The I-Fairy robot wore a wreath of flowers to direct the rooftop wedding of Tomohiro Shibata (42) and bride Satoko Inouy (36), at a Tokyo restaurant. In a tinny voice, I-Fairy asked the groom to “please lift the bride’s veil” as the newlyweds kissed in front of about 50 guests.Wires led out from beneath it to a black curtain a few feet away, where a man crouched and clicked commands into a computer.Japan has one of the most advanced robotics industries in the world, with the government actively supporting the field for future growth.Industrial models in factories are now standard, but Japanese companies are making a push to inject robots into everyday life. –– The Sun.
SPACECRAFT ‘HIJACKED’: A UFO expert claims aliens have hijacked a Nasa spacecraft and are using it to try to contact Earth.Voyager 2, an unmanned probe that has been in space since 1977, is sending strange messages that are confusing scientists.German academic Hartwig Hausdorf believes it is because it has been taken over by extraterrestrial life. Since its launch, Voyager 2 has been sending streams of data back to Earth for study by scientists, but on April 22 that stream of information suddenly changed.Nasa claimed that a software problem with the flight data system was the cause but Hausdorf believes it could be the work of aliens.This is because all other parts of the spacecraft appear to be functioning fine. He told the German newspaper Bild: “It seems almost as if someone has reprogrammed or hijacked the probe – thus perhaps we do not yet know the whole truth.”Voyager 2 carries a disk with greetings in 55 languages on it in case the craft encounters other life forms.Dr Edward Stone, a scientist on the project, said the disk, called the Golden Record, is “a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials.“The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record — a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth”. –– Orange.
RANDY ROO: An amorous kangaroo in the mood for love has female joggers hopping mad in the Honeymoon Ranges of Australia’s outback Northern Territory, prompting a flood of angry calls to authorities.Territory police said they had received reports of the kangaroo stalking residents in the ranges near the township of Tennant Creek, including a woman on her morning walk.“There was no doubt about what he wanted, the randy old thing,” the woman told local papers. “I turned around and saw this big kangaroo behind me, so I hastened my steps,” she said.“It was a huge kangaroo and quite intimidating.Male red kangaroos can grow over 1,8 metres tall and weigh 90kgs, and can cause serious injury or death if they attack.“I yelled at him to go away, waved my hands about and let him know I wasn’t interested, but he was persistent –– I’ll give him that.”The woman said the obviously aroused animal bounded off when other walkers approached and she sought to escape.Later that day a mother-of-three encountered the aroused kangaroo at a night-time speedway meeting, while a man said he challenged the intimidating macropod and came off second best, receiving a swift punch in response.Northern Territory police told Reuters they were not pursuing the salacious mammal unless it continued to cause trouble. –– Reuters.
