WASHINGTON — BidenBot, the lifelike, cybernetic machine that poses as Vice President Joe Biden during most of his public appearances, has malfunctioned again during a recent press conference.

During a rousing speech on student loan interest, the vice president suddenly appeared frozen with its eyes and mouth open. Reporters and aides looked on as smoke began to emanate from the machine’s ears. The conference was quickly canceled.

The administration rolled out BidenBot in response to several flubs and gaffes for which the vice president was responsible in the past 4 years. Notable occasions include referring to the president as “Barack America” during the 2008 campaign, cursing during the signing of the health care overhaul and advising Americans not to fly during the swine flu outbreak.

“We think the vice president is great,” said one vice presidential aide, “but we just couldn’t risk any more of these kinds of situations — especially in an election year. To let his incredible work in office speak for itself, we decided to create a robotic version of the vice president. No one notices usually, but unfortunately, today was a rare mishap.”

The last notable malfunction that occurred during a key 2011 speech from President Obama on the federal budget. While many thought the vice president had simply fallen asleep, it was later reported that BidenBot had a low battery and was forced to power down to “hibernation mode.”

As far as Biden’s own feelings about having the robot represent him, the vice presidential aide was quick to assure his approval.

“He understood and actually welcomed the idea,” the aide said. “He’s able to get much more done behind the scenes this way. And if President Obama and Vice President Biden are elected into another term, we don’t expect to need BidenBot quite as much in the coming years. Most likely, the robot will be repurposed to smaller appearances like state fairs and town hall meetings.

PITTSBURGH, PA – Carnegie-Mellon University has 547 robots in its freshman class.

Carnegie Mellon University just completed a survey of its freshman class and it tallied 547 robots on campus, including Tank Le Fleur (math major), Boss (theatre major) and Opto-Isolator (an artist – and know womanizer).

OSAKA-  Robot girlfriends are on sale now in Japan.  Buy two for the price of one!

The Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, from the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, has created a small surrogate girlfriend for men (and women).  The Japanese roboticist unveiled his creation in April, but it is now on sale everywhere across Japan in Seiyu (Japan’s Wal-Mart).

The android was originally called Geminoid F, but Ishiguro renamed her Chizuko (which means “the child of a thousand storks”) and is also the name of Ishiguro’s first girlfriend who dumped him for a five-foot tall accountant.  Ishiguro programmed Chizuko to call him, “Stud.”

Ishiguro teamed up with Kokoro Co., Ltd. to create the realistic-looking female android says she was modeled after a woman in her twenties. She has long black hair, soft silicone skin, and a set of lifelike teeth that allow her to produce a natural smile.  Here’s Chizuko with her model:

Chizuko with the girl she was modeled after

When female researchers at Intelligent Robotics Laboratory asked Ishiguro why he didn’t make the female android a thirty-something woman (especially considering Ishiguro is in his late 40s) Ishiguro said, “anybody want some tea?”

Chizuko is friendly, kind, always smiling and only talks when she is asked a question by her “partner” (man or woman). Ishiguro said, “She’d make a great wife for anybody. Many Japanese parents are buying them for their sons.”

The efficient design makes Chizuko easy to produce. She is on sale at Seiyu for 5 million yen (about $50,000) each.  But for this week – and this week only – you can buy one and get one free.  “If you consider how much you spend on a girlfriend over time, it’s a real bargain,”  Ishiguro said.

At a press conference in Osaka, Chizuko spoke to reporters. “It feels great to be alive.  Anybody want a date?”

No doubt it will take time for people to get used to robot girlfriends, but Ishiguro assures everyone that it they are a viable product that he expects to be as big as the iPad. “We’re neurologically hardwired to react to these androids as though they’re human beings. Once you Chizuko walking across a room in her little black dress, you won’t be able to tell the difference between Chizuko and a human female.”

The question on everyone’s mind: can Chizuko have sex?  A grinning Ishiguro said, “You’ll have to buy one and see.”

Ishiguro dispelled rumors that he married Chizuko last week are false. Ishiguro is not a one- android man, he owns twelve of the female androids. “One for each room,” he said.

The female androids will go on sale at Wal-Mart in the U.S. on September 1st.   As per Maria’s question below… Yes, there will be a male version on sale in December.  So save up girls!

Here’s Chizuko when she was introduced to the public in April, 2010.

TOKYO – This year’s Japan’s Fashion Week featured not just new clothes, but an entirely new kind of super model!

Japan’s annual Fashion Week is known for it’s innovative designs and trends. This year, Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology debuted their own revolutionary redesign – of the model herself!