If there is indeed such a thing as a harmless almost-human robot, this might be it. The Waseda Flutist Robot may look like it could stand up and attack you at any minute, but that's just the way it's meant to look. What it really does is just sit there and play the flute. Really, really well.

You'd think that getting a robot to play the flute isn't particularly hard. It isn't, really. But there's more to this robot. It'll watch and listen as you play, adjusting its own speed to match yours. It'll also teach you how to play better, and we're presuming that if you're good enough, you can teach it some tricks too. It uses rubbery "lips" to blow on the flute, and a bellows serves as its lungs.

Let's hope someone has the bright idea of getting Ian Anderson to train it before he pops off.

Here s the flutist playing Flight of the Bumblebee.