Berick Cook wrote to let us know about a new electromagnetic robot actuator he's patented. He calls it the dynamic magnet flux actuator. He's granting a non-commercial use license to robot hobbyists and has provided DIY instsructions for building your own flux actuators. Another reader sent us a link to a Reuters story with video on the Japanese elderly care robot, Twendy-one. Roschler posted a review of the WowWee Lightstar, a sort of flying robot lightshow. The Swirling Brain has rounded up quite pile of stories: there's a New Scientist story on Tofu the hairy dancing robot from MIT, photos from the robot revolution in the UK's theFirstPost, a CNN Health story on a smart exoskeleton that helps the paralyzed walk, and a Popular Mechanics story on robots at CES. Also spotted at CES is the first mass-market toy to include a working brain interface, the Star Wars Force Trainer from Uncle Milton Industries. It includes a simple EEG-like headset designed by NeuroSky that looks ideal for adapting into a DIY cyborg project. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please.