Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Could brain chips, let us control our phones with our minds?

  • That's what Elon Musk hopes.

  • This is News Review from BBC Learning English, where we help you understand news headlines in English. I'm Beth.

  • And I'm Phil.

  • Make sure you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary that you need to talk about this story.

  • And remember to subscribe to our channel to learn more English from the headlines. Now today's story.

  • A wireless chip has been successfully placed in a human brain by Elon Musk's Neuralink company.

  • The device is able to read brain signals linked to movement and send them to a computer.

  • Musk said that future innovations may allow us to control our phone or computer just by thinking.

  • You've been looking at the headlines, Phil, what's the vocabulary that people need to understand this new story?

  • We have 'implant,' 'interface,' and 'cyborg.'

  • This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

  • Let's have a look at our first headline.

  • This is from the BBC: Elon Musk announced his first Neuralink wireless brain implant.

  • Now this headline is about the announcement from Elon Musk that his company have successfully put an implant into someone's brain.

  • "Implant" is the word we're looking at. Phil, what can you tell us about it?

  • Ok. So the word implant, it's a verb and a noun.

  • And in this headline, it's a noun referring to the device that was physically put inside someone's brain.

  • That machine is the implant.

  • Now, implants aren't particularly new, although this one is, but there are lots of different kinds of implants, aren't there?

  • Yes, you could have implants that keep your heart beating, implants can help people hear again.

  • And you can use implants to replace joints, things like knees or hips.

  • OK. That's the noun. What about the verb?

  • Does it just mean to put an implant into someone's body or can it mean anything else?

  • Well, literally, that's what it means here.

  • You can see the prefix "im" which means to put in or to go in.

  • But as well as being able to physically implant something into someone's brain, we can also implant things into their minds.

  • Ok, so you could put an idea or a feeling into someone's mind. You could implant it.

  • Yes. And if an idea or thought becomes implanted in your mind, then you accept it or you believe it very strongly.

  • Ok. So we should try and implant this word into your vocabulary.

  • Let's look at that again.

  • Let's have our next headline.

  • This is from The Register: Elon Musk's brain-computer interface outfit Neuralink tests its tech on a human.

  • Now, this is about Elon Musk's company Neuralink and then new technology.

  • We're looking at the word interface which can be a noun and a verb.

  • It's a noun in the headline.

  • Now, interface, I know that it means two systems coming together. But what does it mean in this headline?

  • OK. Well, the implant in this story is a brain computer interface and it's the device that lets someone's brain communicate with and work with a computer.

  • But an interface can be a lot simpler than that.

  • The interface on the software on your computer is just what you can see and what you can click on.

  • OK. But it's not just computer systems, it can be much more than that.

  • So here in the story, the interface is between technology and biology and how they link together.

  • Yeah, it's not just gadgets, ideas and concepts can have an interface between them.

  • OK. Let's look at that again.

  • Next headline, please.

  • This is from Mail Online. Rage against the machine: Americans warn Elon Musk to 'stop creating cyborgs' after he revealed the first human has had Neuralink's brain chip.

  • This headline is about people being worried by these brain implants.

  • We're looking at the word 'cyborg.'

  • This sounds like something from science fiction.

  • That is where it comes from. But like the word robot, it's also used to describe things that actually exist.

  • Now originally, a cyborg was something that is part human and part machine.

  • OK. I know about robots. They actually exist.

  • I have a robot hoover, but cyborgs, do they actually exist?

  • They sound quite futuristic.

  • Ok. Well, in news articles and headlines, the word cyborg is more likely to be used as a comparison to describe things that are similar to cyborgs from science fiction.

  • So you might read about so-called cyborg insects or bacteria.

  • Ok. Let's look at that again.

  • We've had implants -- something placed inside the body.

  • Interface -- a connection between two systems.

  • And cyborg -- part human, part machine.

  • Now, if you want to know more about brain implants, click here to watch this episode of lingo hack.

  • And don't forget to click here to subscribe to our channel, so you never miss another video.

  • Thanks for joining us.

  • Bye. -Bye.

Could brain chips, let us control our phones with our minds?

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it