HUMANOID robots could be brought to ordinary people’s homes “soon,” according to a new robotics center in Beijing.

The robots, which use AI and resemble human bodies in shape, are expected to help China advance in its technology war with the US.

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Month-old robotics center Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center has so far provided minimal details about its latest project to release a prototype humanoid robot for general use.

But it assured that the robot will be created “soon.” South China Morning Mail reports.

The machines are expected to replenish China’s shrinking workforce as the vast economy looks to upgrade its growth engines with new technology-led “productive forces.”

An unnamed source from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center told the Beijing Youth Daily: “It is the dream of every humanoid robot company to bring humanoid robots into thousands of households.”

It comes amid China’s fierce ongoing technology war with the United States, and as China faces serious demographic challenges – including a rapidly aging population – and a real estate market crisis.

The center was reportedly established late last year and includes both private and state-owned robot manufacturers.

A source described as a “responsible person” said leading robotics industry experts and researchers at the center were seeking “a common technological platform, public service platform and regulatory standards for the humanoid robot industry.”

They added: “In the future, humanoid robots may enter the automotive industry, 3C manufacturing (computer, communications and consumer electronics) and other fields, further improving the industrial production level.”

There are fears that humanoid robots could be yet another kind of “disruptive innovation” like computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles.

But China hopes to turn the humanoid robot sector into “a major new engine of economic growth” by 2027, according to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The center’s humanoid robots are intended to be a technological convergence of artificial intelligence and new materials, and China hopes to make the country more self-reliant – and competitive with the US.

American companies such as Tesla and OpenAI-backed Figure are already working on humanoid robots.

Tesla’s $20,000 (£16,000) Optimus robot, the prototype of which was unveiled in September 2022, was expected to be mass produced within three to five years.

According to a November report from the Research Institute of People’s Daily Online, China is currently the second-largest holder of patents on humanoid robots, with 1,699, after Japan.

The MIIT announced last year its plans to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025 – about 500 robots per 10,000 employees.

The company believes the robots will be useful for industries such as healthcare, agriculture and logistics.

New plans suggest that China could soon replace human soldiers with robots in future war scenarios.

Advanced robotic soldiers and high-tech drones are expected to be sent to complex overseas missions within the United States next one 10 years.

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There are growing calls for Australia to address the “very serious threat” that Chinese social media giant TikTok poses to Australians.

The short video app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is one of the fastest growing platforms in the world with more than 170 million users in the US and 8.5 million in Australia.

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would give ByteDance six months to divest the app and sell it to a company outside China.

Australian Opposition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson said on Sunday that TikTok will remain unsafe unless its relationship with Beijing is “severed”.

His comments came after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the Australian government was not expected to follow the US.

“Now that Congress and the US are banning TikTok, do you think we’ll do the same here in Australia?” asked WSFM radio host Brendan Jones.

“We will seek advice, but we have no plans,” Mr Albanese replied.

“You must always put national security interests first, but you must also recognize that this is a way for many people to communicate.”

But Patterson called on the government to “take action”, saying the app posed a risk to Australian democracy and national security.

Speaking on Sunday, he said the coalition does not yet support a full ban on the platform, but that the administration should support growing efforts in the US to spin off TikTok’s US operations from its Beijing-based parent company.

“If the United States successfully removes TikTok from ByteDance, Australia should look to do the same,” the Victorian senator told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“The ending I hope for is that Australians can continue to use TikTok, but without the risk of their data being misused and without the risk that the Chinese Communist Party can override the algorithm to pump disinformation into our democracy.

‘I’m sure intelligence agencies aren’t saying to the Prime Minister, ‘There’s nothing to worry about with TikTok – there’s no worry at all.’

“We know that’s not the case.”

The platform, whose users are mainly teenagers and young adults, is among Australia’s most downloaded apps.

But many politicians and security analysts in Australia and abroad have become increasingly wary of it, concerned that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over user data, or use it for propaganda and to sow division.

TikTok said it will not transfer data to China and that it is trying to remove misinformation from its platform.

The US legislation to tackle TikTok has received significant support among US politicians and was overwhelmingly passed by the lower house of Congress.

TikTok has urged US users to contact their local politicians to show their disapproval via an in-app notification.

