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Finally ... RoboShark!

Noryungi writes "Cousteau's grandson has built a robotic replica of a great white shark to better observe these animals in their natural environment. The robot-slash-submarine is able to mingle with the great white, and not draw their attention, thanks to a closed-circuit pneumatic propulsion system and cleverly disguised cameras. Do not miss the nice pictures next to the Wired article. Let the Dr Evil joke begin!"

150 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. Veggie Boy by fembots · · Score: 5, Funny

    It will probably be teased for being a vegetarian too.

    However the scariest part is when the real sharks kidnaps this roboshark, and one of them disguises and returns to the base...

    1. Re:Veggie Boy by fat+man+with+a+monke · · Score: 1

      "However the scariest part is when the real sharks kidnaps this roboshark, and one of them disguises and returns to the base..." Dunno if you were making an animorphs reference there, but that's what I pulled from that. THey were good books about six years ago.

    2. Re:Veggie Boy by mog007 · · Score: 1

      I feel sorry for the guy. Is he going to have to live in the shadow of his grandfather for the rest of his life? This is an amazing piece of engineering, and he's going to go down in the books as "The grandson of the bestest oceanographer to come out of France." That's not very fair.

    3. Re:Veggie Boy by mirko · · Score: 1

      When I read this, I thought the whole article was about Robot Frank!

      --
      Trolling using another account since 2005.
    4. Re:Veggie Boy by jessecurry · · Score: 1

      well, he's credited as coming from the same family...I'd consider it more of an honor. He is definitely getting credit for his own work, but mention of his grandfather is brought in to show that they have a legacy. It's really similar to the way that professional athletes are credited for being the son of some other famous professional athlete.
      I for one would be proud to carry on such a great family tradition, the fact that I was working to a level that allowed me to be classified with my grandfather would make me feel like I'm taking steps in the right direction. Just doing something innovative is one thing, but doing something so innovative that it furthers a great legacy is entirely different.

      --
      Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
    5. Re:Veggie Boy by Moraelin · · Score: 1

      Wow, worst advertising ever: "87% of people thought our game sucked enough to never come back once they tried it!"

      Well, that's not _necessarily_ a bad thing (although from experience it _probably_ is). It all depends on why they thought it sucked.

      For example think in terms of Bartle's dividing the MMO players into "killers", "achievers", "explorers" and "socializers". If you make a game where it's absolutely impossible to harm or scam other players, you'll lose "killers" within hours. I.e., you've driven away some 25% of your players in one go. On the flip side, though, you may have kept the other 75% happier and longer in your game.

      (Much as Bartle does argue about how everyone needs to be bullied by a retard to be happy in a game, practice disproves that. Everquest and Asheron's Call made a killing off basically being the place where you won't get PKed on sight like on Ultima Online. UO invented the genre and ended up in third place precisely by, well, pretending that Bartle is right. Turned out that in reality most people _don't_ see it as cool or fun in a game.)

      Conversely, if you make a place that's mostly socializer-oriented, you've made it uninteresting for 75% of the potential market. On the upside, you've made it a lot more interesting for the other 25%.

      Most games ignore that segment on the assumption that socializing just happens, and you might just as well focus on everything else. They are only partially right: there are a lot of factors in a game that can make it more or less interesting for someone interested in socializing and/or RP. So one that the reverse is true about focus, could find a very comfortable niche for itself.

      E.g., a game focused on crafts would be boring for most players, but would be a damn nice change for those of us who actually like crafting more than mindlessly killing 100,000 random enemies a day.

      So basically what I'm saying is that it's not _necessarily_ a bad thing to offend a majority of players, if that means you catter better to the needs of the niche you have in mind.

      However, as I've said, from experience most games that do make that kind of a "we're not for everyone" boast, fail to catter to any niche.

      E.g., usually it's some "killer" that's frustrated that he can't make life miserable for newbies in other game, so goddammit, he's gonna make his own game where it's open season for any nasty stuff. By jove, he's gonna even put rape in the game, and sneak in perma-death or other disproportionate penalties, so you can really cause grief by hunting down someone.

      Should finally be the perfect game for killers, right? Well, actually for anyone who either has a clue or has read Bartle's paper, it's obvious what's wrong with that idea. Killers need victims. A game which doesn't give those potential victims anything but grief and hostility, just drives them away. So the killers get just as bored and leave too.

      That's just one of the ways in which the "we're not for everyone" boast usually really means "the game sucks", like you wrote.

      --
      A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
    6. Re:Veggie Boy by BanthaPoodoo · · Score: 1

      Q: What do you call a lawyer inside Roboshark?

      A: Double-hulled.

    7. Re:Veggie Boy by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

      You have to spend time in the representation of a real city... doing the representation of real things... to achieve the representation of rewards given, that are in fact analogues of the rewards given in real life for doing exactly the same things.

      I play MMORPGs but I do it for escapism, to leave behind having to work for a living... exercise... this is the first step in moving towards a completely virtual life where we'll all be shut up in little boxes... dreaming we're living a horrible life instead of actually living a horrible life.

      I for one welcome our new Matrix overlords. I just wish they'd give me a sword + 2 of beaurocrat slaying.

      Up the Elves!

