The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed a cosmic catastrophe, as winds extinguished a star-forming galaxy in the early universe, offering new insight into earlier strange observations.

Cosmic winds may destroy entire galaxies, according to new JWST research exploring the lingering mystery of why certain parts of the universe are unexpectedly devoid of growth.

The findings were published in a recent paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, revealing galactic-scale death in a universe just one billion years old, and potentially answering questions about previous troubling JWST observations.

James Webb Space Telescope Observation

Observations made by the JWST revealed cold gas, an essential star-forming material, blowing out of the CRISTAL-2 galaxy in a massive plume, severely degrading its ability to produce new stars. According to the researchers, it would take less than 50 million years for the galaxy to be completely dead if this activity keeps up, a mere blink in the scheme of a 13.8 billion-year-old universe.

Astronomers consider galaxies to be “dead” if they are no longer capable of producing fresh stars. Traditionally, astronomers expected that it would take billions of years for an old galaxy to slowly run out of fuel and burn out. However, JWST observations have continually captured events in the early universe that were not expected to occur until much later.

One of these was finding a host of dead galaxies in the early universe shortly after it first became operational in 2022. How galaxies could die so close to the beginning of the universe, without sufficient time to burn through their cold gas supplies, has long perplexed scientists.

Explaining Galaxy Death

As researchers began considering various explanations for the phenomenon, they initially settled on dark energy, essentially explaining one unknown with another. Dark energy is a theoretical substance that scientists believe drives the expansion of the universe and was once a stronger force than it is now. While the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument survey revealed last year that dark energy appears to be weakening over time, an exotic galaxy-killer is not required, according to this latest research.

Instead, researchers offer a much simpler explanation of powerful cosmic winds in the remote past. Conventional thinking has it that such powerful winds could only be generated by a supermassive black hole, yet these new observations challenge that assumption.

JWST Reveals the Culprit

CRISTAL-02 is a galaxy still in the making, composed of several smaller galaxies in the final stages of merging into a single system. Because the early universe was far denser than it is today, such collisions were much more common. During these mergers, gravitational forces funnel vast amounts of gas toward the galactic centers, triggering intense bursts of star formation.

Observations of CRISTAL-02 by the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) revealed a star formation rate roughly twice that of similar galaxies. Ironically, this extraordinary burst of stellar activity is also generating a powerful cosmic wind that is stripping away the very gas needed to form new stars.

Compounding the effect, many of the newly formed stars rapidly exhaust their fuel and end their lives as supernovae, producing additional outflows that further deplete the galaxy’s star-forming material.

Together, these processes appear capable of shutting down star formation far more quickly than astronomers previously believed possible. Going forward, ongoing JWST observations are likely to continue challenging astronomers’ assumptions, as more evidence indicates that nearly half of the early universe’s massive galaxies were interacting—a finding which also suggests early “galactic deaths” like these may not be all that rare, after all.

The paper, “Multiphase Images of a Powerful Supernova-Driven Wind in the Early Universe,” appeared in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on June 10, 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.

Over two years after Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission deployed a tiny, shape-shifting rover on the Moon, the country’s space agency JAXA has finally revealed previously unreleased details about the first-of-its-kind autonomous robotic lunar exploration.

According to a statement announcing the recently published mission account, the SLIM team deployed the rover on the Moon’s surface, “after which the rover transformed from a tiny sphere into a wheeled robot that took images of the lander and its environment.” A second rover transmitted the data back to Earth, with all steps occurring autonomously.

The team behind the historic mission said their success could pave the way for swarms of small, transformable robots capable of exploring high-scientific value areas that larger spacecraft and robots cannot reach, including caves, tunnels, lava tubes, vents, and deep extraterrestrial craters.

The Benefits of Tiny Robots and Autonomous Shape-Shifting Rovers

In the published study, the JAXA team explains that robotic technologies like SLIM “are expected to drive substantial advancements in planetary exploration and resource prospecting” by performing tasks in extraterrestrial environments that are inaccessible to other platforms, including human astronauts. For example, the team noted that miniature robots offer tremendous weight savings over bulkier platforms, especially when added to missions with “strict payload limitations.”

“Miniature robots have the potential to reduce payloads and to reach cramped spaces such as small vents and craters that are inaccessible to larger, conventional robots,” they explain.

Still, the SLIM team notes that building tiny, shape-shifting rovers capable of exploring a variety of complex environments presents its own set of challenges. The most limiting constraints involve computational power and battery capacity. The team also observed that smaller robotics platforms inherently suffer from “reduced locomotion performance” due to their small size.

Now, when revealing the details of the SLIM mission, the researchers note that advancements in miniaturization and computational performance spurred by the Internet of Things “have catalyzed the emergence of smaller, lighter, and more intelligent rovers at lower costs.”

Introducing the ‘Hopping’ Lev-1 and the ‘Transforming’ Lev-2

To build a tiny, shapeshifting robot capable of exploring the lunar surface autonomously, team leader Daichi Hirano and colleagues designed the Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV) system, which comprises LEV-1 and LEV-2. According to the team’s statement, LEV-1 can communicate directly with mission planners back on Earth. For locomotion, the robot moves via what the team termed “a controlled hopping mechanism.”

The second robot, LEV-2, starts out as a compact sphere 8 inches in diameter. However, once on the Moon, the mission controllers said that the tiny robot can transform into a “two-wheeled rover with cameras and a tail stabilizer.”

“Here, we introduce a two-wheeled centimeter-scale rover, designated Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2), also known as SORA-Q (named after the Japanese words for space and sphere), which transforms into a wheeled configuration from a compact spherical form, enabling efficient traversal of soft lunar terrains,” they write.

Transformers Make Autonomous Robotic Exploration History

According to the new mission details, the SLIM lander deployed LEV-2 “immediately before its landing on the lunar surface.” In the mission details, the team explained that upon deployment, the rover autonomously extended its wheels, tail stabilizer, and cameras, “thereby enhancing its mobility and stability on soft lunar terrain.”

After deployment, LEV-2 navigated the lunar surface in the immediate area around the lander. According to the published study, “the palm-sized rover accomplished autonomous lunar exploration by navigating around the SLIM lander, capturing images of both the SLIM lander and its environment.” Critically, the rover’s exploration was autonomous and “without reliance on ground-based teleoperation,” marking a historic first in lunar exploration.

After finishing its exploration, the tiny robot transmitted images of its adventures to LEV-1. The hopping rover then transmitted the data to Earth. The team notes that all these steps were also accomplished autonomously.

The team notes that the LEV-2 shape-shifting rover operated for “more than 100 minutes: before losing communication with LEV-1. Although determining the exact cause may require direct examination of the two robots, Hirano’s team suspects that issues caused by LEV-1’s hopping motions or battery depletion “may have contributed to connectivity issues.”

