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Andrea Stocco is quoted in this Gizmodo article about brain implants and the possibility of telekinesis.

Could Brain Implants Ever Make Telekinesis Possible? 

Daniel Kolitz

Andrea Stocco

Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS), and co-director of the Cognition and Cortical Dynamics Laboratory

It depends on what you mean by “telekinesis.” If you think of the cartoon version of “exerting force on any object, at any time, through the powers of the mind, without the mediation of any known type of mechanical or electromagnetic force,” then telekinesis is beyond the realm of physics, not just beyond the realm of brain implants.

But if you are happy with a more mundane version, in which you can exert force on any object through known physical forces, then the answer is different. If you are satisfied with calling “telekinesis” the operation of remote robotic arms through radio or wired signals, or the control of software objects (cursors on a screen, phone apps), then all of these things are certainly possible with brain implants.

And I say ‘certainly” because all of the above examples have already been done. Andy Schwarz has developed implanted electrode arrays in humans and primates that control articulated arms; Rajesh Rao has developed EEG-based interfaces that control robotic arms and even small autonomous robots altogether; Miguel Nicholelis has developed EEG-based interfaces that control exoskeletons, demonstrating how a paralyzed individual could use the exoskeleton to walk and even kick a soccer ball. Much can be done, of course; these technologies are still clunky and not portable, but they clearly show what can be achieved.

So, telekinesis might sound like magic, but, as Arthur Clarke once said, “Every sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” And, although the cartoon version of telekinesis is physically impossible, a “technological” version of it (controlling objects remotely through wireless signals and brain implants) is already possible.

Read the entire article here.