1. Can the human brain be separated from the physical body in the future?

■ Structural diagram of the mini-human brain grown by Austrian researchers

■ Austrian researchers have grown a pea-sized mini-human brain in the laboratory

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1. Soul escaping is a scene that often appears in many mystery novels or horror novels. In some science fiction novels, consciousness is allowed to exist alone without the body. This consciousness separated from the body can also move and think. These seemingly impossible scenarios may become a reality in the future with the help of brain scientists. Now, some scientists are already studying how to cultivate human brains that do not need the physical body, or how to make the human brain survive without the physical body.

2. Cultivate human brain in vitro. If there is local disease or damage in our brain, some healthy brain cells or tissues can be used to replace the diseased part, and we will become healthy again. The healthy brain cells needed by patients with encephalopathy cannot be obtained through living donations. They can only take the road of artificial cultivation and cultivate brain cells outside the human body. Nowadays, a common method used by scientists is to use stem cell technology to grow brain cells. American researcher Fred Gage and others used stem cell technology to grow human brain cells in the brains of mice. Researchers injected about 100,000 human brain embryonic stem cells into the brains of 14-day-old mouse embryos to create mice with human brain cells.

3. In addition to cultivating some brain cells, scientists can also cultivate independent human brains that are completely independent of the physical body. Now, Austrian scientists have taken an important step in this research. They have cultivated a pea-sized mini human brain, which has a development level equivalent to that of a small fetus. It can perform certain neurological activities, but it is not yet able to think independently. ?

4. In addition to technical limitations, cultivating a complete and fully developed human brain will also encounter ethical and moral constraints, and is likely to be prohibited by the laws of various countries in the future. Because if not restricted, the cultivated human brain is likely to be transplanted into the metal body of an intelligent robot. Is this intelligent robot with human consciousness considered a human or a machine? It is difficult to define and restrict its behavior. They are easily controlled and exploited by criminal gangs, terrorists and the military.

Two, abandon the body to immigrate to aliens?

1. In the minds of some people, the human brain separated from the body can get rid of the pain and constraints of the body. Professor Kevin Warwick, a cybernetics expert at the University of Reading in the UK, believes that focusing on how to upgrade the human body misses the point and we should simply abandon the body. Warwick conducted some bizarre experiments. For example, a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip can be implanted in one's arm to become a "cyborg". The chip allows him to control doors, lights, heaters and other computer-controlled devices.

2. Transplanting the human brain into a machine will also help extend the life of the human brain and continue to maintain self-awareness. When the human brain is transplanted into the machine body, we no longer have a bony head, but a head with a metal shell. The entire head can be opened at any time when needed to renew part of the brain cells or brain tissue. Since it is a partial update, it will not affect our memory, so we still feel like the "original me" and the feeling of continuing to survive still exists.

3. Some experts believe that the human body is outdated and it is time to upgrade our "shell" to make humans more environmentally friendly and able to inhabit distant galaxies. Matthew Liao, a bioethicist at New York University in the United States, pointed out that in the future, the human brain will be frozen to "hibernate" and then thawed after arriving on other distant planets. At that time, the human brain can command other machines to carry out various tasks on extraterrestrial planets. Activity. For some aerospace scientists, it is a good idea to let astronauts become disembodied human brains. Not only can it reduce the load of the spacecraft, but it also does not need to carry the food and water required for physical metabolism, and only requires less to keep the human brain alive. Just use nutrient solution. In addition, the separation of the human brain from the physical body can greatly increase the possibility of human survival on extraterrestrial life.

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