Asteroid retrieval by rotary rocket, by Jerome Pearson

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, Lucio de Souza Coelho
wrote:
>
> On 2/9/06, Combs, Mike wrote:
> (...)
> > The reality of the 21st Century is that Honda is justifiably proud
of a
> > robot that can actually walk without falling over.
>
> And Sony decided to stop producing Aibo, which by the way is a
> sophisticated toy, as have been all those "media darling" robots
> produced by the Japanese in the last 25 years or so.

Japan, pretty much alone in the world, is instituting a unique
immigration policy to address the coming labor shortage - it's
choosing to substitute robotics for immigrants. They're quite
determined on this front.

See for instance how a robot does a woman's nails instead of importing
low paid manicurists.

http://www.greggman.com/edit/editheadlines/2003-11-26.htm

See here for the "Elder Wshing Machine" designed for elder care.

http://www.globalaging.org/elderrights/world/2004/japaninvention.htm

Here's the Economist on Japan's robot affinity:

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5323427&no_na_tran=1

Here's the Washington Post detailing robots that peform security guard
jobs and other related news:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25394-2005Mar10?language=printer

TangoMan