Stephen Hawking’s brain to be ‘hacked’ by scientist

As an addition to the long list of 'Amazing Things to Do with Stephen Hawking's Brain,' scientists at Stanford University are trying to hack the famed physicist's grey matter.

Using a tool called iBrain, Professor Philip Low has been working with Hawking to develop a technology that can read brain waves, CNET reports. The brain scanner measures the electrical activity and sends the data to a computer.

"We'd like to find a way to bypass his body, pretty much hack his brain," said Low in a Telegraph story.

The iBrain started as an experiment last summer, when Low travelled to Hawking's offices in Cambridge, England to test if the device could accurately read what a person was thinking, a form of primitive mind reading.

"The idea is to see if Stephen can use his mind to create a consistent and repeatable pattern that a computer can translate into, say, a word or letter or a command for a computer," Low said in the New York Times.

[ Related: New museum exhibit celebrates famed physicist Stephen Hawking ]

Low asked Hawking to imagine making a fist with his right hand. Because Hawking is paralyzed due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, he can't actually complete that action.

"Of course, he can't actually move his hand, but the motor cortex in his brain can still issue the command and generate electrical waves in his brain," Low said.

The computer did pick up a change in brain waves. Hawking was able to create patterns just by imagining moving his limps. Researchers hope the ability to record these brain waves will eventually translate into recording letters and words.

Low will be attending a conference in Cambridge to demonstrate the technology in July, possibly with Hawking along to show how it works. The research is particularly poignant as Hawking, now 70, continues to lose function in his body due to his condition.