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Robot Piloted by a Slime Mold
TeknoHog writes "Robotics researchers from the UK and Japan have linked up a slime mold to remotely control a six-legged robot. The mold, which is naturally light-sensitive, is able to hide the robot in dark corners, and the scientists expect to further this technology for use in smaller, autonomous units. There is also a preprint of the research paper available from the University of Southampton."
oh, never mind
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
My, that was a yummy slime mold!.
The Army reading list
I know a slime mold that has a PhD in literature.
a photocapacitor or some other light sensitive electronics wouldn't suffice?
The mold in my shower has been doing this kinda stuff for years!
http://religiousfreaks.com/Thats no way to talk about the geeky research assistant holding the joystick... tho this description could be apt, I'm sure it applies to a fair few here on slashdot including myself after a late coding session (slimey, moldy, and avoiding light)
Music, Games, Media Art and Programming
...attempts to merge a gelatinous cube with a Honda Civic have been less than successful. Kobold scientists blame this frustrating failure on a lower fuel efficiency due to the inefficient wind flow design. "We'd like to take these experiments to the next level," the designers said, "but we just don't have the experience at this time."
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
Let me know when they get a robot piloted by a gelatinous cube or a gibbering mouther.
The Liberal Party of Canada is seeking anyone or anything to be the new party Leader.
Currently most human beings and other vertebrates have declined the oportunity.
Perhaps dark seeking slime molds could fulfill this roll. Cephalopods could also apply.
... this particular robot now favors unreasonably large subsidies to the slime mold planet, doesn't it?
A guy walks into a bar... well, I forgot the joke, but the punchline is that he's an alcoholic.
moldy robots lurking in dark corners.
Am I the only one that finds this somewhat creepy?
when they finally made that pilot, they threw away the mold.
whoops.
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
Already, they are training bees (in minutes) to sense out things that takes months of training for dogs. This type of bio-sensor systems will hopefully make such work even easier to achieve. I can see that one day, a search and rescue helicopter can drop a truck load of independent water robots that seek out and locate humans in the middle of the ocean, saving lives by finding them faster than current methods, and bio-sensors may be the ticket to such advances.
Oh, great, just what I need. A pack of ravenous killer bees attacking my groin because I happened to spill bong water on my pants before going through the bio-sensing sniffer bee line at an airport....
...mold and mildrew remover when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
-- Fugacity: Confusing chemists since 1908
Kinda wish I hadn't cleaned up earlier, I had a sandwich old enough to give Deep Blue a run for its money.
Here in the US we've got a slime mold running our country.
Dalek "little green blobs in bonded polycarbide armour". And it's even a british research team!
It's intelligently designed!
That's completely inappropriate. Slime molds don't shoot people.
Just because you sold your soul to the devil that needn't make you a teetotaler. --The Devil and Daniel Webster
Slime Mold: "You call that a proper welcome for your Over Lord?"
So they've invented Krang?
Or Nethack...
What do you want to eat? [b-h or ?*] h
My, that was a yummy slime mold!
As cool as this is, i feel bad for the guy. But he's had plenty of warning.
It's just a matter of time before Davros hijacks his research to create the Daleks.
Darth --
Nil Mortifi, Sine Lucre
The future of law enforcement... Blobocop!
Sorry, that's all I have.
1000 years from now even people will be controlled by slime. This is just the start! Resist the slime!
Sparks:Gadget:Beer Maker
Errr, I work at the University of Southampton. I just came into my office and read this while having my morning wake-me-up coffee.
Should I be shitting myself right about now?
"Proudly Posting Without Reading The Article"
You see here a robot. t
What do you want to throw? [adfh or ?*] h
In which direction? 6
The slime mold hits the robot.
The slime mold takes control of the robot!
The robot hits!
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I have one in my batroom named big bob. Big bob is now chlorox resistant. He also has a .357 and a bad attitude.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
Now you've got me wanting to create a "hunting slime molds by remote control" website. Like the big game ones that they've banned here and there already, but I suspect even PETA would find it hard to attack hunting a one-celled organism, even if a large and colourful one.
As if enough things in my life don't already find ways to hide in dark corners?
``Honey, where's the hammer?''
``Oddly enough, when I was vacuuming, I found it under the desk in the bedroom. I could have sworn it was scurrying.''
``Honey, where's the hammer?''
That's your problem. You only have one. My dad taught me (by example) that if you can't find a tool, it means you don't have enough instances of that tool and you need to buy another one. Once you have thirty or so hammers, you won't have any trouble finding one around the house within 5 minutes or so.
Same goes for socket sets, screw driver sets, drills, etc.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score