1.0The Escapisthttps://www.escapistmagazine.comSusan Arendthttps://www.escapistmagazine.com/author/susan-arendt/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="8EiC2QxcTZ"><a href="https://www.escapistmagazine.com/our-love-of-robots-begins-with-a-pooping-duck/">Our Love of Robots Begins With a Pooping Duck</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.escapistmagazine.com/our-love-of-robots-begins-with-a-pooping-duck/embed/#?secret=8EiC2QxcTZ" width="600" height="338" title="“Our Love of Robots Begins With a Pooping Duck” — The Escapist" data-secret="8EiC2QxcTZ" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,d){"use strict";var e=!1,o=!1;if(d.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(!(t.secret||t.message||t.value));else if(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret));else{for(var r,s,a,i=d.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=d.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),l=0;l<n.length;l++)n[l].style.display="none";for(l=0;l<i.length;l++)if(r=i[l],e.source!==r.contentWindow);else{if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(s=parseInt(t.value,10)))s=1e3;else if(~~s<200)s=200;r.height=s}if("link"===t.message)if(s=d.createElement("a"),a=d.createElement("a"),s.href=r.getAttribute("src"),a.href=t.value,!o.test(a.protocol));else if(a.host===s.host)if(d.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),d.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(o);else{o=!0;for(var e,t,r,s=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=d.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),n=0;n<i.length;n++){if(!(r=(t=i[n]).getAttribute("data-secret")))r=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),t.src+="#?secret="+r,t.setAttribute("data-secret",r);if(s||a)(e=t.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),t.parentNode.replaceChild(e,t);t.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:r},"*")}}}}(window,document); </script> Though it may seem to be a modern conceit, our fascination with lifelike automatons is actually centuries old and features at least one pooping duck. Every day, we move one step closer to replicant-esque robots that can pass as human. But as Jim Rossignol explains in Issue 225 of The Escapist, clever inventors have been crafting lifelike automatons for quite some time. French engineer Jacques de Vaucanson was particularly adept at creating machines that were startlingly real: Even more famously, Vaucanson created a duck which appeared to eat and then defecate. Although the digestion was actually an illusion, many people […]http://cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/galleries/display/60/60565.jpg