Produced by manufacturing company Tosy, the DiscoRobo will dance in response to music. It even has heart-shaped adorable LED eyes just to let you know how much it loves you.

Not many technical details about the DiscoRobo have been released, and we aren’t even sure when it will be available to consumers. However, since there are already several videos of the DiscoRobo in action, we’re hoping it’s soon.

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Researchers at MIT, Harvard and Northeastern University have created an incredible new robot prototype that actually simulates a pretty high level of intelligence. The robot uses an Android phone for its “brain”, which is connected to a virtual cloud. By using this cloud-based brain, the Dragonbot has the ability to learn new information from other robots.

In addition to this, Dragonbot has extremely well-developed skills at recognizing language and responding to visual cues.

Of course, Dragonbot is still in early prototype stages, and probably won’t be available to consumers for quite some time. However, with this level of design, it’ll probably be fairly expensive when it’s finally released to the public.

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Or the Turing test, if you want to avoid literature references.

Thirty volunteers were used at the Techniche festival in India. Each of the volunteers participated in a 4-minute conversation with an unknown other party. Half of the volunteers were talking to Cleverbot, while half of them were speaking to real humans. These conversations were displayed on large screens, where the audience watched.

Basically, the Turing test says that if a human talking to a machine believes the machine to be human, the machine passes the test.

Well, Cleverbot was rated as human by 59.3% of volunteers, as well as the audience. The humans, however, were rated as “human” by only 63.3% of votes. There were 1334 votes in total, counting the volunteers and the audience.

However, this doesn’t mean that Cleverbot is “smart”. It just means that it has the ability to imitate intelligence.

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Okay, maybe not, but it is true that an airport in Wales is now being used exclusively for robotic aircraft. It’s being emphasized as “the first step to getting human and robot-piloted craft together in the same airspace”.

Right now, the robotic planes are constrained to the West Wales Airport, and have been given a 500 square mile airspace for their exclusive use. Sure, it starts with 500 miles — and then they’ll want more. It’s a slippery slope, friends.

Many commercial firms are currently banned from testing unmanned aircraft in the United States, unless they’re in restricted military zones. The Welsh government is hoping that this airport will draw these companies to test their aircraft in Wales.

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However, I think we all already knew that.

This brilliant prediction comes as a result of NATO’s Libyan commanders asking the Pentagon for more Predator drones to help with their reconnaissance missions. According to them, “It’s more difficult to find stuff to blow up”.

The Predator first appeared above Afghanistan nearly a decade ago. Since that time, the Pentagon’s supply of drones has gone from 50 to 7,000. However, 7,000 is hardly enough to start a full-scale robot war. Maybe in a few years, we’ll start seeing more combat troops being replaced with robotic, armed soldiers.

I, for one, welcome our new drone overlords.

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Well, FoxConn’s production is about to get a lot more… uhh… productive. Over the next three years, FoxConn will be replacing about 1 million of its workers with robots. The company currently employs about 1.2 million humans, as well as 10,000 robots. This personnel change was announced by CEO Terry Gou at a company dance party.

I’d love to see the employee reactions to that announcement. “Yeah, so in three years, a million of you won’t have a job.”

So, does this mean that the robot apocalypse is upon us? Probably not, but it’ll still be interesting to see if any other companies have plans for replacing human workers with robots.

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End of Life also goes by the name “EOL Robot Band”. They’ve released several videos on YouTube, showing them performing various songs, including Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People”. While the timing is perfect, it does lack a certain… something.

Oh, right. Last time I saw this song, Marilyn Manson was humping the microphone and spraying mysterious liquids on the screaming crowd. But anyway.

I think it’s safe to say that robot bands won’t be taking over pop culture anytime soon. Well, at least not yet.

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However, instead of giving up, Tanya has embarked on a new mission. Like the “Eyeborg” project organized by Rob Spence, Tanya’s project has a similar goal. She wants to raise $15,000 to fund development of a tiny camera that could fit inside her prosthetic eye.

So far, Tanya has raised a little over $6,000, with 18 days left in her project fundraiser. If the deadline comes without her meeting her $15,000 goal, the project will not be funded.

Anyway, Tanya’s story is actually really interesting, and oddly inspiring. However, hopefully she isn’t a cyborg in disguise, trying to start a bionic revolution.

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Now, you can have that chance. A company based in the UK is now going to be selling officially licensed Dalek replicas to the public. The company’s name is “Firebox”, and each Dalek replica will set you back around $4,800. However, as fans of Dr. Who know, that’s a small price to pay for having the ability to build your very own Dalek army.

Each replica is around five feet tall, with features such as extendable plunger arms and rotating domes. They were made from the original molds and specs used from the BBC prop department for the show, so they’re incredibly accurate.

Exterminate! Exterminate!

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Hanako 2 is the upgraded version of a realistic dental patient that was developed by researchers in Japan. Hanako 2 can cough, sneeze, and even simulate a gag reflex. She also has speech recognition software that allows her to discuss her current condition.

From the original Hanako, these upgrades make Hanako 2 more useful for dental students. Hanako 2 also has more realistic silicone skin, as well as a tongue that is a single piece merged with the cheek lining.

After watching her in action, it’s a little hard not to be creeped out. Though the way she blinks is still obviously robotic, the small updates have definitely begun to make us wonder what the future has in store for more “human” robotic advancements.

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