Yeah, I know. The headline on this article made me jump up too.

China's unpiloted Shenzhou 3 is chalking up space mileage points, even transmitting a female voice at one point, as it whips around the Earth. Launched atop a Long March 2F booster on Monday evening (Beijing time), the craft is reported to house a crew of specially outfitted mannequins that radio back simulated heartbeats, breathing rates, and other vital signs.

Oh, really? Dummies that look and act and transmit biodata and voice messages exactly like real astronauts?

A more suspicious person than myself might begin to smell a large rat at this point.

How is the behavior of this spacecraft any different than one housing actual astronauts? Okay, I'm sure with our modern space observation techniques, China couldn't pull off a sneak flight of real astronauts, but on the other hand, would our military space observers let the cat out of the bag if it would reveal their capabilities?

Let's see what happens when it comes back down in one piece.