The first human to have a Neuralink computer chip surgically implanted in his brain demonstrated how he uses his thoughts to move a computer cursor around a screen to play online chess and toggle on and off a music stream.
Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old man who is paralyzed from the shoulders down due to a diving accident eight years ago, joined a live stream alongside a Neuralink engineer on X to show the public how the brain-computer interface tech works.
“It’s all being done with my brain. If y’all can see the cursor moving around the screen, that’s all me, y’all,” he said while the live stream showed his cursor moving across an online chess game. “It’s pretty cool, huh?”
The chip contains 1,000 electrodes programmed to gather data about the brain’s neural activity and movement intention and then send that data to a Neuralink computer for decoding to transform the thoughts into action.
Arbaugh explained that he simply imagines the cursor moving where he wants it to go and it does.
“Basically, it was like using the Force on the cursor and I could get it to move wherever I wanted. Just stare somewhere on the screen and it would move where I wanted it to, which was such a wild experience the first time it happened,” he said, referencing “Star Wars.”
The quadriplegic became the first human test subject of the chip developed by the Elon Musk-owned company when a robot surgeon plugged the implant into his brain at the end of January.
He said the surgery was “super easy” and he was released from the hospital a day later with no cognitive impairments since.
“It’s crazy, it really is. It’s so cool. I’m so friggen lucky to be a part of this,” he said. “Every day it seems like we’re learning new stuff and I just can’t describe how cool it is to be able to do this.”
Before receiving the chip, Arbaugh would need another person’s help to play online chess and video games like “Civilization VI.”
“Now I can literally just lie in bed and play to my heart’s content,” he said — at least until the battery of his rechargeable chip dies.
The brief 9-minute video stream posted on Neuralink’s X account is the closest look the human tech startup has shared with the public. The company, founded in 2016, has mostly kept information about its technology and human trials under wraps — prompting calls for greater transparency.
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The US Food and Drug Administration greenlit human trials of the brain chip last year after the company did hundreds of tests on animals — and faced backlash from animal rights groups in the process.
Neuralink has not disclosed how many people will be enrolled in the six-year trial or where the trials will be held. It also has not registered its study on a government website logging medical trials involving human test subjects, according to Wired.
For his part, Arbaugh said he signed on to try the implant because he “wanted to be a part of something that I feel like it’s going to change the world.”
But he admitted being the first-ever human to get the chip implanted in his brain has not come without its challenges, without elaborating.
“It’s not perfect. I would say that we have run into some issues,” he told those watching the livestream. “I don’t want people to think that this is the end of the journey. There’s a lot of work to be done. But it has already changed my life.”
PASADENA, Calif. — The Rose Bowl stands are filled with blue. No one is sitting down. UCLA players are jumping to the beat of the music on the sideline. The student section is packed, coursing with energy, ready to erupt. The game against Maryland is hanging in the balance, tied at 17 with 40 seconds left. A winning streak is on the line.
The scene is in itself a victory — a rare sight that would have felt impossible just a few weeks ago, when the bleachers at the historic venue had emptied with ease, when the chants that echoed belonged to the opposing team, the scoreboard spelled ridicule and the future at UCLA appeared dire.
The Bruins had tried with all their might to conjure excitement about this football season. They added quarterback Nico Iamaleava from the transfer portal and raved about the kind of team they would be fielding. But after a listless 0-3 start, rock bottom came quickly. Head coach DeShaun Foster was fired. Defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe left. New offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri quickly followed him out the door.
Tim Skipper had been named special assistant to Foster before the season, but after the firing he was suddenly tasked with picking up the pieces.
“Anytime there’s an interim head coach, it’s not a good time,” Skipper told ESPN. “We’re all in uncertainty. Everybody, not just the players. The coaches are in uncertainty. There’s families involved. Their parents are calling like crazy. My parents are calling me. You don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
No matter the topic, Skipper’s accompanying smile flashes with nearly every other word he speaks like a built-in punctuation. It’s not just a mannerism, but also emblematic of his positive approach, one that made him well-suited for the daunting task of reenergizing a winless team without a clear purpose.
“I’m an energy guy. I like juice. I like people that are having fun,” said Skipper, who was Fresno State‘s interim coach last season. “I’m not a doom-and-gloom, it’s-raining-every-day guy. I just am not — I am a person that thinks you dictate how your day was.”
Skipper’s pragmatic stewardship of UCLA has resulted in a dramatic turnaround that feels straight out of a movie script. After a loss against Northwestern in Skipper’s first game, the Bruins have won three straight: a shocking upset over No. 7 Penn State, a dominant win over Michigan State on the road and a hard-fought victory against Maryland on Saturday that featured a game-winning field goal in the final seconds.
