What does Unitree Robotics' IPO mean for the humanoid industry?

Another Sputnik shock!

"Shares of Unitree Robotics, China's high-profile humanoid robot maker known for fluid athletic maneuvers, shot up more than 629% to 1,100 yuan apiece upon their debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, after the company raised 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million).

The listing, at a valuation of $9 billion, marks China's first onshore initial public offering by a humanoid robot company. Dozens of rivals, such as Agibot, are reportedly preparing to list in Hong Kong.

The Hangzhou-based company is backed by some of China's most influential technology companies, including Tencent, Alibaba, Meituan and DeepSeek.

State media reported that China is now home to more than 140 humanoid robot companies. Players from a range of industries, particularly electric vehicle makers, are rushing into the sector. Some, such as Xpeng, have announced plans to begin mass production this year, while Chinese EV giant BYD is expected to unveil its first humanoid robot this month.

China's humanoid robots have been drawing growing attention with increasingly sophisticated public demonstrations. ..."

"... Since it was founded in 2016, Unitree has made headlines for its low-cost quadruped and humanoid robots. The Hangzhou, China-based company, formally Yushu Technology Co., is best known for its humanoids, which are used in research labs around the world.

You’ve likely seen videos of Unitree’s G1 robot dancing, doing kung fu, or backflipping, among other things. In addition, the company offers robotic hands, arms, and lidar. ..."

What does Unitree Robotics' IPO mean for the humanoid industry? - The Robot Report

China's humanoid robot push gains momentum with Unitree's IPO

Xi’s China Faces Massive Unemployment Crisis as 12.7 Million Graduates Seek Jobs and with a persistent double digit youth unemployment rate

Serious stuff!

(244) Xi’s China Faces Massive Unemployment Crisis as 12.7 Million Graduates Seek Jobs | Vantage | 4K - YouTube

China’s Yuan Is Challenging The Dollar In Africa with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable!

"Libya is set to join China’s CIPS framework, giving it a route to make payments directly in yuan and reduce reliance on SWIFT, where the dollar dominates. The shift is being driven by cost, speed and access to Chinese capital. Kenya has already converted some dollar loans into yuan, cutting interest costs. Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa have currency swap arrangements with China. The dollar still dominates Africa’s overseas debt, but Beijing is steadily expanding the yuan’s role across the continent."

(242) China’s Yuan Is Challenging The Dollar In Africa | The Palki Sharma Show | IGR | India Global Review - YouTube

Xi's China Tightens Exit and entry Rules, Citizens Face Bans Of Up To 3 Years to protect technology and national security

Bad news! Very concerning! 

(1) Xi's China Tightens Exit Rules, Citizens Face Bans Of Up To 3 Years | Vantage on Firstpost | 4K - YouTube

The Man Who Helped Turn China Into A Trading Giant: How Did Zhu Rongji Modernise China's Economy?

Recommendable!

(518) The Man Who Helped Turn China Into A Trading Giant: How Did Zhu Rongji Modernise China's Economy? - YouTube

China seems to use its strategic petroleum reserve to dampen global oil prices during the Iran war

Recently, there have been several news reports about China lowering its oil imports.

Not only the US has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve!

Which other countries are doing the same?

"China: Estimated to hold the world's largest massive national stockpile at roughly 1.3 billion barrels." (Google search)

"... Beijing’s deployment of its mammoth strategic petroleum reserve. The Chinese are saying “we have saved the world for a second time thanks to our foresight,” Ek says.

Many analysts attribute the fact that the worst fears on oil prices have not (yet) been realised to Beijing’s careful release of barrels into its domestic market, and its restrictions on product imports and exports. ...

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is tight-lipped on the state of the strategic petroleum reserve. It consists of two parts: one under the direct control of the state and the other, larger element, within the state-owned oil companies.

Before the war, the US Energy Information Administration estimated that it totalled about 1.4 billion barrels — enough to cover more than 100 days of imports. ..."

China and its strategic petroleum reserve | AGBI

Source

Chronic stress causes brain cells to rapidly age

Amazing stuff (but a little bit aged news)!

"... In a recent study, a team of neurologists has now traced a pathway back to cells called astrocytes located in the amygdala, the region of the brain responsible for processing emotions. ...

But in chronically stressed mice, the researchers found that these cells rapidly age, preventing them from properly communicating with other neurons . As a result, mice with damaged astrocytes showed heightened activity in the amygdala, which is closely associated with both anxiety and with decreased insulin production (and thus higher blood glucose levels).

