Nano-Biotechnology

US Congressmen Have Robots on Their Minds

Some of them have been accused of being "robots" themselves

By Lucian Dorneanu, Science Editor

22nd of June 2007, 08:16 GMT

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President Bush shakes hands with 'Albert Hubo,' a 54-inch-tall, two-legged robot topped with a head made in the image of Albert Einstein

Robots are already growing in complexity and their use in industry is becoming more widespread. Humanoid robots are about to become reality sooner than you think, and as you would expect, they will feature superhuman characteristics, like heightened senses, physical strength and computational abilities.

It seems even the US Congress realized that, and Mike

Doyle (D-PA) and Zach Wamp (R-TN) announced yesterday that they'll hold a Congressional Caucus on Robotics some time in September, where they will debate robot related subjects, from the industrial applications to the future of robotics.

"Recent technological advances that enable robots to perform functions beyond traditional assembly line tasks and to operate in environments beyond the factory floor," they said in a press release. What exactly does that mean?

Are they referring to civilian or military robots? Are they talking about future robots being used in security, and if so, which kind, internal, external, border related? Are they talking about counteracting terrorist threats using robots?

Well, as you can see, the stale language of the politicians did its job again and it seems that being able to speak without actually saying anything is a "must" when applying for a congressman position.

"Today, [robots] are also being used to defend our nation, perform surgery, fill prescriptions, deliver supplies and materials, and even as tools to educate our children," said Doyle, "so it is important that we create a forum by which Congress can familiarize itself with the impact this first great technology of the 21st century is likely to have on the lives of all Americans."

Bill Gates also allegedly stated, in 1981, that "640K ought to be enough for anybody" when referring to the IBM PC's 640kB program memory. He has denied making this remark and if something goes bad with a government funded robot program and gets out to the public, will the Congress probably say the same thing?

TAGS:

robots | humanoid | government

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