Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain­computer interface (BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic school in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated (展示) a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts.

In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.

“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓) to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.”

The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp (头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.

Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”

He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.

As climate change quickly advances, many Middle Eastern countries aremaking the change from oil-based economies to ones that attract people fromaround the world--for travelling, business, work or to live.

One such example is NEOM to be built in Saudi Arabia. A key part of NEOM is “The Line”, a $725 billion futuristic city designed to house 9 millionpeople. It is a mirrored (镜子) wall-like building 200 meters wide and 500 meterstall. To be built in north-western Tabuk province, the project will spread 170 kilometres from the Red Sea across deserts, mountains and valleys.

At first look, the project appears environmentally impressive. The city area isno more than 100 metres from any point in the city. A high-speed electric publictransport service makes sure every part of   “The Line” is within 20 minutes away. Unluckily, as in many high-rise buildings with a large population inside, a vertical (垂直的) transportation would be needed, for it is just like a 125-floor building.

The project costs also seem OK at $55,000 per person. Let’s say this isachievable in a country like Saudi Arabia and only covers infrastructure (基础设施). Even so, it remains to be seen how super-high-speed transport and mostadvanced infrastructure and services within the hugest building ever built can becost-effective.

The Line is planned for green living. Energy comes from renewable sources,waste water is reused, and it owns the latest “smart city” and mixed-use buildingtechnologies. Car ownership is avoided in favour of walking, cycling and publictransport.

However, the materials to be used and the building of such a big projectcould be very harmful to the environment. The plan says no one would be morethan two minutes from nature. But does this include the waiting times for a liftWithout careful design, a high dependence on vertical transportation may ruin thepleasure of walkable or bicycle-friendly areas.

Now anyone can pretend to be Spider-Man by simply wearing a suit that lets you feel how close you are to a nearby object. It can even let the wearer control with their eyes closed.

The suit, called SpiderSense and built by Victor Mateevitsi of the University of Illinois inChicago, has small robotic arms with microphones that send out and pick upultrasonic reflections (超声波折射) from objects. When the ultrasound finds someone moving closer to the microphone, it “knows”. Seven arms are equipped across the suit to give the wearer as near to 360 degree ultrasound coverage as possible.

“When someone is hitting Spider-Man, he feels it and can avoid it. Our suit is the same idea,” says Mateevitsi. “SpiderSense could help blind people find their way more easily.” Mateevitsi tested the suit out on students, getting them to stand outside on campus, eyes covered, and “feel” for attackers getting close.Each wearer had ninja(忍者) cardboard throwing stars to use whenever they sensed someone getting close. “Ninety five percent of the time they were able to sense someone coming near and throw the star at them,” says Mateevitsi.

“I’m very excited about this,” says Gershon Dublon of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who also works on other parts of the human body. “Mateevitsi’s work is a step on the road to giving humans truly integrated extrasensory perception (超感知).

Mateevitsi wants to use the suit, or just a few sensors on the arms and back, to increase cyclists’ awareness of other traffic on the road. SpiderSense is due to be presented at an international conference in Germany this year. The team now plans to add more sensors to the suit to increase its resolution. The team also plans to begin experiments on SpiderSense with blind people.

“We humans have the senses that we are born with and we can’t extend them,” Mateevitsi says. “But there are some threats which are very deadly, but we can’t sense them, like radiation(分辨率). Electronic sensors can feel those threats.”