The researchers were able to reverse the effects of cellular aging by providing the mice with senolytic drugs that target senescent cells or by supplementing their diets with L-serine, an amino acid important for establishing the link between astrocytes and neurons. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• [Chronic stress] lowers amygdaloid astrocytic HK2 via PBX1, driving cellular senescence

• Astrocytic HK2 deficiency limits the “serine shuttle” and disrupts synaptic stability

• Stress shifts amygdala output to sympathetic bias, promoting hyperglycemia

• L-serine or dasatinib/quercetin restores neurobehavior and blood glucose homeostasis

Summary

Chronic stress (CS) exacerbates anxiety and hyperglycemia, emerging as a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes, yet the mechanism remains unclear.

Here, we found that CS induces hyperglycemia and enhanced amygdaloid astrocytic senescence in mice. 

The amygdaloid astrocytic senescence was mediated by the reduction of hexokinase 2 (HK2) driven by pre-B cell leukemia homeobox transcription factor 1 (PBX1). The astrocytic Hk2 deletion mice and amygdala-specific astrocytic Hk2 knockdown mice both display anxiety-like behaviors and hyperglycemia.

The reduction of HK2 in astrocytes reduces L-serine synthesis and decreases the supply to neurons for the generation of D-serine by disrupting the astrocyte-neuron serine shuttle.

Reduced neuronal D-serine level in the amygdala impaired the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic amygdala-pancreas projections, leading to hyperglycemia.

L-serine supplementation or dasatinib/quercetin administration to eliminate senescent cells alleviates both CS-induced neurobehaviors and peripheral hyperglycemia.

Together, these findings reveal that HK2 in amygdaloid astrocytes mediates CS-induced neurobehaviors and hyperglycemia."

ScienceAdviser

Amygdala astrocyte senescence drives stress-induced anxiety and hyperglycemia (no public access)

Graphical abstract

Global shipments of humanoid robots grew to 19,100 units in the first half of 2026 from 5,100 in the first half of 2025

Good news!

"... nearly four times the number shipped during the same period last year. The same report predicts that total shipments will reach 60,000 by the end of the year."

"... China’s AgiBot has surpassed its domestic rival Unitree Robotics to become the world’s largest humanoid robot vendor in the first half of 2026, according to new research, as both industry heavyweights prepare for public listings amid a physical AI boom.

Shanghai-based Agibot captured 44 per cent of the global market after shipping roughly 8,400 humanoid robots from January to June, San Francisco-based research firm Smart Analytics Global (SAG) said in a report published on Sunday. ..."

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran

AgiBot overtakes Unitree as top global humanoid robot vendor in first half amid IPO push "AgiBot’s shipments surged 562 per cent year on year, supported by a portfolio of full-size bipedals, compact units and wheeled robots"

SAG: Global Humanoid Robot Shipments Surged 272% YoY to 19.1K Units in 1H 2026; AGIBOT Overtook Unitree for No. 1 Position

Collagen structure of the porcine eye revealed

Good, but older news!

The fascia consists of collagen.

"Collagen fibers are found in various forms throughout the body, forming the foundational extracellular structure of tissues.

Despite nearly a century of study, high-resolution views of functional, macromolecular collagen fibers have remained elusive because of compositional heterogeneity and data-processing limitations.

Lou et al. analyzed the relatively uniform fibrils from the vitreous body of the eye and were able to determine a high-resolution structure that reveals layers of individual fibrils wrapped in a fourfold symmetric helix.

Sugar modifications are interspersed at defined positions within the fiber and alter packing density and hydration.

The specialized function of vitreous body collagen as a transparent medium is enabled by specific modifications and a composition distinct from that known for structural collagens."

"... 

Composition and Stoichiometry

Type V/XI core: Acts as the internal nucleation center that dictates initial fibril geometry.
Type II shell: Forms an antiparallel outer layer that expands the overall diameter of the fibril.
Type IX and opticin: Decorate the outer surface to regulate spacing, surface properties, and interaction with the surrounding gel.

Stabilization and Assembly

Glycan modification: Abundant galactose-glucose disaccharides attach to hydroxylysine residues within conserved motifs, stabilizing interhelical packing.
Vitreous-specific design: Unlike cartilage counterparts, the type IX collagen in the vitreous lacks the NC4 domain and instead possesses an elongated chondroitin sulfate chain, which preserves the transparent, hydrated gel matrix.

..." (Google Search)

From the abstract:

"Collagen, a fundamental constituent of the extracellular matrix, has long remained elusive to high-resolution structural characterization.

