A new video from China's Tiangong Space Station has sparked conspiracy theories as internet users rushed to speculate that the astronauts weren't actually in space.
Uncovering supposedly fabricated evidence of space trips is hardly a new guilty pleasure for members of the public who'll probably never have the chance to leave the Earth's atmosphere.
For decades, the moon landings have been under scrutiny, with people trying to prove Neil Armstrong never walked on the surface of Earth's satellite - and to this day, some people still aren't convinced it happened.
Katy Perry and the rest of Blue Origin's all-female crew's 11-minute space trip also inspired some bizarre conspiracy theories, with people convinced some details didn't add up.
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As such, it's no surprise that the Chinese astronaut crew has caused quite a stir recently when some eagle-eyed users spotted a detail that supposedly gave away their real location.
In the video, a glass of water sits on the table next to one of the astronauts. The water in the glass doesn't appear to be moving despite the microgravity environment, which prompted X users to insist the astronauts couldn't possibly be in space.
In short, people seem to think that in a zero gravity environment, water wouldn't just peacefully sit in a glass, but droplets of the liquid would flow around.
"Call me crazy but if I was orbiting the Earth at 17,500mph in zero gravity surrounded complex computers….." one X user offered.
"I probably wouldn’t risk an unconcealed glass of water resting on the table. Apparently it’s strapped down with velcro. Please take all the time you need."
"Why isn't the water floating out of the glass?" someone else asked, while another person was equally puzzled: "Now, can you explain to me WHY it holds [its] shape in the glass...?"
Before brandishing pitchforks and buying into conspiracy theories, there's a simple and very scientific explanation as to why the water wouldn't move.
Jordan Bimm, a postdoctoral researcher and space historian at the University of Chicago, told AP: "Water molecules like to stick to glass and also to other water molecules more than they like to disperse in the air."
Bimm continued: "So if there is no external force, water remains in 'clumps' in the weightless environment, and in this case inside the glass."
This would explain why we see videos of astronauts drinking out of squeezable bags using straws.
Bimm explained that water is made of slightly positive hydrogen atoms and slightly negative oxygen atoms, which pull towards each other, giving water a strong surface tension so that it would hold its shape despite outside forces.
This 'also works to help maintain the static shape and presents the illusion of how water would act on the ground,' according to Bimm.
Particularly, the video in question is part of a broadcast called 'Tiangong Class', seeing the astronauts demonstrating science experiments to children on Earth. This particular experiment saw the crew proving how buoyancy works differently in space by suspending a ping-pong ball in water.
Case solved.
Topics: China, Science, Space, Conspiracy Theory
Stefania Sarrubba