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Runners completing a half marathon in Beijing later this year will do so with some unusual, metal competition at their sides. According to a press release from Chinas Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, more than 12,000 human runners will square off against dozens of bipedal, humanoid robots from more than 20 companies in a 13-mile course. The top three finishers, be they human or humanoid, will receive prizes. But the robots will have their work cut out for them. As of now, no bipedal robot has successfully completed that long of a race, let alone against a seasoned human runner. The announcement was first spotted by the South China Morning Post.There are some requirements the robot joggers will have to meet. For starters, they will need to look vaguely human. That means two legs and a mechanical structure capable of carrying out bipedal functions like upright walking and running. These guidelines rule-out high-functioning quadruped robots like Boston Dynamics Spot or KAISTs RAIBO2, which completed a full marathon last year in just over four hours.Wheels also arent allowed. In terms of size, E-Town says the humanoid should measure between 1.6-6.5 feet tall with a maximum extension from their hip joint to the foot sole of at least .45 meters. Importantly, the robots wont need to be fully autonomous to compete. Teams are allowed to remotely operate their machines, which could come as welcome news if Tesla decides to send its Optimus bot to the race. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.Robots are already running, some faster than othersHumanoid robots have already proven capable of running, sometimes quite quickly. Last year, a team of engineers from Oregon State University created a bipedal, though not human-looking robot that set a Guinness World Record for the fastest 100-meter dash performed by a machine. In China, humanoid robots from the companies Robot Era and Unitree Robotics can reportedly reach top running speeds of eight miles per hour and 7.38 miles per hour respectively. Tiangong, a humanoid robot created by Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center actually made an appearance at the finish line of a half marathon last year, but it didnt complete the entire course. Still, none of these robots come close to matching human sprinter Usain Bolts record top speed of 27.33 miles per hour.Outside of events like these, humanoid robots are mostly being designed with two primary use cases in mind: manufacturing and caretaking. Chinese humanoid robots have already reportedly been deployed at BYD car factories, though its unclear exactly how much work they are actually complete. China isnt alone on that front. Last year, BMW announced it was recruiting a humanoid robot from Figure AI to work in its South Carolina manufacturing facility. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, meanwhile, has also suggested the companys Optimus robots could one day work alongside humans to build future electric vehicles. For now, though, Optimus in particular seems best equipped at fondling eggs and performing cranking out light calisthenics.But the April race might not be all for show either. Government-backed challenges and competitions have a history of fostering research innovations down the lines. An example of that played out during DARPAs 2007 Grand Challenge when the agency had some of the top engineering minds at the time face off head-to-head to create an autonomous vehicle capable of driving itself through a desert. Autonomous vehicle experts previously told Popular ScienceIts possible one of the running robots in Beijing could follow a similar tract. Or, they could also fall flat on their faces. Either way, well be watching with interest.

A test rover with shape memory alloy spring tires traverses rocky, Martian-simulated terrain. Credit: NASAShareAny vehicle traversing the rocky terrain on Mars needs a sturdy set of wheels. NASAs Perseverance rover, for example, sports thick aluminum ones covered in cleats to enhance its traction and mobility. But theres always room for improvement, and NASA researchers are reportedly busy designing the next generation of tires for future rover expeditions across the Red Planetand unlike Perseverance, one new design puts the emphasis on flexibility over rigidity.According to NASA on Tuesday, engineers at the Glenn Research Center in Cincinnati, OH, recently finished testing a prototype rover featuring the latest shape memory alloy (SMA) spring tire technology. This novel alloy relies on a specially manufactured nickel-titanium blend capable of returning to its original shape after bending, stretching, or experiencing extreme temperature shifts. While standard tires are often completely solid, these SMA alternatives more resemble a wheel-shaped, tightly interlocking mesh framework.Researchers from NASAs Glenn Research Center and Airbus Defence & Space pose with a test rover on Martian-simulated terrain. Credit: NASA Santo Padula, a NASA materials engineer at the Glenn Research Center, has worked on finetuning SMA technology for years, but only recently realized their potential for Mars rover projects. The idea came after visiting NASAs Simulated Lunar Operations (SLOPE) Laboratory following an unexpected run-in with an old colleague, Colin Creager, who showed him their latest rover tests. Almost immediately, however, Padula noticed a potential flaw in the prototypes steel wheels.The minute I saw the tire, I said, arent you having problems with those plasticizing? asked Padula in reference to steels potential to deform irreversibly.Colin told me, Thats the only problem we cant solve, Padua recounted. I said, I have your solution. Im developing a new alloy that will solve that. And thats how SMA tires started.Both Padula and Creagers teams collaborated for months to adapt SMAs for rover wheels, eventually resulting in a version ready for stress tests. Last fall, the researchers travelled to the Airbus Defence and Space facilities in Stevenage, UK, to try out the SMAs in an enclosed Martian terrain simulation. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.We went out there with the team, we brought our motion tracking system and did different tests uphill and back downhill, said Creager. We conducted a lot of cross slope tests over rocks and sand where the focus was on understanding stability because this was something we had never tested before.According to NASA, while the SMA tire shape shifted in response to the rocky ground, its deformations were minimal and still met all expectations.My goal is to extend the operating temperature capability of SMAs for applications like tires, and to look at applying these materials for habitat protection, Padua said in NASAs rundown.He and Creager believe upcoming rovers fitted with SMA wheels may not just benefit missions to Mars, but to the moon, as well. Theres even a possibility for the alloys to find their way into other projects, such as astronaut habitats and other lunar base structures. In particular, SMA exteriors show potential for withstanding and absorbing micrometeorite strikes that often occur on the Moon.

Nature, Published online: 21 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00196-yAmid stock-market jitters, quantum computing start-ups continue to make progress and to score hundreds of millions of dollars in investments.

Nature, Published online: 21 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00169-1Faced with funding cuts, collaborate to define research priorities

A Roman-era cemetery, found ahead of a construction project in England, holds an unusual burial at its center.

Data collected by NASA's InSight lander suggest that ancient internal processes are responsible for the "Martian dichotomy" that splits the Red Planet into two distinct halves.

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