What is Digg?60 Comments
- roguescout, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15*****! What a let-down!
I thought it said, "kills mimes".
Well, I can still dream. - tomee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Unfortunately some signs of a hoax are there. An inventor works alone and discovers a machine that does something science says shouldn't be possible. Then he refuses to tell anyone how it works, and now he stands to make a LOT of money with it in business deals. I remain skeptical for now...
- jarcoal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8now if they can build one to drive around my apt looking for my keys...
- KamikazeeDriver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@ soogy
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
nice reference.
"Michael, I'm detecting a large number of explosives, ahead 40 feet, 200 feet below the surface!"
"Thanks KITT, you kick ass, now lets go look cool driving around for babes"
"Yes Michael" - StrawberryFrog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Yes, that one. Except if you read the article, "the announcement by a group of adventurers that they have found an estimated 600 barrels of gold coins and Incan jewels" - doesn't mean that they have any actual gold in thier hands. All it means is that they said "we found the gold, it's down there". And since September 2005 how much of the gold has been actually recovered? none. It's a hoax.
- individual61, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'd like to contribute something. I live in Chile, in Santiago. I'm doing an MSc in Physics (Quantum Optics, should you care to ask). I've read an interview with the creator of said robot.
The man is
a) delusional
b) taking everyone for a ride.
He mashes together scientific sounding words in order to make an impressive-sounding construct that journalists will dilligently jot down and report. And that gets done quite efficiently by Chilean journalists, who are great at reporting, but not so hot at critical thinking. I shared the interview (in El Mercurio) with my fellow officemates at the University, and we were in tears. Laughter or crying, I'm still not sure.
Here's a quote from the above article:
--Mario Favre, a physics professor at Catholic University in Santiago, is outright dismissive.
"What the owners of the machine say is simply delirious," Favre said. --
This guy, on the other hand, is no cook. He's a respected member of the scientific community (and is a nice guy too, his office is down the hall from mine).
In summary, everyone in Chile who is scientifically literate (unfortunately, mainly those who are studying or have studied something related to science) has identified this robot and its creator for what they are: a grab for publicity.
I'll close this comment with a link to a letter sent in to the Mercurio newspaper in January this year, written by Prof Urich Volkmann (fun guy, we often chat if we bump into each other as I'm getting the motorbike all saddled up, ready to go home).
http://editorial.elmercurio.com/archives/2006/01/arturito_huye_d_1.asp
And for those of you who speak spanish and are too lazy to follow the link,
--
Señor Director:
Arturito huye con mucha razón. Por otro lado, con su engaño Arturito confirmó que en un país, que cuenta con menos de un físico experimental por cada medio millón de habitantes, todo es posible, menos un sólido desarrollo tecnológico, un consolidado desarrollo económico y un bienestar para una amplia parte de la población (que no depende en primer lugar del precio del cobre).
Sin un aumento importante y permanente del apoyo a la investigación básica en física teórica y especialmente en física experimental, Chile va a permanecer como “El país del Arturito”. Eso significa un país con periodistas y autoridades vulnerables a las promesas falsas de “pseudo-científicos”, un paraíso para vendedores de productos engañosos (ejemplo, Arturito, imanes para economizar el consumo de gasolina, etcétera) y con una economía vulnerable a fluctuaciones en los precios de materias primas y de energía fósil.
Dr. Ulrich G. Volkmann
Diplom-Physiker. Miembro de la Sociedad de Física Alemana DPG y Sociedad Chilena de Física SoChiFi
--
I'd like to leave you - Superpoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4this was from the last year, I think it was fake (I'm from Chile), becouse it just didn't do anything appart from moving around...
P.s: and his name is arturito - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4yeah i'd call ***** on this. as stated before "mysterious inventor discovers super secret sauce" has all the hallmarks of a scam.
it could easily just be traditional ground pentitrating radar that found the body and the guns. and as for the treasure, well until they dig it up how do they know they have found anything?
besides, if you found 10 BILLION in gold would you wait for someones permission to dig it up. would you tell anyone? ***** that i'd dig that ***** up and slowly ship it off to some little island country and live like a king for the rest of my life. - edgardcastro, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6This is the same robot that found 600 barrels of Gold in Chile estimated at 10 billion dollars.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1578135,00.html - dgendreau, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The Tooth Fairy is holding it while the Easter Bunny mediates the dispute.
Can you spell Hoax? - Migdilio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6A crime-fighting robot? Why is this news? They've been around since the 80s.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083437/ - boredzo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4So... it's a Mystery Machine?
*ducks flying tomatoes* - StrawberryFrog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ok, I'm marking this as lame - it's not hard to find some skeptics by putting "Salinas hoax chile" into google.
