Robots are extremely useful when it comes to helping mankind out in various tasks, be it in the kitchen, or perhaps to help serve a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and this time around, one has been utilized by a team of biologists in order to help figure out how a group of penguins behave. This baby penguin robotic spy does have its very own set of charms, so much so that it successfully convinced other penguins to “talk” to it, so to speak, as though it was a potential mate for their little chicks.
Emperor penguins might sound as though they are grand, but they are rather shy by nature. Hence, whenever human researchers make an approach, they tend to back away while getting their heart rate go up by a notch – which is not what scientists are looking for when they perform check ups on heart rate, health and other penguin parameters.
A bunch of international scientists and filmmakers, with Yvon Le Maho of the University of Strasbourg in France at the helm, came up with the idea of a remote control rover that has been cleverly disguised to look like a chick, so that it can snuggle up with the rest of the pack, while researchers played the role of a voyeur from over 650 feet away.
It took approximately five different versions before the right combination of fur, arms and color patterns were accepted by other penguins. I suppose you can call this the Iron Penguin Mark V, yes?
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