Strange green stones, evidence of repeated ancient expeditions, hidden burials, and other discoveries have been made in a remote cave high in the Pyrenees mountains.

The findings were made in a cave located more than 7,300 feet above sea level, revealing evidence that ancient visitors repeatedly endured the hardships of climbing to such altitudes for a period spanning 2,000 years. The question for archaeologists had been why this cave seems to have held such importance.

Now, discoveries at the remote site could potentially alter our understanding of ancient European uses of mountain landscapes in prehistoric times. Of key importance, archaeologists have uncovered ancient hearths that contain small samples of green minerals, which point to ancient mining activities that likely supported ancient metallurgy in the region.

Two Millennia of Human Interest

For more than 2,000 years, ancient Europeans repeatedly traveled to this remote cave, leaving behind evidence of their visits that includes ancient hearths and even a child’s tooth, suggesting the possibility that there may even be hidden graves at the site.

Professor Carlos Tornero, a researcher with the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, says these discoveries are surprising, since past research suggested such areas would only have been occasionally traversed by humans during periods of migration, rather than becoming destinations.

“For a long time, high-mountain environments were seen as marginal, places prehistoric communities passed through occasionally,” said Tornero, who is the lead author of a new study detailing the findings.

That wasn’t the case with this Cave 338, as archaeologists now call it, which turned out to be a far more unique site.

“We found a really rich archaeological sequence, including multiple combustion structures and a very large number of green mineral fragments,” Tornero recently said. “We can’t say exactly how long people stayed each time, but the repeated use of the space and the density of remains suggest occupations that were short to medium in duration, but happening again and again over long periods of time.”

Evidence of an Ancient Copper Mining Industry

At Cave 338, initial excavations began with a small area spanning six square meters near the cave’s entrance. There, Tornero and the team uncovered evidence of human activity temporally associated with four distinctive layers.

In the most recent layer of human occupation, artifacts from historical periods were found, although in smaller numbers, which suggested that the cave’s use had likely decreased gradually with time. Similar limited use was evidenced in the cave’s deepest layers, where charcoal fragments were discovered with dates indicating human activity as far back as 6,000 years ago.

Within layers two and three, significantly more activity was discernible. Discoveries within these layers included nearly two-dozen hearths, many of which contained burned fragments of a green mineral that researchers believe may be malachite.

If confirmed, this is significant, since malachite is rich in copper and can be processed to extract the metal, meaning that ancient visitors to the cave may have visited the site specifically to mine this unique green mineral. Cave 338 would therefore represent a very high-altitude mining camp, which ancient Europeans somehow discovered and repeatedly visited.

When Fire Heats the Green Stone

Based on radiocarbon dating, hearths located in the site’s second layer are approximately 3,000 years old, while those in the layer directly beneath it date to between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago.

Dr. Julia Montes-Landa of the University of Granada, who was a co-author of the new paper, says that evidence suggests many of the fragments were thermally altered—in other words, they were intentionally exposed to fire—while some of the samples found at the site were not.

This, she argues, “clearly suggests that fire played an important role in their processing and that there was a deliberate intention behind it.”

“They weren’t burned by accident,” Montes-Landa says.

Another indication of ancient industrial activity at the site involves the placement of the hearths in layers two and three, many of which overlap, which strongly suggests reuse. However, more than one area containing overlapping hearths is present, which also suggests that while reuse occurred, it took place in successive periods of visitation throughout time.

Hidden Burials and Prehistoric Artifacts

In addition to ancient evidence of mining and thermal alteration of stone, within the site’s third layer, a small amount of human remains—an ancient baby tooth and a finger bone believed to have belonged to a child—were found.

Such scant remains do not provide context for the cause of death or whether the remains came from the same individual. However, it does point to the possibility of hidden burials that may exist in other portions of the cave.

In addition to human remains, prehistoric artifacts were found at the site, which date to the second millennium BC, including a shell pendant and another made from a bear’s tooth.

“The shell pendant is interesting because it has parallels in other sites in Catalonia, which suggests shared traditions or connections between different communities,” Tornero said. “The bear tooth pendant is much less common.”

“That might point to something more specific or symbolic, possibly linked to the local environment,” Tornero suggests.

Lingering Questions

Obviously, 338 held significance to ancient inhabitants of the region, since, despite the daunting trek reaching it would have required, humans clearly returned there over and over again for a period of at least two thousand years, although evidence of human presence at the location extends to as much as double that amount of time.

Going forward, Tornero, Montes-Landa, and their colleagues hope that future excavations may reveal additional clues about who had been coming here for so long, and what specifically attracted them to the cave.

Of key significance will also be confirmation that the mineral contains copper.

“The identification of the green mineral as malachite is still preliminary,” Tornero says, adding that ongoing research “will provide final answers shortly.”

Much work remains to be done at the site, and Tornero and his team plan to resume excavations there later this year.

“The excavation hasn’t yet reached the full depth of the site,” Tornero said, “so the sequence is not completely documented.”

“This summer we will continue the archaeological work,” Tornero added.

