Mind control is the stuff of pure science fiction, but today reading data from your brain has never been more accurate, and that opens the way to, for example, controlling machines.

A recent drone flight from an airfield outside Lisbon may prove to be historic. Its flight was remotely controlled by the pilot’s mind. It’s an impressive result delivered by a European research project to develop technology to transform the lives of disabled people.

“It’s the first time we’ve done a public demonstration of a real flight, that’s completely unprecedented,” says the Tekever Brainflight project’s co-ordinator Ricardo Mendes

Like most drones, the unmanned plane receives radio commands from the ground. But instead of using a joystick and buttons, the pilot just thinks of the direction the plane should take.

“We’re switching from normal control to the “brain flight”. From this moment, it will be flown by the brainwaves of the pilot,” says Mendes.

The researcher at the controls focuses h