Tag: science

This undated file image provided by Jilin University in northeast China's Jilin Province shows a reconstructed 3D image of Equus ovodovi, an extinct ancient horse. (Jilin University/Handout via Xinhua)

China: Ancient Chinese Horse Reconstructed! (12.9.2026)

The horse fossils, dating back roughly 40,000 years, were first found in a cave in southwestern Siberia in Russia. Initially, only broken jawbones and teeth were discovered, without a complete skull. Over the years, related fossils have also been unearthed in North America, Africa, Siberia and northeast China. However, because the bones were scattered fragments, the animal’s true appearance had remained a mystery for more than a hundred years.

In 2022, Chinese researchers at Jilin University and Northwest A&F University in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province successfully extracted high-quality gene data from the fossils. Building on that work, they worked with American researchers in 2026, comparing the fossil data with living species, such as the Asian wild donkey and domestic horse. They reconstructed the skeleton, built up muscle structure, and eventually recreated the animal’s full appearance.

Continue reading

Workers celebrate as excavation of the Jintang undersea tunnel passes the 4,000-meter mark on Aug. 31, 2026. (Photo: China News Service/Zhao Rongfa)

China: World’s Longest Undersea [High-Speed] Rail Tunnel Project – Passes “4-km Boring Milestone”! (2.9.2026)

Stretching 16.18 kilometres, the Jintang Tunnel is a core component of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway. Upon completion, it will become the world’s longest undersea high-speed railway tunnel. Its 11.21-kilometre shield-driven section is being excavated from the Ningbo and Zhoushan sides by two tunnel boring machines that will meet beneath the sea.

The tunnel’s Ningbo excavation segment spans 4.94 kilometres, with its lowest point reaching 92 metres below the seabed. The domestically developed “Yongzhou” machine is currently boring through the hardest full-face rock section along the undersea route.

Continue reading

Portrait of William of Ockham by Peter Paul Rubens 1617

UK: William of Ockham (1287-1347-49?) – Origin of “Occam’s Razor”! (22.8.2026)

The Church and the State would have us believe that out of this quagmire of human ignorance and darkness – rays of light emerged. I can say that William of Ockham did write copious numbers of texts on all kinds of academic and theological topics, including politics, biographies, and philosophy. Part of the delay in the examination of his work by the Vatican in the 1320s was caused by its sheer volume. And it would seem that after his “Excommunication” – the nature of his work became ever-more defiant and questioning of Church authority. I think his conflict with the Church solidified his method of the efficient use of knowledge as a means of critiquing Church dogma and theology. Indeed, William appears to become nearly “Protestant” in his argument with Avignon. He may not have coined the term “Occam’s Razor” (why would a humble monk do such a strange thing?) – but he certainly earned the right to be considered a strong candidate for its modern inception due to the nature of the hostility he had to contend with. Although I am always suspicious of bourgeois sources (due to their a priori anti-Socialist position) – I believe we can trust the two I have included below. As always – think for yourself.

Continue reading

PrOP-M - Soviet Rover - 1971

USSR: The 1971 Mars 2 & Mars 3 Missions – Carried the 1st Soviet-Made “Mars Rovers” [PrOP-M]! (18.8.2026)

The USSR and Eastern Europe had been devastated by Hitler during WWII with the Soviets suffering 41 million (killed and wounded) casualties whilst large swathes of the Western USSR was materially devastated. Leningrad, of course, was reduced to starvation by the Nazi blockade (rather like what Trump II is attempting to do to Cuba). Despite suffering that material and psychological devastation – within a few short years of reconstruction directed by Joseph Stalin – the country was able to regroup and direct its resources toward space exploration, a process which sent shockwaves throughout the world of the US, a place which had suffered no material or economic damage during WWII. Make no mistake about, although Stalin passed away in 1953 – everything that unfolded in the USSR from a technological position – manifested from the groundwork laid by Stalin between 1945-1953. This dialectical preparation sustained the country for decades despites its leaders betraying Stalin and taking the country in a Counter-Revolutionary direction. Indeed, the Mars 2 and Mars 3 Soviet fact-finding missions to Mars in 1971 both carried a version of the world’s first “rover” designed to explore the area immediately surrounding the lander (or “Mars Station”). This “Device Assessing [through] Cross-Country Capability-Mars” [Прибор оценки проходимости-Марс – Pribor otsenki prokhodimosti-Mars] or “ПрОП-М” [PrOP-M] was attached to the lander via a 15 metre tethering cable (similar to the first-generation remote controls attached to TV sets and video recorders).

Continue reading

A protest against AI outside OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, California, on 11 July. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

US: Trump Vows to “Break Wynd” Over AI Row! (17.8.2026)

She said that when she was found guilty, she was “hit with a wave of grief” because she realised her peers “just didn’t get” the danger she believes is posed by the race to superintelligence. But she was beginning to feel “vindicated” as more prominent figures like Sanders were speaking out. She is now braced for the prison experience of an orange jump suit, “horrible food, dirt [and] you can’t sleep”. She has been previously jailed for short periods related to her decades of political activism over causes including Nicaragua, nuclear disarmament, western Sahara and Palestine.

Her message to the chief executives of OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, which also reported a security incident with its model, was “regain your humanity”. Kaufmyn said her target audience was ordinary people “and the message being: stop the progress of this technology. Let’s get a global ban on the race to superintelligence.”

Prof Stuart Russell, a leading AI academic at the University of California at Berkeley and president of the International Association for Safe and Ethical AI, gave evidence in Kaufmyn’s defence. He claimed OpenAI’s activities “pose an unacceptable risk”, alleging it had deployed AI systems with inadequate safeguards. He said that further development of these systems “must be conditioned on rigorous guarantees of safety, which are currently unavailable”.

Continue reading

China Has Explored the Celestial Realms for Thousands of Years!

China: Ancient Astronomical Instruments Draw Museum-Goers to Cosmic Quest! (15.8.2026)

HEFEI, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — China’s museums are often defined by their porcelain, calligraphy and ritual vessels. But a new exhibition in east China’s Anhui Province is turning the spotlight away from traditional treasures and toward scientific endeavors of the past, showcasing jade cosmograms, celestial star charts and bronze globes crafted by astronomers centuries ago.

Titled “Divine-Sky Exploration: The Cosmological Vision of Chinese Civilization,” the exhibition at the Anhui Museum brings together nearly 300 artifacts from 48 institutions nationwide. It is a rare exhibition in China focused specifically on presenting the country’s “understanding of the universe” through cultural relics.

Since its launch in July, the show has drawn some 350,000 visitors, fascinated by the instruments ancient Chinese used to observe, measure and pay homage to the universe.

Continue reading

1 2 3 … 67