Can you murder a robot?

Back in 2015, a hitchhiker was murdered on the streets of Philadelphia. It was no ordinary crime. The hitchhiker in question was a little robot called Hitchbot. The "death" raised an interesting question about human-robot relationship - not so much whether we can trust robots but whether the robots can trust us.

Hip hop best bet for a cheese that will please: Swiss study

BURGDORF, Switzerland (Reuters) - Exposing cheese to round-the-clock music could give it more flavor and hip hop might be better than Mozart, Swiss researchers said on Thursday. Nine wheels of Emmental cheese weighing 10 kilos (22 pounds) each were placed in separate wooden crates last September to test the impact of music on flavor and aroma.

Hit by an arrow, mobile phone dies saving Australian man

An Australian man had a lucky escape while confronting a man armed with a bow outside his home, as a loosed arrow pierced the mobile telephone he was holding to take a photograph of the incident, Australian police said on Thursday.

The Strange and Sudden Death of Ancient Alchemy

The quest for the Philosopher's Stone, alchemy, the search for the Elixir of Life and turning base elements into gold, which occupied the minds of many famous ancient scientists such as Isaac Newton, abruptly came to a halt by the end of the 18th century, due to two incidents, involving a hoax and a suicide.

Iconic Barbie doll celebrates 60 years of evolution

(Reuters) - Barbie, the fashion doll famous around the world, celebrates her 60th anniversary on Saturday with new collections honouring real-life role models and careers in which women remain under-represented. It is part of Barbie's evolution over the decades since her debut at the New York Toy Fair on March 9, 1959.

Body language: The Russian science keeping North Korea's dead...

Perhaps none of the communist legacies shared by Vietnam and North Korea highlighted during Kim Jong Un's "goodwill visit" to Hanoi is stranger than the embalmed leaders on display in their capital cities, and the secretive team of Russian technicians that keeps the aging bodies looking ageless.

Road movie evokes 'atmospheric landscapes'

The "atmospheric" east coast of England helped provide a new road movie's "outstanding cinematography", the director said. Burning Men, a story inspired by vinyl record collecting, was filmed in London, Norfolk and up the east coast. Northampton-born director Jeremy Wooding said the flat landscape of The Fens in Norfolk helped lend itself to the "dark eerie ambience" of the film.

Charles Christian is a barrister and Reuters correspondent...

Charles Christian - Charles Christian is a barrister and Reuters correspondent turned writer, award-winning tech journalist, radio presenter, podcaster, blogger, storyteller, and sometime wer...