After seeing humanoid robots running and winning the Beijing Half Marathon this weekend, anything is possible. Humanoid robots are no longer that broom handle with legs that stumbles and trips spectacularly, but they already have enough coordination to be running for 50 minutes faster than a person. The applications of the invention, military, labor, social, are so great that we must resort to the classic “the future is already here”. As I said, robots surpassed people, which is no longer news if we think that machines have been surpassing us in computing power for a long time. Therefore, the news is once again a geopolitical warning: the Chinese race in robotics is also going very fast. And us with Trump, the Strait of Hormuz and Rodalies.The progressive festival that Sánchez brought to Barcelona this weekend had a curious epilogue: The President of Brazil, Lula de Silva, went to pray for a while in the main nave of the Sagrada Família, where he gifted himself “a moment of peace, prayer and reflection in a place that inspires unity and hope”. This moment is very well, considering that politics does not grant any respite. Example: while Sánchez was gathering the left-wing parties in Barcelona, who was Feijóo meeting with? With the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado. This morning, Machado was the guest at an informative breakfast in Madrid. And who introduced her to the audience? Felipe González, who runs in the opposite direction to Pedro Sánchez in everything.Finally, in more predictable territory, the Government and ERC are presenting today the Consortium for Investments in Catalonia, which will be the body responsible for monitoring the compliance of State investments in Catalonia. The investment consortium was one of the agreements included in Salvador Illa's investiture pact. This consortium must monitor the number and destination of investments, but also their execution, to prevent the amounts that Spanish governments, whether from PP or PSOE, allocate in budgets from being an approximate reference: less than half of the planned investments are executed. If you think about it coldly, how are we to see ourselves: creating an organism to ensure that the government complies with the budgets, that is, with the law. Hopefully it works, but allow me to express all my skepticism, based on real facts: governments make agreements, but senior officials, or unions, or a PP-VOX majority, will come along afterwards and decide.Good morning.

This Sunday, humanoid robots have reduced the time they set last year in the Beijing half marathon by almost two hours. Specifically, the Qitian Dasheng robot won with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds. The winning team, however, was not the fastest: the Shandian, which operates under remote control, completed the 21 kilometers of the race with a net time of 48 minutes and 19 seconds, despite suffering a fall 100 meters from the finish line. The fastest robot, however, was not declared the winner, because, according to the competition rules, the times of remotely controlled robots are multiplied by 1.2.

I was impressed, and not only me, by the spectacular Chinese exhibition last Monday of humanoid robots dancing with a skill we used to associate with expert human dancers. This prompted three comments.

The development of humanoid robots has become a hallmark of the Asian giant. We've seen robots performing complex choreographies on Chinese television galas, playing soccer matches, and participating in marathons where humans and robots "competed" through the streets of Beijing. A training center for robots, the Humanoid Robot Kylin Training Ground, has even been established in Shanghai. The goal is to create a collaborative environment for companies to refine the mobility and intelligence of robots, and it is expected that by 2027 it will have the capacity to train a thousand robots simultaneously. In China, it's already common to see robots in restaurants or hotel receptions, but for now, these products primarily serve a decorative function rather than providing real-world employment solutions.

Outside a Beijing supermarket, an elderly woman begs for money from customers leaving with shopping bags. She wears a laminated card with a QR code around her neck, which she shows as she asks for money for food. If you scan the code with your phone, you can give her any amount you want, and it will go directly to her mobile wallet account. Eight years ago, the same woman, who is especially visible after summer, did the same thing, but she collected money in cash.

The temporary demographic imbalance caused by the fall in the birth rate, combined with the more permanent increase in life expectancy, is leading to a pronounced aging of European populations. This is turning the provision of care to the elderly into a critical issue.

Carlota (fictitious name) has just met the Barça first-team players from a bed at Sant Pau Hospital. Like other Barça players, it brings a boost of joy to her routine. After the visit, the young woman spends hours making a personalized bracelet for each of them. She also works with the pediatrics and clinical hematology department at Sant Pau Hospital. According to Tobajas, chemotherapy treatments cause immunosuppression and force children to drop out of school.

Antoni Bassas and Daniel Gamper talk with Jordi Vallverdú about robotics and the relationship we have to have with robots.