A humanoid robot just ran a half-marathon faster than the world record holder. It might not seem impressive at first, but considering last year, the fastest robot at Beijing’s humanoid robot half-marathon finished in two hours and 40 minutes, this is a huge achievement.
As reported by the Associated Press, the winning robot at this year’s Beijing half-marathon crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, comfortably beating the human world record of 57 minutes recently set by Jacob Kiplimo.
That’s a dramatic improvement in just 12 months, and it’s sparking lively debate.
Who built the winning robot?
The winning robot was built by Honor, the Chinese smartphone maker known for making unconventional and innovative phones. Yes, the same company that makes phones is now building robots that outrun world-class human athletes.
Here’s the twist, though. The winner wasn’t actually the fastest robot on the track. Another robot finished in 48 minutes and 19 seconds, but it was remote-controlled. The robot that took the top spot ran the race autonomously, and the final rankings used a weighted scoring system that factored that in.
Andy Wong / AP
About 40% of the robots in the race competed autonomously, while the remaining 60% were remotely controlled. Not everything went smoothly. One robot fell at the starting line, and another ran straight into a barrier.
Is it fair to compare robots and humans?
Honestly, probably not. But we have been doing this for ages. It was big news when IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to defeat a world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, and when DeepMind’s AlphaGo started beating top-ranked human Go players.
If you believe in folklore, the machine-versus-human competition started way back in the 1870s, when the legend of John Henry was born. He competed with a steam-powered drilling machine to prove humans were superior. A competition he won, but paid the price with his life.
No matter how you feel about this, one cannot deny that it’s incredible to see how far robots have come in just a decade, and that instills both excitement and fear.
Disney+ is embracing the Dark Side, as Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is about to emerge on the service. Before The Mandalorianbrought Star Wars into live-action television, the franchise was thriving in animated form, thanks to the initial success of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Among the many new twists that the series introduced, one of the most notable developments was the return of Darth Maul after his apparent death in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
Now, after several series that have developed the character from a terrifying figure to a tragic Sisyphean antagonist, Maul – Shadow Lord will throw the character into a fight against the tyranny of the Empire, leading to tense chases and surprise alliances:
What is Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord?
The former Sith Lord returns
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lordis set on the newly introduced world of Janix, a planet on the Mid Rim of the galaxy far, far away that has been unbothered by the still young Galactic Empire in the wake of the Clone Wars. While the planet’s Tactical Defense Force keeps the population in check, the planet has become host to individuals looking to avoid Imperial interests, either out of fear for their lives or to rebuild in the shadows.
Following his usurping of Mandalore and escape from Republic custody in TheCloneWars season 7, Maul is attempting to rebuild the Shadow Collective crime syndicate with what remains of his forces, including fellow Dathomirian Zabraks and Mandalorian supercommandos. As Maul’s operations become too much for the TDF to handle, the Empire establishes a foothold on Janix. While grappling with Stormtroopers and Inquisitors, Maul must make an uneasy alliance with a young Jedi on the run if he wants to initiate his plan for revenge.
Who is in Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord?
An Oscar nominee joins the cast
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord sees Sam Witwer reprise the role of the former Sith Lord-turned-crime lord from his appearances across Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Fellow Rebels stars Vanessa Marshall and Steve Blum join him as the Mandalorian Rook Kast and Zabrak fighter Icarus. Meanwhile, Gideon Adlon takes on the role of the young Twilek Padawan Devon Izara, while Dennis Haysbert’s Master Eeko-Dio Daki hopes to guide her in the Dark Times.
Meanwhile, Oscar-nominee Wagner Moura will provide the voice of TDF captain Brander Lawson, with Richard Ayoade voicing his partner Two-Boots, and Charlie Bushnell voicing his son, Rylee. Chris Diamantopoulos and Stephen Stanton will voice crime lords Looti Vario and Marg Krim, David W. Collins will voice Spybot, and A.J. LoCascio will voice Marrok, the Inquisitor first introduced in Ahsoka.
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When does Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord take place?
Stuck between two familiar events
Credit: Lucasfilm
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is set during the Dark Times, the period of the StarWars franchise between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope where the Empire was expanding its power over the galaxy, with those who opposed them choosing to lurk in the shadow. This period has been explored in The Bad Batch, Star Wars Rebels, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and the Star Wars: Jedi video game franchise, as well as briefly explored in select episodes of the Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Empire, and Tales of the Underworld anthology series.
The Star Wars universe has plenty to watch to keep the Force flowing now that Andor’s finished.
In the trailer itself, Maul and Devon are seen facing Stormtroopers wearing TK armor, an early version of Stormtrooper armor that was introduced in The Bad Batch season 1. This means that the Empire is still in a time of transition from the Galactic Republic to the forces that we see closer to the Star Wars Original Trilogy. As such, Maul – Shadow Lord events are likely happening concurrently with the events of The Bad Batch’s later two seasons.
Maul – Shadow Lord can finally explain the final years of the Sith Lord’s life
Time to explore new horizons
Credit: Lucasfilm
While The Clone Wars successfully resurrected Maul and Rebels would give him a fitting end, there is still a large portion of his story left unexplored. While it is unclear whether the series will receive multiple seasons, the show will explore how he rearranged his forces from the Shadow Collective into Crimson Dawn, the faction first introduced in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos did feature as a cameo in The Clone Wars’s final season, but the arc largely focused on Maul’s Mandalorian forces over his other agents. As such, Maul – Shadow Lord can complete his turn from a man well-aware of Smith’s schemes into his own fully-fledged criminal mastermind.
Furthermore, the presence of Devon in Maul’s story is allowing Lucasfilm to dust off long-scrapped plans. Prior to the Disney acquisition, a Darth Maul-focused game was in development that saw Maul paired with Darth Talon, another red-skinned Twilek, at the behest of George Lucas himself, as the pair took on the galaxy. While Devon may not be a direct adaptation of Talon in the existing canon, Witwer has teased that the series will finally adapt several unused concepts for Maul to screen, and Devon’s visual similarities to Talon could suggest that the series will fulfill one of Lucas’s final ideas for the franchise.
When will Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord stream?
Two-episode premiere coming soon
Credit: Lucasfilm
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord will arrive on Disney+ on April 6th with a two-episode premiere. The series will then release two new episodes every Monday, culminating in the finale on May 4. While one of the shorter StarWars series, Maul’s long-awaited 10-part story will finally give fans a glimpse into the mind of one of the Dark Side’s most terrifying warriors.
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