If the bill also passes the U.S. Senate, President Joe Biden has indicated he will sign the legislation into law, creating a legal challenge to the legislation on the grounds that it infringes on the First Nations’ right to freedom of expression Amendment.

Chinese government officials have also expressed opposition to US pressure to force the sale of TikTok, telling ByteDance they would prefer to see a ban enforced.

An outcome in which ByteDance refuses to divest the $160 billion app, forcing the ban and reducing its value, would be “revealing,” Senator Paterson said.

“That would be a very irrational choice, but it will be quite an illustrative choice, because I suspect that ByteDance would operate as an extension of the Chinese government, and not as a commercial entity.”

The senator also called on the government to introduce new transparency requirements on TikTok and other platforms such as Chinese social media site WeChat, as recommended by a Senate committee investigating the risk of foreign interference through social media.

“They need to be transparent about the relationship they have with foreign governments and the directions they receive from foreign governments to interfere with the content on a platform,” he said.

“These recommendations are there for the government to implement at any time… I really hope they do.”

But asked whether the issue should be raised when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Canberra next week, Senator Paterson said it was “not a high priority issue”.

“The Foreign Minister (Penny Wong) and the Prime Minister have a long list of issues to raise with (Mr Wang), especially the death sentence facing Australian citizen Yang Hengjun.”

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew responded — in the form of a TikTok clip — after the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a legislature that could ban the platform in the United States.

The House voted 352-65 on Wednesday, with representatives from both sides of the aisle joining together to pass the bill. It now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

Politicians have long raised concerns about TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing and is believed to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

President Joe Biden has pledged to sign the bill, which would force ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months or be banned from app stores and web hosting services.

Chew, 41, released a video on the official TikTok account on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday evening. The CEO introduced himself by his first name before beginning his prepared remarks.

“I just wanted to share some thoughts with our US users on the disappointing vote in the House of Representatives,” he said. “There has been a lot of misinformation and I hope to clear some things up.”

He thanked the platform’s 1.7 billion-member community for “making (their) voices heard.” As of March 2023, there were at least 150 million users based in the United States, although that number is now estimated at around 170 million.

‘Over the past years we have invested in keeping your data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation. We have committed to that and we will continue to do so,” Chew continued.

Whistleblowers within the company, most notably former ByteDance employee Yintao Yu, have previously raised alarms about its lax data privacy.

Yu, who served as head of engineering for ByteDance’s U.S. operations between August 2017 and November 2018, sued the company in May 2023.

In the complaint, he alleged that a group of CCP members nicknamed “The Committee” was installed in offices in Beijing and could view all data collected by the company, including data from the United States.

In 2022, TikTok announced Project Texas, an unprecedented initiative to store all US user data on servers in the country.

In June of that year, the platform reported that all US user traffic was being redirected to its cloud infrastructure in the United States.

TikTok also announced that it would also delete “historically protected user data” in data centers in both Virginia and Singapore.

Lawmakers and intelligence officials have spoken out about concerns that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data.

Their fears are fueled by a series of Chinese national security laws that force organizations to comply with intelligence gathering practices.

TikTok has repeatedly denied the sharing US user data to Chinese authorities and insists they will not do so even if asked.

FBI Director Christopher Wray appealed to members of the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, calling the CCP “the defining threat of our generation.”

“Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data, whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control the information they get through the recommendation algorithm,” he said.

Last year, researchers at Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute assessed a “strong possibility” that TikTok promotes and demotes certain topics based on the Chinese government’s preferences.

The researchers suspected that the algorithm manipulated discourse not only on topics specific to China, but also on strategically important topics such as the wars in it Ukraine and Israel.

The focus of Wednesday’s vote, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is not the first attempt to ban the app in the United States.

Former President Donald Trump tried to ban the video-sharing platform through an executive order in 2020. This attempt failed after TikTok filed a lawsuit and was ultimately blocked by the courts.

“This legislation, if signed into law, will lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States,” Chew said in the message on Wednesday. “Even the bill’s sponsors admit this is their goal.”

He added that the bill “gives more power to a handful of other social media companies,” but did not mention them by name.

“It will also take billions of dollars out of the pockets of makers and small businesses,” Chew continued. “It will put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk and it will take away your TikTok.”