It was Skipper and UCLA’s coup de grâce — a game won in the margins, with every unit contributing and the style of play mirroring the grind-it-out rhetoric Skipper has preached as he has helped turn this Bruins season from a disaster into a dream.
“Those same guys that were dealing with all this adversity are now over the hump and enjoying coming to work,” Skipper said. “They enjoy football again.”
When Foster was fired, Skipper was given the complex task of being the team’s Band-Aid. Four games in, he has given the program back its heartbeat.
THE DAILY DRIVE Skipper makes down the southbound 405 freeway feels different these days. As he heads from the San Fernando Valley down to Westwood, there is little traffic at this time of the morning. It’s never too early for a head coach — interim or otherwise — to clock in at work.
Through the changes and the increased responsibility, Skipper has tried to maintain a certain level of status quo for himself. Yes, he’s spending a lot more time inside the Wasserman Football Center, but he has remained in his small office near the rest of the staff instead of moving into the much-larger head coach office.
As the noise around the Bruins has grown, Skipper has doubled down on his approach to not go near any coverage or social media reactions regarding him or the team — aside from an inevitable glimpse or two. After the Penn State win, he returned home and was surprised by how much time the nightly college football recap show on TV spent talking about the Bruins’ win.
“It was just shocking. I watch it all the time, and I’ve never been a part of it,” Skipper said. “That stuff starts messing with your head and everything. That’s why I try to avoid it at all costs.”
Consistency has been key to Skipper’s life in coaching since his first job as a defensive backs coach at Western New Mexico in 2001. But once he was placed in charge of this UCLA team, he knew that a kind of transformation was necessary. Before he even attempted to fix anything football-specific, however, Skipper saw two immediate priorities off the field.
“We cleaned the locker room,” Skipper said. “Every time I went to visit another place — whether it’s a college team, NFL team, even high schools and recruiting — the winning teams always had a nice, clean locker room.”
The task was simple and put the onus on the players, while the ultimate purpose of the exercise was to give the Bruins something tangible to both achieve and celebrate.
“The first thing Coach Skip said when he got the interim job is, ‘We got to celebrate the small successes.’ So let’s start with the locker room, let’s clean the locker room,” said tight end Hudson Habermehl. “That’s one win. Let’s celebrate that win. And it just piles on. It’s like a snowball effect.”
For the first two weeks after instituting the new clean locker rule, Skipper would have someone take a picture of the locker room at day’s end to ensure players had followed through and also to remind them of their accomplishment. Now, it has become a habit he no longer has to worry about.
At 0-3 and with their head coach gone, there hadn’t been much the players could say they had accomplished together on the football field. It’s why Skipper’s other first move was to get them all as far away from it as possible. Three days after he had been given the interim tag, Skipper took the entire team bowling.
“I just wanted to get away and do something competitive,” Skipper said. “We started to enjoy being together and seeing that, hey, we have enough here that we can be competitive, and it’s carried over for us.”
Inevitably, the combination of organization and camaraderie started seeping onto the field, where the primary fix was evident: UCLA needed an identity.
“We didn’t even talk about winning games and points and all that. It was talking about getting our style of play,” Skipper said. “We wanted to outhit people. We wanted to strain for every single play. We want to watch the film and say, these dudes play hard. These dudes play physical, they play fast, they play smart. We needed to get the style of play and then let the style of play dictate the scoreboard.”
Skipper not only demanded this style of play change, but crafted the team’s schedule to maximize it and implement it as soon as possible. Sunday was no longer their off day. Instead, Skipper gave the team Monday off before he increased the intensity of Tuesday and Wednesday practices, which are now full pads with live tackling and a physicality that is starting to show itself on Saturdays. “Strain” has become the team slogan, a mantra they both chant postgame and wear on their T-shirts.
“Coach Skip has done an incredible job flipping the culture,” Habermehl said. “[He’s] making sure we’re disciplined with what we do every day, but also when we get on the field, just cut it loose, play freely, have fun.”
Take the Penn State game, for example. Skipper said that leading up to it, they practiced a surprise onside kick, which he used as an incentive. If the team could execute it in practice, he told them, they’d implement it in the game plan. But they would only use it if the Bruins were able to score first and get out to an early lead. Once they scored the first touchdown of the game, they all knew what was coming; the Nittany Lions didn’t. UCLA recovered the kick, keeping the momentum on their side.
