Autonom-nom-nom-nomous technology

The US army is working on a robot that will be powered by noms. The EATR will be powered by a biomass fulled reactor which will digest plant matter and other cellulosic sources and turn them into electrical power using a "waste heat engine". The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) will then storm around the battlefield, eating everything in its path, and killing indiscriminately. The robot steamers are envisaged as being equipped with powerful articulated arms in order to rip trees or bushes out of the earth and stuff them into their glowing maws.

Here is an artists depiction:


Ok, not exactly... but pretty damn close..

This is a further writeup from the Register. Don't say I did not warn you about this:

"Hapless drivers or householders will be in no position to object to such robotic plundering: military reconnaissance vehicles are typically heavily armed, and doubtless the EATR will be no exception. It might also be fitted with DARPA's SELF tech, enabling it to construct copies of itself and modify its own design.

Even more disturbingly, it seems clear that the EATRs could run on various other kinds of organic matter, for instance bodies. No doubt things would start small, with roving EATRs scooping roadkill, stray cats and such into their fireboxes and reaping fresh energy from their rich, blazing dripping.

From there it would be only a small step to the inevitable harvesting of every living thing on Earth. Trees, crops, garbage, cattle, the very human race itself - all would go to feed the hungry roaring furnaces and drive the clanking, puffing, smoke-belching mechanical locusts onward until the sooty corpse-pall from their engines covered the entire Earth. An Earth which would be home in time to nothing but slowly powering-down EATRs, prowling across endless ashy plains of their own droppings."