Military Horror: Proposed Military Robot Would Literally Feed off Dead Battlefield Bodies to Power I

Military Horror: Proposed Military Robot Would Literally Feed off Dead Battlefield Bodies to Power Itself

www.naturalnews.com

Controversy erupted when reports emerged that the Pentagon was close to completing a robot designed to forage for its own fuel by consuming "biomass in the environment," raising concerns that the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) might be intended to fuel itself from the bodies of the dead.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Just to be clear up front because I know that there are going to lots of people challenging the title... it is the title of the original news article - not mine - and is the rule for Breaking Alternative News.

"Despite the far-reaching reports that ["biomass"] includes "human bodies," the public can be assured that the engine Cyclone has developed to power the EATR runs on fuel no scarier than twigs, grass clippings and wood chips – small, plant-based items for which RTI's robotic technology is designed to forage. Desecration of the dead is a war crime under Article 15 of the Geneva Conventions."

Although this would be a frightening thing to witness without knowing what it was, what I don't get is this part:

Even if the robot does not feed on humans, its use may still constitute a war crime.

"The robot steamers are envisaged as being equipped with powerful articulated arms in order to rip trees or bushes out of the earth and stuff them into their glowing maws," wrote Lewis Page in The Register.

"By way of a treat, it seems that the machines will also be able to loot or forage more conventional fuel supplies from the petrol tanks of cars," he wrote. "Hapless drivers or householders will be in no position to object to such robotic plundering."

Why is that a war crime? Can anyone enlighten me?

It's my opinion that this is the type of thing that ought to be employed in war circumstances and makes a lot of sense (as long as they program it not to eat dead bodies).

According to RTI, EATR is an autonomous robotic platform able to perform long-range, long-endurance military missions without the need for manual or conventional re-fueling. The patent pending robotic system can find, ingest and extract energy from biomass in the environment, as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, diesel, propane and solar) when suitable."

www.naturalnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 27/11/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

This was already brought up a few months ago.

My comment in that thread was something along the lines of...

"Oh great, now we've given our soon to be robot rulers a way to recharge off of eating us!"

So, they can make a robot that can feed on biomass to fuel itself, but they can't make a car that runs on anything other than gasoline, diesel or some form of generated electricity?

Alrighty then.

Hey there could be other applications, how about a lawnmower that can consume the grass clippings for its own fuel source?

I'd buy one of those.





[edit on 27-11-2009 by Walkswithfish]

The US doesn't follow the Geneva Convention, (I challenge anyone to prove otherwise) so it's a safe bet that biomass from the dead will be used.

The future of 'Terminator' isn't that far off.

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
"The robot steamers are envisaged as being equipped with powerful articulated arms in order to rip trees or bushes out of the earth and stuff them into their glowing maws,"

So this robot could then, hypothetically, rip the limbs and head off a human and eat those as well? If it's arms are that powerful, I don't see why not. And it's not like the victim could fight back.

I think that is why it may be a war crime. If not, that should be why.

This is a horrible idea.

Originally posted by Walkswithfish
how about a lawnmower that can consume the grass clippings for its own fuel source?

Agreed.

as long as they done have one red eye that bounces back and forth I'll be fine...

that would simply creep me out waaaaay too much..

Appetite For Destruction

Ah, yes. The EATR controversy. It caused quite a stir a few months back when Fox reported it:

Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies

Images of ghoulish robots with glowing eyes prowling post-apocalyptic wastelands feasting on corpses do tend to paint a rather sensational picture, and led to a great deal of moralistic monologging, hand-wringing and chest-beating on the part of some concerned members.

However, according to Robotic Technology Inc., their product promises to be more selective in its tastes:

Biomass-Eating Military Robot Is a Vegetarian, Company Says

Of course, the Law of Irony being what it is, they can now expect busloads of indignant vegetable rights activists to lay siege to their corporate headquarters.

