It is interesting that I come across this article about a robot that can conduct research and the article about the lack of jobs for scientists at the same time. A group of Japanese scientists have built a robot for conducting research experiments that may be too dangerous for human. From the cnet.com by Tim Hornyak: “Two-armed robot takes on risky lab work”
Unlike most assembly robots, its arms have seven joints, allowing it to use human tools and to perform humanlike motions easily. It automates lab work and can do tasks such as culturing more quickly and accurately than human lab techs.
From Cnet.com; Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET
As I am running a lab myself and always hope to get more data, the second I saw the setup with the pipettes, PCR and dry baths, I could not stop thinking “wouldn’t it be nice to have one of these robots to work in the lab for 24 hours…. “.