In July 2007, an amazing medical breakthrough was announced. It concerned an American man who had been in a constant vegetative state for six years after suffering severe brain damage. For all that time he had been able to communicate only by raising his eyebrows, meaning he just looked perpetually surprised at things.
But then doctors implanted electrodes directly into his brain and, by stimulating it with electrical impulses, were eventually able to restore the patient to a state whereby finally – miraculously – he could talk again. The medical community was astounded. After six years of eyebrow raising, he...