Avatars and surrogates are the stuff of science fiction today, but one day they may become an essential tool for science. The human body is frail, perhaps too delicate for the rigors of many dangerous missions, including space travel. Although science fiction is filled with the heroic exploits of brave astronauts traveling to the farthest reaches of our galaxy, the reality is much different. Radiation in deep space is so intense that our astronauts will have to be shielded or else face premature aging, radiation sickness, and even cancer. Solar flares shot from the sun can bathe a spacecraft in lethal radiation. A simple transatlantic flight from the United States to Europe exposes you to a millirem of radiation per hour, or roughly the same as a dental X-ray. But in outer space, the radiation could be many times more intense, especially in the presence of cosmic rays and solar bursts. (During intense solar storms, NASA has actually warned astronauts in the space station to move to sections where there is more shielding against radiation.)
In addition, there are many other dangers awaiting us in outer space, such as micrometeorites, the effects of prolonged weightlessness, and the problems of adjusting to different gravity fields. After just a few months in weightlessness, the body loses a large fraction of its calcium and minerals, leaving the astronauts incredibly weak, even if they exercise every day. After a year in outer space, Russian astronauts had to crawl out of their space capsules like worms. Furthermore, it is believed that some of the effects of muscle and bone loss are permanent, so that astronauts will feel the consequences of prolonged weightlessness for the rest of their lives.
The dangers of micrometeorites and intense radiation fields on the moon are so great that many scientists have proposed using a gigantic underground cave as a permanent lunar space station to protect our astronauts. These caves form naturally as lava tubes near extinct volcanoes. But the safest way of building a moon base is to have our astronauts sit in the comfort of their living rooms. This way they would be shielded from all the hazards found on the moon, yet through surrogates they would be able to perform the same tasks. This could vastly reduce the cost of manned space travel, since providing life support for human astronauts is very expensive.
Perhaps when the first interplanetary ship reaches a distant planet, and an astronaut’s surrogate sets foot on this alien terrain, he or she might start with “One small step for the mind …”
One possible problem with this approach is that it takes time for messages to go to the moon and beyond. In a little over a second, a radio message can travel from Earth to the moon, so surrogates on the moon could be easily controlled by astronauts on Earth. More difficult would be communicating with surrogates on Mars, since it can take twenty minutes or more for radio signals to reach the Red Planet.
But surrogates have practical implications closer to home. In Japan, the Fukushima reactor accident in 2011 caused billions of dollars in damages. Because workers can’t enter areas with lethal levels of radiation for more than a few minutes, the final cleanup may take up to forty years. Unfortunately, robots are not sufficiently advanced to go into these blistering radiation fields and make needed repairs. In fact, the only robots used at Fukushima are quite primitive, basically simple cameras placed on top of a computer sitting on wheels. A full-blown automaton that can think for itself (or be controlled by a remote operator) and make repairs in high-radiation fields is many decades away.
The lack of industrial robots caused an acute problem for the Soviets as well during the 1986 Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine. Workers sent directly to the accident site to put out the flames died horrible deaths due to lethal exposure to radiation. Eventually Mikhail Gorbachev ordered the air force to “sand bag” the reactor, dropping five thousand tons of borated sand and cement by helicopter. Radiation levels were so high that 250,000 workers were recruited to finally contain the accident. Each worker could spend only a few minutes inside the reactor building doing repairs. Many received the maximum lifetime allowed dose of radiation. Each one got a medal. This massive project was the largest civil engineering feat ever undertaken. It could not have been done by today’s robots.
The Honda Corporation has, in fact, built a robot that may eventually go into deadly radioactive environments, but it is not ready yet. Honda’s scientists have placed an EEG sensor on the head of a worker, which is connected to a computer that analyzes his brain waves. The computer is then connected to a radio that sends messages to the robot, called ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility). Hence, by altering his own brain waves, a worker can control ASIMO by pure thought.
Unfortunately, this robot is incapable of making repairs at Fukushima right now, since it can execute only four basic motions (all of which involve moving its head and shoulders) while hundreds of motions are required to make repairs at a shattered nuclear power plant. This system is not developed enough to handle simple tasks such as turning a screwdriver or swinging a hammer.
Other groups have also explored the possibility of mentally controlled robots. At the University of Washington, Dr. Rajesh Rao has created a similar robot that is controlled by a person wearing an EEG helmet. This shiny humanoid robot is two feet tall and is called Morpheus (after a character in the movie The Matrix, as well as the Greek god of dreams). A student puts on the EEG helmet and then makes certain gestures, such as moving a hand, which creates an EEG signal that is recorded by a computer. Eventually the computer has a library of such EEG signals, each one corresponding to a specific motion of a limb. Then the robot is programmed to move its hand whenever that EEG signal is sent to it. In this way, if you think about moving your hand, the robot Morpheus moves its hand as well. When you put on the EEG helmet for the first time, it takes about ten minutes for the computer to calibrate to your brain signals. Eventually you get the hang of making gestures with your mind that control the robot. For example, you can have it walk toward you, pick up a block from a table, walk six feet to another table, and then place the block there.
