From Lem at Robots Dreams:

There isn’t a lot of information available yet, but here’s what is rumored so far:

The new robot dog, named the Omnibot i-SODOG, is expected to have realistic dog-like movement utilizing 15 custom designed servo motors. It will feature voice recognition and respond to hand signals using motion detection sensors. In addition to a dedicated remote control that looks similar to the i-SOBOT humanoid control unit, i-SODOG can be controlled using a smartphone. We’re guessing that the interface will be Bluetooth.

My first thought was, “look at that face!” And then I thought, how cool would it be if the company that will release this robot, Takara Tomy, had a Thingiverse page where you could go and download different faces designed to work with their product?

Alien Head by bgcop

You may have heard about NASA’s big announcement yesterday:

Researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in California have discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. The microorganism substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in its cell components.

Okay, I get that this is a cool demonstration that life is possible in environments that would be utterly toxic to (almost) all other lifeforms on Earth.

Here’s something that would really get me excited – a life form that substitute ABS for arsenic or phosphorus in its cell components.  Just think – printed pets!!!  You could back up a pet to Thingiverse or download a new pet.  Then again, I do feel conflicted.  I’m not sure how I would feel about recycling them.  Either it’s mean, green, evolution, an upgrade, or  reincarnation.¹

It’s not as crazy as you think.  Remember the Pet Rock?

1. Imagine having such choices for the afterlife! [↩]