughts. No, really.

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: David Mvoi Reviewer: Joachim Mangilima

The kind of neuroscience that I do and my colleagues do

Hii sayansi ya ubongo ninayofanya na wenzangu

is almost like the weatherman.

ni kama mtabiri wa hali ya hewa.

We are always chasing storms.

Tunakimbizana na dhoruba kila wakati.

We want to see and measure storms -- brainstorms, that is.

Tunataka kuona na kupima dhoruba--namaanisha dhoruba za ubongo.

And we all talk about brainstorms in our daily lives,

Sisi sote huongea kuhusu dhoruba za ubongo maishani mwetu

but we rarely see or listen to one.

lakini ni nadra kuona au kuisikia mojawapo.

So I always like to start these talks

Hivyo basi mimi hupenda kuanza mazungumzo haya

by actually introducing you to one of them.

kwa kuwatambulisheni kwa mojawapo.

Actually, the first time we recorded more than one neuron --

Kusema kweli, mara yetu ya kwanza kupima zaidi ya neuron moja--

a hundred brain cells simultaneously --

seli za ubongo mia moja kwa wakati mmoja--

we could measure the electrical sparks

tungeweza pima cheche za umeme

of a hundred cells in the same animal,

za seli mia moja kutoka kwa mnyama mmoja,

this is the first image we got,

hii ndio picha ya kwanza tuliyopata,

the first 10 seconds of this recording.

sekunde kumi za kwanza za rekodi hii.

So we got a little snippet of a thought,

Sasa tukajaribu kufikiria,

and we could see it in front of us.

na tukaweza kuiona mbele yetu.

I always tell the students

mimi huwaambia wanafunzi

that we could also call neuroscientists some sort of astronomer,

kuwa tunaweza waita wanasayansi wa ubongo kama pia wataalam wa anga,

because we are dealing with a system

kwa sababu tunakabiliana na mfumo

that is only comparable in terms of number of cells

ambao unalingana kwa ncha ya nambari ya viini

to the number of galaxies that we have in the universe.

na nambari za galaksi tulizo nazo ulimwenguni.

And here we are, out of billions of neurons,

Kwa hivyo hapa ndipo tulipo, katika mabilioni ya neuroni,

just recording, 10 years ago, a hundred.

tukirekodi tu, miaka kumi iliyopita, alafu mia moja.

We are doing a thousand now.

Sasa hivi tunarekodi hadi miaka elfu moja.

And we hope to understand something fundamental about our human nature.

Na tunatumai kuelewa cha msingi kuhusu asili yetu ya kibinadamu.

Because, if you don't know yet,

Kwa sababu, kama bado hujui,

everything that we use to define what human nature is comes from these storms,

kila kitu tunachotumia kutambua asili ya binadamu kimetoka katika dhoruba hizi,

comes from these storms that roll over the hills and valleys of our brains

katika dhoruba zishukazo kutoka milima na mabonde ya akili zetu

and define our memories, our beliefs,

na ambazo zinaeleza kumbukumbu zetu, imani zetu,

our feelings, our plans for the future.

hisia zetu, mipango yetu ya siku za usoni.

Everything that we ever do,

Kila kitu tunachofanya,

everything that every human has ever done, do or will do,

kila kitu ambacho binadamu amekifanya, anakifanya ama atakifanya,

requires the toil of populations of neurons producing these kinds of storms.

kinahitaji bidii ya idadi kubwa ya neuroni zinazozalisha dhoruba hizi.

And the sound of a brainstorm, if you've never heard one,

Na sauti ya dhoruba ya ubongo, kama hujawaisikia moja,

is somewhat like this.

huwa hivi.

You can put it louder if you can.

Unaweza ongeza sauti kama waweza.

My son calls this "making popcorn while listening to a badly-tuned A.M. station."

Mwanangu huiita "kutengeneza popcorn huku ukiskiza kituo cha redio kilichoegezwa vibaya."

This is a brain.

