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"We follow the scientists around and look over their shoulders. They're watching their feet: provable mistakes are bad for them. We're looking as far ahead as we can, and we don't get penalized for mistakes."
- Larry Niven
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| Spider (Robotic Insects) | ||
| Scuttling insect robots. |
Maniacal bad guy played by KISS' Gene Simmons creates scuttling insect robots with acid-tipped stingers; they chase Tom Selleck. What more do you need to know?
 (Killer-Spider-Robots attack Tom Selleck in Runaway) |
| Technovelgy from Runaway,
by Michael Crichton. Published by Tri-Star Pictures in 1985 Additional resources -
|
These little guys were pretty scary - and they worked in packs.
See this video (*spoiler alert!) for creepy details.
Here's an excerpt from the movie script:
I can't have any witnesses.The spiders have been programmed to
kill the first one off the elevator.
They'll let you in.
But they won't let you out.
There's nothing you can do!
Compare to the metallic spider from The War of the Worlds (1898) by H.G. Wells, the scarab robot from The Scarab (1936) by Raymond Z. Gallun, the spider robot from The Mystery of Element 117 (1949) by Milton K. Smith, the mechanical hound from Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury, the metal insects from The Invincible (1954) by Stanislaw Lem, the Sheem spider robot from The Witches of Karres (1966) by James Schmitz, the spider tripod from Rendezvous With Rama (1972) by Arthur C. Clarke, the spider cable device from The Web Between the Worlds (1979) by Charles Sheffield and the recon spiders from Minority Report (Movie) (2002) by Steven Spielberg.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Runaway
More Ideas
and Technology by Michael Crichton
Tech news articles related to Runaway
Tech news articles related to works by Michael Crichton
Spider (Robotic Insects)-related
news articles:
- RISE Robot: Six-Legged BIODYNOTICS Runaway
- N.S.E.C.T. Robotic Attack Insect From Tyco
- Wall-Climbing Robots Use Compliant Electroadhesion
- A-Pod Robot Hexapod Video
- Dancing DIY Hexapod Robot Video
- DreamROBO Climbing Robots
- KMR-M6 Hexapod Robot
- Robots Race Ahead - On Cockroach Legs
- Oh Great, Fence-Climbing Robots
- TITAN-III Spider Robot Is WAY Too Quick (Video)
- Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
| Mornine Sales Robot |
| Bipedal Robot Floats Gently While Walking |
| YES!! Remote Teleoperated Robots predicted by Technovelgy! |
| Will Robots Ever Fold Landry? |
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'If you're one of those rarities who haven't attended a rocket-polo "carnage", let me tell you it's a colorful affair.'
'They filed clumsily into the battleroom, like children in a swimming pool for the first time, clinging to the handholds along the side.'
'a walking balloon proceeded with long strides of its aluminum legs...'
'There was nowhere on the planet where science and technology could not provide one with a comfortable home...'
'Most men updated their PIP on New Year's Day...'
'...a misshapen, many-tentacled thing about twice the size of a man.'