      --
      Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
    8. Re:Veggie Boy by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

      I'd say it was amasing that he's in the same line of work. As far as I can remember the only blood line that usually goes on for more than 3 generations in the same business is monarchs. At least with such a concentration of experience, he's likely to be a rather good oceanographer/oceanologist/oceanozoologist whatever he is. Kings generally did ok at carrying on the family tradition too, maiming, hacking, robbing the serfs. Kudos to him for having a family that does something constructive :D

      --
      Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
  2. Oh gee thanks... by DarkHelmet · · Score: 5, Funny
    Let the Dr Evil joke begin!

    Good one Noryungi! I'm sure there were tons of us slashdotters who were saving up their wit and creativity for a post like this.

    I imagine there are slashdotters out there who have mountains of In Soviet Russia, Old Korean People, Sharks with Friggin Lasers, goatse, and Microsoft Trolls just WAITING to be unleashed. It's been a long time since we could use the Sharks with Friggin Lasers troll/joke, so this would have been a perfect story to use it...

    But what do you do? You give the goahead for us to make the joke! You killed the surprise! You made all those trolls out there look... *gasp* unoriginal! This will not stand!

    Now, all those posts will be -1 Troll instead of +5 Funny! You killed slashdot culture! You bastard! Timothy, quick! Do something! Censor him! Anything!

    ----

    On another note... the article tickled me to no end as Cousteau referred to the shark kind of like a "retarded cousin from Australia." I wonder what the Aussies have to say about this. How about a comment there, Steve Irwin? Too busy with that crockie? No worries.

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
    1. Re:Oh gee thanks... by deathazre · · Score: 1

      problem is, the laser joke initiated in the by-line

      from the sans-frickin'-lasers dept.

      --
      Karma: Negative (Mostly affected by dorm trolling)
    2. Re:Oh gee thanks... by Infinityis · · Score: 5, Funny

      What the heck, I've got karma to burn!

      In Soviet Russia, Old Korean Sharks with Friggin Lasers goatse you!

    3. Re:Oh gee thanks... by general_re · · Score: 1

      Speaking of /. jumping the shark, what's this day pass business?

      --
      ABSURDITY, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
    4. Re:Oh gee thanks... by The+Dark · · Score: 2, Funny

      On another note... the article tickled me to no end as Cousteau referred to the shark kind of like a "retarded cousin from Australia." I wonder what the Aussies have to say about this.
      He probably just picked Australia as we tend to have more sharks per head of population than most of the rest of the world, and probably fewer legs per head of population than then rest of the world too.

      --
      sig's not here
    5. Re:Oh gee thanks... by Koiu+Lpoi · · Score: 4, Funny

      So, are you saying that, in order to be modded as 'funny', people are actually going to have to be funny, and not just repeat an age-old slashdot horseburger?

      Bullshit.

    6. Re:Oh gee thanks... by iocat · · Score: 1, Funny

      I for one welcome our new genuinely-funny-posting-overlords.

      --

      Dude, I think I can see my house from here.

    7. Re:Oh gee thanks... by Koiu+Lpoi · · Score: 1

      Overlords? Hardly, dude. I tried to tell you - they don't exist!

      Well, at least statistically.

    8. Re:Oh gee thanks... by DarthStrydre · · Score: 2, Funny

      You tried to sum up all of Slashdot's awesome creativity potential in one post. Sadly, you failed.

      I, for one, welcome our new friggin-laser-armed shark overlords.

    9. Re:Oh gee thanks... by elgatozorbas · · Score: 1
      It's been a long time since we could use the Sharks with Friggin Lasers troll/joke

      More specifically: from the previous story.

      (I know, it's irony)

    10. Re:Oh gee thanks... by Blingin'+AMD · · Score: 1

      and in the Worse Joke Broom Closet, inside the Bad Joke Bunker... "main screen turn on."

      --
      Now watch this drive.
    11. Re:Oh gee thanks... by dreadlocks · · Score: 1

      According to relatives of mine in Australia, the retarded cousins are all actually from Tasmania, the little island to the south. As far as "backwards" jokes go, Tasmania is kind of like the Kentucky and Arkansas of Australia.

    12. Re:Oh gee thanks... by mattspammail · · Score: 1

      I'll bet they said, "WTF?"

      End of the world (featuring Australia)
      --
      Now accepting PayPal donations!
    13. Re:Oh gee thanks... by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

      We happen to have some very attractive people... I for one am loved by all for my stunning beauty... at least that's what my mum tells me.

      --
      Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
    14. Re:Oh gee thanks... by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

      Only because you killed off the entire native population. Repeat after me... INTERbreeding not INbreeding. ;)

      ps. and I mean with those partners of generally the same species. Not the fluffy white things.

      Hmmmmmm... I seem to be insulting in this post. My apologies.

      --
      Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
  3. Dr. Evil? How 90's! Try Sealab 2021 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    "My dad put his robot penis in my mom's shark vagina!"

  4. Let's Begin indeed by Man+in+Spandex · · Score: 1, Funny

    Interesting articles. I wonder how they made Jaws now. Puppets?!

    Let the Dr Evil joke begin!"

    Yes interesting article but I stil see no frikin laser beams attatched to their heads!

