nature finds a way
November 29, 2021 1:02 PM Subscribe
World's first living robots can now reproduce, scientists say. Bongard said they found that the xenobots, which were initially sphere-shaped and made from around 3,000 cells, could replicate. But it happened rarely and only in specific circumstances. The xenobots used "kinetic replication" -- a process that is known to occur at the molecular level but has never been observed before at the scale of whole cells or organisms.
This'll end well.
posted by higginba at 1:41 PM on November 29, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by higginba at 1:41 PM on November 29, 2021 [13 favorites]
i for one
posted by Horkus at 1:51 PM on November 29, 2021 [15 favorites]
posted by Horkus at 1:51 PM on November 29, 2021 [15 favorites]
Can we not?
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:53 PM on November 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:53 PM on November 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
Thanks! Thanks for that. I appreciate it.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:05 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 2:05 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
To be fair, though, the way they look like Pac-Men chasing power pellets is pretty cool. And it appears they probably won't find a way to destroy the earth before any number of our current problems do, so there is that.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:09 PM on November 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 2:09 PM on November 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
When will they be commercialized into pet form? *Runs off to call PetSmart.*
posted by Keith Talent at 2:16 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Keith Talent at 2:16 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I feel like calling these things 'xenobots' and the 'world's first living robots' are pretty grandiose claims for what are haphazard clumps of cells produced by tearing apart frog eggs.
posted by Pyry at 2:18 PM on November 29, 2021 [30 favorites]
posted by Pyry at 2:18 PM on November 29, 2021 [30 favorites]
“Living Robot” seems like a deliberate misnomer, or at least an attempt to emphasizes that these are specifically “robots” above all else. If these are indeed a “new class of organism” (as described by one researcher in an article linked in this one), it seems like a better name would be “programmable life” - these things are alive.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:23 PM on November 29, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 2:23 PM on November 29, 2021 [5 favorites]
While the prospect of self-replicating biotechnology could spark concern, the researchers said that the living machines were entirely contained in a lab and easily extinguished, as they are biodegradable and regulated by ethics experts.
The research was partially funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a federal agency that oversees the development of technology for military use.
I for one, can see absolutely nothing wrong with these 2 sentences.
posted by signal at 2:26 PM on November 29, 2021 [43 favorites]
The research was partially funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a federal agency that oversees the development of technology for military use.
I for one, can see absolutely nothing wrong with these 2 sentences.
posted by signal at 2:26 PM on November 29, 2021 [43 favorites]
I feel like calling these things 'xenobots' and the 'world's first living robots' are pretty grandiose claims for what are haphazard clumps of cells produced by tearing apart frog eggs.
To any future xenobot overlords, may the record show that I completely disagree with this assessment.
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:31 PM on November 29, 2021 [16 favorites]
To any future xenobot overlords, may the record show that I completely disagree with this assessment.
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:31 PM on November 29, 2021 [16 favorites]
I mean, they 'self replicate' when given a field of more cells to roll in, a criterion by which dryer lint also self-replicates, but I don't think we need to worry about a fuzzy goo taking over the world.
posted by Pyry at 2:31 PM on November 29, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by Pyry at 2:31 PM on November 29, 2021 [11 favorites]
Pyry, you haven't seen the state of my laundry room.
posted by tumbling at 2:35 PM on November 29, 2021 [27 favorites]
posted by tumbling at 2:35 PM on November 29, 2021 [27 favorites]
I feel like calling these things 'xenobots' and the 'world's first living robots' are pretty grandiose claims for what are haphazard clumps of cells produced by tearing apart frog eggs.
While I agree with this, I also think any hope we have of making functional nanotechnology will involve us doing this exact sort of thing. Evolution has been making nanomachines for billions of years, it makes no sense to try and start over from scratch.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:49 PM on November 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
While I agree with this, I also think any hope we have of making functional nanotechnology will involve us doing this exact sort of thing. Evolution has been making nanomachines for billions of years, it makes no sense to try and start over from scratch.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:49 PM on November 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
Evolution has been making nanomachines for billions of years, it makes no sense to try and start over from scratch.
