"A laboratory robot called Adam has been hailed as the first machine in history to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of its human creators":

Adam formed a hypothesis on the genetics of bakers’ yeast and carried out experiments to test its predictions, without intervention from its makers at Aberystwyth University.

The result was a series of "simple but useful" discoveries, confirmed by human scientists, about the gene coding for yeast enzymes. The research is published in the journal Science.

...The team has just completed a successor robot called Eve, which is about to work with Adam on a series of experiments designed to find new drugs to treat tropical diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis.

...In the new experiments, Adam and Eve will work together to devise and carry out tests on thousands of chemical compounds to discover antimalarial drugs.

(Via Drudge.)