The article on the robot teacher Saya-sensei (March 21 issue) caught my attention. I was astonished to see the development of the technology concerned. Actually, as professor Hiroshi Kobayashi said in the article, Saya is not up to a human being in ability for the present, though she looks as if she were a real woman.

However, to further understand the workings of human sensibility and sensitivity would surely allow a robot to come closer to our ability.

It has been more than 30 years since the Voyagers went forth into space, carrying time capsules from? Earth to any extraterrestrial civilizations that they might come across. I still remember that the images of human bodies carved on a gold-plated copper disk were stored in the capsule.

In the future, humanoid robots not carved images aboard a spacecraft will pass into interstellar space for encounters with other civilizations.

My whole family can't wait to read your paper every week.

I loved your article that speculated about how carnivorous dinosaurs walked (March 14 issue) because it reminded me of the days I spent poring over encyclopedias that had wicked pictures of dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Iguanodon when I was little.

However, I would like to make a suggestion about the content of your paper. The cartoons in the Views of the World section are often hard to laugh at or even understand. Putting a footnote for each cartoon would be very helpful.

I find the Science page interesting. Many of the topics on the page are introduced before people talk about them in Japan, and I often realize that I know the topic because I've read about it in the Weekly before.

In that sense, "Undesirable evolution can be reversed in fish" (March 7 issue) was an eye-opener for me. It was surprising to know that by protecting smaller fish, fish become smaller genetically, and as a result we have fewer catches in commercial fishing.

Regarding the opinion about cash handouts in Readers' Voice (March 21 issue), it is true that many people? are critical about the government policy but at the same time many of them are willing to accept the money. It seems difficult to beat the charm of cash. I received a notice from my ward office that we can choose to donate the money to charity. I think it is a good idea and I might offer such a contribution.

I look forward to reading the paper every week.Some articles are difficult for me so I cannot read all of them. However, I make an effort to read as many stories as I can. I like short articles and the World pages with things I don't know about.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 18, 2009
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