    1. Re:Let's Begin indeed by josh3736 · · Score: 1, Funny
      Interesting articles. I wonder how they made Jaws now. Puppets?!
      Admit it. You fudged your way through that wholly uninspired line just so you could write "frikin laser beams attatched to their heads."
    2. Re:Let's Begin indeed by X0563511 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Now what would be funny is if the guy added a laser pointer to it's forhead that he could fire during pictures. Use one of the green ones, it'll show up well in the water.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  5. Frickin' sharks... go the Dolphins! by Audent · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Forget your namby pamby laser-free sharks.

    You want one of these!

    http://www.innespace.com/

    sweeeeeeet.

    --
    I am a leaf on the wind
  6. 1,200 pounds by maotx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yes, but does it come with a freakin' laserbeam mounted on its head?

    "It's extremely innovative" said Cousteau. "It's a 1,200-pound tool that looks, feels and moves like a great white shark."

    1,200 pounds is pretty big no matter how you look at it. And on top of that it moves with no engine noise or bubbles. It pushes through a 120-cubic-foot cylinder to move.
    This definatly sounds like an improvement from the robotic shark used in the Jaws movies. I hate to be the one stuck filming with the thing if it malfunctions.

    However, if the sub goes kablooey, Cousteau can eject through an escape hatch in the shark's head.

    Only to be eaten by a hungry Great White.*

    *One would be suprised how the Great White is really looked at competely the wrong way. The reason for the wrap of the bad name (besides Jaws) is the problem with their way of satisfying their curiousity. As humans have a habit of touching things they are curious about with their fingers sharks satisfy it by biting. Their bite is meant only as a touch but with thousands of razor sharp teeth it can also be deadly. I've seen divers who swim with full size (17 feet) Great Whites without a cage and escape harmless.

    --
    I'm a virgo and on Slashdot. Coincidence? Yes.
    1. Re:1,200 pounds by sTalking_Goat · · Score: 3, Informative
      As humans have a habit of touching things they are curious about with their fingers sharks satisfy it by biting.

      The one I've always heard is that if you get attacked by a Great White its probably because they've mistaken you for a Seal. Sharks supposedly don't like the tatste of human much, and don't actually eat the parts they've bitten off.Though that doesn't make you any less dismembered.

      That might be apocryphal though, so don't quote me.

      --

      My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...

    2. Re:1,200 pounds by Infinityis · · Score: 1

      "Their bite is meant only as a touch but with thousands of razor sharp teeth it can also be deadly. I've seen divers who swim with full size (17 feet) Great Whites without a cage and escape harmless."

      Your use of the word "escape" seems to indicate bias, as though they really are that dangerous...

    3. Re:1,200 pounds by maotx · · Score: 1

      Allrighty then...
      And leave the water without harm.

      Though a 4,000 pound shark that could easily rip you apart is kinda dangerous.

      --
      I'm a virgo and on Slashdot. Coincidence? Yes.
    4. Re:1,200 pounds by _Hellfire_ · · Score: 1

      I heard this too. Apparently, when you're lying on a boogie board with your legs and arms dangling over the side, you look a helluva lot like a seal from underneath to a shark (as they have poor eyesight).

      --
      "And then I visited Wikipedia ...and the next 8 hours are a blur..."
    5. Re:1,200 pounds by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sharks supposedly don't like the tatste of human much

      And they hate, hate, zombies.

      --
      Everything will be taken away from you.
    6. Re:1,200 pounds by H0NGK0NGPH00EY · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've seen divers who swim with full size (17 feet) Great Whites without a cage and escape harmless.

      Yeah, I can imagine that most humans would be pretty harmless lying in a hospital bed.

      --
      Do not read this sig.
    7. Re:1,200 pounds by flyingsquid · · Score: 4, Funny
      Yeah, I can imagine that most humans would be pretty harmless lying in a hospital bed.

      Maybe it's a typo, and he meant "escape armless".

    8. Re:1,200 pounds by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      Yeah well, yer great white is known for its disarming personality.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    9. Re:1,200 pounds by iocat · · Score: 2, Funny

      From a significant distance -- a couple hundred feet -- boogie boarders in northern CA who wear wetsuits, look like seals from *shore.* You gotta forgive the sharks a few exploratory nibbles.

      --

      Dude, I think I can see my house from here.

    10. Re:1,200 pounds by ebtschi · · Score: 1

      _________/\_____\o/________ shark attack!

    11. Re:1,200 pounds by Creepy · · Score: 1

      Actually, the seal thing is why some smaller sharks attack surfers by accident (like black and white tipped reef sharks). These sharks never attack divers unless provoked (at least that I know of), but do account for many bite and flee attacks. And from watching film of it, a surfboard and a seal from 10' underwater do look an awful lot alike. A previous post mentioned poor vision, which is wrong - read this about shark vision. They do cover their eyes when they bite, so don't really know exactly what part of an object they're biting, but the bite testing isn't because they don't see well.

      Great White, Tiger, Bull, and oceanic whitetipped shark probably wouldn't stop eating a person. Hammerheads, Gray tipped, and Galapagos sharks are also fairly dangerous to humans, as they are predators of larger prey.

    12. Re:1,200 pounds by pluggo · · Score: 1

      The one I've always heard is that if you get attacked by a Great White its probably because they've mistaken you for a Seal.

      Oh, OK, just as long as it's an accident. :)

      --
      Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions. It's the only way to mak
    13. Re:1,200 pounds by pluggo · · Score: 1

      You know... it's funny... as I read this, I'm eating a Beef N Cheddar and washing it down with Mt. Dew Code Red.

