Posted on 12/29/2013 5:08:15 PM PST by SamAdams76
You may not have noticed it, but over the past year Google has bought eight robotics companies. Its most recent acquisition is an outfit called Boston Dynamics, which makes the nearest thing to a mechanical mule that you are ever likely to see. It's called Big Dog and it walks, runs, climbs and carries heavy loads. It's the size of a large dog or small mule – about 3ft long, 2ft 6in tall, weighs 240lbs, has four legs that are articulated like an animal's, runs at 4mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, climbs muddy hiking trails, walks in snow and water, carries a 340lb load, can toss breeze blocks and can recover its balance when walking on ice after absorbing a hefty sideways kick.
You don't believe me? Well, just head over to YouTube and search for "Boston Dynamics". There, you will find not only a fascinating video of Big Dog in action, but also confirmation that its maker has a menagerie of mechanical beasts, some of them humanoid in form, others resembling predatory animals. And you will not be surprised to learn that most have been developed on military contracts, including some issued by Darpa, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the outfit that originally funded the development of the internet.
Should we be concerned about this? Yes, but not in the way you might first think.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Not all liberals are not stupid. However, all liberals are depraved & immoral.
For now, land based robots will be pack mules....
Less men in the field or more arms depending on the mission
God hasn’t been dethroned and never will be. Be aware yes. Be anxious no.
In the meantime whatever of Google can be used to the good, should be. I am not sure I grasp the harm in a bunch of rich men’s play toys used for amusement. Play doesn’t have to be evil. It can reflect God’s glory through us, just for the sake of the wonder (and a considerable amount of that glory has been expressed in what we call high tech). Let’s have entire circuses of these mech-beasts, as far as I’m concerned.
We should not fear technology. It is a wonderful blessing. We should shun its use for degraded purposes, and that is not a technology problem. That is a people (and devil) problem.
I would like to point out that much, perhaps most, of liberalism is Christian ethics sans the Christ. It is religion gone bad, and that’s why formerly religious America has seen such a special breed of it.
Robotics is the system of tools that will enable the industrialization of space and extraction of planetary resources throughout the solar system.
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