Good ones:
http://www.peeniewallie.com/2005/10/did_arturito_fi.html
http://www.peeniewallie.com/2005/10/crusoe_island_t.html
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=286506&no=253230&rel_no=1
It's apparently a remote-controlled-rover, not a robot.
If you'd invented a magical new way of looking into the ground, would your first thought be that you *have* to mount it in a miniature mars rover? No, it's a gimmick, a distraction, a flim-flam. - arpad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It does have the hallmarks of a scam, doesn't it? Still, there's that gold, the weapons and the body his gadget found. It'd be one damned smart scam artist to pull off some of those finds.
Assuming it isn't a hoax it sounds like some kind of variation of an MRI although I can't imagine what you could do to an MRI so it would reach down through a couple of hundred meters of earth and squeeze into a relatively small vehicle like the one in the picture. - squison, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3is its name Awesomo?
- RyomaNagare, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Please take the word from the people that live here in Chile.
This is quite a naive country and most people are not accustomed, to this kind of HOAXES, some of the most prestigious universities invited this Salinas Character, and all of his science is misty, and enigmatic, i dare say this guy rewrote the whole laws of physics for this stuff to work.
There is no miraculous robot, nor hidden Gold. - StrawberryFrog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But it doesn't touch the ground - it's on little wheels
- dgendreau, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I smell a hoax. The gold discovery mentioned in the article is a big giveaway.
Ooh, we found 10 billion dollars worth of gold, but we have a dispute with the Chilean government over it, so we cant actually show it to you. He is giving himself an out so when someone investigates his gold discovery claim and finds no evidence of it, he can immediately say its a government cover-up.
The bodies he discovered could have been found using ordinary short range ground penetrating radar. The mineral deposit tests could easily have been faked using publicly available data and a little social engineering. - vampirical, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Blast, was editing this comment when my time ran out. I didn't even consider that the timer wouldn't be stopped when I started editting the comment. Oh well, mod down and such.
- karch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3*****, so who kept the money? did chile just suddenly become $10,000,000,000 richer?
- StrawberryFrog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If it's a new way of looking into the ground, why is in a robot? That doesn't make sense.
- Irfit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Im from chile, and yup, arturito is a hoax.
and, old news - as2003, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"bouncing a nuclear signal off materials to search for specific atomic compositions"
What is a 'nuclear signal'? Sounds like pure ***** to me. - Metman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This is a hoax and its over a year old.
*sigh* Where has the 'real' Digg.com gone...? - fugazi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cant it send sound waves through the ground and when it hits something 'differnt' wouldnt it bounce back up?
- NeilSkoglund, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2i think they need to get their measurements right!
University investigators announced laboratory and field tests indicating that the Geo-Radar technology is capable of quickly finding copper deposits, petroleum, and gold bullion at depths of up to 600 feet (200 meters).
Neira, of Medellín, Colombia's Universidad Tecnológico Metropolitano (UTEM), told reporters that Geo-Radar was 98 percent effective in finding and mapping underground copper deposits at depths of up to 600 feet (183 meters). - Darwinian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmm I'm going to dig it.
In archeology they use GeoPhysics to scan ground, perhaps the same concept.
However the geophys results I've seen are often not that accurate and are distrupted by power lines and other electromagnetism.
Even so, cool. - aroedl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You are actually using seismic waves. Build up an array of mobile seismographs and shake the ground with seismic vibration vehicles:
http://www.eomd.esa.int/booklets/ibooklet176_6.asp
http://www.indvehicles.com/2lndsmcdprfl.htm
http://www.eomd.esa.int/booklets/booklet176.asp - SlowOnTheUptake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Chile certainly does not have a monopoly on naivety, it's a universal characteristic. Have a look at this episode from France: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Oil_Sniffer_Hoax It seems very similar.
- hkfczrqj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@individual61
You left out probably the best quotes around. They clearly show that the guy is nuts, or a bad advertiser at most:
Free translation:
"This is the integration of of the basic unit of the conformation of life as it is currently known. As such, I can tell that our unit is the integration of highly sophisticated electronic components, capable of 'deciphering' the equation of unanimity of chaos theory in the context of an integral raised to the power of the radical exponential, based on the conformation of species as they are known after 20,000 years of assisted evolution."
This kind of hoaxes can only happen in Chile :(
/Chilean physicist too - shotgunefx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2:lol:
No, it's name is The Turk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk) - kokobaroko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yes, they were bitching and yet government didnt wanted to share "nonexistant" treasure :)
- tylerni7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's the first thing that came to my mind, but there aren't any people that I know of who can detect copper deposits 600 feet below the ground, or find bodies and hidden weapons for that matter...
- Dysanovic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Damn! When I saw the title of this Digg and clicked on the link I was hoping to see a picture of Robocop!
- zenghost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1can it say go-go gadget? didn't think so...
