Futuristic - Recording Vacation Memories Straight from the Brain!

As I was driving home from the Massachusetts State Archives yesterday I tuned my car radio to the program Fresh Air on National Public Radio. The host, Terry Gross, was interviewing Physics Professor Michio Kaku of City University of New York. Kaku was on the program talking about his book, Physics of the Future. Ok, yes, I admit, I really am a geek.  I love to listen to stuff which I know nothing about.

Kaku had all sort of fascinating things to say about the not so distant future. One item that has implications for family historians is the concept of recording memories.  He described how scientists recorded memory impulses in the brains of mice then erased the memories with the use of chemicals.  Next they re-inserted the memories via the recorded impulses.  The mice were able to perform the tasks again without having to learn them.

He went on to say how recorded memories would be able to help humans learn and even them help save memories.  He described how people may be able to save vacation memories through capturing these impulses in the brain.

How about that for a new method of passing down information to your descendants?!

To hear the full interview or read highlights check out the interview page on Fresh Air.


Photo Credit: photo by Marian Pierre-Louis