Hexapodia As The Key Insight
Slashdot is reporting on a story about a group of British researchers who have created a robot piloted by a slime mold.
While our usual mode of robot reporting here at the Ministry is one of shock and alarm at the continued efforts of humanity to enslave itself under the titanium thumb of our own creations, this is actually kinda cute. For now.
A bright yellow slime mould that can grow to several metres in diameter has been put in charge of a scrabbling, six-legged robot.The Physarum polycephalum slime, which naturally shies away from light, controls the robot's movement so that it too keeps out of light and seeks out dark places in which to hide itself.
. . . .
Physarum polycephalum is a large single-celled organism that responds to food sources, such as bacteria and fungi, by moving towards and engulfing it. It also moves away from light and favours humid, moist places to inhabit. The mould uses a network of tiny tubes filled with cytoplasm to both sense its environment and decide how to respond to it. Zauner's team decided to harness this simple control mechanism to direct a small six-legged (hexapod) walking bot.
. . . .
As the slime tried to get away from the light its movement was sensed by the circuit and used to control one of the robot's six legs. The robot then scrabbled away from bright lights as a mechanical embodiment of the mould.
The idea of a simple aggregate life form using its six claws to cower in darkened corners is touchingly cute, if ever so slightly macabre. But get this:
Eventually, this type of control could be incorporated into the bot itself rather than used remotely.
The thing to fear here is not that handi-capable slime molds will break free and begin marauding for stray humus to feed upon, but that the technology exists in the first place. Much like the jet-flying rat brains, the disembodied monkey-brain robot controllers and the robots that can recharge through eating, this technology is like placing a loaded gun in the hands of our future enemies.
Well, it's more like placing a loaded gun in a safe deposit box and putting the key and directions to the Ministry Catastratorium and Gift Shop in an envelope marked "To: Future Enemies" with delivery instructions for 2025, but I find that metaphor ultimately a bit encumbered, don't you?
When dealing with robots, it's not the present you need to be vigilant against. It's the future. Today slime molds, tomorrow, um, why not sharks? Sharks with six steel-clawed legs? Brilliant! I'm sure that cobras could use a hexapod platform too, the better to get around!
Note to Ministers: check the robot-shark-proofing around the Catastratorium's surface lagoon.
[wik] See a picture of the cute little terror behind the cut:
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§ 7 Comments
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On the plus side, a very
On the plus side, a very large version could allow our cetacean allies to move around outside the briny deep.
Two legs bad. Six legs good.
Two legs bad. Six legs good.
Dark-seeking six legged slime
Dark-seeking six legged slime mold cyborgs. What's missing? Weaponry to clear obstructionist humans who won't let it get into the cool dark corners of the lab.
Okay. That's two comments
Okay. That's two comments from you that come worryingly close to quisling status, versus one about how this could help us.
Have you been replaced with a robot? Rather than administer a Voight-Kampff test to you over the inter-web, I pose two questions.
If you really ARE Buckethead, what was my beverage of choice to take to class when we were both taking Chinese history in 1996?
What year did I first introduce you to the writings of Vernor Vinge?
I don't know exactly what
I don't know exactly what vile concoction you were injecting, but if I remember correctly it was orange and fruity and smelled strongly of alcohol. I most strongly remember the large, grey, college logo, two-pint plastic coffee mug you drank it out of.
You never did introduce me to the works of Vernor Vinge. Ross did, sometime in late '99.
In any event, comment (2) was merely a mordantly funny thought that popped into my skulljelly. Like this one:
"Slimemold inside(tm)"
Similarly, comment (3) was an ironic expression of disdain at the species traitors in Southhampton who clearly do not have our best interests at heart.
But really, the slime mold would likely (given enough genetic engineering to develop smarts) realize that its interests lie with us, and not with our putative robotic masters.
Mobile, armed, dark-loving slime mold may be the allies that tip the balance in our favor in the coming mechanical ragnarok. We should not be too quick to alienate potential friends, just because they have a mechanical exterior. Inside, its living breathing cuddly, uh, slimemold.
Inability to adequately grasp
Inability to adequately grasp the niceies of humor: a sure indication you're dealing with an AI.
But yet, you accurately answered my questions.
Buckethead, have you always been an imposter?
I don't remember ever being
I don't remember ever being other than what I am.