      --
      Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions. It's the only way to mak
    14. Re:1,200 pounds by pluggo · · Score: 1

      Without the razor-sharp teeth? When's the last time you were around a four-year-old? :)

      --
      Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions. It's the only way to mak
    15. Re:1,200 pounds by CoffeeJedi · · Score: 1

      don't you mean Zombi's?

      (i know its an old story now, but i gotta give props to a Fulci reference)

      --
      May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
  7. Yummy! by WerewulfX · · Score: 5, Funny

    Crunchy on the outside, humanie on the inside!

    1. Re:Yummy! by wylf · · Score: 1

      For those who never saw the advert, an explanation of sorts

      mmm... Dime

  8. Re:but do they have by ockegheim · · Score: 1

    It's old news- Dr Evil's underlings already did that.

    --
    I’m old enough to remember 16K of memory being described as “whopping”
  9. In other news by NIK282000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cousteau's grandson was eaten. The suits manufacturer says that the wearing of the suit and being ingested by another animal is purely conicidental.

    --
    Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
  10. salsa robo-shark by merc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Man goes into cage, cage goes into salsa, shark's in the salsa, robo shark.

    --
    It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.
    1. Re:salsa robo-shark by Flounder · · Score: 1

      Gonna need a bigger chip.

      --

      No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova

  11. Tintin jokes by mollyhackit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think Tintin jokes would be more worthwhile. Red Rackham's Treasure here we come!

  12. Better article from Apple.com by jberkom · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...not likely to slow down much either.

    http://www.apple.com/pro/video/cousteau/

  13. Re:Bringing in the New Regime... by ecko3437 · · Score: 1

    if I had mod points.. this would go away..

    That dumb "I, for one..." joke or the sharks?

    --
    -Eric Smith
  14. retarded by azatht · · Score: 1
    Since Troy cannot respond in a sophisticated, sharklike manner, Cousteau decided that while the great whites do buy that he's a shark, they consider him more like a "retarded cousin from Australia."

    why is all retarded cousins from Australia?

    --
    ------- In the end there are no begining
    1. Re:retarded by PedanticSpellingTrol · · Score: 1

      yeah, everybody knows that the real 'tards are all Newfies. Ahh Newfoundland... giving the American South someplace to point the finger and say "See! We're not the bottom after all"

    2. Re:retarded by schtum · · Score: 1

      giving the American South someplace to point the finger and say "See! We're not the bottom after all" ... if they could find it on a map.

  15. Mac Attack! by eander315 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wow, that was a bad subject. But it's not a joke. Apple has more material on their site than Cousteau does on his.

  16. Shark People, Shark People by crlove · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like shark, tastes like people.

    1. Re:Shark People, Shark People by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Looks like shark, tastes like people.

      I wonder if that guy with the Grizzly Suit would try a Shark Suit.

    2. Re:Shark People, Shark People by knight37 · · Score: 1

      Looks like shark, tastes like people.

      Funny, I was going to say that it tasted like Soylent Green. Remember, Tuesday is Soylent Green day.

      --
      Knight37 - Once a Gamer, Always a Gamer
  17. Didn't Wired used to pull stories from Slashdot? by penguinstorm · · Score: 1

    At least that's how I thought the news flow went.

    --
    Skot Nelson music is my saviour / i was maimed by rock and roll
  18. Slow news day by OverlordQ · · Score: 2, Informative

    Welcome to 2004.

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  19. I Think I Hear Spielberg Swearing by DumbSwede · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Spielberg could have saved himself a lot of money filming "Jaws" if this thing had existed then and been at all realistic. I'll bet Grade B movie producers are scrambling over themselves to offer to rent this thing. Of course CGI has made this kind of actual model filming largely unneeded, but probably for a few more years people might like a physically based special effect if the price is right.

    Of course Cousteau (Jacques's son Fabian) is himself using the beast for filming -- so not so pure research after all.

  20. Brought To You By...Grizzlebee's! by JohnPerkins · · Score: 2, Funny

    Insert Tinfins joke here...

    1. Re:Brought To You By...Grizzlebee's! by ajlitt · · Score: 2, Funny

      "He put his human penis in my mother's robot shark vagina."

  21. Generalization by ChodeMonkey · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is a great idea that should be generalized to allow humans to more easily observe nature (both in and out of the water) without the interference of cameras and trucks/boats etc.

    Although I have not seen it I have heard that such a stunt was portrayed in some Jim Carey Pet Detective movie to the delight of potty humorists everywhere (I look forward to seeing it myself some day :).

    It would also be a riot if other alien species do this type of thing to observe humans. Bump into someone on the street and a camera falls out of their mouth and all kinds of alien cursing starts coming from within the guy's body.

    --
    All your attention are belong to my old internet meme.
    1. Re:Generalization by CarnivorousCoder · · Score: 1

      On the Discovery channel I have seen things like the "dung" camera to observe elephants, and the "log" camera to observe lions. Both met with great success.

      --
      What are you doing now, you lazy drunken obscene unsayable son of an unnameable gipsy obscenity?
    2. Re:Generalization by Lovesquid · · Score: 1

      Aren't the "dung" camera and the "log" camera the same thing?