Using a tailored system and optimized cryo–electron microscopy processing for long-period filaments, we determined the structure of native collagen fibrils from the porcine vitreous body, with local resolutions extending from 2.6 to 7 angstroms.

Each 67-nanometer periodic unit contains type II, V/XI, and IX collagen triple helices together with opticin, at a stoichiometry of 8:4:4:4, which reveals their detailed higher-order molecular packing.

Abundant galactose-glucose disaccharides modify hydroxylysine residues in conserved -glycine-X-hydroxylysine- motifs, mediating fibril packing and structural stability.

Our structure uncovers the glycan-mediated assembly principle of collagen fibrils and clarifies the structure-function basis of collagens in the vitreous body."

In Science Journals | Science

The molecular architecture of mammalian vitreous body collagen fibrils (no public access)

White House released “The Great Transshipment Scam”

Good news!

I bet this was going on especially during the term of the senile, demented and lifelong pathological liar 46th President! China knew too much about the 46th President and his clan!

"... a detailed report documenting how foreign adversaries, primarily China, have routed goods through third countries to falsely certify their origin and evade U.S. tariffs. The report lays bare a years-long fraud against American trade law that has cost domestic manufacturers billions and hollowed out key supply chains."

From the Executive Summary:

"... Illegal transshipment may involve relabeling, repackaging, re-invoicing, minor processing, false country-of-origin claims, or other actions intended to secure tariff treatment that would not apply if the goods’ true economic origin

were declared. ...

China provides the most developed historical example of this conduct. Following the imposition of Section 301 tariffs in 2018, the direct U.S. trade deficit with China fell in 2019 and 2020.

Even today, imports of a number of Chinese products subject to these original duties, like electric vehicles, are much lower in the U.S. than in places like the European Union. But the overall success of these tariffs co-exists with the abuse, by exporters, of the tariff differentials that they contribute to.

After their imposition, Chinese exporters increasingly routed goods through third countries. Products that previously moved directly from China to the United States were shipped through jurisdictions where limited assembly, finishing, repackaging, relabeling, or documentation changes could create the appearance of a different national origin. Over time, these practices contributed to the development of a global network of production hubs, logistics platforms, free-trade zones, bonded warehouses, processing corridors, and re-export centers.

This report identifies more than 40 countries associated with elevated illegal transshipment risk. These jurisdictions vary significantly in economic scale and function. Some are major trading partners with diversified industrial bases and large volumes of overall commerce.

Others are closely integrated into China-linked production and supply networks.

A third group consists of smaller jurisdictions that offer specific advantages, including low labor costs, permissive free-zone rules, strategic port access, bonded warehousing, limited customs capacity, niche assembly operations, or preferential access to the U.S. market. ...

This report reviews five government and private-sector estimates of potential transshipment or related trade-transfer exposure. The estimates range from approximately $40 billion to $303 billion annually, depending on the methodology and definition used. ..."

White House Weekly Briefing | August 10–16, 2026

The Great Transshipment Scam

Galactic spins carry fingerprints of the primordial universe

Amazing stuff!

"The origin of spin in spiral and elliptical galaxies has posed a long-standing puzzle for astronomers. One idea, known as tidal torque theory, proposes that galaxies' spins are an imprinted record of the early universe, imparted by gravity long before galaxies first formed and still detectable in galaxies today.

Through new research ... a team ... has put that idea to its toughest test yet. ...

Tidal torque theory suggests the origins of this spin can be traced back to the earliest structures in the universe, when uneven clumps of gas and dark matter pulled on their neighbors. 

If such a primordial clump were slightly elongated, tidal torque theory suggests it would feel gravity's pull more strongly on the end closest to a massive neighbor. This lopsided tug would set it rotating, a motion that its descendant galaxy should inherit. ...

To tackle this challenge, Sheng's team turned to data from the ELUCID project, which reconstructs the distribution of matter in the early universe based on the positions of galaxies we can see today. Using this reconstruction, they traced the pattern of spins seen in currently observable galaxies back to the primordial tidal forces that created them.

They then compared this prediction with real spin measurements gathered using an instrument that maps the motion of gas and stars within individual galaxies, for a substantial sample drawn from the nearby universe. ..."

From the abstract:

"Tidal-torque theory predicts that galaxy angular momenta are imprinted by the primordial tidal field acting on proto-structures and that they can retain information about the early Universe through cosmic evolution.

Here we test this prediction by comparing observed galaxy angular momentum vectors with those predicted from the primordial density field reconstructed by ELUCID for the nearby Universe.

