A lab monkey that plays on the computer - with the power of thought alone/Neuralink
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The Daily Mail reveals the shocking details behind Elon Musk's Neuralink venture: cruel experiments on animals that included drilling holes in the skulls of monkeys and filling the holes with glue.
While Musk claimed to have implanted the Neuralink chip in a human for the first time, documents revealed by the University of Davis in California, which collaborated with the chip company in experiments for three years (2017-2020), reveal that some of the monkeys underwent cranial surgeries as many as ten times before they were killed.
According to the documents, after the surgeries, "Bioglue" - a type of biological glue - was used to seal the holes drilled in the monkeys' skulls.
The documents also reveal that some of the monkeys' limbs were amputated and they were killed after suffering repeated vomiting and diarrhea.
In total, during the development of the chip, a total of about 1,500 animals died, including sheep and pigs.
The Neuralink/Neuralink chip
The discovery raises difficult questions regarding the ethics of the experiments, and in particular regarding the suffering caused to the monkeys.
The event sharpens the need for stricter discussions and control in the field of animal experiments for the purposes of research and technological development.
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The documents were obtained by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an animal rights organization.
The organization claims that the monkeys suffered "extreme torture" and that the project showed "systematic disregard" for the lives of the animals. The PCRM calls on the public to question the statements of Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, who said this week: "Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster from the fastest keyboard. That's the goal."
Last month, Musk said Neuralink was looking for quadriplegics under the age of 40 to participate in human trials.
As part of the experiments, surgeons will remove part of their skull, and a robot will implant 64 wires with electrodes in their brains.
According to PCRM, Musk "has a long history of misleading the public regarding chip development."
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