5.30.2006

Slime Mold controls robot

What the?! Why would someone even THINK of this?
Scientists hook slime mold up and let it control a robot. Why? WHY? WHY?

Seriously, who thought this was a good idea? Let's think about the description of slime mold...
"Physarum polycephalum is a large single-celled organism that responds to food sources, such as bacteria and fungi, by moving towards and engulfing it."

Engulfing it! You're putting a very aggressive organism in control of a robot, and letting the robot learn.

Yes, it is a slime mold. Yes it is a simple 6-legged robot. But this is not a good place to start!

Robots with Tentacles

Apparently robots were having a hard time grasping or 'grappling' oddly shaped objects (Like People!) so scientists created a robot with tentacles to grab a greater variety of objects.
Thank heavens for those helpful scientists, for creating Octarm.
And thank DARPA for funding them.

Danger Rating: 7
They are still controlled by people, and don't seem to get around well...Yet.

5.08.2006

And This Surprises Who...?

...or should that be, "whom"?

People have finally figured out that an attack by robot drones could pose a serious, possibly unstoppable threat. Apparently, they don't show up on radar as more than a small flock of birds, that is, if they're even noticed at all.

I imagine this could conceivably become the V-1 of the "War on Terrorism". Soon we'll start seeing machine gun nests springing up in cities across the globe as a pre-emptive measure.

Here's the plot of a movie that I can see coming out of this: Ter'ists build a bunch of these things, equipped with explosives, cameras, and full on remote controls. They surreptitiously place wireless repeaters at strategic locations across the city of Washington, D.C. They launch the planes/helicopters from a park in Maryland or Virginia. The controllers are sitting in the Starbucks on the corner across from the Old Executive Office Building. They're sipping cappucino and watching the progress from wireless laptops. To everyone else, it looks like they're playing some online game...

If there are any Hollywood types who want to talk about a script, RSVP in the comments section. I'm looking for at least seven figures here and a big name star. Sam Jackson should be available once Snakes on a Plane wraps. Oh, and I do know the difference between the net and the gross, and the definition of "residuals".

If there are any NSA folks reading this blog, my fellow Doom bloggers and I are available to brainstorm endless scenarios of robotic, er, doom, for the same seven figures mentioned above. You probably have ours numbers already.