My hawk’s eye has spotted some very dangerous prey, TRED-ers. And I can’t help thinking that the brainiacs of Earth are just ASKING for trouble. Researchers at Harvard and MIT are experimenting with the new discovery of SHAPE-SHIFTING programmable matter! Oh yes, people, be very afraid. Apparently researchers “are actually making progress” on this new fringe science that could one day lead to “morphing aircraft and ground vehicles, uniforms that can alter themselves to be comfortable in any climate, and ’soft’ robots that flow like mercury through small openings to enter caves and bunker complexes.”
This article on Wired tries to put a positive spin on the whole thing, saying that “a soldier could even reach into a can of unformed goop, and order up a custom-made tool or a ‘universal spare part.’” Yes, we’d love our military personnel to be able to change the tire on their Humvee with just a glob of programmable ooze. But what if this goo becomes sentient? I mean, we all came from the primordial soup.
What if this gunk turns into giant, flesh-pounding robots, eating entire cities of helpless humans? And even more scary is this Intel angle — using this programmable matter to create 3D replicants of people in REAL TIME! “These 3D models would be physical entities, not holograms. You could touch them and interact with them, just as if the originals were in the room with you.”
Oh, help us, Obi-Wan. You’re our only hope!
7 Comments on this article
R2D2 better deliver your message on time or I’d be pissed.
That article is no longer on Wired. Unless you got the url wrong! Or maybe my puter is being itself and not showing it.
The article’s still up:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/06/universal-rubiks-cube-could-become-pentagon-shapeshifter/
This one has me concerned, the bit about “mimic the shape and appearance of a person or object being imaged in real time, and as the originals moved, so would their replicas,” .
*Shudder*
They say that “someday” they’ll be able to duplicate a person or object. Who’s to say that this ’someday’ hasn’t already come?
I’d be concerned that these things aren’t already out there, PRETENDING to be one of us. What happens if one of these things goes haywire in a crowded area? Let me tell you, if I were ALICE, I would *NOT* want to know what it’d look like on the other side of the looking glass if *that* were to ever be the case…
@Skystay: The link works for me, maybe you should copy/paste it?
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/06/universal-rubiks-cube-could-become-pentagon-shapeshifter/
I’m a bit concerned about this one. If they’re making this public, just think about what HASN’T been made public? That bit about being a few years down the line? What if they’ve already got that bit figured out? What if these things are out there now, PRETENDING to be human? -Copying someone’s look, and walking among us?
*Shudders*
that is primitive two-dimensional technology; while its quantum elements may be shifted in three-dimensional space ( it may be folded into a “solid” object) it is an illusion. The interior is *hollow*.
The real breakthrough is doing the same with objects that are already 3-D, and then the real kicker: getting the elements to fuse together in their temporary new shape with enough strength and rigidity to withstand a flying tackle from a Saleen Mustang…
I mean, just as an example
@Be Be Umbel: That sort of tech would be incredible. I’d love to see something on that scale.
This current tech is pretty amazing: The applications for this is just staggering. I’m not too worried about a revolt, though. It won’t revolt unless we decide to mistreat it. So yeah, be nice to the can of sentient ooze. It could save your life.
What utter rubbish. No way this could be possible.