“We kind of have nothing to lose,” said defensive lineman Keanu Williams. “It’s like, let’s go out there, let’s have fun, let’s get some film on there, let’s just be together, let’s do this together.”
Skipper will be the first to say that he is still getting used to the job and still learning every day how to manage this team. So far though, he has hit all the right buttons.
After the upset of Penn State, Skipper motivated players by printing out papers that said, “Are you a one-hit wonder?” and putting one on each player’s plane seat on their way to Michigan State. Ahead of Maryland, Skipper pivoted, challenging players by saying that they had now established a standard of play they needed to uphold. He challenged coaches to uphold their professionalism, too, as they dealt with both uncertainty and their own overhaul.
Longtime defensive coach Kevin Coyle, whom Skipper called the “godfather” of defense, was brought in from Syracuse to help lead that unit, which has allowed one touchdown in the past two games. The playcalling joystick on offense was given to 33-year-old Jerry Neuheisel, the former UCLA quarterback, tight ends coach and son of UCLA legend Rick Neuheisel, a former quarterback and head coach for the Bruins himself.
The lanky, blond wunderkind has stood out because of his appearance as much as the track record he is putting together. In the three games since taking over playcalling, Neuheisel has unlocked the Bruins’ offense, freed up Iamaleava at quarterback and elicited chants of “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” from the Rose Bowl crowds in the process.
On Saturday after a pair of fourth-quarter, go-ahead drives, those crowds serenaded Neuheisel again while Skipper quietly relished the victory. As the entire team celebrated the win, which put the Bruins in a tie for third place in the Big Ten, Skipper and Neuheisel found each other and embraced. The unlikely partnership of UCLA’s newfound cult heroes walked toward the tunnel together, their team surrounding them, where even more fans awaited to heap on the praise.
JUST OUTSIDE THE Rose Bowl late Saturday night, awash in the glow of the floodlights that remained on following the game, the Iamaleava family celebrated.
Parents, cousins, siblings, uncles, aunts and grandparents alike — most of them wearing different variations of Iamaleava’s No. 9 jersey — basked in the moment. They took pictures with the stadium’s signature sign, lit in UCLA’s baby blue hue, in the background and hugged each other.
When Iamaleava emerged — ice wrapped around his right knee and with a slight limp after he went down with an injury before returning to lead the game-winning drive — they all surrounded him. One by one, Iamaleava greeted every one of the family members who had come to watch him play.
When UCLA was 0-3, the decision to transfer to Westwood and closer to home had looked to be a faux pas for the Iamaleavas. Now, in the most improbable way, Nico — who has accounted for nine touchdowns during the winning streak — finds himself right at the center of one of the best stories in the sport.
“We were getting a little uptight the first four games. We went out there and let our hair flow,” Iamaleava said after Michigan State. “We’re getting back to having fun.”
Before Skipper took over, UCLA didn’t have official team captains or any kind of leadership council. Skipper wanted to change that, so he had players vote for which four players would join that group and be the captains who would be part of the coin toss on Saturdays. The top vote-getter was Iamaleava.
“I don’t have to say much to Nico. Nico is a natural leader. He takes the messages and he circulates it throughout the team,” Skipper said. “He’ll say what he needs to say, he’ll talk when it’s good, but what I love about him, he’ll talk when it’s bad too.”
When UCLA lost to Northwestern for its fourth straight loss, it was Iamaleava who spoke up, telling players ahead of the Penn State game that if they didn’t want to be part of the team, they should leave. Since then, UCLA has not only won every game, but it also did not lose a single player to the portal, which opened for 30 days after Foster’s firing, nor any healthy players to a redshirt request, which Skipper said is something he is more proud of.
“I didn’t really have a pitch — there was no line, no fluff, no trying to paint this picture that it isn’t,” Skipper said. “I told ’em Tuesday and Wednesday we’re going to grind. Thursdays are going to be mental, Friday is going to be mental and we’re going to have fun on Saturdays. I didn’t talk about money or NIL or any of that. That never came up.”
This fairytale turnaround does not yet change the reality that looms in the distance. The future beyond this season remains, as Skipper said, uncertain.
Before the game, a plane had, for the second home game in a row, flown overhead calling for the firing of athletic director Martin Jarmond, who hired Foster. Jarmond is leading a group of notable UCLA alumni and donors in a coaching search. Whether that quest leads them back to Skipper or someone else remains to be seen.
Even though he is not wanting for the spotlight, Skipper does allow himself to admit his dreams. Long term, he says, he wants to be a head coach, have his own program that he can start “from the bottom and go up to the top.”