Huu ni ubongo.

This is what happens when you route these electrical storms to a loudspeaker

Haya ndiyo yanayotokea unapoelekeza dhoruba hizi za umeme kwenye kipaza sauti

and you listen to a hundred brain cells firing,

na usikie seli mia moja vya ubongo vikirushwa,

your brain will sound like this -- my brain, any brain.

haya ndiyo yatakayosikika katika ubongo wako--ubongo wangu, na ubongo wowote.

And what we want to do as neuroscientists in this time

Kile tunachotaka kufanya kama wanasayansi ya ubongo katika wakati huu

is to actually listen to these symphonies, these brain symphonies,

ni kuskiza kwa makini sauti hizi, sauti hizi za ubongo,

and try to extract from them the messages they carry.

na kujaribu kudondoa zile jumbe zinazobeba

In particular, about 12 years ago

Haswa, takriban miaka kumi na mbili iliyopita

we created a preparation that we named brain-machine interfaces.

tulitengeneza muundo tuliouita mashine ya akili.

And you have a scheme here that describes how it works.

Na hapa una mpango unaoeleza vile inavyotumika.

The idea is, let's have some sensors that listen to these storms, this electrical firing,

Lengo ni, tuwe na vitega hisia vinavyosikiza dhoruba hizi, vile umeme unavyozalishwa,

and see if you can, in the same time that it takes

na kuona kama inawezekana, kwa wakati huo huo wakati unaopita

for this storm to leave the brain and reach the legs or the arms of an animal --

kabla ya dhoruba hii kutoka kwa akili na kufika kwenye miguu ama mikono ya mnyama

about half a second --

kama nusu sekunde--

let's see if we can read these signals,

wacha tuone kama tunaweza kusoma ishara hizi,

extract the motor messages that are embedded in it,

kudondoa jumbe za ubongo inazobeba,

translate it into digital commands

kuitafsiri iwe amri za kikompyuta

and send it to an artificial device

na kuituma hadi kwenye kifaa kilichoundwa na binadamu

that will reproduce the voluntary motor wheel of that brain in real time.

kitakachozalisha ule mzunguko hiari wa akili wakati ule ule.

And see if we can measure how well we can translate that message

tuone kama tunaweza kupima ni vipi tunaweza tafsiri ujumbe huo vyema zaidi

when we compare to the way the body does that.

wakati tunapolinganisha na vile mwili unavyofanya kazi hio.

And if we can actually provide feedback,

Wakati tunapotoa maoni,

sensory signals that go back from this robotic, mechanical, computational actuator

viashiria hisia

that is now under the control of the brain,

sasa iliyo chini ya udhibiti wa ubongo,

back to the brain,

hadi tena kwa ubongo,

how the brain deals with that,

vile ubongo unavyokabiliana na kazi hiyo,

of receiving messages from an artificial piece of machinery.

ya kupokea jumbe kutoka mashine zilizoundwa na binadamu

And that's exactly what we did 10 years ago.

Na ndivyo haswa tulivyofanya miaka kumi iliyopita.

We started with a superstar monkey called Aurora

Tulianza na nyani nyota kwa jina Aurora

that became one of the superstars of this field.

aliyekuwa nyota kwenye eneo hili.

And Aurora liked to play video games.

Na Aurora alipenda kucheza michezo ya kompyuta.

As you can see here,

Mnavyoona hapa,

she likes to use a joystick, like any one of us, any of our kids, to play this game.

anapenda kutumia kijiti, kama vile kila mmoja wetu, na watoto wetu, kucheza mchezo huu.

And as a good primate, she even tries to cheat before she gets the right answer.

Kama mnyama mwerevu, anajaribu kudanganya kabla afikie jibu sahihi.

So even before a target appears that she's supposed to cross

Kwa hivyo kabla ya hatua anayopaswa kupita

with the cursor that she's controlling with this joystick,

akitumia mshale anaodhibiti kwa kijiti,

Aurora is trying to find the target, no matter where it is.

