(April 1, 2009) — The Clark Robotics team’s robot, emblazoned in the team numbers 696, plays this year’s game “Lunacy” on a field of super-low friction regolith, gathering up “orbit balls,” the game pieces that are about 9″ in diameter and litter the game field. At the Los Angeles Regional competition held in Long Beach March 12–14, team 696 was chosen to be a member of the eighth of eight alliance and advanced into the quarterfinals, but lost against the top-seated alliance. The eighth alliance included as its third robot Team 848, the only robot at the competition constructed primarily of wood. Members were proud to have given their best and to have made it into the quarterfinals. This year’s robot was named “String Theory” for the dozens of bright orange urethane “strings” that are used to pick up the orbit balls, which when strummed vibrate at different frequencies and look pretty psychedelic, besides burning out the retinas of anyone who stares at them too long. String Theory makes reference to the unifying “theory of everything” featured in “The Elegant Universe,” the idea that everything is made up of tiny strings of energy vibrating at different frequencies and forming matter. In summary, this year’s robot is a pun.