A new report by the Royal Society of Chemistry lays out a "post-Covid national research strategy", using robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced computing as part of a suite of technologies that "must be urgently embraced" to help socially distancing scientists continue their search for solutions to global challenges.

Today, in a world where scientists also need to limit their time in the lab and maintain social distance from each other, the robo-scientist has come into its own

On a more serious note, he said that the robot had transformed the speed at which he could carry out research

"It can easily go through thousands of samples," he said, "so it frees up my time to focus on innovation and new solutions."

Like robotics designed for research in Space, machines like this could also take on riskier experiments - in harsher laboratory environments or using more toxic substances

That, according to Deirdre Black, head of research and innovation at the Royal Society of Chemistry, is why UK science needs to build new technologies into its infrastructure

"This is about human beings harnessing all of these digital technologies, so that they can go faster - discover and innovate faster and explore bigger and more complex problems, like decarbonisation, preventing and treating disease, and making our air cleaner," she told BBC News