Does Bond need Q when there’s real-world computer-mediated telepathy? With its Silent Talk program, DARPA (the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) proudly says nope.

Start by scanning and mapping the brain’s electric signals via EEG. Analyze said signals and convert ‘em into words. Beam these to the soldier of your choice. Voila! Instant telepathy for only $4 million in R&D.

The ghost in the machine is subvocalization - word-specific neural signals that fly around the brain before the word itself is actually spoken. If these are (or can be made to be) the same for more than just the person whose brain was scanned, we’re in business.

But wait – there’s more!

DARPA is also applying the idea to – wait for it – mind-reading binoculars that would communicate a soldier’s thoughts about what s/he was seeing much faster than having to speak (which has now become SO 20th century).

Talk about (no pun intended) the end of privacy….