Last week I alerted you to the fact that a machine has been created that can replicate itself by manufacturing the parts needed to build a copy. My concern was that the killer robots that we all know will eventually take over the Earth and either enslave or destroy mankind could use this technology.
It could happen and we really should be afraid. From San Francisco comes news of the latest round of RoboGames (a bit like our own Robot Wars but a lot more violent!). As you’ll see from the video on the site these machines are really vicious, which is okay as most of them are radio controlled and only do what they are told but the really scary thing is that there are now autonomous robots that fight on their own heaven help us if they ever lean how to reproduce. Heed my warning people, before it’s too late!
Google has mapped the Earth and the skies, now, according to CNET News it is turning it attention to the briny deep. Provisionally dubbed Google Ocean, it’s a work in progress, now being developed by a team of eminent oceanographers. The idea is to create a 3D map of the sea floor and if the early indications and speculation proves correct users will be able to ‘dive’ below the surface of the seas and using images based on a mixture of sonar maps and satellite data and navigate their way through the watery environment, visiting shipwrecks and coral reefs.
A solution reminding us of the “Armageddon” movie and high-skilled drillers like Bruce Willis would help only as plan B. In fact, scientists are focusing on flying mirrors to save the Earth from a catastrophic asteroid collision.
No less than 5,000 mirrors would be necessary to focus a sunlight fascicle on to the asteroid, melting the rock and shifting its orbital route away from Earth. The proposal came after a research team at the University of Glasgow analyzed nine different methods of pushing out near earth objects (asteroids and comets).
Amongst the methods investigated by scientists there was also the nuclear explosion, assessing the risk of flying debris after an aggressive nuclear explosion to be too high for life on Earth. Read the rest of this entry »