Living Robots Reproduce in a Unique Way

[berkeman]

I'm still trying to figure out if this is good or bad...

(CNN)The US scientists who created the first living robots say the life forms, known as xenobots, can now reproduce -- and in a way not seen in plants and animals.

Formed from the stem cells of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) from which it takes its name, xenobots are less than a millimeter (0.04 inches) wide. The tiny blobs were first unveiled in 2020 after experiments showed that they could move, work together in groups and self-heal.

Now the scientists that developed them at the University of Vermont, Tufts University and Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering said they have discovered an entirely new form of biological reproduction different from any animal or plant known to science.

"I was astounded by it," said Michael Levin, a professor of biology and director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University who was co-lead author of the new research

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/29/americas/xenobots-self-replicating-robots-scn/index.html

 

[Drakkith]

Nothing to be worried about really. They're just groups of frog stem cells. Let them loose in a puddle and they will quickly get eaten or otherwise die. No way they could replicate outside of a lab either, as they literally just scoop up loose stem cells which then form another 'machine'.