“Can you shed tears for me?” a visitor asked. “Of course,” the robot replied, and its eyes welled up on command. That brief exchange became one of the standout moments at the 2026 Inclusion Conference on the Bund in Shanghai. A bionic emotion-sensing robot demonstrated its ability to physically cry in response to a simple spoken request, catching visitors off guard with just how natural the reaction looked.

The robot is built on a three-layer technical architecture designed specifically to generate convincing human emotional responses rather than simple pre-programmed animations. Its ability to produce tears on cue points to a deeper engineering goal: making robotic emotional expression feel spontaneous and responsive, rather than scripted.

Two facial technologies

Traditional systems used to animate robotic faces rely on servo motors. Those motors physically pull silicone facial skin into different shapes to generate expressions like smiles, frowns, or surprise. That approach has powered most emotionally expressive robots shown publicly in China over the past two years, letting them blink, glance around, and shift expression in real time.

The next generation of the technology moves beyond that mechanical pulling system entirely. Developers plan to add bionic muscles beneath the robot’s synthetic skin. That shift is meant to let the robot generate a meaningfully wider range of facial expressions than servo-driven skin alone can produce. Rather than a limited set of pre-built expression shapes, muscle-based actuation could let the face shift more continuously and naturally between emotional states.

Producing actual tears, as the robot did during its conference demonstration, adds a physiological layer on top of that facial architecture. Rather than relying on expression alone, generating a genuine fluid response mimics one of the most recognizably human signals of emotion. That signal is difficult to convincingly fake through mechanical movement alone.

A bigger tech showcase

The robot appeared as part of a wider technology exhibition running alongside the conference. That exhibition spanned nearly 15,000 square meters and drew more than 300 science and technology exhibitors. The 2026 Inclusion Conference on the Bund ran under the theme “Building the AI Economy Together.” It featured a main forum alongside more than 40 sub-forums exploring different facets of China’s expanding AI industry.

Emotionally expressive robots have become an increasingly prominent showcase at major Chinese technology events over the past year. That trend reflects a broader industry push to make human-robot interaction feel more natural and less mechanical.

Whether audiences respond to a crying robot with genuine emotional engagement or simple curiosity, demonstrations like this one carry a clear signal. Chinese robotics developers are now investing seriously in the physical, physiological details of emotional expression, not just the underlying artificial intelligence driving it.

A new 50-ton electric excavator from Volvo Construction Equipment is designed to never need a battery recharge. It uses a 35-meter cable reel to draw power directly from the grid instead. The EC500 Electric is now undergoing pre-production testing in Norway, running real work at active job sites months before its official production launch.

Volvo built the EC500 Electric to match the performance of its diesel-powered counterpart, a machine the company’s customers already know well. Saying the two perform identically is one thing, though. Proving it in the field is another matter entirely. The new model is significantly larger than Volvo’s existing 30-ton EC230 Electric, and the excavator remains so early in development that it isn’t yet in full production.

Grid power, no downtime

The excavator carries an onboard high-voltage battery rated for two to three hours of continuous use on its own. Its 35-meter cable reel lets the 50-ton machine plug directly into grid power instead. That connection enables operation around the clock across shift after shift without ever needing to stop and recharge.

That grid dependency comes with its own tradeoff, since reliable power access can’t always be taken for granted on every job site. Mike Switzer, a heavy equipment fleet buyer and co-host of The Heavy Equipment Podcast, said that reality applies broadly across the industry. Working for a company, he said, doesn’t automatically guarantee power is available wherever that work happens.

Handling uneven power

Volvo’s battery-electric system runs on a 400-volt base designed specifically to adapt to varying grid conditions on different job sites. That flexibility is meant to help customers manage the practical realities of fluctuating site power while reducing the demands the excavator places on existing job site infrastructure.

The first EC500 Electric unit in customer hands is currently working across quarrying, road building, and tunneling applications in Norway. Volvo said the ongoing test program is designed to funnel real-world feedback on the machine’s behavior, performance, and operator experience directly into its final development stages.

Volvo described the approach as ensuring the machine gets developed around more than technical specifications alone. It also incorporates the daily requirements of customers working in some of the most demanding applications the equipment will actually face. Early data gathered from the pilot program is already shaping refinements ahead of the EC500 Electric’s planned production launch in spring 2027.

China has reinforced artillery firepower facing the Taiwan Strait, deploying additional 155mm PLZ-05 self-propelled howitzers to replace older equipment. State broadcaster CCTV reported Sunday that a combined-arms brigade under the People’s Liberation Army’s 71st Group Army received a batch of the howitzers over the past two months. The deployment phased out the brigade’s previous 122mm artillery, an older and less capable system.

The brigade conducted its first live-fire test with the new howitzers following the deployment. The 71st Group Army belongs to the Eastern Theatre Command, which holds primary responsibility for military operations facing Taiwan, the East China Sea, and Japan.

A brigade-level first

This deployment marks the first time the PLZ-05 has been assigned specifically at the brigade level. The system was originally fielded at the group-army level, where it operated as a long-range suppression weapon rather than equipment directly integrated into brigade formations. Moving the system down to the brigade level represents a structural shift in how the PLA organizes its heavy artillery assets.

Brigade officer Sun Xialong said receiving 155mm self-propelled howitzers for the first time significantly improved the unit’s overall combat effectiveness. That framing suggests the PLZ-05’s move down to brigade level reflects a deliberate effort to streamline artillery firepower closer to frontline combat units.

