Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

When oil was first discovered off the north-east coast of Scotland in September 1969, industry folklore has it that the duty superintendent on the rig carefully poured it into a pickle jar commandeered from the canteen and took it back to Amoco’s Great Yarmouth office in Norfolk. There, it was emptied into an ash tray, sniffed and then set alight.From that modest start, North Sea oil – as the huge basin of oil and gas reserves quickly became known – emerged as a driving force of the British economy and a symbol of national power and renewal as the UK…

Many people today opt for smaller tablets, although our flexible and foldable smartphones may eventually earn a larger slice of the market. A small tablet makes a fantastic digital companion. They’re great for reading on the beach, watching videos, or entertaining the kids on long car trips. These small devices — with display sizes ranging from around six to 10 inches — can be just as powerful as their larger counterparts, offering rapid performance, access to your favorite apps, and vibrant displays.  If you’re looking to purchase your first tablet, you should consider one of these small, light, and often…

A new Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland working paper offers a provocative explanation for why cryptocurrency behaves so differently from traditional financial assets: Americans who buy crypto don’t simply have different demographics or risk appetites, they have radically different beliefs about digital assets’ future returns.The finding could help explain both crypto’s persistent volatility and the way rallies can attract new buyers, potentially creating a feedback loop in which rising prices reinforce bullish expectations and pull more investors into the market.Using repeated surveys of as many as 25,000 US households per wave, researchers Michael Weber, Bernardo Candia, Olivier Coibion and Yuriy…

Research led by Professor Carl Sayer at UCL Geography has found that abandoned farmland can recover naturally and develop into a diverse wildflower meadow, raising questions about some conventional methods used in habitat restoration. Published in Restoration Ecology, the research followed changes in plant life over 11 years (2011-2022) in a two-hectare field in North Norfolk. Farming at the site ended after its final crop in 2005. Aside from a traditional annual hay cut, the field was largely allowed to recover without intervention. Farmland Transforms Into a Wildflower Meadow Within 10-15 years, the former arable field had developed into a…

The Democratic Republic of Congo government and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group have agreed a roadmap for peace talks.In a joint statement after five days of talks in Switzerland, they said they had pledged to “pursue negotiations towards comprehensive peace and conflict resolution” and set up a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire.The roadmap sets out a timeline for talks under a US-brokered peace framework which they signed in 2025 – only for fighting to then continue in eastern DR Congo, which has been engulfed in conflict for decades.But disagreements remain over issues including sanctions against M23, the release of detainees…

His remarks come after former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov — ousted from his government role in July following a controversial reshuffle — called for elections earlier this week. “If our partners offer us specific conditions under which elections can be held … safely, legitimately and democratically,” with the participation of soldiers on the front line and citizens who fled to other countries to escape the war, “then let’s discuss it,” Zelenskyy continued. But “it is impossible under the conditions we have right now, when Putin refuses to agree to any form of ceasefire,” he argued. Fedorov has emerged as a…

The war in the Middle East is increasingly unpopular. So is the president as his numbers dip perilously — a common development in the sixth year of a presidency. Congressional Republicans are embroiled in unsavory scandals. Americans are shelling out big bucks for gas while economic anxiety runs high.The grim backdrop for November’s midterm elections has created a steep challenge for Republicans and opportunities for Democrats that look much the same as those they encountered in 2006. Back then, congressional Republicans faced the voters at the midpoint of President George W. Bush’s second term, with the public roiled by the…

Jane Schoenbrun’s latest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, is making a splash in theaters right now. So it seems like the perfect time to revisit their first film, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. I fell in love with this film when I first saw it at Sundance in 2021.We are immediately introduced to our protagonist, Casey, as she engages in the World’s Fair Challenge, a sort of ARG creepypasta meets ice bucket challenge. There’s a creepy mantra, some bloodletting, and a mysterious video — basically a speedrun of horror movie tropes. But having them all…

In brief ACE Robotics Chairman Wang Xiaogang predicts embodied AI could reach its “ChatGPT moment” by the end of 2027. A shortage of real-world training data remains a major obstacle, with ACE aiming to collect tens of millions of hours within two years. The Chinese startup plans to deploy its technology in 1,000 stores over the next year and eventually pursue an IPO. Humanoid robots can walk, dance, and box, but getting them to perform useful work in the unpredictable physical world reliably remains one of artificial intelligence’s biggest challenges.ACE Robotics Chairman Wang Xiaogang believes advances in AI models and…

The fight to stop five dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers began in one of Chile’s least populous regions, far from Santiago, where national energy policy was set. HidroAysén said Chile needed the project to meet rising demand for electricity. Patricio Segura, working from Aysén in Chilean Patagonia, spent years picking apart that case. He read the filings, explained what the reservoirs and transmission lines would mean on the ground, and helped residents prepare their own arguments. The dams were never built. There was an obvious complication: Segura was also one of the organizers. Through the Corporación…