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
 |
Metal Prices High Enough For Robot Sacrifice
Attention, robots! Now's the time to cash in on your metal body parts.
In spite of some declines in metal prices in the past week, demand is expected to increase in April through June. According to Barclay's Capital:
Science fiction fans may recall that in A Head in the Polls, Bender the robot sells his body in a pawnshop, reveling in the high price for titanium, one of his major components.
"Currently copper looks the tightest market from a fundamental perspective. We see a very substantial market deficit emerging in the first half of 2008 and inventories returning to all-time lows and prices testing all-time highs."
(From Metals Price Rally to Continue)
(Bender sells his body for cash)
(A mouthful of recycled robot cash)
However, many people, including sf fans, don't know that facing reuse and recycling can be very depressing for robots; see the comments of the robot cab driver in Philip K. Dick's A Present for Pat.
People are serious about recycling robots, though; just take a look at this list of metals, as well as other substances, that should be reused:
- Cadmium - found in chip resistors, infrared detectors, semiconductors, and robotic batteries and cables.
- Lead - found in the glass panels of computer monitors, in lead soldering of printed circuit boards, and semi-conductors found in industrial robots.
- Mercury - found in cables connected to industrial robots, thermostats, position sensors, relays and switches on printed circuit boards.
- Hexavalent Chromium or Chromium VI- can be used to protect against corrosion of untreated and galvanized steel plates and can be found in robotic semi-conductors, and robotic welding smoke.
(From Industrial Robot Recycling)
I'm surprised that we haven't had more reports of human beings mining their own infrastructure for metal in the past few months. See Your Scrap Metal Future for more information on mining the skies, which is the phrase that Robert Heinlein used for this sort of recycling.
Perhaps we need to program robots to recycle themselves.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/25/2008)
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 - (" Material ")
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.' - Samuel R. Delany
Nano-Chainmail 2D Mechanically Interlocked Polymer
'Nemourlon armor of reasonable weight resists penetration by most fragments and any bullet that is not both reasonably heavy and fairly high-velocity.' - Jerry Pournelle, 1976.
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.' - Roger Zelazny, 1966.
GNoME AI From DeepMind Invents Millions Of New Materials
'...the legendary creativity of our finest human authors pales against the mathematical indefatigability of GNoME.'
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
RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.'
Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri
'This was their world, their planet —
this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
Alexa+ And Its AI Brain Improvements
'What's it do?' he asked. 'It amuses.'
Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android?
Is this What Little Girls Are Made Of?
Brain Implant Is Able To Capture Your Inner Dialogue
'So you see, you can hide nothing from me.'
Are AIs Going Rogue Like Hal 9000
'I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me...'
Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover!
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049
Accompanied by a small selection of similar ideas from science fiction.
China Steals Strato Airship Design From Google App Engine
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'
The First Space Warship For Space Force
'Each of the electrical ships carried about twenty men...'
Biohybrid Jellyfish Explore The Ocean
As predicted, and detailed, by science fiction writers!
Should AIs and AI Robots Demand Rights?
'This robot is a creature... It is a manlike being. Therefore, like any other talking, thinking man, he is entitled to a court trial!'
Robot Learns Human Tool Usage By Imitation Learning
'I got one of those new electronic cameras...'
Companion Caregiver ChatGPT Dolls
'Every Artificial Friend is unique, right?'
'Pregnancy Humanoids' From China Replace Moms
'A great many of these synthetic babies were made...'
Man Builds 200 Foot Basement Firing Range
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock.'
