The upper jaw of the infant of Yuanmoupithecus xiaoyuan Photo: Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

A poll showed 90 percent of people have no worries about going out during night, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said on Wednesday, highlighting positive results was achieved by the 100-day campaign which was launched in the wake of the brutal attack at a restaurant in the city of Tangshan in North China's Hebei Province. In past years, the public sense of security among Chinese citizens have remain strong, rising from 87.55 percent in 2012 to the 98.62 percent in 2021. A poll by a third-party agency taken before the 100-day campaign finishes showed 90 percent of people have no worries about going out in night, Qiu Baoli, the director who is responsible for the 100-day campaign in the MPS, told Wednesday's press conference.

Chinese scientists have further revealed the subsurface structure and stratification of Mars in the Utopia Planitia region where Zhurong - the rover of the country's Tianwen-1 Mars mission - landed, suggesting there was no evidence of the existence of liquid water down to 80 meters in the area but there could have been two major floods that probably shaped the region.

Su Yige buried her broken phone case into the earth to observe if it could really be organically decomposed as advertised. The phone case, like many others things she owns and uses in her life, is what she hopes to leave little trace on the Earth, such as her bamboo toothbrush, clothing bag, or homemade washing powder.

Yooupi opens a dumpster, not knowing what to expect. She lets out a jubilant cry as she finds her "treasure of the day." In a big trash bag, she finds packs of bread that one might argue aren't in the best shape. "They look very good, but all wasted," she says into the camera, "you can see the beef inside is still red-colored, the vegetables are fresh, and these is some fine cheese."

Rice yield of high quality rice in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region reached 700 kilograms per mu (666 square meters) at Yuan Longping Workstation in Hinggan League, and achieved the late academician's goal of rice production with high yield and high quality in the cold area.

Xi extends condolences to Putin over Russian school shooting

China's domestically developed firefighter aircraft AG600M, code name Kunlong, made a successful test on Tuesday, in which the aircraft drew and dropped 12 tons of water. Purchasing contracts of six of the aircraft have been signed, the Global Times learned from the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the manufacturer of the aircraft.

The cyberattack launched by the US National Security Agency (NSA) against Northwestern Polytechnical University in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province - well-known for its aviation, aerospace and navigation studies - was aimed at infiltrating and controlling core equipment in China's infrastructure and stealing private data of Chinese people with sensitive identities, the Global Times learned from a source close to the matter on Tuesday.

As the drought in the Yangtze River basin continues, Central China's Hunan Province has become one of the most-affected areas. According to official statistics, as of Sunday, all 122 cities and counties in the province have reached the medium drought level or higher, and 90 counties and urban areas have been hit by extreme drought.

The Shanghai Virus Research Institution was officially established in Shanghai on Monday, with internationally renowned virologist Guan Yi appointed as the first chief of the institute. The new institute is intended to deepen the cooperation and sharing mechanism in the field of virology research.

Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Xi'an have advised residents to stay put as the upcoming National Day holidays approach, as a way to reduce the risk of spreading the epidemic amid flare-ups across the country. Experts have noted that residents should remain cautious as the country still faces pressure to curb the virus.

Yangtze finless porpoises, an iconic species in the country's longest river Yangtze, were observed in many sections of the river in East China's Jiangsu Province during the ongoing fourth comprehensive survey of the river.

China is expected to unveil its next-generation, solar-powered large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with very long endurance soon, which will have a larger wingspan than its predecessors that allows it to carry larger payloads for missions including reconnaissance, monitoring and communications relay in near-space, said Chinese experts familiar with the matter on Monday.

Chinese space watchers wished on Monday the best luck for NASA's upcoming ambitious Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) asteroid crash mission, saying that if successful, it would mark a first victory in human's planetary defense endeavor which carries great significance for mankind's survival.

Record number of Chinese students and job-seekers are expected to flock to China's 2023 national entrance exams for postgraduate studies in face of heightened competition for jobs, exceeding 5 million most likely.

China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) issued a yellow warning for typhoon on Monday morning as Typhoon Noru, previously classed as a super typhoon, entered the central and eastern parts of the South China Sea on Monday morning and is expected to bring gales and rainstorms to the South China Sea and the coastal areas in South China in the following three days as it moves westward. Meteorologists reminded ships and personnel to stay away from the affected areas.

Latest in battle against coronavirus

As debate rages once again over whether primary and secondary schools in China should further reduce the weight of English language teaching, China's Ministry of Education (MOE) said foreign languages learning plays an important role in cultivating students' international vision and cross-cultural communication skills, while stressing the importance of strengthening education that passes on traditional Chinese culture and reinforces culture confidence.

