Wormbot Crawls Through Your Intestines 169
holy_calamity writes "NewScientist is reporting on a new robot modeled on a worm to crawl through your intestines made by European researchers. The plan is to replace endoscopes, but from the look of the videos these things are too scary to ever be allowed into hospitals."
obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Re:obligatory (Score:1)
Re:obligatory (Score:3, Funny)
Re:obligatory (Score:2)
Re:obligatory (Score:2)
"Yeah. About those dad-gum bloggers that got me fired. Well, Ms. Couric, we'll just see who's colon really deserves the anchor chair!"
- Dan Rather
Good News Everyone ! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Good News Everyone ! (Score:2)
*Fry opens his mouth*
Zoidberg: Guess again.
Re:Good News Everyone ! (Score:2)
Professor: Anywho, your net suits will let you experience Fry's worm-infested bowels as if you were actually wriggling through them.
Dr. Zoidberg: There's no part of that sentence I didn't like.
Re:Good News Everyone ! (Score:2)
OH MY GOD (Score:2)
intestine crawling robots. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:intestine crawling robots. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:intestine crawling robots. (Score:1)
Re:intestine crawling robots. (Score:2, Funny)
Linux runs.
That's probably more than you want to hear in this context.
Wombat? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:intestine crawling robots. (Score:3, Insightful)
One of the Goatse trolls of course.
Doctor: (Score:5, Funny)
--
Music should be free [w33t.com]
Re:Doctor: (Score:3, Funny)
can't wait (Score:2, Funny)
It gets worse (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It gets worse (Score:2, Funny)
Re:It gets worse (Score:3, Funny)
User-agent: worm
Disallow: *
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Reminds Me Of The "Woodchuck" Rhyme (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Uuuh... (Score:5, Insightful)
Never had a colonoscopy, eh?
Re:Uuuh... or how scary are hospitals? (Score:1, Offtopic)
See, we can diagnose your behavior, run your DNA, do all the scans we want, but in the end, if we can get accurate brain measurements within a few hours of death, that's way more useful.
Now, did I mention the Spinal fluid extract?
Re:Uuuh... (Score:2)
Re:Uuuh... (Score:2)
To the uninitiated, it's like a garden hose about an inch and a quarter thick, and FIVE FEET LONG!!
Believe me, having been through that, I would say that having a little robot the size of a cockroach squirming around inside of me - while feeling really weird - would be infinitely more preferable to having *that* thing shoved quite ungently past every corner of my colon.
Re:Uuuh... (Score:2)
I wonder if another iteration of the Wormbot could have a payload of a laser to zap polyps before they become cancerous. Yes, I'm talking about robot worms with frickin' lasers on their heads.
Re:Uuuh... (Score:2)
A wombat with a frickin' "laser" would be cool.
Yes, but... (Score:1)
For those who didn't get it... (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Yes, but... (Score:2)
Why a robot? (Score:2, Insightful)
Look, maybe you kids should read the article... (Score:5, Informative)
Doctors currently explore the gut using endoscopes, which have to be fed through the body, or "camera pills" that must be swallowed by a patient.
A pill capable of wriggling through the gut on its own could be a valuable tool, says Andrew Gardner, an independent medical imaging expert at University College London.
"Capsules can show you places nothing else can, but you can't stop or slow down when you get to a point of interest," he told New Scientist.
from having read the article (Score:3, Funny)
Since it's in the gut, it would hopefully pass, but what if it shorted out?
Doctor: Nurse, time to get the bug out!
Nurse: Um, Doctor, did you remember to insert a new battery?
Doctor: No, why?
Nurse: Well, this might take a bit longer than we were expecting. It's not moving.
Re:Why a robot? (Score:1)
Re:Why a robot? (Score:1)
Easy test subject (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Easy test subject (Score:3)
arrrggg
-1 WRONG!
Re:Easy test subject (Score:1)
Meanwhile, Japanese Scientists... (Score:2, Funny)
*ducks*
"Jesus, you mean that thing's real?" (Score:5, Funny)
Re:"Jesus, you mean that thing's real?" (Score:2)
"OVER MY DEAD BODY."
