This robot just smashed through a wall to deliver the Olympic torch
The Olympic torch relay ceremony just had its most heavy metal moment in its more than 80-year history.
On day 41 of the torch relay, which begins in the original site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia, HUBO the humanoid robot walked briefly with the Olympic flame, for some reason. It then drilled a hole in a wall, smashed through it, and delivered the torch to its next carrier. In a nice human touch, HUBO got to pass the torch to his creator, professor Oh Jun-Ho, at the robot's place of birth, the Korean Advanced Institute of Science Technology.
HUBO probably never thought (if such a thought was possible) that the Olympic torch would end up in its robotic hands. After all, the humanoid robot was designed for responses to emergency and disaster situations, not torch-carrying. But now, HUBO the humanoid robot joins noted Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger as the only other robot to have carried an Olympic torch.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Watch HUBO carry the Olympic flame below and try and not to get too freaked out by the other and much larger human-controlled robot that appears at 1:37 of the video. Kelly O'Meara Morales
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
Today's political cartoons - December 22, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - the long and short of it, trigger finger, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of Christmas
Cartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Inside the house of Assad
The Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
By The Week UK Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published