Exploring High-Risk, Scientifically Valuable Environments

When discussing the implication of an autonomous, shape-shifting rover successfully navigating the lunar surface and completing its mission directives, the team concedes that the capabilities of a single, small rover like LEV-2 “are inherently limited.” However, they also note that their mission success highlights the potential of this category of robotic platform “as independent explorers, capable of accessing environments beyond the reach of a primary large spacecraft.” 

“Swarm-controlled small robots are poised to be deployed in high-risk yet scientifically valuable environments, such as vents, caves, and steep slope craters, that are inaccessible to larger, conventional rovers,” the researchers conclude. “This approach promises to enhance both the efficiency and safety of future planetary surface exploration.”

The study “From ball to rover: Transformable palm-sized rover SORA-Q for autonomous lunar exploration” was published in Science Robotics.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

The nature of time has long puzzled scientists, and now one researcher at the University of Birmingham has constructed a mini-universe in a laboratory to get to the bottom of this and other fundamental questions about gravity and quantum mechanics.

Revealed in a recent paper published in Physical Review Research, Professor Giovanni Barontini created a universe in a sealed quantum system to answer the lingering questions of “what is time?” with a laboratory model. His work creates an intriguing new testbed for exploring the nature of our universe from beginning to end, and all the phenomena in between.

Creating a Universe

Physicists have long puzzled over how a sequence of events could be understood in a universe without an external clock. The new work demonstrates how to move purely theoretical work into a practical laboratory environment, allowing exploration of deep questions about time and quantum physics.

In the new paper, Professor Barontini describes creating a miniature universe from 24,000 atoms held at just several degrees above absolute zero. Such temperatures are essential to many quantum explorations, including quantum computing technologies.

In this quantum system, the hermetically sealed cloud of ultracold atoms acts like a miniature universe. A thin barrier divides this tiny universe in half, while two lasers set to different frequencies bombarded it to create an observed bright region and an unobserved dark region.

Internal Time

Crucial to the experiment, Barontini did not measure time externally but instead waited for the internal relationship between the particles to generate time within this new universe. This idea comes from theoretical physics concepts such as the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, which posits that the universe exists in an ever-steady quantum state exhibiting both wave- and particle-like behavior, without an external time.

Barontini observed the bright side behaving similarly to our universe, albeit on “fast-forward,” repeating a cycle of Big Bangs and Big Crunches, continually expanding and collapsing back in on itself. Since the sequence of events could be reconstructed entirely within the quantum system without reference to a laboratory clock, this shows that time emerges from the system itself, created by the disorder of spreading atoms, rather than being an external function.

Investigating Quantum Time

Time moved forward in a single direction, with the increase or decrease in particles in the bright sector as they moved into the dark sector and back again, indicating an arrow of time. Yet, when the atomic distribution remained steady, Barontini observed a halt in time, leading him to describe what he witnessed as “entropic time.”

While this version of time corrects the order of events, it is not steady; it varies with the system’s entropy level. Notably, Schrödinger’s equation, the linchpin of quantum theory, still works in entropic time.

“In some theories of the universe, especially quantum gravity, time doesn’t appear as a built‑in feature,” Barontini said. “Yet in everyday life, time flows from past to future – why is this so, when most basic laws of physics work the same way forwards and backwards?”

“This study provides the first controlled experimental evidence that ‘time’ can be defined by changes within a system rather than as the external ‘ticking clock’ we think of as time,” Barontini concluded. “It offers new insight into the nature of time in quantum gravity that could be used to describe dynamics just as effectively as conventional time.”

Moving forward, such artificial universes could be used to probe the mysteries of our own universe, including its earliest moments, the emergence of time, and even black holes.

The paper, “Testing the Problem of Time with Cold Atoms,” appeared in Physical Review Research on June 11, 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.

Archaeologists believe a site in present-day northern Iraq may preserve the remains of an ancient city whose fall was recorded in texts from ancient Mesopotamia.

While ancient texts described the event, the physical traces were not discovered until recently. Excavations at Kurd Qaburstan in the Kurdistan region have now revealed the clearest archaeological record of Middle Bronze Age siege warfare found in the area.

During the 2024 and 2025 excavation seasons, a team led by Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida and director of the Kurd Qaburstan Project, recovered 20 cuneiform tablets and more than 100 administrative sealings from destruction layers inside the Lower Town East Palace.

A Lost Archive

This collection represents the first substantial group of cuneiform texts found on the Erbil Plain, and their dating is unusually precise. Scribes wrote several tablets within days of one another, clustering around the period recorded as the city’s fall, which allows researchers to closely align the archaeological and historical records.

Epigraphers Paul Delnero and Parker Zane, from Johns Hopkins University and Yale University, are leading the translation effort with art historian Marian Feldman. The texts include palace administrative records and at least one letter that may mention a senior official from the ancient city of Qabra.

Some inscriptions may also correspond to destructions recorded on the Victory Stele of Dadusha, a monument that documents military campaigns in the region from the same period.

Burned Layers

The physical signs of the attack are clear. Collapsed buildings, burned layers, and numerous broken pottery pieces all show signs of a coordinated and sustained assault. The team found two layers of destruction, one above the other, which match the recorded events of Qabra’s conquest.

Within these layers of destruction, bioarchaeologist Andrea Zurek-Ost of Michigan State University identified the remains of 17 people. Several seem to have died where they fell, possibly including palace workers. Archaeologists found one individual face down over a stone basin. Researchers are now using isotopic and ancient DNA analyses to learn more about who these people were, where they came from, and how they might have been related.

Mapping The City Before It Fell

The destruction layers tell the story of the city’s final chapter. A magnetometer survey covering over 80 hectares provides a picture of what the city looked like before its fall.

Led by Andrew Creekmore III at the University of Northern Colorado, the survey detects buried structures by measuring changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. It revealed a monumental wall with bastions surrounding the site, fortifications that match those shown on the Victory Stele of Dadusha and support the identification of Kurd Qaburstan as ancient Qabra.

Researchers also found a preserved street with a drainage system, along with areas used for food processing and textile production. These features indicate that the city was more complex than researchers usually expect in northern Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamian history has often focused on southern cities such as Uruk, viewing the south as the birthplace of urban civilization. The evidence from Kurd Qaburstan challenges that view.

“The evidence from Kurd Qaburstan shows that northern cities could be large, complex, and politically significant, with administrative systems, fortifications, and infrastructure comparable to those of the best-known southern sites,” Earley-Spadoni says.

Findings from the Kurd Qaburstan Project were announced as part of a reports and proceedings release supported by the University of Central Florida and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

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.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of what astronomers call “little red dots” have intrigued researchers since their discovery in 2022.

Now, new data on the spectra of one of these dots, made possible with imagery obtained by Webb, may hold the answers researchers have long sought.

In a recent paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, a team of astronomers led by the University of Texas at Austin’s Vasily Kokorev revealed their intriguing observations of the little red dot GLIMPSE-17775 using the JWST.

Data collected by the JWST support the BH* scenario, the hypothesis that little red dots are supermassive black holes surrounded by a cloud of partially ionized gas.