  22. Tehcnically speaking... by Infinityis · · Score: 5, Funny

    "...Cousteau referred to the shark kind of like a 'retarded cousin from Australia.'"

    Wouldn't that make it a not-so-great white shark?

    1. Re:Tehcnically speaking... by Rii · · Score: 1

      See, they were trying to inbreed sharks to get a Golden Shark. You have to breed like a black shark and a green shark, but sometimes, because of the constant inbreeding, you get a redarded white one.

      (if this seems odd, you probably haven't played FFVII)

    2. Re:Tehcnically speaking... by teneighty · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wouldn't that make it a not-so-great white shark?

      You mean Greg Norman?

    3. Re:Tehcnically speaking... by sqlgeek · · Score: 1

      You forgot the shark link.

  23. Oblig Tin Fins by wargolem · · Score: 1

    We've taken nature's perfect killing machine and needlessly turned it into a robot!

  24. 2021 by Giddeon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fabien Cousteau: "I took nature's most perfect killing machine, and needlessly turned it into a robot!"

    1. Re:2021 by Haikiba · · Score: 1

      Captain Murphy: Holy crap!

      --
      Karma: 0xdeadbeef(mostly as a result of being newly allocated)
  25. Screw Dr. Evil, Bring in Dr. Quinn by Sux2BU · · Score: 1

    I took nature's most perfect killing machine and needlessly turned it into a robot.

  26. Favorite Quote by bleckywelcky · · Score: 3, Funny

    From TFA:

    Since Troy cannot respond in a sophisticated, sharklike manner, Cousteau decided that while the great whites do buy that he's a shark, they consider him more like a "retarded cousin from Australia."

  27. Deadly, for sure... by Infinityis · · Score: 2, Funny

    The human touch can be deadly too. Let me tell you, any guy who touches an unfamiliar girl out of curiosity will likely meet a swift death.

    1. Re:Deadly, for sure... by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

      You mean my new 2000 teeth dentures are the wrong way to go?

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      Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
  28. That third camera... by CatGrep · · Score: 4, Funny

    The third camera records Cousteau's behavior inside the sub.

    Is this one there so they can make a documentary about marine biologists at the same time as they make the one about the sharks?

    1. Re:That third camera... by mrselfdestrukt · · Score: 1

      I can hear the voice-over already...
      "You can see he's getting restless and excited.Oh, look , he's showing his teeth now! Those wild eyes and groaning noises are all part of his concentration act as he manouvres himself around."

      --
      "I used to have that really cool,funny sig ,but it got stolen."
    2. Re:That third camera... by CortoMaltese · · Score: 1
      Is this [third camera inside the sub] there so they can make a documentary about marine biologists at the same time as they make the one about the sharks?

      Nah, it's more like the black box on an airplane recording everything so they can later figure out what the heck went wrong when the marine biologist was consumed by a great white for lunch.

  29. Working title could use some help by General+Alcazar · · Score: 1
    Fabien states, "It's all about battling the mindless killing machine imagery,"

    Umm, you might start with a different title than, "Mind of a Demon" then!

  30. Fresh water Nuclear Sharks by Blind_Io_42 · · Score: 1

    Have none of you played No One Lives Forever 2?
    Do you not know of the secret government plot to train sharks to use swim up Soviet rivers with nuclear weapons for a sneaky first strike? Of course we also had to train them to use special gear for fresh water, but after the classes in nuclear physics that was not problem
    ... and then some bright civilian had to go build a robotic shark for half the price.

    --
    No one of consequence
  31. Electricity? by dustinbarbour · · Score: 1

    I'm interested to know how the sharks react to the obvious increase in electric current in the water. You know.. that stuff sharks are supremely sensitive to? That sutff that they can sense from miles away? Is ti a problem at all or does it jsut blend in with the natural noises of the sea? If it was a problem, how was it solved?

  32. prey's response by whovian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Take dolphins for example. I just gegoogelt and found that white shark prey on dolphins, so it seems reasonable that dolphins would use their echolocation to sense the presence of "shark". I wonder what this faux shark would sonar like.
    (hopefully not chicken! :P )

    --
    To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
    1. Re:prey's response by arodland · · Score: 1

      Googeln is a verb now? Oh, great. I think it's even worse than it is in English. :)

  33. Attach cameras Fabien! by xbsd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    " Spielberg could have saved himself a lot of money filming "Jaws" if this thing had existed then and been at all realistic. I'll bet Grade B movie producers are scrambling over themselves to offer to rent this thing."

    This thing swims like a shark but does not bite like a shark, so is not ready for the movies.

    Now, I don't know much about aquatic life, but wouldn't be cheaper if, instead of mimicking sharks with a robot, they just attach three remora-like cameras to a real shark?.

    1. Re:Attach cameras Fabien! by Famanoran · · Score: 5, Funny

      Do you want to volunteer to attach these cameras to a shark?

    2. Re:Attach cameras Fabien! by Famanoran · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but even so I wouldn't be willing for her to give me oral sex... :)

    3. Re:Attach cameras Fabien! by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 1

      Now, I don't know much about aquatic life, but wouldn't be cheaper if, instead of mimicking sharks with a robot, they just attach three remora-like cameras to a real shark?.

