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Adrian Tchaikovsky's new novel Service Model humorously imagines a robot Jeeves coping with the end of civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel Annie Bot by Sierra Greer is a machine learning take on the domestic noir genre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent movie Atlas misses fundamental robotics advances in self-stabilization and human-robot interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project Hail Mary reflects real-world technical readiness assessment processes for robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plot of the 2014 science-fiction movie Young Ones revolves around a robot pack mule based on the real-world BigDog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The science-fiction movie The Creator uses six real-world robots from the 1950s and 1960s to show progress in AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1931, science fiction has speculated on how microbots might work and how they will change our lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two recent science fiction novels humorously illustrate the importance of correct robot mental models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collection of short stories from Africa and the diaspora explore transhumanism in the face of ecological collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zed: A Novel humorously illustrates the need for, and challenges facing, the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten questions to guide reflection and assessment of the "good" in robotics projects are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea of Rust projects a complex emotional relationship between assistive robots and humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world was unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, and recovery is likely to be a long process. Robots have long been heralded to take on dangerous, dull, and dirty jobs, often in environments that are unsuitable for humans. Could robots be used to fight future pandemics? We review the fundamental requirements for robotics for infectious disease management and outline how robotic technologies can be used in different scenarios, including disease prevention and monitoring, clinical care, laboratory automation, logistics, and maintenance of socioeconomic activities. We also address some of the open challenges for developing advanced robots that are application oriented, reliable, safe, and rapidly deployable when needed. Last, we look at the ethical use of robots and call for globally sustained efforts in order for robots to be ready for future outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RoboDoc, a 2009 comedy, offers a surprisingly accurate assessment of robot surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three Miles Down is a fictionalized version of the expedition to recover a Soviet submarine, 50 years before OceanGate Titan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AI and robotics can facilitate humanitarian assistance and disaster response, but partnerships with practitioners are crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new sci-fi novel, The Strange, is set in a counterfactual Mars where an alien mineral increases the intelligence of robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine Man and The Andromeda Evolution explore personal and societal ramifications of brain-machine interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel Autonomous embodies two decades of human-robot interaction studies on the effects of robot gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popular robot horror movie M3GAN illustrates legal and ethical responsibilities that are often overlooked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kurt Vonnegut's first novel, Player Piano, foresaw advances in real-world robotics and how they affect society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not even Asimov expected that all robots would be, or should be, subject to his Three Laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media waggishly labels bot failure as self-destruction, but sci-fi anticipated the mistreatment of real-world robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eando Binder's Adam Link series predates Isaac Asimov's more famous robots, posing issues in trust, control, weaponization, and intellectual property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disney's Baymax! series may be science fiction, but soft robotics is real. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roboticists are working on real-world versions of Sox, a robot companion in Lightyear, to play therapeutic roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Warehouse: A Novel by Rob Hart is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IG-11 in "The Mandalorian" poses the question of whether roboticists are the Bounty Hunters' Guild or Kuiil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machinehood and The New Breed are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In both science and science fiction, robot swarms are out of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science fiction was prescient about many aspects of grasping and manipulation, but can it keep up with new advances? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scifi assumes creating a robot mother will be easy, research indicates otherwise, but both suggest you might not want one anyway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanically complex robots in the latest Star Wars series are wildly creative, but not wild enough to match real robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science fiction cannot match the admirable inventiveness of Perseverance, Ingenuity, and other planetary rovers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

R.U.R. created the term "robot" and the robot uprising meme, but Q.U.R. may be more relevant to robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin offers a thought experiment in human-robot interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent science fiction illustrates the value of ordinary robots for a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 may drive sustained research in robotics to address risks of infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We view autonomous cars just like the ones in science fiction, and that could be a problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Would we trust a robot? Science fiction says no, but explainable robotics may find a way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in medical rehabilitation robotics are making Alita-like cyborgs almost a reality, but laws are lagging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We should discard the expectations from science fiction that a robot will become a virtuoso at a new task overnight and that learning leads to sentience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science fiction missed the large role that robots are playing at Fukushima Daiichi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What made smart houses scary in 1909 makes them now essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L3-37, the so-called mutt of a robot in Solo: A Stars Wars Movie, may lead the way to more efficient, economical, and robust systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HBO's Westworld is located to the right of the uncanny valley, near the archipelago of governments proposing to regulate sexbots and strong artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The giant robots in the Pacific Rim movies could take lessons from advances in legged robots and from real-world exoskeletons being designed to prevent worker injuries, accelerate physical therapy, and help paralyzed children walk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]