The word “robot” was coined by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a 1920 play called Rossum’s Universal Robots, and is derived from the Czech robota, meaning “drudgery” or “servitude”.

Artificial intelligence is a potentially world-changing technology. It could help cure cancers , control autonomous cars , and augment human intelligence . Or it could lead to a robot apocalypse ...

Jul 9, 2025 · Technology Surgical robots take step towards fully autonomous operations An AI system trained on videos of operations successfully guided a robot to carry out gall bladder surgery on a …

Dec 7, 2023 · From Wall-E to Short Circuit via I, Robot, these are the best films out there about AI, says Alan Turing Institute ethics fellow Mhairi Aitken

Dec 20, 2024 · Comment Our writers pick the 26 best science fiction short stories of all time We asked New Scientist writers to pick their favourite sci-fi short story. From H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine to ...

Jun 10, 2024 · Calling someone a bot on social media once meant you suspected they were actually a piece of software, but now the use of the word is shifting to become an insult to someone you know …

Dec 23, 2024 · Humanoid robots are poised to enter warehouses, automotive factories and even some homes in growing numbers in 2025 – but whether they can really take hold remains to be seen. The …

Nov 5, 2025 · Comment Is a robot programmed to prank you annoying? Yes Feedback discovers a robot that can mimic Turkish ice cream vendors, who are known for playing tricks on their customers. …

Jul 23, 2025 · Comment The 25 best fictional robots – according to New Scientist From R2D2 to the Terminator via Bender and Johnny-5, we choose our favourite robots from books, films and television …

May 12, 2021 · BACK in the early 2000s, an awesome thing happened in the New X-Men comics. Our mutant heroes had been battling giant robots called Sentinels for years, but suddenly these …