Deputy minister broke conflict of interest rules by hiring university peer: ethics watchdog

A mysterious “golden orb” discovered almost three years ago in the Gulf of Alaska has finally been identified. It’s not an egg, a sponge or the remnant of an alien, as some had speculated. Rather, the orb is believed to be the base of a giant deep-sea cnidarian, Relicanthus daphneae. These aquatic invertebrates are similar to coral or anemones and are found between 1,200 to 4,000 metres. The orb was discovered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2023 at a depth of more than three kilometres. Researchers found it with a remotely operated vehicle, Deep...