Research is also progressing rapidly in Europe. In 2012, scientists in Switzerland at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne unveiled their latest achievement, a robot controlled telepathically by EEG sensors whose controller is located sixty miles away. The robot itself looks like the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner now found in many living rooms. But it is actually a highly sophisticated robot equipped with a camera that can navigate its way through a crowded office. A paralyzed patient can, for example, look at a computer screen, which is connected to a video camera on the robot many miles away, and see through the eyes of the robot. Then, by thinking, the patient is able to control the motion of the robot as it moves past obstacles.
In the future, one can imagine the most dangerous jobs being done by robots controlled by humans in this fashion. Dr. Nicolelis says, “We will likely be able to operate remotely controlled envoys and ambassadors, robots and airships of many shapes and sizes, sent on our behalf to explore other planets and stars in distant corners of the universe.”
For example, in 2010 the world looked on in horror as 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled unabated into the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon spill was one of the largest oil disasters in history, yet engineers were largely helpless for three months. Robotic subs, which are controlled remotely, floundered for weeks trying to cap the well because they lacked the dexterity and versatility necessary for this underwater mission. If surrogate subs, which are much more sensitive in manipulating tools, had been available, they might have capped the well in the first few days of the spill, preventing billions in property damage and lawsuits.
Another possibility is that surrogate submarines might one day enter the human body and perform delicate surgery from the inside. This idea was explored in the movie Fantastic Voyage, starring Raquel Welch, in which a submarine was shrunk down to the size of a blood cell and then injected into the bloodstream of someone who had a blood clot in his brain. Shrinking atoms violates the laws of quantum physics, but one day MEMS (micro-electrical-mechanical systems)
the size of cells might be able to enter a person’s bloodstream. MEMS are incredibly small machines that can easily fit on a pinpoint. MEMS employ the same etching technology used in Silicon Valley, which can put hundreds of millions of transistors on a wafer the size of your fingernail. An elaborate machine with gears, levers, pulleys, and even motors can be made smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. One day a person may be able to put on a telepathy helmet and then command a MEMS submarine using wireless technology to perform surgery inside a patient.
So MEMS technology may open up an entirely new field of medicine, based on microscopic machines entering the body. These MEMS submarines might even guide nanoprobes as they enter the brain so that they connect precisely to the neurons that are of interest. In this way, nanoprobes might be able to receive and transmit signals from the handful of neurons that are involved in specific behaviors. The hit-or-miss approach of inserting electrodes into the brain will be eliminated.
THE FUTURE
In the short term, all these remarkable advances taking place in laboratories around the world may alleviate the suffering of those afflicted by paralysis and other disabilities. Using the power of their minds, they will be able to communicate with loved ones, control their wheelchairs and beds, walk by mentally guiding mechanical limbs, manipulate household appliances, and lead seminormal lives.
But in the long term, these advances could have profound economic and practical implications for the world. By mid-century, it could become commonplace to interact with computers directly with the mind. Since the computer business is a multitrillion-dollar industry that can create young billionaires and corporations almost overnight, advances in the mind-computer interface will reverberate on Wall Street—and also in your living room.
All the devices we use to communicate with computers (the mouse, keyboards, etc.) may eventually disappear. In the future, we may simply give mental commands and our wishes will be silently carried out by tiny chips hidden in the environment. While sitting in our offices, taking a stroll in the park, doing window-shopping, or just relaxing, our minds could be interacting with scores of hidden chips, allowing us to mentally balance our finances, arrange for theater tickets, or make a reservation.
Artists may also make good use of this technology. If they can visualize their artwork in their minds, then the image can be displayed via EEG sensors on a holographic screen in 3-D. Since the image in the mind is not as precise as the original object, the artist could then make improvements on the 3-D image and dream up the next iteration. After several cycles, the artist could print out the final image on a 3-D printer.
Similarly, engineers would be able to create scale models of bridges, tunnels, and airports by simply using their imagination. They could also rapidly make changes in their blueprints through thought alone. Machine parts could fly off the computer screen and into a 3-D printer.
Some critics, however, have claimed that these telekinetic powers have one great limitation: the lack of energy. In the movies, super beings have the power to move mountains using their thoughts. In the movie X-Men: The Last Stand, the super villain Magneto had the ability to move the Golden Gate Bridge simply by pointing his fingers, but the human body can muster only about one-fifth of a horsepower on average, which is much too little power to perform the feats we see in the comic books. Therefore, all the herculean feats of telekinetic super beings appear to be pure fantasy.
