• money_loo
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        11 months ago

        Which part of the article claimed it fried a monkey brain? I read the whole thing and got “came loose” and “caused internal bleeding” once, but nothing about it frying a brain.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I wasn’t being literal. Isn’t it bad enough that it killed them? Do you have to nitpick exactly HOW Musk’s crappy chip is going to kill a lot of people?

            • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              “Frying” is a common dramatic shorthand for destroying the brain in any way. That you’re unfamiliar with the expression doesn’t make me dishonest.

              • Ghostbanjo1949@lemmy.mengsk.org
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                11 months ago

                No your misuse of the phrase does. If a person suffers a physical brain injury, as dramatic for instance as a metal rod getting shot into their brain leaving them disabled, you don’t say their brain was fried. It’s used primarily to describe chemical issues with the brain, such as a person who used a bit too many drugs and their brain is now impaired because of it. The primates in the article suffered issues caused by the physical installation of the chip, not from the functioning of the chip. Therefore not fried.

                • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  The primates in the article suffered issues caused by the physical installation of the chip, not from the functioning of the chip.

                  And you’re calling ME dishonest? 🤦

                  Another macaque mentioned — known as Animal 15 — “began to press her head against the floor for no apparent reason” days after receiving the implant, and her condition only went downhill from there:

                  Animal 15 began to lose coordination and staff observed that she would shake uncontrollably when she saw lab workers. Her condition deteriorated for months until the staff finally euthanized her. A necropsy report indicates that she had bleeding in her brain and that the Neuralink implants left parts of her cerebral cortex “focally tattered.”

                  Does that sound like a fucking installation issue to you?

                  Also, even if it WAS, they left that bad “installation” for MONTHS and you’d trust those fuckers to put anything in your brain? I guess “death by fanboying too hard” is ONE way to go…

                  • Ghostbanjo1949@lemmy.mengsk.org
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                    11 months ago

                    Yes I would say that the brain bleeding is probably a physical installation issue, not frying the brain.

                    I think though you’re reading more into my comments than are there. I’ve not said I’m for getting a chip in my brain nor anyone else’s, including the primates. My comment was around the point that if you are going to argue or fight something, you need to be honest on how you do it. Your clear emotional response to this is keeping you from seeing that. Over sensationalizing or misrepresenting the facts doesn’t help your stance. The truth here is that they really messed up at least a couple of times with the physical installation of the chips, that led to a degradation in the quality of life of the test subjects and eventually death. But not anything that would be like “frying” someone’s brain. And that, those facts alone should give one pause before signing up for anything like this. Especially when you consider, no matter who or what company pursues this, this is bound to happen. Any new hardware or software fails during at least development let alone post release so it’s not surprising at all these results occurred, considering what they are doing. I’d imagine if this chip functions as it should, the only people that would consider it, currently at least, would be those without any other option and their quality of life is already dismal due to their health issues.

          • money_loo
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            11 months ago

            My bad bro, I thought it was literal because the way you said it…and yes it’s terrible that it killed a few monkeys, but that’s literally how most medical and even cosmetic science works, please don’t ever look into it if you’re actually concerned for the animals and not just frothing and seething because your trigger word was used.

    • money_loo
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      11 months ago

      It’s being explored by multiple companies because of its amazing medical potential.

      Basically, it will help paralyzed people of varying levels of paralysis learn to be mobile and interact with people again, basically giving people who have lost all hope their lives back.

      Paralyzed man able to walk again thanks to brain implant

      How a brain implant gave a woman her voice back

      People just tend to get knee-jerk reactive when they associate anything with that Musk guy.

      • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        11 months ago

        Part of the reason people have criticized Musk’s in particular is because of the high rate of fatalities in the trials on monkeys. I’ve seen scientists commenting that it should’ve been pulled after the first death, considering how stringent the requirements for animal testing are, but all those issues and requirements have largely been hand-waved away.

        • money_loo
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          11 months ago

          Source?

          Because that’s simply not true, animals die in laboratory environments and experiments all the time, but for some reason only one company takes any public heat.

          • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            11 months ago

            Take 2 seconds to start typing the word “neuralink” into Google

            One of the first auto fills will be “neuralink monkeys”

            And from there it’s stupid easy to find articles on the topic

            • money_loo
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              11 months ago

              Okay I did it again just for you and found that I was right in the field I’m knowledgeable in (shocking) and it’s not above the norm.

              The total number of animal deaths does not necessarily indicate that Neuralink is violating regulations or standard research practices. Many companies routinely use animals in experiments to advance human health care, and they face financial pressure to quickly bring products to market. The animals are typically killed when experiments are completed, often so they can be examined post-mortem for research purposes.

