EXTRA PILOT NEEDED: Japan Airlines scrambled to book another plane for a group of sumo wrestlers after it realized the two aircraft it had planned to use to transport the team wouldn’t be able to fly due to weight restrictions. An airline spokesperson called the situation “very unusual.”

EXECUTIVE MASSAGE THERAPIST: AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes was slammed after he posted a photo on LinkedIn of himself topless and getting a massage in a conference room during a management huddle. That’s a meeting that should have been an OnlyFans.

Personal

RESTAURANT SCAMMER: Men will literally fake a heart attack instead of paying for their meal. A Lithuanian man was arrested in Spain after being accused of faking heart attacks at least 20 times at Spanish restaurants in the past year to skip out on paying the bill. At least Tim Robinson has material for his next sketch.

BORN TO GO TO CLASS: Monmouth University in New Jersey is naming a building on its campus after NJ music legend Bruce Springsteen. He’s come a long way since his band Steel Mill played free shows on the Monmouth lawn in the late ’60s.

For sale

PREHISTORIC NECKLACE: Scientists found the fossil of a new shark species at Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park. Say hello to the petal-toothed shark, and then say goodbye because it’s been dead for a really long time.

POST-IMPRESSIONIST PIKACHU: Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum stopped offering special Pokémon cards that depicted Pikachu in the style of Van Gogh’s self-portrait after crowds of people clamoring for the card caused safety concerns. However, the curators will keep around the Mewtwo spoof of Michelangelo’s David.—MM

Here are some illuminating scientific discoveries from the week to help you live better and maybe even debunk some paranormal encounters.

We judge friends harsher than strangers. There’s a reason you care way more about a party foul when it’s committed by someone in your squad. When it comes to breaking social or moral rules, Cornell researchers found that people hold “ingroup” members to higher standards than “outgroup” members. Why? Morality is a kind of glue that holds together friends, family, or even folks who share the same nationality, institution, or political beliefs. So, when a group member breaks moral rules, it’s perceived as a greater threat to the group’s stability than if a stranger did the same thing. Keep your enemies close and your…friends closer?

If you think you’ve heard a ghost, this might explain why. About 5%–10% of people who don’t have a psychiatric diagnosis have reported hearing a bodiless voice at some point, and scientists may have just figured out the reason. In a set of trials in which volunteers listened to pink noise and pushed a button triggering a rod to touch their backs, researchers found that participants were more likely to hear a nonexistent voice when there was a lag between pressing the button and feeling the rod. The time delay between action and sensation created the feeling of a ghostly presence and primed people to hear a voice, which suggests that hallucinations stem from how the brain processes contradictory signals.

Seafloor telecom cables can quickly warn of earthquakes. Unused fiber-optic cable at the bottom of the ocean has passed an important test to function as earthquake early warning systems. Scientists used ~31 miles of seafloor telecom cable as a seismic sensor and found that it alerted them to seismic activity three seconds faster than typical onshore methods. That’s precious time when people only have a moment’s notice to take shelter, and the researchers think they could improve it by another two seconds. They say that with more than 1,500 locations around the world where seafloor cables connect to land stations, this method of earthquake warning could be applied on a large scale.—ML

Note: This story contains spoilers for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’

If you find yourself with 3.5 hours of free time this weekend, you can occupy it with the latest Martin Scorsese feature. The Marvel-hating Hollywood heavyweight’s new movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, is a true crime Western starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Lily Gladstone.

Don’t expect to munch popcorn—instead, buckle up for a tale of depraved greed and racism. The film is based on the real events chronicled by journalist David Grann in the nonfiction page-turner Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which recounts a conspiracy that led to the gruesome murders of at least two dozen members of the wealthy Osage Native American community in 1920s Oklahoma.

Here’s what you need to know about the real-life crime of the 20th century that isn’t typically covered in American history class.

To make a long story short: The film chronicles the history of a young Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, who lost several family members in targeted attacks—including a firebombing, a shooting, and a suspected poisoning. After local law enforcement failed to crack the case, the FBI found the killers, boosting the young bureau’s profile but leaving the slayings of many other Osage people unsolved.

Why did they come for the Osage?

The Osage’s ancestral lands spanned multiple states in the American Midwest, but by the late 1800s, centuries of displacement confined the tribe to a small parcel in present-day Oklahoma. Before the turn of the century, massive oil deposits were found on the tribal land, and oil leases made the 2,000 reservation residents the world’s richest community in terms of per capita wealth.

The Osage had full legal rights to the commodities their land held, allowing many to maintain luxurious lifestyles envied by white outsiders. To protect the tribe members, the oil rights could not be sold, only inherited, but that didn’t stop unscrupulous outsiders from trying to muscle in.

• Due to prevailing racist beliefs held by non-Natives that the Osage were incapable of managing their money wisely, the US government often appointed white legal guardians to control their fortunes.
• And profit-motivated white people married into Osage families, seeking to share in the oil wealth.