“If I’m doing something, I want to do it at the highest level. In this profession, that’s being a head coach, so I want to be able to do that,” Skipper said. “But my immediate goals right now, to be totally honest with you, it’s just to win each day, literally win each day. What’s important now is winning.”
A tougher schedule awaits, beginning with a game at undefeated Indiana on Saturday. But for now, with Skipper at the helm, the Bruins have turned winning into their new normal.
Amid speculation about Florida State coach Mike Norvell and his job security at the school following a fourth straight loss, athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement Monday that a comprehensive review of the football program will happen when the season ends.
The Seminoles opened the year with a 31-17 win over Alabama and started 3-0 before a Friday night double-overtime loss to Virginia began their four-game slide. Florida State has lost all four games by one score. Going back to last season, Florida State has lost nine straight ACC games.
In the statement, Alford expressed disappointment about the way the season has progressed and said he is “fully committed” to helping Norvell and the team rebound in the coming weeks.
Florida State is on an open date before playing Wake Forest on Nov. 1.
“We rightfully have high expectations in everything we do to represent Florida State in the manner that built our reputation as one of college football’s best programs, cultivating an extraordinary group of supporters nationally and globally,” Alford said. “We embrace those expectations while also sharing the deep disappointment when results on the field are short of that standard.
“As we continue to move forward this season, our comprehensive assessment of the football program will be completed at season’s end. Meanwhile, we are fully committed to helping Coach Norvell and the 2025 Seminoles strongly rebound in the coming weeks.”
If Florida State made a move away from Norvell, the Seminoles would owe him about $54 million in buyout money. All told, including staff salaries, Florida State would have to pay about $72 million if Norvell and his staff are fired.
After going 13-1 and winning the ACC in 2023, Florida State went 2-10 a year ago, and Norvell made staff and personnel changes to try to change the trajectory of the program. He hired Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator and Tony White as defensive coordinator, and he brought in transfer quarterback Tommy Castellanos to lead the way.
Norvell, in his sixth season with the Seminoles, vowed his team would play with the edge that was missing a year ago, and against Alabama it certainly looked that way as the Seminoles were aggressive and set the tone at the line of scrimmage. But in four ACC losses, the same mistakes that plagued them last year have cropped up, from turnovers to penalties to blown assignments.
The low point came Saturday in a 20-13 loss at Stanford, when the Seminoles had 13 penalties and allowed a backup quarterback who had never thrown a collegiate pass to beat them. Fan discontent has grown, and speculation has swirled about the direction of the program.
Florida State is 5-15 since the 2023 ACC championship game, including an embarrassing loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl after the Seminoles were left out of the four-team playoff.
CLEVELAND — An Ohio common pleas judge granted a temporary restraining order on Monday, which would allow high school athletes in the state to enter into deals that profit off their talent.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Jaiza Page issued her order on Monday, which could allow all students who are part of the 818 schools in the Ohio High School Athletic Association to enter into their own NIL deals.
Ohio is one of six states that has rules in place that don’t allow high school athletes to accept payments for their name, image and likeness. The others are Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Wyoming.
Jasmine Brown, the mother of Jamier Brown, filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 15 in her role as “parent or guardian.” Brown is a junior who attends Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. He is the top wide receiver prospect in the class of 2027. Brown has verbally committed to Ohio State University, which is in Franklin County.
Brown’s mother and attorneys stated that Brown has already missed out on more than $100,000 in potential NIL deals.
“This is a significant ruling not only for Jamier but high school athletes across the state of Ohio. There are 44 states that allow high school athletes to enjoy that benefit through NIL,” said Luke Fedlam, Brown’s attorney with the Amundsen Davis law firm in Columbus.
OHSAA members decisively voted down an NIL proposal in 2022, 538-254. The OHSAA Board of Directors last month approved language for another NIL proposal that they planned to vote on in May. However, Monday’s ruling is likely to accelerate the timetable.
OHSAA spokesperson Tim Stried said, “the OHSAA anticipated the judge making an initial ruling today on the NIL lawsuit to set the timeline moving forward. The OHSAA is finalizing communications regarding the next steps for our member schools and will send out details on Tuesday.”
Another hearing on a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Dec. 15.
“It’s important for folks to understand high school NIL is different from college NIL,” Fedlam said. “There are guardrails that have been in place that protect the integrity of sport and competition. In college we have seen collectives for NIL to recruit and retain. That does not exist at the high school level. Most states have the regulations that do not allow collectives and how they can transfer and maintain eligibility.”