JWST and the Little Red Dot

The recent JWST observation of GLIMPSE-17775 is the deepest spectral view of a little red dot ever captured, spanning 40 spectral lines and offering a powerful opportunity to compare the data with various theories about the object’s origins. Born only about 1.8 billion years after the Big Bang, or about 12 billion years ago, the object hails from the universe’s early days.

As with many of science’s most interesting discoveries, this observation was a fortunate accident, captured as the JWST was observing the Abell S1063 galaxy cluster, located in front of GLIMPSE-17775 from our point of view.

Gravitational lensing magnifies GIMPSE-17775, allowing JWST a better look at the object despite its extreme distance, and making the 30-spectrum JWST captured equivalent to hours of observations. 

“When we saw the spectrum for the first time, it was like having all the pieces of a puzzle scattered on the floor,” said Kokorev. “We picked up each piece of the puzzle, measured the lines, and started combining the different pieces into a mosaic. Maybe a few pieces looked like nothing at first, but then a couple of them came together, and we realized that there was something there.”

Explaining Little Red Dots

First appearing at around 600 million years after the Big Bang, the mysterious little red dots have puzzled scientists since they first came to light. The black hole scenario is just one of several that researchers have proposed as a possible explanation, although it is currently gaining the most support as more data comes in.

“I think part of the scientific community is converging on a singular picture — that little red dots can be explained by black hole star models. But none of the previous little red dots have all of the pieces of evidence in the same place,” Kokorev said. “With GLIMPSE-17775, we can test these models because of how deep and amazing this source’s spectrum is.”

The researchers interpret the data as showing a rapidly accreting black hole covered by a dense gas cocoon that reprocesses the black hole’s light into the spectrum observed by JWST.

Comparing the spectra to various models revealed some intriguing evidence for the BH* scenario. The helium, oxygen, and hydrogen lines don’t fit a simple rotating gas cloud model, but do correspond to an electron scattering, a broadening effect associated with a dense, layered gas cocoon.

Other lines, such as the 16 iron lines, suggest a powerful energy source, which could indicate a rapidly accreting black hole. Additionally, helium absorption and fluorescence are seen in the spectrum, signs that a powerful energy source is enveloped in a dense medium.

What JWST Didn’t See

Beyond this incredibly deep spectrum, other little red dot observations have been faint in X-rays, a form of emission that the gas cocoon, in the BH* scenario, is likely to absorb.

One strange quirk of GLIMPSE-17775 is that the spectrum was missing the portion that would indicate the little red dots’ signature dip in light emission, known as a Balmer break. However, supplementary data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope resolved this issue, identifying that interference from a giant host galaxy is the root cause.

“Everything fits, nothing is broken, and I think that makes the puzzle that is our universe even better,” Kokorev concluded. “Looking ahead, I’m eager to dive deeper and learn about what is powering the central engines of little red dots. While we think it’s a black hole, there are some other interesting theories being proposed, which is exciting. Maybe in a year or two, we’ll have the final answer to what powers these sources.”

The paper, “The Deepest GLIMPSE of a Dense Gas Cocoon Enshrouding a Little Red Dot,” appeared in The Astrophysical Journal on June 10, 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.

Nearly three out of every four images obtained by NASA’s new SPHEREx space telescope revealed something many astronomers were afraid of: contamination by artificial objects humans are launching into space.

The findings were reported in a new preprint paper by researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center, who say that 73.3% of all the images the telescope captured over four months last summer revealed evidence of at least one trail left by SpaceX satellites or other orbital spacecraft.

What may be worst of all is that astronomers aren’t surprised.

With its mission to map the night sky in near-infrared light, NSA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) relies on long-exposure imagery that enables it to map large regions of the sky with every viewing.

Unfortunately, long-exposure photography is also ideal for capturing the movement of satellites, an increasing number of which have been placed in orbit in recent years.

Equally troubling is the fact that SPHEREx, from its own position in Earth orbit, had been positioned at an altitude where it was hoped that the number of satellite streaks could be limited. Yet despite such efforts, the new paper featured at the arXiv preprint server reports that, on average, at least two satellite trails were detected in every exposure.

Satellites Mistaken for Cosmic Rays

Astronomers have been raising concerns about this problem already for some time, and presently, there doesn’t appear to be any near-term solution.

Even beyond image contamination, the preprint study also found that several satellites that enter SPHEREx’s field of view are bright enough that they are also triggering the space telescope’s automated system that protects its delicate components from stray cosmic rays.

Designed to shut down the telescope’s data collection when it detects what it suspects are cosmic rays, the new research reveals that some satellites reflect enough light to engage algorithms that control this defense system.

Even in instances where imagery is successfully obtained, albeit with contamination from satellites, the brightness of these orbital objects can effectively obscure objects behind the portions of the telescope’s images where the satellites appeared.

A Growing Concern

The new SphereX findings are only the latest indication that astronomers were right to be concerned about potential light pollution from satellites. In a past study by Sando Kruk and colleagues, Hubble Telescope images had shown an increase in the number of satellites crossing its field of view, rising from contamination shown in just 2.8% of its images, to 5.9% over a period of two decades.

Ideas about how to prevent the issue have focused on using anti-reflective coatings on satellites and other means of reducing their brightness once they reach orbit. However, many modern satellites are large enough that having darker exteriors doesn’t help to significantly mitigate the amount of light they can reflect.

Additionally, the study’s authors note that “Optical reflections are just a fraction of the problem, since satellites also emit and reflect [infrared],” meaning that optical darkening efforts “might even increase their temperature, making them brighter in the IR.”

Worse Before It Gets Better

According to the study’s authors, the problem is likely to worsen before astronomers see any improvements.

“Remarkably, some private operators have announced the intent of deploying 4000 purposely high reflective satellites,” the researchers write, which aim to provide “sunlight on demand.” Such artificial orbital systems, if successfully deployed, would reflect light as much as five times the brightness of the full Moon onto areas of the Earth roughly five kilometers in diameter.

This, the team argues, would potentially have “a catastrophic impact to the quality of the dark sky and the Earth’s inhabitants.”

Fundamentally, the authors hope that bringing additional attention to such issues with their recent study may help to mitigate future concerns about our ever-brightening night sky.

“The widespread contamination addressed in this paper affects multiple areas of astronomical research,” the team says, which they say includes “the study of transient phenomena, deep imaging surveys, spectroscopic studies, and the search for Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), thereby hindering our ability to understand the Universe and protect the Earth.”

The new paper by Alejandro S. Borlaff and colleagues, “SPHEREx confirms predictions for artificial satellite trail pollution in Low Earth Orbit,” appeared at the preprint arXiv server.

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.

In a University of Kentucky laboratory, three small spacecraft stand-ins slid across low-friction air tracks, nudging and pulling one another without thrusters, propellant, or physical contact.

Instead, they used carefully timed magnetic fields, a technique that could one day help future satellite swarms hold precise formations in space without constantly burning fuel.