      Well yes, that'd make for a lot of lovely shark film. But just out of curiosity, how do you propose filming *insert random screaming actress* being eaten by a shark when filming this way? Without it turning into snuff, that is ;-)

      --

      People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
    4. Re:Attach cameras Fabien! by CmdrGravy · · Score: 1

      Ha ha, this is the brilliant bit. I simply manufacture a totally lifelike human robot to play the part of the actress.

  34. Yes, but can Fonzie waterski over it?... by frogblender · · Score: 1

    Let's focus on the really important questions....

  35. What about electricity... by rips123 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    AFAIK sharks (like sting rays) are extremely sensitive to electric fields. They are so sensitive in fact that there were some shark repellant devices a few years back that basically just periodically zapped the water at a voltage level that wasn't noticed by people but scared off sharks. How then, can this mechanical device with electronic cameras in it fool a shark into acting naturally when its giving off a strange electric field signature?

    1. Re:What about electricity... by Yazheirx · · Score: 1

      One would think that the cameras produce a very small electromagnetic field. Furthermore, the metal structure of the robot would shield some of that field. By using pneumatics the largest field producer, an electric motor, would be eliminated from the robot.

      Though it may not be perfect, from a distance other sharks may be more likely to react like a normal shark.

      --
      More of my thoughts
    2. Re:What about electricity... by Quixote · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not to mention the kerchunk-kerchunk of large cylinders hammering away inside. Since sound carries in water so well, not only will it look like the retarded cousin from Australia, it will sound like the "retarded cousin from Australia with a bad case of gas".

    3. Re:What about electricity... by bn557 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      duh? they ground it with one of those wrist bracelets you wear while working on your computer. Onli it's yellow like the lance armstrong ones so the other sharks think the shark is standing up for sharks with just one ball racing across europe...

      p

      --
      Humans are slow, innaccurate, and brilliant; computers are fast, acurrate, and dumb; together they are unbeatable
    4. Re:What about electricity... by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 1

      Well if it's full of electronics, it's probably the Great Pimp Shark.

      Thank you thank you I'll be here all night.

    5. Re:What about electricity... by nmg196 · · Score: 1

      Er, insulated wires perhaps?! Why would the electricity be able to escape into the water without shorting out the 'crafts' own systems? If it's going underwater then it's all going to be sealed. After all, a shark is perfectly happy to swim right up to a massive research ship with a cage hanging off the side which probably has it's on mains-voltage supply running the length of the ship.

    6. Re:What about electricity... by rips123 · · Score: 1

      You might be right about the electricity. I'm not sure if sharks detect the voltage or the electromagnetic field. EMF is going to leak out of any mechanical shark that uses batteries. Electricity is only going to leak out if something is wrong. :)

  36. If you must know..... by crlove · · Score: 1
  37. How real is the shark. by has2k1 · · Score: 1
    They have done a good job, but looks like they have not prepared the shark (human driver) how to act when sexual advances are made.

    I'll just wait and see.

  38. Be sure to crank up the sound by crlove · · Score: 1

    That is all

  39. Back to default by vikstar · · Score: 1

    Since all the laser beam and overlord jokes are -1 at the moment, i'll take a chance and bring back something we don't hear so often anymore:

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of robot sharks!

    --
    The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
  40. Clearing out my local surf spot by triclipse · · Score: 1

    Wow, I was just talking to somebody about getting one of these to clear out my local surf spot (Swami's, better known as "Swarmies"). Actually, my first idea involved two power boats and a large net, but this would be much more humane.

    --
    No Inflation Taxation without Representation
  41. No one likes a vegetarian? by Pfhorrest · · Score: 2, Funny

    Come now. Plenty of us like vegetarians. Far leaner and juicier than carnivores, much less those bottom-feeders and carrion-eaters you catch at fast food joints. I especially like the macrobiotics. Stir fried, with tamari and red pepper... mmmmmmm....

    --
    -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
    "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    1. Re:No one likes a vegetarian? by GreyWolf3000 · · Score: 1

      Must admit, though my parents are full vegetarians, I've never been able to make the jump. Though, now I eat 5 servings of meat per week. I've been learning to cook more and more, and I often substitute soy for meat--just as much protein (I work out pretty often), but way better for you.

      --
      Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
    2. Re:No one likes a vegetarian? by r00t · · Score: 1

      Well, that's about right for a human. There's no
      reason for you to change. Meat consumption was one
      of the critical changes that made apes human.

      Just stay away from blackened (cancer-causing) stuff
      and fake stuff like hot dogs.

    3. Re:No one likes a vegetarian? by crossconnects · · Score: 1

      chimps are omnivorous

      --
      no big sig
  42. How is this a robot, exactly? by aduthie · · Score: 1

    It's not a robot, it's a (wet) submarine. Y'know, with a diver inside, controlling it. Not a robot, just a really nice shark suit you can swim with.

  43. Ace Ventura / grandson of Jacque Cousteau by craXORjack · · Score: 4, Informative

    A submarine that looks like a Great White Shark?
    Why does this sound so familiar to me?
    I guess it's true that great minds think alike.

    --
    Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
  44. A natural predator for... by FlyByPC · · Score: 5, Interesting
    --
    Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
  45. Re:Didn't Wired used to pull stories from Slashdot by Screamingliner · · Score: 1

    Uh ... a paragraph linking to an article elsewhere is not "news."

  46. Re:GWS are not very heard oriented species by Furmy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Heard?
    Herd?

