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Researchers have identified two dozen planets outside our solar system that may have conditions more suitable for life than our own and some of these orbit stars that may be better than even our Sun.<br /><br />A study, led by Washington State University scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch and published in the journal Astrobiology, detailed characteristics of potential "superhabitable" planets, that include those that are older, a little larger, slightly warmer and possibly wetter than Earth. <br /><br />Life could also more easily thrive on planets that circle more slowly changing stars with longer lifespans than our sun.<br /><br />The 24 top contenders for superhabitable planets are all more than 100 light years away.<br /><br />However, Schulze-Makuch said the research could help focus future observation efforts, such as from NASA's James Web Space Telescope, the LUVIOR space observatory and the European Space Agency's PLATO space telescope.<br /><br />"With the next space telescopes coming up, we will get more information, so it is important to select some targets," said Schulze-Makuch, a professor with WSU and the Technical University in Berlin. <br /><br />"We have to focus on certain planets that have the most promising conditions for complex life. However, we have to be careful to not get stuck looking for a second Earth because there could be planets that might be more suitable for life than ours".<br /><br />There are at least 4,500 known exoplanets beyond our solar system. <br /><br />Habitability, however, does not mean these planets definitely have life, merely the conditions that would be conducive to life.<br /><br />Earth is around 4.5 billion years old but the researchers argued that the sweet spot for life is a planet that is between 5 billion to 8 billion years old.<br /><br />Size and mass also matter. <br /><br />A planet that is 10 per cent larger than the Earth should have more habitable land. <br /><br />"One that is about 1.5 times Earth's mass would be expected to retain its interior heating through radioactive decay longer and would also have a stronger gravity to retain an atmosphere over a longer time period," the researchers noted.<br /><br />Water is key to life and the authors argue that a little more of it would help, especially in the form of moisture, clouds and humidity. <br /><br />A slightly overall warmer temperature, a mean surface temperature of about 5 degrees Celsius (or about 8 degrees Fahrenheit) greater than Earth, together with the additional moisture, would be also better for life. <br /><br />Among the 24 top planet candidates, none of them meet all the criteria for superhabitable planets, but one has four of the critical characteristics, making it possibly much more comfortable for life than our home planet.<br /><br />"We have a great number of complex and diverse lifeforms, and many that can survive in extreme environments. It is good to have an adaptable life, but that doesn't mean that we have the best of everything," the authors wrote.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/supreme-court-defers-loan-moratorium-case-hearing-to-october-13-gives-rbi-and-the-government-another-week-to-file-additional-affidavits/articleshow/78487586.cms">Supreme Court defers loan moratorium case hearing to October 13 — gives RBI and the government another week to file additional affidavits</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tcs-shares-hit-record-high-board-to-mull-over-share-buyback-and-earnings-on-october-7/articleshow/78486980.cms">TCS rallies nearly 5%, shares hit fresh high — board to mull over share buyback and earnings on October 7</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/indusind-icici-rbl-axis-hdfc-kotak-mahindra-bank-share-price-and-other-stocks-surge-on-loan-moratorium-case/articleshow/78486360.cms"><strong>Relief rally in bank stocks continues as Supreme Court defers loan moratorium hearing to October 13</strong></a><br />

Two dozen superhabitable planets identified —  some older, a little larger, slightly warmer and possibly wetter than Earth

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A gigantic interstellar object called <keyword id="10940945" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oumuamua">'Oumuamua</keyword> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oumuamua-interstellar-object-robotic-spacecraft-launch-intercept-missions-2019-2">flew through our solar system</a> in 2017.</li><li>The object baffled scientists: Some think it's a <keyword id="158876" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="comet">comet</keyword>, others have suggested an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oumuamua-not-alien-spacecraft-study-2019-7">alien spaceship</a>. </li><li>New research says <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oumuamua-interstellar-object-robotic-spacecraft-launch-intercept-missions-2019-2">'Oumuamua</a> is a piece of a Pluto-like planet from another solar system.</li></ul><p>The origin and identity of a massive <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> object that careened past Earth in 2017 have remained a mystery ever since.</p><p>The object, called 'Oumuamua - a Hawaiian name meaning "scout" or "messenger" - traveled on a trajectory that strongly suggested it came <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oumuamua-comet-asteroid-object-origin-dwarf-stars-2018-9">from another star system</a>. That made it the first interstellar object ever detected. </p><p>But what was it? A few researchers, including Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb, posited the object was an alien spacecraft. Others suggested it was an asteroid, or perhaps an interstellar comet.