At the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing (August 22-26), robots competing in a 100-meter sprint and standing high jump beat human world records set by Usain Bolt and others, marking a jump from last year's event where they trailed human performance. Some sprinting robots couldn't stop in time, crashing into barriers, falling, and in a few cases breaking apart with sparks or catching fire, while separate tasks like hanging laundry showed robots still moving far slower than humans.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-08-25
Australia's recorded music industry association announced that songs created entirely by artificial intelligence will no longer qualify for the country's official music charts. The same ban extends to the Australian Record Industry Association's annual awards, effectively shutting AI-made tracks out of the nation's top music recognitions.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-08-25
A growing number of US restaurants are eliminating tipping and replacing it with fixed hourly pay or built-in service charges. Workers say tips only cover the hours spent serving customers, leaving unpaid or minimum-wage time for prep and closing duties before and after service.
bbc.com
· 2026-08-25
A blog post responds to Sean Goedecke's argument against workplace anger, extending the discussion to AI's impact on the tech industry. The author distinguishes anger, which requires a target to blame, from anxiety, a more fitting response to uncertainty about how AI will reshape jobs and skills without a clear villain to point to.
lucumr.pocoo.org
· 2026-08-24
In an interview with Michael Cohen, President Trump argued that towns rejecting data centers are making a mistake, claiming the facilities bring jobs and 'tremendous tax revenue.' His remarks come as data centers face bipartisan public backlash over energy use, water consumption, and local disruption.
futurism.com
· 2026-08-24
An analysis of the Netherlands' waterway maintenance history shows that dredging was long done by hand, animal, wind and tidal power before the switch to oil-burning ships that now consume up to 3,000 litres of fuel per hour. Today the country removes 30 to 35 million cubic metres of silt annually to keep its harbours, canals and rivers navigable, a task growing more demanding as ships get bigger and cargo shifts from road to water.
solar.lowtechmagazine.com
· 2026-08-24
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