SCIENCE BUZZ: A robot named Adam that can form hypotheses and test them has made its first discovery without human help . So far it has only discovered what some genes in yeast do. But that is no reason not to panic. And the team who built Adam is working on an Eve! Great. Just great.

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The Best Links:

1. BuzzFeed coverage of the impending robot apocalypse
2. Enter Adam, the Robot Scientist
3. Robot scientist becomes first machine to discover new scientific knowledge
4. Robot Makes Scientific Discovery All by Itself
5. Robot scientist makes discoveries without human help
6. Scientific Discovery Abandons Scientists
7. Uh-Oh, They Don’t Need Us
8. Robot Makes Scientific Discovery Entirely On Its Own

This creepy robot plays the violin terrifyingly well. OK, people, let's review: robots are EVIL. Today it's violins, tomorrow it's Armageddon. STOP MAKING CREEPY ROBOTS, everybody. Thanks.

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The Best Links:

1. Lots of pictures of robots at The Big Picture
2. Pole-Dancing Robots
3. The Robotic Top Model [PIC]
4. Robot Population Density [PIC]
5. via The Presurfer

This is why you test the robots out on dummies before you deploy them in real disasters. I'm not a doctor, but I bet dragging a disaster victim onto a truck by the neck would make things worse.

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The Best Links:

1. So many more pictures of robots here!
2. More helpful: robot that makes you a sandwich
3. Global Robot Population Density [PIC]

This chart shows the top 10 countries by robot population density. Anyone surprised that Japan tops the list? Although the US military is working hard to bring us closer to the brink of terrifying robot doom.

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The Best Links:

1. IEEE Spectrum: The Rise of the Machines
2. That’s It, I’m Moving: Robotic Statistics
3. “Japan is only setting itself up for future problems.”
4. “Singapore is tiny…where are these robots and what are they doing?”
5. Earthquake Sets Japan Back To 2147
6. Robot Identifies Human Flesh As Bacon (!!!)

Link: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/12...

So the Air Force is developing super-creepy flying robots that look like pigeons or bugs and could be equipped with “incapacitating chemicals” or explosives. Great! Good to know our government is preparing for the robot apocalypse.

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FOOD BUZZ: An electronic wine-taster that can identify wine as easily as a human palate. The electronic tongue is also handy for spotting fake wines or illegal preservatives. But how do they square off against human supertasters ?

The Best Links:

1. Electronic Tongue Tastes Just As Well As a Real One
2. Electronic Tongue Tastes Wine Variety, Vintage
3. E-Tongue and Wine Fraud
4. The Electronic Tongue Is Still In Development
5. What The Electric Tongue Looks Like

TECH BUZZ: A nice-looking Flash game to help you fritter away your afternoon. Combining the control skills of Robotron and all sorts of weapons upgrades, it’s lengthier and more complex than your average Flash game, but also good fun.

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The Best Links:

1. Play Robokill
2. Via: Neatorama

TECH BUZZ: The Femisapien (in Japan, known as E.M.A.) is designed to respond to kisses and sway her lady-like hips when she walks. She’s busty! And surprise, she’s being marketed mainly towards adults.

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The Best Links:

1. Target Market: Lonely Adult Men
2. Also: She Can Fight!
3. E.M.A. (aka Femisapien) Offers Up Smooches
4. Programming Your Femisapien

A designer takes a look at the robot beneath all those cuddly stuffed animals. This is both scary and confirms my long-standing suspicion of all talking/moving stuffed animals. Don’t trust the robots!

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The Best Links:

1. Robots in Bears’ Clothing