              Also, maybe you’re conflating the total number of animal deaths with just monkeys…they test on a variety of animals, same as any other company.

              • maxiuca@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                11 months ago

                O man, really, that’s the only quote you found? That’s a qoute from a Reuters article from December 6, 2022, so just after news about the federal probe broke out and there was no more information about it. You also had to look really hard for it, because it’s very far on the results list. So yeah, smooth, really smooth, just like Fox News…

                Here is what I found:

                Animal 15 began to lose coordination and staff observed that she would shake uncontrollably when she saw lab workers. Her condition deteriorated for months until the staff finally euthanized her. A necropsy report indicates that she had bleeding in her brain and that the Neuralink implants left parts of her cerebral cortex “focally tattered.`”

                Overnight, researchers observed the monkey, identified only as “Animal 20” by UC Davis, scratching at the surgical site, which emitted a bloody discharge, and yanking on a connector that eventually dislodged part of the device.A surgery to repair the issue was carried out the following day, yet fungal and bacterial infections took root. Vet records note that neither infection was likely to be cleared, in part because the implant was covering the infected area. The monkey was euthanized on January 6, 2020.

                Shown a copy of Musk’s remarks on X about Neuralink’s animal subjects being “close to death already,” a former Neuralink employee alleges to WIRED the claim is “ridiculous” if not a “straight fabrication.” “We had these monkeys for a year or so before any surgery was performed,” they say. The ex-employee, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, says up to a year’s worth of behavioral training was necessary for the program, a time frame that would exempt subjects already close to death’s door.

                Animal 22, was euthanized in March 2020 after his cranial implant became loose. A necropsy report revealed that two of the screws securing the implant to the skull loosened to the extent that they “could easily be lifted out.” The necropsy for Animal 22 clearly states that “the failure of this implant can be considered purely mechanical and not exacerbated by infection.” If true, this would appear to directly contradict Musk’s statement that no monkeys died as a result of Neuralink’s chips.

                Oh, and it may come as a shock to you, but Musk and his henchmen are lying pieces of shit. They lied about the condition of the animals and their deaths (unlike normal research teams), which is another reason why people are mad and this isn’t like other research conducted by actual scientists.

                Take care and try to avoid getting hit by the Cybertruck, a “car” that isn’t road legal in any normal country.

                • money_loo
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                  11 months ago

                  Yes because that quote about it being not out of the normal is the most important part.

                  And yes they have an interest in lying at any company that controls the research and development, but the federal government investigated them last year and it seems to have found no wrongdoing.

                  But I guess none of that is enough for you people here just shooting the shit and not being serious because it’s a meme community. So carry on with your hot takes and get your rage fill for the day on!

          • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            11 months ago

            The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died

            Elon Musk denies Neuralink monkeys died gruesome deaths, saying they live in ‘monkey paradise’

            Musk’s Neuralink faces federal inquiry after killing 1,500 animals in testing Note: More than a year old at this point

            US Animal Welfare Act links on the National Agricultural Library website

            I didn’t find any specifics on death rates in my search through the legalese, but I remember reading a comment sometime before Reddit killed third-party apps from somebody who works in a lab with nematodes that animals more complicated than those are regulated strictly enough that even a single death under your watch can be grounds for termination of your license when you get up to monkeys and such.

            • money_loo
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              11 months ago

              From your own sources:

              Neuralink treats animals quite well compared with other research facilities, employees said in interviews, echoing public statements by Musk and other executives. Company leaders have boasted internally of building a “Monkey Disneyland” in the company’s Austin, Texas, facility where lab animals can roam, a former employee said. In the company’s early years, Musk told employees he wanted the monkeys at his San Francisco Bay Area operation to live in a “monkey Taj Mahal”, said a former employee who heard the comment. Another former employee recalled Musk saying he disliked using animals for research but wanted to make sure they were “the happiest animals” while alive.

      • maxiuca@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        And people are getting knee-jerk reactive to anything Musk for absolutely no reason, right? He’s 100% mentally stable and none of the products his companies are selling are dangerous and morally questionable. Got it! /s It’s not about implants being bad, it’s about implants made by a company controlled by a constantly drugged sociopath. Here is a story a nice story about people getting their eye implants switched off, because the company who made them went out of business: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60416058 https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete

        I’m sure you are aware that brain implants can’t be replaced every year like your iPhone. You can’t just keep yanking the electrodes out and put new ones, because it’s a friggin’ brain surgery…