Swapping between commands

The howitzers arrived painted in brown desert camouflage. The tracked vehicles appear to have been relocated from the Western Theatre Command, rather than built as new equipment specifically for the 71st Group Army. In their place, the Western Theatre Command has instead received lighter, wheeled PCL-181 155mm self-propelled howitzers. That design is better suited to the plateau and mountainous terrain that command typically operates across.

That swap suggests Beijing is deliberately matching different howitzer designs to the specific terrain and operational demands each theatre command faces. It’s a different approach than distributing identical equipment uniformly across the PLA’s various regional forces.

A year after China unveiled the world’s first operational air-breathing hypersonic missiles, the United States is launching a new program aimed at catching up. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will bring contractors together later this month. The agency plans to outline requirements for its Next Generation Hypersonic Cruise Missile, according to its website, with air-breathing propulsion sitting at the center of the effort.

Unlike rocket-powered missiles, air-breathing weapons draw oxygen directly from the atmosphere instead of carrying an onboard oxidizer. That design frees up weight that can instead go toward additional fuel or a larger payload.

China went public first

China displayed that same air-breathing approach at a massive military parade in Beijing last year. The parade marked the 80th anniversary of the country’s victory in World War II. That event introduced the YJ-19 anti-ship missile and the larger, road-mobile CJ-1000. Both are believed to run on air-breathing scramjet engines and were presented as weapons already in active service with the People’s Liberation Army.

The YJ-19’s distinctive air intake was clearly visible during the parade. Chinese state media described the CJ-1000 as built for far longer-range strikes against targets on land, at sea, or in the air. Outside of Russia’s ship-based Zircon missile, the YJ-19 and CJ-1000 are considered the world’s only other operational scramjet-driven hypersonic weapons.

More than an upgrade

DARPA has signaled it isn’t simply looking to refine existing American hypersonic designs. In an industry request issued last month, the agency called for entirely new propulsion systems, fuels, and boosters. Those systems need supporting technologies capable of withstanding the extreme heat generated during hypersonic flight.

The resulting missile could ultimately come in multiple sizes, ranging from smaller weapons carried by tactical aircraft to considerably larger systems launched from bombers or ground-based platforms. That flexibility mirrors the range of launch options China has already demonstrated across its own hypersonic missile family.

Darpa’s earlier air-breathing hypersonic effort, the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept, completed its first successful flight test in 2021. It has continued flight testing since, laying some of the technical groundwork this newer, more ambitious program now aims to build on.

Nearly half the world’s urban population could lack access to clean drinking water by 2050, a 50 percent jump from 2016 levels, according to current scientific projections. Cornell researchers have turned to an unlikely source for a possible answer: the same deep-black bird feathers that inspired one of the darkest fabrics ever created.

A team led by Larissa Shepherd, assistant professor in Cornell’s Department of Human Centered Design, has demonstrated something surprising. Polydopamine-dyed wool, including an ultrablack version inspired by the magnificent riflebird, can purify saltwater using nothing but sunlight. Kyuin Park, formerly of Shepherd’s Responsive Apparel Design Lab, led the study, published in the journal Advanced Science.

Built to trap light

Polydopamine is a polymer inspired by melanin, the pigment that gives mussels their dark coloring. The compound bonds strongly to other materials and absorbs near-infrared light, converting it directly into heat. Shepherd’s lab previously used polydopamine-dyed wool, combined with plasma etching that creates light-trapping nanofibrils, to produce a record-setting ultrablack material mimicking the riflebird’s feathers.

For this study, the team applied that same material to a different problem: desalination. They used a technique called interfacial solar vapor generation. A specialized material sits partially submerged in water, heating its surface with sunlight and converting it directly into vapor. That vapor then condenses back into potable water, leaving behind the vast majority of the original salt content.

Shepherd said wool’s biodegradability sets this approach apart from many existing desalination materials. Unlike plastic-based systems, wool won’t leave microplastics or other lasting residue behind as it breaks down over time.

A vertical output boost

Researchers tested three wool architectures across three physical configurations. Those included horizontal, positioned flat against the water’s surface; one-sided vertical; and two-sided vertical, using mirrors to illuminate both faces of the material at once. The two-sided vertical setup performed best by a wide margin.

Ultrablack-dyed wool in that configuration captured 2.43 kilograms of water per square meter of fabric per hour. Wool dyed with polydopamine alone, without the extra ultrablack treatment, reached 2.21 kilograms per square meter per hour. Both figures came in nearly double the output of traditional horizontal evaporation setups.

The material also resisted salt fouling, a common failure point for solar desalination systems, running continuously for 10 hours without salt buildup interfering with performance. Salt levels in the resulting water stayed well below World Health Organization drinking water standards, according to Shepherd.

Ultrablack versus simpler wool

Shepherd said polydopamine-only wool already performs well enough that the extra plasma-etching step might not always be worth the added effort. Reaching ultrablack requires that additional step. Over a full year of operation, though, she said that extra evaporation boost could prove worthwhile. Ultrablack represents a comparatively modest additional step once the base polydopamine treatment is already in place.

Future research will test the dyed-wool technique directly on rainwater and wastewater, alongside improved designs for actually collecting the purified water once it’s produced.