September 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
Poland tracked a Russian Mi-8 near Braniewo for 42 seconds
Poland's operational command said an Mi-8 from Kaliningrad entered about 300 metres and stayed 42 seconds on 23 September. Fighter jets scrambled, radar tracked the flight, and ground units stayed on standby. Moscow offered no comment. Euronews reports the same Wednesday violation in the Warmian-Masurian region.
Qantas aims to sell New York-Sydney tickets next August
Vanessa Hudson said Qantas plans to put tickets on sale next August for a New York-Sydney flight of about 18 hours, with the service planned for 2028. A London-Sydney flight of about 20 hours is planned for the following October. Perth-London already runs more than 17 hours. The aircraft is an Airbus A350-1000 with an extra fuel tank. The Financial Times says Qantas is pushing ahead with the ultra-long flights even though fuel prices are high.
RAIBO2 finishes a full marathon on one charge
Choongin Lee and colleagues at KAIST report that RAIBO2 finished a full marathon in 4 hours, 19 minutes and 52 seconds on a single battery charge. The total cost of transport is 0.25 against a human benchmark of 0.37. Scientific American reports the same one-charge marathon, over 26.2 miles, in an account published on Wednesday. The cited race timing is from 2024.
Ramses takes power in Milan ahead of a 2028 launch toward Apophis
ESA and JAXA have now energised Ramses, their planetary-defence craft, as one vehicle inside the Milan clean room run by OHB Italia. Apophis, the mission's target, passes Earth on 13 April 2029. The aimed departure is spring 2028. ESA describes the day as an assembly-schedule step, with no flight behind it.
Sam Yam leaves Patreon to lead Creator Product at OpenAI
Sam Yam, Patreon's co-founder, is joining OpenAI to lead Creator Product, and former product head Drew Rowny and former engineering head Shannon Ma are coming with him. The Verge reported the move on 23 September. Music Ally reports the same trio, and Yam's line that they will build with creators on that subscription platform and share early access to tools. He points readers to DevDay on 29 September. The product itself is still undescribed.
Sanders and Casar file a bill to ban artificial superintelligence
Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act on 23 September. The bill would prohibit systems defined as capable of destroying or disempowering humanity, and it sets a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Advanced-model work stays paused until a new Department of Artificial Intelligence writes the rules.
Singapore core inflation rose to 2.2 percent in August
The Straits Times reports Singapore core inflation at 2.2 percent in August and headline inflation at 2.3 percent. MAS and MTI kept the 2026 forecast for both at 1.5–2.5 percent. CNA reports the same core rate, up from 2.0 percent in July, and the same headline rate, up from 2.2 percent. CNA calls the core reading the highest since September 2024, with services, retail and food among the movers.
Six genomes trace a Canterbury MenB cluster that sickened 21 people
Martin Maiden and an Oxford team read blood genomes from six patients in March's group B Neisseria meningitidis cluster in Canterbury. 21 people fell ill, 9 needed intensive care, and 2 died. Medscape reports the same 21 diagnoses in one week, all in hospital, 9 in intensive care and 2 dead, and says the organism belonged to clonal complex cc41/44.
Streeting held the Diego Garcia payments at this stage
Wes Streeting said the Chagos deal as now drafted does not proceed without American support, and that Mauritius payments are not made at this stage. The signed text transfers sovereignty while leaving a 99-year lease on Diego Garcia. The BBC says the defence secretary is reviewing the deal, and it puts the average payment at 101 million pounds a year.
Super El Niño projection: 239,000 extra heat deaths
A Climate Impact Lab report projects 239,000 additional heat deaths from September 2026 through February 2027, and 451,000 from June 2026 through February 2027. New Scientist, on 23 September, reports that split as about 240,000 in the forecast window and about 450,000 once earlier summer deaths are added. It does not place all 450,000 in the next 6 months.