Tag: china

China’s Spaceplane Has Released Multiple Mystery Objects In Orbit

China’s shadowy miniature spaceplane appears to have deployed at least six objects into orbit while conducting its latest mission, its third. The reusable space vehicle, which is understood to be broadly comparable to the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B, clearly has military applications, although the exact nature of its payloads remains mysterious.

The Chinese spaceplane, named Shenlong (meaning Divine Dragon), has placed the objects in Earth orbit since it was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on December 14. The existence of these objects has been confirmed by amateur spacecraft trackers.

The spaceplane itself is launched atop a traditional space launch rocket and is propelled into orbit using a secondary booster. It returns to Earth in an unpowered mode, much like the X-37B.

One amateur astronomer, Scott Tilley, told Space.com’s Brett Tingley that some of the objects — which have been named A, B, C, D, E, and F — seem to be transmitting signals. Tilley has described these objects as “mysterious wingmen,” a nod to the “loyal wingman” terminology used for the drones that operate collaboratively with piloted aircraft. The Shenlong, of course, is uncrewed.

Tilley also provided Space.com with details on the differences in transmissions between the objects, with Object A said to be sending small amounts of data, while Objects D and E seem to be only emitting “placeholder” signals, without accompanying data.

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Space Force chief: Timing of Chinese spaceplane launch “no coincidence”

China has launched its top-secret military spaceplane for a third time, days after the US military’s winged spacecraft was grounded for several weeks due to problems with its SpaceX rocket.

Observers believe China’s spaceplane looks much like the US military’s X-37B, a reusable craft that Pentagon officials are similarly tight-lipped about. But there’s a distinction in that US officials will publicly discuss, at least in broad terms, the purpose of the X-37B and release images of the spacecraft.

The US military has two X-37Bs in its inventory, each with a cargo bay that could fit a large refrigerator. They resemble small space shuttles, with dimensions about one-quarter those of NASA’s retired shuttle orbiters. The X-37B spaceplanes have flown in space six times, logging missions as long as two-and-a-half years, thanks to deployable solar panels that generate power for greater endurance.

The seventh X-37B flight was supposed to launch this week from Florida, but officials called off the launch to resolve technical issues with its Falcon Heavy rocket.

Then, on Thursday, China sent its own spaceplane aloft on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan launch base in northwestern China. The Long March 2F is typically used to launch Chinese astronaut crews into orbit but has been modified to accommodate China’s unpiloted robotic spaceplane inside its payload fairing.

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China launches secret space plane on 3rd-ever mission

China has launched its reusable space plane for the third time.

A Long March 2F rocket lofted China’s experimental spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Thursday (Dec. 14) to conduct space science experiments and “provide technical support for the peaceful use of space,” according to Xinhua news.

The launch comes just seven months after the spacecraft’s last mission, a much quicker follow-up compared to the first and second launches which happened 23 months apart, SpaceNews reports. 

Hours prior to the secretive spacecraft’s launch, SpaceX stood down from the 7th planned liftoff of the U.S. Space Force’s own X-37B reusable space plane, and even removed the Falcon Heavy rocket containing it from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad. The mission, known as USSF-52, was scrubbed on Wednesday (Dec. 13) to “perform additional system checkouts.” Exact reasons for this delay remain unknown, and a new date has yet to be set for launch. 

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China’s online censors target short videos, artificial intelligence and ‘pessimism’ in latest crackdown

China’s internet censors are targeting short videos that spread “misleading content” as part of its latest online crackdown.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said on Tuesday that it would target short videos that spread rumours about people’s lives or promoted incorrect values such as pessimism – included for the first time – and extremism.

The campaign would also target fake videos generated using artificial intelligence, the watchdog said.

The country’s top censorship body has been running an annual online crackdown known as “Qing Lang”, which means clear and bright, since 2020.

It said this year’s crackdown would benefit people’s mental health and create a healthy space for competition that would help the short video industry develop.

