Shades Of WALL-E And The Matrix In The US Army's New Robot

I recently stumbled upon a news story about the US Army building a new robot prototype that fuels itself with biomass. Its military purposes are of course classified, but I can guess it's going to be a reconnaissance robot that the army can leave for months or years without refueling or servicing. I see this as a rare good way for the US Army to use their citizens' tax dollars.

The prototype reminds me quite a bit of WALL-E. After all, the robot's name is Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, or -- get this -- EATR. When it gets low on fuel, it forages the landscape to find biomass, such as wood chips and paper scraps, to heat water into steam, which in turn powers it to keep going.

The online reaction to this development was both positive and negative. Some said this was a great way to power military drones by living off the fat of the land, and should drive down defense and energy costs. Some even hoped that other things, like cars, could be powered by this technology in the near future.

The funniest comment I've seen all day: "I for one welcome our new robot overlords."

But nothing's probably funnier than rumors that EATR will also likely consume human and animal bodies. FOXNews.com has the dubious honor of posting one of the first of these stories, saying that dead bodies on the battlefield was "biomass" and that they were apparently "full of energy."

The laughable stories went on to say that EATR was a war crime in the making, since the families of slain soldiers would want to see their relatives buried back home, and that even terrorists were people, etc.

The joke was on FOXNews.com when the US military later issued a statement that EATR was a vegetarian -- it will only forage for fuel "no scarier than twigs, grass clippings, and wood chips," and will be programmed not to consume animal or human remains.

Why does EATR remind me of The Matrix? Because maybe the guys at FOXNews watched too much of it.