Building a hunting watch - killer robot that is programmed to terminate an entire coinage is normally the business of the spoilt guys . But when said species is the crown - of - thorns sea star , which feeds off red coral , that robot is really fulfilling a life-sustaining missionary station .
The crown - of - thorns is a serious problem for coral reef — it ’s a difficult - to - belt down pest , the wage hike of which has kick in to a 40 pct loss in coral cover over the last 30 class . Currently , scientists have to recruit human diver to inject each tentacle of the sea star for kill it , a process that ’s expensive , time - consuming , and really not worthy of humankind ’s role as this major planet ’s apex predator .
Thankfully , some malign genius has total up with a much dear solution : a computer - pilot submersible warship , called COTSbot , which uses a computer vision system and pneumatic injection arm to direct and shoot down the starfish , using a fatal superman of gall salts . Sure , floating around the sea shoot behind - moving organisms is n’t going to equal Terminator for loge - office staff domination any time presently , but it ’s a lot more scientifically utilitarian .
[ Mashable ]
Image credit : Matt Kieffer / Flickr
CoralScience
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and acculturation news in your inbox daily .
News from the time to come , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