</p><p>Now, a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020JE006706">pair</a> of <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020JE006807">papers</a> published in an American Geophysical Union journal offers another theory: that 'Oumuamua was shrapnel from a tiny planet in a different solar system.</p><p>"We've probably resolved the mystery of what 'Oumuamua is, and we can reasonably identify it as a chunk of an 'exo-Pluto,' a Pluto-like planet in another solar system," Steven Desch, an astrophysicist at Arizona State University and a co-author of the new study, said <a href="https://news.agu.org/press-release/interstellar-object-oumuamua-is-likely-a-piece-of-a-pluto-like-planet">in a press release</a>.</p><h2>A planetary fragment made of frozen nitrogen</h2><p>Desch and his coauthors think that half a billion years ago, a space object struck 'Oumuamua's parent planet. That sent 'Oumuamua careening towards our solar system. </p><p>Once it neared the sun, their thinking goes, 'Oumuamua sped up as sunlight vaporized its icy body. Comets follow a similar movement pattern, known as the "rocket effect."</p><p>Because 'Oumuamua's makeup is unknown, the researchers calculated what kinds of ice would sublimate (change from solid to gas) at a rate that could account for 'Oumuamua's rocket effect. They concluded that the object is likely made of nitrogen ice, like the surface of <keyword id="506107" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pluto">Pluto</keyword> and Neptune's moon Triton. </p><div type="image" title="pluto planet" height="985" width="985" msid="81541215" hostid="261"></div><p>As it got approached our solar system - and therefore the sun - 'Oumuamua started sloughing off frozen nitrogen layers. The object entered our solar system in 1995, though we didn't realize it at the time, then subsequently lost 95% of its mass and melted away to a sliver, according to the study authors.</p><h2>It's a comet. It's an asteroid. Nope, it's neither.</h2><div type="image" title="oumuamua 1I 2017 u1 solar system trajectory illustration comet asteroid or alien spaceship nasa swri esa stsci PIA22357_fig1" height="1800" width="3200" msid="81541217" hostid="261"></div><p>By the time astronomers became aware of 'Oumuamua's existence in 2017, it was already zipping away from Earth at 196,000 mph. So they had only a few weeks to study the strange, skyscraper-sized object. Several telescopes on the ground and one in space took limited observations as the object flew away, but astronomers were unable to examine it in full. 'Oumuamua is now too far away and too dim to observe further with existing technologies.</p><p>The limited nature of the information gathered left room for scientists to offer guesses about what the object might be and where it came from. 'Oumuamua was initially classified as a comet, but it didn't appear to be made of ice, and it didn't emit gases as a comet would.</p><p>'Oumuamua's spin, speed, and trajectory couldn't be explained by gravity alone, which suggested it was not an asteroid either. And the object's shape and profile - it's about one-quarter of a mile long but only 114 feet wide - doesn't match that of any comet or asteroid observed before.</p><p>According to the authors of the new study, however, 'Oumuamua's frozen-nitrogen composition could explain that shape.</p><p>"As the outer layers of nitrogen ice evaporated, the shape of the body would have become progressively more flattened, just like a bar of soap does as the outer layers get rubbed off through use," Alan Jackson, another study co-author, said in the release.</p><h2>Some astronomers still think it was an alien ship</h2><p>Unlike most space rocks, 'Oumuamua seemed to be accelerating, rather than slowing down, in telescope observations.</p><p>That is in part why Loeb thinks 'Oumuamua was an alien spacecraft. In a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alien-object-close-to-earth-in-2017-says-harvard-professor-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">book</a> he published in January, titled "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth," Loeb describes 'Oumuamua as a defunct piece of alien technology.</p><p>"The object has anomalies that merit some attention - things that do not line up in the ways we expected," he told Insider in December. "Other people say, 'Lets shove those anomalies under the rug of conservatism.' I have a problem with that because when something doesn't line up, you should say it."</p><div type="image" title="oumuamua interstellar comet asteroid object esa hubble nasa eso m kornmesser" height="932" width="1280" msid="81541219" hostid="261"></div><p>Still, a 2019 study from an international group of astronomers analyzed all the 'Oumuamua data available and concluded that Loeb's theory was unlikely.</p><p>"We find no compelling evidence to favor an alien explanation for 'Oumuamua," the astronomers wrote.</p><p>Matthew Knight, a University of Maryland astronomer who co-wrote the study, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uom-in062719.php">put it this way</a>: "This thing is weird and admittedly hard to explain, but that doesn't exclude other natural phenomena that could explain it."</p>

The mysterious interstellar object 'Oumuamua was a chunk of planet from another solar system, a new study says

