Yes everybody, once again and straight
from the books of the Bizarre Military
Experiments and Stoned uniformed Dude's
who don't have a single brain in their
heads, here comes the latest KookBall entry
from the Armed Forces, all of this while
the chemical and hazardous exposure medical
patients are avoided and unattended to
on Capitol Hill. Go Figure! If they had
brains, they'd be dangerous!

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updated 10:48 p.m. EDT, Fri August 15, 2008


Military wants to study mind-reading

Army gives scientists $4 million grant to study ways to read people's thoughts

The goal is to translate the thoughts of soldiers who suffered brain injuries

Concerns include mind-reading technology could be used to interrogate the enemy


LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Here's a mind-bending idea: The U.S. military is paying scientists to study ways to read people's thoughts.

Scientists use electroencephalography, or brain wave-reading technology, to measure brain activity.

The hope is that the research could someday lead to a gadget capable of translating the thoughts of soldiers who suffered brain injuries in combat or even stroke patients in hospitals. But the research also raises concerns that such mind-reading technology could be used to interrogate the enemy.

Armed with a $4 million grant from the Army, scientists are studying brain signals to try to decipher what a person is thinking and to whom the person wants to direct the message.

The project is a collaboration among researchers at the University of California, Irvine; Carnegie Mellon University; and the University of Maryland.

The scientists use brain wave-reading technology known as electroencephalography, or EEG, which measures the brain's electrical activity through electrodes placed on the scalp.

It works like this: Volunteers wear an electrode cap and are asked to think of a word chosen by the researchers, who then analyze the brain activity.

In the future, scientists hope to develop thought-recognition software that would allow a computer to speak or type out a person's thought.

"To have a person think in a free manner and then figure out what that is, we're years away from that," said lead researcher Michael D'Zmura, who heads UC Irvine's cognitive sciences department.

D'Zmura said such a system would require extensive training by people trying to send a message and dismisses the notion that thoughts can be forced out.

"This will never be used in a way without somebody's real, active cooperation," he said.

John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a Virginia-based defense research firm, said the technology is still too nascent to be of practical use for the military.

"They're still in the proof of principle stage," Pike said.

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END of CNN Release