The NASA and Air Force-backed study, set to be published in the September 2026 edition of Aerospace Science and Technology,  marks a step toward what researchers call electromagnetic formation flying, a proposed method for controlling the relative positions of satellites using onboard coils rather than conventional propellant-based thrusters.

In the study, researchers demonstrated a decentralized, three-satellite control system that used alternating magnetic field forces to maintain formation with centimeter-level precision, offering a possible pathway for future space telescopes, interferometers, gravity-wave detectors, and other distributed spacecraft missions.

“Spacecraft formation flying can advance a variety of space technologies such as distributed-aperture telescopes, gravity-wave detectors, and interferometers,” researchers write. “One challenge for spacecraft formation flying is that traditional propellant thrusters eventually deplete, and they can contaminate sensitive spacecraft components.”

The study, authored by scientists from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, focuses on a longstanding problem in spacecraft engineering.

Many future missions may not rely on a single large spacecraft, but instead on groups of smaller satellites flying in carefully arranged formations. If those satellites can maintain their spacing and orientation with extreme precision, they could function together like a much larger scientific instrument.

For example, a distributed-aperture telescope could use multiple spacecraft separated by carefully controlled distances to achieve observing capabilities that might be difficult or impossible with a single monolithic telescope.

Similar formation-flying concepts have been proposed for space-based interferometers and additional missions in which the relative positions of spacecraft are central to mission performance.

However, keeping multiple satellites in formation is not easy. Standard spacecraft rely on thrusters, which consume limited propellant. Over time, that fuel runs out, limiting mission duration and maneuverability. Thruster plumes can also contaminate sensitive instruments, a concern on spacecraft carrying delicate optical, scientific, or electromagnetic sensors.

However, electromagnetic formation flying, or EMFF, offers a different possibility. Each spacecraft carries electromagnetic coils. When electric current flows through those coils, they create magnetic fields. Those fields interact with magnetic fields created by nearby spacecraft, producing attractive or repulsive forces that can alter the satellites’ positions relative to one another.

Put simply, the satellites can push or pull on each other using magnetism.

The idea is not entirely new. Previous work has explored electromagnetic formation flying between two spacecraft, including experiments using direct-current-driven coils.

The problem becomes much harder when the formation includes three or more satellites. In that case, every satellite’s magnetic field can interact with the others, creating a web of coupled forces that becomes increasingly difficult to control as the formation grows.

The new study approaches that problem using alternating magnetic field forces, or AMFF. Rather than driving the coils with steady direct current, the researchers use sinusoidal currents at specific frequencies.

The key insight is that two satellites generate a nonzero time-averaged interaction force only when their magnetic moments alternate at the same frequency. If they do not share a frequency, the average force between them is negligible.

That frequency-matching approach effectively allows the system to pair satellites electromagnetically. One pair can interact at one frequency, while another pair interacts at a different frequency.

By adjusting the amplitude of each sinusoidal signal, the satellites can control the strength of the force between each pair without requiring a centralized controller to solve the entire formation’s motion at once.

“Only pairs with a common frequency can generate a nonzero time-averaged intersatellite force, and that force is determined solely by the amplitudes at the common frequency,” researchers write. “The method in this paper is decentralized, which means that each satellite has access to measurements of its position and velocity relative to only its local neighbor satellites.”

Centralized control can work in smaller systems, but it can turn computationally clumsy as satellite formations grow. A scalable system would need each spacecraft to make local decisions based on nearby neighbors, rather than requiring a single controller to calculate every force across the entire formation.

To test the idea, the researchers built a ground-based experimental platform using three custom electromagnetic actuation system units placed on linear air tracks.

The air tracks allowed the units to move with low friction, simulating one-dimensional relative motion between satellites. Each unit included an electromagnetic coil, batteries, power electronics, an Arduino Due microcontroller, wireless communication hardware, and laser range-finding sensors for measuring relative position.

In the three-satellite setup, the center unit was driven by a sum of two sinusoidal currents, while each outer unit was driven by one of those frequencies. This allowed the center unit to interact independently with each outer unit, demonstrating the central premise of frequency-multiplexed magnetic control.

In closed-loop experiments, the three-satellite system achieved formation in less than 30 seconds. The maximum steady-state formation error was less than plus or minus 0.01 meters, or about 0.4 inches. The mean steady-state formation error was less than plus or minus 0.001 meters, or about 0.04 inches.

Those numbers demonstrate that the method did more than produce a magnetic tug in a lab. It allowed multiple units to settle into a desired formation using local feedback and alternating magnetic fields, while avoiding the coupling problem that has limited electromagnetic control for larger formations.

The researchers also compared the experimental results with computer simulations. While the simulations generally matched the observed behavior, the team noted some differences caused by real-world hardware factors, including sensor interference, current saturation, possible misalignment, airflow disturbances along the air tracks, and unmodeled magnetic effects.

Those caveats are important. This was not a spaceflight demonstration, and the system was tested only in one dimension. Real spacecraft would operate in a far more complex environment, where microgravity, radiation, extreme temperature swings, atmospheric drag in low Earth orbit, gravitational forces, Earth’s magnetic field, and equipment restrictions would all matter.

Researchers also note that traditional thrusters may still be needed for orbit maintenance, orbit transfers, or controlling the overall center of mass of a satellite formation.

In essence, this is not a replacement for all spacecraft propulsion. It is better understood as a possible propellantless method for controlling the relative positions of satellites once they are already in orbit and operating as part of a formation.

Still, that limitation does not diminish the possible impact. If electromagnetic formation flying can be scaled and adapted for real spacecraft, it could reduce propellant demands for future distributed missions. That could extend mission lifetimes, reduce contamination hazards to sensitive instruments, and enable spacecraft formations more flexible than today’s architectures.

The research was supported in part by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

The funding mix reflects the dual scientific and strategic interests in the work. NASA has clear reasons to explore precise formation flying for future space observatories and scientific missions. The Air Force, meanwhile, has an obvious interest in satellite coordination, maneuverability, and resilient distributed space systems.

The study’s most intriguing contribution may be its demonstration that magnetic-field-based satellite control can be both decentralized and scalable.

Rather than treating a multi-satellite formation in a single complicated system that must be controlled from the top down, AMFF allows each satellite to manage interactions with its neighbors using assigned frequencies. That could become increasingly valuable as space missions move toward constellations, swarms, and distributed architectures.

Researchers caution that additional work will be needed to move beyond one-dimensional air-track experiments and toward three-dimensional testing, more realistic sensing and control hardware, and, eventually, on-orbit validation.

Additional coils would be needed for three-dimensional position control, and relative attitude control could require additional actuation frequencies for each interacting satellite pair.

Nevertheless, the laboratory results show that the underlying concept works in a three-body system, which is exactly where the hard part begins.

Two satellites can pull or push on each other relatively easily. Three satellites introduce the coupling problem that makes electromagnetic formation flying difficult. By demonstrating three-satellite control with alternating magnetic fields, the study delivers experimental evidence that the frequency-based solution can work.