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will become home to the world's most powerful steerable 110-meter radio telescope by 2028, as construction kicked off near Qitai county, some 200 kilometers to region's capital Urumqi on September 21, the Global Times learned from the project builder and future operator on Sunday.

China's first metaverse major was set up at a university in East China's Jiangsu Province in the hope of training more talents in line with the needs of enterprises in metaverse-related sectors.

A number of COVID-19 cases have been detected through on-site nucleic acid testing when travelers arrive at airports, train stations and highway exits, a method recently adopted across China to address the escalated risk brought about by increasing population flow as the National Day holidays approach.

Hydropower station has become an increasingly important bulwark for China when the country is striving to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Located in one of China's most water and biodiversity rich province Yunnan and being the largest hydropower station in the Lancang River basin, the Nuozhadu hydroelectric station not only serves as the country's important clean energy provider, but also takes up onus of helping downstream Mekong River in easing their droughts and preventing those countries from suffering from floods.

China's scientific research ship Explorer 2 and the 4,500-meter manned submersible Shenhai Yongshi (Deep-sea Warrior) returned to Sanya, South China's Hainan Province on Sunday, after they smoothly completed the in-situ observation of deep-sea geology and sea trial tasks of domestic equipment in the South China Sea.

Is it necessary to receive frequent COVID-19 boosters?

East China's Jiangxi Province issued a red alert for water supply for the first time after Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, saw its water level fall to the lowest since records began, the provincial government said on Friday.

So far a total of 30 Chinese citizens are missing after a boat sank off southwestern Cambodia's sea on Thursday evening. The boat was carrying 41 Chinese citizens, and only 18 have been rescued, the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia confirmed with the Global Times on Friday.

Sun Lijun, former Chinese vice minister of public security, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking more than 646 million yuan of bribes, manipulating the stock market, and illegally possessing firearms, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun in Northeast China's Jilin Province on Friday.

An online meeting to introduce the human rights situation in Northwest China's Xinjiang region was held on the sidelines of the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday with representatives including senior officials and scholars sharing their stories of how the region fights against terrorism, protects human rights and strives for economic development.

Chen Jizhi, the prime culprit involved in the harassment and brutal beating of four women at a restaurant in Tangshan in North China's Hebei Province, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined 320,000 yuan ($45,215), the Guangyang district people's court in Langfang in Hebei announced on Friday. The ruling came three months after the attack occurred in June this year.

Chinese and US astronomers have recently filmed for the first time the magnetic field changes in the surrounding environment just one astronomical unit away from the center of the fast radio burst (FRB) located outside the Milky Way using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST).

China has launched a nationwide survey on marriage and fertility in an effort to "objectively and comprehensively” understand the challenges faced by people of marriage and child-bearing age and find solutions as the country has been tackling the population problem with a decline in marriage and fertility rate in recent years.

Beijing police has arrested an acting coach from a film studying school, who is suspected of raping multiple young female students.

A well-timed second booster dose is necessary for a safe, long-term exit from the pandemic, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) said in a recent article, confirming the necessity of a fourth shot against COVID-19. It also called on the last 10 percent of the country's population who have yet to be fully vaccinated to take shots as soon as possible.

Ruili, a border city in Southwest China's Yunnan, is gearing up for a public health campaign as the city faces the dual risks of dengue fever and COVID-19.

China's ex-minister of justice Fu Zhenghua was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth more than 117 million yuan ($16.5 million) and bending the law for personal gains, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun in Northeast China's Jilin Province on Thursday.

In cyberattack against Northwestern Polytechnical University, US' NSA constructed a "legal" channel for remote access to the core data network of China's telecom operators in an attempt to infiltrate, control China's telecom infrastructure: source

Eight national departments have jointly issued a notice on Wednesday to address the prominent problems of excessive bride price and extravagant wedding ceremonies in China's rural areas by rolling out a special work plan for a nationwide campaign.

Drones deployed for artificial rain, water diverted to irrigate farmland … Provinces along the reaches of the Yangtze River have ramped up a slew of drought-relief measures to ensure production and livelihoods. Although the longest and widest drought since nationwide observations began in 1961 may have a limited impact on grain harvest this autumn, it could affect the upcoming autumn sowing, experts warned.

In this installment, a renowned professor of Chinese literature at Peking University shares his observation and experience on the changes witnessed in university education in China over the last decade, and how the sense of Chinese culture and identity have affected both young people in China and overseas over the years.

