The humanoid robot Alter-Ego, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology, assists patient Daniel Senna through remote interaction at the IRCSS Maugeri hospital in Milan on June 12, 2026. A hospital in Milan is trialling a small robot designed to greet and interact with patients, thereby relieving staff of the most repetitive tasks. Ego, standing 1.20 metres tall and equipped with finely articulated arms and hands, as well as expressive eyebrows, can act as a stand-in for a doctor who is not physically present, bring water to a patient or guide them through the corridors for treatment. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

Manuel Catalano, Principal Researcher and Head of the NuBots Unit at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), poses next humanoid robot Alter-Ego at the IRCSS Maugeri hospital in Milan on June 12, 2026. A hospital in Milan is trialling a small robot designed to greet and interact with patients, thereby relieving staff of the most repetitive tasks. Ego, standing 1.20 metres tall and equipped with finely articulated arms and hands, as well as expressive eyebrows, can act as a stand-in for a doctor who is not physically present, bring water to a patient or guide them through the corridors for treatment. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

The humanoid robot Alter-Ego, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology, assists patient Daniel Senna through remote interaction at the IRCSS Maugeri hospital in Milan on June 12, 2026. A hospital in Milan is trialling a small robot designed to greet and interact with patients, thereby relieving staff of the most repetitive tasks. Ego, standing 1.20 metres tall and equipped with finely articulated arms and hands, as well as expressive eyebrows, can act as a stand-in for a doctor who is not physically present, bring water to a patient or guide them through the corridors for treatment. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

A healthcare operator remotely controls the robot humanoid Alter-Ego, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology, at the IRCSS Maugeri hospital in Milan on June 12, 2026. A hospital in Milan is trialling a small robot designed to greet and interact with patients, thereby relieving staff of the most repetitive tasks. Ego, standing 1.20 metres tall and equipped with finely articulated arms and hands, as well as expressive eyebrows, can act as a stand-in for a doctor who is not physically present, bring water to a patient or guide them through the corridors for treatment. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

Patient Daniel Senna indicates their level of pain using a pain scale with the help of the humanoid robot Alter-Ego, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology, at the IRCSS Maugeri hospital in Milan on June 12, 2026. A hospital in Milan is trialling a small robot designed to greet and interact with patients, thereby relieving staff of the most repetitive tasks. Ego, standing 1.20 metres tall and equipped with finely articulated arms and hands, as well as expressive eyebrows, can act as a stand-in for a doctor who is not physically present, bring water to a patient or guide them through the corridors for treatment. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

Humanoid robot Alter-Ego, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology, assists patient Daniel Senna through remote interaction at the IRCSS Maugeri hospital in Milan on June 12, 2026. A hospital in Milan is trialling a small robot designed to greet and interact with patients, thereby relieving staff of the most repetitive tasks. Ego, standing 1.20 metres tall and equipped with finely articulated arms and hands, as well as expressive eyebrows, can act as a stand-in for a doctor who is not physically present, bring water to a patient or guide them through the corridors for treatment. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

Humanoid robot Alter-Ego, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology, assists patient Daniel Senna through remote interaction at the IRCSS Maugeri hospital in Milan on June 12, 2026. A hospital in Milan is trialling a small robot designed to greet and interact with patients, thereby relieving staff of the most repetitive tasks. Ego, standing 1.20 metres tall and equipped with finely articulated arms and hands, as well as expressive eyebrows, can act as a stand-in for a doctor who is not physically present, bring water to a patient or guide them through the corridors for treatment. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

This undated image courtesy of The Field Museum shows an Embolomere fossil. Scientists have long posited the earliest water animals to transition to land had amphibious tadpole features, going through a metamorphosis akin to today's frogs. But new research out June 18 in Science challenges that assumption, presenting analysis of rare fossils scientists say fills knowledge gaps on the early development of the creatures that gave rise to the first land-dwelling vertebrates. The research centers on specimens excavated from the Mazon Creek fossil beds in northern Illinois. The world-renowned site features iron carbonate concretions that formed some 309 million years ago, fossilizing within them ancient creatures that had once thrived in the area's lush swamps, shallow seas and river deltas. (Photo by Arjan MANN / Field Museum / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/ FIELD MUSEUM / Arjan MANN / HANDOUT- NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVE