All posts tagged: beat

Robots beat human records at Beijing half-marathon

Robots beat human records at Beijing half-marathon

Published by skeptic

The winning runner at a Beijing half-marathon for humanoid robots finished the race today in 50 minutes and 26 seconds — significantly faster than the human world record of 57 minutes recently set by Jacob Kiplimo. Comparing human and robot running times may seem unfair; one social media user observed, “my car can outrun a cheetah too.” Still, the winning time is a massive improvement over last year’s race, when the fastest robot finished in two hours and 40 minutes. (Back then, I scoffed that this “would not be an impressive time for a human.”) The Associated Press reports that this year’s winner was built by Chinese smartphone maker Honor. It seems the winning robot wasn’t actually the fastest, as a different Honor robot finished in 48 minutes and 19 seconds. But that one was remote controlled — the 50:26 robot was autonomous and won due to weighted scoring. About 40% of participating robots competed autonomously, while the remaining 60% were remote controlled, according to Beijing’s E-Town tech hub. Not all of them did as …

Spurs stuck in drop zone, Wolves on brink of relegation, Man United beat Chelsea

Spurs stuck in drop zone, Wolves on brink of relegation, Man United beat Chelsea

Published by Sam Flores

April 18 : Tottenham Hotspur conceded a stoppage-time goal in a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday that left them in the Premier League relegation zone, while Wolverhampton Wanderers’ are on the brink of the drop after a 3-0 loss at Leeds United. Georginio Rutter’s late equaliser for Brighton denied Tottenham a first league win of 2026, with the north London club stranded in 18th place in the table, while Wolves, marooned in the relegation zone all season, moved closer to the trap door. In Saturday’s late game. Manchester United strengthened their grip on third place with a 1-0 win at Chelsea in a blow to the home side’s hopes of Champions League qualification.    Bournemouth edged Newcastle United 2-1 to boost their hopes of European football next season while dealing a blow to those of their hosts. Brentford versus Fulham ended in a 0-0 draw. Spurs’ draw left them winless in 15 league matches with the club staring at a first relegation since 1977. “I am sorry for the result, …

For Great Sex, IUDs Beat the Pill

For Great Sex, IUDs Beat the Pill

Published by Jenni Sidey

There are several good reasons why women might prefer the Pill over an IUD, but satisfying sex is not one of them. Among sexually active women who use contraception, 21 percent take birth control pills, while far fewer—13 percent—rely on intrauterine devices (IUDs). The Pill and IUDs both offer advantages and disadvantages. Women can assess which of the dozen methods is best for them by talking with family planning counselors at Planned Parenthood and other contraception providers. But those interested in satisfying sex are more likely to enjoy it if they choose an IUD over the Pill. Recently, a rigorous Brazilian study shows that, compared with IUD users, women taking the Pill report reduced arousal (p < 0.05), more sexual pain (p < 0.05), more anxiety and depression (p < 0.03), and less sexual satisfaction (p < 0.05). Does the Pill Have a Dirty Little Secret? Some studies show no connection between the Pill and women’s sex problems. But the Brazilian finding is not an outlier. Other studies have corroborated the Pill’s association with a …

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s Onscreen Wedding Is Big Drama. These 8 Real-Life Unions Have Them Beat.

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s Onscreen Wedding Is Big Drama. These 8 Real-Life Unions Have Them Beat.

Published by Sam Flores

Any wedding involving one of the world’s richest men was bound to make news. But Bezos and Sánchez’s starry three-day celebration in Venice sparked major backlash among the Italian locals concerned for their floating home: Venice has sunk about 10 inches in the last century as water levels around it have also risen, and an influx of visitors, they worried, would exacerbate the situation. “Let’s make sure that Venice is not remembered as a postcard venue where Bezos had his wedding but as the city that did not bend to oligarchs,” protester Na Haby Stella Faye said at the time, according to The New York Times. “We have a chance to disrupt a $10 million wedding—let’s do it.” Reuters reported that security concerns stemming from the locals’ pre-wedding protests prompted the bride and groom to change their wedding-party venue. From June 26 to 28, the city was plastered with posters featuring Bezos’s head on a rocket and messages like this one: “In the time it takes to read this, Jeff Bezos’ wealth has increased more …

