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China's first humanoid robot half-marathon attracts great public attention

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      China

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      China's first humanoid robot half-marathon attracts great public attention

      2025-04-19 19:07 Last Updated At:20:37

      The world's first humanoid robot half-marathon, held in Beijing on Saturday, marks a milestone in robot development, attracting local residents to witness the breakthrough in the futuristic technology.

      Among all 20 participating robotic "athletes" from across the country, the "Tiangong Ultra" humanoid robot developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center won the champion.

      The unique race attracted many science lovers, with many of them holding cameras and trying to record the historic moment.

      "It is quite astonishing. The robots are running really fast," said Sun Jiude, an audience member, at the scene of racing.

      "We are so excited. We are residents living around, and we got up at half past six to reach the site. We witnessed every single robot participating in the event, and we are very impressed by the progress China has made in this regard," said Wang Lijuan, who brought her son to watch the first-ever humanoid half-marathon.

      The course of the Beijing half marathon involved steer slopes, and even requiring the robots to run across rails. The complex scenario tested the robots' ability to respond to accidents, with many of the "athletes" tripping multiple times and some accidentally running out of power amid running on the route.

      "We should have all noticed that some of the robots are not running elegantly, and some might fall over in running. We would say that this is quite normal. This reflects that we are still experimenting with all kinds of technical routes for robots," said Jiang Guangzhi, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.

      Setting up the first world half-marathon record for humanoids at around 2 hours and 40 minutes, "Tiangong Ultra" had received three months of "training" before its success, shortening the finishing time from eight hours to less than three.

      The first half-marathon attempt of the humanoid happened on January 22. By that time, it had to be tied to a crane truck to prevent hitting the ground, with multiple researchers scrutinizing its condition. Despite all the close attention, the metal runner had to fall down from time to time.

      With all the data collected, "Tiangong Ultra" received multiple rounds of upgrades, and gradually made larger strides with a more stable posture. To build robots that are comparable to human athletes in long-distance running, researchers have to tackle all kinds of difficulties, including heat dissipation, component durability, system reliability, algorithm optimization, and more. Completing a 21-kilometer half-marathon is not only about building robot runners, but also signifies that humanoids are another step closer to real-world, scalable applications.

      China's first humanoid robot half-marathon attracts great public attention

      China's first humanoid robot half-marathon attracts great public attention

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      Hailstorms hit multiple districts of Beijing

      2025-05-14 14:58 Last Updated At:15:07

      Severe convective weather hit Beijing on Tuesday evening, resulting in thunderstorms, hailstorms and strong winds in multiple districts of the capital city.

      The harsh weather started around 20:20 local time, moving from northwest to southeast across the capital and ending after the midnight.

      Fangshan District was hit by hailstones as large as palm-sized, while Haidian district experienced thunderstorms accompanied by hail.

      The hail weather in Shijingshan District lasted about 10 minutes. A section of the released video shot by a resident near Shougang Exhibition Center showed that hailstones, about the size of a table tennis ball, pouring down, smashing onto roads with a loud crackling sound.

      A senior engineer at Beijing Fire Brigade said by Tuesday night they had not received any emergency call for rescue or help because of the hail and rain.

      Earlier the same day, the Beijing Meteorological Service issued a yellow hail warning, a yellow thunderstorm warning and a blue wind warning, and advised the public to take shelter from hail.

      Hailstorms hit multiple districts of Beijing

      Hailstorms hit multiple districts of Beijing

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