Aurora anajaribu kufikia hatua, popote ilipo.

And if she's doing that,

Na anapofanya hivyo,

because every time she crosses that target with the little cursor,

kwa sababu kila wakati anapovuka hatua akitumia ule mshale mdogo,

she gets a drop of Brazilian orange juice.

anapata tone la juisi ya machungwa.

And I can tell you, any monkey will do anything for you

nakuambia, nyani yeyote atakufanyia chochote

if you get a little drop of Brazilian orange juice.

kama utampa tone la juisi ya machungwa.

Actually any primate will do that.

Kwa kweli mnyama yeyote anaweza kufanya hivyo.

Think about that.

Hebu tafakari hayo.

Well, while Aurora was playing this game, as you saw,

Hivyo basi, wakati Aurora alikuwa akicheza mchezo huu, vile mlivyoona,

and doing a thousand trials a day

na kufanya majaribio elfu moja kwa siku

and getting 97 percent correct and 350 milliliters of orange juice,

na kupata asilimia tisini na saba sahihi na milimita mia tatu na hamsini za juisi ya machungwa,

we are recording the brainstorms that are produced in her head

tunarekodi dhorubaza ubongo zitokazo kichwani mwake

and sending them to a robotic arm

na kuzituma kwenye mkanda wa mashine

that was learning to reproduce the movements that Aurora was making.

unaotoa zile dhoruba haswa Aurora alikuwa akitoa.

Because the idea was to actually turn on this brain-machine interface

Kwa sababu wazo lilikuwa ni kuwasha hii mashine ya ubongo

and have Aurora play the game just by thinking,

na kuona Aurora akicheza mchezo ule kwa kufikiria tu,

without interference of her body.

bila mwili wake kuingilia kati.

Her brainstorms would control an arm

Dhoruba zake za akili zitadhibiti mkono

that would move the cursor and cross the target.

utakaosogeza ule mshale na kuvuka hatua.

And to our shock, that's exactly what Aurora did.

Na kwa mshangao wetu, hivyo haswa ndivyo Aurora alifanya.

She played the game without moving her body.

Alicheza mchezo huo bila kusogeza mwili wake.

So every trajectory that you see of the cursor now,

Hivyo basi kila msogezo unaoona sasa kwenye kijiti

this is the exact first moment she got that.

hivyo ndivyo haswa alivyofanya mara ya kwanza.

That's the exact first moment

Hiyo ndiyo ilikuwa mara ya kwanza

a brain intention was liberated from the physical domains of a body of a primate

nia kwenye ubongo ilitolewa kutoka kwenye mwili wa nyani

and could act outside, in that outside world,

na iliweza kufanya kazi nje ya mwili, hapa ulimwengu wa nje,

just by controlling an artificial device.

kwa kudhibiti mashine.

And Aurora kept playing the game, kept finding the little target

Na Aurora aliendelea kucheza mchezo huo, aliendelea kufikia ile hatua

and getting the orange juice that she wanted to get, that she craved for.

na kupata juisi ya machungwa aliyotaka, aliyotamani.

Well, she did that because she, at that time, had acquired a new arm.

Kwa kweli, alifanya hivyo kwa sababu, wakati ule, yeye alipata mkono mpya.

The robotic arm that you see moving here 30 days later,

Mkono ule wa roboti unaoona ukitembea hapa siku thelathini baadaye,

after the first video that I showed to you,

baada ya ile video ya kwanza niliyowaonyesheni,

is under the control of Aurora's brain

uko chini ya udhibiti wa ubongo ya Aurora

and is moving the cursor to get to the target.

na unasongeza mshale ule ili kufikia ile hatua.

And Aurora now knows that she can play the game with this robotic arm,

Na Aurora sana anajua kuwa anaweza kucheza mchezo huu akitumia mkono mashine,

but she has not lost the ability to use her biological arms to do what she pleases.

lakini hajapoteza uwezo wa kutumia mkono wake asili kwa chochote angependa kufanya.

