Ian and Jesse discuss using a brain to directly control a computer. It's happening now, and the future of brain-computer interfaces has a lot of promise, but there may be a dark side. How could we benefit from things like telepathic communication, literally combining brains to work on a problem, or even feeling the emotions of others far away?
Links to topics discussed:
Brain Waves - Be careful! There's lots of new-age pseudoscience nonsense about brain waves on the Internet.
Book discussing "brainish," the brain's internal language
One monkey's brain controlling another's body
Paralyzed man walks using brain-computer interface and avatar
Rat and monkey neural networks
Theme music, used with permission, by Jonathan Coulton.