China Shares Rare Moon Rocks With US (bbc.co.uk) 45
Longtime Slashdot reader AmiMoJo shares a report from the BBC: China will let scientists from six countries, including the U.S., examine the rocks it collected from the Moon -- a scientific collaboration that comes as the two countries remain locked in a bitter trade war. Two NASA-funded U.S. institutions have been granted access to the lunar samples collected by the Chang'e-5 mission in 2020, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on Thursday. CNSA chief Shan Zhongde said that the samples were "a shared treasure for all humanity," local media reported.
Chinese researchers have not been able to access NASA's Moon samples because of restrictions imposed by U.S. lawmakers on the space agency's collaboration with China. Under the 2011 law, Nasa is banned from collaboration with China or any Chinese-owned companies unless it is specifically authorized by Congress. But John Logsdon, the former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, told BBC Newshour that the latest exchange of Moon rocks have "very little to do with politics." While there are controls on space technology, the examination of lunar samples had "nothing of military significance," he said. "It's international cooperation in science which is the norm."
Chinese researchers have not been able to access NASA's Moon samples because of restrictions imposed by U.S. lawmakers on the space agency's collaboration with China. Under the 2011 law, Nasa is banned from collaboration with China or any Chinese-owned companies unless it is specifically authorized by Congress. But John Logsdon, the former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, told BBC Newshour that the latest exchange of Moon rocks have "very little to do with politics." While there are controls on space technology, the examination of lunar samples had "nothing of military significance," he said. "It's international cooperation in science which is the norm."
Xi is trolling (Score:1)
...it's shaped like Don's head.
Re:Xi is trolling (Score:5, Insightful)
Kinda. China is playing the role of adult in the room very well here, trying to take over the role that the US is vacating as a global economic superpower and trading partner.
Re:Xi is trolling (Score:5, Insightful)
Yep, the only thing saving the U.S. from losing the entire world is that countries trust la Presidenta almost, but not quite as much, as China. However, I have faith that la Presidenta can lose the rest of the trust, and the bond market is signally that.
Re:Xi is trolling (Score:5, Interesting)
Yep, the only thing saving the U.S. from losing the entire world is that countries trust la Presidenta almost, but not quite as much, as China. However, I have faith that la Presidenta can lose the rest of the trust, and the bond market is signally that.
I'm afraid I'm going to go ahead and clarify there. Speaking as a Canadian, we don't trust the US at all right now. Tariffs at 30%? Maybe. 25% Maybe? 50%? Maybe. 120%? Maybe. On pause? Maybe. Going to literally invade in the next couple years? Maybe.
There's no sense of consistency, predictability, or stability coming from the White House. This administration has burned the bridge of being worthy of trust. We can't even assume the US will act out of self-interest because a bunch of what it's done in the last three months hurt it more than they hurt anyone else.
The US is like a significant other who punches you in the teeth one day after decades of a normal relationship. If that random act is on the table, what else is? Frankly China... well, yeah, maybe not the best dating partner on the planet, but at least with them you know what you're getting.
This 51st state garbage isn't okay and the fact that there aren't enough adults in the room to get him to stop it speaks very loudly. We've been very, very, very clear. The vast majority of us aren't remotely interested, and are in fact vehemently opposed. Any further mention is diplomatic threat, plain and simple because there's no peaceful way it's happening and the fact Trump won't shut up about it indicates he's at least mulling over the not-peaceful way.
Even if the US gets an election in 2028 and even if someone sane is elected, there at least a third of its citizenry who are not fundamentally okay people in my book. Trump has united a lot of different people who are nasty one way or an other, but now we know... between the racists, the homophobes, the religiously intrusive, the fiscally narcissistic, the egotistically power-hungry, the uneducated-but-opinionated and the conspiracy nuts, there's literally enough to out-vote the rest.
I've only got a few more decades on the planet, being over 50, and I've always viewed the US as a staunch ally with an amusing character and - for instance - when 9-11 happened I took it almost as personally as they did. Now? I don't expect to trust, like, or respect the nation as a whole ever again.
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I'm afraid I'm going to go ahead and clarify there. Speaking as a Canadian, we don't trust the US at all right now. Tariffs at 30%? Maybe. 25% Maybe? 50%? Maybe. 120%? Maybe. On pause? Maybe. Going to literally invade in the next couple years? Maybe.
There's no sense of consistency, predictability, or stability coming from the White House. This administration has burned the bridge of being worthy of trust. We can't even assume the US will act out of self-interest because a bunch of what it's done in the last three months hurt it more than they hurt anyone else.
Trump doing things based on how butt-hurt he is over people disagreeing with him, calling him out and/or catching him for doing things he shouldn't or are straight-up illegal aren't good administrative reasons for the random tariffs and other things in his executive orders and directives to his minions. Petty grievances are a good way to run a presidential administration.
Of course, a LOT of this is crap is coming from straight from the Project 2025 playbook from The Heritage Foundation. These people we
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Petty grievances are a good way to run a presidential administration.
Rather, "aren't a good way".
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Even if the US gets an election in 2028 and even if someone sane is elected, there at least a third of its citizenry who are not fundamentally okay people in my book.
I appreciate that, but maybe you should fix Canada before criticizing other places. The racism in Canada is real.
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Even if the US gets an election in 2028 and even if someone sane is elected, there at least a third of its citizenry who are not fundamentally okay people in my book.
I appreciate that, but maybe you should fix Canada before criticizing other places. The racism in Canada is real.
One: it's possible to do two things at once. Especially when there are 40 million people.
