The round trip to Alpha Centauri is STL. The explorers are robots. One contains a downloaded human personality. On Demeter, there is rain and wind and there are two suns in the sky.
A fifteen-centimeter insect-like biologist robot probing a green-brown vegetable mat with its tendrils transmits to a balloon-borne receiver which amplifies the signal and re-transmits it to the mainframe computer at the station.
Through his robot body's treads, download Guthrie feels fine grit and damp soil. Through its eye stalks, he sees a beach strewn with weed, shells and dead animals like worms or jellyfish and the surfacing of a mother vessel for robots studying the sea. Production facilities make investigators which are then flown around the planet. Guthrie also has a legged body. He makes discoveries and devises procedures transcending the abilities of computer programs.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And that is why we should not depend entirely on robotics for exploring and studying other worlds! There is only SO much pre-programmed machines and computers can do. They will necessarily lack INTUITION, the ability to make unexpected connections and follow unpredictable lines of investigation. We need to start sending manned expeditions to Mars and other worlds and moons of the Solar System.
Sean
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