Japanese researchers invent "Shiri" robot

Image from Express Chemist.

Where "shiri," by the way, is Japanese for buttocks. Read this article and watch the video on Kotaku. Of course, apparently the same Japanese researchers have also invented The Hug Machine and The Kiss Machine, all in the name of science and medicine, ladies and gentlemen, mind you.

Talking about "Shiri," here are some Japan-related tidbits that might be interesting:

1. "Shiri" is usually prefixed by "o" as in "oshiri," or as in "ocha" where "cha" means tea, or "ofuro" were "furo" means bath tub, or "okane" where "kane" means money, and so on. I think people would say the "o" makes it more polite, but I don't know if that makes sense.

2. When Apple introduced the iPhone 4S with its voice-controlled assistant feature named "Siri," Japanese tweeters were laughing all around Twitter about it having a name that means buttocks. In Japanese pronunciation, they do not have a "si" sound, instead they use "shi," and thus "Siri" is pronounced like "Shiri" in Japanese, just as they say "Ey Bee She" for "A, B, C."

3. I don't know what the Roswell sci-fi TV series actress portraying the character Liz Parker, Shiri Appleby, would say about all this.