"The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process. The time, momentum and righteousness of reunification are on the side of the Chinese mainland," Chen Yuanfeng, deputy head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said at a press conference on Wednesday, in which mainland officials reported the development of cross-Straits relations over the past decade and reiterated the firm resolve to realize national reunification in the face of provocation from secessionists and external forces.

A transportation company in Beijing has distributed 1,800 sets of emotion-sensing equipment to drivers to monitor their life signs and mental stress in real time in an effort to ensure driving safety.

After more than a month of its first large-scale battle against COVID-19, Lhasa in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region has partially resumed normal production and work, with the city districts being relaxed in phases.

As US President Joe Biden's declaration of the end of the pandemic faces waves of backlash, Chinese observers believe that the COVID-19 issue in the US has become a political tool for a partisan battle instead of a public health issue concerning people's lives, which highlighted that the Biden administration's decision-making is extremely irresponsible.

Chinese scientists have discovered that a sustained decline in dinosaur diversity happened in the Late Cretaceous period by carrying out studies on dinosaur egg fossils.

China's education industry is growing more open and better integrated with the world as the Chinese Education Ministry on Tuesday announced a series of the country's achievements in the industry in the past decade.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government is actively considering implementing more relaxed anti-epidemic policies to ensure the maximum connection with the international world, with the designated hotel quarantine measure being expected to be removed for arrivals to Hong Kong.

A public opinion poll of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) residents shows that 71.9 percent of respondents believe the rule of law has been restored after the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong, an official from China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HKMAO) said on Tuesday. The implementation of the national security law has boosted the residents' confidence in the practice of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong, according to the HKMAO.

China will be a moderately aging society in three years with 20 percent of the population aged 60 years and above and become a severely aging society by 2035 when 400 million people are 60 years and above, accounting for 30 percent of the population, a health authority official announced at a Tuesday press briefing and introduced the country's arrangement to cope with the scenario.

The 15 wild Asian elephants that went on a 1,400-kilometer "exodus" in 2021 in Southwest China's Yunnan Province are now back in their original habitat in Xishuangbanna and the two calves born during their trek have grown to 300 kilograms, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration revealed on Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry slammed the US for seriously violating its important commitment of "no support for Taiwan secession" and sending a seriously wrong signal to Taiwan secessionists, after US President Joe Biden said US forces would "defend" the island of Taiwan if war breaks out, his most explicit answer so far on the question, which analysts believe suggested a shifting process in Washington's decades-long "strategic ambiguity" policy, rather than another gaffe by the 79-year-old president.

Over the past decade, the color green has become a more prominent and brighter background for Beautiful China, in which humanity and nature coexist in harmony and contribute more to jointly constructing a clean and beautiful world.

A Beijing-based gene firm on Monday announced the debut of the world's first cloned wild arctic wolf via video, 100 days after its birth in a Beijing lab. Experts said its birth pioneers the breeding of more rare and endangered animals through cloning technology.

Three officials in Guiyang, capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, have been suspended from their posts and put under investigation for the deadly crash of a bus transferring COVID-related people to a quarantine site in the early hours of Sunday, which killed 27 people and left another 20 injured.

Several earthquakes have hit the island of Taiwan since Saturday night. One of them, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Hualien County, was the biggest earthquake in China in 2022. Experts say the world is now in "shock mode," and China needs to be alert to the risk of earthquakes in the coming months.

Gene sequencing suggests that the virus strain in the first monkeypox case reported in the Chinese mainland was highly homologous to strains from Germany, according to a report published on Monday by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) Weekly.

Sheng Guangzu, former general manager of the China Railway Corp has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for abusing power for personal benefits when he worked as an official in the General Administration of Customs as well as in the China Railway Corp, China's top anti-graft body announced on Monday.

Sheng Guangzu, former general manager of China's state railway, has been stripped of his Party membership for severely violating Party discipline, and for criminally profiting from his influence, according to China's anti-graft body.

Mainland authorities extended condolences to the family members of the victims in Taiwan island, hoping the affected people will resume normal production and life as soon as possible. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made the remarks after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the island causing at least one death. Netizens on the mainland have expressed their best wishes for the safety of Taiwan compatriots.

A top Chinese epidemiologist has warned against the high possibility of a "twindemic" scenario of COVID-19 and influenza in the upcoming winter and the spring and urged the public to be vaccinated against both.

Authorities in Southwest China's Guizhou Province urged an investigation team to be set up immediately to identify the cause of the accident and pursue legal responsibilities after a bus carrying COVID-related people to a quarantine site flipped over in the early hours of Sunday, killing 27 people and leaving another 20 injured.

In the last decade, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China's archaeological research undertaking has developed by leaps and bounds. The country attaches great importance to archaeological research work and the tracing the origins of the Chinese civilization.

