Here's the cyborg tech that Elon Musk says he'll do if no one else does

In a sweeping conversation at the Code Conference, Elon Musk touched on a number of projects he's working on — and several he might.

Here's a new one. Asked about the advancements in tech, Musk praised the state of innovation but said he would like to see more in non-internet sectors like health care.

"Something I think is going to be quite important — I don't know of a company that's working on it seriously — is a neural lace," he said.

Yeah, me neither. Luckily, Gizmodo walked through an explanation of the concept. It's a long-standing science fiction thought experiment in nanotechnology — a "wireless brain-computer interface" that allows neurons to move with thoughts. Researchers released what amounts to a prototype for the concept last year.

Here's Gizmodo:

A group of chemists and engineers who work with nanotechnology published a paper this month in Nature Nanotechnology about an ultra-fine mesh that can merge into the brain to create what appears to be a seamless interface between machine and biological circuitry. Called "mesh electronics," the device is so thin and supple that it can be injected with a needle — they’ve already tested it on mice, who survived the implantation and are thriving.

If executed, neural laces could impact neurodegenerative disease detection and cellular biology.

If no one can execute neural laces, Musk, the CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, said he might.

"Somebody's got to do it," he said. "If somebody doesn't do it, then I think I should do it."

Musk said something similar about Hyperloop, the advanced theoretical transit system he laid out years ago. He also promised he would launch a rocket to Mars by 2018.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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