Barca beat Espanyol 4-1 to move nine points clear in LaLiga

Barca beat Espanyol 4-1 to move nine points clear in LaLiga

Published by Sam Flores

BARCELONA, April 11 : Barcelona took a major step towards retaining their LaLiga title with a 4-1 home victory over city rivals Espanyol on Saturday, moving nine points clear of second-placed Real Madrid. Ferran Torres struck twice, assisted by Lamine Yamal both times, first with a header from a corner in the 10th minute before doubling the lead in the 25th, racing clear from another Yamal pass. Espanyol pulled one back in the 56th minute when Pol Lozano fired in a rebound from just inside the box, but Yamal restored control in the 87th on a quick counter, with Marcus Rashford adding a fourth from Frenkie De Jong’s cross. Barca moved to 79 points with seven games left, while Real lost ground after a 1-1 draw with Girona on Friday. “It’s not over until we’ve won the league, but it’s only up to us and that’s a great feeling,” Torres told DAZN. “It was a tough, hard-fought match, the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. It was close, some little mistakes almost cost us dearly. But we’re …

Avalanche Beat the Blues 3-1 to Clinch Central Division and Top Seed in the Western Conference

Avalanche Beat the Blues 3-1 to Clinch Central Division and Top Seed in the Western Conference

Published by Sam Flores

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin scored twice and Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Tuesday night to clinch the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference. It is the third time in five seasons, and first since 2023, that the Avalanche finished as the top team in the conference. Martin Necas also scored and Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves for Colorado, which has earned points in eight of its last 11 games. Wedgewood was shaken up midway through the third period after Philip Broberg made contact with him after being tripped by Sam Malinski. Wedgewood was driven awkwardly into the post and stayed down for several minutes, but remained in the game. Robert Thomas scored and Joel Hofer made 34 saves for the Blues, whose slim playoff hope took a hit with the loss. Colorado outshot St. Louis 17-3 in the first period and had a two-goal lead as a result. Nichushkin gave the Avalanche the lead with 3:49 left in the first and Necas made it 2-0 …

Harry Kane and Trent Alexander-Arnold put on a show for Thomas Tuchel as Bayern beat Real

Harry Kane and Trent Alexander-Arnold put on a show for Thomas Tuchel as Bayern beat Real

Published by Sam Flores

Trent Alexander-Arnold starts for the home side tonight with Jude Bellingham on the bench. 18-year-old Thiago Pitarch is given a start in midfield. With no Thibaut Courtois available tonight, Ukrainian Andriy Lunin starts in goal. Real Madrid: Lunin; Alexander-Arnold, Rudiger, Huijsen, Carreras, Valverde, Thiago, Tchouameni, Guler, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. Substitutes: Gonzalez, Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Bellingham, Camavinga, Gonzalo, Asencio, Ceballos, Garcia, Brahim, Mastantuono.  The visitors are boosted by the return of Harry Kane, who is fit to start after an ankle knock. He forms part of a dangerous attacking quartet for Bayern alongside Luis Diaz, Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise. Bayern Munich: Neuer, Upamecano, Tah, Kimmich, Gnabry, Kane, Diaz, Olise, Laimer, Stanisic, Pavlovic. Substitutes: Urbig, Kim, Goretzka, Musiala, Jackson, Davies, Bischof, Ito, Guerreiro, Osmani, Karl.  Source link

Barcelona beat 10-man Atletico to take major step towards title

Barcelona beat 10-man Atletico to take major step towards title

Published by Sam Flores

MADRID, April 4 : Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to score a lucky late winner in a 2-1 victory away to 10-man Atletico Madrid on Saturday that moved the defending champions seven points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table. Barcelona had plenty of motivation after Real’s 2-1 loss at Mallorca earlier on Saturday, but it was the hosts who took the lead six minutes before the break through Giuliano Simeone. The visitors responded with a Marcus Rashford goal three minutes later and Atletico had Nico Gonzalez sent off on the stroke of halftime. Lewandowski was in the right place to net a fortunate rebound three minutes from time. “We all know what happened this afternoon,” Barcelona defender Eric Garcia told broadcaster DAZN of Real Madrid’s defeat. “We knew that if we won today, we’d take a very important step forward.” Atletico remain fourth in the standings on 57 points, 19 points off Barcelona and the sides will meet again at the Camp Nou on Wednesday in the first …

Humans can still beat AI at video games

Humans can still beat AI at video games

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Ask someone to chart the progression of artificial intelligence (AI) models over the past few decades and you’ll likely hear some reference to how good they are at playing games. IBM shocked the world in 1997 when its Deep Blue model vanquished chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov at his own domain. Nearly two decades later, Google’s AlphaGo model trounced a human champion of the game Go, a feat some thought impossible at the time.  Since then, increasingly data rich AI models have graduated from board games to video games. Various models have used a training method called reinforcement learning—a technique that also plays a key role in training AI chatbots like ChatGPT—to teach machines how to learn and outperform humans at a range of Atari games.More recently, reinforcement learning has taught machines how to master incredibly complex strategy games including Dota 2 and Starcraft II.  But there’s one area of gaming remaining—at least for now—where computers still can’t hold a …