Air raid sirens were sounded in Chinese cities, newly discovered documents were exhibited in museums, martyrs' cemeteries were visited and heroic stories were recalled on Sunday, the 91st anniversary of the September 18 (9.18) incident, which marked the start of Chinese people's 14-year arduous, courageous and unswerving fight toward the final victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

This installment tells the story of an archaeologist who works on the frontline of the Gobi Desert to study and protect the Mogao Grottoes, a world cultural heritage site, in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu Province, which was not only once an outpost on the ancient Silk Road, but also a rich treasure trove of art and history.

China's deep-sea manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver) has recently completed assigned tasks in the South China Sea at a depth of 1,500 meters with a 4,500-meter manned submersible, which is the first time that two manned submersibles have been put into a joint operation in China.

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake jolted eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:44 pm Sunday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The latest batch of scientific research results released by China's first Mars exploration mission show that a large amount of liquid water activity once existed in the landing zone of Zhurong, China's first Mars rover, about one billion years ago. According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), as of Thursday, the Tianwen-1 Mars probe has been in orbit for more than 780 days, travelling a total of 1,921 meters, completing the established scientific exploration tasks and acquiring 1,480 gigabyte (GB) of raw scientific exploration data, China Central Television reported on Sunday.

The first test flight of the domestically developed plateau meteorological observation variant of Wing Loong II drone in China's Qinghai-Xizang Plateau was conducted successfully over the weekend, which will provide more data for ecological protection on the plateau and scientific response to climate change.

China's Shenzhou-14 taikonauts conducted their second extravehicular activities (EVAs) on Saturday, with astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe successfully finishing their tasks at 5:47 pm after five hours of close cooperation. Cai and Chen have already returned to the space station lab module Wentian, while Liu has been inside Wentian assisting the EVAs by the two taikonauts, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

China's commercial space sector welcomes its best opportunity, and the country is expected to start suborbital space travel in 2025, with the price for a ticket likely to fall between 2-3 million yuan ($286,400-$429,600), said a senior rocket scientist.

A burial ceremony for the ninth batch of 88 Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs was held in Shenyang of Northeast China's Liaoning Province on Saturday morning.

Authorities in Taiwan recently detected radioactive substances in a batch of konjaku jelly powder imported from Gunma prefecture, one of the five prefectures in Japan around the site of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Although the amount is within local security limits, the issue stirred up public concerns over security of the so-called "nuclear food" and demonstrated again that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority is sacrificing the people's interests for their political ends.

SW. China's Chongqing Municipality reported the Chinese mainland's first monkeypox case on Friday and the patient was found after entering China from overseas and being under COVID-19 quarantine. Close contacts have been put under medical observation.

The large fire that engulfed a high-rise building belonging to China Telecom in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, has been put out. No casualties were reported, the group announced Friday on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, Wang Qun, reiterated most of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member states' deep concerns over the seven problems regarding the nuclear-powered submarine cooperation under AUKUS, the trilateral pact between the US, the UK and Australia on Thursday and noted that if the IAEA Secretariat is ultimately used as a “Trojan horse” by the US, UK and Australia, the international communities' interests will be undermined.

China sanctions CEOs of Raytheon Technologies, Boeing Defense over US arms sales to Taiwan island

A recent survey on employment conditions of China's vocational education graduates released by a job hunting agency shows that their salary level and employment expectations are much lower than those of undergraduates from key universities. Experts point out that educational discrimination and the epidemic have affected the job market for vocational education graduates in recent years, and that more jobs should be offered to those with specialized skills.

Scientists with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have conducted more studies and research into lunar samples from the Chang'e-5 robotic mission, which revealed the basalt thickness at its landing region and they estimated that the region has experienced volcanic eruptions at least four times, according to a recent article published on the CAS website.

When the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called on all governments to take key actions to end the pandemic through measures including vaccination of most at-risk groups, continued testing and sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Chinese health experts stressed that China has been one of the role models in implementing WHO instructions on COVID-19, and the dynamic zero-COVID policy China adopts has ensured that China's COVID-19 infection and mortality rates remain the lowest in the world, making China one of the countries with the most successful COVID-19 responses globally.

China has officially granted state approval for the development of the sub-orbital aerospace transportation system, which by completion could realize global delivery within one hour and lay the foundation for space travel for the general public, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT,) the country's top rocket manufacturer that filed for the application, on Thursday.

