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Rats, Robots, And Rescue Follow Up
Dr. Robin Murphy writes "An editorial comparing the proposed roborats with the rescue robots actually used at the WTC response by the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue appeared last month in
IEEE Intelligent Systems Magazine. A slightly longer version is at
Crasar.org. Note that the rescue robots was in Discover Magazine's Top 100 stories of 2002."
Rats!
Yay! Now we can play Lemmings for real!
The thought of robotically controlled rats scares me somewhat...
Although, this has been happening for a long time...
That's basically what congress is, right, a bunch of rats controlled remotely by lobbyists, right? Of course that group of remotely controlled rats scares me too. I'm just gonna go hide in a cave with some real rats... I feel much safer there.
So if I get trapped underground, I won't know if the horde of rats that just found me are there to gnaw me to death, or are advance scouts for a rescue team? Or both?
Karma: Excellent^(-t/Tau), Tau=Wittiness/Trollishness
"The critters just aren't as lively as they used to be," said a resident of the 34th street station who declined to give his name. It's about time they found some replacements.
A spokesman for the MTA said that if the robotic rats were proven successful in the testing stages, other metropolitan areas would make the switch in the year to come.
"We really expect these robotic rats to perform." he said. "They don't produce as much waste, and can draw power directly from the third rail."
When asked about the comparatively high price of the robotic rats as compared to the freely available conventional ones, the official claimed that while the organic rats were free to aquire, the Total Cost of Onership was much higher, given the cleanup and maintenance costs.
"You know, these robotic rats, they will never unionize, and we will not have any unrest among their ranks. Overall, we think this switch will reduce our rat-related expenditures by up to 40% over the next few years."
Ñ'
Human Rescue : Have you located the victim ?
Rat Rescue : munch munch, eh no, munch, not yet.
Human Rescue : Whats that gnawing sound ?
Rat Rescue : Gnawing sound ? What gnawing sound ? I dont hear anything.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Scientist 1:
Ok see we get these rats but they are not just any old rats.
They are robo-controlled rats, see.
We use them in rescue missions and other noble pursuits.
Scientist 2:
Do you think they will figure we just glued lego blocks to the heads of trained rats?
Scientist 1:
Nah, they are too dumb to check.
Yeah, something like that..
ACK
Rats are probably the most ideal animals for rescuing people from collapsed buildings -- they find you through the smallest cracks and the bonus is that you can eat them while waiting for the rescue crew dig you up.
Only thing you'd need to check is whether the victims are allergic. While I kind of like waking up in middle of night because a rat is sitting on my head (has happened more than once), I and quite many other people would choke to death quite quickly if forced to live with a fat furry rat in a small cavity for a prolonged time.
Cherish your rat.