Identical twins Jim Springer and Jim Lewis were adopted as babies and raised by different couples. When they finally met at the age of 39, they discovered they had __41__ . Both were six feet tall and 180 pounds. They had the same smile and the same voice. When a psychologist who wanted to study them invited the __42__ to his lab, his colleagues found it extremely hard to __43__ . But the similarities didn’t stop at the __44__ level. They’d both had dogs named Toy. They had both married women named Linda, and then divorced them. They’d both been sheriffs, enjoyed carpentry, and suffered severe headaches. They were so strikingly alike that the researcher believed these were unlikely just __45__ .

          Once upon a time, there was a land where robotic bears helped lift the elderly out of bed and into wheelchairs. In this land, machine seals comforted lonely people and formed an essential part of elderly care. Is this science fiction? Not in Japan. These robots already exist, and you may actually experience them as you get older. These examples of state-of-the-art technology are helping to solve a big problem for the Japanese – that of taking care of their senior citizens.
          It is estimated that 40% of the population in Japan will be over 65 by 2055. At the same time, there will be an approximately 16% decrease in the size of the workforce by 2030. This shortage of labor presents a grave challenge: Who will look after all the people in their golden years? There are simply not enough younger people to care for the older population. And with the breakdown of traditional family responsibilities, a growing number of elderly are living away from their families and the family care they have been given in the past. 

         Robots to the rescue! Mechanized beds that are controlled by voice can change from a bed to a wheelchair on command. Robotic bear nurses can lift patients who weigh up to 135 pounds (61 kilos). And for comfort and companionship, soft robotic pet seals have been designed to show emotions with facial expressions, movement, noises, and responses to touch. These are just a few of the inventions that are so promising toward a future of elderly care assisted by robots.