[NEWS] Seven science links: Bitcoin, China in space, Saturn rings, Atacama, Southern Cone energy

[rfmcdonald]

• The Chinese decision to forbid further bitcoin mining within its frontiers makes sense, actually. VICE reports.


• Matt Williams at Universe Today notes that China is planning more than forty space launches in 2018.


• The upcoming Chang'e 4 lunar lander will carry live plants and animals to the surface of the far side of the Moon. Universe Today's Matt Williams reports.


• Nadia Drake at National Geographic points to research suggesting that the rings of Saturn, far from being primordial, may well have formed as recently as less than a hundred million years ago. Catastrophes can still happen, it seems, in the mature solar system.


• Paul M. Sutter at Universe Today talks about the preternaturally clear night sky above the Atacama Desert in Chile. I would love to see this.


• The Inter Press Service notes that clean energy, including renewable sources like solar and wind, have contributed to a sharp fall in electricity prices in Chile.


• Argentina, the Inter Press Service notes, is set to become a major exporter of lithium from its northwestern Jujuy province, perhaps the leading exporter in the world.

Comments

On Mainland China's Space Ambitions

[dewline]

Forty space-launches.

Well, I don't know the number expected of the USA this year for sure - a quick check of Wikipedia suggests at least 100+ with "as confirmed as you can get under the circumstances" launch dates, with the usual caveats applicable - but that number of 40 for mainland China is certainly ambitious. As it should be.