8 Times Science Did The Impossible

4. Telepathy

Telepathy has long been the preserve of Professor X and mad people on the internet, but now experimental evidence is showing that technology might just bring brain-to-brain communication kicking and screaming into the realms of reality.

Experiments with rats have shown what appears to be the telepathic transmission of "thoughts" (inasmuch as rats can have thoughts) between two brains, thanks to the use of brain implants. In an experiment conducted by a scientist at Duke University, two rats were able to communicate with one another, despite being thousands of miles apart.

The rats were connected via brain implant and trained to press one of two levers depending on the colour of a lightbulb. One rat in a lab in Brazil, was shown the light to push down the right-hand lever, and the second rat in a lab in North Carolina duly pressed the right-hand lever in response to the first rat's brain signals, despite not being able to see the light.

The researchers think that humans brains would be able to handle incoming signals with slightly more subtlety than simply mimicking actions, and that it might some day be possible to transmit senses such as sight and touch. Some even think that it might have a possible military application, allowing us to telepathically control small insects and mammals for surveillance and even assassination missions.