Addressing the users themselves, he continued: “We will not stop advocating for you and we will continue to do everything we can, including exercising our legal rights, to build this great platform that we have together with you built, to protect.’

He ended the video by urging users to continue sharing their voices with those around them, including their senators.

Chew and executives from other tech companies such as Meta and Snap testified before U.S. lawmakers last month on the topic of online child safety.

During the hearing, Chew was questioned about his nationality and possible connections to the CCP by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas.

“You said today, as you often say, that you live in Singapore. Of which country are you a citizen?’ Cotton asked.

Chew repeatedly confirmed that he was Singaporean, even referring to his mandatory two-year service in the country’s military.

When Cotton Chew even asked if he was a member of the CCP, the CEO replied, “Senator, I am Singaporean. No.’

If the bill were to pass the Senate and be signed into law, TikTok would lose a substantial portion of its advertising market.

A 2022 study from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health found that the app generated $2 billion in ad revenue from users aged 13 to 17 in the United States alone.

Although the bill received overwhelming support during Wednesday’s vote, critics were quick to voice their opposition.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, denounced the Legislature as “bad policy” in a tweet.

“We need to create real standards and regulations around privacy violations at social media companies — not target platforms we don’t like,” she wrote.

Advocates and content creators flocked to the Capitol ahead of the vote. Some held signs that read, “TikTok has changed my life for the better.”

TikTok itself also issued a statement opposing the vote.

“This process was secret and the bill was blocked for one reason: it is a ban,” spokesman Alex Haurek said in a statement.

“We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents and realize the impact on the economy, on seven million small businesses and on the 170 million Americans who use our service.”

SPACEX has announced the launch date for Starship’s third test launch, months after the rocket exploded in mid-air during an earlier training flight.

Starship is the rocket that NASA will use to take humans to the moon during the 2026 Artemis III mission – and ultimately to Mars in the 2030s.

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In an announcement on X (formerly Twitter), the company said it is targeting March 14 for Starship’s third test flight “pending regulatory approval.”

The second test flight in October last year exploded dramatically in mid-air due to a technical fault.

The nearly 400-foot-tall rocket with 33 engines is the most powerful spacecraft ever built and costs a whopping $3 billion.

SpaceX plans to try a number of procedures on this third attempt, including propellant transfers during the coast phase of the flight.

Without the ability to transfer fuel into space, NASA will not be able to land astronauts on the moon.

If successful, SpaceX will attempt to transfer propellant from one rocket to another in orbit on the next jump.

In this process, several spacecraft will fuel a tanker in orbit, which will be used to move fuel to another spaceship that is part of NASA’s Human Landing System.

It’s part of the U.S. mission to get boots on the moon’s south pole before China does.

US vs China

The ongoing saber-rattling between the US and China has led to a renaissance of the space race of the 1960s.

The pair compete for the moon’s mysterious south pole, which both countries believe is the most feasible location for a permanent moon base.

In January, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he believed the “race” for China was over, and that the US was on track to return humans to the moon in September 2026 with Artemis III.

If all goes according to plan, Artemis III will be the first human mission on the moon since Apollo 17.

China’s military presence in the South China Sea signals how the country might behave on the lunar surface, Nelson argues, which would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

But China has big plans and is working with Russia to realize them.

A research paper from scientists at the China National Space Administration earlier this week revealed that the country plans to build a moon base the size of Disneyland.

The planned moon base has a radius of 6 km and includes a command center, a power plant, a communications center, scientific facilities and a fleet of robots.

It will even have its own remote sensing, navigation and communications satellites.

China hopes to start construction of the moon base within the next few years and have a stripped-down version of the outpost by 2028.

Next, China and Russia plan to build a nuclear reactor by 2035 with the robots that will call the moon base their home.

Hunting for helium

The south pole of the moon has been a place of interest for all spacefaring countries including India, Russia, China and the US.

The area is considered one of the most resource-rich areas on the moon.

Last year, India made history by becoming the first country to land near the southern location.

Days before India’s success, Russia also attempted a landing at the South Pole, which resulted in an emergency landing.

There are many ‘cold traps’ on the moon’s surface that are believed to contain gases such as Helium-3, which could help produce enormous amounts of energy here on Earth.