A diesel engine can run on fat alone. There was a program not long ago I dont know if it was Top Gear who proved that a normal diesel engine can run on just grease (Fat). They went to different fast food stores to fuel up the car with the fat that you cock fish and chips with.

It was a program done in the UK.

[edit on 27.06.08 by spy66]

It's about time these guys got serious about cleaning up after themselves.

War is messy! It really messes up a good beach and as much as people love to fight them and all. I have got to work on my tan.

I would prefer people simply not fight, but if you must, please do it quickly and quietly and try not to disturb other people doing it and yes, please clean up after your selves.

It would be at least some kind of improvement

so stick, twigs, grass and the like? What if the war is in the middle of the desert, aka afghansitan, paksitan, Iraq? mostly sand, as opposed to twigs..
this is sad, when money is being wasted on machines that can outhink us, instead of using that money to feed the homeless, make more jobs, repave roads, re invest structurley within a pooor city or any city! sad thing is, even the governemnt dosnt care about us, as long as were are humans..if we were robots, thye be all over us like flys to sh**
This is immoral, on a gran scale...it shwos we are going the way of something like terminator, or we are leaving are souls behind. this damn machine is totaly Immoral to the human race, especailly once it does start feeding on humans tha gave thier life for their country....
I dont know who the worst enemy is...the enemy themselves, or the dmn robot*

It makes perfect sense to me. Sustainable warfare must include recycling. War machines of the future cannot rely on fossil fuels.

This robot was intentional. Meaning that if it was "invented" to operate off of bio-mass (bodys) then it could very well have been "invented" to operate off of other environmental items as well. Sounds like some form of being maybe constructed from some remains of aliens or other ETLFs? I mean who in their right mind invents a robot to feed off of the dead out of the blue? More like devour your conspirators to me.

[edit on 28-11-2009 by mikelee]

I am really sick of seeing so much money and effort put into weapons and destruction.

The US does not follow "Geneva conventions" if it fights against terrorism and injustice. If they fight normal people then they would follow the "Geneva convention"... maybe. E.g. they use anti-personnel cassette bombs which are against the "Geneva convention".

I mean, seriously, people... for gods sake, who ever followed a freaking "Geneva convention"?

Anyway, I don't think flesh eating robots would pass if public is aware of it. Even if they're used against terrorism. Who knows what future holds though... if we keep getting dumber at the current rate then we may have these robots as police assistance in 50 years.

Originally posted by Walkswithfish
So, they can make a robot that can feed on biomass to fuel itself, but they can't make a car that runs on anything other than gasoline, diesel or some form of generated electricity?

Alrighty then.

Hey there could be other applications, how about a lawnmower that can consume the grass clippings for its own fuel source?

I'd buy one of those.

Even better if it was smart enough to cut your neighbour's lawn and charge him for it!
:>




[edit on 29-11-2009 by prof-rabbit]

reply to post by spy66


Cars running on waste chip fat are a fact here in the UK - you can buy a kit that can convert the oil to biodiesel for anout "£2K I believe. ne of my neighbours has one - the one drawback is that his volvo now smells - I promise - like a chip shop every time I drive behind it.

And yes this was on Top Gear some months back

Apparently - and this is only hearsay the devices used to "Crack" the oil are prone to huge explosions - but Im yet to get any confirmation of this - I suspect a rumour put out by motoring agencies and fuel companies.

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman

Military Horror: Proposed Military Robot Would Literally Feed off Dead Battlefield Bodies to Power Itself

www.naturalnews.com

Controversy erupted when reports emerged that the Pentagon was close to completing a robot designed to forage for its own fuel by consuming "biomass in the environment," raising concerns that the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) might be intended to fuel itself from the bodies of the dead.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I do remember this thread popping up before IMO the whole concept of a robot designed to feed itself is a major breakthrough (technology wise) but the thought of it feeding off dead bodies is real sick In theory it could feed of our own troops, just imagine the families who want there dead son/daughters body brought back from the battle field so they can pay there respect and say there last goodbye only to find out that he/she has been consumed by a robot for fuel.