Robots are serving food at the Olympics while quarantined athletes say their lackluster meals arrive sporadically

Much like the news from the Olympics often goes, the food stories coming out of the Beijing Games are full of highs and lows. On the lofty side (literally): Robots are dropping from cafeteria ceilings to deliver noodles. Part of an effort to minimize person-to-person contact, they’re also working the bar and serving coffee, taking orders via QR code, and comfortably outpacing even the fastest line cook, reports NBC. At the other end of the spectrum, athletes sent to quarantine hotels after testing positive for Covid-19 have complained about the quantity and quality of the food provided, MarketWatch reports. Some say they were served the same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for five days in a row, and others say food has arrived irregularly. The International Olympic Committee has promised to look into it. —H. Claire Brown