Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Scientists have made mice with a remarkable amount of room for human brain tissue to grow. By genetically engineering animals lacking part of their brain, researchers created a living model in which pea-sized clumps of human neurons could expand, mature and wire into a developing nervous system, ultimately coming to dominate the mouse cortex, the brain’s outer layer. The model offers a new way to study human neural circuits and brain disease, researchers report September 16 in Nature. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week’s scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. “Our goal has been to make aspects…

A 294-meter-long floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) has arrived at the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Stade, marking the start of commissioning preparations and bringing the facility a step closer to operations, with gas feed-in to Germany’s grid expected from November. FSRU Energos Force; Source: DET Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET), a German state-owned company that operates the federal government’s LNG terminals, has begun preparations to commission its new floating LNG terminal, after the FSRU Energos Force came to the Stade-Bützfleth industrial port. The arrival of the vessel, chartered by DET, marks the start of preparations to commission…

When Boris Nadezhdin began campaigning for Russia’s parliamentary elections as an independent candidate over the summer, more than four years on from the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the politician was driven by a belief that Russians wanted peace. His experiment proved short-lived: Within weeks, authorities piled on such legal pressure that by late July, he felt compelled to leave the country or face likely imprisonment. Nadezhdin, 63, is not a natural firebrand, and his campaign wasn’t radical. If he erred, he thinks it was by not fading into irrelevance after a failed bid for president two years ago. “I must…

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, The 25 basis-point hike is the first raise in three years and comes ahead of critical midterm elections in the United States.The United States Federal Reserve has said it will raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point as inflation, driven by soaring fuel prices amid the US-Iran war, continues to weigh on the economy.The Fed, which is the central bank of the US, said on Wednesday that it will hike interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75 percent to 4 percent.It is the first hike in more than three years and comes just…

The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has blamed Brexit for the continuing migrant boat crossings, and accused both Reform UK and the Conservatives of “exploiting” the issue for their own benefit.Sir Ed was speaking during a round of interviews with BBC local radio stations ahead of his party’s annual conference which starts on Saturday.Now in his seventh year as party leader, he answered questions on immigration, the cost of living, pensions, crime, and the Lib Dems’ record in local government.On the numbers of migrants crossing the English Channel in dinghies, he said: “We didn’t have the small boats problem…

Unions who donate to Labour will meet John Healey on Thursday to press home their demands ahead of next month’s Budget.Unite, the UK’s second biggest union, has called for a reversal of the freezing of tax thresholds, that see the lowest paid drawn into paying tax.The union’s leader, Sharon Graham, said she told Andy Burnham that the cut to the winter fuel allowance, carried out under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was a “disgrace”, adding: “What to you need to do is winter fuel in reverse – something that says to everyday people I am on your side.”The call…

Fast-casual burrito chain Chipotle is working with the data infrastructure giant Palantir.The company is working on a “food safety risk platform” hosted on Palantir’s flagship software platform Foundry, according to screenshots viewed by WIRED. The platform appears to analyze factors like a store’s health department scores, pest incidents, and employee illnesses to assign a food safety score—basically, the store’s risk level.Chipotle spokesperson Erin Wolford confirmed the initiative, but declined to comment further. Palantir did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.It’s not known exactly when the partnership started or how widely the platform has been deployed, but it comes…

Our latest research suggests the importance of how tasks are divided and carried out alongside access to AI tools. These new tasks outside their typical job descriptions become a regular part of how workers use AI. If those activities become regular responsibilities, jobs could broaden even while their titles stay the same.Our first Work at the Frontier report⁠ documented ‘task crossover’: workers using AI for activities historically associated with another occupation. Our latest research asks what happens next.Analyzing more than 1.5 million work-related ChatGPT messages from April through July 2026, we find evidence that some cross-occupation AI use is recurring.…

Security researchers at Forever Security have shown that one ordinary browser extension could take control of the AI assistants built into five Chromium-based products: Gemini Live in Chrome, Perplexity Comet, Microsoft Edge, Opera Neon and the Claude in Chrome extension. Once the extension was installed, it could access each product’s built-in AI with a single click. On Comet, Edge, Opera Neon, and Claude in Chrome, it could drive the AI agent to act on behalf of the attacker; on Chrome and Comet, it could read files from the user’s computer, and on Chrome, it could also switch on the camera…

Bitcoin faces a compressed volatility test as the Federal Reserve’s rate decision lands two days before a major IBIT options expiry.The Fed will release its policy statement at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, followed by Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference and a fresh Summary of Economic Projections. Any move in Bitcoin will then run into Friday’s expiry of about 1.47 million options contracts tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.That sequencing gives traders a clear test of whether a macro-driven move can survive one of the largest visible concentrations of positioning in the US-listed Bitcoin ETF options market.A sustained move outside…