For now, Cave 338 already shows that even some of the most remote areas of the Pyrenees could have played significant roles in the way ancient humans utilized the land and its resources.

“As such, the site provides a key reference framework for understanding high-mountain occupation, resource exploitation and mobility dynamics in the Pyrenees during later prehistory,” the authors write in their recent paper.

The team’s paper, “Beyond 2,000 meters, first evidence of intense prehistoric occupation in the Pyrenees,” appeared in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

Astronomers from around the world were fascinated last year when 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever observed passing through our Solar System, was discovered.

The SETI Institute was one of the many organizations that examined the unusual interstellar object, conducting a comprehensive search for any signs that it might be producing technological signals.

Using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California, SETI researchers scanned a broad range of radio frequencies in search of potential evidence of extraterrestrial technology associated with 3I/ATLAS. The data that came back was clear: no signs of artificial signals. As most astronomers expected, 3I/ATLAS is most likely a natural comet. 

Observations of interstellar objects have become more common in recent years, due to advances in telescopic technologies available to astronomers. Discovered last July, 3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed interstellar visitor to enter our Solar System, preceded by 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017, and 2I/Borisov in 2019. 

These rare discoveries help astronomers understand the materials in our cosmic backyard. By analyzing the composition of these objects, scientists can gain a deeper understanding of how planetary systems develop and evolve throughout the galaxy.

The Research 

The majority of recent astronomical observations indicate that 3I/ATLAS is a natural object, albeit one that exhibited some unusual qualities. However, the possibility remains that we may one day find a technological artifact from an intelligent civilization; it is equally possible that at some point, aliens may also discover a spacecraft of Earthly origin. 

“Eventually, our own Voyager spacecraft will be extraterrestrial artifacts in other stellar systems,” Sheik told The Debrief. “Given that, it is important that we understand the natural distribution of interstellar objects so that we will be able to identify any anomalies that could one day be signs of an artificial interstellar object.”

The SETI research team studied 3I/ATLAS for over seven hours using the ATA, searching radio frequencies from 1 to 9 gigahertz. This range is especially important because it can detect narrowband radio signals, which are rarely produced by natural space phenomena and are often considered possible signs of technological activity.

Researchers found 74 million narrowband signals, but after filtering out human interference and motion-matched sources, only about 200 remained. These were later confirmed to come entirely from Earth-based technology or satellites.

“To be clear, we did not detect any radio signals from 3I/ATLAS. We ruled out the presence of signals down to power levels comparable with everyday appliances: for example, we definitely would have picked up a cell tower or a radio station equivalent had it been on the surface of 3I/ATLAS,” Sheik said.

In other words, no technosignatures were detected. The SETI observation ruled out signals stronger than approximately 10 to 110 watts across the observed frequencies (comparable to the power consumption of a household appliance).

Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and the founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on YouTube and on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton, Instagram: @BeingChrissyNewton, and chrissynewton.com. To contact Chrissy with a story, please email chrissy @ thedebrief.org.

Scientists have uncovered the genetic secrets behind a novel energy-use strategy that allows a deep-sea “giant” to survive without food for over five years, in one of nature’s most stunning survival stories.

Supergiant bathynomids, also known as giant isopods, present a bizarre biological paradox: they exhibit pronounced body gigantism as megafaunal species yet inhabit a deep-sea habitat with extremely sparse nutrient availability.

In a recent paper in Cell, researchers from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) revealed how these large deep-sea creatures subsist on such limited food, using a novel genetic strategy unique to bathynomids.

A Complex Genetic Approach

The IOCAS team employed a multi-omic strategy to address the problem, combining genomics with other disciplines, such as morphology, physiology, behaviorology, and metagenomics. Doing so led to a novel discovery: that supergiant bathynomids don’t have just one, but two techniques to manage their limited access to nutrients.

First, isopods have a massive stomach that can store vast amounts of nutrients for later use. Second, they have an exceptionally low basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is genetically driven.

To diversify their research, the team focused on two species that occupy different depths. At around 300 meters, the Bathynomus doederleini is the shallower of the two, while the Bathynomus jamesi is found at 898 meters. Despite the difference in depth, both are technically considered “deep-sea” inhabitants, as the boundary is defined at 200 meters.

A Powerful Stomach

Roughly two-thirds of a bathynomid’s body is stomach—a figure far beyond that of related intertidal and shallow water species. The contents of those enormous stomachs are also unusual, filled with a mud-like mixture of highly digested food. This finely ground nutrient sludge has a low proportion of digestive bacteria, but a high amount of lipid-storing Chlamydiae. 

With a bacterial ratio leaning toward preservation rather than just digestion, this creates a food reserve that can be slowly digested and utilized as the creatures lower their BMR to endure long periods between feedings.

Genetic Findings

Another major finding was that bathynomids benefit not only from vertically transferred genes between parents and offspring, but from the horizontally transferred ND1 gene they acquired from an exogenous symbiotic bacterium. Intriguingly, the transfer defied typical horizontal transfer limitations, achieving an ultra-high level of expression in the bathynomid genome. 

