Princeton's bionic ear, capable of "hearing" radio waves

It seems that the association of living matter and electronics is becoming everyday - now you can’t surprise anyone with the news about a bionic prosthesis or another research in this area. Nevertheless, the news that Princeton University created the ear (and this is not a piece of plastic, and biomass), able to perceive radio waves, is still quite interesting. At the same time, the ear was printed on a more or less standard 3D printer, which is able to use various materials at work (including a hydrogel with a high content of stem cells, transforming later into cartilage tissue).

As can be seen in the announcement photo, this “ear” does not have a channel for the passage of an audio signal, but it does include an antenna, which, in fact, is a system that converts radio waves into electrical signals. The authors of the project claim that they can already now connect the electrodes of the artificial ear and the nerve endings of the human auditory organ. As a result, such a “cyborg” will hear what no other person has heard (without a radio receiver, of course) - radio waves. True, scientists do not yet say anything about the possibility of "changing the wave." After all, who needs to listen to "white noise" or coded radio messages, right?
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The ear itself, as mentioned above, was composed by mixing the hydrogel with stem cells and silver microparticles, which formed the antenna. The developers also claim that in the near future they will be able to create an ear that is able to perceive acoustic signals. To do this, scientists will need to embed in the ear more and several relevant sensors.

Work on the project was carried out for a long time, but only now the authors were able to combine the “pleasant with the useful”, that is, to use the developments of both biology / medicine and high technologies (including 3D printing). It may well be that very soon the first models of such ears will appear, which even a rumor will allow people with corresponding problems to be restored, and radio waves will allow them to “listen” without smartphones / radio receivers. Only here it’s really necessary to learn how to change the station, right?

Via phys