Real robots have more and more in common with science fiction robots every day. Not enough that you need to worry about them rising up against humans, but you should maybe consider being nicer to your smartphone...

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links!

[Truth or Fail]

Plesiosaur Swimming

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/odd-swimming-style-plesiosaurs-decoded-robot

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2017.0951

RangerBot

https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/rangerbot-programmed-to-kill/

https://www.sciencealert.com/rangerbot-great-barrier-reef-conservation-crown-of-thorns-starfish

https://www.qut.edu.au/news?id=137688

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zjKTvj0lB4

Firefighting Robot

https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/5/7986345/firefighting-robot-saffir-prototype-us-navy

Lifeguard Robot

https://mentitude.com/ocean-alpha-dolphin-1-unmanned-usrv/

[Fact Off]

Clothing robot
http://www.news.gatech.edu/2018/05/14/robot-teaches-itself-how-dress-people
https://futurism.com/pr2-ai-robot-dressing-gown
https://robots.ieee.org/robots/pr2/

Video of the dressing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYj7gHQ_fwY

Parasitic turtle robots

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2130292-parasitic-robot-controls-turtle-its-riding-by-giving-it-snacks/

https://phys.org/news/2017-05-parasitic-robot-waypoint-turtle.html

[Ask the Science Couch]

Synthetic skin

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=85&contentid=P01336

https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/4/32/eaax2198

https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/details/35732/

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8812712

OmniSkin

https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/3/22/eaat1853

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/24/17895328/robotic-skin-flexible-soft-robotics-yale-nasa-space

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/these-robotic-skins-turn-everyday-objects-into-robots-180970328/

[Butt One More Thing]

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-robotic-rectum-lets-doctors-get-a-feel-for-prostate-exams

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/07/04/robotic-rectum-developed-to-help-doctors-get-to-bottom-of-prosta/