Friday, October 10, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Possible royal ship grave found in Norway

Published 28 June 2024
– By Editorial Staff
The ship's grave is linked to legends from the Viking Age.
2 minute read

A Viking ship has been found at Jarlsberg Manor in Norway. Archaeologists believe it may have been a ship grave for a Viking king.

In 2018, a metal detector survey began at Jarlsberg Manor in Norway, the historic home of the Wedel-Jarlsberg family and the Count and Countess of Jarlsberg, who headed the county of the same name. Using the metal detector, the archaeologists found rivets that could indicate that a Viking ship was buried at the manor.

After two weeks of digging, it was determined that there was indeed a Viking ship there.

– We can now say for certain that yes, here lie the remains of a Viking ship. This discovery adds a new landmark to the map, once a significant site during the Viking Age, excavation director Christian Løchsen Rødsrud told Science Norway.

The archaeologists found 70 rivets during the excavation, but the metal detector returned so many that they believe the ground contains hundreds, if not thousands, of rivets. These rivets could have held together planks about an inch thick, suggesting they were part of a large ship. However, some of the rivets were horse crampons, nails attached to a horse’s hooves to allow it to walk on icy surfaces.

– Finding horse crampons in the material suggests that the rest of the grave goods are also in the field, he says.

The son of Harald Hårfager?

Archaeologists believe that this may have been a ship grave for the Viking king Bjørn Farmann, but it is still unclear who is buried on the ship. According to Snorri’s sagas, Bjørn Farmann, son of Harald Fairhair, was killed by his brother Erik Blodyx on the farm Sæheimr around 934. This is now the village of Sem, close to Jarlsberg Manor.

– It would’ve been exciting to find out more about the person buried here, says the archaeologist.

However, the archaeologists are not surprised by the find. 100 years ago, archaeologist A.W. Brøgger found another grave nearby, and he was convinced that there was a ship buried somewhere in the area.

– It is not overly surprising that a Viking ship would have been buried at Jarlsberg, as the site is part of a rich cultural landscape with many burial grounds, indicating a place of importance, Rødsrud told All That’s Interesting.

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Moomin becomes new feature film

Published today 7:21
– By Editorial Staff
Moomin and his friends have spread warmth, security and adventure to generations of children and adults around the world.
1 minute read

Moomin is set to be produced as a new American animated feature film. This will be the first Hollywood adaptation of Finnish-Swedish author Tove Jansson’s beloved stories.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the magical Moomin troll, something that has been celebrated in both Finland and Sweden, where the troll is a cherished cultural figure.

Moomin, created by Finnish-Swedish author Tove Jansson, was previously produced as an animated feature film in Japan in 1992. There was also a Japanese-Finnish animated series that first aired in 1990 and became very popular internationally.

Now Hollywood will interpret the idyllic magic of Moominvalley, where Moomin and his friends embark on adventures, writes Moomin Characters, which manages the Moomin rights.

“We are honored”

The film will be produced by media company Annapurna’s animation division, which was founded in 2022 by former Disney animation executives Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein and is known for the Oscar-nominated film Nimona.

We’re honored to bring Tove Jansson’s timeless vision to the big screen, say Baird and Millstein.

It will be written and directed by Rebecca Sugar, known for the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe. Additionally, it will be produced by Julia Pistor, who is behind animated films such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Rugrats.

Earlier this year, Norwegian game developer Hyper Games also announced that they will release a new Moomin game. The game will be called Winter’s Warmth and is based on the book Moominland Midwinter.

Telenor faces lawsuit over human rights abuses in Myanmar

Mass surveillance

Published 7 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Telenor's information chief calls the demand a "PR stunt" and argues that the matter has already been handled by police and the judicial system.
3 minute read

Over a thousand people may have been persecuted, tortured, arrested or killed when Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor handed over sensitive customer data to the military junta in Myanmar. Now victims and relatives are threatening to sue and demanding millions in damages.

On Monday, Telenor’s management received a notice of lawsuit where the compensation claim is motivated by the telecom company illegally sharing sensitive personal data with Myanmar’s military junta.

“We ask for a response on whether the basis for the claim is disputed as soon as possible, but no later than within two weeks”, the letter stated.

Behind the claim stands the Dutch organization Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (Somo) together with several Myanmar civil society organizations.

After the military coup in February 2021, the junta forced telecom operators like Telenor to hand over sensitive information about their customers. The information was then used to identify, track and arrest regime critics and activists.

Politician executed

Among those affected is a prominent politician and Telenor customer, and after the company handed over the data, the man was arrested, sentenced to death and executed in prison.

— We know that the potential group of victims is more than 1,000 people, says Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, director and lead negotiator at Somo to Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.

He emphasizes that some of the victims are dead and executed, while several are arrested.

— We are in contact with their family members and demand financial compensation from Telenor for what they have been subjected to.

Claim worth millions

Lawyer Jan Magne Langseth, partner at Norwegian law firm Simonsen Vogt Wiig, represents Somo in the case. He states that the claim will be extensive.

— We have not yet set an exact figure, but there is little doubt it will amount to several hundred million kroner, he says.

Both individuals and organizations working for the democracy movement in Myanmar are demanding compensation.

— We have the number lists that were handed over to the junta, but we don’t have all the names of the subscribers yet, says Langseth.

The notice establishes that Telenor systematically handed over personal data to the military junta, well aware that this would lead to human rights violations – including persecution, arbitrary arrests and elimination of opponents.

“This can be documented with extensive evidence”, the document states.