Against this backdrop, a string of murders swept through the community that was dubbed the Osage Reign of Terror.

Federal agents come to town

Many local investigators were too corrupt or incompetent to pursue the perpetrators. And some detectives who got close to the answers were themselves targeted. A lawyer who volunteered to investigate, W.W. Vaughan, died after getting thrown off a train. Desperate to put an end to the violence, the Osage Tribal Council asked the federal government to intervene, pooling $20,000 (roughly $360,000 today) that the FBI demanded for the investigation effort.

The Bureau of Investigation (later renamed to FBI) took up the case, which became the first big test of its crime-solving abilities under its newly appointed director, J. Edgar Hoover.

Hoover dispatched Texas lawman Tom White to lead four undercover agents posing as an insurance salesman, a cattleman, an oil prospector, and an herbal doctor to investigate the heinous Osage murders. After some false starts, they eventually caught the primary culprits who sought to kill off the Burkhart family to obtain their oil rights: They were the cattle tycoon William Hale and his nephew, who was married to Mollie.

William Hale, his nephew, and an associate got life in prison, but they were all eventually released on parole. After attaining his freedom in 1947, Hale reportedly regretted only getting caught on his way to magnificent riches. The success of the investigation elevated the status of what became the FBI, setting Hoover up for a long and controversial reign as leader of the modern organization we know today.

Happy ending? Not quite. Focusing on the feds’ triumph in booking Hale misses the big picture of how the racist and morally dubious culture of the Wild West frontier allowed the grisly episode to happen, according to Grann. The tragic fate of the Burkhart family was just one of many instances in which opportunistic outsiders sought to convert their moral bankruptcy into financial capital by murdering Osage people. Unlike the Hale case, most of the other cases will likely never be solved.—SK

Meal prep: Use up your frozen dumplings in this easy tomato egg drop soup.

Art rec: Impressionism meets finger painting in John Stockwell’s work.

Fall treat: A simple recipe for pumpkin pie coffee cake.

Read: Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido, an all-time favorite of author Ann Patchett.

For the puzzler: Chic jigsaws you’ll want to frame when you’re done.

Clean: Make your home sparkle for less than $42 with this steam-cleaning tool.

Music to your ears: The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds offer world-class noise cancellation and immersive audio anywhere you go. Pop in these comfy ’buds to hear the difference.*

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It’s a big world out there. In this section, we’ll teleport you to an interesting location—and hopefully give you travel ideas in the process.

The iconic Sydney Opera House celebrated its 50th birthday on Friday. The design masterwork that’s as synonymous with Australia as the Eiffel Tower is to France is one of the most famous and distinctive examples of 20th-century architecture.

Architect Jørn Utzon won a design competition in 1957, 16 years before Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the building. For his concept of the opera house, Utzon drew inspiration from Mayan and Aztec temples, saying the pyramids lifted people spiritually. In 2003, Utzon’s work on the opera house earned him the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest honor in the field.

The Sydney Opera House, which welcomes millions of visitors every year, is more than just a home for Don Giovanni.

• A wide variety of performances passes through, including an upcoming three-week run of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
• You can learn about that world-renowned architecture and go to the backstage areas on a guided tour.
• You don’t need to enter the building to appreciate it. One of the many outdoor experiences includes Badu Gili, which explores First Nations stories in a six-minute projection on the building’s eastern sails.

If art and walking around aren’t for you, you can admire Benny the Seal, the unofficial mascot of the opera house, who enjoys sunbathing on the northern steps of the venue.

Last week, we asked: If you could know the truth behind any secret or mystery, which would it be?

Here are our favorite responses:

• “What ever happened to Amelia Earhart?”—Sarah from San Jose, CA
• “Is there any thought behind my dog’s eyes? Or just love?”—Anonymous dog owner
• “Who’s ‘so vain,’ Carly Simon?!”—Al from Alberta, Canada
• “There was a TikTok video that trended a while ago alleging that the biggest industry consumer of glitter doesn’t want people knowing that they buy so much glitter. I have worked myself into a frenzy trying to figure out what industry could possibly be consuming and hiding so much glitter. This is my Roman Empire!”—Hannah from Virginia
• “I just want a map of all the secret passageways in the world. Parliament building, castles, opera houses, EVERYTHING.”—Marie from New York
• “When I was in eighth grade, somebody spray painted ‘I love you, Насtя’ on the street in front of my windows. It’s been 10 years and I still don’t know who it was, nor how they knew which apartment windows were mine.”—Насtя (aka Nastya) from Brooklyn, NY

This week’s question…

…isn’t exactly a question. It’s a Halloween photo submission request. Submit a photo of your epic Halloween house or yard setup, and we’ll select one winner to feature next week.

Upload your photo here.