Of course, movies have known for years that this was possible–it’s just taken reality a while to catch up.  Yes, science can see images in your brain, although for now it’s seemingly mostly proof-of-concept, and fairly limited.  (No full color perfect simulacra of your dreams, yet.)

“Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor, it was announced on December 11. According to the researchers, further development of the technology may soon make it possible to view other people’s dreams while they sleep.”

(Via Pinktentacle via Monocrom; also, the complete journal article is available online in PDF format: Neuron: “Visual Image Reconstruction from Human Brain Activity using a Combination of Multiscale Local Image Decoders” by Miyawaki et al. [11 Dec 2008])

Two tidbits from NewScientist:

1. Robots have made their first independent scientific discovery (i.e., made its own hypotheses based on data it was given, and then tested those hypotheses);
2. The internet might soon (or already) be self-aware.

Maybe it’s pop culture eroding my brain, but “Functionalized Nanoporous Gold Leaf Electrode Films for the Immobilization of Photosystem I” doesn’t have quite the same kick as “cyborg leaf”.

Good work making science relevant to modern society, NewScientist!

(Don’t expect electricity-generating houseplants anytime soon — but still, it’s interesting work.)