LONDON - British scientists are developing a robot that will generate its own power by eating flies.

The idea is to produce electricity by catching flies and digesting them in special fuel cells that will break down sugar in the insects’ skeletons and release electrons that will drive an electric current.

“Called EcoBot II, the robot is part of a drive to make “release and forget” robots that can be sent into dangerous or inhospitable areas to carry our remote industrial or military monitoring of, say, temperature or toxic gas concentrations,” New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

So… dangerous and inhospitable… like, say…. Los Angeles?

Hence the downside of the fully autonomous robot: it will have to use sewage or excrement to attract the flies and is bound to smell appalling.

Gee.. maybe someday we’ll have cars that work on the same principles. And rather than pulling over for petrol, we can just install toilet seats instead of find cordovian leather. Just think, no longer will the kids beg for you to stop at the next rest stop. So no stopping for petrol or toilets….  You could drive coast to coast and back again without ever stopping! Ain’t technology grand?

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