advanced system of hyper-responsive hydraulic joints and a suite of sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes, the BigDog's most stunning achievement is it's ability to walk, climb and maintain its balance on diverse terrain, even after slipping on ice or receiving a kick to one side. All while carrying several hundreds of pounds of supplies on its "back."

The amount of real-time computation involved in something like this is staggering

if the YouTube comments are anything to say about it ("Shoot it. SHOOT IT!"), we humans may not be quite ready to accept such lifelike behavior coming from a machine.