Free Republic

Kogoro Kurata grew up watching futuristic robots in movies and animation, wishing he could bring them to life. Now, his childhood dream has become a reality as he's built a massive robot that he can control. His 4-tonne, 4-metre tall Kuratas robot has a built-in pilot's seat and hand-held controller. It lets him move the robot's massive arms, and make it walk at speeds of up to six miles per hour.

BLOG: Note: The following blog entry is a quote: http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/13152.htm Report: New Iranian Remote-Control Mini-Submarine A report was released in Iran about a mini-submarine operated by remote control, with a GSM system or onboard computer, that can reach a depth of eight meters and carry eight kg of explosives. The submarine's planners say that the sub is invisible to radar, and that the robot on board will sense when a diver approaches the sub and will release hormones to attract schools of fish, thereby concealing it from diver. Source: Fars, Iran, January 21, 2009 Posted at: 2009-01-23

An elite squad of real but remote-controlled rats could soon be scouring enemy bases and sniffing out explosives for the US military. The rodents are directed using a series of brain implants, which can be operated wirelessly from a distance of several hundred metres. Now, for the first time, the researchers behind the project have demonstrated the ability to control the rodents' movements before activating their “sniffer dog” instincts. John Chapin and colleagues at the State University of New York, US, say the rats could eventually sniff out hidden weapons or act as remote video sensors for military and police...

The rain is turning to snow on a blustery January morning, and all the men gathered in a parking lot here surely would prefer to be inside. But the weather couldn't matter less to the robotic sharpshooter they are here to watch as it splashes through puddles, the barrel of its machine gun pointing the way like Pinocchio's nose. The Army is preparing to send 18 of these remote-controlled robotic warriors to fight in Iraq beginning in March or April. Made by a small Massachusetts company, the SWORDS, short for Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems, will be the first...

HOUSTON — One evening two winters ago, a man in Staten Island, N.Y., absent-mindedly flipped through his mail. Inside one envelope was a stack of fake documents, including United Nations (news - web sites) and Defense Department identification cards, and a note: "We would hate to have this fall into the wrong hands."

Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s two elder sons and a grandson were buried as martyrs Saturday in rocky soil near the deposed leader's hometown, where insurgents afterward attacked U.S. troops with three remote controlled bombs. Despite the violence in Tikrit — a center of anti-American guerrilla resistance — the U.S. administrator for Iraq (news - web sites) declared he had not seen hatred of American troops among the country's people. Instead, L. Paul Bremer, chief of the American occupation administration, blamed incessant attacks against U.S. forces on foreign terrorists and three groups aligned with the ousted Saddam regime. He...