I've seen this video dozens of times and everytime I watch it I am amazed.

http://www.herts.ac.uk/news-and-even...-with-skin.cfm



Work will begin tomorrow (1 May 2009) on a robot with artificial skin which is being developed as part of a project involving researchers at the University of Hertfordshire so that it can be used in their work investigating how robots can help children with autism to learn about social interaction.

Japan child robot mimicks infant learning



The creators of the Child-robot with Biomimetic Body, or CB2, say it's slowly developing social skills by interacting with humans and watching their facial expressions, mimicking a mother-baby relationship.

A bald, child-like creature dangles its legs from a chair as its shoulders rise and fall...

The cutting-edge models can lumber around a room without falling over. A few can play the trumpet or serve tea. The truly sophisticated ones can just about manage the washing-up.



But by 2020, Japan predicts, humanoid robots will be ready to colonise the Moon. Other metallic brethren of these mechanical pioneers, said scientists in Tokyo, will be engaged in the bigger, more prosaic...