Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

More than a kilometer underground, in what used to be a gold mine, inside a tank filled with tons of liquid xenon, “something” struck the nucleus of an atom. The tiny collision left an unusual energy signature that researchers are still unable to explain, but the scientists behind the experiment believe this could be the most convincing physical evidence of dark matter to date.Dark matter is one of the most important and elusive substances in astrophysics. Though it makes up about 85 percent of the matter in the universe, we can’t observe it directly because it doesn’t interact with light…

Microsoft has confirmed that desktop settings are lost or reset on some Windows devices after installing the KB5120998 August 2026 preview update. Microsoft’s confirmation follows a wave of user reports saying their wallpaper switched to a black background automatically after installing this Windows update. The known issue impacts systems running Windows 11 24H2 and Windows 11 25H2, and it may affect the wallpaper, the desktop theme, and various other settings. “Following installation of Windows updates released August 27 2026 (KB5120998) and later, some Windows Desktop settings fail to load, resulting in desktop backgrounds displaying as a solid black color,” Microsoft…

Quantum this, quantum that…who put a stupid cat on-chain!? Ahem.  Alright, let’s be serious. The threat that a viable, actually functioning, quantum computer would pose to Bitcoin if it were to be built is very serious. It is the concrete example of an existential threat, in every sense of the word.  One of the bedrock foundations that Bitcoin rests upon is the assumption of a functioning cryptographic system that can be used to produce unforgeable signatures, i.e. that if you follow that system’s protocol properly when signing things, there is no way that anyone but a bitcoin’s rightful owner could…

ADHD affects millions of people and can make everyday tasks involving focus, impulse control, and sustained attention more difficult. At the same time, traits associated with ADHD are also found among highly successful artists and innovators, including Justin Timberlake and Simone Biles. New research from Constructor University neuroscientist Dr. Radwa Khalil examines the science behind this apparent contradiction. Published in iScience, the research explores the neurological overlap between attention and creativity. It suggests that some mental processes linked to ADHD, including defocused attention, may also support creative thinking when they are directed in productive ways. The findings point to the…

A blanket of toxic haze is enveloping parts of Indonesia and spreading into Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, as weeks-long wildfires continue to burn.Millions of people across large swathes of South East Asia have been exposed to the smog, which in some areas has fuelled “acutely unhealthy” pollution more than 15 times the World Health Organization’s recommended level.Many of the ongoing fires have been burning across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo since mid-July – underpinned by a so-called Super El Niño that is exacerbating drought conditions.Between July and August, Indonesia’s Health Ministry recorded over 50,000 cases of respiratory infections linked to…

Author: Lars Ivar Leivestad, Commercial Manager at Miros. Every crane lift depends on a clear judgment of sea state. Wave period, vessel motion, current, and relative motion can turn acceptable conditions into unsafe ones mid-operation. Without real-time local measurements, the decision to continue rests on forecast, observation, or deck-level estimation. Image credit: Adobe Stock, licensed to Miros Offshore operations bring together vessel crews, client representatives, contractors, and project teams. Nobody ever disagrees on the goal of the project. The disagreement happens the moment the question shifts from “what needs to be done?” to “is it safe to do it now?”…

Reading Time: < 1 minute The first election issues story reported and produced by the Northeast Wisconsin News Lab (NEW News Lab for short) was published Wednesday. The consortium of newsrooms includes the Post-Crescent in Appleton, the Green Bay Press Gazette, the Green Bay Press Times, Wisconsin Public Radio and yours truly — Wisconsin Watch. The collaborative effort formed in 2021 to advance in-depth local reporting on important topics. Previous seasons of the NEW News Lab focused on racism as a public health crisis, lack of affordable housing, local school funding and coverage of local judicial systems. This time around,…

The 1961 Indemnity Act was passed by the apartheid government in the wake of the massacre and protected the police and government from having criminal charges or even civil claims brought against them in relation to what happened at Sharpeville.Despite more than 30 years of democratic rule, that law remains on the statute books.But now South African non-governmental organisation Lawyers for Human Rights, together with UK-based law firm Leigh Day, has filed a case at the High Court arguing that the law is unconstitutional under the new constitution that came into effect in 1994.”Apart from the individual damages, what the…

Sikorski called for restricting Russian diplomats’ freedom of movement to the countries where they are accredited, limiting the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens, requiring biometric passes for Russians entering the EU, and capping the number of Russian diplomats stationed within the bloc. “We still have far too many Russian diplomats throughout the European Union. We estimate there are over 2,000, and we estimate that at least 40 percent of them are performing tasks that are inconsistent with their diplomatic status. They work for agencies that also carry out terrorist activities in our countries,” he said. “Therefore, in solidarity…

Downing Street says 45 extra police officers are being deployed to French beaches in a “surge team” to tackle larger dinghies with more people packed onto them.Earlier on Tuesday, Home Office Minister Anna Turley said the officers were “just part of the armoury” of more than 1,000 officers on northern French beaches who are now doing “actual intervention” in the water.She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that videos in recent weeks “show them going to the boats, slashing them, pushing people back, being bombarded with stones and bricks and coming under a lot of challenge to do that, so…