A spherical flying robot has been developed at the Japanese Ministry of Self-Defense; it can zoom along indoors and outdoors at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, or just hover. Menacingly. Science Fiction In The News is a subsection of science-fiction site Technovelgy, which tracks both the predictions of future tech made in science fiction past and present and its manifestations in real life. What tech, you ask? Well, if it’s appeared in your nightmares, it’s probably been on this page: [more inside]
posted by Diablevert on Dec 15, 2011 - 29 comments

Futuristic Circular Flying Object: It zips through the air, glides smoothly around corners, and negotiates staircases with ease, emitting a soft hum. (slyt) [more inside]
posted by troll on Jul 17, 2011 - 30 comments

Made in America: small businesses buck the offshoring trend - "For US manufacturing to make sense, factories must make extensive use of automation. That's getting easier, given that the cost of robots with comparable capabilities has decreased precipitously in the past two decades." [more inside]
posted by kliuless on May 20, 2011 - 52 comments

In a pinch, upgrade the humans or redistribute the robots - "[S]uppose [as a factory owner] I replace all my workers with machines... This squeeze has many implications, one of them being that here is an important sector of the economy in which more or less all the gains accrue to the owners of capital and more or less none to the working class..." [more inside]
posted by kliuless on May 1, 2011 - 98 comments

A robotic teacher, Ms. Saya, conducts her first class at an elementry school in Tokyo. [more inside]
posted by lauratheexplorer on Oct 7, 2010 - 28 comments

Juan Enriquez: Tech evolution will eclipse the financial crisis. "Even as mega-banks topple, Juan Enriquez says the big reboot is yet to come. But don't look for it on your ballot -- or in the stock exchange. It'll come from science labs, and it promises keener bodies and minds. Our kids are going to be ... different."
posted by homunculus on Feb 18, 2009 - 41 comments

Robots at War: The New Battlefield. "It sounds like science fic­tion, but it is fact: On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghan­istan, robots are killing America’s ene­mies and sav­ing Ameri­can lives. But today’s Pack­Bots, Preda­tors, and Ravens are rela­tively prim­itive machines. The coming generation of 'war-bots' will be im­mensely more sophisti­cated, and their devel­op­ment raises troubling new questions about how and when we wage ­war." [Via]
posted by homunculus on Jan 25, 2009 - 65 comments

The Best Robots of 2008 (via)
posted by Artw on Jan 18, 2009 - 13 comments

"I began to realize that "robots"-- in all their various forms-- can really be seen as a symbol of a larger relationship between people and technology." In 1988, Frederick Schodt wrote about the Japanese fascination and use of robots in his book Inside the Robot Kingdom, curious by the disparities between American and Japanese manufacturing processes . In 1988, the American public wasn't ready for the book, or for robots. Today, Japan still has embraced robotic automation in a way that arguably no other country has. For more similar topics, Mangobot is a column that reports on Asian futurism.
posted by artifarce on Jun 22, 2008 - 22 comments

Reports have been circulating of insects hovering over anti-war rallies recently. Paranoia? Research? It's getting discussion in a lot of mainstream places.
posted by Mcable on Oct 12, 2007 - 74 comments

Bots've come a long way, baby. So everybody knows about Honda's flashy ASIMO, and the sadly canceled QRIO, but now Wakamaru, Mitsubishi's entry into the field, seems to have been first among semi-autonomous humanoid robots to find a job. I wish it luck, but it might need to grow up a little. Maybe it can learn from Domo, son of Cog, robot of yore.
posted by StrikeTheViol on Jul 17, 2007 - 15 comments

Sherry Turkle, who used to believe in the benefits of robot pets, has changed her tune and now "finds human-machine love unsettling (pdf)". Tyrell:"We began to recognize in them a strange obsession. After all, they are emotionally inexperienced, with only a few years in which to store up the experiences which you and I take for granted. If we gift them with a past, we create a cushion or a pillow for their emotions, and consequently, we can control them better." Was he referring to us or them?
posted by sluglicker on Dec 7, 2006 - 14 comments

Miracles You’ll See In The Next Fifty Years (Feb, 1950)
Some more up-to-date predictions: science, invention, space travel, colonisation, immortality, water shortage, flooding, nanotech, techno-apocalypse, extinction, mental health, smart machines, robots, mind uploading, AI, Asia, economics, demographics, goverance, cities. What is your prediction?
posted by MetaMonkey on Oct 5, 2006 - 54 comments

Don't worry. The painting understands. :)
posted by Tlogmer on Aug 5, 2006 - 8 comments

DUBAI (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates is to mount robot jockeys on racing camels later this year after a ban on using children in the region's popular sport.
posted by Tlogmer on Apr 11, 2005 - 7 comments

The World Expo 2005 opened doors to visitors today. Attractions include robots, a mammoth, and participating countries from Australia to Zimbabwe. Some think that in the age of the Internet and intercontinental travel, world expos are becoming obsolete; others think the Aichi Expo might spawn a new industry: industrial tourism. The last Expo in Japan was held in Osaka in 1970, and brought us arguably the world's ugliest artifact.
posted by sour cream on Mar 25, 2005 - 7 comments

Bonding with your robot vacuum
posted by Tlogmer on Jun 16, 2003 - 6 comments

Have Home Robots become a "thing of the now" rather than "thing of the future"? This company seems to think so. It's even got a list of the Top 25 things to do with their new robot, the ER1. This is certainly a big step up from the "toys" that The Sharper Image and other shops sold in the 80's and early 90's, which would bring you a drink on your tray via remote control, etc.
posted by djspicerack on Dec 12, 2002 - 9 comments

Introducing ... Ratbot! Leave it to the good folks at SUNY to come up with a remote-controlled rat. Best of all: "If the rat correctly followed the cue and turned left, its reward-centre was stimulated, filling the rat with a feeling of well-being."
posted by risenc on May 1, 2002 - 8 comments

Teeny tiny robots - Neato!
posted by plinth on Feb 24, 2001 - 6 comments

More than meets the eye. Next stop, Cybertron!
posted by jjg on Jan 19, 2001 - 6 comments

Boba Fett hired by NASA.
posted by Nyarlathotep on Jun 14, 2000 - 4 comments