Not strictly on-topic or generally interesting, but for any of us who've read Neal Stephenson's new novel 'Seveneves', this reveal has a thin extra layer of interestingness:
In that book, a character who is an obvious analogue for Elon Musk sponsors the development of a variety of asteroid mining robots, including a type that superficially resembles this thing. 'Siwis' are, unlike this real thing, modular, semi-autonomous, self-propelling, and meant for operating in zero-gravity.
But still... snake robot sponsored by Elon Musk, out of nowhere.
In that book, a character who is an obvious analogue for Elon Musk sponsors the development of a variety of asteroid mining robots, including a type that superficially resembles this thing. 'Siwis' are, unlike this real thing, modular, semi-autonomous, self-propelling, and meant for operating in zero-gravity.
But still... snake robot sponsored by Elon Musk, out of nowhere.