A modern day Jules Verne, on a slightly smaller scale

February 10, 2006 12:18 PM

Live steam creations. We've seen steampunk robots in artwork, and read about them in fiction, but now someone has gone and built real, radio-controlled, steam-powered creatures that roll and creep and swim.
posted by Gamblor (13 comments total)

The steam-powered, radio-controlled centipede was amazing. Why has the world waited so long for this?
posted by GuyZero at 12:40 PM on February 10, 2006

"If you are like me, I almost never read web pages, just look at the eye candy."

Hey! That's my approach to MetaFilter!
posted by zonkout at 12:42 PM on February 10, 2006

So totally sweet.
I want a full size steam tank.

But I'm crazy.
posted by daq at 12:48 PM on February 10, 2006

So totally sweet.
I want a full size steam tank.

But I'm crazy.
posted by daq at 12:48 PM on February 10, 2006

Mmmm. Steam crab....

This is really cool.
posted by brundlefly at 1:11 PM on February 10, 2006

Friggin' cool.
posted by delmoi at 1:15 PM on February 10, 2006

Not cool. Hot.
posted by bonehead at 1:21 PM on February 10, 2006

i love the tank. Now someone just needs to build me a steam powered flying machine.
posted by quin at 1:37 PM on February 10, 2006

How did the whole "steampunk" thing pass me by? I love a lot of stuff that fits into this concept, and I'm aware of it as a subgenre. But I have never heard this term.
posted by lunalaguna at 2:30 PM on February 10, 2006

Steampunk follows cyberpunk ideals, but typically in a Victorian-era-ish setting where steam and coal are the primary sources of energy as opposed to gasoline or electricity. Sterling and Gibson collaborated on The Difference Engine [amazon.com] although I can't say for sure if it's the first (it probably isn't).
posted by PurplePorpoise at 2:47 PM on February 10, 2006

these are wonderful! i'd love a clanking, hissing, mechanical pet like these things (but with an advanced cyber brain or something)
posted by amberglow at 7:33 PM on February 10, 2006

Wow. Just...wow. Steampunk is by far my favorite genre of sci-fi. For anyone who likes this kind of stuff, check out Arcanum, Iron Kingdoms, Space 1889, Last Exile and Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends. Those are just starting points. It's definitely an area of sci-fi there should be more of.

Freakin' steam powered robots. Now someone needs to do it with clockwork devices.
posted by ryoshu at 9:15 PM on February 10, 2006

BTW, if you have cable or satellite, Steamboy (2005) — by Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo — is playing on Starz Cinema starting tonight through March.
posted by cenoxo at 10:13 AM on February 11, 2006