Originally published May 28 2005
Researchers create a robot they claim can reproduce on its own
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A team of research scientists at Cornell University have created a robot that can replicate itself in minutes -- proof that self-reproduction is not a function peculiar to living organisms. The machine, constructed from four independently-operating robotic units called modules, was able to assemble a duplicate of itself in about two and a half minutes.According to researchers, this ability, once harnessed, could lead to huge advances in nanotechnology, and perhaps even result in the colonization of space by robots. Hod Libson, an assistant professor at Cornell's department of mechanical and aerospace engineering department of computing and information science, notes that such robots might even be able to adapt to solve problems. Findings appeared in the May 12 issue of Nature.
Scientists have created a robot that can replicate itself in minutes.
The researchers add that the ability could be harnessed to drive major advances in nanotechnology, the science of the very small, and may even lead to space colonization by robots.
Developed by researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, the machine was constructed from cube-shaped robotic units (modules) that functioned independently.
A four-module robot could assemble an exact replica of itself in just two and a half minutes.
Writing for tomorrow's issue of the science journal Nature, the researchers say the plastic robotic cubes each contained a microprocessor, a motor, and electromagnets.
Each cube was preprogrammed with building instructions, says Hod Lipson, an assistant professor at Cornell's department of mechanical and aerospace engineering and department of computing and information science.
The researcher adds that, while the robot is a relatively simple device, it strengthens the case of scientists who believe self-reproduction isn't unique to living organisms and that in the future machines will be able to clone themselves.
"If a traditional robot is sent and it breaks, the mission is over.
The prevailing view holds that self-replication is an ability that organisms or objects either have in full or lack entirely.
Such a scenario has sparked fears among environmentalists and others who have warned of an apocalyptic "gray goo" event, with self-replicating nanobots possibly running amok and consuming the planet in a matter of days.
Indeed, researchers at Rice University in Texas recently reported that nanosize buckyballs (soccer ball-shaped carbon molecules) are water soluble and can interfere with the respiration of soil microbes.
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, is one of the more visible public figures to voice concerns over the potentially "enormous environmental and social risks" of nanotechnology.
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