While we wait for Neuralink to present the progress it’s made over the last couple of years in brain-computer interface technology, the New York Times has already published information from an early briefing and it’s stuff that’s straight out of science fiction. The Elon Musk-backed company claims its “sewing machine-like” robot can implant threads deep into a human brain.

The results so far come from testing on lab rats implanted with as many as 1,500 electrodes, which, everyone should be warned, may or may not transfer smoothly to work on humans. If it does work, Neuralink says its intention for the technology at first is to do things like help amputees, or restore the ability to see, talk and listen. One big reveal is that it “hopes” to begin working on human subjects as soon as the second quarter of next year.

According to the article, its bundles of flexible threads are one quarter the size of a human hair, implanted using needles to avoid blood vessels on the brain’s surface. Then the embedded sensors capture information and send it wirelessly to a receiver on the surface of the skull. Right now implantation requires drilling holes, but researchers hope in the future they can use lasers to avoid “unpleasant” vibration.

Whether or not this can work in humans is, again, still unproven, and also whether or not the wires can hold up over time. Whenever tonight’s event at the California Academy of Sciences actually begins, hopefully we’ll find out a few more answers. You can watch the livestream embedded below.

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