She can scratch her back, she can scratch one of us, she can play another game.

Anaweza kujikuna mgongo, anaweza kukuna mmoja wetu, anaweza kucheza mchezo wowote mwingine.

By all purposes and means,

Kwa nia zote na madhumuni,

Aurora's brain has incorporated that artificial device

akili ya Aurora imehusisha kile kifaa bandia

as an extension of her body.

kama muendelezo wa mwili wake.

The model of the self that Aurora had in her mind

Huu mfano wa ubinafsi ambao Aurora alikuwa nao kwa akili yake

has been expanded to get one more arm.

umepanuliwa kupata mkono mmoja zaidi.

Well, we did that 10 years ago.

Tulifanya hivyo miaka kumi iliyopita.

Just fast forward 10 years.

Sasa songea mbele miaka kumi.

Just last year we realized that you don't even need to have a robotic device.

Mwaka uliopita tu tuligundua kuwa huhutaji kuwa na kifaa cha mashine.

You can just build a computational body, an avatar, a monkey avatar.

Unaweza tu kutengeneza kifaa cha kompyuta.

And you can actually use it for our monkeys to either interact with them,

Na unaweza kuitumia kwa nyani zetu kuleta uhusiano kati yao

or you can train them to assume in a virtual world

ama unaweza wafunza kudhania ulimwengu gushi

the first-person perspective of that avatar

maono ya mtu kuhusiana na mashine ile

and use her brain activity to control the movements of the avatar's arms or legs.

na kutumia msisimko wa akili yake kudhibiti matembezi ya mikono na miguu ya mashine.

And what we did basically was to train the animals

Na cha msingi tulichofanya kilikuwa kufunza hawa wanyama

to learn how to control these avatars

njia ya kudhiiti mashine hizi

and explore objects that appear in the virtual world.

na kuchunguza vidude vinavyojitokeza katika ulimwengu gushi.

And these objects are visually identical,

Na vidude hivi vimefanana

but when the avatar crosses the surface of these objects,

lakini wakati mashine inapovuka mbele ya vidude hivi,

they send an electrical message that is proportional to the microtactile texture of the object

zinatuma ujumbe wa umeme uliyosawia na uso wa kile kidude

that goes back directly to the monkey's brain,

ambao unaenda moja kwa moja hadi kwenye ubongo wa nyani,

informing the brain what it is the avatar is touching.

ukieleza ubongo kile hasa machine ile inagusa.

And in just four weeks, the brain learns to process this new sensation

Na kwa muda wa wiki nne tu, akili inajifunza kuhisi hii hisia mpya

and acquires a new sensory pathway -- like a new sense.

na inapata njia mpya ya hisia--kama hisia mpya.

And you truly liberate the brain now

Sasa unaiacha akili iwe huru

because you are allowing the brain to send motor commands to move this avatar.

kwa sababu unaikubali akili kutuma jumbe ili kuthibiti mashine hii.

And the feedback that comes from the avatar is being processed directly by the brain

Na maoni yanayotoka kwenye mashine yanachanganuliwa kwenye ubongo moja kwa moja

without the interference of the skin.

bila ya ngozi kuingilia kati.

So what you see here is this is the design of the task.

Kwa hivyo kile mnachoona hapa ni ule ubunifu wa kazi ile.

You're going to see an animal basically touching these three targets.

Mtaweza kuona mnyama akigusa sehemu au hatua hizi tatu.

And he has to select one because only one carries the reward,

Lazima achague moja kwa vile ni moja pekee inayoelekea palipo na zawadi,

the orange juice that they want to get.

ile juisi ya machungwa ambayo wanayoitaka.

And he has to select it by touch using a virtual arm, an arm that doesn't exist.

Na inambidi aichague kwa mguso akitumia mkono gushi, mkono amao haupo.

And that's exactly what they do.

Na hivyo ndivyo hasa wanavyofanya.