“Even though there are many precious metals and minerals on the moon, the most valuable resource is Helium-3, because it is rare on Earth but very common on the moon,” says a report from the Universities Space Research Association (USRA ). .

“The price of Helium-3 could even reach $2,000 per liter, or $59.15 per ounce.

“It is essential to note that 2.2 pounds, or 1 kilogram, of Helium-3 mixed with 1.5 pounds, or 0.67 kilograms of deuterium, can produce 19 years of megawatts of energy – enough energy to power the United States for an entire year Let it turn.”

NASA’s next lunar rover is nearing completion as the US ramps up efforts for a third moon landing attempt this year.

The US and China are competing for the moon’s mysterious south pole, which both countries say is the most feasible location for a permanent moon base.

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After a fiery failure and a botched landing, the US’s third lunar robot is set to roll out to the launch pad in 2024.

NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – known as VIPER – will begin its journey to the moon later this year.

“All VIPER flight instruments have been installed and the rover is more than 80% built!” VIPER project manager Dan Andrews wrote in a NASA blog message earlier this week.

“This is a major achievement and shows the great progress being made by the dedicated VIPER team, who are excited to see the rover come together.”

VIPER will land near the moon’s south pole with the mission to search for water-based ice and other resources to aid future astronauts on the Artemis III mission.

Artemis III is currently scheduled to launch in 2026.

US vs China

The ongoing saber-rattling between the US and China has led to a renaissance of the space race of the 1960s.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson has long viewed China as the most capable adversary to set foot on the moon by the end of this decade.

But a task that may be more difficult than transporting people to the moon is building a sustainable infrastructure where people can survive off-planet.

And China – not surprisingly – has big plans for this.

A research paper from scientists at the China National Space Administration earlier this week revealed that the country plans to build a moon base the size of Disneyland.

An “all-seeing” Skynet CCTV system with more than 600 million cameras will be installed inside the base, presumably on Beijing’s orders, to spy on Chinese citizens on Earth.

The planned moon base has a radius of 6 km and includes a command center, a power plant, a communications center, scientific facilities and a fleet of robots.

It will even have its own remote sensing, navigation and communications satellites.

China hopes to start construction of the moon base within the next few years and have a stripped-down version of the outpost by 2028.

In January, Nelson said he believed China’s “race” to the moon’s south pole was over.

The NASA chief announced that the agency is now targeting September 2026 for its Artemis III mission, the first human mission on the moon since Apollo 17.

“I’m not concerned that China will land before us,” Nelson told reporters at the time.

“I think China has a very aggressive plan. I think they would want to land before us because that could give them a PR coup.

‘But the fact is that I don’t think that will be the case.

“I think it’s true that their announced date is getting earlier and earlier.

“But specifically, as we land in September ’26, that will be the first landing.”

Nelson fears China will violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty if Beijing were to beat Washington at the post.

CHINA plans to install chilling all-seeing surveillance on the moon to spy on its citizens and protect its future moon base.

Skynet’s security cameras will reportedly be equipped with AI-powered chips that can detect and target “suspicious targets.”

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Skynet is the world’s largest surveillance network, with more than 600 million cameras currently used to monitor every inch of China.

The name comes from the Chinese proverb: ‘There is a net in the forever skywith large loopholes but does not let anything through,” meaning that the law is all-seeing and that violators will always face retaliation.

China’s plans to send Skynet to the moon stemmed from a desire to ensure the long-term stability and safety of the proposed International Lunar Research Station, according to a research paper written by scientists at the China National Space Administration.

The planned moon base, which is larger than Disneyland, has a radius of 6 miles and includes a command center, a current station, a communications center, scientific facilities and a fleet of robots.

It will even have its own satellites for remote sensing, navigation and communications.

China hopes to start construction of the moon base within the country next one and establish a base station based on lunar soil by 2028.

According to the article published in the Chinese academic journal Acta Optica Sinica: “The construction and operation of the optical surveillance system for the [International] Lunar Research Station can build on the successful experience… of China’s Skynet project.”

China’s lunar version of Skynet will include a large number of high-end security cameras – each weighing 100 grams – that operate in visible light and infrared zones. South China Morning Mail reports.

And AI-powered chips in the cameras will be “capable of independently identifying, locating, tracking and targeting suspicious targets.”

If “abnormalities” are detected, the system will “immediately generate alarm signals and initiate appropriate response measures.”