For forthcoming space missions, that could be a meaningful step. The next generation of telescopes and orbital instruments may not always be built as single enormous spacecraft. They may be assembled virtually, with multiple satellites flying together as one coordinated machine.

If so, keeping those satellites precisely arranged without wasting propellant could become one of the enabling technologies of future astronomy, Earth observation, and national security space systems.

“This article presented a 3-satellite experimental demonstration of decentralized EMFF using AMFF,” researchers conclude. “The settling time and steady-state formation error achieved in these experiments demonstrate that this approach is most likely capable of meeting requirements for satellite constellation reconfiguration and maintenance, thereby addressing the need for propellant-free formation flying.”

Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter: @LtTimMcMillan.  Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email: LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com 

Archaeologists working with the Israeli Antiquities Authority have announced the discovery and excavation of a cave located just outside the town of Fureidis, which has revealed signs of early human presence dating back to between 250,000 and 400,000 years ago.

The team of researchers behind the ongoing excavation said the fortuitous discovery could represent a “time capsule” that has remained sealed for hundreds of thousands of years, offering researchers an unprecedented glimpse into a critical period in human evolution.

Ancient Cave Contains Evidence of Critical Period in Human Evolution

According to a statement emailed to The Debrief, the ancient cave, which lies south of Haifa, near the Zikhron Ya’akov interchange, likely dates back to sometime between 400,000 and 250,000 years before present. The team notes that the range would mean it was sealed since the time of the Acheulo-Yabrudian culture, a period when ancient human ancestors began to display several complex tool-making skills, including various stone blade designs which were in use by hominins until around 300,000 years ago, marking the end of the Lower Paleolithic period.

“The culture we are investigating here was characterized by a variety of advanced methods for producing flint tools, including small sharp handaxes, scrapers, and blades,” explained Dr. Kobi Vardi, head of the Prehistory Branch at the Israel Antiquities Authority and the study’s co-director.

Most archaeologists put the African departure date of the last common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals between 700,000 and 500,000 years ago, and the first genetic interbreeding between the two species around 130,000-1,000,000 years ago. Therefore, finding a sealed cave containing relics from the period between these two critical evolutionary junctures offers the research team an unprecedented opportunity.

“We have been fortunate to excavate a unique site of global importance that has been protected from the ravages of time thanks to the exceptional conditions that existed here,” said team member Professor Ron Shimelmitz of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa.

Dr. Vardi agreed, noting that “It is very rare to find a site in such a state of preservation.”

“Every prehistorian who visits the site is absolutely thrilled,” he added.

“The Seeds That Led to the Development of Our Complex Culture”

In that same statement, Prof. Shimelmitz noted that the end of the Lower Paleolithic was a “unique time period” before Neanderthals and modern humans became the dominant hominids of the era and spread across “many regions.”

“Only a handful of sites from this important phase have been uncovered in Israel, and the wider Levant, and most of them are inaccessible for research,” the professor explained, adding that marked changes in human physiology, technology, and social organization “foreshadowed the traits and complex behavioral patterns that developed later and characterize both Neanderthals and modern humans.”

One component that helped facilitate the development of complex culture, highlighted by Prof. Shimelmitz, is the transition from ancient humans living in larger groups. He also emphasized the advent of human ancestors “spending longer periods at the same sites.”

Early excavations have already uncovered evidence of what the researcher termed “intensive use of fire.” These early forays have also found signs of prolonged human activity. Prof Shimelmitz said these signs suggest a “complex and rich camp life.”

Dr Vardi said that the ongoing excavation is uncovering animal bones, including ancient specimens of fallow deer, gazelle, and an ancient variety of horse.

Dr. Vardi also noted that these finds were discovered “alongside evidence of the presence of water,” which he suggests may have made the ancient cave an attractive location for hunter-gatherer groups inhabiting the region at the time.

High Resolution Studies of How Ancient Humans Lived

When discussing the implications of their findings, Prof. Shimelmitz first expressed the team’s appreciation for the financial support and enthusiasm shown by the project’s sponsor, the Ayalon Highways Company, “in enabling us to undertake the excavation.”

As for the scientific value of their initial discoveries and the potential for further insights into this period in human history, the professor noted that findings to date are typically associated with “the development of social cooperation and the transmission of knowledge, as part of the processes of human evolution.”

Dr. Vardi echoed those sentiments, while also noting that the ancient cave’s archaeological value “is no less important” than that of the well-known Nahal Me’arot site from the same evolutionarily critical period.

“(This site) will allow us to study in high resolution how humans lived at that time,” the researcher added.

Given the importance the research team put on the site, which included co-leader Amit Gabbay, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Haifa are already putting forth what they describe as a “large-scale research program that seeks to reconstruct how humans lived, adapted to their environment, and developed new lifestyles and technologies over the course of human evolution.”

Along with heralding the site’s scientific value, the researchers highlighted its cultural importance by declaring their goal to make the site “open and accessible to all: to the residents of Fureidis, students at the nearby school, and anyone interested in the prehistory of the region,” once the formal excavations are completed.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

For five years, an elderly woman with advanced Alzheimer’s disease had spoken mostly in single words, needed help walking, and showed little spontaneous interaction with the people around her. Then, roughly 19 hours after receiving a high dose of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, she emerged from a prolonged, deep sleep-like state and began talking about her life.

The striking episode, described in a new case report published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, does not show that psilocybin reverses Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers are careful to stress that this was a single patient, observed in a real-world private clinical setting without brain imaging, formal sleep monitoring, or standardized cognitive testing.

Still, the study’s authors say the case raises the interesting possibility that in late-stage dementia, some functional abilities may indeed remain dormant rather than be completely lost.

“Advanced Alzheimer’s disease is generally regarded as a stage of irreversible functional decline,” researchers write. “This case documents transient multidomain functional improvement in advanced Alzheimer’s disease following psilocybin administration.”

The case involved a Japanese-American woman in her 80s with a 10-year history of Alzheimer’s disease. The patient was described as being in an advanced stage of dementia, with the previous five years being noted for severe decline.

Her speech had become mostly monosyllabic, and she had chronic urinary incontinence, executive dysfunction, dysphagia, dependent mobility, flat affect, prolonged somnolence, and a severe reduction in spontaneous communication.

Her diagnosis had been made clinically about a decade earlier, based on a steadily progressive neurodegenerative course, memory impairment, language reduction, executive dysfunction, and functional decline.

The intervention was a single oral dose of 5 grams of psilocybin-containing mushrooms from the “Enigma” strain. Researchers note that no established psilocybin dosing framework exists for advanced dementia, and the dose was high by almost any comparison.

Recreational users commonly describe 1 to 3 grams of dried Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms as a typical range, while doses around 3.5 grams or more are generally considered strong. A 5-gram dose is often treated as an especially intense experience. However, direct comparisons are imprecise because psilocybin content can vary widely between mushroom species, strains, batches, and even different parts of the same mushroom.

The study also notes that the dose was “relatively high compared with dosing approaches commonly used in modern clinical trials,” which typically use carefully measured amounts of purified psilocybin rather than whole mushrooms.

