(Military) Scientists Probe Use of the Tongue

[DoveTurnedHawk]

In their quest to create the super warrior of the future, some military researchers aren't focusing on organs like muscles or hearts. They're looking at tongues.

By routing signals from helmet-mounted cameras, sonar and other equipment through the tongue to the brain, they hope to give elite soldiers superhuman senses similar to owls, snakes and fish.

Researchers at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition envision their work giving Army Rangers 360-degree unobstructed vision at night and allowing Navy SEALs to sense sonar in their heads while maintaining normal vision underwater — turning sci-fi into reality.

The device, known as "Brain Port," was pioneered more than 30 years ago by Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a University of Wisconsin neuroscientist. Bach-y-Rita began routing images from a camera through electrodes taped to people's backs and later discovered the tongue was a superior transmitter.

A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bulky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.

In testing, blind people found doorways, noticed people walking in front of them and caught balls. A version of the device, expected to be commercially marketed soon, has restored balance to those whose vestibular systems in the inner ear were destroyed by antibiotics.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12459883/

DTH

[Mythsaje]

1. Wow...

I can use this...

VERY interesting.

[VegasWolf]

2. Coming soon to PlayStation2!!! BrainPort2000!!! nt

[Kikosexy2]

3. Anyone...

for a tongue lashing...

[PassingFair]

4. Me first! .... .... n/t

[Pithy Cherub]

5. Ray Kurzweil speaks to humans and

machines being one entity in the near future. His book, "The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Bilogy" makes the strong point "...that within several decades information technology will encompass all human knowledge and proficiency, ultimately including the pattern-recognition powers, problem solving skills, and emotional and moral intelligence of the human brain itself." The author states that the physics of Harry Potter will be available within the next few decades, excepting the time reversal portion.

It is mind blowing once you get over the ewwww factor. It's a Quantum world -er- universe. scratch that, according to the new physics there are multiple universes now.

[shain from kane]

6. Caught balls? With their tongues? Been done before. n/t

[Kikosexy2]

7. that's sounds...

soooo naughty..hhehehehee...

[shain from kane]

8. Could have said one ball. Nope, it said balls.

Could have said ping pong balls. Nope, it said balls.
Just repeating what I read that it said.
Didn't give any details of how a tongue could catch balls either. Or how many times the balls slapped the person in the face until they were successfully caught.

[VegasWolf]

9. Usually the number is 2, in rare cses 3. nt

[AnneD]

10. Hummmm..

:dilemma: probe/tongue...tongue/probe :dilemma:

Too many punch line and not enough space.
It is obvious they are clueless as to it's uses...so typical.

[VegasWolf]

11. Probing tounges huh? Military not the only ones studying that! nt

[nashville_brook]

12. tongues can be rewired for a kind of vision -- that's pretty cool.

[nashville_brook]

13. i guess that's how animals sense, anyway... hmm.

[daleo]

14. Too bad this money couldn't be spent directly on civilian applications

Helping the blind or vision impaired to get around is certainly worthwhile. All this rah-rah war stuff gets tiresome, at least to me. In this case, maybe it will ultimately do more good than harm, though.

[VegasWolf]

15. "A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue

where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. The microelectrodes attach to a standard USB-2 interface. Microsost is rumored to be working on the next level of DirectX which will completely eliminate the need for a computer monitor."

[DS1]

16. Bush tries on tongue-navigation, tastes like head up ass

[truthisfreedom]

17. (Military) Scientists Probe Use of the Tongue... i don't have anything to

say here. i think the title speaks for itself.

[oneighty]

18. And just what

feats of daring do might be SEALS be doing underwater?

Repelling underwater armies?

This superman bullshit is going way too far.

180