USAIN BOT

Humanoid Robot Shatters Human Half-Marathon Record

The bot finished the 13-mile race in just 50 minutes and 26 seconds.

A humanoid robot has shattered the human half-marathon record. On Sunday, Lightning, a running robot created by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, finished the 13-mile race in just 50 minutes and 26 seconds. Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo holds the human record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds. More than 100 humanoid robots from 76 institutions across China lined up alongside 12,000 human runners, following the same course on separate lanes in a ‘human-robot co-running’ format. The human winners of the men’s and women’s races crossed the finish line after more than an hour. Dystopian video footage from Beijing on Sunday showed the 169cm tall bot swinging its short arms as it charged to victory. Last year’s installment saw the fastest bot finish after 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 42 seconds. The Chinese capital last year also hosted the world’s first Humanoid Robot Games. In bizarre scenes, bots challenged one another in soccer, boxing, martial arts, and other sports. It comes after another robot was caught on camera showcasing its running skills. However, Polish bot Edward Warchocki was chasing wild boar out of an urban area in Warsaw. “I’m herding the wild boars into the forest,” the robot’s social media account wrote.