选自 "Brain-machine interfaces: And Pigs May Drive"-2020-09-TE Science and Technology

Brain-machine interfacesAnd Pigs May DriveA pig now has one of Elon Musk’s implants in its brain

♜标题助读

1. Brain-machine interface-wiki解释

人机接口（BCI=brain–computer interface），通常被称为思想机器接口（MMI=mind-machine interface），或有时直接称为神经接口或脑机接口（BMI=brain–machine interface ），是一个直接的大脑和外部设备之间的通信途径。人机接口常常用来协助(assisting)，加强(augmenting)修复(reparing)人类认知cognitive或感觉运动功能sensory-motor functions。

图示BCI的控制流程（Animal BCI research）

2. Brain–machine interface-《Nature》解释

A brain–machine interface (BMI) is a device that translates neuronal information into commands capable of controlling external software or hardware such as a computer or robotic arm. BMIs are often used as assisted living devices for individuals with motor or sensory impairments.

❖词汇串联

【augment】to make greater in size, amount, or number

【impairment】diminishment or loss of function or ability

P1①②③④⑤⑥⑦ 137words

①In idle moments, people sometimes dream about the future.② Of cars that can drive themselves. Of travelling to other planets. ③Of moving objects by the power of thought. ④Which ever particular dream you have, though, Elon Musk is probably trying to make it real. ⑤Self-driving cars and travel to Mars are the provinces of two of his firms, Tesla and SpaceX respectively. ⑥Moving objects by the power of thought is the province of a third, Neuralink. And on August 28th, at a presentation broadcast over the internet, Mr Musk showed off the firm’s progress. ⑦The highlight was the appearance of Gertrude, a pig with a chip implanted into her brain.

♜助读笔记

用一般流开场，普通人在干什么，会怎么想，常见用词general, normal, people; 这里是In idle moments, people somtimes dream about the future; 睡不曾做梦呢？第一句看起来很平平，后面用of 引出的三个并列结构就风云乍起：of cars that, of travelling to other plannets, of moving objects by thought；dream of sth是一个常见表达，用of在句首带出dream的内容并且是排比并列就不多见了，目的是前置高光马斯克现在的成就：general people just dream of， 唯马斯克trying to make it real, all the three. 这个一般流开场的效果通过这个排比阵列营造的强对比效果就达到了。Province of firms，用province比用field/area多了统治力。首段最后一句用highlight来承前启后，也是一般流的常见tricks。

开篇小结：1. 普通人做treadstone干什么①；2. 强对比突出主角的不一样②③④；3. events or words 举例⑤⑥；4. 高光其中最重要的为下文叙述铺垫，做bridge。⑦

❖词汇串联

【province】a region of activity, knowledge, or influence

♞参考中文

闲暇时光，人们就会时不时地畅想未来，想象可以自动驾驶的汽车，想象前往其他的星球，想象仅凭意念就能移动物体。然而，不管你的梦想具体是什么，或许，埃隆·马斯克正在尝试让你的梦想成真。他旗下的特斯拉公司正在研究自动驾驶汽车，SpaceX则正在实现迈向火星的梦想。另外，同归马斯克所有的Neuralink公司旨在实现第三个梦想：用意念移动物体。8月28日，马斯克先生在一次直播展示中，骄傲地展示了Neuralink的研究进展，而格尔图德（Gertrude) （一头大脑当中植入了芯片的猪）的登场将整场展示推上了高潮。

P2①②59words

①Reading the brain’s electrical signals, a technique called electroencephalography (EEG), started more than 100 years ago and is now routine. ②It generally involves placing electrodes non-invasively on the scalp, though it sometimes requires the invasive insertion of wires into the scalp or the brain itself..

