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Self-Replicating Robots

Posted by samzenpus on from the beginning-of-the-end dept.

ABC News is running a story that self-replicating robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Scientists at Cornell University have created small robots that can build copies of themselves. Here is a movie demonstrating the self-replication process. And the paper that will be published in Thursdays issue of Nature.

33 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. It's ALIVE!!!! by davidwr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Quick, someone alert the SPCA!

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  2. So? by markana · · Score: 5, Funny

    /. stories have been performing this feat for years...

    (the trick is to get them to *stop* duplicating...)

  3. hmm.. by Heem · · Score: 5, Funny

    Would this be considered robot porn?

    --
    Don't Tread on Me
    1. Re:hmm.. by MrAnnoyanceToYou · · Score: 3, Funny

      Somehow, despite years of training, I am drawn to this link. It sounds so....... Not attractive in a sexual way, but... Yeah. Like I would get a pile of fifty popups that all had Duplo-style bots bouncing upon each other with gusto... Like marionette sex, only with electricity and gears and lube oil. Maybe it's just a sign that I need to lower my standards a bit on the women I'm willing to sleep with.

      --
      My little site.
    2. Re:hmm.. by dotpavan · · Score: 2, Funny

      its "self-replicating".. without a partner.. so that comes under a sexual reproduction I guess.. or as you can call: pleasuring itself

    3. Re:hmm.. by SquadBoy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes. But sadly there are those for whom it does do it. God I hate myself for knowing these things.

      http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=clunk ies&mode=full

      --

      Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
    4. Re:hmm.. by kv9 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Would this be considered robot porn?

      no silly, this is robot pr0n.
      --
      Stop Computers/Cars Analogies on S
    5. Re:hmm.. by Alsee · · Score: 2, Funny

      Have you completed your research on planet 72J182, Florg?
      Yes sir. The inhabitants of planet 72J182 apparently called themselves "Humans" and they called their planet "Earth".
      Yeah yeah, whatever. I don't need to know their tounge twisting name for themselves or their planet. Have you determined what caused the extinction event?
      Yes. It was another case of self-replicating robot technology.
      Damn it! That's the third extinct civilization we've come across this year that wiped itself out due to runaway replicators. Don't any of these idiots know to program in basic limits and controls?
      Actually these "Humans" did program in almost perfect replication limits and controls.
      What do you mean "almost perfect"?
      Well, there was an accident.... and an unextected interaction and mutation.... and a particularly ugly runaway contagion event...
      How ugly? Did you bring back photos?
      Well, one of the replicators was inserted into something called a "Goatse"... where it replicated out of control... and went on to infect the entire species in the same manner...
      Trust me sir... you don't want to see the photos.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  4. Old Glory Insurance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Old Glory Insurance

    SNL Skit, funny as shit!

  5. Science Fiction? by RoadkillBunny · · Score: 2, Funny

    If they can replicate themselfs like in scienfiction, dosn't that mean they will take over the world like in science fiction?

    --
    Cheers,
    RoadkillBunny
  6. I can't wait!!! by jhfry · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't wait till my neighbor's lawn mower and mine (both Friendly Robotics) can mate, the people across the street can never seem to keep their lawn mowed and are too cheap to buy one like ours... Hell I'll pimp mine out if it increases property values in my neighborhood.

    --
    Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
    1. Re:I can't wait!!! by Scorillo47 · · Score: 2, Funny

      A lawn mover that can mate? It's called a geese.

      --
      Don't try to use the force. Do or do not, there is no try.
    2. Re:I can't wait!!! by jhfry · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sheep mate too... and I bet they could keep my lawn trimmed... and in my neighborhood, I could pimp them out as well!

      --
      Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
  7. I am not Sarah Connor by ArielMT · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am not Sarah Connor, and I don't know anyone destined to stop these evil self-replicating robots, terminators, or Skynet. Just wanted to make that clear.

    --
    It must be Windows. It needs half a gig of RAM and a hardware-accelerated graphics card just to run Solitaire.
  8. It's life Jim, but not as we know it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    We come in peace
    Shoot to kill
    Shoot to kill

  9. Video is really slow by ravenspear · · Score: 4, Funny

    If only webservers could replicate themselves whenever they detect the /. effect.

    1. Re:Video is really slow by Duct+Tape+Pro · · Score: 3, Funny

      it would be the best robotic pick up line ever:

      server1 to server2: Please mate with me. I'm about to be slashdotted and I only have minutes to live.

      --
      i hotdog.
  10. New Public Service Announcement by what_the_frell · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Please have your pets, er, I mean robots spayed or neutered".

  11. No doubt robots will soon be getting porn spam by GregoryKJohnson · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Oh! Oh!" it synthesized. "What hard metal! Torque me baby! Torque me with a large magnitude of F-cross-r! Oh!"

  12. These robots are missing out by mark-t · · Score: 2, Funny

    Reproduction is much more fun with two.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  13. Let's get these out of the way ... by rkmath · · Score: 1, Funny

    (1) I for one welcome our self-replicating robot ...

    (2) Imagine a Beowulf cluster ...

    (3) Not all robots can replicate, you insensitive clod ...

    (4) In soviet Russia, robot replicates robot (?)

  14. In Soviet Russia Robots replicate You! by screwthemoderators · · Score: 1, Funny

    Think about this one- clones of yourself running around, posting on Slashdot... The Horror, the Horror!

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_bloc
  15. Re:That's not self replication by nacturation · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lame.

    Not to mention that they don't have wireless and carry less space than a Nomad.

    --
    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  16. Human-Form Replicators by Dachannien · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, if they make one that looks like Amanda Tapping, sign me up. I don't even care if it's evil!

  17. Re:Well... by tktk · · Score: 2, Funny
    I for one welcome our new cube overlords...


    Would someone or something just go aehad and take over the world already?

    I'm tired of having to change my welcome banner every few days.

  18. Re:That's not self replication by istartedi · · Score: 2, Funny

    less space than a Nomad

    That's because Nomad is perfect. I am Nomad. I have the perfect ammount of space. These robots are not perfect. They must be sterilized. Steeerrrrriiiillllized!

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  19. Re:That's not self replication by renehollan · · Score: 3, Funny
    Your creator was Jackson Roy Kirk.

    I am James T. Kirk.

    You have erred.

    Perform your primary function!

    For my next trick, I will ask the computer to compute the last decimal place of Pi.

    --
    You could've hired me.
  20. Re:Self-replicate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    What do you think china is for?

  21. It's amazing the way these robots are able... by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...to synthesize the required parts in just the right place out of midair. I'm sure this technology could have uses beyond self-reproducing robots though I haven't thought of one yet.

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
  22. Much easier to implement by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Equip each robot with a gun, then program it to point the gun at it's assembler and demand that they make another copy... now there is an effective self-replicating robot!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  23. FOOLS! by quakeroatz · · Score: 2, Funny

    One day they'll build a board with a nail so big, it will destroy them all!

    MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

  24. Star Wars AOTC Quote by kniLnamiJ-neB · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Machines making machines... how perverse!" - See Threepio

    --
    Windows isn't the answer... it's the question. NO is the answer!
  25. I hope that webserver can replicate itself by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...because some inconsiderate dumbass posted a direct link to a 12 MB movie on the front page of slashdot.

    I foresee my karma going down the shitter.

    -d

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"