    Fish would be a school.
    But I don't even know if it would be "school of shark" or "school of sharks".

    Crows get to be called a murder.

    And after some imagining, I wouldn't know how to even START naming a Beowulf Cluster of Robot Sharks.

  47. Deep Blue Sea by ramakant · · Score: 1

    This is really low-tech compared to the shark that was built for Deep Blue Sea.

  48. Proffesor Calculus by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 1

    With his pith ball on a thread.

  49. Better Joke by kai.chan · · Score: 1

    A better joke would be: How many people can you freak out driving that shark around popular beaches.

  50. Re:GWS are not very heard oriented species by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 2, Funny

    But I don't even know if it would be "school of shark" or "school of sharks".

    Generally speaking the last thing people are concerned with when surrounded by great whites would be how to call them. But judging from the movies a congregation of them would commonly be referred to as "uh oh"

    --

    People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
  51. Is it male? by Spacejock · · Score: 1

    It had better be (a) built as a male so [most] other sharks don't try and copulate with it or (b) fitted with shock absorbers so the cameras don't shake to pieces when all the other males start humping the life out of it.

  52. Definitely prior art by xixax · · Score: 1

    Billions of bilious blue blistering barbequed barnacles! I'm sure Tin Tin has prior art over shark subs. Or maybe Cousteau read too much Herge as a lad.

    --
    "Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
  53. Dr Evil? How about Jaws!? by jamesjw · · Score: 1


    First think I thought of when I saw the title was COOL!!! REAL LIFE JAWS!!!

    One of these babys on remote control and I could have some real fun at the beach!!

    Course this is slashdot, and many a slashdotter has never left their house let alone gone to the beach but this could be it folks.. Radio controlled WiFi enabled Robosharks!!

    I have one question though, do these guys take Visa or Mastercard? :)

    I WANT MY KILLER ROBO FISH!!

    -- Jim

    --
    -- If at first you don't succeed, lie!
  54. "Retarded" by geordieboy · · Score: 1

    I can't believe Monsieur Cousteau actually used the words "retarded cousin". I suspect that's the american author of the article paraphrasing badly. French people don't use the word "retarded" to draw laughs. That's just in America, where
    the snickering "humour" of mindless frat-boy types (i.e. delightful mocking of some human frailty or suffering) is regularly co-opted into mainstream usage.

    --
    The world is everything that is the case
  55. I'm glad we still have the upper edge by antikristian · · Score: 1

    imagine the horrors of shark-driven australian retards; Steeve irvin without any social skills, plus he probably stunk like shark (we all know how annoying shark-smell can be) "follow me to the waaata mate, the waaata looks delicious" Luckely it would be hard to fit a great white inside Steve Irvin without making him look kind of odd...

    --
    A computer is a tool, but I am not. I use Linux
  56. Why isn't it an ROV? by FridayBob · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seems to me they could do a lot better by removing the the guy inside. After all, he can only see out with the aid of some cameras and monitors anyway. Perhaps they'd have to work on improving their wireless communications, but I don't think that would be a show stopper. A little AI would also help.

  57. Video available from G4TV by bindster · · Score: 2, Informative

    Video shot before the robot was finsihed, but still has some good stuff, like the death of the mentioned first robot. http://www.g4tv.com/techtvvault/features/45548/It_ Swims_With_Sharks.html

    --
    WARNING: DO NOT LET DR. MARIO TOUCH YOUR GENITALS. HE IS NOT A REAL DOCTOR.
  58. Oz Retarded Cousins Assoc. v. Fabien Cousteau by Squirrel_King · · Score: 1

    The only thing *this* retard is doing downunder is trying to figure out whether Fabien Cousteau is imitating The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, or if it's the other way 'round.

    Well? Any non-retards care to answer??

  59. Re:1,200 pounds It would really suck... by davidsyes · · Score: 1

    WHO embolizes WHO?

    if 5 or 6 REAL Great Whites ganger-banged Cousteau's shark. It would a moment of sudden clarity, sort of like Michael Behm's character in The Abyss... sinking...sinking...CRUNCH and plexi-shatter...

    I wonder if any of the real sharks would be pissed off or curious about this mech swimmer in their domain. Will they really ignore it, or chomp on it, or try to hump-back it...?I hope they have windscreen wipers just in case... I wonder if that thing has a "sample collector port" in case one of Willy's enemies wants to "deep-six" (or, umm, deep sixteen) the craft's underbelly. I wonder if the navigation and gyration system has "coitus operandi" programmed into it. Talk about a wet, "roughride". BORN to be WILD, YAHH!

    But, if that vessel gets cock-locked, (and is missing a cock-block or liquid saw or torch to burn or embolize that frisky seallion hunter...) and the battery juice runs out...talk about being in deep shit. Better caall Darrwin-- Darwin... Horrny... Me save hapless human explorer... Mee Darh-when....

    Now, on to Dolphins....

    I looked at:

    http://www.innespace.com/

    and that litttle Flippy is Trippy. Don't get goin' too fast, tho, cuz if it rolls uncontrollably and irrecoverably into the depths, someone may as well break out the cyanide capsule and in the final moments begin singing:

    "We call him Flihh-purh, Fllipp-hur, fahsstur thanh lyghttt-neeng...."