Among the galaxy populations considered, the gas component of central massive elliptical galaxies provides the clearest signal, exhibiting a strong direction correlation at a significance of about 7σ.

These results provide robust observational evidence for tidal-torque theory and open a window for cosmological measurements of neutrino mass and other cosmological parameters."

Galactic spins carry fingerprints of the primordial universe

A high-significance detection of primordial tidal torque imprints (no public access)

A high-significance detection of primordial tidal torque imprints (preprint, open access)

Russia has been Losing Influence to China in Central Asia

Recommendable!

(133) Is Russia Losing Influence to China in Central Asia? - YouTube

China Hunts For Rare Earths In Iran

Serious stuff! When China gets into bed with a rogue state!

(241) Xi's China Hunts For Rare Earths In China | Vantage on Firstpost | 4K - YouTube

China’s Escalating Cyberattacks Threaten Taiwan’s National Security

Serious stuff! China is a bully! 

Hong Kong was already invaded/taken over illegally by the Communist Party of China after the Basic Law became effective in 1997!

Why does Taiwan not offer reunification under the condition that China becomes  like a Western democracy?

"Amid intensifying cross-Strait tensions, Taiwan is among the world’s most frequent targets of cyberattacks, predominantly attributed to Chinese state-backed hackers. Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB)  has assessed that infrastructure on the island experienced a daily average of 2.63 million cyberattacks in 2025, more than double that of 2023. Energy, emergency rescue, hospitals, and communications infrastructure were the sectors that faced the most significant increases in the number of attacks in 2025, as compared to the previous year.  ..."

China’s Escalating Cyberattacks Threaten Taiwan’s National Security | Global Taiwan Institute

After nearly 50 years of research, a complete chain of evidence describes the glueball

Amazing stuff!

"... Now, using a particle collider in Beijing, researchers say they have effectively proved the existence of such a “glueball.” [subatomic particle made up of gluons]  

the researchers argue that a particle called X(2370), which they produced by smashing electrons into positrons at high energies, has the properties expected of a glueball. ..."

"At the International Conference on High Energy Physics held in Brazil, the BESIII Collaboration at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider announced in a special plenary report that after fifteen years of sustained research, the BESIII Collaboration identified that the dominant constituent of the X(2370) is a pseudoscalar glueball with spin-parity quantum numbers of 0⁻⁺.

The strong interaction force tightly binds the quarks inside protons and neutrons. Its mediator is called the gluon, just as the photon mediates the electromagnetic interaction. Notably, however, gluons can attract each other and form an entirely new particle ¾ a bound state called glueball. The glueball is an important prediction of quantum chromodynamics, the theory that describes the strong interaction, and is also the only type of particle in nature composed entirely of force mediators; no particle of this kind has ever been observed experimentally, and its existence constitutes a crucial test of quantum chromodynamics. ...

The BESIII Collaboration discovered a new particle in J/ψ decays, called the X(2370), in 2011.

Following another 13 years of work, the Collaboration used a much larger sample of 10 billion J/ψ particles in 2024 to determine for the first time its spin and parity quantum numbers to be 0⁻⁺.  Its mass and quantum numbers are in complete agreement with lattice-quantum-chromodynamics prediction for a pseudoscalar glueball (whose spin and parity is 0⁻⁺), marking a crucial step toward establishing its true identity.

Recently, the ... discovered several new decay modes of the X(2370) and, in particular, determined for the first time its “flavor-singlet” nature, which is the most important characteristic of a glueball.

This series of BESIII studies established a complete chain of experimental evidence: a pseudoscalar-glueball component must dominate the X(2370).

This is the clearest experimental result from nearly fifty years of searches for glueballs, verifying the major theoretical prediction that gluons can bind together to form a new type of matter. This result demonstrated unique advantages of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider in studies of strong interactions. ..."

Abstract (This a short 10 pages paper, oddly using the last four pages to list all names of involved researchers and their affiliation)

Behold the “glueball,” a strange new form of matter | Science | AAAS

BESIII experiment identifies X(2370) as a glueball dominated particle

BESIII Experiment Identifies X(2370) as a Glueball Dominated Particle (original news release)

Lightest 0−+ Glueball as Dominant Constituent of X(2370) (preprint, open access)

Figure: BESIII 

Chinese economic reformer Zhu Rongji has died

R.I.P.

I am not very familiar with his biography, but he was perhaps one of the reformers that modernized China and contributed to its economic success.

