Killing machines

Futurist Jamais Cascio on the advent of robotic soldiers: "At what point do we give the ability to make a killing decision to a machine? The first organization to use robotic soldiers may well be the last."

Jamais Cascio segments from That's Impossible: Real Terminators from Jamais Cascio on Vimeo.

(Hat tip to Sentient Developments.)

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The steam-belching maw of progress

Robot land-steamers to consume all life on Earth as fuel

News has emerged of a milestone reached on the road towards a potentially world-changing piece of technology. We speak, of course, of US military plans to introduce roving steam-powered robots which would fuel themselves by harvesting everything alive and cramming it into their insatiable blazing furnaces.

The scheme is officially referred to as Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR™) by those behind it. It will come as no surprise to Reg readers that the funding is from DARPA, the famous Pentagon warboffinry bureau. If you're a hammer, all the problems start to look like nails: if you're DARPA, all the solutions start to look like robots.

(Hat tip to @CabinetofWonder.)

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Autopilot

Robot killers might be allowed to fire on their own

Arkin contends that a properly designed robot could behave with greater restraint than human soldiers in the heat of battle and cause fewer casualties.

"Robots can be built that do not exhibit fear, anger, frustration or revenge, and that ultimately behave in a more humane manner than even human beings in these harsh circumstances," he wrote.

(Via Sentient Developments.)

Zap!

Miltary grade 100 Kilowatt Solid-State Laser produced

"Our modular JHPSSL design makes it straightforward to scale laser weapon systems to mission-required power levels for a variety of uses, to include force protection and precision strike missions for air-, sea- and land-based platforms," said Dan Wildt, vice president of Directed Energy Systems for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

Don't read this if you're prone to paranoia.

The Army's Remote-Controlled Beetle

A giant flower beetle with implanted electrodes and a radio receiver on its back can be wirelessly controlled, according to research presented this week. Scientists at the University of California developed a tiny rig that receives control signals from a nearby computer. Electrical signals delivered via the electrodes command the insect to take off, turn left or right, or hover in midflight. The research, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), could one day be used for surveillance purposes or for search-and-rescue missions.

The ultimate UFO intercept vehicle

Truck-mounted laser shoots down spy drone

The Laser Avenger is an infrared laser with power levels somewhere in the tens of kilowatts range mounted on a Humvee off-road vehicle. It is designed to take down the smaller variety of UAV, which are hardest for conventional air-defence weapons to target.

Military prototype or captured extraterrestrial reconnaissance drone?



(Hat tip: Sentient Developments.)

The Solar Powered COM-BAT Spy Plane

In this season of specters and spooks, what could be scarier than a steel-winged robotic spy plane shaped like a bat? The aptly named COM-BAT is a six-inch surveillance device that is powered by solar, wind, and vibrations.

Defense Chief: Give Us New Nukes, or Else

"To be blunt, there is absolutely no way we can maintain a credible deterrent and reduce the number of weapons in our stockpile without resorting to testing our stockpile or pursuing a modernization program," Gates says, according to his prepared remarks.

In other words, fund this thing, mothertruckers, or we start testing.