The country’s best known short video platform is Douyin – the Chinese sibling of TikTok – but content is shared on a number of other Chinese social media platforms, including major players such as WeChat and Weibo.

The watchdog said one of the targets of the latest campaign would be content producers who make up stories about social minorities to win public sympathy. It would also crack down on people staging incidents, “making up fake plots and spreading panic”.

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Top Defense Official: US Can Handle Middle East, Russia & China Operations All At Once

It might be difficult for most any American, especially in the younger generation, to remember a time when America was not deeply involved in a raging foreign conflict – whether directly or via proxies. At this very moment the US is shipping heavy weapons and sinking billions in aid into to no less than two major wars which have the potential to erupt into broader regional or even world conflagrations involving clashing large powers: namely, the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Gaza conflicts.

While much of the public might rightly think the United States has once again overextended itself, one top defense official has shrugged it off and essentially said… no problem. At an Atlantic Council event held days ago Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher Grady said that the Pentagon stands ready to handle missions connected to three potential proxy wars in defense if its interests if it comes to that.

Grady described that the US Navy in particular is capable of waging battle against Russia in Ukraine, against China in Taiwan, and is ready to assist the Israelis in Gaza if called upon. This could be done simultaneously, he described, while admitting this would stretch naval forces thin.

Adm. Grady explained, “You look at what is required to support Ukraine, look at what might be required to support our partner in Israel, and then, of course, you put Taiwan on top of that—we have the construct that we do with combatant commanders and the rest that should allow us to command and control those three things all at one time.”

He stressed, “It’s part of our campaigning process, which is central to the national defense strategy. Is it challenging? Sure.” During the remarks he spoke of various emerging global hotspots as “test cases” and suggested that the so-called rules-based order would collapse if the US didn’t rise to the challenge.

On China in particular, and the potential for future clash over Taiwan independence, he said as follows:

Grady said increased Chinese activity near the shoal was “a case where the probability of buffoonery goes way high as you start to see the Chinese PRC, PLA and, more importantly, not PLA and but kind of white and white vessels like Coast Guard equivalents,” participating in activities meant to coerce U.S. allies in the region like the Philippines and Taiwan. 

More disturbingly, he said, “The tempo is a little bit higher right now. This Isn’t a test case for what we would do; I think it’s a test case for the whole rules-based international order, frankly.”

This appeared an attempt to justify and rally behind Biden’s pushing Congress to pass a $106 billion funding package to further arm Ukraine, Israel, as well as support operations in the Asia-Pacific.

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INVISIBILITY COAT’ THAT HIDES HUMANS FROM AI SECURITY CAMERAS DEVELOPED BY CHINESE STUDENTS

At first glance, it may look like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill camouflage coat. However, what a group of Chinese graduate students have actually developed is a cost-effective “invisibility coat” capable of concealing the human body from AI-monitored security cameras, both day and night.

At the forgivable price of just $70 USD, the high-tech jacket, which has been dubbed the “InvisDefense coat,” was crafted by a team of four graduate students from Wuhan University in China. The real-life sci-fi coat secured the top prize at the inaugural “Huawei Cup,” a cybersecurity innovation contest sponsored by the Chinese tech giant Huawei. 

Professor Wang Zheng from the School of Computer Science oversaw the team, comprising doctoral student Wei Hui from the School of Computer Science, along with postgraduates Li Zhubo and Dai Shuyv from the School of Cyber Science and Engineering, and postgraduate Jian Zehua from the Economics and Management School.

The InvisDefense invisibility cloak involves a kind of camouflage pattern designed by a new algorithm, which challenges the efficacy of this commonly used method of AI pedestrian detection. “In layman’s terms, it means cameras can detect you but cannot determine that you are human,” according to a statement released by Wuhan University (WHU).

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Hundreds of Illegal Chinese-owned Marijuana Operations Taking Over Maine

Hundreds of illegal Chinese-owned marijuana growing operations have been popping up across Maine over the past three years.

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, local law enforcement shut down an illegal marijuana grow that was being operated in a building located behind a licensed marijuana cultivation facility in Franklin County.