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Are we alone in the universe?</p><p>Billionaire investor Yuri Milner believes it is the most important question.</p><p>He also believes not enough is being done to answer it, and he has decided to help.</p><p>On Monday, at The Royal Society in London, Milner announced that he will spend $100 million over the next 10 years funding the search for extraterrestrial life.</p><p>His plan is called "Breakthrough Listen." It will employ 25 people, two humongous radio telescopes, and a third telescope sensitive to laser communication coming from the galaxy around us.</p><p>Milner will rent the telescopes out and point them at likely homes for life all around the cosmos. Teams of researchers will process the results. Milner's teams will share their data, and their software, with the world so that amateurs can help.</p><p>One telescope is in the Northern Hemisphere. It's called the Green Bank Telescope. It's in West Virginia. It's so sensitive that Federal law prohibits the use of cellphones within 100 miles of it.</p><p>This is what it looks like:<br /><br /></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Chris Dorst/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The telescope's surface area is 2.3 acres. It is longer than a football field across its width.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Patrick Semansky/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The other telescope is on the other side of the globe, in Australia. It's called the Parkes Telescope. It's only slightly smaller, with a 64-meter diameter.</p><p>This is what the Parkers Telescope looks like:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ian Waldie/Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The third telescope is the Lick Observatory, in California. It will look for messages sent by laser from elsewhere in the Milky Way.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/muitosabao/14372794118/in/photolist-bxNsza-pTbHhh-cvZRZ1-c8TCoQ-8A3yu3-9Z2nQc-c8TCmL-hjEwXJ-owmvE8-8jKXLX-nU5jX9-9vbE2t-fCHhPa-hyzqTM-8S8zAi-nVNsVH-oLN1QW-dNXCK4-bdyBtr-3bWDCy-nSedc9-8zZrwM-quiSBH-quiSmT-pxjpNu-qu8Zur-qcL2vE-fgDRwX-eKeG2a-8SbHxL-kiUo82-a1CMfn-9q6g4U-dkEFmu-bbeigR-eiG9Q6-o1zbQ6-eaArfj-gU1p2o-2CVzAQ-ens7vC-p3C9gJ-e6ndh8-8SbFo9-8S8zz6-oqcp7d-9x2Cmr-7B6s2Q-cyfPEJ-eFxGYc">Luis Calçada on Flickr</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>At a lunch with Business Insider on Friday, Milner said this search will cover 10 times more of the sky than any previous search. He said it will process five times more of the radio spectrum than has ever been scanned before. It will do so 100 times faster.</p><p>It will survey the 1 million closest stars to Earth and the center of the Milky Way. Beyond that, it will listen to 100 galaxies farther afield.</p><p>Milner says he has been fascinated with space since he was child. He is named after Yuri Gagarin, who became the first human to leave Earth back in 1961, the year Milner was born.</p><p>Milner says he was motivated to fund a large-scale search for extraterrestrial life by the knowledge that no one else was.</p><p>Milner made his money backing internet companies such as Facebook.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/gagarin/gagarin.html">NASA</a></span></p><p class="caption">Yuri Milner is named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>He says he has very low expectations for the project. He doesn't believe it will return definitive results by the time 10 years pass. He hopes that after his efforts conclude, someone else will help fund the search. He believes that within a few decades' time, we will be able to answer humanity's most important question one way or another.</p><p>Milner says that if we were to learn we are indeed alone in the universe, that knowledge would be as profound as learning we are not. He says we would have to finally take full responsibility for protecting life and ensuring it continues.</p><p>The billionaire says he can't imagine how humanity would react if it were to learn we are not alone.</p><p>"Breakthrough Listen" has the support of several of the world's most renowned astronomers and scientists, including the physicist Stephen Hawking and SETI pioneer Frank Drake.</p><p>Milner wrote a letter to the world to explain his $100 million investment. He shared it with Business Insider.</p><p>It's titled "Are we alone? Now is the time to find out."</p><p>It reads as follows:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Who are we?</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">A mature civilization, like a mature individual, must ask itself this question. Is humanity defined by its divisions, its problems, its passing needs and trends? Or do we have a shared face, turned outward to the Universe?</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Yet millions are inspired by these ideas, whether they meet them in <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> or science fiction. Because the biggest questions of our existence are at stake. Are we the Universe's only child - our thoughts its only thoughts? Or do we have cosmic siblings - an interstellar family of intelligence? As Arthur C. Clarke said, "In either case the idea is quite staggering."</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">That means the search for life is the ultimate 'win-win' endeavor. All we have to do is take part.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Today we have search tools far surpassing those of previous generations. Telescopes can pick out planets across thousands of light years. The magic of Moore's law lets our computers sift data orders of magnitude faster than older mainframes - and ever quicker each year.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">These tools are now reaping a harvest of discoveries. In the last few years, astronomers and the Kepler Mission have discovered thousands of planets beyond our solar system. It now appears that most stars host a planetary system. Many of them have a planet similar in size to our own, basking in the 'habitable zone' where the temperature permits liquid water. There are likely billions of earth-like worlds in our galaxy alone. And with instruments now or soon available, we have a chance of finding out if any of these planets are true Pale Blue Dots - home to water, life, even minds.