It is not known what the “response measures” might entail.

The system allows high-resolution, multi-camera live images of events – such as the arrival and departure of spacecraft carrying international astronauts – to be streamed to Earth.

All cameras should automatically connect to each other after arriving on the moon, allowing full coverage of the station.

Decision makers claim that certain areas within the station may require continuous 360-degree surveillance.

The article, co-authored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Zhejiang University and the space agency, emphasized that the lunar Skynet needs to be strengthened against potential external threats.

The authors wrote: “Ensuring confidential communications between the various optical sensing terminals and the central control hub poses a significant technical hurdle.

“The encryption techniques used for signal transmission and streaming media must be able to withstand the interference caused by the intense electromagnetic radiation prevalent in deep space. The data must not be damaged or stolen.

“It underscored the need to establish a new set of standards tailored to the unique operational requirements of space missions, ensuring the integrity and security of mass-produced optical surveillance terminals.”

Meanwhile, a team is working on a design for a robot that can make bricks from lunar soil, Chinese media report.

Ding Lieyun, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, previously proposed an egg-shaped base called the “Lunar Pot Vessel” to house astronauts on the moon.

It would be built with rocks on lunar soil, made with 3D printers and lasers.

Ding said: “Building a habitat on the moon is necessary for long-term lunar exploration, and will definitely be realized in the future.” future.”

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An Australian fisherman who claimed to have discovered the wing of missing flight MH370 has renewed calls for a new search, almost a decade after the plane disappeared.

The Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing made headlines around the world when it disappeared mid-flight on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board.

Despite extensive multinational searches in the southern Indian Ocean, authorities have been unable to recover the remains of the victims.

Fisherman Kit Olver recently revealed a strange find in his fishing net, seven months after the plane disappeared, which could prove searchers were looking in the wrong place.

The 78-year-old told reporters late last year that he had found a large commercial aircraft wing about 55km off the southeast coast of South Australia in September or October 2014, when the piece of debris became stuck in the net of his fishing boat.

Mr. Olver told it 60 minutesIn an episode broadcast on Sunday evening, he was absolutely certain that what he had seen was the wing of MH370, but had to put it back in the water because of its weight.

“It was the wing of a bloody plane,” he told the programme.

‘If it’s not from MH370, what is it?’

He was adamant when asked whether it occurred to him at the time that the wing probably belonged to MH370.

“As soon as we saw it, we thought so. Of course we did,” he said.

“We’ve gotten a pretty good idea of ​​it.”

Mr Olver added that he reported his find to authorities at the time.

News of the discovery has revived desperate calls from the victims’ families for a fresh search for the wreckage of MH370.

One of those calls is from Jacquie Gonzales, whose husband Patrick Gomes was the chief steward on the flight.

“I thought we would have answers much sooner,” she said through tears.

“He’s not coming back, so we have to accept it, but we still need to know exactly where he is and how it happened.”

Underwater researcher Peter Waring, who was deputy operations manager on the initial search for MH370 before it ended in 2017, believes the Malaysian government should fund the new search.

“To me, it would feel like we’ve finally completed something we started so long ago. It always felt like an open book. “I would like nothing more than to see it finished,” he said.

He also claimed the mission was doomed from the start when the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was put in charge.

“The Australian government has made a fundamental error in assuming that a transport investigation authority could conduct a search. And not just any search, but the greatest search in human history,” Waring told the program.

“The ATSB, despite being full of well-meaning people, was not the right agency to conduct the search.”

Mr Waring said the original search parameters were likely outside the plane’s landing site.

This is based on the theory that someone was still in control of the plane when it crashed into the ocean.

Mr Waring believes Mr Olver’s story is ‘absolutely plausible’ and urged authorities to investigate the reported discovery.

“If there’s someone in the driver’s seat until the end, then the search area is very, very different than the area we actually looked at,” he said.

“I don’t believe that scenario has ever been adequately considered, certainly not by the Australian government.”

Aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey says the Malaysian government failed to act on his analysis, which captured the flight path of MH370 before it crashed into the Indian Ocean, creating a search radius of 30km.

However, ATSB Commissioner Angus Mitchell said that while the potential investigators were not searching the correct area for the aircraft, there was currently no “new evidence to suggest that what we assessed at the time was incorrect”.

