Academic

Our new insect overlords

By Mark Weidemaier

Robots again. When it's not self-feeding, "vegetarian" robots programmed (trust us!) not to desecrate the dead, it's ramen-making robot chefs. They're everywhere. So I'm sure we're all looking forward to a world populated by hordes of tiny, crawling or flying, insect-like military robots. In keeping with today's weird science theme, here's a suitably martial video animation of this (for now) futuristic technology. (Warning: requires ActiveX plug in.)

I suppose this is a better use of tax dollars than research into whether ants can be trained to sort tiny screws in space.  And for those who can't wait for our new insect overlords to become a technological reality, here are some actual robots inspired by animals.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on August 08, 2009 (boomark / email).