Here's What's Awesome: Emo Robot Bands, Time-Shifting Self-Portraits

Summer. It means sun, fun, fast cars, friends and food. Warmth, wind, water, wild times and, for some, Weekend At Bernie's screenings (!). For us, it means your weekly collection of awesome links is celebrating its birthday! Here are a few links that'll make great conversation starters as you stand around the pool at your local Here's What's Awesome birthday party:

Maybe Skynet just needs a date
This week we heard a group of scientists warn that robots are getting too smart for our own good and may swat down humankind instead of serving it. On the other hand, the robots might not be a threat after all, not because they're not intelligent, but because they got too bummed out by the lack of hits on their MySpace page. Check out Cybraphon, the world's first emo-robot band, who plays sad music when it doesn't get enough attention:

[Gizmodo]

I've never been to me - oh wait, there I am!
You won't mistake Chino Otsuka's new series of "double self-portraits" as a Parent Trap-style twin image. Using Photoshop (and a lot of patience), she lined up images from today and from her childhood for a clever commentary on how we change over time. I like the photo where the younger version is outside a Paris cafe, eating the biggest, gaudiest loaf of French bread that a kid could ever want, while the grown-up Otsuka ordered more practical food. [Neatorama]

Kind of Blue... Mouse
In the list of Science Questions I Didn't Think I'd Ever Ask, "why does blue food coloring reduce spinal cord trauma in mice?" has leaped to the top of the heap. And best of all, the blue dye appears to have no toxic properties or side effects - well, there's one side effect. The mice turned blue. But they were hoping to play Violet Beauregarde in the mouse version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory anyway, so it works out. [Boing Boing]

We'll be off next week in honor of the column's first birthday, so why not share an awesome link in the comments below to keep the awesomeness building for another year?