The translucent chip attached to the mouse’s leg looked nothing like a neuron. Dotted with a series of sensors and channels and smaller than a human finger, it looked—and flexed—like a Band-Aid. Yet when doused with dopamine, the chip worked its magic. The mouse’s leg began to twitch and stretch.

The man sat still in the chair, staring intently at a piece of cake on the table in front of him. Wires protruded from electrode implants in his brain. Flanking him were two giant robotic arms, each larger than his entire upper body. One held a knife, the other a fork. “Cut and eat food. Move right

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is devastatingly cruel. As neurons that control movement slowly die off, you lose the ability to walk, speak, and breathe. Your mind remains sharp, but you’re completely locked in, without any way to communicate with the outside world. That’s what a 37-year-old

Getting man-made electronics to interface with the squishy world of biology could open up a host of exciting doors. Now researchers have made a major leap in that direction with an artificial neuron that can be wired into a Venus flytrap to make it snap shut. Brain implants, advanced prosthetics,

Today’s brain implants are bulky and can typically only record from one or two locations. Now researchers have shown that a network of tiny “neurograins” can be used to wirelessly record and stimulate neurons in multiple locations in rat brains. Researchers have been experimenting with brain