These isopods use epigenetic histone modifications to regulate energy-related gene expression, thereby improving efficiency, conservation, and control. An example of this is histone acetylation regulating ND1 expression at an ultra-high level, which the team investigated in a laboratory test. Researchers suspected this gene was essential to energy metabolism, as it is a component of Complex I in the electron transport chain.

ND1 Genetic Tests

Using zebrafish, nematodes, and human 293T cells, the IOCAS team tested the gene’s impact on energy usage. At normal temperatures, the team found that ND1 actually decreased starvation tolerance by increasing energy metabolism. Yet when the team lowered temperatures to reflect those found in a typical deep sea environment, they found the opposite effect, with ND1 decreasing mitochondrial activity and energy metabolism rates, to improve zebrafish starvation tolerance an astounding 37%.

The IOCAS team concluded that ND1 provides a solution to the long-standing paradox of bathynomid gigantism in the context of their nutrient-poor environment. By fine-tuning the degree of metabolic depression, the gene can adjust the mitochondrial metabolic network to preserve energy during extended periods without sustenance.

Never before has such a strategy for energy efficiency, combining horizontal gene transfer and epigenetic optimization, been identified in a deep-sea megafaunal species.

“Our work not only deciphers the mystery of ultra-long starvation tolerance in deep-sea isopods,” said lead author Yuan Jianbo, “but also provides an important paradigm for understanding how life balances growth and survival in extreme environments.”

The paper, “Deep-Sea Megafauna Co-Opts Microbial Energy Metabolism Genes to Withstand Ultra-Long Starvation,” appeared in Cell on June 5, 2026.

Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.

For more than a century, musicians have maintained that the way a pianist touches a key influences the sound that emerges. Many scientists, however, have argued that after the hammer strikes the string, the instrument itself determines the outcome, making the pianist’s touch irrelevant.

Now, a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides some of the strongest evidence yet in support of the musicians’ perspective.

A research team led by Dr. Shinichi Furuya of the NeuroPiano Institute and Sony Computer Science Laboratories developed a custom sensor system called HackKey. This system can record the movement of all 88 piano keys at 1,000 frames per second, with a spatial precision of 0.01 millimeters. The team invited 20 internationally recognized pianists to play notes while intentionally aiming for contrasting timbres, such as bright versus dark and light versus heavy. Listeners were able to distinguish among the different timbres, even individuals with no experience playing the piano.

The Movements Behind the Sound

The researchers identified a series of micro-movements beneath each keystroke. These movements are so subtle that they are almost impossible to see, but precise enough for listeners to perceive differences in sound.

Small changes in how quickly a key accelerates, slight overlaps between notes, and variations in the speed of initial contact with the key all influenced how listeners described the resulting sound. When each of these factors was adjusted individually, the perceived timbre changed. Adjusting a single movement feature was enough to reliably change how listeners perceived timbre. The results show that touch has a direct effect on sound, independent of factors such as volume or tempo.

The study describes these micro-movements as a motor skill developed through years of advanced training. The researchers call the emerging science of mapping movement to musical experience “dynaformics.”

A Debate as Old as the Modern Piano

The debate over whether touch can alter piano timbre dates back to at least the early 1900s, when music educators began discussing what distinguishes one performer’s sound from another. The piano’s mechanical action appeared to support the skeptics, since the hammer, once released, moves independently before striking the string and is not directly contacted by the pianist’s finger.

As a result of this mechanical process, many acousticians concluded that any reported differences in tone were psychological, influenced by context, volume, or timing rather than by touch. Musicians maintained their position but did not have the scientific tools to prove it.

To settle this debate, Furuya’s team developed a custom biometric contact-sensing system called HackKey, capable of recording the movement of all 88 piano keys at 1,000 frames per second with sub-millimeter precision. The system captured in-depth piano movement data that previous technology could not. For the first time, researchers could observe the specific actions of elite pianists and relate those movements to listeners’ descriptions of sound.

What It Means Beyond the Concert Hall

Piano teachers have often used general phrases like “play warmer” or “use a softer touch” because the specific movements that create certain sound qualities were not well understood. This study now offers a guide to those movements.

Future training tools may allow students to see precisely what their fingers are doing when a note is played successfully or not. Instead of relying on a teacher’s metaphor, students could compare their own keystrokes to a standard and work to improve their technique. The researchers suggest that this approach could make expressive technique easier to teach and visualize, especially for students who find it difficult to translate verbal instructions into physical actions.

The research may also apply to rehabilitation, robotics, and human-computer interaction. Discovering that small differences in movement can shape auditory perception offers new insight into how the brain links movement and sensory experience. Some researchers are exploring whether systems based on expressive musical movement could help patients recover dexterity and coordination after injury.

Most scientific research on music has focused on elements that are easier to measure, like pitch, loudness, and rhythm. Timbre, or the quality or “color” of a sound that makes one instrument or voice different from another, has been harder to measure. This study offers a new way to understand the mechanics behind this concept. The findings suggest that some of the most expressive parts of music come from movements too small to see, developed through years of practice.

Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a data analytics certification. His work focuses on breaking scientific developments, with an emphasis on emerging biology, cognitive neuroscience, and archaeological discoveries.