The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The annual humor Nobels were awarded at MIT University.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was awarded the “Peace Prize” with flying bombs guided by pulu.
The Pulu Bomb never ended up being used, but experiments proved the ability of Pulu to learn.
Every year the humor Nobels have been awarded again. The gala held at MIT University awards research whose idea is often silly or completely absurd, but from which something can be learned.
The tradition has continued for 34 years as a kind of shadow event of the real Nobels.
This year, the “peace prize” was awarded to the late great psychologist, known as the father of behaviorism Burrhus Frederic Skinner.
The recognition was given for Skinner’s strangest project, a series of experiments carried out in the 1940s in which he tried to teach guinea pigs to guide flying bombs to enemy targets.
Point bombs was not at that time. To hit, the pilots had to drop the bombs from low, which was dangerous. Skinner realized that the learner could very well be conditioned to control the bomb.
He developed a kind of cockpit for the pulu, which would be installed in the nose of the bomb. At the tip was a glass dome, through which the pulu could see its target. By pecking at the box, it controlled the bomb’s wings and the bomb’s trajectory.
The movements of the pulu were transmitted to the wings with the help of harnesses and small motors, later experiments were carried out with an electrically conducting screen and an electrode mounted on the nose of the pulu.
Pulu turned out to be a promising kamikaze pilot. It was taught to recognize objects such as ships from a moving image, and with treats it was conditioned to peck precisely in the center of the object.
We also tried a three-pulu cockpit, where the birds, as if by majority decision, concentrated the bomb.
In December In 1943, Skinner was ready to present his results to the Army Research Committee. Pulu performed perfectly, but the committee burst out laughing as they watched Pulu frantically peck at the screen.
“I’m not saying it was an uncontrollable laugh-out-loud ride, because it was still controlled,” recalled Skinner later case.
“Maybe it’s time to go for a drink,” said Skinner’s colleague as the door closed behind them.
Poultry never took off. Years later, however, Skinner was still experimenting with the pulu’s abilities. Even after six years, the conditioned bastards still remembered how to fly a bomb.