By Globe News Report Staff

A Chinese Robot Tiangong has now run faster than any human in history. China’s Tiangong Ultra completed a 100-metre sprint in 8.86 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Tuesday. That’s more than seven-tenths of a second faster than Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record, set by the Jamaican sprinter in 2009.

A Rapidly Improving Robot

Tiangong Ultra set the new mark in a semifinal race. It beat its own earlier time of 9.39 seconds, which it had set just days earlier on the event’s opening day. The robot was developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center.

Tiangong’s progress has been dramatic. Last year, it won the same 100-metre race at the games’ first edition with a much slower time of 21.50 seconds. It later completed the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon with an amateur-level time of 2 hours 40 minutes.

Not the Only Fast Robot

Tiangong isn’t alone in breaking Bolt’s record. A robot called Lightning, made by smartphone company Honor, also ran under 9.58 seconds earlier at the event, finishing in 9.47 seconds. The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center said its robots have now beaten four separate human world records, including times in the 400m and 1,500m, along with a high jump of 2.88 metres.

A Rough Stop at the Finish Line

Tiangong stopped its sprint by running into a padded mat placed past the finish line. After the impact, the robot fell and a small fire briefly appeared in its torso. In a separate semifinal race, another robot came apart mid-sprint. Neither incident affected the results of Tiangong’s record run.

Part of a Larger Robotics Push

The event featured more than 2,000 robots from 666 teams, competing in 51 events including soccer, dancing, and industrial task challenges. China has named humanoid robots a strategic industry, as companies and the government look to apply advances in AI, motors, and sensors to manufacturing, logistics, and other real-world uses.

Sources: Al Jazeera

By Globe News Report Staff

China has postponed the launch of its Chang’e-7 lunar mission. The mission was set to search the moon’s south pole for water ice. Officials said the launch “cannot take place during the planned window this year.”

The spacecraft was expected to lift off within days from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island. China’s Manned Space Agency said the probe “does not meet launch conditions.” The agency did not explain the exact reason. It said the decision followed a “comprehensive assessment” based on “prudence, reliability and absolute mission success.”

What May Have Caused the Delay

One international partner working on the mission said weather appears to be the main factor. Higher-altitude winds from a passing weather system in southern China likely played a role. He added that the mission’s difficulty may have also contributed. No spacecraft has ever attempted to land on the rim of a crater at the moon’s south pole, and the yearly launch window for this kind of mission is very short.

Estimates on the new timeline vary. One source suggested the mission could launch again as soon as next month. Another said it may not happen until spring or summer of next year.

Why This Mission Matters

Chang’e-7 aimed to be the first mission to directly drill for water ice on the moon. It included an orbiter, a lander, a rover, and a hopping probe designed to explore hard-to-reach craters near the lunar south pole.

Both the United States and China are racing to build a presence at the moon’s south pole. Water ice there is seen as key to future lunar bases, since it can potentially be converted into drinking water, breathable air, or rocket fuel. A US company, Intuitive Machines, attempted a similar water-hunting mission in 2025, but its lander tipped over while trying to land on the region’s difficult terrain.

The US has more missions planned for the same region in the next year, including a possible late-2026 launch from Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technologies, and plans by Blue Origin to send robotic landers to the moon in 2027.

This is the seventh mission in China’s Chang’e moon exploration program, named after a Chinese moon goddess. The previous mission, Chang’e-6, returned to Earth in 2024 with the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon.

Sources: CNN and NBC News.