President Obama faced off against a Japanese robot on Thursday of last week.
It's not many stories that start off this way – at least, stories that aren't about bad Hollywood sci-fi movies.
Yet, in an example of how sometimes life is stranger than science fiction, President Obama did indeed stand toe-to-toe with Honda's "ASIMO" robot during a visit to Japan's National Museum Of Emerging Science And Innovation (or Mirikan). This visit was part of a trip aimed at drawing attention to the renewal of a 10-year scientific collaboration agreement between the two countries.
So it was that Obama watched ASIMO, dressed in an astronaut suit and the height of a child, take a lap around the room and then settle behind a monotone gray soccer ball – lining up for a penalty kick at the leader of the free world. Quite a surreal moment.
Seconds before ASIMO fired off its shot, Obama laughed and said, "Come on now, ready. Right here." It was hard not to notice the nervous pause in the middle of this taunt.
You'll have to watch the video to see how Obama utlimately fared. Let's just say, we're probably a long way from seeing either robots or President Obama in the World Cup.