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">There has never been a better moment for a large-scale international effort to find life in the Universe. As a civilization, we owe it to ourselves to commit time, resources, and passion to this quest.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">But as well as a call to action, this is a call to thought. When we find the nearest exo-Earth, should we send a probe? Do we try to make contact with advanced civilizations? Who decides? Individuals, institutions, corporations, or states? Or can we as species - as a planet - think together?</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Three years ago, Voyager 1 broke the sun's embrace and entered interstellar space. The 20th century will be remembered for our travels within the solar system. With cooperation and commitment, the present century will be the time when we graduate to the galactic scale, seek other forms of life, and so know more deeply who we are.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/batman-arkham-knight-gameplay-video-2015-5">Here's the best look yet at the next big game starring Batman</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="h0MTJkdTrJr4RUNkugPMay1bP53ZZ1Gw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Billionaire investor Yuri Milner says he is going to spend $100 million renting massive telescopes to search for life on other planets

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Google recently revealed its experimental AI chatbot, Bard, a rival to OpenAI's viral ChatGPT.</li><li>In an ad for Bard, the chatbot gives an inaccurate answer to a question about the James Webb Space Telescope.</li></ul><p>Google's ad for its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-bard-google-ai-chatbot-gpt-rival">new experimental AI chatbot, Bard,</a> proves that artificial intelligence may not be taking over anytime soon.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/Google/status/1622710355775393793?s=20&amp;t=M_UdMOp8492kTOSKX-1Olw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The ad depicts</a> the chatbot giving an inaccurate answer to a question about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-ai-chatbot-bard-offers-inaccurate-information-company-ad-2023-02-08/">Reuters first reported</a>.</p><p>In the ad, a user asks Bard, "What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9 year old about?"</p><p>"JWST took the very first pictures of a planet outside of our own solar system. These distant worlds are called 'exoplanets.' Exo means 'from outside," Bard answers, among other "facts."</p><p>However, the first photograph of an exoplanet was not taken by the JWST. It was taken in 2004 by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/300/2m1207b-first-image-of-an-exoplanet/">according to NASA</a>. 2M1207b was the <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/300/2m1207b-first-image-of-an-exoplanet/">first directly photographed exoplanet</a>, per the space agency.</p><p>Bard's other two answers — one about JWST's <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?postID=63e3b84516ce4f1efe20bb11&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-023-00064-7" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">spotting of "green peas" galaxies</a> this year and one about its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-delivers-deepest-infrared-image-of-universe-yet">images of a galaxy that's over 13 billion years old</a> — are accurate.</p><p>In a <a href="https://blog.google/technology/ai/bard-google-ai-search-updates/">blog post from earlier this week</a>, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote that Bard uses "large language models" and information from the internet "to provide fresh, high-quality responses."</p><p>It's possible the error could be because the chatbot used information from <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/09/01/nasas-webb-takes-its-first-ever-direct-image-of-distant-world/">a NASA blog post</a> about the JWST announcing "the first time" astronomers used the telescope "to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system."</p><p>"This highlights the importance of a rigorous testing process, something that we're kicking off this week with our Trusted Tester program," a Google spokesperson told Insider about the error. "We'll combine external feedback with our own internal testing to make sure Bard's responses meet a high bar for quality, safety and groundedness in real-world information."</p><p><a href="https://blog.google/technology/ai/bard-google-ai-search-updates/">Pichai said Bard</a> is being initially released with the company's "lightweight model version of LaMDA" — which stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications — <a href="https://blog.google/technology/ai/lamda/">Google's conversational technology</a> that was trained on dialogue. Users can use the chatbot and offer Google feedback, Pichai said.</p><p>Bard was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/googles-bard-reveal-shows-fear-of-how-people-use-ai-2023-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">released to "trusted testers"</a> this week, and Pichai <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-bard-google-ai-chatbot-gpt-rival">said the public</a> will have access in the coming weeks. </p><p>Since the release of OpenAI's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">chatbot ChatGPT</a> in November, tech giants have been racing to create consumer-facing AI. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-management-issues-code-red-over-chatgpt-report-2022-12?IR=C">Google issued a "code red"</a> to staff, warning of the potential oncoming threat to its search engine. </p><p>Even with the introduction of Bard — and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-ai-google-maps-help-ev-electric-car-quickly-charge-2023-2">other AI-based technology</a> — it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/googles-bard-reveal-shows-fear-of-how-people-use-ai-2023-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">doesn't seem to be going well</a> for the company. Shares of Alphabet, Google's parent company, have fallen by over 8% since Google's AI showcase in Paris this morning.</p>

