Robot Or Not?

It’s made of liquid metal.

Is it even a game? What if you had a video game that featured a robot?

From Bungie’s bestselling video game, Ghosts, Exos, Rasputin, and other things that might be robots.

A software model of a flatworm, piloting a Lego Mindstorms toy.

Agents and Oracles and Architects from the “Matrix” trilogy.

They listen to us and talk back. But is that enough?

Roy Batty, Pris, and all the rest. They’ve seen the Tannhauser Gate, but are they robots?

Living rail cars in Sodor.

The bots from “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”

Enter the realm of the very, very tiny as John and Jason ponder if size matters when it comes to whether something is a robot or not.

Security expert Bruce Schneier said the Internet of Things was a robot, but what does John think? You can probably guess.

Two enemies wrapped in metal shells from “Doctor Who” face their ultimate foe—the judgment of John Siracusa.

It’s right there in the name of this character from the acclaimed comic book “Saga,” but as we’ve learned, names can be misleading.

This one seems to have gotten in by mistake.

Things that clean your swimming pool: are they Roombas or just dumb hoses? Also, if a toaster can’t be a robot, can a robot be a toaster?

If the cars in Pixar’s “Cars” movies aren’t cars, what are they, and where did they come from?

Just in time for the holidays, some existential questions. Also, could a robot be on a podcast?

Doctor Who’s clockwork repair droids (from the episodes “Girl in the Fireplace” and “Deep Breath”) come under scrutiny. Sure, they start out as robots, but do they become something else..?

From the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and specifically “Iron Man 3” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” deep robot-or-not questions about Iron Man’s suits, Ultron, and the Vision.

A Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of his own!