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"[Science fiction is] anything that turns you and your social context, the social you, inside out."
- Gregory Benford
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| Mining Worm (Robot) | ||
| An autonomous mining robot shaped like a worm. |
One way to get materials out of an asteriod is to send a mechanical worm to chew through to what you want.
| "D'you realize what R-7 has done now?"
"He's taken the mining worm apart - that's what. I knew that he would! ...The worm was strewn all over the floor! |
| Technovelgy from Love Among The Robots,
by Emmett McDowell. Published by Planet Stories in 1946 Additional resources -
|
Larry Niven made use of the idea in a 1968 story - see the mining worm (organic) from A Gift From Earth.
Compare to the metal worms from Vandals from the Moon (1928) by Marius, the robot snake from Bait for the Tiger (1952) by Lee Chaytor, the robot earthworm from War with the Robots (1962) by Harry Harrison, the mechanical cobra from Lord of Light (1967) by Roger Zelazny, the digger worm from With Friends Like These (1985) by Connie Willis and the robot snake spy from Mariposa (2009) by Greg Bear.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Love Among The Robots
More Ideas
and Technology by Emmett McDowell
Tech news articles related to Love Among The Robots
Tech news articles related to works by Emmett McDowell
Mining Worm (Robot)-related
news articles:
- CardioArm - Snakelike Surgical Robot
- Anna Konda Robot Spraying Water Video
- Surgical Robot Bores Into Brain Like Wasp
- HyDRAS-Ascent Pole-Climbing Snake Robot Construction Inspector
- Modular Snake Robot's Unique Gaits
- Scaly Yet Soft Robotic Snake
- Robot Snakes On A Plane!
- Robot Snake Flies, Fights Fires
| Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot |
| Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art |
| Scary Grid Safety Robots |
| Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout! |
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'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
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'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
