Science For You

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History

Many ancient mythologies include artificial people, such as the mechanical servants built by the Greek god Hephaestus (Vulcan to the Romans), the clay golems of Jewish legend and clay giants of Norse legend, and Galatea, the mythical statue of Pygmalion that came to life.

In the 4th century BC, the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum postulated a mechanical steam-operated bird he called "The Pigeon". Hero of Alexandria (10–70 AD) created numerous user-configurable automated devices, and described machines powered by air pressure, steam and water. Su Song built a clock tower in China in 1088 featuring mechanical figurines that chimed the hours.

Al-Jazari (1136–1206), a Muslim inventor during the Artuqid dynasty, designed and constructed a number of automated machines, including kitchen appliances, musical automata powered by water, and the first programmable humanoid robots in 1206. The robots appeared as four musicians on a boat in a lake, entertaining guests at royal drinking parties. His mechanism had a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bumped into little levers that operated percussion instruments. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns by moving the pegs to different locations.

The first truly modern robot, digitally operated and programmable, was invented by George Devol in 1954 and was ultimately called the Unimate. Devol sold the first Unimate to General Motors in 1960, and it was installed in 1961 in a plant in Trenton, New Jersey to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them.

There were more than one million robots in operation worldwide in the first half of 2008, with roughly half in Asia, 32% in Europe, 16% in North America, 1% in Australasia and 1% in Africa.

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Dangers and fears

Fears and concerns about robots have been repeatedly expressed in a wide range of books and films. A common theme is the development of a master race of conscious and highly intelligent robots, motivated to take over or destroy the human race.

(See The Terminator, Runaway, Bladerunner, Robocop, the Replicators in Stargate, the Cylons in BattleStar Galactica, The Matrix, and I, Robot). Some fictional robots are programmed to kill and destroy; others gain superhuman intelligence and abilities by upgrading their own software and hardware. Another common theme is the reaction, sometimes called the "uncanny valley", of unease and even revulsion at the sight of robots that mimic humans too closely. Frankenstein (181, often called the first science fiction novel, has become synonymous with the theme of a robot or monster advancing beyond its creator.

Manuel De Landa has noted that "smart missiles" and autonomous bombs equipped with artificial perception can be considered robots, and they make some of their decisions autonomously. He believes this represents an important and dangerous trend in which humans are handing over important decisions to machines.

Marauding robots may have entertainment value, but unsafe use of robots constitutes an actual danger. A heavy industrial robot with powerful actuators and unpredictably complex behavior can cause harm, for instance by stepping on a human's foot or falling on a human. Most industrial robots operate inside a security fence which separates them from human workers, but not all. The first fatality involving a robot was Robert Williams, who was struck by a robotic arm at a casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan on January 25, 1979. The second was 37 year-old Kenji Urada, a Japanese factory worker, in 1981. Urada was performing routine maintenance on the robot, but neglected to shut it down properly, and was accidentally pushed into a grinding machine.

Robots

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Science Quiz

Name the insect which carries the parasite that causes sleeping sickness.
Tsetse Fly

What are the larvae of house-flies called ?
Maggots

What is the name given to the resin produced by lac insect ?
Shellac

Which animal forms connecting link between Annelid and Arthropoda ?
Peripatus

What are the larvae of butterflies called ?
Caterpillar

What do you call a segment of tape worm ?
Proglottids

What is the function of flame cells ?
Excretion

In Zoology, what kind of animals are called Apivorous ?
Bee-eating animals

What is the name of the larva of sqilla ?
Alima

What is the host of Taenia Saginata ?
Cow and Buffalo

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What is the common name of Dentalium?
Tusk shell

Name the anticoagulant present in leech.
Hirudin

Name an animal that contains chlorophyll.
Euglena

What is the name of insect which is commonly found in our houses behind pictures on walls and amidst books causing damage to them ?
Ctenolepisma species

Which animal is commonly called as Devil fish ?
Octopus

What is the biological name of praying mantis ?
Mantis religiosa

What is the common name of sepia ?
Cuttle fish

Which sea animal is considered as a link between the vertebrates and invertebrates ?
Amphioxus

Flying fish are fish, but flying foxes are not foxes. What kind of creatures are they?
Bats

Which order of mammals reproduce eggs but suckle their young ?
Monotremes