Here’s a story that says something interesting about our ability to empathise with machines, and that shatters the myth of the heartless hard men of military brass: while watching a demonstration of an autonomous landmine-clearance robot which adapts to damage so it can continue its perilous journey, a US Army Colonel became distressed by seeing the plucky ‘bot still carrying on with only one remaining limb, and demanded that the demonstration stop, as it was ‘inhumane’. [PostHumanBlues]