Asked whether the original search failed because search crews “missed the plane, or because you were looking in the wrong place”, Mr Mitchell said it was “probably a combination”.

“Some of the resolution of that search area was with a high degree of accuracy and we didn’t find it there,” he said.

‘So that could indicate that part of the place we were looking was not the right place.‘

While Mr Mitchell acknowledged that the current investigation into the plane’s disappearance was ‘excessive’ [the ATSB’s] capabilities,” he said future searches would be subject to Australian government approval.

While it could “co-sponsor a new search” and “put some pressure” on the Malaysian government, he did not believe a new investigation would be dependent on the foreign government’s approval.

“We’ve started something and I think most Australians would agree that once you start something you should try to finish it,” he said.

THE US has officially staked its claim on the moon’s south pole with the success of its nail-biting Odysseus moon landing.

While the White House is one step closer to securing a permanent base on the moon, it may not be alone on the lunar surface.

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The ongoing tussle between the US and China has led to a renaissance of the space race of the 1960s.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson has long viewed China as the most capable adversary to get boots on the moon by the end of this decade.

But a task that may be more difficult than transporting people to the moon is building a sustainable infrastructure where people can survive off-planet.

It’s not outside the realm of possibility for them to say, ‘Stay out, we’re here, this is our territory.’

Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator

In January, Nelson said he believed the “race” for China was over and that the US was heading straight.

The NASA chief announced that the agency is now targeting September 2026 for its Artemis III mission, the first human mission on the moon since Apollo 17.

“I’m not afraid that China will land before us,” Nelson told the press at the time.

“I think China has a very aggressive plan. I think they would want to land before us because that could give them a PR coup.

‘But the fact is that I don’t think that will be the case.

“I think it’s true that their announced date is getting earlier and earlier.

“But specifically, as we land in September ’26, that will be the first landing.”

Nelson has spoken openly about his fear if China were to put them in the post.

China’s military presence in the South China Sea signals how the country might behave on the lunar surface, Nelson claimed, which would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

“We better be careful that they don’t come to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research,” he told Politico last year.

“And it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they’ll say, ‘Stay out, we’re here, this is our territory.’”

Like the US, China has its own plans for a lunar research facility, which it already plans to share with Egypt, Venezuela, South Africa, Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

As things stand, China aims to establish its International Lunar Research Base (ILRS) no earlier than 2028.

China is convinced that its intentions with ILRS are to collect samples and conduct “scientific exploration,” despite NASA’s suspicions.

Even though there are many precious metals and minerals on the moon, Helium-3 is the most valuable resource because it is rare on Earth but very common on the moon.

The University Space Research Association

While China was late to the first round of the space race, Beijing is investing heavily to become the second country to land humans on the moon by 2030.

The favored Chinese crew will also be the first non-Americans to land on the lunar surface.

According to Euroconsult, China under President Xi Jinping has spent nearly $6 billion on its ambitious space program.

Although NASA is no longer concerned about Beijing’s victory in the space race, China has made good progress since landing its rover in 2013 and even has the historic achievement of exploring the dark side of the moon.

Why the south pole of the moon?

The south pole of the moon has been a place of interest for all spacefaring countries including India, Russia, China and the US.

Last year, India made history by becoming the first country to land near the southern location.

A few days earlier, Russia also attempted a landing at the South Pole, which ended in an emergency landing.

NASA’s Artemis III mission aims to explore an area near the moon’s south pole.

The Artemis III mission is part of a ten-year program that is expected to culminate in a permanent moon base by the end of the decade.

Scientists say the South Pole is the most promising location for water-based ice, which will be crucial for future human habitation on the moon.

But the abundance of precious lunar materials that the winners of the space race will have almost exclusive access to could also fuel the chase, experts say.

The south polar region is one of the most resource-rich areas on the moon.

In a report, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) said the price of returning precious metals such as platinum and rhodium to Earth would not be cost-effective.

However, this does not apply to Helium-3.

So-called ‘cold traps’ scattered across the moon’s surface are believed to contain gases such as Helium-3, which could help produce vast amounts of energy here on Earth.

“Even though there are many precious metals and minerals on the moon, the most valuable resource is Helium-3, because it is rare on Earth but very common on the moon,” experts write.