But doesn't that look life-like?
posted by otherchaz at 2:53 PM on November 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
But doesn't that look life-like?
posted by otherchaz at 2:53 PM on November 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
Thanks otherchaz, now I'm going to have 🎶 plan your nanobot 🎶 stuck in my head for a week. (Sincere thanks though, this is great.)
posted by fight or flight at 3:02 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 3:02 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
With the help of artificial intelligence, the researchers then tested billions of body shapes to make the xenobots more effective at this type of replication. The supercomputer came up with a C-shape that resembled Pac-Man, the 1980s video game.
Which is great if it turns out that Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde end up being the four ghosts of the apocalypse.
posted by vverse23 at 3:05 PM on November 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
Which is great if it turns out that Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde end up being the four ghosts of the apocalypse.
posted by vverse23 at 3:05 PM on November 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
1st Robot. We have striven with all our might. We have obtained a billion tons of coal from the earth. Nine million spindles are running by day and by night. There is no longer room for all we have made. This we have accomplished in one year.
Alquist. For whom?
Radius. For future generations—so we thought. But we cannot make Robots to follow us. The machines produce only shapeless clods. The skin will not adhere to the flesh, nor the flesh to the bones.
2nd Robot. Eight million Robots have died this year. Within twenty years none will be left.
1st Robot. Tell us the secret of life.
posted by doctornemo at 3:13 PM on November 29, 2021
Alquist. For whom?
Radius. For future generations—so we thought. But we cannot make Robots to follow us. The machines produce only shapeless clods. The skin will not adhere to the flesh, nor the flesh to the bones.
2nd Robot. Eight million Robots have died this year. Within twenty years none will be left.
1st Robot. Tell us the secret of life.
posted by doctornemo at 3:13 PM on November 29, 2021
'kinetic replication'—well depending on how you do it I suppose, but I've never heard it called that before
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:23 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:23 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
I feel like we know how this movie ends.
posted by HunterFelt at 3:25 PM on November 29, 2021
posted by HunterFelt at 3:25 PM on November 29, 2021
the fuck
posted by zardoz at 3:33 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by zardoz at 3:33 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Like, the thing about gray goos, nanotechnology that exists solely to replicate itself, is that you're just describing life. Our planet has already experienced, is experiencing, a gray goo event that has been raging for four billion years. The bacteria that exist today, that exist everywhere life can theoretically exist, they're the survivors and victors of that four-billion-year long biochemical war. Compared to that we are children with crude slingshots and sharpened sticks, mainly a danger to ourselves.
posted by Pyry at 3:37 PM on November 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by Pyry at 3:37 PM on November 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
Grow the yellow bots up. Raise them up and make them respect us.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:09 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 4:09 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
Grow the yellow bots up. Raise them up and make them respect us.
This is the start of a very specific playlist
posted by otherchaz at 4:48 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
This is the start of a very specific playlist
posted by otherchaz at 4:48 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
The xenobots are very early technology -- think of a 1940s computer
So, they're going to get smaller?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:24 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think this might be a green, pink or perhaps rainbow goo effect. We might need to develop the grey goo just save ourselves.
That, and stand really still.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:39 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
That, and stand really still.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:39 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I would like to make a joke, too, please. Are there any left?
posted by briank at 5:59 PM on November 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by briank at 5:59 PM on November 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
I'm convinced useful nanotech will almost certainly look like biology, rather than tiny steam engines. I'm unconvinced this is the path forward. But, it sure is neat.
posted by eotvos at 6:16 PM on November 29, 2021
posted by eotvos at 6:16 PM on November 29, 2021
Ars Technica provides the buzzkill. (Seen in a tweet from MeFi's Own jscalzi.)
posted by bryon at 6:27 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by bryon at 6:27 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
To any future xenobot overlords, may the record show that I completely disagree with this assessment.
Croaku's Basilisk strikes again
posted by FatherDagon at 6:32 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Croaku's Basilisk strikes again
posted by FatherDagon at 6:32 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
"So, they're going to get smaller?"