♜助读笔记

EEG-医学上EEG指脑电图，又称为脑地形图，是一种神经科常用的辅助检查手段，使用电极粘贴在头皮上，记录脑电活动，是对脑电的一种间接的检测手段。主要用于鉴别和诊断癫痫病，也可以用于其他疾病的判断，比如晕厥、偏头痛、中枢神经系统感染、老年痴呆、帕金森病；还有精神性疾病，比如精神分裂症等，也可以使用脑电图检测。

❖词汇串联

【invasive】vs non-invasive

♞参考中文

读取大脑电信号的技术，即所谓的脑电图技术 (EEG)诞生于一百多年前，现已是一项常规技术；脑电图是一种非侵入式技术，通常只需要在头皮上放置电极。不过有时脑电图技术也是侵入式的，需要将电线嵌入头皮、甚至大脑。

P3①②③④ 119words

①Non-invasive EEG provides useful information, and can even be employed to do things like playing simple computer games via software which interprets the signals received and turns them into instructions. ②It is, though, a crude approach to monitoring the activity of an organ that contains 85bn nerve cells and trillions of connections between them. ③Invasive EEG offers higher resolution readings from those nerve cells, albeit at greater risk because of the surgery involved. ④The device Gertrude carries, known technically as a brain-computer interface (BCI), carries invasiveness one stage further still by making the EEG recorder a potentially permanent implant.

♜助读笔记

Albeit这个词在TE中出现频率非常高，属于比较书面的表达，也常用在though后面，表大转折后的小转折，让步后的小让步；[例]Yet on that front Mr Hollande has also just scored a success, albeit a modest one.不过，奥朗德在这方面也刚有所作为，尽管只取得了一定成功。one stage further=one step further。

❖词汇串联

【electrode】电极

♞参考中文

非侵入式脑电图技术可以提供有用的信息，还能通过破解接收到的电信号并将其转换为指令，帮助人们玩简易的电脑游戏等。然而若要监测一个包含850亿神经细胞和数以万亿的细胞连接点的大脑活动，这种技术显得原始而粗糙。侵入式脑电图获得的有关神经元活动数据更为精确。由于该技术需要实施外科手术，风险相对较高。格尔图德可能被永久性地植入芯片，并使用脑电图记录大脑活动，在技术层面上，这叫做脑机接口（BCI），这种方式比前面提到的侵入性更强。

P4①②③④ 109words

①Signals from implants such as this might be employed to control a prosthetic limb, or even a real one that brain or spinal-cord injury has deprived of its normal nerve connections. ②They might also be used to control non-medical machinery, if someone thought it worth the risk of having a BCI implanted to do this. ③And it is possible to use them to send signals in the opposite direction, too, to give instructions to the brain rather than receive them. ④That might be used to generate signals which suppress an incipient epileptic seizure.

♜助读笔记

prosthetic 假体 vs a real one；deprive of=to take sth away from sb; epileptic seizure指癫痫发作；worth the risk of doing sth甘冒风险；这一段叙述功效。

❖词汇串联

【prosthetic】an artificial device to replace or augment a missing or impaired part of the body

♞参考中文

该植入装置发出的信号可以控制假肢，甚至控制那些因大脑或脊髓损伤而导致神经传达功能丧失的真肢。如果有人认为冒风险植入脑机接口是值得的，它们也可以用来（非医疗）操控机器。反向的信号传输 也是可行的，即向大脑发送指令而不是接收来自大脑的信号。也许能通过这种方式发送信号来抑制早期癫痫发作。

P5①②③④103words

①Neuralink’s BCI, the size of a British tuppenny piece, carries 1,000 flexible electrode threads, each of which has a diameter less than a quarter of that of a human hair. ②This flexibility is important because the brain moves around in the skull and the electrodes must be able to accommodate this movement while continuing to work. ③The device communicates wirelessly, and is recharged by induction. ④This means that, unlike many previous attempts to build BCIs, it requires no skin-penetrating cable that might admit infections to the body.

♜助读笔记

Each of which has a diameter less than a quarter of that of a human hair中that指代human hair的diameter，这一结构在比较中常用。

❖词汇串联

【accomodate】to provide with something desired, needed, or suited

♞参考中文

Neuralink公司的脑机接口芯片只有两便士大小，包含了一千条柔软电极线，每根线直径不到人类头发四分之一。电极线的柔软度十分重要，因为大脑组织在颅骨中不断移动，而电极线必须适应大脑的运动同时还要持续工作。该设备以无线方式进行信息传输并通过电磁感应充电。这意味着，与之前的脑机接口设备不同，新设备并不植入那些可能导致感染的皮肤渗透线。

P6①②③④⑤⑥117words

①Along with this improved interface Neuralink has built a robot that will implant it. ②To do so, the robot first takes a high-resolution scan of the recipient’s brain. ③Using this, it is able to sew the electrode threads into place with a precision that avoids any blood vessels in the area. ④That, Mr Musk said, reduces the risk of damage during surgery. ⑤The robot can put the interface in place in less than an hour, he said, though it cannot yet open the skull in order to do so. ⑥General anaesthesia is not, he said, needed for the procedure.

