There’s an interesting story going around the Internet that a company has recently built a robot that powers itself by “eating” the dead.
The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) project, developed by Robotic Technology Inc, is a real invention produced for the US military under DARPA. It is simply a robot that can use organic fuel sources to power itself.
This is important because it means the robot can be sent on long-range missions without worry of running out of fuel. By being able to pick up and “digest” twigs, leaves, and other organic matter the robot can sustain operations indefinitely.
According to the PR folks over at RTI, the EATR robot is a vegetarian and won’t eat dead people. But really, if you made a robot that could eat dead people, would you tell the public you did?