The cause of the altercation could not be immediately ascertained as of press time.
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Mysterious radio signals discovered in ‘unprecedented’ part of space
Story by Wiliam Hunter
Over the last 10 years, Earth has been receiving a mysterious radio signal every two hours from a distant region of space.
Although it sounds like the start of a sci-fi novel, scientists have now traced these pulses back to an ‘unprecedented’ source.
The researchers say that the pulses originate from a binary system containing a long-dead star.
In this system, a white dwarf and red dwarf orbit each other so closely that their magnetic fields ‘bump together’ to create a long radio pulse.
Since the stars’ orbit is regular, they produce a pulse every 125 minutes like a vast cosmic clock.
Researchers say this system, named ILTJ1101, is located 1,600 light-years from Earth in the direction of the Big Dipper, within the constellation Ursa Major.
This is the first time that a repeating long radio pulse has been observed coming from anything other than a highly magnetised neutron star, known as a magnetar.
In the future, the researchers believe that more mysterious signals from space might turn out to be binary systems like this one.
Researchers have traced the origins of a mysterious radio signal to an ‘unprecedented’ part of space. Their study claims that the burst has been produced by a binary system containing a red dwarf and white dwarf star (illustrated)
Dr Iris de Ruiter, now of the University of Sydney, first discovered the mysterious pulses in 2024 while looking through an archive of data from a radio telescope in the Netherlands.
Within the data of the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), the largest radio telescope operating at the lowest frequencies that can be observed from Earth, Dr de Ruiter discovered a pulse arriving at Earth in 2015.
Sifting through the archival data for the same area of the sky, she soon found six more pulses.
What was unusual was that each pulse, like a flash of light from a torch but in radio form, lasted between a few seconds to a minute and arrived at regular intervals.
As radio-astronomy techniques have improved, scientists are spotting more and more ‘fast radio bursts’ (FRBs) but this kind of slow, regular pulse remain rare.
Study co-author Dr Charles Kilpatrick, of Northwestern University, says: ‘The radio pulses are very similar to FRBs, but they each have different lengths.
‘The pulses have much lower energies than FRBs and usually last for several seconds, as opposed to FRBs which last milliseconds.‘
To learn more about where these pulses were coming from, the researchers accessed a large optical telescope, which would gather light from that region of space.
While regular radio pulses have been theorised to be signs of intelligent life, the researchers say this pulse is produced by the magnetic fields of the two stars bumping together as they orbit (stock image)
Starting a decade ago, scientists detected a regular radio pulse arriving once every 125 minutes from a distant region of space. Until now, the origin of this pulse has been a mystery. This diagram shows how the orbital period of the binary system (blue) matches the radio pulses
At first, only one star was visible, but the data soon revealed more about this strange system.
By looking at the optical spectra of the star – the different frequencies of light that reach the telescope – the researchers learned that the one visible star was a red dwarf.
Red dwarfs are small, cool stars just a fraction the size of the sun, which can burn for trillions of years without using up all their fuel.
However, this particular red dwarf was doing something unusual: it was wobbling back around a central point on a regular schedule.
Dr Kilpatrick says: ‘The spectroscopic lines in these data allowed us to determine that the red dwarf is moving back and forth very rapidly with exactly the same two-hour period as the radio pulses.’
This back-and-forth movement suggests that the red dwarf was being pulled by the gravity of a second, hidden star.
By observing those movements carefully, Dr Kilpatrick calculated that this second star had the same mass as a typical ‘white dwarf’ star.
White dwarfs are dead stars which have burned through all their nuclear fuel and shed their outer layers, leaving behind nothing but their hot, dense core.
The system includes a white dwarf, a dead star so small and faint that they don’t usually show up on optical telescopes. The researchers were only able to determine the white dwarf existed because of its pull on its partner star. Pictured: Artist’s impression of a white dwarf next to our moon for scale
But, since these stars are so dim, they don’t show up on any but the most powerful telescopes – which explains why the researchers couldn’t directly observe it.
The researchers believe that, as the white and red dwarfs dance around a central point, their magnetic fields come close enough to interact and produce a blast of radio waves.
Around 1,600 years later, those radio waves arrive on Earth as the mysterious radio pulses which showed up in Dr de Ruiter’s database.
Dr Kilpatrick says: ‘In almost every scenario, its mass and the fact that it is too faint to see means it must be a white dwarf.
‘This confirms the leading hypothesis for the white dwarf binary origin and is the first direct evidence we have for the progenitor systems of long-period radio transients.’
Going forward, the researchers hope that their study will inspire other astronomers to consider binary systems as the possible source of unusual radio pulses.
