[scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies

2010-05-17 Thread Mr. Worf 
iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
by Leslie Katz 

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   - Print
   - E-mail
   - Share
   -  27 comments
   - Yahoo! 
Buzz

  
Share503

For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and
it can't stop inflating?
(Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)

We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting
ChemBotwe first
told you about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of
a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research
Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the
flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with
University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros
conference(the
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems)
in
St. Louis this week.

DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse
soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks,
during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way
of a process called "jamming," in which material can transition between
semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume.

In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets
containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed
from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure
differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the
void left by the evacuated air.

In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body,
changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We
don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only
beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us.

 *(Via IEEE 
Spectrum)
*

Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies

2010-05-17 Thread Martin Baxter 
It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes
my stomach do slow rolls...

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf  wrote:

>
>
> iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
> by Leslie Katz 
>
>- Font size
>- Print
>- E-mail
>- Share
>-  27 
> comments
>- Yahoo! 
> Buzz
>
>  
> Share503
>
> For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and
> it can't stop inflating?
> (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)
>
> We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting 
> ChemBotwe first told you 
> about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of
> a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty.
>
> The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research
> Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the
> flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with
> University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros
> conference(the
>  IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in
> St. Louis this week.
>
> DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse
> soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks,
> during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way
> of a process called "jamming," in which material can transition between
> semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume.
>
> In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of
> pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is
> removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure
> differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the
> void left by the evacuated air.
>
> In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body,
> changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We
> don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only
> beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us.
>
>  *(Via IEEE 
> Spectrum)
> *
>
>
>  
>



-- 
"If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell
wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik

Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies

2010-05-17 Thread Tracy Curtis 
This brings back my childhood fear of the blob.

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter wrote:

>
>
> It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes
> my stomach do slow rolls...
>
>
> On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf  wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
>> by Leslie Katz 
>>
>>- Font size
>>- Print
>>- E-mail
>>- Share
>>-  27 
>> comments
>>- Yahoo! 
>> Buzz
>>
>>  
>> Share503
>>
>> For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and
>> it can't stop inflating?
>> (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)
>>
>> We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting 
>> ChemBotwe first told you 
>> about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of
>> a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty.
>>
>> The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research
>> Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the
>> flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with
>> University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros
>> conference(the
>>  IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in
>> St. Louis this week.
>>
>> DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse
>> soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks,
>> during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way
>> of a process called "jamming," in which material can transition between
>> semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume.
>>
>> In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of
>> pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is
>> removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure
>> differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the
>> void left by the evacuated air.
>>
>> In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its
>> body, changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us.
>> We don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can
>> only beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us.
>>
>>  *(Via IEEE 
>> Spectrum)
>> *
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell
> wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
>  
>

Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies

2010-05-17 Thread Keith Johnson 
Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand 
that. 

What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from "The Prisoner", 
that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming 
person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that thing 
bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual 
beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I was 
raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of servants of 
the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure Evil. 

You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures scare 
me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But what can 
stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking? Anything I've seen 
about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies like "Psycho", the 
first "Friday the 13th", "Halloween". I never worry too much about opening the 
front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula, Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on 
my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic killer like a Dahmer who's running 
around with a knife or ax or something? It's not out of the realm of 
possibility ... 

- Original Message - 
From: "Tracy Curtis"  
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes 
and terrifies 






This brings back my childhood fear of the blob. 


On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter < martinbaxt...@gmail.com > 
wrote: 








It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my 
stomach do slow rolls... 



On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf < hellomahog...@gmail.com > wrote: 








iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies 

by Leslie Katz 

• Font size 
• Print 
• E-mail 
• Share 
• 27 comments 
• Yahoo! Buzz 

Share 503 



For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it 
can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) 

We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBot we first told you 
about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and 
a wad of Silly Putty. 

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office 
awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible 
military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of 
Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conference (the 
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. 
Louis this week. 

DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft 
terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during 
reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a 
process called "jamming," in which material can transition between semiliquid 
and solid states with only a slight change in volume. 

In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets 
containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from 
the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by 
constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the 
evacuated air. 

In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, 
changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We don't 
know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only beg: 
please, oh please, keep it away from us. 



(Via IEEE Spectrum ) 





-- 
"If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell 
wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik

Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies

2010-05-17 Thread Mr. Worf 
I agree, Dahlmer and company are the real monsters that can get you.  Jack
the ripper, BTC, the Boston Strangler all were real.

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Keith Johnson wrote:

>
>
> Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand
> that.
>
> What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from "The Prisoner",
> that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming
> person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that
> thing bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual
> beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I
> was raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of
> servants of the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure
> Evil.
>
> You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures
> scare me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But
> what can stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking?
> Anything I've seen about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies
> like "Psycho", the first "Friday the 13th", "Halloween". I never worry too
> much about opening the front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula,
> Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic
> killer  like a Dahmer who's running around with a knife or ax or something?
> It's not out of the realm of possibility...
>
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Tracy Curtis" 
> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot
> amazes  and terrifies
>
>
>
> This brings back my childhood fear of the blob.
>
> On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes
>> my stomach do slow rolls...
>>
>>
>> On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
>>> by Leslie Katz <http://www.cnet.com/profile/Leslie+Katz/>
>>>
>>>- Font size
>>>- Print
>>>- E-mail
>>>- Share
>>>-  27 
>>> comments<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html#comments>
>>>- Yahoo! 
>>> Buzz<http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=cnet_crave854&guid=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html%3Ftag%3Dyahoobuzz>
>>>
>>>  
>>> Share503<http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html&t=iRobot%27s%20oozy%20ChemBot%20amazes%20and%20terrifies%20%7C%20Crave%20-%20CNET&src=sp>
>>>
>>> For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens,
>>> and it can't stop inflating?
>>> (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)
>>>
>>> We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting 
>>> ChemBot<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-9970345-72.html>we first told you 
>>> about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of
>>> a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty.
>>>
>>> The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research
>>> Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the
>>> flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with
>>> University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros
>>> conference<http://www.iros09.mtu.edu/index.php/IROS_2009:_The_2009_IEEE/RSJ_International_Conference_on_Intelligent_RObots_and_Systems>(the
>>>  IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in
>>> St. Louis this week.
>>>
>>> DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse
>>> soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks,
>>> during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way
>>> of a process called "jamming," in which material can transition between
>>> semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume.
>>>
>>> In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of
>>> pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is
>>> removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure
>>> differential by const

Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies

2010-05-17 Thread Tracy Curtis 
Well, I was around 5 or 6 when I first saw the movie.  I guess it was that
it did all the things this chem-robot is supposed to do.  I was always
looking under door cracks and checking out the vents.  Plus when I looked
out of my bedroom into a partially illuminated hallway, I could always
convince myself that any rounded shadow was moving, and therefore might be
the blob.

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Keith Johnson wrote:

>
>
> Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand
> that.
>
> What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from "The Prisoner",
> that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming
> person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that
> thing bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual
> beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I
> was raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of
> servants of the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure
> Evil.
>
> You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures
> scare me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But
> what can stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking?
> Anything I've seen about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies
> like "Psycho", the first "Friday the 13th", "Halloween". I never worry too
> much about opening the front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula,
> Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic
> killer  like a Dahmer who's running around with a knife or ax or something?
> It's not out of the realm of possibility...
>
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Tracy Curtis" 
> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot
> amazes  and terrifies
>
>
>
> This brings back my childhood fear of the blob.
>
> On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes
>> my stomach do slow rolls...
>>
>>
>> On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
>>> by Leslie Katz <http://www.cnet.com/profile/Leslie+Katz/>
>>>
>>>- Font size
>>>- Print
>>>- E-mail
>>>- Share
>>>-  27 
>>> comments<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html#comments>
>>>- Yahoo! 
>>> Buzz<http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=cnet_crave854&guid=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html%3Ftag%3Dyahoobuzz>
>>>
>>>  
>>> Share503<http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html&t=iRobot%27s%20oozy%20ChemBot%20amazes%20and%20terrifies%20%7C%20Crave%20-%20CNET&src=sp>
>>>
>>> For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens,
>>> and it can't stop inflating?
>>> (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)
>>>
>>> We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting 
>>> ChemBot<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-9970345-72.html>we first told you 
>>> about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of
>>> a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty.
>>>
>>> The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research
>>> Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the
>>> flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with
>>> University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros
>>> conference<http://www.iros09.mtu.edu/index.php/IROS_2009:_The_2009_IEEE/RSJ_International_Conference_on_Intelligent_RObots_and_Systems>(the
>>>  IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in
>>> St. Louis this week.
>>>
>>> DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse
>>> soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks,
>>> during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way
>>> of a process called "jamming," in which material can transition between
>>> semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume.
>>>
>>> In ChemBot's case, a fle

Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies

2010-05-17 Thread Keith Johnson 


I can relate to that. When  you're that young all kinds things can be ssary. I 
can clearly remember waking up in the middle of the night to see shadows from 
tree branches cast on the curtains of my bedroom window. To my sleepy eyes the 
shadows would look like some man standing outside the window. Scary! I remember 
closing my eyes tightly in fear, waiting for him to go away. 

And let's not get started on seeing Dad's hat and coat hanging on the wall, 
transformed by my sleepy eyes into a scay figure *in my room*! 


- Original Message - 
From: "Tracy Curtis"  
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 6:58:38 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes  
and terrifies 

  




Well, I was around 5 or 6 when I first saw the movie.  I guess it was that it 
did all the things this chem-robot is supposed to do.  I was always looking 
under door cracks and checking out the vents.  Plus when I looked out of my 
bedroom into a partially illuminated hallway, I could always convince myself 
that any rounded shadow was moving, and therefore might be the blob. 


On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Keith Johnson < keithbjohn...@comcast.net > 
wrote: 



  





Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand 
that. 

What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from "The Prisoner", 
that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming 
person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that thing 
bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual 
beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I was 
raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of servants of 
the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure Evil. 

You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures scare 
me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But what can 
stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking? Anything I've seen 
about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies like "Psycho", the 
first "Friday the 13th", "Halloween". I never worry too much about opening the 
front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula, Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on 
my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic killer  like a Dahmer who's running 
around with a knife or ax or something? It's not out of the realm of 
possibility... 




- Original Message - 
From: "Tracy Curtis" < tlcurti...@gmail.com > 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes  
and terrifies 

  




This brings back my childhood fear of the blob. 


On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter < martinbaxt...@gmail.com > 
wrote: 



  




It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my 
stomach do slow rolls... 



On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf < hellomahog...@gmail.com > wrote: 



  




iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies 

by Leslie Katz 

• Font size 
• Print 
• E-mail 
• Share 
• 27 comments 
• Yahoo! Buzz 

Share 503 



For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it 
can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) 

We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBot we first told you 
about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and 
a wad of Silly Putty. 

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office 
awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible 
military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of 
Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conference (the 
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. 
Louis this week. 

DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft 
terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during 
reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a 
process called "jamming," in which material can transition between semiliquid 
and solid states with only a slight change in volume. 

In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets 
containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from 
the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by 
constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the 
evacuated air. 

In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, 
c