Steampunk Elephants: Some Early Lessons Learned






Okay, it's still a long way to a true robotic elephant.  But who can doubt that it's on the way?  Human beings want such things.  And we tend to get what we want.

For that matter, who could resist a ride atop the arachnid splendor that is La Machine?  (Below.)  It, and the elephant, are still essentially articulated parade floats.  But a tremendous amount of R&D money is going into robots that can walk, carry guns up mountainsides, and shoot people that we don't like without risking American lives.  The earliest spinoffs are likely to be amusement parks rides that can come to your neighborhood.

Sometimes you have to squint a little to see it, but the future is only minutes away.






*
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on February 17, 2012 09:51
No comments have been added yet.


Michael Swanwick's Blog

Michael Swanwick
Michael Swanwick isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.
Follow Michael Swanwick's blog with rss.