Re:"Jesus, you mean that thing's real?" (Score:1)
"THROUGH MY DEAD BODY"
Bedside Manner. (Score:3, Funny)
Yuck! (Score:4, Funny)
How's it come out? (Score:1)
So Mr. Worm (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:So Mr. Worm (Score:2)
Re:So Mr. Worm (Score:2)
Re:So Mr. Worm (Score:1)
I can see it now, a very small worm lugging a very large UPS behind it
Now where do we plug in the extension cord?
Re:So Mr. Worm (Score:2)
Re:So Mr. Worm (Score:1)
My guess is, if the power goes out, the bug will party down!
Karaoke in the Lower Intestine!
Mamba in the Upper Intestine!
Re:So Mr. Worm (Score:1)
Re:So Mr. Worm (Score:2)
Alright, Mr. Quimby... (Score:1)
When wormbots go bad... (Score:5, Funny)
just had a thought (Score:3, Interesting)
Even better than the real thing? (Score:2)
Yeah, cause robot worms are way scarier than these things [fda.gov].
Re:Even better than the real thing? (Score:2)
Therapeutic benefits are tremendous... (Score:1)
I found this even more interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh, I'll be safe! (Score:5, Funny)
Gee, I don't have intestines made by European researchers.
Just the standard issue ones. Not even suitable for use in making Garters.
Cheers!
Boon for diagnostics (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Boon for diagnostics (Score:2)
Nice idea, just two possible problems (Score:1)
Does it crawl "up your's" with a cable attached to it ?
This may not be as big a problem with the mentioned pill cameras - since they dont actually move and thus require less power.
But here - we have a pretty big cable (compared to what the robots size is anyway).
Add to that the power for the light source, camera, and some radio transmitter that can make it usable.
Or did i get it wrong and do the pill cams have cables attached to t
How much did that thing cost? (Score:5, Funny)
I can just go to Taco Bell, and for $3.49, I can get that same lovely sensation of something crawling around my intestines and making life uncomfortable...
As a side note, the header "interesting crevice" is rarely followed by something I want to read about...
Getting people to go for it... (Score:3, Funny)
(I'd find the links, but I'm at work right now and I do *not* want that showing up in our web logs
Wombat? (Score:2, Funny)
Oh, good--it has little hooks. (Score:3, Funny)
Yes but.... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Yes but.... (Score:2)
Enough is enough (Score:5, Funny)
+1 Funny (Score:2)
"oh jezus christ" (Score:3, Funny)
Got funding? (Score:2, Funny)
2. Robotic breast exams: what geek thought it was a good idea to reduce breasticle touching?
3. I don't have a third thing.
Re:Got funding? (Score:2)
Just as long as ... (Score:2)
What's the point? (Score:2)
Also, if the doctor finds a polyp with a colonoscope he can whack it out on the spot; if the pill/bot finds one, you may have to do the purge all over again.
rj
is it a pill? (Score:2)
Prior Art by They Might Be Giants (Score:1)
No Problem (Score:1)
*DUCKS*
Huh? (Score:1)
European researchers certainly didn't create MY intestines!
At least with a tapeworm... (Score:1)
Medical purposes? (Score:1)
Announcement (Score:1)
Good News! (Score:2)
Future South Park (Score:2)
. . . oh, it's just me? Nevermind then.
technology already exists (Score:2)
Perfect for kids (Score:2)
Nietzsche (Score:2)
About to be a little more worm in there
Wow, I had no idea ... (Score:2)
Regards,
John
the sand huh? (Score:2)
c'mon, nobody had any poo available?! Unless you're on a really high fiber diet, sand seems like a poor model.
Scary video (Score:2)
Exit only, please.
A Hunter-Killer Robot for the intestines: (Score:2)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Radio-Controlled-Crawling-Bug
Adaptation... (Score:2)
Re:I would've thought... (Score:5, Funny)
You misspelled "eat".
Re:Wormbot Crawls Through Your Intestines (Score:2)