Slashdot Mirror
Robot Walks on Water
gmletzkojr writes "Yahoo! News has a story about a robot built to walk on water, much like small insects, bugs, and of course, Jesus. The current robot is only a prototype, but more 'useful' robots are already being imagined." This puts into practice what scientists learned just last year.
So now that we got a really tiny robot that walks on water, what can we do with it ?
- Leon Mergen
http://www.solatis.com
When it can turn tap water into wine/beer/rum I'll buy one...
I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born - Ronald Reagan
Follow a few links and you get to here....n o/projects /waterstrider/
http://www.me.cmu.edu/faculty1/sitti/na
Still trying to figure out why this is a useful invention though...
Here, no new info, but a couple of pictures of the dye tests and the robot itself.
2000 years ago Jesus was a carpenter; now He builds robots. There is hope for geeks yet. :p
Writhe your naked ass to the mindless groove.
Wait until they made one that can walk on lava, it'll be really useful for some scientific research in volcanos.
Uselessful technology (Air-Charged
I think the most important part of this article and development is the fact that the pure research came up with the knowledge last year, and has quickly produced a working model. I think it's a good show of the need for pure research in all fields of science, but it ain't gonna win a nobel prize.
Since these little things rely on some form of surface tension, will a surfact tension modified such as oil or soap affect them.
Bacardi + slashdot = negative karma.
This just confirms what I've long suspected. Jesus was a robot.
It might not be immediately usefull, but anything that pushes robotics into new areas is good in my book.
We've already done walking, flying and swimming bots, so why not skimming?
The BBC link from the previous article clearly shows a robot was successfully made in 2003 -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3126299. stm
Groundbreaking new robot crucified by Romans.
Film at Eleven.
You're doing it wrong.
One day Jesus and Moses are out on the heavenly golf course. Moses hits a wicked slice, right into a water hazard. He parts the water, retrieves his ball, and hits a great shot right onto the green. Jesus tees up, and hits into the same water hazard. Jesus confidently walks out onto the water, but sinks like a rock. Moses helps him out of the water, coughing and spluttering. "What happened?" says Moses. Jesus replies, "I didn't have these damn holes in my feet last time."
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
"Sitti and other researchers imagine that his water-skimming robot could be used on any still water. With a chemical sensor, it could monitor water supplies for contamination or other toxins; with a camera it could be a spy or an explorer; with a net or a boom, it could skim contaminants off the top of water." ... if only someone could invent some kind of, oh, I don't know... radio controlled boat.
Are you saying Jesus was a robot???
No, just his followers.
i think the problem with skimming is that it relies on very specific conditions...
...Otherwise you're risking breaking the miniscus (spag?).......in theory, it would be good as something to explore a watery area undetected (i.e. it creates very little wake) or just to travel through shallow (5mm) water, but i'd like to see a true application of said robot...
- the robot has to be VERY light
- the robot has to be very small
Would be nice to combine this with the insect-eating robot that was mentioned a few days ago.
Bye bye mosquito's!!
--Use ant to make
Develop immunity to that!
It could be positioned in a mosquito filled lake... then quite cleverly skim accross water systematically and send a sharp, high frequency signal accross the surface of the water.... i think that might just work :-)
At first I thought "Why not have one of these with a wireless transmitter, testing for PH imbalance, chlorine levels, even surface temperature, and then sending it back to some sort of auto-clronie / ph adjustment / heater system..." Then I realized, you could build the testing into the distribution system. So, anyway, what's this for again?
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
Pack it with a radar and a mini-gun. Then you can watch it frag those bugs running around on your garden fountain.
Apple built a platform for their ideas, Google built one for everyone's.
If you're ever chased by water-walking killer robots from the future, just throw some soap or detergent in the water to mess up the surface tension. They never plan for that! (This might also work for water-walking religous figures, but I wouldn't recommend it.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
just use legs that float?
a beowulf cl.... nah, better not...
When I was little I had a capsula ( http://www.discoverthis.com/capsula.html ) set that could walk on water... didn't anyone else?
Oh -- it looks like they're still being made... I guess it's time to find out my Visa's credit limit.
Peter, John, and Jesus are sailing on the Galilee. As the trio near the shore, Jesus hops from the boat and calmly walks across the water to dry ground. He turns to his apostles and calls, "Come!"
Without a moment's hesitation John jumps from the boat and strides confidently to the shore and takes up position next to Jesus. They embrace, turn and both implore Peter, "Come!" Peter cautiously steps out of the boat and after not even a step sinks to the bottom.
John asks, "Master, should we have told him where the rocks are?"