One month later, after some improvements persisted, the patient underwent a second supervised session using 3 grams.

The first session produced a dramatic acute response. The patient experienced autonomic activation, profuse sweating, suspected hyperthermia, and what the researchers describe as a prolonged deep sleep-like state. Exact temperature measurements were not available.

The study’s timeline shows that the first 12 hours were dominated by autonomic and sleep-like effects. At about 19 hours, the patient spontaneously awakened and produced roughly four hours of autobiographical speech.

By the first day, she showed increased alertness and recognition of family. By the second day, she was independently walking. By days two and three, she was dressing herself and showing spontaneous initiative. Around the same time, her diapers remained dry, including at night.

The improvement in continence was particularly notable to researchers because urinary control depends on more than a single simple reflex. It requires awareness of bodily signals, executive inhibition, and coordination among brain networks affected by dementia. The report states that the patient remained continent one month after the initial session, which was one reason a second session was performed.

During that second session, the patient reportedly remained more verbally expressive and described positive imagery involving surfing with her son on a peaceful island.

Researchers also observed improved facial expressivity, emotional reciprocity, spontaneous humor, and greater agility while walking. At one point during follow-up, the patient spontaneously said, “It is pleasant to come here.”

The study’s broader importance is in what it may suggest about the brain in advanced neurodegenerative disease. Alzheimer’s is usually understood as a progressive condition in which neurons and networks progressively deteriorate, stripping away memory, communication, mobility, and autonomy. By the advanced stage, treatment is largely supportive, and meaningful functional recovery is generally considered unlikely.

Psilocybin, however, is known to transiently alter large-scale brain dynamics via activation of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. Researchers point to prior human neuroimaging studies showing changes in default mode network integrity, network segregation, and functional connectivity after psilocybin administration. They also cited preclinical research suggesting psychedelics may promote structural and functional plasticity, including dendritic growth and synaptic remodeling.

That does not mean psilocybin repaired the patient’s Alzheimer’s disease. Instead, researchers suggest a more measured interpretation. The drug may have temporarily altered brain network activity, allowing remaining functional systems to reintegrate or become accessible again, at least for a limited period.

The report does not claim that plaques, tangles, or neurodegeneration were reversed. It also does not show that other patients would experience similar results. Because this was a single case, there was no control group, no placebo comparison, no formal biomarker confirmation, and no standardized cognitive testing to measure the degree of change.

Researchers acknowledge that mixed or alternative neurodegenerative contributions, including vascular components, cannot be fully excluded. Although they found no evidence of acute delirium, intoxication, or another acute neurological diagnosis during the observation period, the case remains observational. Causality cannot be established, and fluctuations in neurodegenerative disease cannot be completely ruled out.

The safety picture is also incomplete. While no severe persistent adverse effects, prolonged agitation, clinically significant cardiovascular instability, persistent psychotic symptoms, delayed neurological deterioration, or delayed medical complications were observed during follow-up, the acute phase included suspected hyperthermia and profuse sweating. In frail elderly patients, especially those with advanced dementia, such responses could carry serious risks.

For that reason, the findings should not be read as a green light for unsupervised psychedelic use in dementia patients. Psilocybin is still a powerful psychoactive compound, and older adults with complex neurological disease may be especially vulnerable to complications.

Ultimately, the value of the report doesn’t lie in providing a treatment recommendation but in documenting an unusual clinical observation that researchers say warrants controlled investigation.

The case also lands amid a flood of scientific interest in psychedelics as tools for studying brain plasticity, perception, memory, and large-scale network dysfunction.

As The Debrief has previously reported, recent brain-imaging work has found that psilocybin can temporarily dissolve familiar brain-network patterns tied to the sense of self, while other studies suggest psychedelics may redirect visual processing toward memory-related regions. Additional research has analyzed how a single dose of psilocybin may produce lasting brain changes, how the compound can reshape neural pathways associated with depression, and how psychedelic effects may be influenced by factors such as exercise, food restriction, and immune signaling.

However, most clinical work with psilocybin has centered on psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use disorders.

More recently, researchers have begun asking whether similar neuromodulatory effects might have relevance for people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease.

Published clinical data involving advanced dementia remain extremely limited, which is why the new report is best understood not as evidence of a treatment, but as a provocative case study that may help guide future controlled research.

This recent case does not prove efficacy, but it questions assumptions about what may remain possible in a brain already deeply affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

If future studies find similar effects under supervised conditions, the implications could be significant, not only for dementia care but also regarding understanding how much latent function can persist beneath the outward appearance of severe decline.

“Residual functional capacity may persist in advanced Alzheimer’s disease and may become transiently accessible following psilocybin induced modulation of large-scale brain networks,” researchers conclude. “Systematic investigation is warranted.”

Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter: @LtTimMcMillan.  Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email: LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com 

For decades, the possibility of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence has captured the imagination of scientists, sci-fi enthusiasts, filmmakers, and the public alike.

In line with such efforts, the IAA SETI Committee and the uNHIdden Foundation, two separate not-for-profit organizations, have recently released updated rules for evaluating and disclosing detections, and preparing for public preparedness in the event of potential disclosure of extraterrestrial intelligence.

With the release of director Steven Spielberg’s new alien film Disclosure Day, nearly coinciding with the recent release of the government records from the Department of War related to UAP, it seems a growing number of individuals, from the film industry to the science community, have extraterrestrials and “disclosure” on their minds. 

The IAA SETI Committee Rules 

In June 2026, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) approved a major update to the protocols governing the evaluation, verification, and communication of evidence related to extraterrestrial intelligence. The revised guidelines were designed to address a modern information environment shaped by social media, artificial intelligence, and the rapid pace of the 24-hour news cycle.

Professor Michael Garrett, Sir Bernard Lovell Chair of Astrophysics, led the international effort to revise the long-standing post-detection protocols used by researchers engaged in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The updated guidelines have since been formally ratified by the IAA.

“The information environment we operate in today is vastly more complex than it was in 2010,” said Garrett, Chair of the IAA SETI Committee, in a statement. “In an era of deepfakes, automated misinformation, and instant global connectivity, a single unverified claim could trigger confusion or panic. These new protocols ensure that scientists maintain the highest standards of evidence before making announcements to the world.”

The revised declaration reflects the broader scope of modern SETI and technosignature research. Since the previous guidelines were adopted in 2010, advances in technology have enabled scientists to investigate the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including excess infrared heat signatures that could indicate megastructures, optical laser emissions, and even multi-messenger signals.

The updated framework also addresses modern challenges, including protections for researchers who may face harassment, doxxing, or intense media scrutiny. It further emphasizes the importance of distinguishing verified scientific data from viral rumors, hoaxes, or terrestrial interference.

New Contact Rules at SETI

At the heart of the new guidelines is a familiar scientific principle: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Under the revised protocols, no public announcement should be made until a signal or artifact has been rigorously verified by independent organizations using different instruments and methodologies.