Whoops: Google's ad for new ChatGPT rival Bard shows the AI chatbot giving an inaccurate answer

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Former K-pop idol <keyword id="4421860" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kris-Wu">Kris Wu</keyword> was detained in Beijing on Saturday on accusations of rape.</li><li>Several previous K-pop sexual misconduct scandals have ended with women being ordered to pay restitution to the accused.</li><li>Wu's <keyword id="42737" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="arrest">arrest</keyword> signals it may finally be time for a reckoning among K-pop idols.</li></ul><p>Kris Wu's star once shone brightly, but his name is poison now. </p><p>The world was first introduced to Wu in 2012, on a freezing day in Seoul. Wu - then 21, appeared in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PltLh9igLPM">promotional teaser</a> for his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp76zZ85Bz0">upcoming debut</a> with the K-pop band EXO. Wu was captured in an all-white outfit, soft brown hair blowing in the wind, arms outstretched to welcome the glimmer of the morning sun. </p><p>It wasn't long before EXO <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuhfX5RSNJ4&amp;t=58s=58s">started appearing on variety shows in China</a>, with the fresh-faced, doe-eyed Wu leading the band in these appearances. The group became one of the most successful and popular boy bands in South Korea and internationally, <a href="https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/kpop-artists-best-selling-year-last-decade/">selling 1.8 million albums</a> in their first year of promotion and <a href="https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/exo">performing sold-out gigs across Asia and the US</a>. The band became Wu's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2124433/who-kris-wu-meet-millennial-idol-bringing-chinese-hip">springboard to stardom</a> - until his <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/6106228/exo-lose-member-kris-lost-planet-concert-review">dramatic and sudden exit from the group in 2014</a>. </p><p>Nine years on, Wu, now 30, has become one of the biggest names in <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> and one of the country's princes of pop. If you haven't heard his music, a cross between R&amp;B and Chinese-style hip-hop, you may have seen him starring alongside<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1293847/"> Vin Diesel</a> in the action movie "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" and<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2239822/"> Cara Delevigne</a> in Luc Besson's sci-fi flick "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets." Wu could also be found sitting front row at fashion shows with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2558687e8c9e42f1bd4ab948285dd32f">Tyga, Migos, and Bella Hadid</a>, playing in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPcf65-LzHk">NBA celebrity all-star game with Justin Bieber</a>, and hopping on stage to spit bars with<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_fLamP56FQ"> Travis Scott</a>.</p><p>But on July 31, he was<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58042353"> arrested in Beijing</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/kris-wu-accused-sexual-abuse-allegations-brand-cut-ties-2021-7"> after more than 25 women accused him of sexual assault</a>. Chinese state censors have<a href="https://www.allkpop.com/article/2021/08/weibo-deletes-kris-wu-and-his-labels-official-accounts-on-its-platform"> scrubbed Wu's online presence clean from social media</a>, and<a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230283.shtml"> his wax figure has been removed from Madame Tussauds in Shanghai</a>. The Chinese-Canadian rapper faces what could be a<a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230189.shtml"> lengthy jail term</a> if he's convicted of any crimes.</p><h2>Wu's arrest means it might be 'Time's Up' for East <keyword id="21718" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asia">Asia</keyword>'s bad boy megastars </h2><div type="image" title="Kris Wu attended Paris Fashion Week in January 2019." height="3323" width="4431" msid="85035150" hostid="261"></div><p>Wu was marketed as the face of EXO's <a href="http://kpopherald.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=201807120944057900807_2">Chinese sub-group, EXO-M</a>. Known as "gege" (or big brother) to his band members, he was cast as the upright, no-nonsense leader - until he <a href="https://www.soompi.com/article/756919wpp/kris-wu-yi-fan-releases-official-statement-in-response-to-sm-entertainments-lawsuit">quit the boyband in 2014</a>, <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140515001362">citing health issues and contractual disagreements</a> with the group's management agency, SM Entertainment.