Terminator Sparrows?

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Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday February 26, 2013 @08:06AM from the they'll-be-back-...-from-the-dead dept.

AstroPhilosopher writes "In a move not far removed from the model T-101, U.S. researchers have succeeded in re-animating a dead sparrow. Duke scientists were studying male behavior aggression among sparrows. They cleverly decided to insert miniaturized robotics into an empty sparrow carcass and operate it like a puppet (abstract). It worked; they noticed wing movements were a primary sign of aggression. Fortunately the living won out this time. The experiment stopped after the real sparrows tore off the robosparrow's head. But there's always a newer model on the assembly-line. Good luck sparrows." Bad Horse has not yet made a decision on the researchers' application.

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I Don't Understand the Conclusion by eldavojohn · 2013-02-26 08:06 · Score: 4, Insightful

Awesome research but the last section puzzles me:

The living male birds were equally aggressive to Robosparrow whether its wing movements were activated or not, the researchers found.

"It confirmed our hypothesis that the wing-waving behaviour is functioning male aggressive communication," said Dr Anderson.
Wouldn't the first sentence imply that nothing can be determined? I mean, it sounds like they weren't beating the shit out of robosparrow because of his wing movements but more so because he was going around looking for Sparrow Connor.

But in all serious does anyone know how they came to that conclusion given the seemingly arbitrary constant aggression?

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My work here is dung.
1. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by GameboyRMH · 2013-02-26 08:14 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It certainly looks like a pair of conflicting statements...did they never consider that they'd triggered an "Uncanny Valley" reaction in the sparrows and they were being aggressive towards the cyborg-zombie sparrow?
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
2. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by parallel_prankster · 2013-02-26 08:19 · Score: 2
  
  Exactly, I was about to say the same thing. I mean was the Robosparrow attacked because the others thought it looked weird because it had a dead look or something? Is there a full paper that explains their research. That conclusion jump left me wondering!
3. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 08:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yeah... if this were to happen with humans, I could see that just about anyone would try to take down a random robo-zombie with a baseball bat or shotgun blast to the head!
  There's not going to be any "Oh hey... are you okay, man? You look pale, and your eyes are dull and you move with an unnatural jerky movement... did you eat some bad shellfish?"
  It's going to be screaming and mayhem.
  BEST CAPTCHA EVER: "automata"
4. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by TheCarp · 2013-02-26 09:14 · Score: 3
  
  > Wouldn't the first sentence imply that nothing can be
  > determined? I mean, it sounds like they weren't beating the
  > shit out of robosparrow because of his wing movements but
  > more so because he was going around looking for Sparrow
  > Connor.
  That was my first thought too.
  Going out on a limb here but... this is the article not the paper. My assumption would be, before going to check the paper out, that the reporter who wrote the article either misunderstood the test or possibly, his editor did, and either worded it badly, or an important statement or two got cut. ....now lets do a quick check,....and the abstract says.... the reporter/editor left shit out:
  
  As predicted, subjects responded more aggressively to the mount during wing waving trials than during stationary trials. A second experiment demonstrated that this effect cannot be attributed simply to increased attention to movement. Less expectedly, subjects did not alter their own display behavior in response to wing waving as compared to a static mount. We conclude that the wing wave display in the context of singing is a signal that functions in maleâ"male aggressive communication. Questions remain, including whether wing waving functions as a signal in the absence of singing and whether wing waving and song are redundant signals or communicate different information.
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
5. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by Grayhand · 2013-02-26 09:24 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It certainly looks like a pair of conflicting statements...did they never consider that they'd triggered an "Uncanny Valley" reaction in the sparrows and they were being aggressive towards the cyborg-zombie sparrow?
  That was my reaction. The attack seemed disproportionally aggressive. Killing the competition isn't a normal reaction. It seems more like fear than aggression. Curious if that could end up being another intelligence test whether animals also deal with a form of Uncanny Valley reaction. It's not universal since I've seen animals being fairly accepting of robotic animals. Gorillas don't normally have an aggressive reaction to people in gorilla suits, Rick Baker's crew dealt with that first hand on Graystoke by mixing with wild gorillas. Birds are different and look for subtle cues so they may react more strongly to "wrong" behavior. Moving oddly might be perceived as diseased so a dangerous threat to the gene pool.
6. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by viperidaenz · 2013-02-26 10:11 · Score: 2
  
  There's not going to be any "Oh hey... are you okay, man? You look pale, and your eyes are dull and you move with an unnatural jerky movement... did you eat some bad brains?"
7. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by viperidaenz · 2013-02-26 10:14 · Score: 2
  