Two: our racists haven't elected a bigot. That's tomorrow, if things go badly.
Three: "let he who is without sin..." is bullshit in practice. I don't get to point out that Hitler was a bad guy for millions of counts of murder because I think someone's wife is hot?
Four: my criticisms of Canada aren't germane in a discussion of how Canadians feel about America, which doesn't mean they do not exist.
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I can accept that.
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the USA started out good but was corrupted by a banking cartel so the USA degenerated into a kleptocratic neo-feudalist banana republic run by an oligarchy that takes orders from a banking cartel that finances the government and military industrial complex, so now all the politicians measure everything by the profit margins they can get from it. https://rumble.com/v3jj4nw-doc... [rumble.com]
And this is just Trump's first 97 days... 3.75 years to go!
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My bet : a successful assassination attempt ; President Vance declares a Bigger State of Emergency ; Constitution suspended to hunt down the Bad Guys. Military on the streets to hunt down the un-loyal parts of the military. Then the Bad Guys.
bad Guys will always be available, and the Emergency will be permanent.
We have always been at war with [Oceania || Eastasia*]
(*Delete as appropriate, this week.)
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I have never seen met a Chinese person who appeared to have the slightest malicious thoughts towards the US.
When I've asked them about Trump or Biden, some show great dislike towards them. As though they are evil people trying to cause problems.
Food for thought... These people are generally true capitalists. The of course believe in socialism because only fools don't. But they are believe
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donald will develop butthurt respond with a tariff on the rock. 146%
Re:Xi is trolling (Score:5, Funny)
The latest is that la Presidenta is complaining there aren't enough babies being born in the U.S. One young spark suggested bringing in more migrants, but he was thrown bodily out of the White House for impure thoughts by Paula White, la Presidenta's "spiritual advisor", and told not to bring that sort of compassion back again because Jesus won't allow it.
Not to fear, la Presidenta has a plan: big, bold tariffs on foreign made babies so more will get produced in the U.S. As soon as he figures out how babies are made, American women will be in real trouble.
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Ha. I thought he'll copy his moscow mentor and propose fertilization camps for young women. But with all that's not working out recently for him, maybe he's a bit preoccupied and will leave it for later, after and if he manages to occupy Greenland, lol.
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Just wait until they get rocks back from Mars first.
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Bringing back Martian rocks is probably easier than putting a human on Mars, or setting up a permanent base on the Moon.
Nevertheless, it is a hard and expensive task and it has little value beyond PR, so while not impossible - and while on character with the regime's traditions - it is far from obvious that China will want to do it, and if so, if it can advance so quickly in a short time as to manage it with me holding my breath.
We'll see how it turns out, I guess.
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Certainly. The in-flight consumables alone for one human going out would outweigh at least one, probably more, sample-return missions. And the numbers go up rapidly after that.
The sample return mission is already between the drawing boards and the review panels.
That's a bit less clear cut. Just how "permanent" do you mean? The current plans only have intermittent occupation (though multip
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How is a moon base "less clear cut"? The so-called "manned mission to Mars" is a permanent Moon base, only flown to Mars and dumped there, quite possibly with the people as well. That, or a roadster of corpses.
Or, plainly, a "trip to Mars" is a musk-level brain rot fantasy that is told only to help extract money from the dumbest space cadets.
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Wellllll ...
You could fulfil the "Mars" mission using, say, inflatable habitats under a blanket of soil (radiation shielding ; secondary thermal insulation/ stabilisation). That would be harder to justify for a (intermittent) Moon base.
While the atmosphere on Mars is infamously too thin to show it's poisonous composition, it is non-zero. Further from zero than the Moon's atmosphere. The weight of equipment to separate the N2 and Ar from the a
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China is banned from working with the US, they are not partners. They have developed their own rockets cable of doing the mission, and already soft landed the Zhurong rover on Mars.
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Assuming the Trump "Mars is for Martians and John Carter" XO of 2025-08, shuts down NASA's international and interplanetary operations (are you going to say that is impossible? Or even unlikely?), then what is there to even slow do
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I'm not sure the Chinese want to cooperate, unless it's as part of some kind of alliance against the US. They have proposed a trade alliance in response to the tariffs, so maybe it could be part of that.
Otherwise they will just take all the glory for themselves, because they have everything they need to do it, and cost isn't an issue.
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China are proposing to join the EFTA? Novel idea.
But I think they'd be in the queue somewhere behind Canada. Probably behind Turkey too, but that's a lot more arguable.
America (well, in the person of the Tangerine Shitgibbon, America's PR agent) seems to think that people are targeting them, when really, they're just being out-competed. I was watching the snooker championships this afternoon, with about 8 Chinese in the global final-32. Which
Question (Score:2)
Why does a moon rock taste better than an earth rock?
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Because the moon rock is made of cheese, of course.
Re: Question (Score:3)
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Address all complaints to the Monsanto corporation!
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Why does a moon rock taste better than an earth rock?
Because it has that savory UV-scorched ceramic aroma, like an old-school EPROM freshly pulled out of the eraser.
Hoping collaboration continues... (Score:1)
Despite the retards in office.
Bitter trade war? (Score:4, Insightful)
This really is all about the headlines and media hyperbole at this point.
did they add a (Score:4, Funny)
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Or the US govt would charge the US recipients 245% of (whatever number they think of) to release it form the Customs depot. Because that's how tariffs work - you tax the buyer in your own country, not the foreigners who dispatch it.
Who is Nasa? (Score:2)
Actress Katherine LaNasa?