</p><p>He pivoted to a new aesthetic, swapping the clean-cut look often adopted by Korean boy bands to make their members look innocent and virginal for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS3GVHMbc9o">flashy cars</a>, gold chains, and baggy <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/blog/2019/06/25/how-kris-wu-breaking-hip-hop-fashion-boundaries">hip-hop streetwear</a>. </p><p>His star continued to rise. He was named <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2017/09/22/2017-forbes-china-celebrity-list-full-list/?sh=6736f65f686d">Forbes' 10th most influential Chinese celebrity</a> in 2017. His <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8484730/kris-wu-antares-louis-vuitton-interview/">2018 solo album "Antares"</a> knocked <a href="https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/2171983/chinese-rap-star-kris-wu-who-bumped-ariana-grande-itunes-charts">Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga off the US iTunes music charts</a> and was <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8484851/kris-wu-antares-album-billboard-200-chart-sales-audit">platinum-certified in China.</a></p><p>Wu's problems began when 19-year-old student Du Meizhu accused him of coercing her into having sex with him by pressuring her to drink until she "lost consciousness" when she was 17. The accusations first emerged in early June, and then in late July, Du was interviewed by the Chinese media outlet <a href="https://www.163.com/ent/article/GF6K4UV200038ADR.html">NetEase.</a> During the interview, Du accused Wu of paying her 500,000 Chinese Yuan ($77,000) in hush money to "keep quiet" about the incident. </p><p>Then more accusations rolled in -<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57884438"> including disturbing allegations from minors</a> who said Wu preyed on them. The scandal culminated in his <a href="https://weibo.com/5556545776/KrkQb4Zmi?from=page_1001065556545776_profile&amp;wvr=6&amp;mod=weibotime&amp;type=comment#_rnd1627745288723627745288723">arrest on Saturday</a> on suspicion of rape. He has not yet been charged with any crimes but is being held by Beijing police in the city's Chaoyang district.</p><p>Wu denied the accusation via his now-deleted Weibo account, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-kris-wu-metoo/2021/07/20/f745fb20-e943-11eb-84a2-d93bc0b50294_story.html">Washington Post.</a> "There were never any 'minors'!" he wrote on Weibo on Monday. "If this kind of thing happened, please rest assured that I will go by myself to jail!! I will take legal responsibility for my words above!!"</p><p>Insider has reached out to Wu for comment.</p><p>Wu's arrest may signal a shift in the landscape of how East Asian megastars are treated when bad behavior comes to light. The West is<a href="https://www.glamour.com/gallery/post-weinstein-these-are-the-powerful-men-facing-sexual-harassment-allegations"> no stranger to powerful men like Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby being brought to their knees by sexual harassment allegations.</a> </p><p>Even the central committee of the Communist Youth League was moved to issue their own statement on Weibo. "What we are really concerned with isn't celebrity gossip, but about good and evil, beauty and ugliness in society, about fairness and justice in a society with rule of law," it said, per <a href="https://variety.com/2021/film/asia/kris-wu-date-rape-allegations-criticism-1235024177/">Variety.</a></p><p>State broadcaster CCTV echoed the CYL. </p><p>The case, they said, according to the Washington Post, "has escalated into something larger than celebrity gossip, into a legal case and public event with massive social impact, something that demands a comprehensive investigation and clarifications by relevant departments. This should be a lesson for us to think more calmly and decide what kind of person deserves the laurel of a 'star.' "</p><h2><strong>K-pop's shameful history of sexual misconduct</strong></h2><p>For years, K-pop stars were seemingly immune to accountability. </p><p>K-pop singer<a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8503818/burning-sun-scandal-timeline-seungri-jung-joon-young"> Seungri of Big Bang fame</a> was known as the<a href="https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/gdragon-stories-seungri-infamous-gatsby-party-chilling/"> "Great Gatsby of South Korea"</a> because of his hard-partying lifestyle and massive fêtes in Seoul's glitzy Gangnam district. He was first <a href="https://time.com/5549962/seungri-k-pop-scandal/">accused of sex trafficking women</a> three years ago. Despite the accusation, he was<a href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210115005500315"> able to enlist in the South Korean army. He was also allowed to take his case to a military court,</a> avoiding a long-drawn and embarrassing public trial. The case is still in litigation. Several<a href="https://www.asiaone.com/entertainment/burning-sun-scandal-k-pop-singers-jung-joon-young-jailed-6-years-choi-jong-hoon-5"> minor celebrities</a> involved in the same scandal are serving jail terms of between five and six years. </p><p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-burning-sun-20190319-story.html">Seungri continues to deny all charges leveled against him</a>.