However, while it may be another ten years before snake robots are consistently used in search and rescue operations or in medical situations, Choset believes they will one day be hugely valuable devices.

CNN: Snake robots slither to the rescue

Taylor, professor of Computer Sciences at Johns Hopkins University have tried another tack by making a tiny snake-like robot go where endoscopes have gone before and focused on making a fully articulated tip.

CNN: Snake robots slither to the rescue

Mr Simplot himself, an avowed lover of skiing, duck shooting and the great outdoors, was attacked in the 1970s for his support for new coal-fired electricity plants along the Snake river and for a scheme to generate hydro-power by diverting water from another river into a vast underground tube.

ECONOMIST: Jack Simplot

Another will be to maintain credibility in (and for) an industry that combines serious science with snake oil.

ECONOMIST: Health consumerism