    --
    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  60. Re:Frickin' sharks... go the Dolphins! Porpoise... by davidsyes · · Score: 1

    ... with a purpose?

    DOH!

    --
    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  61. Damn! I'm wrong... by IdJit · · Score: 1

    All these years I thought JabberJaw was the great white's retarded cousin...

  62. Re:GWS are not very heard oriented species by mattspammail · · Score: 1

    I agree. That's a difficult task. Building it would require decision making. They'd have to be wireless to begin with though, so bandwidth would probably be your biggest bottleneck. Might not be a good idea.

    The alpha of the cluster could be known as the "Master shark node". The other nodes could simply be called "Other shark nodes". As for the name of the cluster itself, how about

    "Super Honey Sweet Sharky Death Machine."

    Or "Evilly-clustered Beowulf school-pack of shark"

    Or "Team Shark" (for use with SETI)

    --
    Now accepting PayPal donations!
  63. Gettin the groove on by Emdarion · · Score: 1

    The MAIN question is, what's going to happen when a shark starts bustin' the groove on the robot shark. He's going to be like "dang girl, what happened to you? You're like, spaded or something? No, no, it can't be, you're like...a ROBOT?! What the hell!! I knew it was to good to be true!"

  64. Does it have "lasers" ? by jocknerd · · Score: 1

    This thing would make a great prank on a beach somewhere. You could sit on the beach with the remote and scare the shit out swimmers.

  65. Re:GWS are not very heard oriented species by TFGeditor · · Score: 1

    "I wouldn't know how to even START naming a Beowulf Cluster of Robot Sharks."

    A circuit of sharks?
    An elasmobranch of robots?
    A bulwark of Beowulfs?

    --
    Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
  66. It's all fun and games... by technopinion · · Score: 2, Funny

    Until your robo-shark, with you in it, gets eaten by a passing Orca.

  67. Wow, Animaniacs just flashed back. by solomonrex · · Score: 1

    This should have been a punchline for a Pinkie and the Brain episode...

    Brain: "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?"

    Pinky: "I think so, Brain, but where can we find an animatronic shark at this hour?"

  68. So it looks like a shark... by quisph · · Score: 1
    ...but does it SMELL like a shark? Vision is not the shark's most acute sense. Sharks can only see about 25-30 meters in front of them (which is still pretty impressive in underwater conditions), but they can smell something hundreds of meters away.

    This submarine is cool, and a step in the right direction, but it almost seems like they designed it to fool humans, not sharks.

  69. Re:Dr. Evil? How 90's! Try Sealab 2021 by scooby-doo · · Score: 1

    Ah Slashdot, where people understand my jokes. I used the human penis, sharkgina line at a gathering the other day and nobody there understood it. Cretins!

  70. Now I can go about delivering my candygrams.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  71. That's nothin... by fdrake76 · · Score: 1

    I'm waiting for the Robotic Ill-tempered Mutated Sea Bass!

  72. No Sealab 2021 fans here, huh by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1

    "I took nature's most perfect killing machine, and needlessly turned it into a robot." -- Dr. Quinn

    Grizzlebee's Onion Burst, with Honey-Maple-Ranch dipping sauce! COWABUNGA!

  73. Re:All I asked for by slapout · · Score: 1

    This should have not been marked redundant. It wasn't the first post to mention the laser beams, but it was the first one that said "All I asked for is a article..." thereby making it more relevant than all the other laser beam posts at the time (none of which brought the article into the joke).

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  74. Re:Bringing in the New Regime... by pluggo · · Score: 1

    The mod points, evidently...

    --
    Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions. It's the only way to mak
  75. That's mostly semantics. by i41Overlord · · Score: 1

    One would be suprised how the Great White is really looked at competely the wrong way. The reason for the wrap of the bad name (besides Jaws) is the problem with their way of satisfying their curiousity. As humans have a habit of touching things they are curious about with their fingers sharks satisfy it by biting. Their bite is meant only as a touch but with thousands of razor sharp teeth it can also be deadly.

    To a researcher, it may be a big deal to find out what the shark's intentions are when they bite a person, but to the person getting torn apart it doesn't matter. They're still dead. A shark may just be curious and want to "sample" you, but when the shark is 10x heavier than you and has giant jaws, getting sampled or getting eaten means same thing- you're a goner.

  76. just watch out... by casehardened · · Score: 1
  77. Re:GWS are not very heard oriented species by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

    an 'eek!' of sharks?

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    Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
  78. Re:Well... by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

    Isn't the camera disguised as a remora good enough for you? Read the post! Mr Cousteau has decided that his overlordship starts with the tinfoil hat wearering demographic dying first, THEN comes the espionage agencies.

    --
    Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
  79. Re:1,200 pounds It would really suck... by Kuro-Bishounen · · Score: 1

    "Everyone can seeeeeeeee... he's much smarter than meeeeeeeeeeeeeee! "

    --
    Evil Space Monkeys could be stealing YOUR bandwidth!
  80. Re:GWS are not very heard oriented species by Dirtside · · Score: 1
    And after some imagining, I wouldn't know how to even START naming a Beowulf Cluster of Robot Sharks.
    The name for that is whatever the hell the sharks want it to be.
    --
    "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
  81. What about gas? by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 1

    With all the pneumatic systems, maybe the OTHER sharks think it had beans for lunch and is thus having gastrointestinal problems.

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?