As my first post, I just wanted to take the time to pose some questions. Science Fiction has always been one of my favorite genres, and I ask you all out there in Internet Land this: Do you believe that Science Fiction can become Science Fact? Well, here is one soul desperately trying to prove that this is the case:

Homemade Mecha:

Some other semi-relate links:
A walker designed for forestry work:
An Exoskeleton Prototype being developed at Berkeley:

Edit: Clarification/Background:
This post was originally started as a semi-response to a thread I had been reading on a game forum I frequent. The game centers on mecha as war machines, and every so often, there is a thread asking about the feasability of such a thing in real life. Over the course of these threads, most folks tend to agree that a 3-4 story tall walking tank lacks a practical application, so that even if the technology were there (and some aspects of it are progressing that way, as indicated in the links) it would likely never become reality, except as a sort of fancy, as in the first link provided. That's not to say that there aren't legions of us in that community who'd love to see something of the sort, it's just that there's no market for it. However, a few believe that the Battle Armor in the game (basically exoskeletons) may see some practical use, in extreme circumstances, hence the link concerning the exoskelton.

If any of you are interested, the game I mentioned is known as Battletech, or Classic Battletech, depending on who you talk to. Several computer and console game series have been based on the Battletech universe, most notably the Mechwarrior series, and the Mechassault series (not very faithful to the source material, but probably the best chance for anybody here to recognize) on the X-box. In addition to the video games, a large body of fiction, as well as another miniatures game based on Battletech exists.
If any clarification is needed, feel free to ask...