Sabrina

[Noland Arbaugh @ModdedQuad]

Two-Year Update

Another year has come and gone. It was filled with some of the best experiences of my life, and it only makes me look forward to year three.

First—and I usually put this at the end, but I want it upfront this time—I want to say thank you to the @neuralink team, the @BarrowNeuro team, @elonmusk, and all of you for supporting me through this journey. I wouldn’t be here without each and every one of you, and I truly mean that. You’ve made this experience so fulfilling—filled with purpose, hope, and more fun than I can even begin to describe.

I hope to continue working with all of you, rolling by your sides, making stupid jokes, and (hopefully) showing my appreciation along the way. It’s only been two years since I partnered up with Eve, and I’ve already realized that I wouldn’t be here if I had never had my accident—and I thank God for giving me this opportunity. I used to think my injury was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Now I know it’s actually the complete opposite.

So again, thank you to everyone from the bottom of my heart.

Now onto the updates!

Neuralink

I’ll lead with this, because I know it’s what a lot of you have on your mind: they haven’t given me a robot arm yet. I know—it’s a travesty. I don’t know how I can go on any longer. And yet, somehow, I still wake up every day, (have someone) put my pants on one leg at a time, and power my chair forward. I know it’ll come one day.

If you haven’t already watched the video and read the post Neuralink put out today for the two-year update, I highly recommend it. They’re working on some really cool stuff, and I think this year is going to be one of exponential growth. So buckle up. I always do.

I don’t do many sessions with the team these days, but that could be changing. Honestly, I think they’re just trying to be respectful of my time. I’ve taken on a lot of different projects and activities—something I still find hard to believe I’m even doing. As more participants join and the team gets busier, I’m more than happy to continue down this road of interviews, speaking engagements, and using the device as much as possible.

And I use it a lot. Probably too much.

School

For those of you who don’t know, I went back to school for the first time in nearly a decade last semester. I took 22 credit hours in classes ranging from chemistry to comparative world religions. It was so much work—but I found that I’m enjoying school much more than I did last time around.

Well… maybe that’s not true. Let’s just say I’m enjoying it in a much more studious way.

I love learning, and being back in a classroom—cramming for exams, stressing over due dates, and using my brain to solve problems again—has been a dream come true. I always felt like I could never go back to school as a quadriplegic; the challenges just seemed too great. But with Neuralink, not only did I find a way to go back—I excelled. Straight A’s in the most credit hours I’ve ever taken felt incredibly rewarding.

I had planned on continuing this semester, but I feel that God had other things in store for me. So I’m taking this semester off to focus on other priorities. That said, I don’t plan to stay away long. Either this summer or in the fall, I’ll be back. You can count on that.

Work

Things are going great on the business end! The last couple of weeks have been hard, to say the least—which is why I’ve been mostly off social media—but it’s all been worth it. There are so many ideas floating around in my head and so many goals I have for my business. I’m ready to put my nose to the grindstone.

In fact, I’ll be leaving in two days for another speaking engagement. I won’t give it away just yet, but it’s one of the biggest platforms I’ve ever been on. I’m incredibly excited and hoping to make the most of it. I’m also in the process of booking other engagements that should keep me busy throughout the year. I’m aiming for 1–2 per month, if I can manage it.

I’m finally on my way toward independence and providing for myself long-term. These next four years in the study will hopefully give me the opportunity to work, grow, and save. That’s more than I ever thought I’d be able to ask for.

Miscellaneous

As some of you might have seen in the @MrBeast video, Mario Kart is up and running—and it looks good. Suffice it to say, being wheelchair-bound for the last nine and a half years has only made me a better driver.

I don’t play as many video games as I did at the beginning of the study, but I still play chess regularly, and I’ll hop on Steam from time to time to play other games.

I still read a lot, keep up with incredible technology being created almost daily, watch more anime than I’d like to admit, spend time with friends and family, serve as a youth leader at my church, continue my second year in an ordination program, and overall just enjoy life in a way I never thought I’d be able to again.

What’s Next

I’m hoping to help Neuralink with a new piece of the puzzle they’ve been working on. I know it’s been in the pipeline for a while, but I have faith it’ll get off the ground sooner rather than later.

As I’ve said before, I plan to keep traveling and speaking as much as possible. Being an advocate—sharing my story and what Neuralink has done for me and so many others—is a passion of mine that will never fade. I pray people continue to invite me to their events and interviews, because there are still many who have no idea this technology exists or how profoundly it can change lives. If I reach even one person every time I speak, I’ll be satisfied.

I’m also looking into taking on a larger advocacy role for BCIs and disability in general. I’d like to start locally, then work my way to the state and federal levels—whatever order God lays out. I feel like I have so much to offer, and I hope doors continue to open so I can help others, whether that’s people with disabilities today or BCI users of the future. I just want to do my part.

As I’ve said many times before, I plan on resurrecting my streaming days. But this time, I mean it. Scout’s honor. (And I was a Boy Scout for two weeks, so that counts.)

