​China has decided where to build its future base on the moon ● We can detect life on Enceladus without even landing on its surface ● Nobel laureate teaches us how to cook pasta and save the planet at the same time

China has decided where exactly it will build its future lunar base

It is clear that we are in the second space race, the difference is that only the actors have changed. This time, China is competing with the USA, and the natural satellite of the Earth, the Moon, is at stake. If the Americans remembered exactly 50 years later that they could send people to the moon, and that plans to create a lunar base existed even before satelliteization, then the Chinese seem to be about to take the first step.

And the bet, at least on the official level, is to build a lunar base. Meanwhile, China says it has already found a site for a future international station. More precisely, the south pole of the Moon. In a study published in the journal Planetary and Space Science, several Chinese researchers say that the South Pole appears to be the most habitable from this point of view.

First of all, these are, as the data show, the largest reserves of water, the most important resource in terms of the construction of the future base. It is also home to the Aitken Basin, the largest and oldest crater on the Moon, which may provide important information about how the Moon and, by extension, our Solar System formed.

And last but not least: the South Pole has a constant temperature, say Chinese experts, a flat surface, ideal for laying the foundation of an international station. For that they say they need a few more missions. For example, the Chang’e 6 spacecraft, which will be launched in 2025, aims to collect samples of the lunar soil in the mentioned region. Chang’e 7 (scheduled for 2026) will conduct a detailed analysis of the South Pole, while Chang’e 8 is to confirm the technologies that will be deployed there.

After the completion of the Chang’e missions after 2030, China plans to send its first human crew to the moon. It is planned that in 2035 he will lay the foundation of the space station, which he will build in cooperation with Russia. Everything is great on paper. But let’s see if everything goes according to plan. In addition, it remains to be seen how the Americans, who also just launched the Artemis program, will react to this. By the way, the purpose of Artemis would be approximately the same.

We could detect life on Enceladus without even going down to its surface

We all know that Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, is one of the most important candidates in the list of heavenly bodies that could host life. There’s no way you wouldn’t know we’re the only ones who’ve messed with your head with this.

The fact is that it was more difficult to notice her. Life. Enceladus penguins don’t jump on the surface, it’s better to shoot them in the eye with a sniper rifle to relax after all that traveling and mayhem. Besides, drilling those tens of kilometers of ice costs you a lot of money, you don’t guarantee that you spent the money for any tangible result, and you’re bored until you’re done. So it’s not done.

But it seems we have other solutions. Some American guys, specialists in biology, talk about this in The Planetary Science Journal. Theoretically, they say, it would be good to pass through the region of the south pole of Enceladus, because there the ice is thinner, its thickness is only about 5 kilometers, and it’s nice that we stay in space, nice, we don’t even have to go down.

What are we doing there? We are waiting for geysers, which, as the Cassini probe told us more than ten years ago, are also hundreds of kilometers away. Geyser is coming, and here we are with a collection of his samples! Well, here comes the most interesting part. What are we looking for in these samples? That it is more difficult for biological material to reach space. Methane we already know exists, we don’t worry about it anymore.

Well, the same specialists teach us, we look for amino acids. Accordingly, glycine. It’s an indirect sign of life, but it’s still better than nothing. If we find enough glycine, we also have evidence of life. Houses are closed! Further!

A Nobel laureate teaches us how to cook pasta and save the planet at the same time

The Nobel laureate is Italian. Otherwise, he obviously wouldn’t be talking about Easter. His name is Giorgio Parisi, he won a prize in physics, so he’s a high school guy, we can trust what he says. And he says we’ve spent a lot of stupid money on brambura so far, and we’re still doing it, cooking pasta like we’re desperate. We are also destroying the planet.

It is better, advises Parisi, to slightly change the way of preparing the pasta. For example, how do they prepare? Well, they go into the water where they hydrate and take in as much H2O as they can. When we heat the water, these proteins become edible. Theoretically, depending on the thickness of the paste, boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Huge! This means that every country spends millions of dollars every year on making pasta. Not to mention the wasted energy.

If we stop the boil halfway through and cover the pot of pasta with a lid, we get the same effect with all the benefits we get for the planet. Another way is to leave the paste in cold water for several hours. They will look like they came out of a hot pan. All you have to do is pour warm water over them and that’s it. Art and precision.

Apparently, several chefs from top Michelin-starred restaurants jumped in and said it was sacrilege, that the pasta would be a complete embarrassment, and that their customers wouldn’t eat it either. We are worried that because of those who eat five-star pasta, we will no longer have a planet, because it is interesting to them. However, we add that you’re not one of them either, and applying these principles in the kitchen may give you the same awkwardly cooked pasta as before, but the butterflies, bees, and other cute critters you don’t eat in the kitchen will be around forever grateful that you saved their home.

Photo source: profimediaimages.ro