🧠 Neuralink’s human brain chip

It’s Tuesday, January 30 — people are talking about Neuralink’s human brain chip, the debate over the worst US state, and more.

As always, we’ve summarized and organized the different shades of perspective, so you can see the big picture quickly. Here at Shades we believe that seeing multiple points of view is the best way to stay informed.

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- Jeff (co-founder of Shades)

🧠 Neuralink’s human brain chip

The first Neuralink chip is in a human patient's brain, and people are buzzing: Is this a leap for the disabled, or a privacy nightmare?

🧠 Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company, has reportedly implanted its first chip in a human patient. The WSJ says this could be a significant step for the tech.

🧠 Sky News is hyped by the development: Musk's Neuralink could revolutionize tech for the disabled.

🧠 And Elon says that's the point: Neuralink's goal is to empower the disabled to control tech with their minds.

🧠 But @HolderOftheFire on X sounds the alarm: Neuralink could be a privacy nightmare, acting as a potential government backdoor to billions of brains.

🧠 On another note, MIT Technology Review argues that Neuralink's grand vision overshadows current scientific limitations — don't get too panicked or hyped yet.

👎 What’s the worst US state?

From Texas’s hospitals to Hawaii's cost of living, the debate on the worst U.S. state is heated, with no clear winner.

👎 What's the worst of the 50 states? CNBC says Texas deserves the title, mostly because of its dismal healthcare system — way too many people, and not enough doctors.

👎 A Reddit thread on r/AskReddit almost unanimously agrees that it's Mississippi. It “screams low education and apathy”.

👎 Newsweek thinks it must be New Mexico, followed by Alaska. Massachusetts got the #1 spot for best state.

👎 And Yahoo Finance ranks Hawaii as the worst state for your money, with a cost of living 79% above national average. California is up there too.

Quick hits

🇵🇰 A court sentenced the ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to 10 years in prison for revealing classified information. (Fox News)

🤖 Following an executive order by President Biden, developers of AI systems must now report their safety test results to the Commerce Department. (AP News)

👑 King Charles III and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, have both returned home after their respective medical treatments. (CNN)

🛩 A former Air Force pilot believes he found Amelia Earhart's airplane 100 miles off the coast of Howland Island. Earhart disappeared in 1937. (IFLScience)

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