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"We follow the scientists around and look over their shoulders."
- Larry Niven
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| Mechanical Cow (Nibbler) | ||
| An autonomous mechanism that performs some of the actions of an ordinary bovine. |
| The hard, irregular shape of the self-adjusting Nibbler moved over the grassland like a gigantic mechanical cow, only it had caterpiller traction bands instead of legs. Its thirty-two jaws, working alternately in echelons of eight, opened . . shut . . . nipped . . . tore . . . rhythmically. Professor Obinson had well remembered the importance of achieving conditions as identical as possible with those produced by the teeth and jaw action of herbivorous animals before the fodder went into the Metabolisers.
 (Mechanical Cow [Nibbler] from 'Down on the Farm' by Simpson Stokes) |
| Technovelgy from Down on the Farm,
by Simpson Stokes. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1937 Additional resources -
|
Fans of the science fiction and fantasy webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court welcome this reference to a laser cow:
(Laser cow from Gunnerkrigg Court)
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Down on the Farm
More Ideas
and Technology by Simpson Stokes
Tech news articles related to Down on the Farm
Tech news articles related to works by Simpson Stokes
Mechanical Cow (Nibbler)-related
news articles:
- SwagBot Robotic AI Cattle-Herding From Down Under
| Robot Gas Station Attendant Pumps Gas For You |
| SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits |
| Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots |
| What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots? |
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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
