Science fiction has returned again and again to the merger of man and machine, the Cyborg, with fascination and fear.

Over the centuries, scientists speculated that we could tap into the body's electrical system to restore lost functions or enhance our powers, like machines.

As we steadily merge with our technology, the focus is on devices that enhance our senses and minds and knit us together in new ways.

If tomorrow's robots are going to share our world, they will have to have something extra: an emotional and psychological dimension to help them communicate and respond in ways people can understand.

To build a humanoid that can function in our world is a bold challenge being taken up by isolated labs around the world. Researchers are infusing robots with abilities ranging from grasping to hearing and vision.

As robots begin to move among us, how will we regard them: as property like automobiles, or as individuals with rights and responsibilities? Can a thing be a person?

To promote the rapid evolution of robots, one audacious group of researchers decided to start a worldwide robotic soccer competition. How soon before they challenge humans?

Like it or not, technology is increasingly blurring blurring the difference between humans and their machines. A new age of Cyborgs and Androids may well be upon us.

Imagine a day when machines walk among us, expressing thoughts, emotions, demanding their rights. Today, we are breathing intelligence, even life, into creatures of silicon and steel.

A monster truck and drag racing event is no place to view the future of humanity. Or is it?