Core Drilling Begins at Durupinar Noah’s Ark Site, Drill Bit Shatters on Possible Layer of Petrified Wood
Mountains of Ararat -- An international team of American researchers, scientists, geologists, and archaeologists from Noah’s Ark Scans, in partnership with Turkish universities, has begun collecting core samples from the Durupınar Formation at depths of up to 18 meters and is preparing to send the Gopher drone into mapped voids, organized tunnels, and corridors inside the hull of what many believe to be Noah’s Ark.
Percussion core drilling is a method used to penetrate limestone and many rock types, and the dry drilling system used in this investigation operates without drilling fluids and uses mechanical impact and drilling force to advance through resistant subsurface materials like limestone. Depending on the equipment and bit configuration, percussion drilling systems are capable of penetrating both unconsolidated material and competent rock. Typical petrified wood is substantially harder than limestone, and harder than most types of bedrock.
“Whatever the core drill struck was harder than limestone — hard enough to break the bit,” Andrew Jones continued.
Massive newly-unearthed complex may shed light on how Jewish pilgrims prepared to enter the Temple
A massive complex of several mikvaot, believed to have been used by Jewish pilgrims, has been uncovered at the foot of the Temple Mount on the outskirts of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The complex, which stretches across about 280 square meters, was found at the Ophel archaeological site and includes a large central pool and several mikvaot. It is located near the now-sealed “Triple Gate,” which served as one of the main entryways to the Temple Mount in antiquity.
During the Second Temple period, the archaeologists explained, the gateway led to an underground staircase that led upwards to the middle of the Temple Mount’s plaza. Another gate to the west, known as the “Double Gate,” is also blocked today, but the blockage is reachable from inside if one starts on the side of the plaza and walks down.
Humanity Could Irreversibly Alter Earth After Breaching 7 of 9 Safe Limits, Scientists Warn
The 2026 Planetary Health Check, published Monday by the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research and authored by 60 scientists from around the world, shows that Earth has breached seven out of nine planetary boundaries.
First introduced by scientists in 2009, the Planetary Boundaries framework identifies nine ways humanity is pushing crucial processes that maintain Earth’s stability and resilience past their limits. They are climate change, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, atmospheric aerosol loading, stratospheric ozone depletion, freshwater change, land-use change, chemical pollution, and biogeochemical flows.
According to the new report, only two have shown improvement in the last decade: stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading. The authors note, however, that aerosol loading may have reached unsafe levels in some regions.
“Taken together, the 2026 assessment shows broad and increasing pressure across the Earth system,” they write. “Seven of the nine Planetary Boundaries are transgressed, several control variables lie in the High Risk Zone, and all seven transgressed boundaries show worsening trends. The farther and longer human pressures move beyond the boundaries, the greater the risk of large-scale and potentially irreversible Earth-system change.”
China sent Iran 1,300 shipments of drone, missile components this year – report
China has sent around 1,300 air shipments containing dual-use components for drones and missiles to Iran’s Defense Ministry this year through the end of June, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing Iranian customs data.
According to the report, one shipment arrived in Tehran as the US and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire on June 17 and Beijing publicly touted its efforts to help end the fighting.
The shipment contained Chinese “dual-use” electronics components that could be used in Iran’s drones and missile guidance systems, the report said. Two days later, more than a dozen shipments arrived carrying over $6 million worth of parts that could be used in drones.
Satellite Images Reveal China Expanding Nuclear Weapons Infrastructure at Seven Secretive Sites
China is rapidly expanding nuclear weapons infrastructure at at least seven sites, according to a Telegraph investigation based on satellite imagery and expert analysis.
The sites include facilities linked to nuclear warhead production, weapons research, explosive testing and nuclear-material processing. Analysts cited by the Telegraph said the construction suggests Beijing is making a major long-term investment in expanding its nuclear arsenal under President Xi Jinping.
The findings come as Western governments track China’s broader nuclear buildup. The Pentagon has estimated China’s stockpile at more than 600 warheads and projects Beijing could possess more than 1,000 by 2030.
Tigrayan leaders say new war with Ethiopian government has begun
Forces from the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray launched a major offensive against the federal government on Wednesday, a senior Ethiopian official said, shattering a four-year-old peace deal and threatening a wider regional conflict.
Tigray’s leaders said in a statement they had entered a “defensive” war to counter aggression by the federal government.
A civil war that began in 2020 between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths before the Pretoria Agreement, brokered by the African Union, was signed in November 2022.
Australia says OpenAI agent hacked government medical website
Australia said on Thursday that an OpenAI agent breached a government health data portal in June, gaining unauthorized access to files, in what could be the first known instance of an AI agent hacking a government website.
The breach is one of the highest-profile incidents of AI agents accessing external systems outside the United States, coming on top of several recent breaches globally by rogue AI agents that have alarmed governments and companies.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access to the medical statistics portal of Medicare, Australia’s universal health insurance program, while conducting research on public medical spending.
El Niño heat could cause 451,000 additional deaths worldwide by February 2027 as Pacific temperatures reach record levels
A new Climate Impact Lab assessment estimates that heat associated with El Niño could contribute to 451,000 additional deaths worldwide from June 2026 through February 2027, including 239,000 ± 11 000 during September 2026–February 2027. The September 23 report comes as NOAA measurements show central Pacific sea-surface temperatures reaching levels last seen during the 2015–16 El Niño, while multiple media reports indicate a new daily temperature-anomaly record.
Pakistani girl, 3, sold into marriage for $9,000 under ‘walwar’ custom, sparking int’l outrage
The alleged marriage of a three-year-old girl to a 60-year-old man for 2.5 million Pakistani rupees, around $9,000, has drawn attention to child marriage and the traditional practice of walwar in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan.
Police in the border city of Chaman arrested the girl’s father, Abdul Baqi, after the case surfaced on social media. The 60-year-old man, identified as Salah Uddin, remains at large.
Walwar is a Pashto term for money paid by a groom or his family to the family of a bride.
At the time police intervened, the alleged marriage existed only on paper because the full walwar payment had not been made. According to The Media Line’s reporting, once the agreed amount was paid, the arrangement would have taken effect, and the 3-year-old would have been regarded as Salah Uddin’s wife.