Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1982)
vn/wvj sns- anoa si - J L J L • ••••• 6 QNOA3S ZBSV «1MVAA / Robot, generally stating that the ma chines would be good to their human makers. But from Japan comes news that all is not well in the robotic Gar den of Eden; that a forbidden fruit has been tasted. The headlines tell the story: Tokyo worker stabbed to death — by robot. The incident happened last July 4, but Japanese officials did not report it until December. It seems that Kenji Urada, a 37-year-old repairman at a Tokyo automotive factory, was trying to fix a malfunctioning industrial robot. Officials said Urada had violated the robot's turf by entering an area marked "off limits." Urada apparently hit the "on" switch. The robot sud denly started up, pinned him against another machine, and killed him, the government report said. So far as anyone knows, this is the first such "killing" by a robot. But considering that Japan alone employs more than 50,000 robots, and thou sands more are slated to go to work worldwide, ft may be time to think again about Isaac's Rules of Order. Nuclear Peril 101 Since air-raid drills have fallen out of fashion, Harvard Medical School is try ing a different approach. This spring's course offerings include "Health As pects of Nuclear Weapons and War," to be taught by a dozen professors from Harvard and Massachusetts Insti tute of Technology. The course de scription likens nukes to "other medi cal problems that arise directly from socioeconomic aspects of our culture such as malnutrition, smoking, al coholism, drug abuse, and environ mental hazards . . . Physicians in train ing should receive instruction in the health consequences of the use of nu clear weapons." Let's just hope that the future doctors in waiting never have to practice these skills. Progress of the Bitter Sort Attention, Charles Osborn of Anthon, Iowa, who's been hiccupping non stop since 1922 (according to Gui- ness)!! A former bartender and a doc tor have found a cure—a bitter one— but a cure nonetheless. As reported in a letter in The New England Journal of Medicine, David S. Nolan, the barten der, and Dr. Jay Howard Herman ad vise hiccupers to eat a lemon wedge — per bar specifications — saturated with Angostura bitters, the nasty stuff in the brown bottle. To make it more palatable, sugar can be added — but don't eat the lemon rind. The remedy reportedly cured hic cups in 14 of 16 cases. But here's the catch, Mr. Osborn: The treatment was for hiccups caused by alcohol consumption. Whether other types of hiccups will succumb to the cure is unknown. "Further clinical trials are in progress," the team wrote. Nirvana in a Tank (or Ten Inches of Nirvana) It was featured in the movie Altered States. John Lilly, the scientist today known for his work with dolphins, in vented it in the Fifties, and ex perimented with LSD while in one. It's called an isolation, or relaxation, tank, and if a few small companies have it their way. It'll be the greatest thing since the Watta Pizza Pizzeria. Gary Higgins took his first "float" in a tank four years ago, and liked it so much that two months later he opened Float to Relax in Lakewood, Colorado. Higgins and two other companies sell tanks to individuals and franchisees, promoting the floating experience as the ultimate form of re laxation and stress control. The entire industry, including sales and rentals, was expected to generate $4 million in revenues last year. EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER WANTED IN A PORTABLE If you’ve always had a taste for a portable stereo Available with home audio features like stereo with loads of stereo features, but were afraid of gaining AM/FM and cassette, Dolbyfmetal tape capabilities, weight, try something new.a 6-band graphic equalizer; Music Search Our new series of Slim-line Personal Stereos. (forward and backward), aiitb repf^y and dirett