- yaosio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We've already gone over that it's a hoax, but here's a few ways to tell if something is a hoax.
The inventor claims it does something that breaks the laws of physics. (This goes with the next one)
The inventor refuses to let anybody test the device, or if he does will only test it with a group nobody has ever heard of.
The inventor refuses to sell any of the items because of some vauge reason that makes no sense. It's usually something about protecting his invention. Nobody ever asks why they are protecting the invention if they don't plan on using it to make money or better the world either.
The above group nobody has ever heard of announces that the device works as stated and then refuses to give any data on the tests performed. - mikeazorin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I should hope so, look at the guy!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/images/060522-robots_big.jpg - noodhoog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sounds like hi tech dowsing to me. There's all kinds of scam artists out there trying to sell expensive dowsing devices powered off Q-Crystals and XenoBioFartRays(tm) and what not. Seems like this guy's just cobbled it together with the idea of robotics.
And should anyone be in any doubt, yes, dowsing is a bunch of hooey. It's also one of the most persistant bits of psuedoscience around, right up there with homeopathy, as it really really looks like it works until you actually analyse the data carefully (which most people don't bother to do, as they're already convinced it works - they've 'seen it for themselves', after all!), so a lot of people end up fooling themselves and genuinely believe they're on to something.
Piles of press clippings (a.k.a. anecdotal evidence) don't prove a thing. Carefully controlled tests prove things. This reeks of hoax to me. - fitix82, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1THIS IS A HOAX...I'm from Chile...I'm a student of engineering, and EVERYONE here, at least in the scientific community, describes this machine as a HOAX...This guy is such an idiot...he comes from one of the worst Universities in Chile, without academic credentials, he is not even a scientist...this man is a SALES ENGINEER!..OMG and this thing did the front page! =(
- Djerrid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For all of you crying "'hoax!', here's a simple test of its authenticity.
Send that robot to Iraq and have it search for the "atomic compositions" uranium, VX and anthrax. If it doesn't find anything within a set period of time, it must be accurate. ;) - alphager, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Fake:
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=286506&no=253230&rel_no=1
http://www.peeniewallie.com/2005/10/manual_salinas.html - infra172, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2How soon until this is a pilot on NBC?
- dgendreau, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2oops
- ElGigi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A HOAX and a total crap...
I'm from Chile, and here this is old news.The guy who buildt this fake "robot" went to an university and tried to explain how it works in front of students and university professors, and he talked just a bunch of false science
crap.
Old news, and total crap, i can't believe this made it to Nat Geo - soogy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5[doot, da doot, da doot, da da da da da da da da... doot, da doot, da doot, da da da da da da da da... doot, da doot, da doot, da da da da da da da da... doot, da doot, da doot, da da da da da da da da... dum da da dum... dum da da dum... dum da da da dummmm]
Knight Rider, a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the powerless, the helpless in a world of criminals who operate above the law. - rebrane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The 'nuclear signal' part is not in dispute, at least not if the article is at all accurate.
[Physics professor] Favre admits that the technology allegedly used by Salinas--bouncing a nuclear signal off materials to search for specific atomic compositions--works.
"But to reach beyond 30 centimeters [12 inches] of depth is today considered a technological advance. And here we are talking about 50 meters [164 feet]."
It seems likely that this is a hoax, but it is surprising that National Geographic and (somewhat less surprising) the Chilean investigative agency are going for it. - gargantuan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3That, in short, is an amazing little robot. RTA to find out why. Is it a hoax, I hope not. It would be a pretty elobarate hoax if it was.
- troyh72, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0There was an article in FHM magazine, the US version, this month. It was about a treasure hunter that was looking for the lost gold on Robinson Crusoe Island. It talked about this robot, and said it was a hoax. At least I think it did, my memory is a little foggy. But it did talk about this robot.
- vampirical, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"University investigators announced laboratory and field tests indicating that the Geo-Radar technology is capable of quickly finding copper deposits, petroleum, and gold bullion at depths of up to 600 feet (200 meters).
"This reduces the time of exploration from three months to one day," said engineering professor Ricardo Neira Navarro at a press conference in Santiago, the national capital.
Neira, of Medellín, Colombia's Universidad Tecnológico Metropolitano (UTEM), told reporters that Geo-Radar was 98 percent effective in finding and mapping underground copper deposits at depths of up to 600 feet (183 meters)."
AHH! The conversion between feet and meters is changing by the minute. Goofy little mistake but I found it funny. - individual61, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@hkfczrqj,
That's precisely the quote I was talking about. Jesus, it just makes me so sad that one moron can garner so much attention by blowing away centuries of structured and rational observation and explanation of the world around us. But then again, the front page of La Cuarta is always what happened yesterday on TV...
p. -
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