Silly mechanical engineers (Score 1)

All those nifty gears and things, how pretty! Since we're trying to emulate nature here, why not use some artificial muscle? Experimenters have been working on a material that 'flexes' and 'relaxes' depended on whether exposed to a base or acid (no chemical reaction, I think, just a use of properties). Apply that to this snake bot and you'd have yourself a slithering orthoscope! Meanwhile... I still am waiting for the ultimate machine to go and explore Mars... you know, the one that would actually change things back here.