</p><p>Seungri is not the only Korean entertainment figure to be named and shamed by South Korea's #MeToo movement. In 2018, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/south-koreas-entertainment-industry-reeling-metoo-revelations-1088277/">actor and top-level film executive Jo Jae-hyun</a> was accused of sexual harassment. Jo <a href="https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3044918">acknowledged these accusations, even admitting fault in a statement</a> - but a Seoul court <a href="https://n.news.naver.com/article/001/0012128462">ruled against his accuser, fining her $260,000</a>. </p><p>Separately, former SS501 group member Kim Hyung-jun was <a href="https://www.soompi.com/article/1313770wpp/famous-idol-group-member-sued-for-alleged-sexual-assault">accused of sexual assault in 2019</a>. The boyband member filed a lawsuit against his accuser. She was <a href="https://www.allkpop.com/article/2020/09/female-a-who-accused-ss501s-kim-hyung-jun-of-sexual-assault-sentenced-to-8-months-in-prison-for-false-charges-defamation-of-character">sentenced to eight months in jail for defaming the star</a>. </p><p>This trend of powerful men finding success in counter-suing their accusers persists in China, too. The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-45636196">BBC</a> reported in 2018 on the #MeToo accusations leveled against famous Chinese TV host <a href="https://supchina.com/2020/12/22/zhu-jun-breaks-silence-to-dispute-sexual-harassment-allegations-declaring-himself-the-real-victim/">Zhu Jun</a>, best known for hosting the nation's annual Spring Festival Gala. Zhou Xiaoxuan, a woman known by her online name "Xianzi," accused Zhu of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-a-sexual-harassment-suit-may-test-the-reach-of-metoo-in-china">forcibly groping her when she was working as an intern at the CCTV television station</a>. He countersued, and the case has dragged on for years. Most recently, the long-awaited <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3134341/chinas-biggest-metoo-case-between-zhou">second hearing of Zhou's case</a> was abruptly canceled in May. </p><p>These past cases further amplify how big a deal <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1230158.shtml">Wu's arrest</a> - and the Chinese state censor's swift scrubbing of him from all social media platforms - is. In China, Wu faces a situation called<a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/chinese-english/%E5%B0%81%E6%9D%80"> "封杀,"</a> which essentially means a celebrity is blacklisted, their career dead in the water.</p><p>Even before Wu's arrest, global brands like <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/kris-wu-loses-endorsement-deals-032726119.html">Lancome, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, and Porsche cut ties with him</a>. Per <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/China-police-detain-Canadian-pop-star-Kris-Wu-on-suspicion-of-rape">Nikkei Asia</a>, top stars like Wu can expect to rake in around $3 million for each ad campaign, meaning Wu may have lost around $20 million overnight. </p><h2>Wu's arrest is a victory for Chinese feminists, who for years were censored or jailed for being vocal about sexual assault</h2><div type="image" title="china metoo protest" height="5504" width="7338" msid="85035160" hostid="261"></div><p>Just six years ago, it was still taboo to be vocal about sexual misconduct in China. </p><p>In 2015,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/17/chinas-feminist-five-this-is-the-worst-crackdown-on-lawyers-activists-and-scholars-in-decades"> a group of women dubbed China's "feminist five"</a> were detained by the country's government for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." This was after they planned mini protests to speak out against sexual harassment and domestic violence - at one point<a href="https://annebonnypirate.org/2015/04/09/the-five-chinese-feminists/"> donning wedding dresses splattered with fake blood and marching in Beijing's streets</a>.</p><p>In 2018, Chinese censors also played a cat-and-mouse game with feminists on Weibo (China's version of Twitter), trying to shut down their posts. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/china-feminism-emoji-censorship/">Women found a way to evade censorship, however, by communicating via emoji, using the emojis for "rice" and "bunny"</a> - pronounced "mi" and "tu" respectively - to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rice-bunny-china-metoo-movement-2018-2">circulate posts about the #MeToo movement.</a></p><p>Wu's arrest could mark a sea change in how sexual assault is handled in the country. </p><p>Speaking to<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/asia/kris-wu-detain-china-suspicion-rape.html"> The New York Times</a>, Chinese women's rights activist Lu Pin said: "For the last three years, a number of prominent figures have faced #MeToo accusations, but nothing ever happened to them. Now with Wu, #MeToo has finally taken down someone with real power in China - it has shown that no matter how powerful you are, rape is not acceptable."</p><p>Jenny Coleman, the director of Stop It Now, a US-based non-profit organization combating sexual abuse, told Insider that Wu's arrest could open up an opportunity to initiate new conversations in Asia about how to respond to allegations of sexual abuse and hold accountable those who do cause harm - and what can be done to prevent abuse in the first place.</p><p>Coleman said this is the crux of the #MeToo movement, adding that bringing incidents "out of the shadows" can change perspectives, behaviors, and responses.</p><p>"Taking a deep look at why a culture preserves the image and reputation of those accused of sexual offenses over those who have been victimized is a first necessary step," Coleman said. "I do hope that as Asia begins to hopefully tackle how to both prevent sexual harm from happening and how to respond to incidents, so that creating opportunities for people to take responsibility for their behaviors and get help is prioritized." </p><h2>Wu has lost many fans, but still maintains hardcore supporters - including women who say they "don't give a f--- about feminism."