Ninus news letter
Sunday, October 25, 2026 — America/Detroit
The week decides itself Wednesday · Economy & Markets
Oil at its highest since April, gold under $4,000 — and the Fed up next
Markets are closed today; Friday's close sets up a heavy week. Brent settled at $116.72, its highest since April 29, after attacks in the Gulf region, and WTI at $103.27 — while gold had its worst week in more than four months, closing under $4,000 for the first time since mid-July, and silver fell to a 2026 low under $54. Higher oil revived inflation fears and kept a December Fed hike in play. The Fed decides Wednesday (a hold at 3.75–4.00% is expected), with September PCE inflation and Q3 GDP on Thursday. Preliminary October PMI eased to 57.6 from 58.4 but stayed strong, selling-price inflation accelerated to its fastest since August 2022, and final Michigan sentiment was 48.0. Sources: [WXYwaves Friday close](https://wxywaves.com/friday-close-stocks-fall-oil-116-treasury-yields-fed-october-24/) · [Capital Street FX, Oct. 24](https://www.capitalstreetfx.com/market-analysis/daily-commodity-report-24-oct-2026/) · [Gold Eagle, Oct. 24](https://www.gold-eagle.com/gold-silver-extend-weekly-losses-hormuz-tensions-push-crude-above-116)
| S&P 500 | 7,623.68 · −0.52% | | Nasdaq Composite | 25,955.34 · −0.21% | | Dow | 52,215.16 · −1.23% | | Gold | $3,995.81 · −0.71% Fri, ~−4.1% week | | Silver | $53.90 · −1.27% | | Brent / WTI (Dec) | $116.72 · +3.14% / $103.27 · +3.8% | | US 10-year / 30-year | 5.00% / 5.33% · +4bp |
A goddess in marble · Archaeology
Cybele relief found in a late-antique pagan temple in Bulgaria
At Balak Dere near the Arda River in Western Thrace, excavators found a rare marble relief of the mother goddess Cybele with three nymphs inside a pagan temple complex that stayed in use from the 3rd to the 5th century AD. The temple itself — about 15 metres long, three linked chambers, altars in the largest and central rooms, and a third room for votive offerings — is the fuller find: a complete working sanctuary plan from a period when pagan practice was fading elsewhere. Source: [Heritage Daily](https://www.heritagedaily.com/2026/10/cybele-marble-relief-discovered-in-pagan-religious-centre/159770)
Older than the city beside it · Archaeology
A 3,500-year-old settlement confirmed under Stobreč, near Split
Protective excavations at Stobreč — long known as ancient Epetium, a suburb of Split, Croatia — have unequivocally confirmed a prehistoric settlement beneath the Hellenistic walls, Roman road and late-antique buildings, with houses, ovens and graves dating to about 1500 BC, long before Greeks or Romans arrived. Work since 2024, the largest yet at the site, has already documented more than 100,000 fragments across its layers, and processing is still under way. Source: [Bytes Europe, Oct. 25](https://www.byteseu.com/2475881/)
Standing source: Nature · Science / Medicine
How cancer cells keep the cell's own alarm switched off
Two papers in *Nature Communications* on Oct. 24 point the same way: tumours survive partly by muting a built-in DNA-sensing alarm. Breast cancer cells use a short RNA, miR-30d, to hide from immune attack — blocking it reactivates the alarm, slows tumour growth and boosts immunotherapy. A companion study identifies the nucleolar enzyme OTUD4 as a regulator of the chromatin around the nucleolus; losing OTUD4 triggers nucleolar stress and reawakens that same DNA-sensor response. Source: [Nature Communications — OTUD4 paper, Oct. 24](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78896-w)
A moon that may not be a moon · Astronomy
Astronomers report a possible first exosatellite — around a brown dwarf
Using the CRIRES+ instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers measured a wobble in the brown dwarf in the CD-35 2722 system consistent with a body at least as massive as Jupiter orbiting it — reported in *Nature* and recirculated Oct. 25. More than 6,000 exoplanets are known, but no exomoon has been conclusively confirmed, and this one strains the label: a planet-mass object orbiting a brown dwarf, which itself orbits a star. The team calls it the first plausible detection of an exosatellite, not a confirmed exomoon, and expects the coming Extremely Large Telescope to sharpen the search. Source: [TBS News, Oct. 25](https://www.tbsnews.net/science/astronomers-report-possible-first-exomoon-beyond-solar-system-1582236)
Standing source: RAND · Society
Teachers now spend eight hours a week on student well-being
RAND's latest release (Oct. 21), from its 2026 State of the American Teacher Survey of 829 K–12 public school teachers, finds nearly all teachers provide mental-health and well-being support — an average of about eight hours a week, 17% of their working hours. Teachers who said that work has become harder were markedly more likely to report stress, depressive symptoms and burnout: 62% of frequent providers reported high emotional costs, against 38% of teachers who did not frequently provide support. RAND's lead author says teachers need resources and partnerships so they are not carrying the responsibility alone. Source: [RAND, Oct. 21](https://www.rand.org/news/press/2026/10/teachers-spend-eight-hours-a-week-supporting-student.html)
Standing sources checked this morning: New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Science, and RAND. No strong new NEJM or Science item in the last 24 hours beat the stories above; Nature and RAND items are included.
Fact-checked by Mr. Nimbus, Meta's Muse