Real-life Terminator Our sense of touch is critical to the human experience, from detecting heat or air movement to feeling the embrace of a loved one. Researchers have long searched for ways to equip robots with this sensory capability. Thanks to the mycelial root systems in fungi, the world’s first “fungal skin for robots” has arrived. The backstory: Mycelium networks exhibit electrical activity that changes in response to external stimuli like light and touch — similar to how we process sensory information. Researchers Antoni Gandia and Andrew Adamatzky from the University of West England hypothesized that mycelium-based skin could help robots harness fungal electric activity for efficient sensory feedback. What happened: Gandia and Adamatzky covered a scale model of the Terminator robot with nutrient-rich agar. Mycelium colonized the fertile material, forming a “skin” around the robot. The researchers subjected the robot to external stimuli and found it could process and respond to sensory information. The big picture: Fungal skin might one day revolutionize robot design by equipping robots with the sensory information necessary to complete delicate tasks. More immediately, merging biology and robotics brings deeper philosophical and ethical questions about the line between life and machines. Click here to keep reading.