Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) stretches 27 km around and relies on thousands of magnets of different types – dipoles, quadrupoles, sextupoles, octupoles, decapoles, etc. – to steer and control its particle beams. Each type performs a specialized task. Some of the most important are known as inner triplets. These groups of three quadrupole magnets (hence the name) sit on both sides of the LHC’s four main experiments. Their job is to focus the particle beams as tightly as possible just before the particles collide inside the detectors. The tighter the beams are “compressed,” the greater the chance that particles…

In a letter, 27 leading global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations have urged Vantara, a private zoo in India funded by Reliance Industries’ nonprofit, to permanently end all wild animal imports into its facilities.The letter comes after Vantara announced a self-imposed one-year moratorium, which runs through June 2027, on all animal imports to its facilities as it improves its “due diligence” by appointing a governing council and stricter oversight.The announcement came amid allegations of illegal wildlife trade linked to Vantara — and a CITES Secretariat investigation into its 60,000 live animal imports over the past two years.The coalition…

Fit-out works are currently underway on the converter stations in Germany and the UK for NeuConnect, a high-voltage submarine cable that will create the first direct energy transmission link between the two countries.Source: NeuConnect The construction of the 24-meter-high, 70-meter-wide converter hall buildings reached full height earlier this year, allowing main contractor Siemens Energy to start the internal and external fit-out phase that will see key mechanical and electrical systems being installed. At the UK converter station, the transformers, each being 7 meters long, 5 meters tall and weighing over 200 tons, have been moved into position, while at both…

Reading Time: 5 minutes Click here to read highlights from the story A federal judge ruled Sept. 21 that the Trump administration did not give the required notice and public comment period when it released a controversial new rule in 2025. The rule would have required state officials to check the immigration status of anyone who uses federally funded adult education classes, Head Start programs, community health centers, and more.  The rule excluded undocumented immigrants and several categories of immigrants with legal status from accessing federally funded services. Wisconsin was among the states that sued to block the rule, arguing…

Facebook posts claiming Morrisons is giving away free food boxes for its birthday are not genuine.Morrisons told Full Fact these are not real offers from the supermarket.The posts say: “As a celebration for Morrisons Birthday in just a few days everyone who Hits like and comments: ‘Box’ gets a free food box. [sic]”They include images of what appear to be Morrisons-branded “free food boxes” in the store, one beside a sign reading “Celebrating 125 years of Morrisons!” Join 75,000 newsletter subscribers who trust us to check the facts Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.…

The US Supreme Court has lifted restrictions on the Trump administration to use a controversial federal database that uses citizenship information and other sensitive data to identify voters suspected of being non-citizens.Critics have questioned the reliability of the data, warning it could result in US citizens being wrongly removed from electoral rolls. In June, a federal judge ruled that the system was illegal and violated the privacy rights of Americans.But the top court’s conservative majority ruled that the National Voter Registration Act prohibits broad purges of voter rolls in the weeks before an election, which limits any “potential impact” of…

Pope Leo XIV has issued a warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) at the start of his four-day visit to France.The pontiff cautioned against “losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines” in wide-ranging remarks to Church and state officials at the Élysée Palace, following an hour of talks with President Emmanuel Macron.Leo made a similar warning earlier this year when he spoke of the need for AI to be “disarmed” in the first major teaching document of his papacy.In his May appeal, he mentioned the slave trade in relation to AI, suggesting that the world was in…

Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist party in Northern Ireland, could be sent to prison for more than 10 years over the sexual assault of two women when they were children, a court heard on Friday.The disgraced politician, who headed the DUP between 2021 and 2024, was found guilty of 18 counts of sexual abuse including one count of rape against the women in June.Recounting the case, Rosemary Walsh KC reminded Judge Ramsey how the distress felt by Complainant B while giving evidence was “palpable” in the court room.Referring to a victim statement already with the judge,…

Andy Burnham has said he will not call a general election before 2029, after days of speculation that Labour’s revival in the polls could tempt him to call an early contest.The prime minister was repeatedly questioned on the prospect during a round of broadcast interviews to regional media on Friday.He initially said he was “not particularly” tempted by the idea of an early election, but later became firmer, saying he would “knock that dead” and he was “not going to do that” because he was focused on getting on with the job.Asked by ITV Calendar whether the next election would…

ZDNET’s key takeaways This small WatchOS 27 update makes a big difference. Apple rolled out the dynamic app grid on the Apple Watch. You see fewer apps now, but that’s not a bad thing. Think about all the apps on the Apple Watch that you use on a regular basis. You could probably count them on one hand or two. Me? I use the Fitness app most, followed by the Timer function, Messages, Activity, Heart Rate, and Sleep. That means that, out of the 40 or so apps displayed on my Apple Watch home screen, I use one-eighth of them…