Kunio Shimada, a professor of fluid mechanics and energy engineering at Fukushima University, has developed a special rubber that can generate electricity from solar and kinetic energy and save the power generated. The 53-year-old professor, who is from the city of Fukushima, says the rubber is the first of its kind in the world and is trying to patent it in Japan. His discovery could be used to develop artificial skin for robots or shock-resistant solar batteries. Robotics experts have already shown interest in Shimada's technology, which could become part of the prefecture's new initiative aimed at promoting robotics. Shimada has a track record in the field of conductive rubber.

I think it's safe to assume that Shogo Shimada, a thoracic and cardiac surgeon at the University of Tokyo Hospital, did not start his career thinking he might one day be implanting robots into living animals. Yet that is just what Shimada and a team of surgeons and roboticists from around the world have now achieved. Their work is the latest in a long line of attempts to solve problems in biology using robots. When I hear about this sort of research, it usually involves micro-robots. And then there's talk of smaller, nano-size robots that can swim through the bloodstream and deliver drugs or make repairs, as referenced in the 1966 sci-fi film "Fantastic Voyage."