Way back in 1919 Sigmund Freud postulated his concept of the uncanny. In the (cleverly named) The Uncanny, Freud explored a problem of aesthetics—when something is both familiar and unknown the experience of viewing it can be strongly unsettling. Fifty years later, roboticist Masahiro Mori presented his own work on the uncanny. Drawing heavily on his predecessor's work, Mori developed his "uncanny valley" hypothesis.

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What started as an academic problem in a robotics class—how to build a robot that can hop like a pogo stick, roll on wheels, and walk up stairs—has grown into a concept that could one day help with search-and-rescue missions.

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It’s not hard to notice when your co-worker is grouchy, your friend is exhausted, or your boss is overjoyed. Without recognizing it, we easily pick up on other people’s emotions by registering certain behavioral cues. In turn, we understand whether we need to back off, lend a helping hand, or, in the case of the boss, ask for a raise. Now comes the question: If we can do this, then why not computers? Why not robots? Indeed, by picking up on some of these same emotional traits, robots today are learning to act more naturally around their human counterparts.

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No matter which part of the world you're in, there's one thing that disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami have in common—delayed response times. It's understandable considering the logistical problems that abound, but in the future—like many sci-fi movies and novels have postulated—robots could alleviate some of the burden and dangers associated with such emergencies. How real is that possibility?

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Swimming around in their tank, these autonomous robotic jellyfish move alone or in a swarm and communicate with their brethren to avoid underwater collisions. Developed by German industrial-automation company Festo as an attention-grabbing experiment in cooperative robotics, each AquaJelly uses eight bendable “tentacles” to propel itself forward.

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While robotic prosthetics controlled by electrical impulses from an amputee are nothing new, their range of motion and practicality in daily life have been particularly limited since they first appeared on the market. New research coming out of the University of Pittsburgh promises to change that, with a robotic arm capable of complex and subtle movements. The scientists behind the project successfully trained macaque monkeys to feed themselves by using the arm to reach out for an grab marshmallows without knocking them over. It sounds like an inconsequential task, but the hurdles between an arm on which the "hand" simply opens and closes and an arm with an articulated shoulder, elbow, and wrist, and a gripping hand working together with the brain have been not insignificant.

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No, we're still not up to the level of Luke's mechanical hand in Star Wars, but progress does seem to be accelerating. The i-LIMB, from Touch Bionics, debuted last year, and German researchers recently tested it against a new prototype, the Fluidhand. The researchers say both are more dexterous than the industry standard, given that the individual fingers of the mechanical hands can be controlled independently.

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Iron Man's fictional tech may soon become real. Inside a mountain lab, researchers have already built motorized suits that give ordinary people superhuman strength.

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We've told you all about the Raytheon Sarcos XOS exoskeleton, the smart suit of armor that endows its wearer with super-human strength. Now see it in action, and meet the minds behind both Iron Men—real, and imaginary.

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