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Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies - Science

foxnews.com — Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies, A Maryland company under contract to the Pentagon is working on a steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling up whatever organic material it can find -- grass, wood, old furniture, even dead bodies.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 16, 2009

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  • brandozilla, on 07/14/2009, -2/+93I really don't see any downside to forcing robots to devour humans in order to survive.
  • elbm, on 07/15/2009, -1/+64If it can feed on dead bodies-- it can feed on live ones too.
  • quetzzz, on 07/14/2009, -3/+59Skynet is pleased.
  • namja23, on 07/15/2009, -1/+42Wow, absolutely nothing can go wrong with this kind of technology...
  • SplitScreen, on 07/15/2009, -0/+34Here is a telephone conversation I overheard, sorry I could hear what the guy the general was speaking to was saying:
    "What do you mean there ain't much biomass in the desert?"
    "There's lots of Arabs, right?"
    "Call it acceptable 'collateral damage'."
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -2/+34Robots who can feed on dead bodies? The California legislature would be a perfect location to do field tests.
  • swizzcheez, on 07/15/2009, -1/+32Crap! It's the T.001!

    Actually, this could be useful -- a lawn mower that eats the clippings would sure be nice...
  • Ascus, on 07/16/2009, -0/+28The really scary part:
    "The advantages to the military are that the robot would be extremely flexible in fuel sources and could roam on its own for months, even years, without having to be refueled or serviced."
    Land mines that hunt. This is Dr. Doom worthy
  • NorrisOBE, on 07/16/2009, -1/+26OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!
  • JebBlack, on 07/14/2009, -0/+24Truth is stranger than fiction.
  • KarlH, on 07/16/2009, -0/+22Robot 1: "I sure could go for a dead body right now."
    Robot 2: "Me too. Do you know where we can find some?"
    Robot 1: "You can make them yourself. It's easy."
  • i38warhawk, on 07/15/2009, -1/+22Why limit this to robots? I want a car that can feed on dead bodies.
  • geoken, on 07/16/2009, -0/+21The only way you could make it better is if oxygen was poisonous to them and they had to destroy the atmosphere to exist.
  • Ascosis, on 07/16/2009, -0/+17so we skipped zombies and went straight to robot zombies... yeah we're screwed.
  • flangepiece, on 07/16/2009, -0/+15Reminds me of that time when I ate a whole bunch of people.
  • nirosive, on 07/14/2009, -1/+16So whatever they eat, they have to poop out, right? That makes it extra creepy!
  • braingilbreath, on 07/15/2009, -2/+16see - this is how the robots will take over.
  • rocknog, on 07/16/2009, -0/+14Yeah, until winter when the lawn is barren and the lawnmower gets hungry.
  • tweedius, on 07/14/2009, -3/+16CREEPY. Now, just give them AI and we're all doomed! :P
  • sildude, on 07/16/2009, -0/+12Don't give them any ideas...
  • beautifulbeast, on 07/16/2009, -1/+12They aren't hurting you if you're dead, so it complies to Mr. Asimov's law.
  • rocknog, on 07/16/2009, -0/+10And here, I always thought the robot uprising would be about taking a stand against human oppression. Turns out no, they just wind up getting the munchies.
  • allspark, on 07/15/2009, -0/+10has no one in the governemt seen the terminator movies?
  • inactive, on 07/16/2009, -2/+12STEAM powered robots?
  • blackmesa, on 07/16/2009, -1/+11Time to stock up on microwave ovens. When the inevitable happens, I'll have a good supply of anti-robot electromagnetic death-rays.
  • Karstark, on 07/16/2009, -1/+10Damn, what about Asimov's first law of robotics?
  • Mightbiteyou, on 07/16/2009, -0/+9they were repealed in Senate bill 04673
  • Sabretou, on 07/16/2009, -0/+9Good God, it's steam powered? We're going to see Steampunk Terminators!

    "Good sir, I will most certainly return post-haste."
  • cntlscrut, on 07/16/2009, -0/+9they are running on a form of AI. it's used to detect biomass objects that it can consume for energy. just not the AI that you're thinking of.
  • vicsvenge, on 07/16/2009, -3/+11that's not a violation of the geneva convention or anything...
  • tidu, on 07/16/2009, -1/+8Early 20th century

    "Okay, guys, we need to add in this provision about futuristic robots"
    *blank stares*
  • TobiasParker, on 07/16/2009, -0/+7Whose this Al guy you people are talking about?
  • artfiend77, on 07/16/2009, -3/+10I swear the first three times I read that title I read dead babies.
  • BotchaMcCoola, on 07/16/2009, -0/+6very helpful observation indeed.
  • CreateTheFuture, on 07/16/2009, -0/+6Your mom was friendly eaten last night.
  • labuzan, on 07/14/2009, -1/+7Dwight Shrute is freaking out after reading this.
  • GeneralChang, on 07/16/2009, -2/+8LMAO, when did fox news get bought out by something awful and the onion?

    Its powered by heat, not flesh and blood or souls of the fallen.

    it takes in garbage like grass clippings and uses the heat put out by the compost to create energy.
    So yeah its like the terminator in the sense that it takes heat and makes energy; which is really the cool story here.
  • inactive, on 07/16/2009, -2/+8No, it isn't.
  • sildude, on 07/16/2009, -0/+6Steam powered terminator basically.
  • iconoclysm, on 07/16/2009, -0/+6Proof that smart people make the biggest mistakes.
  • justok, on 07/16/2009, -2/+8No it can't. But, it can make live bodies dead, then eat them.
  • jcrs, on 07/16/2009, -1/+7So families will be unable to bury and honor the dead body of their loved ones. Great. If you think friendly fire sucks, wait until you hear the outcry from families of US soldiers who were "Friendly Eaten." Yeah, I just coined that term.
  • ifruit, on 07/16/2009, -0/+6It's Mr. Fusion, only much more terrifying.
  • beartrash, on 07/15/2009, -4/+9I, for one, welcome our new (human corpse eating) robot overlords.
  • RudeTurnip, on 07/16/2009, -0/+5That is called fiction.
  • Diggnabbit, on 07/16/2009, -0/+5Thank goodness. It's so annoying to have to plug in my Roomba. I think this is the answer!
  • BotchaMcCoola, on 07/16/2009, -0/+5Could it eat the brain dead as well? Those are costing us $6-8 million each and that means many lost jobs folks.
  • PeaTearGryphon, on 07/16/2009, -2/+7Cannibal perk?? That robot's gonna lose karma really fast if it eats too many of them...
  • Inkinator, on 07/16/2009, -0/+5What could possibly go wrong? o_0
  • Gavin, on 07/15/2009, -2/+6I don't know if I think this is awesome or offend that it eats dead bodies…
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