Multiple cities in East China's Jiangsu Province suspended school and training classes on Thursday as Typhoon Muifa moved into the province early Thursday morning after it made landfall twice in the neighboring Zhejiang Province and Shanghai on Wednesday night and pounded the coastal cities with strong gales and rainstorms.

China reaffirmed its resolution of achieving the goals of a CO2 emissions peak and carbon neutrality on Thursday, as the Ministry of Ecology and Environment noted achievements and progress that the country has made on building a "beautiful China" in the past decade.

The allegation of "forced labor" in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is an absolute lie, a representative from Xinjiang stood out at the 51st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), urging the US to stop imposing unilateral sanctions against Xinjiang enterprises and individuals with the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

Using human rights topics to attack developing countries, drawing small circles to smear countries with different systems, spreading groundless rumors or even starting wars under the disguise of anti-terrorism efforts … such moves have often been used by the US and some other Western counties.

A number of districts in Southwest China's Sichuan Province's capital of Chengdu, home to over 21 million residents, and the "Hawaii of China" Sanya in South China's Hainan Province, have been lifted from static management on Thursday and will resume normal life and production, after no new COVID-19 cases were found in the community level in recent days, authorities announced.

China's top cyberspace regulator on Wednesday proposed a series of amendments to the country's cybersecurity law including raising penalty and an employment ban on internet operators who violated the law to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations in cyberspace and safeguard national security.

Transportation and classes were suspended and more than 1 million people were relocated in Shanghai and other cities of East China on Wednesday as the country moved to its highest tropical cyclone alert level for Typhoon Muifa, the strongest typhoon to land in China so far in 2022.

China's aerospace technology researchers announced on Wednesday that for the first time, the country has completed a verification flight test on a domestically developed reusable liquid oxygen kerosene engine, which marks a major breakthrough in engine reusability development.

The stock price of a Chinese oil and gas exploration company rose by 5.2 percent on Tuesday after the company was roasted by a popular Chinese stand-up comedian. Both the company and the comedian have called for investors to pay attention to risks and make rational investment decisions.

China's aerospace technology researchers announced Tuesday that for the first time the country has conducted a verification flight test on a domestically developed reusable liquid oxygen kerosene engine. The successful maiden flight test marks a major breakthrough in engine reusability development, the Global Times learned from the developers.

Several Chinese universities in cities including Beijing, Southwest China's Chengdu and Guiyang have conducted closed-loop management to ensure students and faculties' health amid this wave of flare-ups on campuses.

More than 600 artifacts had been revealed by Tuesday during the salvage of the Yangtze River Estuary No.2, China's largest and best-preserved ancient underwater wooden shipwreck. Experts said that the discovery of the relics shows constant cultural exchanges between China and the West, and more discoveries are expected after the ship is fully excavated.

A 'concealed and adaptable' weapon used by US' intelligence center National Security Agency (NSA) to launch a cyberattack on the email system of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province - well-known for its aviation, aerospace and navigation studies - was captured by Chinese cybersecurity experts, the Global Times learned from a source on Tuesday.

A man from Tanzania on Mon received a seven-day detention and was required to leave China within a certain time limit after he sexually harassed a female in the street in Xi'an of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province

After seven days, Southwest China's Sichuan Province ended its highest level of emergency response on Monday after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake shook the province's Luding County and killed 93 as of Sunday and will focus on reconstruction.

The risk of spillover cases into the community from the latest three campus-related flare-ups in Beijing are controllable as their origins are clear, local authorities announced on Monday, saying that sealing off measures will be gradually eased in those universities.

As the swirl of a prostitution scandal continues to grow over Chinese star Li Yifeng, more institutions have severed their cooperation with him. Some lawyers assume that the popular actor could face a half-month administrative detention while business insiders predict that his prospects of a comeback are hopeless.

A sudden menacing flare-up in Neijiang city, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, since September 8 caused by the Omicron variant with two mutation sites which have never been recorded in China's national database, poses risks of family cluster infections and a certain degree of community transmission, local authority warned Sunday.

The last decade has witnessed the rapid spread of telecom and online fraud globally, which seriously infringes on people's legitimate rights and interests, becoming a prominent crime and a public hazard. To address this problem, the Chinese police have been committed to intensifying their efforts in the combat against and control of such crimes, and strengthening international law enforcement cooperation, which has enabled them to accumulate successful experience, build up best practices and set examples for their counterparts around the world.

While the US Artemis I mission – the inaugural unmanned mission to kickstart the US' ambitious plan for human exploration to the moon and Mars – got stuck on the launch pad due to repeated fuel leaks, Chinese scientists are making new breakthroughs in the country's Moon exploration missions and achieving more major findings on the existence of water on the Earth's natural satellite.