Stephen Hawking's thoughts... unredacted and unedited

A man like Stephen Hawking, renowned for his complex thinking, might be happy to have scientists read his brainwaves. The Cambridge professor, who suffers from motor neurone disease and is losing his ability to communicate via computer, is working with scientists hoping to read his brain.

Recently he was approached by professor Philip Low, inventor of the iBrain at Stanford University. The device measures the brain's electrical activity, and Mr Low hopes to use the information to turn thoughts into words and actions. "We'd like to find a way to bypass his body, pretty much hack his brain," he said. The experiments will be presented at Cambridge conference next month.