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"The world is really so surreal these days that it's necessary for us to blunt it somehow in order to stay sane. The artist functions to short-circuit the buffering mechanism, so that people can occasionally perceive the weirdness of things as they are."
- William Gibson
 |
| Biot | ||
| A biological robot. |
When the explorers reach the interior of Rama, and the vast structure approaches the Sun, a vast number of biological robots - biots - perform various functions.
| ...now life, with all its infinite possibilities, had come to Rama. If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.
No one knew who invented the word "biot"; it seemed to come into instant use, by a kind of spontaneous generation. From his vantage point on the hub, Rousseau was Biot Watcher in Chief, and he was beginning, so he believed, to understand some of their behavior patterns. |
| Technovelgy from Rendezvous With Rama,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1972 Additional resources -
|
As far as I know, Clarke coined the word "biot."
Read a lot more details about biots in the article for spider tripod robots, taken from the same novel.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Rendezvous With Rama
More Ideas
and Technology by Arthur C. Clarke
Tech news articles related to Rendezvous With Rama
Tech news articles related to works by Arthur C. Clarke
Biot-related
news articles:
- Tiny Bio-Bots Take Big Steps Forward
- Researchers Say 'Biohybrid Robot' - Clarke Said 'Biot'
- 3D Print Tiny Bio-Bots
- Researchers Create Bowls, Coils, Ripples Of Living Tissue
- New Lifelike Material Powered By Artificial Metabolism
- Biohybrid Robots Made Of Living And Synthetic Materials
| Robot Hand Separate From Robot |
| Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated? |
| Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way |
| Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself |
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
