The U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program began in the ’60s. The idea was that dolphins and sea lions would help defend harbors, retrieve sunken equipment and, even identify mines for deactivation. Now they have changed their mind and they want robots to do the dirty work. This will leave many sea mammals without a job, having to collect fish treats on their own.
It’s an expensive program with its team of veterinarians and handlers. Robots can be repaired, whereas if a dolphin dies, it has to be replaced and retrained. Dolphins will be replaced by the Knifefish by Bluefin Robotics, which basically looks like a missile. It can operate continuously underwater for up to 16 hours – much better than a dolphin who needs to actually breathe, eat, poop and occasionally sleep.
The Knifefish will use sonar to hunt for mines and will be joined by other robots who will take over all of the mammal’s duties.
Foxconn does not have a shining record when it comes to the kind of treatment that their workers get, despite being one of the contractors that Apple has employed to churn out numerous devices, mainly for the iPhone and iPad. Well, since the company has not shown a sterling track record for treating their works well, the CEO decided to replace the human workers with a droid army, dubbed “Foxbots” by some. These robot workers were said to take over a number of factory positions which are considered as dangerous, and Foxconn hopes that the Foxbots will also trim company expenditures in the long run.