</h2><p>Despite the accusations against him, many of Wu's fans continue to hang on.</p><p>Videos circulating on Weibo showed fans coming out en-masse to hold vigils for Wu, hoping for his safe release from detention.</p><p> "I don't give a f--- about 'feminism' and these women. I just want him to be set free. He is innocent," a woman in her 20s who wanted to be known as Yao told Insider.</p><p>"I just don't believe someone like Kris would rape anyone. Real fans know who he is and that the truth will prevail," said Yao, who runs a Wu fan page on Weibo.</p><p>"I think that evil s--t (Du Meizhu) should be thankful that Kris would even bother looking at her," said Wu fangirl Sun Xi, who is in her late 20s, to Insider. "When more information comes out, all the fake fans who betrayed him will be filled with regret." </p><p>But some of Wu's former fans have waved the white flag where supporting him is concerned. </p><p>"I've supported Kris ever since his EXO days. But it's just not logical to stand by someone if they're accused of sex offenses by so many women. It is super creepy," said Elise Hong, 24, who lives in Hangzhou, China, adding that the fact that Wu has been <keyword id="6355928" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arrested">arrested</keyword> "does not look good for him."</p><p>"Women should believe and support other women. Du and the other girls are being very brave, knowing the serious consequences of what could happen if they're found out to be lying," Hong added. </p><p>"I think we can still say Kris is innocent until proven guilty. I'm curious to see how the official investigations go, too." former Wu supporter Christy Zheng Xi, 31, from Beijing, told Insider. "But I'm done with him."</p>

Chinese prince of pop Kris Wu's arrest in Beijing on rape accusations means the #MeToo movement may have finally come for East Asia's superstars

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Essento</span></p><p class="caption">Essento's burger, made from mealworm larvae, that will be sold at select Coop locations in Switzerland.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Beef might taste delicious, but producing it <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e.pdf">exhausts</a> our planet's land and water. As a result, more chefs and retailers are searching for alternatives that taste like beef - including insects.</p><p>Starting May 2017, <a href="http://www.coop.ch/en/about-us/company.html">Coop</a>, one of Switzerland's largest wholesale retailers, will start selling "burgers" and "meatballs" - both primarily made from mealworm larvae - at select grocery locations. It will partner with Essento, a Swiss startup that makes food from insects, Switzerland's the Local <a href="http://www.thelocal.ch/20161219/swiss-supermarket-to-start-selling-bug-burgers?mc_cid=55ab3a652d&amp;mc_eid=aafe86284f">reports</a>.</p><p>Coop plans to eventually offer more insect products beyond burgers and meatballs, Essento co-founder <span>Christian Bärtsch </span>tells Business Insider. He <span>declined to specify what they will be and how many Coop locations will carry Essento's products.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Essento</span></p><p class="caption">Essento's meatballs, made from mealworm larvae, that will be sold at select Coop locations in Switzerland.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Packages of the insect burgers and meatballs will sit in the refrigerated meat section. </span><span>When Essento's team created the products, it aimed to make them taste and look as close to beef as possible, <span>Bärtsch says.</span></span></p><p><span><span>Until recently, Switzerland's food and safety office mandated that retailers aiming to sell products that contain insects get a special permit. But in December, the office <a href="https://www.blv.admin.ch/blv/fr/home/lebensmittel-und-ernaehrung/rechts-und-vollzugsgrundlagen/lebensmittelrecht-2017.html">announced</a> that anything can be sold as long as it respects normal food safety regulations .</span></span></p><p><span>Other startups are also <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/startups-that-want-you-to-eat-bugs-2016-3">experimenting</a> with insect-based. The San Francisco-based company Tiny Farms <span>offers <a href="https://www.wired.com/2014/03/open-bug-farm/">open-source farm kits</a> so that people can raise edible insects at home. </span></span><span>In 2016, famed <span>chef Kyle Connaughton joined Brooklyn-based startup Exo to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/exo-creates-protein-bars-with-crickets-2016-1">create protein bars </a><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/exo-creates-protein-bars-with-crickets-2016-1">using homemade cricket flour</a>. All of these startups </span></span></span><span>tout insects as a more sustainable protein than meat. </span></p><p>Mealworm larvae doesn't sound too appetizing, but <span>Bärtsch says Essento is trying to change consumers' attitudes around eating it. </span><span>With the new Coop partnership, he hopes that bug burgers will become more mainstream. </span></p><p><span>"<span>Collaborating with a large supermarket chain enables us </span><span>to</span><span> reach a broad consumer group," he says.</span></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/key-exercises-get-stronger-2017-1">An exercise scientist reveals the key to getting stronger</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VubGdvNDE6avxGj37Zv1jxiHQlkseRzB" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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