♜助读笔记

Along with =accompanying, together with; 注意2句与3句的动词形式rotation, to do this, using this. with a precision that 以什么的精确度

❖词汇串联

【anaesthesia】麻醉

♞参考中文

Neuralink公司不仅改进了接口，还开发了一台用于操作植入手术的机器人。这台机器人首先会对受术者的大脑进行高清扫描，通过这种方法，能够准确避开该部位的血管并植入电极线。马斯克表示这可以降低手术伤害的风险。他还说，尽管这款机器人目前还无法做开颅手术，但它能在不到一小时内完成植入。并且这类手术将不需要全身麻醉。

P7①②③76words

①The highlight of the show, though, was not Mr Musk’s presentation but rather the arrival of Gertrude. ②Her BCI is connected to nerve cells in a part of her brain called the olfactory bulb.③ As she snuffled around her pen searching for food, and also sniffed her handler’s hand, a display showed the electrical activity which those cells were manifesting in response to these stimuli.

♜助读笔记

The highlight is not but rather; 前面用appearance，这里用arrival，parapharse Gertrude的出现/登场;留意这个pen，a small enclosure for animals, 是猪圈而不是笔。这里有几个关于鼻子和嗅觉的词，smell/sniff/snuffle, smell闻，sniff用力吸，snuffle用鼻子发出声音；manifest是一个高频词，形容词是. 1. readily perceived by the senses and especially by the sense of sight; 2. easily understood or recognized by the mind; 做动词用=make it obvious [例]Creativity does not necessarily have to manifest itself through art.创造力不尽然必须通过艺术表达-CNN

❖词汇串联

【olfactory】of or relating to the sense of smell

【sniff】to inhale through the nose especially for smelling

【snuffle】breathe in noisily through nose

♞参考中文

发布会的高光时刻不是马斯克的演讲，而是格尔图德的登场。格尔图德的脑机接口连接的是她大脑中叫做嗅球的部分。她一边沿着猪圈嗅食物，一边嗅工作人员的手，屏幕上则呈现了她的神经元细胞对刺激做出反应的活动状态。

P7①②③65words

①Not everyone is impressed. ②Andrew Jackson, a professor of neural interfaces at Newcastle University, commented that there was not anything “revolutionary” in the presentation, saying it was “solid engineering but mediocre neuroscience”.③ Mr Musk replied, in a tweet, that it was common for academia to undervalue the benefits of bringing ideas to fruition.

♜助读笔记

任何事情都有反对声音，Not everyone is impressed. solid but mediocre, 普通料；common for academia to undervalue the benefit of bringing ideas to fruition, 确实也是科学界现象；academia=the life, community, or world of teachers, schools, and education学术界; bring ideas to fruition,一个好词=make ideas realization。

❖词汇串联

【mediocre】of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance

♞参考中文

并非人人都对此表示赞叹。纽卡斯尔大学神经接口教授Andrew Jackson评论演讲并没有“革命性”的内容，工程本身确实不错，但神经科学方面并没有很超前。马斯克在推文中回应，学术界普遍低估创意付诸实践所带来的利好。

P8①②③74words

①Admiration will surely increase if and when Neuralink performs on people a similar procedure to that which Gertude has undergone. ②The firm received a “breakthrough device designation” from America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July. ③This means the FDA thinks the gadget shows promise (in this case for the treatment of paraplegia), and offers it a faster pathway for regulatory review.

♜助读笔记

If and when前提条件和时间都满足；undergo=happen, experience, undertake. gadget=an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty, 但一般潜台词complicated and unnecessary.

