Humanoid robot beats Bolt's 100m record in pre-race test at Beijing games

A humanoid robot named "Lightning" clocked 9.32 seconds in a pre-race 100-meter test on Saturday, faster than Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds, as the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games kicked off at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval.

The robot, developed by Honor's team and winner of this year's Beijing E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, hit a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second during the trial run ahead of the official competition. The games, which opened Saturday evening, will see over 2,000 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries on six continents compete over five days.

Lightning will compete in the 100-meter, 400-meter and 1,500-meter racing events. Unlike April's half-marathon that tested endurance, the games demand explosive power over short distances, prompting developers to fine-tune the robot's design.

"We extended the leg length by 10 centimeters to increase stride length and boost speed. The joint modules were also upgraded for greater torque and faster response times," said Gao Shiming, head of embodied perception at Honor's New Industry Incubation Division.

This year's games have raised the bar significantly, with most track events requiring robots to complete races fully autonomously, except for the 100-meter and 400-meter obstacle courses. Time limits have been tightened: robots must finish the 100-meter, 400-meter and 1,500-meter races within one minute, five minutes and 15 minutes, respectively. Whether sprinting straight or starting on a curve, each event will test the robots' vision systems, decision-making algorithms and algorithmic stability.

Humanoid robot beats Bolt's 100m record in pre-race test at Beijing games

Humanoid robot beats Bolt's 100m record in pre-race test at Beijing games

Humanoid robot beats Bolt's 100m record in pre-race test at Beijing games

A small volcano in a scenic lake south of Manila erupted on Thursday evening, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

According to the institute, a "minor phreatomagmatic eruption" occurred at Taal Volcano in Batangas province, over 60 km south of Manila, at 6:06 p.m. local time Thursday. The eruption lasted for five minutes.

The institute said the event generated a dark gray plume that rose 4,000 meters above the crater. The ashfall is expected to affect nearby southwestern regions.

Alert Level 1 is maintained over Taal Volcano, with Level 5 the highest in scale.

Taal Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines. An eruption in January 2020 displaced nearly 380,000 villagers and destroyed many farms, houses, and roads in the province.

The Philippine archipelago straddles the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Small volcano near Philippine capital erupts