Boston Dynamics’ BIGDOG
I recently received an email (for the third time) about a military K9 unit in Iraq. It’s about an allegedly 200 pound dog named Brutus whose heroic rescue of four American soldiers captured by insurgents earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor. Most would read this account and immediately smell bullshit or, in this case, dog shit. But for some reason it continues to get forwarded around the world and, presumably, believed by those who receive it.
The story of Brutus is just one of a seemingly endless flow of emails that fly in the face of common sense (do you really think Bill Gates would give you money just for forwarding a stupid chain letter?). Fortunately, these rumors are easily debunked in about 30 seconds by doing a Google search, which is exactly what I did after first hearing about Brutus’ unlikely heroics. If that’s asking too much, most of these rumors and emails can be debunked by going directly to www.snopes.com where a comprehensive database of bullshit is constantly updated.
For some reason, I opted for the Google search option and, having forgotten the name of the dog in question, searched the keywords “big dog”. In addition to the results I was looking for, the following completely unrelated video also came up (good segue, no?).
Prepare yourself for Boston Dynamics’ BIGDOG and believe me when I say that it might freak you out a little bit. BigDog is an advanced “quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain”, and can carry up to 340LBs while doing so. The military, law enforcement, and rescue potential of this type of technology is endless. Enjoy!
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About the Author: Randall H. Miller is an American educator/blogger. He is also a former U.S. Army officer (82nd Airborne) with a Master of Arts in Diplomacy (focusing on International Terrorism). Use the form on the right to sign up for the "Friday Morning Fix” and other timely updates.
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lapaix
| Jun 30, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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I’m totally with you on the stupid BS emails getting passed along without being checked by a Google search or snopes. Even after I’ve sent multiple emails to very smart people proving that their unbelievable tales are truly unbelievable (and not at all real), they still send out unbelievable emails (and promise that they’ll check next time before they send out the next BS). Other people don’t bother; they just make sure I’m included in the people they send it to knowing that I’ll check and then they send out a retraction. Other people send it to me first asking me if it’s true. Hello?!!! What is so hard about going to snopes.com? Anyway, that’s my rant of the morning. As for Big Dog, I’ve got to say that the engineers who made him are really incredible. What a creation!
(P.S. So where are the pix and stories?!)