A humanoid robot clocked 9.39 seconds to beat the men's 100m world record of 9.58 seconds during the opening ceremony of the second edition of the World Humanoid Robot Games at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on Saturday.
The men's 100m world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in Berlin in 2009.
The record-breaking performance marked the start of competition among humanoid robots. Featuring 51 events with a total of 1,301 competitions, the Games attracted 666 teams with 2,056 humanoid robots from around the world, with the number of teams up 138 percent from the inaugural edition last year.
In addition to athletics and football events, the Games also introduced new events including weightlifting, tug-of-war and table tennis, putting the robots' physical structures and core components to the test.
Running from Saturday to Wednesday, the Games also expanded scenario-based competitions designed to simulate real-world applications, covering sectors such as logistics, hospitality and household services to help robots better integrate into people's daily lives.
In April, a humanoid robot from Shenzhen Honor Smart Technology Development Co., Ltd. won the Beijing E-Town half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds in autonomous navigation mode, beating the human world record of 57:20.
As humanoid robot research and development continues to make breakthroughs, the "Ice Ribbon," where a world record was set during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, is now hosting another showcase of advances in humanoid robotics.
Humanoid robot beats men's 100m world record in Beijing
Prolonged high temperatures and scant rainfall have driven Germany's major rivers, including the Rhine, to record-low levels, disrupting cargo shipping and putting mounting pressure on the nation's industrial supply chain.
At the Rhine section in western Germany's Dusseldorf, official measurements recorded the water level at just 20 centimeters as of 10:00 local time Friday. While recent rainfall has brought a slight recovery, this figure remains below the historic low of 23 centimeters set in 2018. The average water level there between 2010 and 2020 stood at approximately 257 centimeters.
The extreme low water not only exposes vast stretches of riverbed, but also severely restricts navigation, putting Germany's vital inland shipping artery under acute strain and affecting the entire industrial supply chain that depends on it.
The Rhine, which carries roughly 80 percent of Germany's inland waterway freight, channeling coal, petroleum, ores, and vast quantities of chemical raw materials to the country's industrial heartlands.
In its latest monthly report released on August 20, the German central bank warned that months of dry weather have caused water levels on the Rhine and other German rivers to drop sharply. Vessels are unable to sail at full capacity, leading to higher transport costs, shipment delays, and subsequent disruptions to industrial production and exports.
The central bank cited low water levels as a significant factor weighing on Germany's economic activity in the third quarter, noting that it is visibly hampering the nation's economic recovery.
A scenario analysis by the German Economic Institute previously estimated that a sustained one-month low-water period could reduce Germany's waterway freight volume by about 25 percent, potentially shaving roughly 1 percent off industrial output.
The heatwave and drought are probably transmitting climate risks step by step along the Rhine, Germany's industrial lifeline, directly into the real economy.
Record-low Rhine water levels strain German industrial supply chain
