Online skeptics question China’s Tiangong space station video

A recent video posted by China’s Tiangong Space Station has sparked a wave of conspiracy theories online. The clip shows a glass of water on a table inside the space station, appearing undisturbed despite the microgravity environment. This seemingly bizarre occurrence has led some social media users to speculate that the astronauts were not in space at all.

The video, which shows an open glass of water standing firmly on a table, quickly drew the attention of conspiracy theorists. According to these theorists, the water should float freely in microgravity, a characteristic commonly observed in space-related videos. Some social media users went as far as to claim that the astronauts could not possibly be in space since the water remained perfectly still in the glass. One person commented: “I probably wouldn’t risk an unconcealed glass of water resting on the table.”

Many commenters assumed that the presence of the glass defied the laws of microgravity, and claimed that it proved the video was filmed under Earth’s gravity. However, there is a straightforward scientific explanation for the phenomenon.

Jordan Bimm, a space historian and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago, clarified that water molecules have a natural tendency to stick to surfaces like glass and to one another due to surface tension. In microgravity, this means that water remains in "clumps" inside a container rather than floating around. This is why the water appears to stay inside the glass, despite the lack of gravity.

Bimm explained that water's surface tension, caused by the attraction between positively charged hydrogen atoms and negatively charged oxygen atoms, makes it behave in a way that resembles its behavior on Earth. He pointed out that this phenomenon is exactly why astronauts use straws and squeezable bags to drink in space, as it is difficult to get water out of an open container in zero gravity.

In the context of the video, the astronauts were conducting an educational experiment to demonstrate how buoyancy works differently in space. The experiment involved suspending a ping-pong ball in water, showcasing the effects of microgravity. A separate video on Weibo showed one astronaut carefully filling the glass with a straw before securing it to the table with velcro.

Despite the clear scientific explanation, the video has ignited the usual conspiracy frenzy, with some even suggesting that the space station crew might be faking their presence in orbit. However, the glass of water’s behavior is in line with how liquids act in microgravity, debunking the skepticism.