There are also some side projects I’d like to start: a newsletter, some fun merch, more daily interaction with the community, and more live Q&As. We’ll see how heavy the workload gets and what I can realistically pull off this year. Heck—maybe I’ll even make a memecoin to finally get all the crypto bros off my back. There’s a little chum in the water for y'all.

I’m also planning to work more seriously on my YouTube channel this year—really devote time to creating content. Maybe even start a podcast, interview incredible people I’m fascinated by, and talk about things I’m passionate about. It’s been on my to-do list for a long time, and year three feels like the right time.

Oh—and I’m also writing a book. I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s actually happening now. I’d hoped to release it this year, but that depends on how the writing goes. I’m really excited to tell my story in long form. There are a few different books I want to write, so this is just the beginning.

Finally

I want to thank my family. I don’t do this nearly enough, and they deserve all the credit for getting me to this point and beyond. I could write another post just as long as this one about how much I love and appreciate them—but I’m sure they’d hate that. So instead, I’ll just say thank you. I love you all, and I hope one day to give back tenfold what you’ve given me.

I think that’s about it. I’m sure I missed something, but it’ll come to me—and I’ll probably post about it later tonight or in the coming days.

Let’s make year three the best one yet.

– Noland and Eve

[Neuralink @neuralink]

🇬🇧 We’re excited to announce our first participant in the UK!

Paul, who is paralyzed due to motor neuron disease, received his Neuralink implant at @uclh earlier this month and was able to control a computer with his thoughts just hours after surgery.

[Neuralink @neuralink]

🌎 The Neuralink Patient Registry is now open globally!

If you have quadriplegia and are interested in exploring groundbreaking ways to control a computer using your thoughts, you can now sign up from anywhere in the world.
https://t.co/jdKOJNhuKf

[Neuralink @neuralink]

Over the past year, three people with paralysis have received Neuralink implants. Our latest blog post explores the different and exciting ways each person is using Telepathy in their daily lives.
https://t.co/gbPl5vvBOh

[Neuralink @neuralink]

🇨🇦 We’re happy to announce that Health Canada has approved the launch of our first clinical trial in Canada! Recruitment is now open.

If you have quadriplegia due to ALS or SCI, you may qualify. Visit our Patient Registry to learn more and apply.

https://t.co/5BySJABkkO

[Neuralink @neuralink]

https://t.co/OMIeGGjYtG

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The first human received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well.

Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.

[Neuralink @neuralink]

We’re excited to announce that recruitment is open for our first-in-human clinical trial!

If you have quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you may qualify. Learn more about our trial by visiting our recent blog post.

https://t.co/mPLKFelOnD

[Neuralink @neuralink]

A quick tour of our cleanroom, where our microfab team makes tiny electrodes to implant in the brain so that neurons experience minimal disturbance. It's our labor of love ❤️

[Neuralink @neuralink]

We use multiple scanning technologies to ensure that we target the optimal brain region with our implant. MRI and CT scans are aligned and used to guide the position of the implant on the skull surface intraoperatively. Functional MRI scans are used to identify the desired region of the cortex (in red) for placement of our electrodes 🩻

[Neuralink @neuralink]

We are excited to share that we have received the FDA’s approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study!

This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people.

Recruitment is not yet open for our clinical trial. We’ll announce more information on this soon!

[Neuralink @neuralink]

Nov 30, 6 pm PT

[Neuralink @neuralink]

Animals at Neuralink are respected and honored by our team. Without proper context, information from medical records and study data can be misleading. In this blog post, we want to provide an accurate statement of Neuralink’s commitment to animal welfare. https://t.co/Lc9P3URorF

[Columbia BME @ColumbiaBME]

🎉Congratulations to our SIX (6) @ColumbiaBME @NSFGRFP Graduate Research Fellowship recipients!🎉 Divya Bhansali @theleonglab; Fay Wang & Elizabeth Malan @HillmanLab; Jessica Liu @BITEL_Columbia; Harshit Harpaldas @SiaBME; and Sabrina Gjerswold-Selleck.

Well deserved! #NSFGRFP

[Sabrina @SabrinaSelleck]

@jackantonoff you lied :(

[Sabrina @SabrinaSelleck]

@NJGov everyone who walks in the room for the first time: “California, the UK, uhhh... pride”

[Sabrina @SabrinaSelleck]

hi @redhearsemusic @jackantonoff please appreciate this christmas gift made by @andrew_fong_ as much as I do

[Blue Origin @blueorigin]

Check out the full launch replay from #NS12 – including preshow with some great content from Blue https://t.co/8FBD62JzGZ

[Sabrina @SabrinaSelleck]

Doing my cell biology experiments on the Earth was getting old 🚀

[Michael Sheetz @thesheetztweetz]

NS-12 will fly a number of commercial payloads, including:

Two winning @okgo #ArtinSpace projects, a @Columbia study of microgravity’s impact on on cell biology (advised by @Astro_Mike), and OSCAR – a recycling technology payload from @NASAKennedy. #NS12