"What's in those syringes?"
"Each contains a suspension of 1 billion internet enabled nano-sensors."
"Why so many?"
"There's a market for virtual sensations. No other metaverse provides the kinds of experiences we provide at the resolution at which we are capable. We command our exorbitant rates because we can map onto our clients' nervous system not only the experiences of celebrities, but even other species"
"I don't know if I agree with squeezing scanners into a cat for the pleasure of the internet viewing public. It just seems cruel to me."
posted by otherchaz at 6:35 PM on November 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
"What's in those syringes?"
"Each contains a suspension of 1 billion internet enabled nano-sensors."
"Why so many?"
"There's a market for virtual sensations. No other metaverse provides the kinds of experiences we provide at the resolution at which we are capable. We command our exorbitant rates because we can map onto our clients' nervous system not only the experiences of celebrities, but even other species"
"I don't know if I agree with squeezing scanners into a cat for the pleasure of the internet viewing public. It just seems cruel to me."
posted by otherchaz at 6:35 PM on November 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
Uh, guys, I think we are the grey goo. It's a very monster at the end of the book is you ending.
posted by Keith Talent at 6:41 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Keith Talent at 6:41 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was tempted to dig into this to throw cold water all over it, but that Ars Technica article that bryon linked seems to do a pretty thorough job. This is interesting work with legitimately interesting possible applications, but seems to be severely oversold. Sadly that is somewhat common for articles published in PNAS for the last, I dunno, 10-20 years or so.
posted by biogeo at 6:41 PM on November 29, 2021
posted by biogeo at 6:41 PM on November 29, 2021
Are we just speedrunning all of the apocalypse scenarios at once?
posted by schmod at 6:41 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by schmod at 6:41 PM on November 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
Or in other words, if you're freaked out by the idea of self-replicating robots, a) you probably shouldn't be, and b) regardless, this isn't really that so don't worry.
posted by biogeo at 6:45 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by biogeo at 6:45 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Do you want Shoggoths? Because that's how you get Shoggoths.
posted by nickzoic at 7:35 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by nickzoic at 7:35 PM on November 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Pickup the pieces of your weapon...the glaive.
Avoid all boulders.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:18 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Avoid all boulders.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:18 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
All these worlds are yours. Except Europa. Attempt no landing there.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:19 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:19 PM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Please don't get hung up on the "xenobots" name.
Yes, the suffix is for the attention, the prefix refers to Xenopus, a genus of giant African frogs. It's unfortunate that the latin root xenos = strange.
They're a model organism for lots of things because their eggs are big and easy to work with/ visualize. They're also fairly easy to keep alive - and it's unfortunate that they routinely survive in very limited environments. They're naturally pretty inactive and are able sit in a box barely bigger than they are for weeks to months.
It's usually the eggs or tadpoles (and in this case, dissociated single cells from very early stage embryos) that are used, not the adult organism. The adults are used for eggs and sperm.
The next door lab in grad school worked with them and, as much as I hated working with rats and transgenic mice, I would feel much less good working with Xenopus with the basic criteria that they were allowed to be maintained in.
Xenpous are ugly as sin in person, which may partially be why ethics protocols around keeping them aren't great. The other being that you can keep them in a (literal, plastic) shoebox when these things are almost as big as your head.
--
This is super interesting from many angles, but definitely overblown. Not being able to create the (rather specialized and far from basic) building blocks to make more stuff that is similar to itself is a big "naw, not really self replicating."
The "immediate" returns might be in pure robotics (especially swarms), once the mechanisms that biological cells use that produces this kind of behavior are determined.
posted by porpoise at 11:21 PM on November 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
Yes, the suffix is for the attention, the prefix refers to Xenopus, a genus of giant African frogs. It's unfortunate that the latin root xenos = strange.
They're a model organism for lots of things because their eggs are big and easy to work with/ visualize. They're also fairly easy to keep alive - and it's unfortunate that they routinely survive in very limited environments. They're naturally pretty inactive and are able sit in a box barely bigger than they are for weeks to months.