There is one solution to this energy problem, however. You may be able to connect your thoughts to a power source, which would then magnify your power millions of times. In this way, you could approximate the power of a god. In one episode of Star Trek, the crew journeys to a distant planet and meets a godlike creature who claims to be Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. He can perform feats of magic that dazzle the crew. He even claims to have visited Earth eons ago, where the earthlings worshipped him. But the crew, not believing in gods, suspect a fraud. Later they figure out that this “god” just mentally controls a hidden power source, which then performs all the magic tricks. When this power source is destroyed, he becomes a mere mortal.
Similarly, in the future our minds may mentally control a power source that will then give us superpowers. For example, a construction worker might telepathically exploit a power source that energizes heavy machinery. Then a single worker might be able to build complex buildings and houses just by using the power of his mind. All the heavy lifting would be done by the power source, and the construction worker would resemble a conductor, able to orchestrate the motion of colossal cranes and powerful bulldozers through thought alone.
Science is beginning to catch up to science fiction in yet another way. The Star Wars saga was supposed to take place in a time when civilizations span the entire galaxy. The peace of the galaxy, in turn, is maintained by the Jedi Knights, a highly trained cadre of warriors who use the power of the “Force” to read minds and guide their lightsabers.
However, one need not wait until we have colonized the entire galaxy to begin contemplating the Force. As we’ve seen, some aspects of the Force are possible today, such as being able to tap into the thoughts of others using ECOG electrodes or EEG helmets. But the telekinetic powers of the Jedi Knights will also become a possibility as we learn to harness a power source with our minds. The Jedi Knights, for example, can summon a light-saber simply by waving their hands, but we can already accomplish the same feat by exploiting the power of magnetism (much as the magnet in an MRI machine can hurl a hammer across a room). By mentally activating the power source, you can grab lightsabers from across the room with today’s technology.
THE POWER OF A GOD
Telekinesis is a power usually reserved for a deity or a superhero. In the universe of superheros appearing in blockbuster Hollywood movies, perhaps the most powerful character is Phoenix, a telekinetic woman who can move any object at will. As a member of the X-Men, she can lift heavy machinery, hold back floods, or raise jet airplanes via the power of her mind. (However, when she is finally consumed by the dark side of her power, she goes on a cosmic rampage, capable of incinerating entire solar systems and destroying stars. Her power is so great and uncontrollable that it leads to her eventual self-destruction.)
But how far can science go in harnessing telekinetic powers?
In the future, even with an external power source to magnify our thoughts, it is unlikely that people with telekinetic powers will be able to move basic objects like a pencil or mug of coffee on command. As we mentioned, there are only four known forces that rule the universe, and none of them can move objects unless there is an external power source. (Magnetism comes close, but magnetism can move only magnetic objects. Objects made of plastic, water, or wood can easily pass through magnetic fields.) Simple levitation, a trick found in most magicians’ shows, is beyond our scientific capability.
So even with an external power supply, is it unlikely that a telekinetic person would be able to move the objects around them at will. However, there is a technology that may come close, and that involves the ability to change one object into another.
The technology is called “programmable matter,” and it has become a subject of intense research for the Intel Corporation. The idea behind programmable matter is to create objects made of tiny “catoms,” which are microscopic computer chips. Each catom can be controlled wirelessly; it can be programmed to change the electrical charge on its surface so it can bind with other catoms in different ways. By programming the electric charges one way, the catoms bind together to form, say, a cell phone. Push a button to change their programming, and the catoms rearrange themselves to re-form into another object, like a laptop.
I saw a demonstration of this technology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where scientists have been able to create a chip the size of a pinpoint. To exam these catoms, I had to enter a “clean room” wearing a special white uniform, plastic boots, and a cap to prevent even the smallest dust particle from entering. Then, under a microscope,
I could see the intricate circuitry inside each catom, which makes it possible to program it wirelessly to change the electrical charge on its surface. In the same way we can program software today, in the future it may be possible to program hardware.
The next step is to determine if these catoms can combine to form useful objects, and to see if they can be changed or morphed into another object at will. It may take until mid-century before we have working prototypes of programmable matter. Because of the complexity of programming billions of catoms, a special computer would have to be created to orchestrate the charge on each catom. Perhaps by the end of this century, it will be possible to mentally control this computer so that we can change one object into another. We would not have to memorize the charges and configuration within an object. We would just give the mental command to the computer to change one object into another.
Eventually we might have catalogs listing all the various objects that are programmable, such as furniture, appliances, and electronics. Then by telepathically communicating with the computer, it should be possible to change one object into another. Redecorating your living room, remodeling your kitchen, and buying Christmas presents could all be done mentally.