"... Born in Changsha, Hunan, Zhu became a member of the CCP in 1949, the same year the People's Republic of China was established. He worked in the State Planning Commission between 1952 and 1958, and criticized CCP leader Mao Zedong's economic policies during the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1957, causing him to being labeled as a "rightist" in the subsequent Anti-Rightist Campaign, leading Zhu to be demoted and expelled from the CCP.

He was sent to work at a remote cadre school afterwards. He was pardoned, though not politically rehabilitated in 1962, after the famine caused by the Great Leap Forward, being again assigned at the State Planning Commission. He was purged again during the Cultural Revolution, where he was sent for re-education to a May Seventh Cadre School.

After Mao's death in 1976 and the rise of Deng Xiaoping afterwards, Zhu was politically rehabilitated and allowed to rejoin the CCP.

He worked in the Ministry of Petroleum from 1976 to 1979, and joined the State Economic Commission, successor of the State Planning Commission, in 1979;

he served as the vice minister of the commission from 1983 to 1987.

In 1988, he became the mayor of Shanghai, where he pursued economic reforms.

He worked with Shanghai CCP secretary Jiang Zemin, who he succeeded as Shanghai CCP secretary in 1989, when Jiang was promoted to CCP general secretary. ..."

Zhu Rongji, China’s chief engineer of economic reform and former premier, dies aged 97 "Zhu, who rose to become premier, spearheaded China’s entry into the World Trade Organization"

Zhu Rongji - Wikipedia

China's Arctic Shortcut To Europe: Arctic Route Could Cut Shipping Time In Half

Good news! Thanks to climate change!

(621) China's Arctic Shortcut To Europe: Arctic Route Could Cut Shipping Time In Half | WION World DNA - YouTube

China overtakes US to lead global R&D spending, hitting $615bn. Really!

Some serious doubts are well in order! How reliable have communist statistics been since 1945 or 1917?

Which R & D funding in the US was not included? And so on ...

"China has surpassed the U.S. to become the world leader in R&D spending by companies and universities, new Japanese data shows, as Beijing works to counter Washington's export restrictions on chips by accelerating development. ..."

China overtakes US to lead global R&D spending, hitting $615bn - Nikkei Asia "Corporate, university expenditures for 2024 include computers, electronics"

How Olinia Turns Mexico’s EV Ambition Into Reality at a price of $8,500

Recommendable!

Government run businesses is rarely a good idea and many fail.

"The EV market in Mexico has exploded in the last three years, with the vast majority of cars sold there being manufactured in China—90 percent in 2025. However, Mexico is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of cars and car parts, and policymakers want to capture a piece of the action.

That’s why the Mexican government launched Olinia, a federally backed effort to develop a homegrown EV brand with engineers and researchers from the country’s public universities and research institutions. Its first vehicle, the Olinia 1, is designed around the needs of the average Mexican driver. Mass production of the Olinia 1 is expected to begin in early 2027 at an assembly plant slated for construction in the state of Puebla later this year. ...

[Chinese] Carmakers like BYD and Geely thus dropped their prices and started marketing aggressively in emerging markets like Mexico. ...

The government plans to replace many taxis [???] in urban areas with the EV. ...

Olinia is one of the signature projects of Plan México, the Sheinbaum administration’s strategy to strengthen domestic manufacturing and technological capabilities. The initiative aims to cultivate domestic expertise in batteries, power electronics, vehicle integration, and advanced manufacturing—areas that policymakers view as critical to Mexico’s long-term industrial competitiveness. The administration hopes the plan attracts $100 billion in annual foreign direct investment by 2030. ..."

How Olinia Turns Mexico’s EV Ambition Into Reality - IEEE Spectrum "Olinia 1 is designed to fit the needs of the country’s drivers"

Source

Software developers in Africa are increasingly taking advantage of cheap, open-weight AI models from China

Good news! The Scramble for Africa continues!

"... to build tools for agriculture, education, legal services, and business. Unlike flagship American models, these Chinese models can often be downloaded, modified, and run independently, enabling greater customization and avoiding subscription fees."

"... In Kenya, entrepreneurs are using the models to streamline legal and business services.

In Nigeria, they have made educational tools that teach high school students.

In Ghana, developers are building local chatbots.

China’s A.I. is surging, especially in developing countries, as people look for the best possible system at the lowest possible cost. ..."

"... The A.I. model from the Chinese internet giant Alibaba handled Uganda’s dozens of languages better than anything from Meta or Google ... It was also inexpensive, and he could customize the model with his own data. ..."

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran

https://humanprogress.org/chinas-ai-is-surging-across-africa/

How China’s A.I. Is Surging Across Africa (behind paywall)