This is a complete liberation of the brain

Huu ni uhuru kamili wa akili

from the physical constraints of the body and the motor in a perceptual task.

kutokana na vikwazo vya kimwili na kazi ya akili ya kuona.

The animal is controlling the avatar to touch the targets.

Yule mnyama anathibiti mashine ile kugusa malengo hayo.

And he's sensing the texture by receiving an electrical message directly in the brain.

Na anahisi vile ilivyo kwa kupokea ujumbe umeme moja kwa moja kwenye ubongo.

And the brain is deciding what is the texture associated with the reward.

Na huo ubongo unaamua ni hisia ipi inayoashiria ile zawadi.

The legends that you see in the movie don't appear for the monkey.

Wale wakongwe uwaonao kwenye filamu hawawakilishi nyani huyu.

And by the way, they don't read English anyway,

Na kusema kweli, hata hawawezi kusoma Kiingereza,

so they are here just for you to know that the correct target is shifting position.

kwa hivyo wako hapa kuwaonyesheni ya kwamba lengo sahihi linabadilika badilika.

And yet, they can find them by tactile discrimination,

Hata hivyo, wanawezazipata kwa kubagua,

and they can press it and select it.

na wanawezazibonyeza na kuzichagua.

So when we look at the brains of these animals,

Hivyo basi tunapoangalia bongo za wanyama hawa,

on the top panel you see the alignment of 125 cells

katika sehemu ya juu mtaona mpangilio wa viini mia na ishirini na tano

showing what happens with the brain activity, the electrical storms,

vikionyesha kile kinachotokea kwenye ubongo, zile dhoruba umeme,

of this sample of neurons in the brain

za sampuli hii ya neuron kwenye ubongo

when the animal is using a joystick.

wakati mnyama huyo anatumia kijiti.

And that's a picture that every neurophysiologist knows.

Na hiyo ndio picha kila mwanafiziolojia ayoinajua.

The basic alignment shows that these cells are coding for all possible directions.

Mpangilio wa kimsingi unaonyesha kuwa viini hivi vinafuata kila mwelekeo.

The bottom picture is what happens when the body stops moving

Picha iliyo chini inaonyesha kinachotokea wakati mwili uachapo kusongea

and the animal starts controlling either a robotic device or a computational avatar.

na yule mnyama aanzapo kuthibiti kidude cha roboti ama mashine ya kikompyuta.

As fast as we can reset our computers,

Kwa kasi ile ile tunayoweza kubadilisha kompyuta zetu,

the brain activity shifts to start representing this new tool,

kazi inayoendelea akilini hubadilika ili kuwakilisha kifaa hiki kipya,

as if this too was a part of that primate's body.

kana kwamba ilikuwa sehemu ya mwili wa mnyama huyo.

The brain is assimilating that too, as fast as we can measure.

Akili inaichanganua pia, kwa kasi ile ile tunayopima nayo.

So that suggests to us that our sense of self

Hiyo inatuashiria kuwa hisia za kibinafsi

does not end at the last layer of the epithelium of our bodies,

haziishi kwenye safu ya mwisho ya ngozi ya miili yetu,

but it ends at the last layer of electrons of the tools that we're commanding with our brains.

bali inaisha kwenye safu ya mwisho ya electroni za vifaa tunavyotumia akili zetu kuvithibiti.

Our violins, our cars, our bicycles, our soccer balls, our clothing --

Vayolini zetu, magari yetu, baiskeli zetu, mipira yetu ya kandanda, nguo zetu

they all become assimilated by this voracious, amazing, dynamic system called the brain.

zote zinabadilishwa na hiki chombo thabiti, huu mfumo badilifu unaoitwa ubongo.

How far can we take it?

Ni umbali upi tunaoweza kuipeleka?

Well, in an experiment that we ran a few years ago, we took this to the limit.

Katika jaribio tulilofanya miaka chache iliyopita, tuliipeleka hadi kikomo.

