[extropy-chat] Video of Fighting Humanoid Robots!

[Adrian Tymes]

--- The Avantguardian <avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com>
wrote:
> FYI the fictional mechs are powered by
> fusion powerplants so for real world applications we
> probably do not have a suitable means to power them.

I've been following the development of this tech, and
power sources seems to be the primary thing keeping
them from viability.  That's the problem that all
developers of exoskeletons (basically suits of armor
with motors, to amplify the wearer's strength) are
running into; the only viable solution I've seen
plugged into building power.

Some say that giant (2-4x human height) mechs are
impractical for military use, mainly since they're a
big artillery target.  However, they would seem to be
of use wherever cover is available, like in forests
or cities (or mountains, or even underwater near the
coast: imagine a submarine against a mech that could
swim at least as fast, could shoot down incoming
torpedoes, and could close in to grapple - maybe even
capture, simply by lifting a ship or sub out of the
water).

As it happens, I recently wrote a short parody of this
genre, if anyone's interested:
http://archives.eyrie.org/anime/Miscellaneous/Original/orig.from-the-journal-of-marcus-reaver.gz