Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
Yes, that's a giant robot!
Reporters had better watch out! forewarned by science fiction!
— Bill Christensen (@Technovelgy) August 24, 2026
FAREWELL TO THE MASTER (1940) By Harry Bates
"The robot was harmless, in fact couldn't be moved in any way whatever - till a newsman stuck his nose in where it didn't belong!" https://t.co/9U6Qi58Ny8 pic.twitter.com/u9zQLZZBdR
This giant robot has some movement:
At the Qingzhuo Power booth, a 4-meter-tall hybrid-hydraulic humanoid robot was surrounded by crowds craning their necks to look up. This robot has 41 active degrees of freedom, 39 of which are digital hydraulic linear actuators independently developed by Qingzhuo Power. Its self-developed micro-digital hydraulic linear actuator weighs only about 1 kilogram and can generate ton-level peak thrust under specified working pressure. A single arm of the robot can support a weight of 300 kilograms, targeting scenarios where humans cannot perform tasks such as nuclear power plant operation and maintenance, deep-sea operations, mining, and emergency rescue.
(Qingzhuo Power 4 meter tall robot)"The value of the humanoid robot industry should not be limited to replicating human appearance and movements. To truly enter the real economy, robots must not only understand tasks but also be capable of performing them," Yang Tao, founder of Qingzhuo Power, told reporters. "It's not about simply copying a person, but about creating operational capabilities that humans do not possess."
Consider the giant robot in Farewell to the Master (1940) by Harry Bates:
FROM his perch high on the ladder above the museum floor, Cliff Sutherland studied carefully each line and shadow of the great robot, then turned and locked thoughtfully down at the rush of visitors come from all over the Solar System to see Gnut and the traveler for themselves and to hear once again their amazing, tragic story...For Gnut had almost exactly the shape of a man-a giant, but a man-with greenish metal for man's covering flesh, and greenish metal for man's bulging muscles. Except for a loin cloth, he was nude.
This story is, of course, the source of the much more famous The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/11/2026)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..' - Ernst Junger, 1957.
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.' - Neal Asher, 2008.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.'
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
Orb Nomad Zero-Emission Electric Aircraft
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
ICE Buys Shock Gloves Like Batman's
What else is the Caped Crusader using?
Factories In The Sky Will Surpass Those Of Earth
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
Sleeper Drones Lie in Wait
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
Warfare Goes Underground In Ukraine
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'
Don't Want To Wear A TIght Shiny Bodysuit?
'He looked a good bit like an elderly, fat beetle.'
