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Powered Exoskeletons In The Near Future?
PhReaKyDMoNKeY writes "Discover Magazine's latest issue has a story about powered exoskeletons and how they aren't terribly far off. Sounds pretty damn cool, except maybe for the centaur flatbed model. Screw a Segway, gimme one of these babies."
Is it just me, or does the image of the soldier on the first page of that article look like someone tried to add the "exoskeleton" in Microsoft Paint?
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I'm too old for the army, but I think it would be extremely fun to put on my "running pants" and motorcycle helmet and run 50 miles to work like the bionic man. I hope that the no pedestrians rule would be waived so I could use the commuter carpool lane.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
One of my favorite The Onion articles:
Stephen Hawking Builds Robotic Exoskeleton . It's got a great photo.
This isn't as much "normalization" as it is "don't take so many drugs when you're designing tables."
I will believe that exoskeletons are possible when I see such other anime cliches as germ warfare, human cloning, apocalyptic events and cynical plots to form a one world government come true.
Oh wait...
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
BURKE: I heard you were working in the cargo docks.
RIPLEY: That's right.
BURKE: Running loaders, forklifts, that sort of thing?
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It's obvious that this is a dead-end profession just waiting to happen!!! Don't buy into the hype!
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
For those of you having trouble getting through to the article you can see a picture of the proposed exoskeleton here
:)
I'm not really impressed with how tough giant robots are supposed to make people.
Well it depends just how giant they are. I mean, a 7 foot exoskeletal suit is one thing, a 500 foot tall mech with cannons for arms is another.
and I quote
"It is fatiguing to fight in heavy armor, but fighters wearing this protective gear are far from the clumsy behemoths often portrayed in film. If armor were that encumbring, no fighter in his right mind would have bothered with it, because being slowed that much would be tantamount to suicide. Modern reconstructions have shown that fighters in full suits of mail or plate can perform cartwheels, leap up directly from the ground, and even sprint for short distances. Great endurance is obviously required to fight for long periods in armor, and men-at-arms trained in armor from childhood to be able to do so."
Hasn't anyone else seen that discovery show where the guy in full plate does cartwheels?
An Education is the Font of All Liberty