The UAE will host the first clinical trials outside the US of a wireless brain chip made by tech billionaire Elon Musk's Neuralink company, which is designed to improve the lives of paralysed people.
The Department of Health Abu Dhabi on Wednesday said it has teamed up with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Neuralink to launch the trial programme, known as UAE-PRIME.
Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori, chairman of the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, said the development marks a significant step in developing life science in the region.
Elon Musk also tweeted about the announcement on Thursday, saying "Neuralink is partnering with UAE and Cleveland Clinic!"
How does it work?
The chip is meant to improve the lives of quadriplegic patients who have lost the ability to control their bodies below the neck.
By inserting the Neuralink device – about the size of a one dirham coin – into the brain, users can control a computer or mobile device using the power of thought.
“In collaboration with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, we are proud to enable the safe and responsible advancement of brain-computer interface technology, offering renewed hope to individuals living with severe neurological conditions,” said Mr Al Mansoori.
“Abu Dhabi’s commitment to innovation in health and life sciences – driving the acceleration of breakthrough technologies that are purposefully tested, ethically governed, and made accessible to patients around the world.”
Neuralink goal is to connect people's brains to computers, to help tackle complex health conditions. Research and development of the N1 device aims to restore capabilities such as vision, motor function and speech.
The device's use could be expanded beyond medical problems and into everyday life.
Implants are inserted using a special surgical robot with precision capabilities exceeding the human hand. It attaches more than a thousand tiny electrodes into brain tissue.
The implant has been tested on three people to date.
Mr Musk also claims the research could expand how we experience the world around us.
Who else is working on this?
The tech billionaire and adviser to US President Donald Trump is not the only investor hoping to capitalise on brain power.
The rapidly evolving brain-computer interface market has been joined by Apple, which has collaborated with US start-up Synchron to develop a similar device.
A less invasive Stentrode device is similar to a stent used to inflate blocked arteries, and is inserted into a vein close to the brain’s motor cortex.
Once in place, the device’s 16 electrodes detect brain signals and translate them into digital commands to navigate through Apple devices.
Ten patients have experienced the Synchron device, since testing began in 2019.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Mohammed Al Attas
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue
ROUTE%20TO%20TITLE
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How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
match info
Chelsea 2
Willian (13'), Ross Barkley (64')
Liverpool 0
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
