Each week SPL produces news and feature stories covering the latest developments in science, medicine and technology. The stories comprise an easy-to-read article written by a professional science writer together with a selection of relevant pictures. To receive news and updates on the most recent feature stories, please email us features@sciencephoto.com Hanson Robotics David Hanson is the creator of the most realistic robotic heads ever constructed. His robots have been called 'among the most advanced in the world' by the BBC and Hanson himself 'at the head of his class' in social robotics by SCIENCE magazine. His recent creation, Albert HUBO, merged the 'head' of Albert Einstein and body of a Honda walking robot. 400 Years Of The Telescope October 2008 marks the 400th anniversary of the telescope. Though no- one knows exactly who made the first telescope, records exist for the first patented ‘seeing device’, as the arrangement of lenses which brought distant objects closer was known. The first telescope makers were opticians working in the Netherlands in the early 1600s. Demand was high for spectacles. Then, as now, reading caused eye strain, and elderly scholars needed artificial help for their weakening eyesight. Spectacle makers ground their own lenses and were the optical experts of their day, so it was inevitable that experiments would lead to the discovery that two lenses spaced apart magnified distant objects. What they developed through trial and error would prove to be one of the most important inventions of mankind, if not the most important. The telescope not only revolutionised our understanding of the universe, but our place in it. Over the centuries, the telescope showed that Earth was but one planet in a solar system; that the solar system was part of a ‘star city’ called the Milky Way; and that the Milky Way was just one galaxy amongst billions in a universe born billions of years ago. Cyberflora At first sight, the Cyberflora flower display may seem like any other pretty flower show. But, as visitors peer and gaze at the plants, they are greeted by a strange sight – flowers that move and glow in response to their human admirers. These robot flower ‘Cyberflora’ are the brainchild of robotics designer Cynthia Breazeal, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. Breazeal founded the Personal Robots Group at the Media Lab at MIT and concentrates on studying the way humans and robots relate to each other. Her most famous creation is Kismet, the social robot head that was programmed to behave in a similar manner to a human toddler. Breazeal has also developed a wide range of other robots, from small insect-like creations to interactive lamps, computers and expressive humanoids. The Cyberflora installation includes robot flowers that are designed to combine animal-like behaviour with flower-like characteristics. The plants contain sensors that detect the presence of visitors and respond in a certain way. For example, one species - dubbed Chromafant Blossom - sways gently and glows bright colours when a hand is placed over the petals. Another species, the Cobra Orchid, detects heat from human bodies and arches its long snake-like stem towards the direction of the person. The Cyberflora garden currently resides at the Personal Robots Group lab. Weight Loss Robot This robot was created by US engineer Cory Kidd, a Ph.D. graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, and founder of robotics company, Intuitive Automata. Called Autom, it is an interactive robot designed to advise and encourage users on their daily weight-loss regime. It has speech recognition sensors and cameras to detect the person. Users can talk directly to Autom or input their weight, diet and exercise data into the robot via the computer panel on the front. Autom responds with vocal encouragement. Experiments showed that robot users stayed on their weight-loss program nearly twice as long as dieters who used traditional computer programs or hand-written logs. Autom will be available for purchase in 2009.