China is seeing a boom in its humanoid robot industry, with one of the latest models capable of performing continuous backflips.
The success of N2, a 1.3-meter-tall robot developed by a Beijing-based team, marks another major advancement in humanoid robot development.
Jiang Zheyuan, technical leader of the development team, explained the difficulties of performing backflips.
"A backflip is harder for the robot than a frontflip because the robot. Humans have longer front feet and shorter back feet, so in a backflip, the inertia makes it easier to fall on the back, whereas in a frontflip, the long front feet make it harder to fall forward. Therefore, doing a backflip is slightly harder than doing a frontflip," said Jiang.
Some innovative hardware designs by the team ensured the stability of the robot during backflips. For example, the heavy joints of the robot's limbs are placed closer to its crotch to make it easier for it to rotate in the air.
"This joint is not connected to its thigh, but to its knee by a connecting rod. By moving the joint upward, we minimized the inertia of its legs," Jiang explained.
More powerful rotors and lighter materials are also used to build the robot to give it stronger power.
Chinese engineers unveil new humanoid robot able to backflip
A group of Japanese people took to the street in Tokyo on Thursday, demanding Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to retract her erroneous remarks concerning China's Taiwan region and opposing her plan to expand the military.
At a Diet meeting on Nov 7, Takaichi claimed that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and implied the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait, which has immediately sparked strong criticism at home and abroad.
Some protesters gathering near the National Diet Building were holding placards against Takaichi regime's efforts to incite war and promote xenophobia, while others read "smash military buildup budget," as Takaichi's blatant interference into China's internal affairs seems to be part of her attempt to lift Japan's military restrictions using the so-called external threats as an excuse.
"The China-Japan Joint Statement has already confirmed the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. Japan once invaded and occupied Taiwan for 50 years. Is Japan to repeat the disastrous policy? It's the Japanese people's responsibility to prevent that from happening," said a protester.
"Japan did invade China and killed many Chinese people in history. Instead of soul-searching, the Japanese government is seeking to do it again. This must not be allowed," said another protester.
In late November, the Japanese government approved a supplementary budget proposal for fiscal 2025 (April 2025-March 2026), boosting defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) ahead of schedule.
Japan's accelerated increase in defense spending and remilitarization attempts over the past few years have raised widespread concerns and opposition and reignited doubts about the country's future direction.
"The Constitution says armed forces 'will never be maintained,' yet Japan has self-defense forces now. This is self-contradictory. In nature it's no different from the situation before the end of the war," said another protester.
Japanese rally against PM, military buildup
