Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Douglas Seiler went to unusual lengths to recreate an ancient mystery. He obtained papyrus and reed pens from Egypt, along with traditional lampblack ink from Japan. Then he paid high school students to write on the papyrus using passages from “Star Wars,” the Bible, and a quote from the 1960s science fiction television show “The Outer Limits.” Once the writing was finished, Seiler, an affiliate of Berkeley SETI, rolled up the papyrus, sealed it inside a container, placed it in a high-temperature furnace, and burned it until it was thoroughly carbonized. The experiment was designed to mimic a catastrophe that…

Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella has emerged as close ally the of Trump administration in South America.Published On 26 Sep 202626 Sep 2026The Colombian government has extradited an alleged drug trafficking leader to the United States, part of a shift in the country’s security policy into greater alignment with Washington.President Abelardo de la Espriella announced on Friday the extradition of Geovany Andres Rojas, who is accused of leading an organisation formed by previous members of the FARC rebel group.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“You don’t build peace by protecting narco-terrorists like this bandit,” de la Espriella said…

The prime minister has announced a £210m package to regenerate the UK’s communities and high streets.Empty spaces will be put back into use, Andy Burnham said, turning them into “community hubs, health centres, shared workspaces, cafés and the local services that people actually want to see.”The scheme is part of funding earmarked by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for high street support and regeneration.It comes ahead of Burnham’s first Labour Party conference as prime minister, where he is set to emphasise his plans for the UK will have “making life more affordable” at its core.As part of…

Tabs are the best. They’re also the worst.Sometimes I end up drowning in browser tabs containing web pages I don’t remember opening, and sometimes I have a few tabs that I want to close, but I can’t, because I know I’ll need them later.Tuck is a completely free browser extension for all the major browsers that helps with this. You know how, in Gmail, you can “snooze” an email so that it’s hidden from your inbox until later? This is like that, but for your browser tabs. Tuck can also automatically close idle tabs after a certain amount of time,…

The ShinyHunters extortion gang is using a URL-encoding trick to bypass web application firewall rules that mitigate the Oracle PeopleSoft CVE-2026-35273 flaw, allowing the threat actors to resume widespread exploitation of a flaw on vulnerable servers. Google’s Mandiant and Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) say this new technique has allowed the threat actor to once again target PeopleSoft servers that had not applied security updates and instead blocked access to the vulnerable PSEMHUB endpoint using a WAF. On June 10, BleepingComputer first reported that the ShinyHunters extortion gang was targeting Oracle PeopleSoft servers using a zero-day vulnerability, allowing them to steal data…

In brief U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $134.5 million Friday, extending a seven-day inflow streak worth about $2.98 billion, per Decrypt’s tracker. The run followed $746.3 million in outflows on Sept. 15 and 16 after the Clarity Act failed in the Senate. Year-to-date flows turned positive at $886.8 million through Thursday, per Farside, up from a $5.69 billion hole in July. Less than two weeks ago, Bitcoin ETF investors were heading for the exits. Now they’re piling back in.U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $134.5 million on Friday, extending their inflow streak to seven straight trading days, according to…

Around 2.5 to 2 billion years ago, Earth underwent the largest chemical transformation ever recorded at its surface. Oxygen began accumulating in the atmosphere, setting in motion changes that eventually helped make possible the rise of complex organisms such as plants and animals about half a billion years ago. As oxygen levels increased for the first time, enormous amounts of microbial material were buried beneath the seafloor. That burial trapped carbon in rocks and left behind an unusual isotopic signature. For decades, many scientists have interpreted that signature as evidence that Earth’s carbon cycle became dramatically unbalanced on a global…

For an hour or two this week, I’ve been in the company of people whose lives I’ve seen unfold, almost from the beginning, almost to the end. They are people whom, with one exception, I’ve never met. And yet I’ve shared in their triumphs and disappointments for decades.They are the group who, in 1964, when they were seven years old, were the subjects of what was initially a single, 40-minute ITV documentary, but which flowered into a work that is quite magical. Returning to those same boys and girls every seven years, watching as they turned first into shy and…

Boak, Josh. “Trump 50% Tariffs Target Canadian Autos, Alcohol and Cheese.” AP News, 20 July 2026, https://apnews.com/article/trump-canada-50-tariff-autos-alcohol-cheese-ca268ef24992b16695954c4c2e5eae6a. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.Gillies, Rob. “Canada-US Trade War Further Ruptures a Historic Alliance.” AP News, 22 Aug. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/canada-us-trade-war-trump-carney-tariffs-4d18583fe52134ca8550652ad9772d2c. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.Gillies, Rob. “Trump Widens Trade War with Canada beyond Tariffs. Here’s What to Know.” AP News, 9 Sept. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/canada-trump-carney-trade-war-tariffs-4620ffb5ecc029322217207fa6758431.—. “Mark Carney Signals Canada May Hold off on New Retaliation Against Donald Trump Trade Measures.” AP News, 10 Sept. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/trump-canada-tariffs-ford-carney-700d1eaad7f1aa87f1d7875222691b35. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.Pettypiece, Shannon. “Trump Puts Tariffs on Thousands of Goods From Canada and Mexico, Risking Higher Prices.” NBC…

Police are investigating the killings in a country with one of the highest femicide rates in the world.Published On 26 Sep 202626 Sep 2026South African police have discovered the body of another woman east of the country’s commercial capital, Johannesburg, bringing the total number of female bodies found near the city since mid-July to 10.Police confirmed the discovery in Thembisa, Ekurhuleni, on Saturday but have not provided any further information. The body was found in the morning, according to the daily newspaper, The Sowetan.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe discovery adds to growing concern over violence against women…