We had an animal running on a treadmill

Tulikuwa na mnyama aliyekimbia kwenye baiskeli zoezi

at Duke University on the East Coast of the United States,

katika chuo kikuu cha Duke katika mashariki ya pwani ya Marekani,

producing the brainstorms necessary to move.

ikizalisha dhoruba bongo zinazohitajika kusonga.

And we had a robotic device, a humanoid robot,

Na tukawa na chombo cha roboti, roboti ya kibinadamu,

in Kyoto, Japan at ATR Laboratories

huko Kyoto, Ujapani katika maabara ya ATR

that was dreaming its entire life to be controlled by a brain,

iliyopanga maisha yake yote kuthibitiwa na ubongo,

a human brain, or a primate brain.

akili ya binadamu, ama ya mnyama.

What happens here is that the brain activity that generated the movements in the monkey

Kile kinachotokea hapa ni kwamba shighuli katika ubongo uliozalisha msongeo katika nyani huyo

was transmitted to Japan and made this robot walk

ulisambazwa hadi Ujapani na ukafanya roboti kutembea

while footage of this walking was sent back to Duke,

na ukanda ya matembezi haya ukapelekwa hadi Duke,

so that the monkey could see the legs of this robot walking in front of her.

ili nyani huyo aone miguu ya yule roboti ikitembea mbele yake.

So she could be rewarded, not by what her body was doing

Ilmradi azawadiwe, sio kwa kile mwili wake ulikuwa ukifanya

but for every correct step of the robot on the other side of the planet

bali kwa kila hatua sahihi iliyochukuliwa na roboti aliyekuwa sehemu ya pili ya ulimwengu

controlled by her brain activity.

ikithibitiwa na shughuli ya akili yake.

Funny thing, that round trip around the globe took 20 milliseconds less

Cha kuchekesha ni kwamba, safari hiyo ilichukua milisekunde ishirini chini

than it takes for that brainstorm to leave its head, the head of the monkey,

ya wakati dhoruba bongo inayochukua kutoka kichwani mwake, kichwa cha nyani,

and reach its own muscle.

hadi kwenye msuli wake.

The monkey was moving a robot that was six times bigger, across the planet.

Nyani alikuwa akisongeza roboti iliyokuwa na ukubwa mara sita wake yeye, kutoka sehemu moja ya ulimwengu hadi nyengine.

This is one of the experiments in which that robot was able to walk autonomously.

Hii ni moja wapo ya majaribio ambapo roboti iliweza kutembea bila usaidizi.

This is CB1 fulfilling its dream in Japan

Hii ni CB1 ikitimiza ndoto yake Ujapani

under the control of the brain activity of a primate.

chini ya uthibiti wa shughuli ya ubongo wa mnyama.

So where are we taking all this?

Kwa hivyo ni wapi tunapopeleka haya yote?

What are we going to do with all this research,

Ni wapi tunapoenda na huu utafiti,

besides studying the properties of this dynamic universe that we have between our ears?

kando na kusomea tabia za ulimwengu huu badilifu tulionao katikati ya masikio yetu?

Well the idea is to take all this knowledge and technology

Nia yetu ni kutumia usomi huu na teknolojia hii

and try to restore one of the most severe neurological problems that we have in the world.

na duniani.kujaribu kurekebisha mojawapo ya shida kubwa zaidi katika ufahamu wa ubongo tulizonazo hapa ulimwenguni.

Millions of people have lost the ability to translate these brainstorms

Mamilioni ya watu wamepoteza uwezo wakutafsiri hizi dhoruba za ubongo

into action, into movement.

ziwe hatua, au harakati.