“The price of Helium-3 could even reach $2,000 per liter, or $59.15 per ounce.

“It is essential to note that 2.2 pounds, or 1 kilogram, of Helium-3 mixed with 1.5 pounds, or 0.67 kilograms of deuterium, can produce 19 years of megawatts of energy – enough energy to power the United States for an entire year Let it turn.”

The US government, in collaboration with Chinese scientists, is spending $1 million of US taxpayer money to fund experiments on dangerous bird flu viruses.

The research involves infecting ducks and geese with different strains of the virus to make them more transmissible and contagious, and studying the viruses' potential to “jump into mammalian hosts,” according to research papers.

It is funded by the US Department of Agriculture and collaborative studies will take place at sites in Georgia, Beijing and Edinburgh in Scotland.

It's coming despite such research being restricted in 2022 and concerns growing that questionable Chinese research may have been the start Covid pandemic.

The documents were obtained by campaign group The White Coat Waste Project and shared with DailyMail.com.

The papers show that funding for the avian virus research began in April 2021 and will continue through March 2026.

The USDA told this website that the project was applied for in 2019 and approved in 2020.

The specific viruses the researchers will work with include H5NX, H7N9 and H9N2, WCW reported.

A 2023 study described H5NX viruses as 'highly pathogenic' with the ability to cause neurological complications in humans.

The H7N9 strain first infected people and animals in China in March 2013 and the World Health Organization said this is concerning “as most patients have become seriously ill.”

The H9N2 strain has been found in pigeons in China and although it has lower pathogenicity than the other strains, it can still infect humans.

Key collaborators on the project are the USDA Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, a laboratory partner from Wuhan.

Moreover, one of the researchers collaborating on the project is Wenju Liu, who is affiliated with the WIV – which is believed to have caused the Covid pandemic – and a member of the board of directors of a scientific journal, in collaboration with Zheng- Li Shi, who is known as the 'bat lady' for her extensive work on bat coronaviruses.

Various aspects of the research will take place at multiple locations, including poultry research centers in Athens, Georgia, at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh. and at the Chinese Academy in Beijing.

Allan Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the USDA, told DailyMail.com that the $100 million funding awarded to the research “will only be used for the specific components performed by our own team in Athens, Georgia, and in no way contributes to research. that take place in Britain or China.'

Justin Goodman, senior vice president of WCW, said in a statement to DailyMail.com: “It is reckless and indefensible for… bureaucrats to fund dangerous studies into the inner workings of bird flu involving virus researchers from Wuhan's infamous animal laboratory involved. likely the cause of COVID and its CCP-led parent organization, the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for animal testing with foreign adversaries that can push viruses and cause pandemics or create bioweapons.”

Following the release of the documents by WCW, Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa wrote a letter Thursday to Tom Vilsack, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, asking for more information about the department's ongoing funding of the investigation.

The letter read: “I was disturbed to learn from the nonprofit White Coat Waste Project that USDA is supporting experiments with a 'highly pathogenic avian flu virus' that poses a 'risk to both animals and humans.'

Sen. Ernst said in a statement to DailyMail.com: “The health and safety of Americans is too important to be taken lightly, and Biden's USDA should have been more understanding before sending taxpayer money to deal with to work. [China] about risky bird flu research.

“They should know by now to suspect 'fowl' play when it comes to researchers linked to the dangerous Wuhan Lab, and simply switching from bats to birds is raising concerns that they are creating more pathogens with pandemic potential.”

“Here's my warning: The Biden administration should walk on eggshells until it cuts off every cent going to our adversaries. We cannot allow what happened in Wuhan to happen again.”

Despite the senators' concerns, the USDA spokesperson told this website that it is “common for international researchers to conduct independent research tied to the same end goal” and that the research does not qualify as gain-of-function.

He added, “Anytime Senator Ernst has a question for USDA about our research or our commitment to helping American farmers reduce animal diseases like highly pathogenic bird flu, she should contact us directly before posting misinformation in a press release or public letter. …and despite the Senator's claims, this is not a gain-of-function study.

“Because animal diseases are a global threat, it is common for international researchers to conduct independent research related to the same end goal – but what Senator Ernst outlines in her letter is far from what actually happens, and is also based on approval decisions that date back from before this government.'