This could help us understand many of the mysterious energy sources which have been found throughout the Milky Way.
Lead author Dr de Ruiter says: ‘With different techniques and observations, we got a little closer to the solution step by step.’
President Bola Tinubu has condemned the reported “barbaric” killing of one of the abducted teachers from the Esiele community in Ogbomoso, Oyo state.
In a statement released issued by his media aide, Bayo Onanuga, on Monday, May 18, President Tinubu said the teacher was k!lled when “rescue operation is underway.”
While conveying his sympathy the government and people of the state, President Tinubu assured that security operatives are “working around the clock” to rescue the victims and arrest the bandits as well as their collaborators within the community.
He further assured that the federal government would collaborate with the state government to rescue the victims.
‘’”I am saddened by the reported killing of one of the teachers kidnapped by the gunmen who invaded the community. I sympathise with Governor Seyi Makinde and commend the steps he has taken on the matter. I sympathise with the families of the kidnapped victims.
The Federal Government is working with the Oyo State government to rescue all the victims. I commend the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioners of Police in Oyo and Kwara States for their quick intervention and the deployment of a tactical and the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) team to rescue the victims.
The IGP, following my instructions, is personally leading the tech-driven operation. We expect a breakthrough soon. The bandits and all their local collaborators will be fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law.
Cases of kidnapping further make imperative the establishment of state police to man some of our underserved areas. The National Assembly should accelerate the enactment of the law creating state police” the President said
May 14, 2026
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) expresses deep concern over the decision by the Nigeria Police Force to disband the notorious “Tiger Base” in Owerri, Imo State, only to inaugurate another tactical police unit operating from the same facility, under substantially the same command structure and reportedly with many of the same operatives.
This development raises serious questions about the sincerity of ongoing police reform efforts in Nigeria and reinforces fears that what is being presented as reform may merely be a cosmetic rebranding exercise designed to deflect public criticism without addressing the underlying culture of abuse and impunity.
Tiger Base became widely associated with allegations of torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, extortion, and extrajudicial killings. Over the years, victims, families, lawyers, journalists, and civil society organizations documented disturbing patterns of abuse linked to the operations of the unit.
Ordinarily, the disbandment of such a notorious tactical outfit should have marked an opportunity for genuine institutional reform. It should have included:
– Independent investigation into allegations of abuse;
– Accountability for officers implicated in violations;
– Justice and reparations for victims;
– Structural reforms and strengthened oversight;
– Human rights-centered retraining and professionalization.
Instead, the establishment of another tactical formation under substantially similar conditions suggests continuity rather than reform.
RULAAC is particularly concerned that retaining personnel or leadership figures associated with serious allegations of abuse sends a dangerous message that misconduct within the policing system carries no real consequences. This undermines public trust, weakens accountability, and emboldens further violations.
The situation also raises broader concerns regarding political interference in policing. Tactical police units must never become instruments for political intimidation, repression, or the advancement of partisan interests. Professional policing requires operational independence, transparency, accountability, and strict adherence to constitutional and legal standards.
The controversy inevitably recalls the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests, when the disbandment of SARS was quickly followed by the creation of SWAT, generating widespread fears that abusive policing structures were merely being renamed rather than fundamentally transformed.
RULAAC reiterates that genuine police reform cannot be achieved through changes in nomenclature alone. Meaningful reform requires accountability, transparency, civilian oversight, institutional culture change, and justice for victims.
Accordingly, RULAAC calls for the following urgent measures:
1. A transparent and independent investigation into allegations against Tiger Base operatives and leadership;
2. Prosecution and disciplinary action against officers implicated in torture, unlawful killings, and other abuses;
3. Justice, compensation, and support for victims and affected families;
4. Strengthened civilian oversight involving the National Human Rights Commission, judicial institutions, and civil society organizations;
5. Clear operational guidelines and publicly accountable rules of engagement for tactical police units;
6. Measures to insulate policing from political interference and abuse.
The people of Imo State and Nigerians generally deserve a policing system founded on professionalism, legality, accountability, and respect for human rights – not the recycling of abusive structures under new labels.
Signed:
Okechukwu Nwanguma
Executive Director
Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC)
Personnel of the Nigerian military were seen engaging in a fight during the visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Bayelsa on Friday.
In a video spotted on social media, the driver of a Hilux vehicle marked “Naval Police” was seen stepping down from his vehicle and exchanging words with another driver.
After returning to his vehicle, another driver with a rifle approached him and threw a punch at the Naval Police driver, triggering a brawl.
The incident quickly escalated into a free-for-all, with personnel attached to both vehicles exchanging blows, while stunned civilians watched in disbelief.
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