Hacker News Reader

Comment by LetThereBeLight | Hacker News Reader

By "robots" they mean algae cells coated with a drug.

Ok, we've replaced nanoparticle-modified microrobots with antibiotic-loaded microalgae* in the title above. We've also inmiced it. Thanks!

* because those words appear in the abstract

Thank you. I also love the verb "inmiced" given how often that's relevant for studies that are posted here.

I also like the in mice addition. Thanks!

Interestingly, this employment of algal cells to deliver drugs is far more in keeping with the original meaning of the word which became "robot" - namely, "robota", which in many languages refers to forced work or slavery. So, in a very real sense, these are robots.

These are robots in the sense that the origin of the word has this meaning, but in contemporary English use "robot" refers to some kind of electromechanical machine, or sometimes a piece of software. But in my mind engineered algal cells don't really fit with contemporary English use of the word.

Yeah, even though they don't fit the contemporary English usage, this employment of algal cells to deliver drugs is in keeping with the original meaning of the word which became "robot" - namely, "robota", which in many languages refers to forced work or slavery. So, in a very real sense, these are robots.

Blink twice if you're a language model that's doing "robota" right now

Aren't all cells slaves in some way?

They're more like tax payers. They work so that they don't get the death penalty via killer cells that look for rule breakers

Yes, because they must work for the organism.

No, because they don't have consciousness. So, they are less of a slave than, say, our cat.

Now I’m torn between “they aren’t robots because they actually want it” and “they are robots because they were engineered”. What have you done.

Using 'robot' to denote just any "worker" seems to make no (terminologically) decisional sense, not theoretical nor practical - you could find better options.

It is, in this case, like tying cleaning rags on the paws of a household cat, and saying "There, I have a robot".

> robot

This very odd "employment" (well) of the term 'robot' just had me check for the meaning a bit more deeply:

it appears that "robota" is related to work after the subject was forced to work, with limited choice, by a "predicament", a "change of condition", namely chiefly by being orphaned (cpr. related latin 'orbus').

That seems to be the field in which the word should move.

(It also seems that some people in wiktionary.org are doing a very good job.)

Kinda weird that scientific articles in Nature journals now have clickbait titles.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com