Technologies

Beijing’s ‘Robot Olympics’ Are Off and Running (and Falling)

Strike up the Chariots of Fire theme and grab a flag, the futuristic Games are on.

China just turned a pair of Olympic venues into a playground for robots.

The inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games, running from Aug. 15-17, opened Friday with soccer, sprints, kickboxing and table tennis, as well as a healthy number of face-plants. The games feature 280 robot teams from 16 countries and hundreds of bipedal bots vying for medals and whatever passes for bragging rights to robots.

Events are split between two 2022 Winter Olympics landmarks: China’s National Stadium and the National Speed Skating Oval. On the schedule: track and field, football (soccer to Americans), table tennis, and «scenario» trials such as medicine sorting, cleaning services and industrial handling—the kind of practical skills that robot-makers actually care about.

The highlight reel revealed more chaos than control: robots colliding mid-match, sprinters crumpling mid-stride and kickboxers needing a reboot. But there were bright spots, too. Some bots popped back to their feet unassisted and even finished middle-distance runs as handlers puffed behind them. There was even a 1,500-meter race. Tickets ran 128–580 yuan (about $18–$81).

The robot athletes are supplied by a combination of academia and industry, including China’s Unitree and Fourier, with squads also from the US, Germany, Brazil, Japan and more. Organizers pitch the weekend as data collection under pressure, with sports forcing the robots to demonstrate balance, vision and decision-making, all of which later will translate over to the robot’s work in factories, logistics and as home helpers.

China is using the Games to showcase its bet on embodied AI — software linked to machines that can navigate human spaces. The country has poured billions of dollars into robotics and is planning a 1-trillion-yuan ( about $137 billion) fund for startups as part of a push to counter an aging-workforce crunch and compete in advanced manufacturing.

Rules vary by event, but organizers say competitions span autonomous control and remote operation: either way, no mid-match «player swaps» for fresh robots are allowed. That means lots of stress testing on robot batteries, heat management and recovery behaviors in real-time chaos.

The Associated Press has streamed some of the Games if you want to check it out.

The event runs through Aug. 17.

Technologies

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Leak Claims Nov. 14 Release Date, No Switch 2 Version Yet

What new conspiracies will be revealed in Black Ops 7?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will be the next entry in Activision’s military shooter series, which typically comes out in October every year, making it one of the last big game releases before Black Friday. A leak suggests that the new CoD might come out a little later than usual, but still in time for the big shopping day.

Black Ops 7 will reportedly be released on Nov. 14, according to a leaker who goes by the name billbil-kun from a post on the French website Dealabs. Along with the supposed release date, the leak says there will not be a Switch 2 version when the game launches.

A spokesperson for the franchise said in an emailed statement that details about Black Ops 7 will be revealed at Gamescom Opening Night, which is this coming Tuesday, Aug. 19.

The Call of Duty series release dates typically straddle the late October and early November period. The last CoD game to come out mid-November was Black Ops Cold War, which was released on Nov. 13, 2020. It’s unclear if the later release was due in part to Battlefield 6 coming out on Oct. 10, which would allow for some time between the releases of the two popular military FPS games.

The lack of a Switch 2 version at launch could mean that the team working on that version of the game needed some more time before its release. While the original Switch has become too underpowered for modern games, Nintendo boosted the performance of the Switch 2, which makes it capable of running more graphics-intensive games, potentially including Call of Duty. Black Ops 7 will still likely be released on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S on launch day as it is every year.

In Black Ops 7, players will jump into the role of David Mason, played by Milo Ventimiglia. The year is 2035, and Mason is struggling with hallucinations of enemies from his past. The character was first introduced in 2012’s Black Ops 2 and was also in 2024’s Black Ops 6.

While other Call of Duty games tend to focus on certain eras of warfare, such as World War II and the Iraq War, the Black Ops series focuses on secret missions typically conducted by the US and range from the Cold War era to more modern and even futuristic times. Black Ops 2 took place in 2025, while Black Ops 6 was set in 1991.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 16, #1519

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle, No. 1,519 for Saturday, Aug. 16.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle was a puzzler for me. I know the answer word, and the letters aren’t super-rare, but I didn’t seem to be able to put them in the right places. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter.

Today’s Wordle answer begins with M.

Wordle hint No. 4: Hue and cry

Today’s Wordle answer often relates to paint or to photographs.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to something that is dull and does not have a shine.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is MATTE.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Aug. 15, No. 1,518 was LEVEL.

Recent Wordle answers

Aug. 11, No. 1,514: SOUTH

Aug. 12, No. 1,515: NOMAD

Aug. 13, No. 1,516: KEFIR

Aug. 14, No. 1,517: KNELL

Technologies

Black Ops 6 Quad Feed Double XP Weekend Live Now During Battlefield 6 Open Beta

If explosive Battlefield chaos isn’t quite up your alley, you can advance the Call of Duty Black Ops 6 season 5 battle pass instead.

As Battlefield 6’s record-breaking open beta rages on, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developer Treyarch is showing some love to loyal Black Ops 6 players. The second double XP weekend of the multiplayer shooter’s season 5 is live now, with all four boosts active for players to take advantage of. You’ll be able to speed through account levels, weapon attachment unlocks and battle pass tiers to kickstart your advancement of the latest season 5 content. This double XP weekend runs from Friday to Monday, Aug. 18.

Anyone playing Black Ops 6 during the event period has a universal double account XP, weapon XP, battle pass XP and GobbleGum earn rate applied to their account. If you log in now, you can hop into battle and reap the rewards of this double XP weekend right away, including the PML 5.56 light machine gun and the ABR A1 assault rifle.

This is the first Quad Feed double XP weekend in a while, which means players will be able to benefit from all four customary double XP weekend boosts at the same time. That means your double XP tokens will be locked for the duration of the event.

Here’s everything you need to know about this double XP weekend. If you’re looking for something else to play, see our recommendations for the best game subscription services.

When does the double XP weekend start in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?

It’s live. This double XP weekend kicked off Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

Not sure when the double XP weekend went live for you? Here’s when the event started in your time zone:

ET: Aug. 15 at 1 p.m.
CT: Aug. 15 at noon.
MT: Aug. 15 at 11 a.m.
PT: Aug. 15 at 10 a.m.

It’s always worth starting your game ahead of your gaming session if possible. As with every Black Ops 6 patch, the update is going to require you to download new content and restart the application.

When does the double XP weekend end in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?

Some double XP «weekends» are much longer events, lasting five to seven days. That isn’t the case this time around. This double XP weekend will end on Monday. Your double XP tokens will once again unlock after this time.

Here’s when the double XP weekend will end in your time zone:

ET: Aug. 18 at 1 p.m.
CT: Aug. 18 at noon.
MT: Aug. 18 at 11 a.m.
PT: Aug. 18 at 10 a.m.

Does Call of Duty Warzone have double XP this weekend?

Call of Duty Warzone has a double XP weekend running in tandem with Black Ops 6. That means Warzone players will also be able to benefit from this boost by leveling up their account, weapons and battle passes at twice the normal speed.

New players have a chance to level up the weapons they unlock from the new and improved Warzone Armory and returning players can continue unlocking new attachments for the suite of Black Ops 6 weaponry added to Warzone.