所以thinks the gadget shows promise其实是个很高的评价；offer a faster pathway for regulatory review所谓的绿色通道了。

❖词汇串联

【mediocre】of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance

♞参考中文

如果Neuralink将猪猪格特鲁德相类似的植入芯片的程序运用到人类身上，自然会赢得更多人的认可。Neuralink 于今年 7 月获得了美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）授予的“突破性医疗器械认定”，表明了FDA对该设备潜力的肯定，也为其开放了日后监管审查的快车道。

P9①②③④⑤⑥⑦155words

①The next challenge the firm wants to tackle is that of sending electrical signals into the brain.② Mr Musk says this will require a range of inputs, as some brain areas require delicate stimulation while others take a “lot of current”. ③The point of doing so will be to establish two-way communications. ④This could allow entirely new areas of treatment to be explored. ⑤Besides epilepsy suppression, some think that such brain stimulation might also work to treat depression and anxiety. ⑥More important in the long run, it is also essential to Mr Musk’s vision of widespread engagement, at a neurological level, between people and machines. ⑦This, he hopes, will result in a future in which memories can be downloaded and stored elsewhere, and human beings can form a “symbiosis” with artificial intelligence.

♜助读笔记

To tackle a challenge, to set about to deal with, tackle a problem. delicate是个高频多义词，这里是微妙精细准确的意思 。more important in the long run, 长远而言；widespread engagement，更宽来看；symbiosis共生，是马斯克憧憬的脑机接口的远景。

❖词汇串联

【delicate】marked by keen sensitivity or fine discrimination， requiring careful handling

♞参考中文

公司想要解决的下一个难题就是如何将电子信号发送到大脑中。马斯克表示，由于大脑中的一些区域只需要微刺激，而另一些区域则需要获得“大量电流”刺激，因此，若想解决该难题，输入量应该在一定范围内是可变的。这样做的意义在于保证双向沟通。如此一来，人们就可以探索全新的治疗领域。除了抑制癫痫发作，有人认为这种脑部刺激也可以治疗抑郁和焦虑。长远来看，更重要的是，马斯克在关于人类与机器在神经层面广泛接触的愿景，该技术也至关重要。在未来他希望通过这种方式，可以下载并存储记忆于大脑以外的地方，人类和人工智能从而形成一种共生关系。

P10①②③④⑤119words

①Critics worry that Neuralink is too secretive, and that Mr Musk’s vision promises more than he can deliver. ②He does, though, have a record of doing what he says he is going to, albeit sometimes not as rapidly as he says he will. ③He more-or-less single-handedly introduced battery-electric cars to the market and he built a successful space-rocket business out of nothing. ④Brains are a lot more complicated than cars, and even than rocket science. ⑤But do not bet against the coming into being at some point of the Musk vision of brains and computers collaborating directly.

♜助读笔记

结束段简直是马斯克的赞歌。secretive，not open or outgoing in speech, activity, or purposes，行事隐秘，遮遮掩掩；vision promises more than he can deliver, 好高骛远，但换一种角度也有一句话叫见大而行远；a record of doing what he says he is going to, 言必践行；single-handedly， by himself; build a rocket business out of nothing, 无中生有；这一段简直是中文表彰成语的集中地。最后一句do not bet against the coming into being at some points of the vision, vision 后of跟着的是vision的内容。笔者还是很挺马斯克的。

❖词汇串联

【secretive】not open or outgoing in speech, activity, or purposes

♞参考中文

有评论家担心Neuralink太过于私密，而且马斯克展望的愿景已超出他能履行的范围。尽管有时行动的进展确实没有马斯克自己说的那样迅速，但他的确是在身体力行实现其承诺。他几乎是单枪匹马地将电动汽车推向市场，又从无到有成功建立了一家航空火箭公司。大脑远比汽车复杂，甚至比火箭科学还复杂得多。但也不要就此认定，马斯克愿景中的人机直接协作的情景不会在未来某个时刻成真。

✍后续：

2020 年 8 月，马斯克又向人们展示了 Neuralink 首款可以「进入人体」的产品——the Link v 0.9。这款产品尺寸极小，易于植入，而且通信能力提升了百倍（可支持 1024 个信道）。

今年 4 月，Neuralink 在猴脑中植入脑机接口，并实现了玩电子游戏。