It may have a history stretching back 3,000 years, but Beijing is fast becoming today's modern'it' city. With amazingly fast internet, access to cutting-edge technology like facial recognition software, significant investment in artificial intelligence and an unrivalled cosmopolitan energy, China's capital is among the most exciting cities for enterprising expats. "'If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere'," said German expat Clemens Sehi, referencing Frank Sinatra's ode to New York City. "If Sinatra lived today, he would probably sing about a city like Beijing." Sehi, who is creative director at Travellers Archive, says living in the city means you feel like you are "living in the new age" and always up to date.

Google is celebrating the Chinese New Year by asking you to doodle. But the party doesn't just require any doodle. Google's special artificial intelligence will ask you to draw a specific doodle – and then test how good it is at guessing what you've drawn. The feature is both a fun game and also a smart way of encouraging people to train its image recognition AI. That technology will then go on to power a range of different Google features.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robot videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. Opportunity is 13 years old! The hydraulic high-power muscle has been developed by Suzumori Endo Robotics Laboratory at Tokyo Institute of Technology and Bridgestone Corporation as part of the Impulsing PAradigm Change through disruptive Technologies program (ImPACT) Tough Robotics Challenge which is an initiative of the Cabinet Office Council for Science, Technology and Innovation. The muscle is 15 mm in diameter and generates 700 kgf contraction force.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your highly automated* Automaton bloggers. We'll be also posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. Mark your calendars: the premiere of NOVA's "Rise of the Robots" is in less than two weeks! Loyal readers of this blog will probably recognize all of the robots and most of the people in the trailer, but it looks like NOVA--which bills itself as "the most-watched primetime science series on television"--scored some great expert commentary along with footage of DRC robots that we've never seen before.