On May 12, 2005, at 7:51 AM, Robert J. Chassell wrote:
Just now, according to the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sci/tech/4538547.stm
some Cornell University people have built a robot that can reproduce itself. It uses modules that themselves must be manufactured in some other way.
It's not self-reproducing. It needs already existing parts that it can piece together to make copies of itself. This is like building a Lego artifact that can build other Lego artifacts. Superficially it looks interesting but without a very complex set of parameters being met perfectly, this robot can't do a thing.
Now show me a robot that can start with raw materials -- metal, sand, etc. -- and make a copy of itself, and I'll concede h. sapiens has reason to be worried.
In other news, Mac Culkin has taken the stand, saying Jackson never tried to have sex with him when he (Culkin) was a kid. Culkin then broke down and wept. "Why, Mike?" he sobbed. "Wasn't I good enough for you? Oh sure, you and Emmanuel [Lewis] were bouncing off the walls, 'Beating It' until dawn, but could I get even a single lousy grope? No, I was just another goofy-looking white kid left 'Home Alone' all night..."
Culkin was led away, leaning heavily on one of Jackson's bodyguards and, on leaving the courtroom, was heard to say, "I've always been dependent upon the kindness of..." The rest of the comment was cut off as the doors closed.
[Sorry. I find the whole public farce -- I mean trial -- of Jackson sickening. But this was too good an opportunity to pass.]
-- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress "The Seven-Year Mirror" http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf
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