"Yahoo! News has a story about a robot built to walk on water, much like small insects, bugs, and of course, Jesus. The current robot is only a prototype, but more 'useful' robots are already being imagined."
I've never met a bug that wasn't an insect.
Hey it's nothing special. My AIBO did that last winter without any problems.
2000 years ago Jesus was a carpenter
His dad was the carpenter. He was just "On top of the world."
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
The page of the project is on the site of the uni. Here is the cached version :
w ww.me.cmu.edu/faculty1/sitti/nano/projects/waterst rider/+&hl=fr
http://www.google.be/search?q=cache:-PDGwjm17ycJ:
On that page they also have a video.
-
Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education. Bertrand Russel
those would make great bath toys for geeks!
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=18341
umm - maybe they could merge, provide pool-cleaning facilities, say.
h
Perfect sig for sale - only one careful owner
Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious
...in the original version he was simply swimming, no miracle at all.
One of the few cases where the second version is more interesting than the original.
You can attach boosters to anything. It just costs more. -
Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 07, @12:26PM
soap...
Z
When they put these robot insects out on a lake to monitor shit, they will not be killed by other insects. You know why? BECAUSE ROBOTS DON'T TASTE VERY GOOD. So robots are superior than biological creatures, and they will take over the earth and suck our brains dry (because humans are still yummy). And if that wasn't bad enough, we will all later wake up in a dystopian future and be forced to hang out with keanu reeves for the rest of our lives. :(
Will code a sig generator for food
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/2 6/0141229&tid=134&tid=146&tid=126&tid= 14
I suppose next you will be telling me the water to wine was the result of a zero day root exploit?
Or the feeding the 5000 was a result of a W32.welchia ancestor inside a dodgy scroll?
I can just see it now
Subject: "Are you hungry?"
Bodytext: "Open this attachment now to feed yourself and your family"
liqbase
I've never met a bug that wasn't an insect.
Spider. Centipede. Woodlouse. Met any of these?
IIRC, the major features of insects are having six legs and a distinct head, thorax, and abdomen. Many small insect-like creatures don't have these.
There is an order of true bugs in the insect kingdom, but that's only one of the meanings of the word, and certainly the less used.
Oh, and nits aren't bugs, either. Formally, they're the eggs of lice, not the lice themselves.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This will be a bastard to crucify.
It's called a boat.
As log as your reach out, touch faith.
simply swimming ....in the middle of the Mediterranian Sea...in a storm...so far from shore experienced fishermen in a boat were sure they would die...riiiiiiiight
Mosquito Terminator 1000 (in a tiny ultrasonic voice) "I'll be baaaaack." (Mosquitos spray it with detergent and it sinks.) "No, you won't!"
http://www.engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=god-je sus.jpg&category=Toys&date=2002-10-16
I wonder if it can walk on water.
Doubtful.
The most prevalent form of the Matthew text is Greek (the most widely understood written language in the region). The Greek word used in the Matthew text is transliterated "peripateo" - to walk. The Greek word for "swim" is transliterated "kolympo" - to bathe or swim.
However, tradition strongly suggests that the original Matthew writings would have favored Hebrew (highly plausible - given his background). If so, it's original form is lost. Yet, there are distinct words for walk and swim in Hebrew, also. Translators understanding both languages would have been able to avoid a confusion pretty easily.
The little guy just ain't getting it, is he?
I was forced off of my computer by a thug who wants to make me look bad(Retro gamer).I apoligise if "my comment" offended you.
Sitti estimates his spartan prototype cost about $10 in materials to make.
:)
Great! So, show me how!
No, I was raised as a protestant, but I've resigned from the church a long time ago. This has saved me quite a chunk of tax money.
they just have build this robot, because if they build one that opens the sea like moises they would have problems with greepeace
Fry: "So, what's the deal? You guys don't believe in Robot-Jesus?"
Jewish Bot: "We believe he was built and that he was a very well programmed robot, but he wasn't our messiah."
can't sleep slashdot will eat me
How about fly-eating robots? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns999 96366.
You're taking this pretty seriously, aren't you? Anyway, it doesn't really matter for me what was written in that old book, there are more interesting things to do like drooling for a robot that can walk on the water :-)
Ok, I clicked the links and read...but come one, can't there be a picture of this little thing!! I mean, it loses a little bit of collness factor when I can't see what it looks like walking on water.
Really though, will this really be that important. I am guessing that any application of a water walking robot would require relatively calm and stable water conditions. That basically limits the times and places it could be used. I mean, we already have things that can "walk on water" and can be used almost everywhere...they're called boats.