  Or it smelt funny because its a dead animal. Like you know, food.
8. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 10:58 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Gorillas don't normally have an aggressive reaction to people in gorilla suit.
  Apples vs. Oranges.
  How would gorillas react to someone in a suit made out of a dead gorilla? You know: with rotting flesh smell and dead eyes.
  It must have a robotic whirring noise to be a fair comparison.
9. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by Livius · 2013-02-26 15:05 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  You may laugh now, but with their proactive approach sparrows will be the ones surviving the zombie apocalypse.
10. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by a_hanso · 2013-02-26 16:18 · Score: 2
  
  Yes! They knew exactly how to take out a zombie. Massive cranial trauma.
11. Re:I Don't Understand the Conclusion by spiritplumber · 2013-02-26 19:00 · Score: 2
  
  Actually maybe that's the point. The real conclusion here is "Animals instinctively attack abominations of twisted science and/or necromancy."
  
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Your seeds by Hsien-Ko · 2013-02-26 08:10 · Score: 5, Funny

Give them to me.

Now
1. Re:Your seeds by game+kid · 2013-02-26 09:40 · Score: 2
  
  I can't quite tell if you said that in the tyrant robotic bird in a swamp sense, the Monsanto legal team sense, or the "this experiment is so awesome that I demand the researchers' bukkake all over my body" sense.
  
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2. Re:Your seeds by CanHasDIY · 2013-02-26 09:45 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I can't quite tell if you said that in the tyrant robotic bird in a swamp sense, the Monsanto legal team sense, or the "this experiment is so awesome that I demand the researchers' bukkake all over my body" sense.
  More like the "reference to a classic sci-fi movie that probably came out before you were but a twinkle in your father's eye" sense.
  
  --
  An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
3. Re:Your seeds by Billlagr · 2013-02-26 11:09 · Score: 2
  
  I would have thought that the now-removed robosparrow head's last words would be "I'll be back", as it's one glowing red eye faded out..
This is good news by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 08:13 · Score: 5, Funny

Even sparrows hate the undead. Those zombies are going down.
O.O by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 08:15 · Score: 3, Funny

I am appalled at what science has done...
That said, I really want to see the YouTube video of this...
1. Re:O.O by reverseengineer · 2013-02-26 09:56 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  There's video of the sparrow in the supplementary information tab on the abstract page in Quicktime format. The file 265_2013_1478_MOESM2_ESM.m4v is the one with footage of the reanimated sparrow. I'll warn you that it isn't exactly thrilling. No lurid sparrow on cybersparrow violence.
  Of note is that they actually operated the mechanical bird inside a cage. I think the quote "Eventually the head fell off and the wing stopped moving" from the BBC article meant precisely that: the robobird fell apart from exposure to the elements and repeated trials.
  The /. submitter appears to have wrongly inferred that this damage was from other sparrows tearing it apart, when in fact their aggressive behavior was "got close and waved menacingly."
  
  --
  "FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
2. Re:O.O by reverseengineer · 2013-02-26 13:52 · Score: 2
  
  Looking again at the BBC article, they do mention physical attacks (and the page picture seems to be depicting one), so I went looking for the researcher's' own page, and it turns out there are some videos of sparrows attacking a taxidermied sparrow. From the looks of it, they may have used the "robosparrow" with the motorized wing in a cage, since it was fragile and they only had one. This video from 2011 of a live sparrow attacking a stationary taxidermied sparrow seems to suggest that there's no way the Robosparrow makes it two months in the wild if this is the kind of treatment sparrows dish out to rivals. Go for the eyes, Boo!
  
  --
  "FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
But, was it... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 08:15 · Score: 5, Funny

an African or European swallow?
1. Re:But, was it... by Westwood0720 · 2013-02-26 08:38 · Score: 2
  
  Its a matter of where it grips it I'd imagine.
2. Re:But, was it... by asylumx · 2013-02-26 09:00 · Score: 2
  
  But... we're talking about sparrows, not swallows.
Finall we know the answer by n0w0rries · 2013-02-26 08:16 · Score: 3, Funny

What would you do if suddenly your uncle bernie was reanimated like a zombie. You'd blow his head off I'm sure! I side with the sparrows! Death to cyborg zombies!
Re:Jesus God by GameboyRMH · 2013-02-26 08:16 · Score: 5, Informative

That's nothing. Consider this:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/ratbot-beats-on-live-rats-to-make-them-depressed
Harry Harlow would be proud.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Alive! It's alive! by Arthur+B. · 2013-02-26 08:23 · Score: 2

http://imgur.com/iDdNnNk
nope...