Officers from the Wilton Police Department were assisting investigators from the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) during a routine follow-up inspection of a licensed facility in Wilton when they raided the illegal operation, authorities said in a press release posted on social media.

“It’s a place that has been on the radar,” State Rep. Mike Sobeleski (R) told The Epoch Times, adding that he had visited the facility previously. The Republican lawmaker said he had learned about the raid just minutes before Tuesday’s interview with The Epoch Times to discuss the illegal marijuana operations being run by Chinese nationals throughout the state.

Earlier this month, a man identifying himself as the property manager told the Maine Wire that the building was being used to grow marijuana and that operators paid about $30,000 per month in rent.

He also reportedly told the news outlet that the facility was being run by four Asian men who claimed they were from New York, California, Washington, and Massachusetts.

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BREAKTHROUGH IN QUANTUM STORAGE OF ENTANGLED PHOTONS MAY USHER AGE OF SOLID STATE-BASED QUANTUM NETWORKS

Chinese researchers report the successful quantum storage of entangled photons at telecom wavelengths within a crystal, in a breakthrough achievement that reportedly lasted 387 times longer than past similar experiments.

The research team, based at Nanjing University, says their findings could potentially “pave the way for realizing quantum networks based on solid-state devices.”

Experts have differing opinions on how soon we may see a global quantum internet. However, no one disputes that once it is achieved, it will revolutionize how information is processed and secured. In the move toward that reality, researchers are currently focusing on ensuring that processes that include quantum storage and distribution of entangled photons will be compatible with existing telecommunications networks.

In the case of entangled photons, entanglement describes the quantum phenomenon where particles remain connected, which effectively allows actions performed on one to affect its entangled counterpart even from across great physical distances.

However, making sure that quantum networks work reliably using fiber-based systems, like those the Internet currently uses, presents a number of challenges, namely signal loss due to the limitations of optical fiber systems that are presently in use.

One way of overcoming these problems involves the use of devices called quantum repeaters, which can help extend the range of these systems by storing the quantum state of photons into matter. Successful quantum repeaters must accomplish three primary tasks: 1) they must match the standard telecom wavelength, which is around 1.55 μm; 2) they must be capable of storing data for long periods; and 3) they have to be able to handle multiple data streams simultaneously.

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Ex-White House Official Sheds More Light on Fate of Researcher Who May Have Caused COVID Pandemic

Dr. Robert Kadlec, who served as an official in the biodefense and epidemic response departments during the pandemic, said Chinese military scientist Zhou Yusen was conducting research on live animals at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2019, and filed a patent for a COVID vaccine in February 2020 — barely one month after China put Wuhan into a lockdown due to the first outbreak.

Three months later, Dr. Yusen died when he allegedly fell from the roof of the Wuhan Institute.

“It looked like he was censored as a consequence of whatever happened,” Kadlec told Australia’s Sky News.

“Our evidence would suggest that something happened while he was doing his work, which we believe was when the virus first emerged,” he said.

“And whether he was held accountable through some formal proceeding or not, he was certainly dead by July [2020].”

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After Xi Jinping visit to San Francisco, city falling back into drug use and homelessness: business owner

With the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference over and done with in San Francisco, some business owners are complaining that the city is reverting into a den for homelessness and drug use. 

Restaurant owner Tony Pankaew said in a local media interview.that San Francisco rushed to clean up the city for Chinese President Xi Jinping and other foreign dignitaries for APEC.

“They cleaned up the people, they cleaned up the streets,” he told CBS News Bay Area. “They made the city look good and look impressive for the foreigners, for the politicians.”

“Now they have started to come back,” Pankaew said. “Slowly but surely. [In] a couple weeks [the city] will be back to where [it was] before.” 

Pankaew said he was hopeful that things will turn around in San Francisco, adding that a new skating rink near his business might attract more people, and therefore more business. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., was criticized on social media after admitting that San Francisco timed a massive cleanup effort ahead of the summit.

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