NASA accuses China of stealing space technology

America’s space agency, NASA has accused China of stealing unclassified American technology, ranging from military secrets to medical research.

America’s space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has accused China of stealing unclassified American technology, ranging from military secrets to medical research.

During a United States House Appropriations Committee hearing on May 17, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson accused the Chinese Communist Party of stealing the United States’ most vital technological secrets, The Singapore Post reported.

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“Yeah, they’re pretty good at stealing, And I think that’s incumbent upon us to take cybersecurity very, very seriously,” Nelson said.

This comes as a response to the questions raised by the US representative and committee member, Robert Aderholt who noted that the space vehicles being developed between private US companies and state-run Chinese organizations have similarities.

“We simply cannot ignore the threat from China and our adversaries who are making technological, manufacturing, and exploration advancements daily,” The Singapore Post quoted Aderholt as saying.

“For far too long, we have allowed China and other adversaries to challenge our space dominance and their ambitions only continue to grow,” he said adding, “The US needs a clear vision that could last across administrations to dictate its space policy more effectively , as a matter of national defense,” the report further quoted Aderholt as saying.

Notably, the US government has advised the private industry that China is engaged in a committed effort to illicitly acquire critical and emerging technologies in every sector of the US economy, particularly those vital to its military modernization efforts, the Singapore Post reported.

Referring to this, Aderholt termed the US technologies required for achieving political dominance in space as the precious commodity of the country.

Bill Nelson, responding to Aderholt said, “I believe we are in, and I have said this publicly before I think we’re in a space race with China,” adding that this will define the world’s strategic and military situation for decades to come .

The report said that the experts have warned that China’s space program is a military threat to Western powers. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said that the United States would need to develop offensive space weapons to deter the threat. China has made no secret of its ambitions for space. One official white paper detailed a plan for the Communist regime to become the world’s leading “space power.”

Meanwhile, China’s aerospace experts condemned NASA’s claims, stressing that China has achieved space achievements beyond the US despite the strong blockade of the country because China is taking the road of independent space development, as per the Chinese media reports.

The Global Times quoted, an academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, Deng Yulin, Bill Nelson’s false accusation exposed the NASA chief’s double standards.

“The allegation of NASA’s chief is not only unreasonable but also certain to be laughed at by history,” said another expert.

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Network of Syria conspiracy theorists identified | Syria

A network of more than two dozen conspiracy theorists, frequently backed by a coordinated Russian campaign, sent thousands of disinformation tweets to distort the reality of the Syrian conflict and deter intervention by the international community, new analysis reveals.

Data gathered by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) identified a network of social media accounts, individuals, outlets and organizations who disseminated disinformation about the conflict, with 1.8 million people following their every word. The three principal false narratives promoted by the network of conspiracy theorists involved misrepresenting the White Helmets, the volunteer organization working to evacuate people in Syria. They also focused on the denial or distortion of facts about the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons and on attacking the findings of the world’s foremost chemical weapons watchdog.

The White Helmets became a target of Russian ire after documenting incidents such as the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun in 2017, which killed 92 people, a third of them children. A UN unit later concluded there were “reasonable grounds to believe that Syrian forces dropped a bomb dispersing sarin” on the town in Idlib province.

The new analysis, contained in a report by The Syria Campaign, also found that official Russian government accounts played a key role in creating and spreading false content, with the Russian embassy to the UK and Syria playing a prominent role..

Of the 47,000 disinformation tweets sent by the core of 28 conspiracy theorists over seven years from 2015 to 2021, 19,000 were original posts, which were retweeted more than 671,000 times.

Among those named in the report as an influential spreader of disinformation are Vanessa Beeley, a self-described independent journalist whose conspiracy theories have been cited as evidence by Russia at the UN security council.

In September 2015 Beeley accused White Helmets of being in league with al-Qaida and other terrorist organisations, claiming that the footage they gather as they rescue civilians from bombed-out buildings is staged.

Girl leans against wall with young child in her arms.  Woman and baby in foreground but out of focus
A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face of an infant at a makeshift hospital after a reported gas attack on the rebel-held town of Douma, Syria, on 22 January 2018. Photograph: Hasan Mohamed/AFP/Getty Images

Farouq Habib, White Helmets deputy manager, said: “At first we really thought this could just be someone who didn’t have enough correct info, and we should contact her to explain.

But then with some research, we realized it’s deliberate and systematic.”

There is also a group of British academics accused of spreading pro-Syrian regime disinformation and conspiracy theories promoted by Russia. Since 2020, journalist Aaron Mate at the Grayzone is said by the report to have overtaken Beeley as the most prolific spreader of disinformation among the 28 conspiracy theorists identified.

Lina Sergie Attar, founder and chief executive of the Karam Foundation, said: “It’s insulting that a group of western conspiracy theorists think they hold a higher moral standard but just spread their lies.”

Others include Canadian independent journalist Eva Bartlett who appeared on a Syrian government panel at the

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‘Why are we heating the air?’ Australians turn to warming gadgets as cold and energy costs bite | Homes

Dave Southgate is toasty in his chilly Canberra home – and he pays no power bills.

A USB-rechargeable heated vest, worn underneath a jumper, and a heated scarf wrapped around his neck offer all the warmth he needs. His heat-loving wife prefers an electrically-warmed seat. They keep electric throw rugs on the couch.

A cyclist mate uses heated socks, Southgate says, while hand warmers either disposable heat packs that use a chemical reaction to give about 10 hours of warmth, or battery-powered gloves – are great in pockets for going outside, and in bed instead of a traditional hot water bottle.

“They’re using bugger all energy,” he says. “And you can get yourself beautifully warm.”

Australia is in the middle of an energy crisis, a broader cost of living crisis, and an uncommonly bitter cold snap across much of the land.

Google data show searches for “heated blanket” and “heated socks” have soared to their highest rates ever in the past couple of weeks. In recent years, the range of personal heating devices available, usually made with small filaments threaded through fabric, has also increased.

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There are app-controlled “body furnaces” that can be strapped to limbs or torsos. Trendy heated scarves come in a rainbow of colors and sport jaunty bows.

Remote controlled insoles offer three levels of heating inside your shoes. Chemists sell cheap, disposable hand heaters, while a heated computer mouse will set you back a little more (and only help one hand at a time).

There are waist warmers that sit on the hips like corsets or fluffy pink bustles complete with rabbit tails attached, and retro-futuristic heated shoulder pads.

A corset-like waist warmer, a warming shoulder pad and a warming bustle with a bunny tail.
Heated waist and shoulder warmers from Ozsale, Zarkie and Japan Trend Shop. Composite: Ozsale/ Zarkie / Japan Trend Shop

Southgate, 74, describes himself as a “frustrated climate change bureaucrat”, who has been documenting his family’s transition away from fossil fuels over about a decade.

Solar panels now provide more than enough power for the family home. He started by sealing the house from any drafts, and installing energy-efficient infrared panels.

“Then we started asking, why are we heating all the air?” Southgate says. “What’s the point if you only want to heat people?”

So he started experimenting with personal heating devices, and landed on his preferred outfit.

“My wife’s from Malaysia, she wants things very hot. The heated seat is a great favourite,” he says.

“We’ve left the hot water bottle for heated hand warmers – they last all night and on a cold day I’ll … put them in

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