It's usually the eggs or tadpoles (and in this case, dissociated single cells from very early stage embryos) that are used, not the adult organism. The adults are used for eggs and sperm.
The next door lab in grad school worked with them and, as much as I hated working with rats and transgenic mice, I would feel much less good working with Xenopus with the basic criteria that they were allowed to be maintained in.
Xenpous are ugly as sin in person, which may partially be why ethics protocols around keeping them aren't great. The other being that you can keep them in a (literal, plastic) shoebox when these things are almost as big as your head.
--
This is super interesting from many angles, but definitely overblown. Not being able to create the (rather specialized and far from basic) building blocks to make more stuff that is similar to itself is a big "naw, not really self replicating."
The "immediate" returns might be in pure robotics (especially swarms), once the mechanisms that biological cells use that produces this kind of behavior are determined.
posted by porpoise at 11:21 PM on November 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
Nanubots come from Ork
posted by waving at 12:56 AM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by waving at 12:56 AM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
"Xenobots?" More like "xenobutts."
Or "nanobutts."
I mean, they describe them as looking like Pac-Man, but I have eyes.
posted by surlyben at 6:09 AM on November 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
Or "nanobutts."
I mean, they describe them as looking like Pac-Man, but I have eyes.
posted by surlyben at 6:09 AM on November 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
porpoise, I agree that it's tragic that most people will never get past the headline, because this is a) completely non-threatening and b) super cool
posted by phooky at 7:41 AM on November 30, 2021
posted by phooky at 7:41 AM on November 30, 2021
(If you're interested in this stuff, I'd recommend checking out this classic Penrose film about self-replicating mechanisms which provides a nice non-biological analog.)
posted by phooky at 7:44 AM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by phooky at 7:44 AM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
The stem cells of the African Clawed Frog have been taught to find food, reproduce, and solve primitive existential issues.
What could possibly go wrong?
[Beware of the blob, it creeps
And leaps and glides and slides
Across the floor
Right through the door
And all around the wall
A splotch, a blotch
Be careful of the blob]
(I'm sure somebody owns the copyright to these lyrics. Don't tell them I used them.)
posted by mule98J at 7:55 AM on November 30, 2021
What could possibly go wrong?
[Beware of the blob, it creeps
And leaps and glides and slides
Across the floor
Right through the door
And all around the wall
A splotch, a blotch
Be careful of the blob]
(I'm sure somebody owns the copyright to these lyrics. Don't tell them I used them.)
posted by mule98J at 7:55 AM on November 30, 2021
All hail Hypnotoad!
Just in case, you know … but down with brain slugs.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:05 AM on November 30, 2021
Just in case, you know … but down with brain slugs.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:05 AM on November 30, 2021
Obnoxious pedantry:
"Xenon" in Latin is just a loanword from Ancient Greek, and the genus name "Xenopus" is constructed from the Ancient Greek meaning "strange foot". 19th century taxonomists were often weirdly obsessed with naming things based on their feet. For example, on encountering the platypus, a mammal that lays eggs, is semi-aquatic, has a bill like a duck, and has a venomous spur, the taxonomists' first instinct was to name it "flat foot."
As you were.
posted by biogeo at 10:16 AM on November 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
"Xenon" in Latin is just a loanword from Ancient Greek, and the genus name "Xenopus" is constructed from the Ancient Greek meaning "strange foot". 19th century taxonomists were often weirdly obsessed with naming things based on their feet. For example, on encountering the platypus, a mammal that lays eggs, is semi-aquatic, has a bill like a duck, and has a venomous spur, the taxonomists' first instinct was to name it "flat foot."
As you were.
posted by biogeo at 10:16 AM on November 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
*make paperclip
posted by tardigrade at 10:57 AM on December 1, 2021
posted by tardigrade at 10:57 AM on December 1, 2021
How is this not front page news?
posted by pelvicsorcery at 11:39 PM on December 2, 2021
posted by pelvicsorcery at 11:39 PM on December 2, 2021
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posted by mkb at 1:14 PM on November 29, 2021 [3 favorites]