Sorry, I thought this was interesting:
CNN: #Chinese #robots ran against @humans in the world’s first humanoid half-#marathon. They lost by a #mile
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/19/asia/china-first-humanoid-robot-half-marathon-intl-hnk/index.html
#China
#Robots race in #Chinese half marathon (1 min video)
21 humanoid #robots, designed by #Chinese manufacturers, raced next to thousands of runners completing the 21km (13-mile) course.
The winner was Tiangong Ultra, which crossed the line in two hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.
Some #robots completed the race, while others struggled from the beginning. One #robot fell at the starting line and lay flat for several minutes before getting up and taking off
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/ce8gz5vl2z1o
“#China has listed humanoid #robots as one of the key sectors in its drive to boost the economy and #tech industries, as well as increasing its economic self-reliance.
It is also banking on #robots to help counter the effects of an ageing population and falling population by helping to care for the elderly and counter the effects of a shrinking workforce”
#Running #robots put through their paces alongside humans in #Beijing half-marathon
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307151/running-robots-put-through-their-paces-alongside-humans-beijing-half-marathon
Step by mechanical step, dozens of humanoid robots took to the streets of Beijing early Saturday, joining thousands of their flesh-and-blood counterparts in a world-first half-marathon. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/04/19/asia-pacific/science-health/china-humanoid-robots-marathon/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #sciencehealth #china #beijing #robots #ai #androids
blog! “Book Review: Great Robots of History by Tim Major”
★★★⯪☆
This is a lovely and twisted anthology of stories. Each presents a "historic" robot - be they an automaton, a puppet given life by the gods, or a resurrected villager. Some, like the Mechanical Turk, are historical fact but others are invented just for us to gawk at.
The stories are mostly…
⸻
#BookReview #robots #SciFi
Reading Success
Reading was a sore spot for me not too long ago, but now it’s a source of joy.
https://orbitalmartian.vercel.app/blog/2025/reading-success/
#Blost #IsaacAsimov #Robots #Reading
cc my Chorus (happy to remove upon request): @rl_dane @amin @sotolf @joel / @joel - (also happy to add anyone)
Edit: I added my chorus, I wonder if it will notify them? Who knows, this is uncharted territory.
This week's net.wars, "Predatory inclusion", goes to #WeRobot2025, where understanding how robots and law interact takes a distinctly Canadian flavor: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/04/11/predatory-inclusion/ #NetWars #Robots #Law #Privacy
Jeremy Hadall is ISAM Robotics Development Lead at the Satellite Applications Catapult, where he's developing robots for servicing, assembly, and manufacturing in orbit. Previously, he was Chief Engineer for Intelligent Automation at the Manufacturing Technology Centre.
Listen to our chat here: https://www.robottalk.org/2025/04/11/episode-117-jeremy-hadall/
New Episode Alert!
This week, I chatted to Jeremy Hadall from the Satellite Applications Catapult about #robotic systems for in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing. 
Listen now: https://www.robottalk.org/2025/04/11/episode-117-jeremy-hadall/ #Robots #Robotics #Space
Elon Musk says he plans to send his humanoid robots to Mars by 2026
Tesla's Optimus robots were originally pitched as household assistants, but a new plan for them is out of this world.
#technology #space #robots #Mars #Science #Tech
https://globalnews.ca/news/11125600/optimus-robots-mars-elon-musk-spacex/
Is it just me, or do the towers on the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow look remarkably like some kind of evil space robots from this angle?
Small language models are more reliable and secure than their large counterparts, primarily because they draw information from a circumscribed dataset. Expect to see more chatbots running on these slimmed-down alternatives in the coming months.
#SmallLanguageModels #Robots #Innovation
Read more: https://go.epfl.ch/b7s-en
This week's net.wars, "Catoptromancy", goes to the workshop day of We Robot 2025: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/04/04/catoptromancy/ #NetWars #robots #law #werobot
I just watched The Electric State based on the book by @simonstalenhag and holy heck what a great movie! Cried a bunch. I mean. Anti-human society where a power hungry sociopath thinks they get to decide what's best for humanity and who to sacrifice, making you want to just scream "IT'S NOT FUCKING UP TO YOU", and then a movie that (spoiler alert) shows that it really isn't.
The tone of the movie does differ from the books, but I think it really stays true to the vision.
#robots #art #movies