“We do not shout ‘alien’ the moment we see a strange blip,” said Garret in a statement. “The scientific method demands we check, check again, and then ask others to check. Only when we have reached a consensus that a signal is credible do we bring it to the world.”

While the protocols explain how to share discovery news, they make one rule clear: no reply should be sent.

“The threshold for ‘extraordinary evidence’ is subjective,” Siemion says. “Because of the vast diversity of modalities in which a technosignature might manifest, it is impossible to state explicitly the criteria that would meet this threshold under all circumstances.”

“In the case of a coherent electromagnetic signal, like a narrowband carrier or a series of laser pulses, an example of ‘extraordinary’ would be if we repeatedly detected the signal at the same location with multiple independent observatories,” Siemion adds.

He also noted that, for a transient signal, compelling evidence might include multiple lines of data indicating that it traveled through interstellar space. Determining whether a phenomenon truly originated from extraterrestrial technology would likely be a lengthy process, with evidence presented, challenged, and reassessed over time.

The declaration reinforces that any response to extraterrestrial intelligence would be a decision for all humanity and should only occur following international consultation, particularly through the United Nations.

With the updated declaration now ratified by the IAA Board, it will be shared with stakeholders, including the United Nations. A formal presentation of the protocols is scheduled for the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Türkiye later this year.

“The release of these updated rules and protocols marks an important step in acknowledging both the radically different media landscape that science functions within today, and the vastly expanded efforts in terms of technology and resources being deployed in the search for intelligent life beyond Earth,” said Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute and IAA SETI Committee member. “We applaud Prof Garrett’s leadership in developing these new protocols and the IAA for their ratification.” 

First Contact and Humanity’s Mental Health

Another nonprofit organization has taken a different approach, focusing on the potential psychological and public-health implications of disclosure. The uNHIdden Foundation, whose mission is to support mental health related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), recently released a preparedness framework addressing the societal impact of a paradigm-shifting discovery.

If governments prepare for natural disasters, pandemics, and other low-probability, high-impact events, should humanity also consider preparing for the possibility of contact with another intelligent civilization?

On June 8, uNHIdden Foundation Founder and Chairman John Priestland, alongside clinical spokesperson Dr. Martin Abbas, launched what they describe as the first public-health preparedness framework focused on disclosure-related scenarios.

Developed by healthcare practitioners, physicians, clinical psychologists, and public-health specialists, “Preparing for Disclosure: A Public Health Framework for Paradigm-Shifting Revelations” examines how society might reduce harm, build resilience, and support individuals processing a profound shift in humanity’s understanding of its place in the universe.

“This report is not a prediction. It is a preparedness exercise,” Priestland says. “Governments prepare for all kinds of low-probability, high-impact events.”

“Our view is that if a paradigm-shifting disclosure were ever to occur, we should at least have thought about the human consequences in advance,” Priestland added. 

The report suggests that certain groups could be more vulnerable to disclosure-related distress, including individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions, those facing socioeconomic hardship, UAP experiencers, highly religious individuals, and some STEM professionals. The authors emphasize that the report neither predicts disclosure nor attempts to judge future discoveries; rather, it argues that preparedness is a prudent response to the possibility of transformative new information.

David Whitehouse, former BBC Science Correspondent, wrote the report’s foreword, arguing that planning is essential should such a discovery ever occur.

The new framework proposes several practical actions to be taken, which include:

• Reducing stigma surrounding anomalous experiences and disclosure-related concerns
• Building public resilience and psychological flexibility
• Developing trusted sources of information and support
• Creating community conversation groups and peer-support networks
• Strengthening mental health preparedness and triage capability
• Encouraging collaboration between healthcare professionals, researchers, government, and civil society

The report argues that stronger community resilience, clearer communication during periods of uncertainty, and improved mental-health support would be critical not only during a disclosure event but during any large-scale societal disruption.

Ultimately, the question remains whether humanity is truly prepared—or whether a globally coordinated framework is still lacking. Voices ranging from the UAP community to figures within the U.S. government have argued that the public is ready. However, only time will tell what the result may be if confirmation of extraterrestrial intelligence were to arrive—and how humanity will collectively respond to the discovery.

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.

A shelter-in-place order issued at the Pentagon on Thursday has now been lifted, officials have confirmed, following what was characterized as a “hazardous materials incident”.

Earlier on Thursday, firefighters arrived at the building, which serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of War, in response to concerns involving air quality at the facility.

“Earlier this morning, Pentagon occupants were notified of a potential air quality issue, prompting immediate precautionary safety measures and evaluation,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a posting on X.

“Subsequent testing confirmed no hazard exists, and normal operations have resumed,” Parnell said. “We express our sincere appreciation to the first responders for their swift actions to ensure the safety of all personnel.”

In an earlier post, Parnell said that the Pentagon houses “sophisticated systems to ensure the safety of the building and its occupants,” which had reportedly detected “an air quality issue necessitating precautionary measures until we determine its significance.”

In response to the unspecified air quality issue, the Department of War observed what Parnell characterized as “standard protection protocols, including a shelter-in-place order for the affected area.”

“Response teams are in place and ready to support building occupants,” the early statement read.

Separate postings on social media from Arlington County Fire and Rescue indicated that its personnel were on the scene supporting hazmat teams while the incident was under investigation.

Presently, it remains unclear what the issue was that prompted the concerns at the Pentagon, where close to 30,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel are employed.

This is a developing story, which may be updated as new information is made available.

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.

Researchers from the private nuclear fusion energy company Commonwealth Fusion Systems have published a series of papers that they claim confirm that their flagship ARC reactor will produce more usable energy than it consumes if built as designed.

Although the company projects it will deliver the first commercial fusion plants by the early 2030s, other researchers say there are remaining challenges to overcome, and won’t declare the ARC reactor successful until an operational version is constructed to validate the research team’s theoretical predictions.

ARC Fusion Reactor ‘Will Work’ When Built

Scientists have long dreamed of capturing the nuclear fusion reaction that fuels our Sun and using it to generate clean, renewable power. Private fusion firms like CFS have received nearly $10 billion in funding over the last decade alone.

The first laboratory “net-energy” controlled fusion reaction, which fusion scientists call “ignition,” didn’t occur until 2022, when physicists at the US National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, successfully produced more energy than was used to generate the reaction. Although brief, that moment has fueled speculation that practical fusion energy generation may be right around the corner.

Now, the Commonwealth team, which includes 58 researchers from the company and partner institutes, has published scientific papers outlining the physics of their ARC reactor, including new models that they say account for the “expected behavior” of the superhot plasma at the heart of the design.

Brandon Sorbom, the company’s chief science officer, said that the published works  “confirm that when we build the ARC fusion power plant, it will work”.

Company Claims ARC Will Produce 400 Megawatts of Net Electricity

After nearly a decade of research, CFS, founded in 2018, is currently preparing its prototype for a 2027 demonstration it calls ‘SPARC.’ The company said they expect that trial run, which will demonstrate their technology’s ability to generate more energy than it needs to heat the plasma, will help them fine-tune ARC’s final design.

