Apparently, Asimo's favorite magazine is T3 !?!?

Up close and personal with ASIMO (T3)
Video exclusive: The world’s greatest 'bot checks out his favourite mag.

Genetic Algorithms may soon be used to solve all sorts of real world problems.  Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign have  solved very general problems with over a billion variables.

Illinois Researchers Break Billion Variable Optimization Barrier (PR Web via Yahoo! News)
Urbana, IL (PRWeb) January 19, 2007 -- A paper published today in the journal Complexity describes how a team of researchers in the Illinois Genetic Algorithms Laboratory (IlliGAL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has achieved efficient, scalable solutions on difficult optimization problems ...

So, how will the world change once robots are more human and humans are more robotic?  Here's one current story highlighting the issue.

News of the Weird (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
Eventually, robots will have to be given legal rights (and accept certain responsibilities) if advances in artificial intelligence (AI) continue to create sensitive quasi-organisms, according to a paper solicited for Sir David King, the United Kingdom's chief scientist. According to one AI researcher, "If [robots are] granted full rights, states will be obligated to provide full social benefits ...

Original Story

Here is a glimpse into the creative genius of one man as supported by Honda.

My robot friend (The Nation)
The power of a dream has driven Masato Hirose, a precision engineer at Honda Motor, to create something that was once just science fiction. Through 14 years of hard effort, Hirose never became discouraged or gave up on the idea.

Marvin Minsky, one of the early founders of artificial intelligence has released a new book in which he theorizes that emotions are much closer to rationale thought than most of us suppose.  If true, this should allow computers to duplicate emotions in much the same way they duplicate logical processes.

Minsky talks about life, love in the age of artificial intelligence (Boston Globe)

What's the hottest new data storage medium?  It could just well be: PAPER.  For those of us who remember punch cards, it is somewhat ironic that an Indian engineering student has developed a technique capable of storing hundreds of gigabytes of data on an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper.  Original Story

This looks like a step in the right direction.  A robot that builds internal models of itself and then optimizes those models to determine how best to move around its environment.  When it encounters damage, it reevaluates itself to determine how best to proceed.  Original story below:

Heal Thyself: Robot Adapts To Injury When It Loses One Of Its Limbs (Science Daily)
Researchers have built a robot that works out its own model of itself and can revise the model to adapt to injury. First, it teaches itself to walk. Then, when damaged, it teaches itself to limp. The work was done in the Cornell Computational Synthesis Lab under Assistant Professor Hod Lipson, right, with Josh Bongard, ...

It seems that the robotic cars that we were promised in all of those 1960s films are almost here.  Now if only they can bring us those flying cars that we all really want:

Original Story:  Robot cars rev up for the city (CNN.com)
A car that can drive itself is the fantasy of any designated driver, but the dream of owning a vehicle that does all the driving while you sit back and relax is one step closer to reality, as in-car artificial intelligence being developed by a team at Stanford University is ready to be used on city streets in the ultimate test of robot cars.

It may be just a coincidence that his last name is so reminiscent of that Genius of muppetry, Jim Henson; but, David Hanson may be the man to bring the personal robot to America in a big way.

Original story here:
Face of things to come in robots (KING 5 Seattle)
David Hanson is at the vanguard of a stealth robotic invasion. The doctoral student, who recently won a $1.5 million grant to commercialize his humanoids, seems an unlikely commander for a fleet of marching, chatting 'bots. But Mr. Hanson's cluttered workshop is on the cutting edge of a quietly booming industry that may not stay quiet for much longer.

When stroke victims suffer a stroke in the middle of the night or another time when a neurologist may not be present at a local hospital, Michigan patients will now have help from a robotic interface for doctors that will help save valuable time.

(original story) Robots help treat stroke patients fast
Doctors on call can log on and get patient diagnostics from any computer via the Web.
Sarah Karush / Associated Press

When a patient suffers a stroke in the middle of the night, or any other time when a neurologist may be off duty at the local hospital, Michigan patients will now have access to a doctor via a robotic interface which will help make the decision on treatment more immediate saving precious minutes.

(original story) Robots help treat stroke patients fast
Doctors on call can log on and get patient diagnostics from any computer via the Web.
Sarah Karush / Associated Press