Blurs

Iran International is a London-based Persian-language news organisation, launched in May 2017.  It broadcasts 24/7 and primarily targets audiences inside Iran and the Iranian diaspora. It is owned by Volant Media UK Ltd, a privately owned UK company. Who actually owns it though? This is where things become interesting. Iran International says it is privately owned and editorially independent, and specifically denies being funded or controlled by the Saudi government. Its parent company, Volant Media, describes its networks as editorially independent. However, there has been substantial reporting linking its financial backing to Saudi Arabia. In 2018, The Guardian reported claims from sources familiar with the operation that approximately $250 million had come from Saudi Arabia's royal court. The reporting also highlighted the involvement of Saudi-British media executive Adel Al-Abdulkarim, who had connections to Saudi media figures.  Iran International disputed the allegation...

Look up at the night sky and there is one object that seems so permanent that it is easy to forget how unusual it is. The Moon.  It controls the tides. It brightens the night. It moves across the sky with remarkable regularity. It has influenced calendars, navigation, mythology and human culture for thousands of years. But the Moon is more than something we see. Its gravity interacts with Earth on a planetary scale. It raises ocean tides. It gradually slows Earth's rotation. And, importantly, it helps stabilise the orientation of Earth's rotational axis. So what would happen if the Moon had never existed? Would Earth still have developed oceans? Would the climate have remained suitable for complex life? Would evolution have taken a completely different path? And, perhaps most intriguingly: Would humans ever have evolved at all? There is no way to know for certain. But the physics and geology allow us to explore the possibilities. First, how did the Moon get here? The leading ex...

At almost 9,000 metres above sea level, Mount Everest seems about as far from an ocean as it is possible to get.  Yet its summit rocks contain fossils of creatures that lived in an ancient sea. How can marine life that once lived near sea level end up preserved in the highest mountain on Earth? The answer takes us hundreds of millions of years into Earth's past — to a time when the Himalayas did not exist, India was somewhere else entirely, and the region around Everest was part of a warm marine environment. The Roof of the World Has Marine Fossils The upper rocks of Everest include limestone from the Qomolangma Formation, deposited during the Ordovician Period roughly 450–470 million years ago. Inside these rocks are fossils and fossil fragments from marine organisms. Among them are brachiopods, crinoids, trilobites and ostracods, along with other microscopic and shelly remains. So the popular claim that there are "seashells on Everest" isn't simply an internet myth....

The Cave Art That Could Rewrite Ireland’s Human History Ancient markings hidden inside eight Irish caves could push the story of human settlement on the island back thousands of years — and point towards a lost Ice Age landscape connecting Ireland with Wales. For thousands of years, some of Ireland's most remarkable evidence of the human past may have been sitting in darkness. Researchers working in south-west Ireland have identified rock art in eight caves that they believe dates back at least 15,000 years — potentially much earlier than the previously accepted evidence for humans on the island. If the interpretation and dating withstand further investigation, it could move the earliest known human presence in Ireland back by around 5,000 years. But the discovery raises an even bigger question: How did those people get there? A very different Ireland The Ireland these people would have known was nothing like the island we recognise today. They lived towards the end of the last Ice...

Why Do People on Fentanyl Sometimes Look “Folded Over”? You may have seen the images or videos. A person appears to be standing or sitting, but their upper body is dramatically bent forward — sometimes almost at a right angle. Their head hangs down, their arms may dangle toward the ground, and they can appear almost frozen in that position. The phenomenon has become known online as the “fentanyl fold.” But what actually causes it? And why can someone remain in such an unusual position without apparently correcting themselves? The answer involves one of the most dangerous effects of powerful opioids: the suppression of the brain's control over consciousness, movement and breathing. Fentanyl doesn't simply make someone “high” Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used medically for severe pain and during some surgical procedures. Pharmaceutical fentanyl is extremely potent — roughly 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Illegally manufactured fentanyl is a major driver of opioid ov...

Scroll through Facebook, X, TikTok or Instagram and you can encounter hundreds of accounts presenting themselves as news. Some look remarkably professional. Others appear to be little more than a logo, a dramatic headline and a constant stream of political stories. They may call themselves independent media. Alternative media. Citizen journalism. Breaking news. But who actually runs them? Who owns the website behind the Facebook page? Who registered the company? Who are its directors? Who pays for the operation? Who controls the advertising? And are several apparently independent news outlets actually connected to the same people? In an age when a social-media post can reach hundreds of thousands of people within hours, these questions have become increasingly important. And surprisingly often, the answers are publicly available. The brand may not tell you much One of the easiest mistakes to make is to treat a media brand as though it were a person. A page might have a name suggesting ...