Although their brains continue to produce those storms and code for movements,

Ingawaje akili zao zinazidi kuzaa dhoruba hizo na matembezi,

they cannot cross a barrier that was created by a lesion on the spinal cord.

haziwezi kilichoundwa kwa lesheni kwenye uti wa mgongo.kupita kizuizi

So our idea is to create a bypass,

Kwa hivyo lengo letu ni kutengeneza njia,

is to use these brain-machine interfaces to read these signals,

tukitumia hizi mashine za ubongo kutafsiri viashiria hivi,

larger-scale brainstorms that contain the desire to move again,

dhoruba kubwa akilini zilizo na hamu ya kutembea tena,

bypass the lesion using computational microengineering

kupita ile lesheni tukitumia uhandisi wa kikompyuta

and send it to a new body, a whole body called an exoskeleton,

na kuituma hadi kwenye mwili mpya, mwili mpya kabisa unaoitwa eksoskeletoni,

a whole robotic suit that will become the new body of these patients.

suti mpya ya kiroboti inatakayokuwa mwili mpya wa wagonjwa hawa.

And you can see an image produced by this consortium.

Na unaweza kuona picha inayojitokeza kutokana na muungano huu.

This is a nonprofit consortium called the Walk Again Project

Huu ni muungano uitwao Walk Again Project

that is putting together scientists from Europe,

unaoleta pamoja wanasayansi kutoka Uropa,

from here in the United States, and in Brazil

kutoka hapa Marekani, na Brazili

together to work to actually get this new body built --

kufanya kazi ili kutengeneza mwili huu mpya—

a body that we believe, through the same plastic mechanisms

mwili tunaoamini, katika mfumo plastiki ule ule

that allow Aurora and other monkeys to use these tools through a brain-machine interface

uliowezesha Aurora na nyani wengine kutumia hivi vifaa kupitia kwa mashine ya ubongo

and that allows us to incorporate the tools that we produce and use in our daily life.

na ambayo ilituwezesha kuingiza vifaa tunavyoweza kutengeneza na kutumia katika maisha yetu, siku baada ya siku.

This same mechanism, we hope, will allow these patients,

Mfumo huu huu, tunatumai, utawezesha wagonjwa hawa,

not only to imagine again the movements that they want to make

Mfumo huu huu, tunatumai, utawezesha wagonjwa hawa,

and translate them into movements of this new body,

bali pia kutafsiri mafikira hayo kuwa matembezi ya mwili huu mpya,

but for this body to be assimilated as the new body that the brain controls.

lakini kwa mwili huu kubadilika kama ule mwili mpya unaothibitiwa na ubongo.

So I was told about 10 years ago

Niliambiwa miaka kumi iliyopita

that this would never happen, that this was close to impossible.

kuwa haya yote hayatatokea, ati hii ilikuwa haiwezekani.

And I can only tell you that as a scientist,

Na naweza kuwaamia kama mwanasayansi,

I grew up in southern Brazil in the mid-'60s

nilikua huko Brazili ya kusini katika miaka ya sitini

watching a few crazy guys telling [us] that they would go to the Moon.

nikiangalia wale wenye maono wakituambia kuwa wataenda Mwezini.

And I was five years old,

Na nilikuwa na umri wa miaka mitano,

and I never understood why NASA didn't hire Captain Kirk and Spock to do the job;

na sikuwahi kuelewa sababu gani NASA haikuwaajiri manahodha Kirk na Spock kufanya kazi hiyo;

after all, they were very proficient --

kwani, si walikuwa na ustadi wa hali ya juu—

but just seeing that as a kid

lakini kuona tu kama mtoto

made me believe, as my grandmother used to tell me,

ilinifanya kuamini, kama nyanyangu alivyokuwa akiniambia,

that "impossible is just the possible

kwamba "kisichowezekana ni kile tu kinachowezekana

that someone has not put in enough effort to make it come true."

lakini mtu hajatia bidii ya kutosha kukitimiza."

So they told me that it's impossible to make someone walk.

Kwa hivyo waliniambia kuwa haiwezekani kufanya mtu atembee.

I think I'm going to follow my grandmother's advice.

Nafikiri nitafuata wasia wa nyanyangu.

Thank you.

Asanteni.

(Applause)

(Makofi)