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\u262D = \u5350
How is this ethical? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 08:24 · Score: 3, Funny

I'm no bird, but if they animated a human corpse by what appears to be magic and had it make threatening gestures at me until I freaked out and ripped its head off, I'd probably be very traumatized.
Oh, OK... by interval1066 · 2013-02-26 08:26 · Score: 3, Funny

Oh god, I thought they succeeded in doing some kind of Frankenstein's monster thing with electrodes and chemicals... they just stuck some wires and gizmos up the ass of a dead sparrow... big difference. Big relief imo...

--
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
1. Re:Oh, OK... by JaredOfEuropa · 2013-02-26 09:11 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  they just stuck some wires and gizmos up the ass of a dead sparrow
  All is fair in the name of science
  
  --
  If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
2. Re:Oh, OK... by Farmer+Pete · 2013-02-26 09:13 · Score: 2
  
  I know right? I thought it was the same thing. It went from being the biggest news I've probably ever heard to a pretty stupid research project in 4 seconds.
"Eventually the head fell off" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 08:27 · Score: 5, Funny

The researchers, as quoted in the original article, describe the problem I've always had with re-animation:

"Eventually the head fell off"
Terrible summarization by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 08:30 · Score: 3, Insightful

This is a terrible summary even by /. standards.
Both terminator and 'reanimate' have completely different inferred meanings than what the story is actually about.
Ex-Parrot by Marillion · 2013-02-26 08:31 · Score: 5, Funny

Repeat experiment with parrots and ruin a perfectly good Monty Python skit.

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This is a boring sig
Last seen riding a west bound scooter... by ethanms · 2013-02-26 08:41 · Score: 2

Oh! That's it! That's IT! I've had it with this dump! We got no food! We got no jobs! Our pets heads are falling off!
What the hell are we doing here Harry? We gotta get out of this town!
Hey AstroPhilosopher by gtirloni · 2013-02-26 08:44 · Score: 4, Funny

Good job trying to make everybody think researchers actually revived a dead bird.

This "news" would be as amusing as a 5 year-old "re-animating" his sockpuppet with Lego.

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none
Re:Watch out for the third question by narcc · 2013-02-26 09:21 · Score: 2

African or European?

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Required reading for internet skeptics
"Hey, check this out!" by sdeath · 2013-02-26 09:25 · Score: 5, Funny

"... We wrapped a robot in a dead sparrow and decided to see if we could fool the other sparrows into interacting with our creepy, ghoulish automaton! It's *science*!"
And of course, it was COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED that the grisly abomination stapled to a tree branch triggered aggressive reactions from the other sparrows. Because every living thing JUST LOVES to be confronted with a soulless golem wrapped in the dead flesh of another of its kind. And that never causes pants-shitting terror or anything.
I can see it now:
Sparrow 1: "OH MY GOD! IS THAT... *THING* ... WEARING FRANK'S FACE? IS IT?! FRANK??!?!"
Sparrow 2: "It's not him anymore. IT'S! ...NOT! ...HIM! IT'S A MACHINE! Help me destroy it! Be his egg-layer one last time!"
Sparrow 1: "*snf* OK... OK... oh God, Frank... God help me..."
Yup. Science.
Is there, like, a review board or anything? Maybe that could screen some horror flicks before writing checks for this kind of bullshit? "New rule: If your study is substantially similar to the plot of any one of this library of 100 horror movies, or if it has a plausible chance of producing similar outcomes, we're not going to fund it."

--
I am Chaos. I am alive, and I tell you that you are Free. -Eris
Re:Jesus God by CanHasDIY · 2013-02-26 09:47 · Score: 2

What has Science done !!??@!
Nothing my uncle the taxidermist hasn't.
If you think this is the first time that someone has ever had the idea to animate a taxidermy mount, you have obviously never been inside a Chuck E. Cheese's.

--
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Dutch got that eventuality covered already... by denzacar · 2013-02-26 10:13 · Score: 3, Informative

That zombiecatcopter is out there.
It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until they are dead.

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Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Idea Stolen from Robot Chicken by nomasteryoda6761 · 2013-02-26 10:37 · Score: 2

Creds to Seth Green as he already animated a dead bird... :-)
Re:Well that Explains a Lot by AK+Marc · 2013-02-26 11:01 · Score: 2

Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, [local alien colloquialism not on file].

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Movies/videos by ptresadern · 2013-02-26 21:02 · Score: 2

Videos are available on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/mspiza2010.