Telenor: “No good choices”

Telenor’s communications director David Fidjeland dismisses the matter and claims that the issue has already been resolved.

“The tragic developments in Myanmar have been the subject of several investigations within the police and judiciary without leading anywhere. Telenor Myanmar found itself in a terrible and tragic situation and unfortunately had no good choices”, he writes in an email and continues:

“That journalists from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Marienlyst [Telenor’s headquarters in Norway] received this notice long before we ourselves received it unfortunately says something about where Somo has its focus. This unfortunately seems more like a PR stunt in a tragic matter than a serious communication”.

Sold operations in 2022

Telenor received a mobile license in Myanmar in 2014. In a short time, the company became a major mobile operator with over 18 million customers in the country. After the military coup in February 2021, when the previous government was overthrown, Telenor chose to sell its mobile operations in Myanmar to Lebanese M1 Group – including customer data. The sale was completed in March 2022.

According to local media, M1 Group’s local partner has close ties to the military junta.

Lawyer Langseth addresses the question of whether a refusal to hand over data would have affected local employees.

— The employees at Telenor Myanmar did not need to be involved. It could have been controlled from Norway or other countries in the group. Witnesses have told us that there was internal resistance among several of the key local employees at Telenor Myanmar against handing over data to the junta, he says.

YouTubers invest in their own businesses – ad revenues are unpredictable

Published 6 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, has the world's largest YouTube channel with 442 million subscribers.
2 minute read

More and more YouTube personalities are reducing their dependence on ad revenue and brand partnerships and instead building their own business empires. The reason is that advertising income is unpredictable and can disappear overnight when the platform changes its policies.

YouTube has evolved into a gigantic platform that has contributed over $55 billion to the US GDP and created more than 490,000 full-time jobs. But despite the platform’s success, many of the most successful content creators have realized that it’s risky to rely solely on ad revenue, writes TechCrunch.

Many of the biggest channels have now transformed into vertically integrated media companies with product lines, physical stores and consumer brands that can survive algorithm changes. In several cases, these side businesses are growing faster than the YouTube channels themselves.

MrBeast leads the development

Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast with 442 million subscribers, is the platform’s most aggressive entrepreneur. His chocolate brand Feastables generated around $250 million in revenue in 2024 with over $20 million in profit – significantly more profitable than his YouTube content which lost approximately $80 million the same year. The first product sold over one million units and generated more than $10 million within 72 hours.

Donaldson also runs the food brand Lunchly, the toy series MrBeast Lab, the burger concept MrBeast Burger and the analytics platform Viewstats. Now he plans to establish his own mobile network.

Coffee and energy drinks as goldmine

Emma Chamberlain, with over 12 million subscribers, launched her coffee brand Chamberlain Coffee in 2019. In 2023, the brand reached approximately $20 million in revenue and in January opened its first physical store. Revenue is expected to grow by over 50 percent in 2025 and reach more than $33 million.

Logan Paul created the energy drink Prime together with KSI, which surpassed $1.2 billion in sales in 2023. However, sales have declined sharply, particularly in the United Kingdom where revenue fell by approximately 70 percent between 2023 and 2024.

Children’s audience and beauty products

Ryan’s World, hosted by 13-year-old Ryan Kaji, has expanded its brand through toys and clothing that reportedly generated over $250 million in revenue in 2020.

Within the beauty industry, Michelle Phan has founded the subscription service Ipsy and the makeup brand EM Cosmetics, while Huda Kattan built Huda Beauty which generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Other well-known makeup brands from YouTube influencers include Jeffree Star Cosmetics and Tati Beauty, showing that the beauty industry continues to be an attractive area for content creators who want to build their own business empires.

Six kilos of medieval silver treasure found in Stockholm

Published 19 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The silver coins have been dated to the 12th century and were likely minted when Knut Eriksson was king of Sweden.
2 minute read

A private individual has discovered a significant silver treasure from medieval times. The treasure, which could likely be one of the largest ever found, contains among other things up to 20,000 coins from the 12th century.

The silver treasure was discovered by a person digging for worms just outside Stockholm, Sweden, who contacted the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen). It was found in a copper cauldron and contained approximately six kilos of silver coins, pendants, pearls and silver rings.

This is probably one of the largest silver treasures from the early medieval period that has been found in Sweden. We don’t yet know exactly how many coins there are, but I believe it could be up to 20,000. Most of the objects are well preserved, but unfortunately the copper cauldron they were stored in is not as well preserved, says Sofia Andersson, who is an antiquarian at the Stockholm County Administrative Board, in a press release.

The silver coins have been dated to the 12th century and some of the coins bear the text “KANUTUS”, which means Knut in Latin – indicating they are from the time of Knut Eriksson’s reign as king of Sweden.

Three types of coins found in the treasure: KANUTUS coins, Gotland coins and bishop coins. Photo: Stockholm County Administrative Board

The treasure also contains some rare bishop coins, which were coins manufactured in Europe by bishops. These coins feature a bishop holding a crosier in his right hand. Lin Annerbäck, head of the Medieval Museum in Stockholm, describes the treasure as unique and believes it can tell us much about Sweden’s history.

It is completely unique, we have no other medieval treasures from Stockholm. And then it also appears to be extremely large. So it’s very exciting. she tells the Swedish newspaper DN.

The location where the treasure was found is currently being kept secret due to the risk of illegal treasure hunters. Archaeologists will further examine the site and the treasure as well as evaluate it.

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