MONSTER MUNCHIES
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In the never-ending quest for new fuels. The Hawk has learned of one development guaranteed to send shivers down your spine.
A flesh-eating robot called Chew Chew makes its debut this month at a robotics conference in Hawaii. Chew Chew is a "gastrobot"—a 12-wheeled monster invented by Stuart Wilkinson of the University of South Florida, in the US. The gastrobot's "stomach" is a microbial fuel cell (MFG). This Is a device that enslaves a population of e.coli bacteria to break down food and convert chemical energy into electricity.
Early proposals for uses of the gastrobot include a lawnmower that could graze on its own grass clippings.
A similar project is under way at the University of the West of England in Bristol. No prizes for guessing what the slimily-named "slugbot" runs on! Chris Melhuish from the slugbot team says the potential is there for vehicles to use this type of technology in the future.
However, he cautions: "The energy demands would be huge to run a train or even a small car." So what would it take to fuel a truck...a whole cow? Wilkinson reveals that his invention would run more efficiently on meat than vegeta tion, but he has no plans to give gas
I I I trobots a taste for flesh. As he points out: "Otherwise they'll notice there's an awful lot of humanrunning around and try to eat them."