The marriage of artificial and bio-materials to create cyborg insects and rats is still a bleeding-edge field with fascinating possibilities for human applications. That sometimes controversial vision of the future just took a dramatic turn towards blurring the man-versus-machine lines with the debut of a 3D-printed robot that uses heart cells to walk.

The poor working conditions at Foxconn's factories charged with making devices like the iPhone and iPad are now legendary. To address this issue, the CEO announced plans to replace human workers with an army of robots. Apparently, that wasn't just bluster, as the robots have begun their takeover.

The story of an aging Japan concocting new robots to entertain and assist its elderly populace is familiar by now, but mostly we get cute robo-pets and fragile humanoid robots. Finally, a company has come up with a robot that might actually become a staple in the homes of Japanese senior citizens.

When the tides of life find most of us dancing, it's a sort-of-messy affair, best achieved via a bit of whisky and best left to the eyes of strangers, never to be seen again. But Virginia Tech's five-foot tall humanoid robot CHARLI-2 busts a move whenever he damn well pleases.