Bah. My roommate did this three years ago when he was an undergrad at MIT for his senior thesis. He designed and built it himself. You can see it here. Granted, it is entirely mechanical, but dang it's cool. He's got a video of it going across water.
Most recently he built a robotic snail that, in its current incarnation, actually goes completely upside down. Oddly enough, he calls it robosnail.
Did I mention the dude makes his own swords?
http://www.plif.com/archive/wc103.gif
If noone rtfa, then what's the slashdot effect?
I'm pretty sure that this bot would also float (appart from water walking). It wouldn't make much sense otherwise, as a small wave, detergent, etc, would sink it. Also, I am not familiar with the dynamics of walking on water, but is walking on water more efficient than plowing through it like a boat?
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
The bible is full of translation errors; the most well known is probably the one with the camel that goes through the eye of a needle.
Other stuff was placed in deliberately to substantiate the leading role of the "professional church": the stuff about "you're Petrus, the rock I will build my church upon" is pure hogwash and actually completely against the original Christian ideas which did not include any sort of professional church organization. In fact, that was one of the really novel things about early Christianity that professional priests (like Rabbis) and especially no "super leader" (which is nowadays referred to as "the pope") are not only not needed but even unwanted.
Where did you get this stat that they would have a mass equal to the mass of this planet? I don't think just getting rid of the predators would allow this to happen. Other problems would arise like where to get nutrients from, hell, even where to land when they got tired.
You're taking this pretty seriously, aren't you?
... but, there's some pretty interesting stuff in that old book.
Couldn't tell how serious you were.
Just like your original post suggested, people often read different things into the words you use.
I dig the robot, too
The little guy just ain't getting it, is he?
More importantly I never thought water bugs stayed on the surface by "making tiny waves." I've lived near the water (both fresh and salt) all my life and I've known that bugs walked on water by not breaking the surface tension for as long as I can remember being aware of such bugs. I believe it was explained to me using bubbles and the meniscus seen in a glass of water as visuals. Who was confused about this until 1993?
"Sitti's prototype is especially impressive considering researchers didn't really know how water skimmers actually walked on water until last year.
The bugs support themselves on water because they're not heavy enough to break the surface tension of water, like a needle that floats."
I don't get it. I have known this since I was a kid.
Do your best, hope for the best, suspect the worst.
Jesus was having a bad day in Heaven. He was concerned because more and more people of The Earth were using drugs. So he summoned his disciples to an emergency meeting. They talked and thought of ways to solve the drug-problem, but they could not figure out a way. So they decided that in order to solve the problem, they had to understand the problem. So Jesus sent his disciples back to Earth, with a mission top gather drugs from all corners of the world, so they could study them.
Days passed, and Jesus was getting nersous. Then he heard a knock on the door:
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Matthew"
"What did you bring with you?"
"Crack-cocaine from Los Angeles"
"Very good my child, come on in"
Jesus opened the door, and Matthew stepped inside
Then there was another knock on the door:
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Peter"
"What did you bring with you?"
"Ecstacy from Amsterdam"
"Very good my child, come on in"
Jesus opened the door and Peter stepped in.
Then there was another knock on the door:
"Who is it?"
"It's me, John"
"What did you bring with you?"
"Khat from Mogadishu"
"Very good my child, come on in"
Jesus opened the door and John stepped in
Then there was another knock on the door:
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Simon"
"What did you bring with you?"
"Heroin from Moscow"
"Very good my child, come on in"
Jesus opened the door and Simon stepped in.
Then there was anothe knock on the door:
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Judas"
"What did you bring with you?"
"DEA motherfuckers! Hands against the wall!"
Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
Fry: "So, what's the deal? You guys don't believe in Robot Jesus?"
Jewish Bot: "We believe he was built and that he was a very well programmed robot, but he wasn't our messiah."
"The bible is full of translation errors; the most well known is probably the one with the camel that goes through the eye of a needle. "
Ignorance is bliss isn't it? this isn't a translation error. The "eye of a needle" was the name of one of the entrances into Jerusalem where a camel would have to get onto its knees in order to actually fit through the gate.
sophisticated engineering from the fyoochore! next up: AT-AT, let's make them walk- why not?
--
"pain is weakness leaving the body."The water strider project's home page can be found here.
The CM NanoRobotics home page is here.
Both have pictures of the bot and many others.
BENDER: So you guys don't believe in Robot Jesus?
RABBIBOT: We believe that he was built, and that he was a very well-programmed robot, but he was not our Messiah.
