Groopman, Jerome. “Superbugs: The New Generation of Resistant Infections Is Almost Impossible to Treat.”
Watanabe, Tokiko, et al. “Viral RNA Polymerase Complex Promotes Optimal Growth of 1918 Virus in the Lower Respiratory Tract of Ferrets.”
Medical News Today. “Francisella Tularensis: Stopping a Biological Weapon.” July 28, 2008. Adopted from Lucy Goodchild,
18. ROBOT AUTONOMY
Graham-Rowe, Duncan. “Feed Me.”
Wilkinson, Stuart. “‘Gastrobots’—Benefits and Challenges of Microbial Fuel Cells in Food Powered Robot Applications.”
Finkelstein, Robert. “Brief Project Overview. EATR: Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot.” DARPA Contract W31P4Q-08-C-0292, January 15, 2009.
Warwick, Graham. “Bird on a Wire—Flying Wing UAV Recharges on the Fly.” Ares: A Defense Technology Blog,
DeMarse, Thomas B. “The Neurally Controlled Animat: Biological Brains Acting with Simulated Bodies.”
Kloc, Joe. “The Living Robot.”
Blow, M., et al. “Perception of Robot Smiles and Dimensions for Human-Robot Interaction Design.” Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (2006): 469–474.
Degallier, S., et al. “A Modular, Bio-Inspired Architecture for Movement Generation for the Infant-Like Robot iCub.” IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (October 19, 2008): 795–800.
Gaudin, Sharon. “NASA: Robotic Arm on Mars Lander Shuts Down to Save Itself.”
19. ROBOT IMMORALITY
Lipson, H. “Evolutionary Robotics: Emergence of Communication.”
Floreano, D., S. Mitri, S. Magnenat, and L. Keller. “Evolutionary Conditions for the Emergence of Communication.”
Lin, Patrick, George Bekey, and Keith Abney. “Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, and Design.” U.S. Department of Navy, Office of Naval Research, December 20, 2008.
www.ethics.calpoly.edu/ONR_report.pdf.
Alleyne, Richard. “A Robot with Feelings Is Star of Science Museum Show.”
20. ROBOT ABILITY
Brandon, John. “Robots That Hunt in Packs: The Department of Defense Wants Your Designs for a Collaborative Robotic Team.”
SITIS Archives. “Multi-Robot Pursuit System.” Topic Number A08–204 (Army). www.dodsbir.net/Sitis/archives_display_topic.asp?Bookmark=34565.
Personal Robots Group. “Project Overview, MDS.” MIT Media Lab. robotic.media.mit.edu/projects/ robots/mds/overview/overview.html.
Cho, Joohee. “Robo-Soldier to Patrol South Korean Border.”
Kumagai, Jean. “A Robotic Sentry for Korea’s Demilitarized Zone.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not have been possible without the help and patience of many people. I would like to thank my girlfriend, Meagan Kennedy, for reminding me, when I was caught in the depth of a screaming existential panic, that I “liked the apocalypse” and should write about that. It is not her fault that I “like” the end of humanity; that is a personal issue. I would like to thank my agent, Byrd Leavell, for always being my ardent supporter, at times to the point of psychosis. I would like to also thank Lucinda Bartley, for plucking me from the choking miasma of the internet and dropping me into the esteemed realm of literary publication. She also deserves a great deal of gratitude for all her hard work editing this book, and for holding my hand through the entire process even though I frequently became distracted chasing after shiny things. I would like to thank Tom Bordonaro, for sending me roughly one-third of the disturbing material in this book, even after several court orders asking him politely to stop. I’d like to thank Jason Pedegana, whose amazing illustrations grace the pages of this book and who, when faced with depicting these foul words of mine, not only avoided visibly shuddering, but even feigned some very convincing enthusiasm. I would also like to thank my dad, Robert Brockway III, and my grandpa Robert Brockway II, who have always been endlessly supportive even if they kind of suck at naming things. I would like to thank my dogs, Detectives Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, for being totally ridiculous and stupid, and also for keeping my legs warm while I wrote this. Finally, I would like to thank Cracked.com, whose open-door policy for writers has given me and countless other aspiring comedians the opportunity to shine. Anybody can sign up to write for them, and everybody should do so now. If I have forgotten anybody who has helped in the making of this book, please believe that it was not intentional. I realize there are many others not named here whom I owe dearly, and I have omitted you only because I am doubtlessly a terrible person, and will certainly one day answer for my many misdeeds.
Praise for
“The book is proof that the ridiculous and the horrible are joined at the hip and will never be separated; in a
