quantumaniac:

Bionic Penguins

In 2009, a German Engineering Firm, Festo, developed two colonies of bionic penguins that are able to demonstrate collective behavior. The penguins can utilize their flippers and swim smoothly through the water just like real ones, and larger models filled with helium are able to fly and “swim” through the sky. The penguins contain a 3D sonar system, which is used to monitor its surroundings and avoid collisions. 

Flexible glass fibre rods were used to control the heads, which enables graceful, smooth head turns. “The fibres are arranged around the side of each penguin’s head, while motors inside the body pull on one or more of them to twist the penguin’s neck in any direction and guide the swimmer, says Markus Fischer, who heads Festo’s corporate design team.”

The penguins are also able to collectively work together in a group, exhibiting what psychologists know as “crowd behavior,” in which one member can respond and react to what another does. 

You can watch the video here. 

Here’s hoping this doesn’t shift the balance of power …