It comes from MIT and CMU, so it probably just *thinks* that it can walk on water..
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
You must be new here
Music is everybody's possession.
It's only publishers who think that people own it.
Fuck Beta
~John Lenno
Now we will also have robots proclaiming to be the second coming of Christ...
Am I the only one who read that and imagined robots reading the news on TV? (Then I imagined them doing it in the style of "Robot Theater" from _Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In_. /\/\/\/\/\)
I for one welcome our robot King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Of course, it would be much more useful if it could make the water into wine. Or maybe beer. Yes, beer.
Now the good thing for us all is that it'd be pretty hard to patent this - there is some well-documented prior art, after all, dating all 2000 years ago.
Don't they know that not all of their readers are going to get their obscure American pop culture references? The least they could do is include a link to the guy's website, or something. Besides, I'm sure he could probably use a little publicity outside of the US.
Actually, for what it's worth, it wasn't the Mediterranian that Jesus walked on, but the Sea of Galilee. At 13 miles long by 8 miles wide it is large, but nothing like the Mediterranian.
I have to agree that the Slashdot post is misleading at best. This is not anywhere close to being something 'new' at all. Yea maybe it's different, buts thats like saying that an xbox insn't a video game console because it is 'different' than a PS2. The point is that the Slashdot post was allowed to go up with a misleading point of view using an article that is in itself misleading. If you can get into CIA headquarters, or have been there in the last year, they have had an exhibit of their oldest insect bots on display for the last year. They make this thing look stupid and childish. That in turn makes the moderator who allowed this post to look as ill informed and childish. "Mommy look what happens when I put cards in my bicycle spokes! I invented it! Aren't you proud!"
Also, just to add, isn't it also where they would have to remove all goods from off of the camel so that it would fit. That makes it teach the lesson extremely well when saying that the rich man would have a harder time than a camel going through "eye of a needle."
There are some translation errors, which is perfectly understandable considering the length of the book, but that isn't one of them.
I read the internet for the articles.
The translation error is created by the miniscule error of altering 'pass through the eye of the needle' to 'pass through the eye of a needle'. It is the alteration of a seemingly insignificant (the the translator who had no idea there was a gate called 'the needle') word that radically changes the meaning of what was written.
but does it run Jesux?
sulli
RTFJ.
Only on slashdot can an article about a cool robot be turned into a harangue about religion.
Dieselsweetie guestcomic by Steven Cloud just yesterdays' comic too.
Will this bring about the Good Book V.1
It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
From what I've heard, the gospels never survived in their original forms (if they were more than simply oral tradition for a time) and the names of disciples were used to lend credibility to the texts, rather than accurately tell who recorded them.
"much like small insects, bugs, and of course, Jesus"
You mean the Jesus Lizard:
http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/ 9603/leapin_lizards/
If I remember correctly each entrance that was built in this fashion was named eye of a needle. Though you could be right, either way, we know what was intended and we apply it to ourselves. Isn't that the purpose of this whole thing?
With a chemical sensor, it could monitor water supplies for contamination or other toxins; with a camera it could be a spy or an explorer; with a net or a boom, it could skim contaminants off the top of water...
Walking on water lets it do these things? It's a pretty cool accomplishment for sure, but I don't see how it's any more useful than other things that just simply float.
Unfortunately it's most of the time interpreted as justification for crusades and death penalty
Read the book of Numbers in the Old Testament. It'll describe to you when the death penalty is justified.
When millions disappear from earth, it's not aliens, it's the rapture.
But does nature have a patent on the frog?
much like small insects, bugs, and of course, Jesus.
Except this is real and one of the above is a myth.
"the commandment about not killing is pretty interesting"
Actually the commandment is "Do not commit murder."
Killing during war, self defense, and lawful execution by the government are all supported by the Bible.
I had big problems with the Bible when I was hearing and reading the english translations. It seemed innacurate and sometimes downright contradictory. I now go to a church where we not only study the Bible from the original languages, but we apply proper interpretation techniques (isagogics, exegetics, categorization), and use systematic theology to codify and reference out interpretations.
Rectifying the English translations with textual criticism is one of the most gratifying experiences I have ever had. The clarity of the Bible when studied in the original languages is amazing. Unfortunately most peopole who are in the "Church" do not take the time or thought to consider the original languages and the proper translation of the Bible. Most of them won't even study systematic theology so that they can frame their particular belief system in a logical way.
Even more ironic to me are those people who, never having studied the original languages of the Bible or translation from the most accurate manuscripts, say they are disenchanted with the Bible. It is like a person blind from birth saying they don't like the color of your shirt.
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.