Posted on 01/02/2005 9:51:23 AM PST by BenLurkin
Scientists at the University of the West of England (UWE) have designed a robot that does not require batteries or electricity to power itself.
Instead, it generates energy by catching and eating houseflies.
Dr Chris Melhuish and his Bristol-based team hope the robot, called EcoBot II, will one day be sent into zones too dangerous for humans, potentially proving invaluable in military, security and industrial areas.
Melhuish, who is director of the Intelligent Autonomous Systems Lab at the UWE, told CNN that the EcoBot II was a result of a quest for an intelligent robot that could function without human supervision.
"That means they need energy. It is one thing to have a robot getting its energy from a household socket, or maybe from the factory floor, but it is another thing when the robot goes outside buildings," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Genuine, actual real life mad scientists.
The earlier trhread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1210749/posts?page=1
Imagine how useful a robot we could have if we gave it the ability to eat Democrats!
We could use a few of these in our house on those warm summer days. But first we'd have to train the grandchildren not to swat them.
"Hey, kid, you just swatted my $10 million prototype fly-muncher!"
I'd love one for the cottage...where do I order?
Let me know when they get one that eats mosquitoes and/or fire ants.
This gives me hope that someday we'll have liberal-eating robots.
How long before PETA tries to put a stop to this?
I know lets make a robot that lives by eating animals and maybe humans ! Yah thats a great idea.....
Don't these clowns ever watch sci-fi ? Every single B-Rated Scifi movie has this somewhere in its plot I swear it.
"Imagine how useful a robot we could have if we gave it the ability to eat Democrats!"
Sorry, they are inedible. They are so contaminated with hate, that they are toxic.
you know if it could eat flies...it could eat humans!
< Running away> < tripping over root> < unable to stand up> < covering eyes with forearm> AAAAUUURRRGH... < /scream>
So... Wonder how long before some terrorists or some despot gets ahold of some larger models and sets them loose....
...Oh Great!, Wait till the Eco-Wackos hear this. :)
BTTT!!!!!!
If it uses human sewage to attract flies, what would it use to attract humans?
Barbecue? Beer? The scent of Angelina Jolie?
the plot is this: the robot is designed to work on house fly energy, but since the robot is super-intelligent, it re-builds itself to work on human energy.
or, we could start the movie with a robot used in the funeral business to get rid of corpses by eating them. then the robot learns that live humans taste much better.
i see a whole series of evil robot movies . . .
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