It seems every day we hear about robots doing things faster, better and more efficiently than humans. For once, however, flesh and blood have come out on top: a robot designed specifically for bowling lost a game to a human professional.

EARL (short for Enhanced Automated Robotic Launcher) was created to be the perfect bowler, and it should be, given how precisely robots can replicate movements. It's the latest tool used by the United States Bowling Congress, which decided to see how its creation would do against bowling pro Chris Barnes. Barnes jumped out to an early lead, but EARL is a quick learner. And once the 'bot figures out how to fire the perfect shot in that particular alley, shouldn't it be game over?

It turns out, no. Once EARL found the best way to roll, it could reproduce the shot easily, but it didn't take into account how repeated rolls affected the finish on its bowling lane. Soon, EARL was shooting spares again while Barnes kept hitting strike after strike. Barnes ended up schooling EARL by a score of 259 to 209. If Sarah and John Connor are still out there looking to take out machines that might eventually become Skynet, this probably isn't one of them.

Via The Awesomer