Immobots, the Robots of Tomorrow, are Coming and They're Going to Change the Future of...

Business/Technology Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2002

Forget the Metallic Contraptions of Today, Immobots Deal with Crisis

Autonomously and Often More Effectively Than Their Human Programmers

While robots are just reaching the mainstream

in daily consumer lives, teams of researchers worldwide are already moving aggressively toward developing the next wave of artificial-intelligence technologies. Unlike the metallic contraptions that march stiffly through sci-fi movies or the mindless, stripped-down devices that heft parts on our assembly lines, the latest robots, called "immobots," are inward-focused, self-reconfiguring machines that don't move.

Immobots are already turning up in everyday systems such as cars, office copiers, and database software. And if advances in the field continue to increase at this astounding pace, many of the infrastructure technologies we depend on - heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; telephone and computer networks; air traffic systems; and electrical grids - might eventually be run by immobile-robot brains. Indeed, entire cities and regions could be transformed into massively distributed immobots that deal with crisis autonomously and often more effectively than humans.

Further details can be found in the full article, now available at www.technologyreview.com and on newsstands December 10, 2002.

Other features in the December 2002/January 2003 issue include:

-- "R&D 2002: Research That Breaks the Mold" - Technology Review's Annual R&D Report ranks research and development spending at 150 of the world's largest technology-based organizations. Even as tough times force cutbacks in R&D spending, the best firms are committed to nurturing at least a few longer-term, risky projects that could revolutionize their industries. Technology Review profiles four of these research efforts that "break the mold" of the current trend and show corporate risk-taking at its best.

-- "How You'll Pay" - Smart cards were introduced more than a decade ago and have certainly seen their share of hype. In the past few years they've gained even more momentum, evidenced in the fact that more than 685 million smart cards were shipped last year alone. Technology Review looks at the technology behind this growing market that has merchants, banks, and device makers trying to figure out how to reap a rich bounty from the $5.7 trillion in annual credit and debit card transactions.

-- "Prescription RNA" - Researchers have discovered what is considered perhaps the biggest breakthrough in biology in decades - an astonishingly effective way to "turn off" genes. The approach, which uses short pieces of RNA for entirely new purposes, is already revolutionizing drug research and prompting Big Pharma to invest millions as researchers race to make RNA medicines that could treat everything from cancer to AIDS.

Other topics covered in this issue include balance therapy, artificial muscles, automating animation, and seafloor fuel cells.

NOTE to editors: Technology Review editors and writers are available to discuss topics featured in the December 2002/January 2003 issue.

About Technology Review

Technology Review, MIT's magazine of innovation, is the world's oldest technology magazine. The magazine, as well as its signature events, newsletters, and online businesses, delivers essential information about emerging technologies on the verge of commercialization. Since 1998 Technology Review's paid circulation has more than tripled, climbing from 92,000 to 315,000. Several hundred thousand MIT alumni, faculty, and students, as well as senior technology thinkers and influencers - venture capitalists, chief scientists, researchers, senior corporate executives, investors, and innovators throughout the world - constitute the Technology Review community.