According to the Commonwealth-led team, ARC will generate more energy than is required to operate the entire facility, including plasma heating, resulting in a true net-positive power-generation facility. This includes producing approximately 400 megawatts of net electricity, which the team noted is enough to power 280,000 average US homes. For comparison, recent census data indicates that Boston, Massachusetts, near the company’s headquarters in Cambridge, has around 271,000 U.S. homes.

Like SPARC, the ARC reactor uses high-temperature superconducting magnets to compress the plasma, which remains suspended by the magnetic fields, preventing it from damaging the chamber walls and terminating any potential fusion reaction. Under this extreme pressure, the nuclei of heavy hydrogen trapped inside the chamber fuse to form helium, the same reaction that takes place inside the Sun.

This fusion reaction results in the release of energy, primarily high-speed neutrons. At its hottest, the donut-shaped ring of plasma reaches seven times the temperature of the Sun.

Critics Applaud Publication While Highlighting Unproven Concepts and Systems

Tony Roulstone, a nuclear engineer at the University of Cambridge, UK, conceded that the CFS team and its collaborating authors are “some of the best in the fusion business” and noted the company’s ARC reactor concept is the result of “good work over many years.” However, Roulstone also warned of the pressure on researchers in privately funded companies to “claim things before the evidence is fully in place.”

David Hammer, a nuclear engineer at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, said it is a good sign that the team is publishing at a high volume, but also warned that published papers will not guarantee that the built device will work as intended.

Their modeling “has to be proven correct by a fusion reactor that works as designed”, he adds. If the firm can get SPARC operating successfully next year, “it will be an important step forward”, he says.

Hamner also noted that several of the design’s subsystems require further development before it can be declared complete. This includes addressing how plasma will behave in the real world when it becomes unstable versus its modeled behavior, proving out the process for extracting usable energy from the generated heat, and demonstrating that the reactor is robust enough to operate for long periods.

The scientists also noted the challenges in sourcing tritium, the isotopic fuel the reactor requires to operate. Although CFS has outlined its tritium generation process, Hamner noted that the series of published papers neither details the process nor demonstrates its viability.

“There are candidate blanket materials and blanket designs, but there are many engineering person-years needed” to bring a functional ARC-style plant to fruition, he explained.

“We certainly have to build more on top of that foundation laid out in these papers,” a company spokesperson said, adding that they will “be able to produce tritium for operations and for future power plants.”

The following articles were published by the CFS-led team: “Overview of the physics basis for the ARC fusion power plant“; “ARC disruption physics and strategy“; “Performance and Transport in the ARC Tokamak“; “Power and particle exhaust for the ARC fusion power plant“; “ARC Physics Basis-Magnetohydrodynamics.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to correct a previous version that described neutrinos, rather than fast-neutrons, in the context of the reporting, and to clarify that the first achievement of a “net-energy” controlled fusion reaction (ignition) occurred in 2022. 

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

The Cozumel dwarf fox, a rare species previously known only from secondhand reports and fossil records, has been discovered alive on Cozumel, a small Caribbean island off the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Researchers published the announcement in Neotropical Biology and Conservation, describing the rescue and identification of the rare dwarf fox before it was released back into the wild. They caution that this rare species, previously believed extinct, faces extreme danger from a host of threats.

The Cozumel Dwarf Fox

As one of the rarest canids on the planet, the species had never before been documented alive by scientists. The Cozumel dwarf fox (Urocyon sp.) is a close relative of the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), which is found on the Mexican mainland. After several millennia of isolation on the island—possibly predating Maya settlement—the Cozumel fox underwent insular dwarfism, evolving to only 60–80% the size of its mainland relatives.

Evidence for the animal has been remarkably scarce, and while subfossil remains provided conclusive proof that the species once existed, there had not even been a secondhand report since 2001, leading many researchers to assume it was extinct.

That changed on September 14, 2023, when members of the public reported a disoriented fox along a coastal highway near kilometer marker 29.

Responders from the Fundación de Parques y Museos de Cozumel recovered the animal and cared for it for three days while monitoring its health. On September 17, 2023, the fox was released into the Laguna Columbia State Reserve, where it would be protected from traffic and other hazards.

The sighting marks the first time the Cozumel fox has been formally documented by scientists and recognized as taxonomically distinct.

Cozumel Fox Habitat

Although the sparse evidence of these creatures may not be enough to conclusively map their habitat, the researchers have some idea where the Cozumel fox typically resides.

“Historical sightings have been concentrated around the community of El Cedral and near the entrance of Punta Sur Ecological Park, which is where this photographic record also took place,” lead author Travis Bayer of Pathos Wildlife told The Debrief. “No sightings have ever been observed further north than El Cedral, which leads us to believe that may be the extent of their range on the island, which would also be very concerning due to the already limited space on an island.”

“If their home ranges are restricted to the Southern end of the island, they may have home ranges around 100 km2,” Bayer continued. “If they associate with only wetland/mangrove habitats, the size gets considerably smaller and more concerning for their conservation, as those habitats mainly only occur along the coastline and are at high risk for development for restaurants and resorts.”

Staying Hidden

Given that Cozumel is a popular tourist destination known for its beaches and resorts, it may seem surprising that an animal the size of a fox could remain undetected for so long. Bayer says part of the explanation lies in the island’s difficult terrain and the species’ elusive behavior.

“Cozumel is home to many different terrestrial ecosystems, many of which are not easily accessible either,” Bayer explained. “Habitats like the mangrove forests and wetlands are almost impenetrable to us, but to a fox, easily traversable.”

“Also, not that many people are out there looking for this animal, as the public awareness of it was extremely low, and the scientific investment was limited to one primary publication and a few brief mentions in others,” he added.

Additionally, the combination of grey foxes’ typical elusiveness, their nocturnal habits, and the highway cutting through their habitat being closed at night all combine to make the species easy to miss.

Preserving the Cozumel Fox

“In collaboration with a team of local biologists, led by Rafael Chacón, we have begun developing an emergency conservation action plan for the Cozumel fox aimed at locating remaining individuals, estimating population size, identifying critical habitat, and determining immediate threats,” Bayer said.

Ensuring that the species does not disappear again is now a top priority. Researchers consider the fox critically endangered, with its limited habitat threatened by development, invasive species, and natural disasters.

Several introduced animals also pose significant risks. These include invasive boas released during a 1971 film production that have since spread across the island. Domestic dogs and cats may also threaten the fox through competition, predation, or disease transmission. In addition, predators such as ocelots and margays were introduced as exotic pets before eventually being released into the wild.

“Using thermal drone surveys, large-scale camera trap networks, and other advanced monitoring technologies, we aim to rapidly generate the data needed to guide immediate conservation intervention,” Bayer said. “Simultaneously, we are collecting the evidence necessary to formally describe the animal as a new and distinct species deserving of critically endangered recognition and legal protections.”

“One of the most important takeaways from this research is that species can quietly disappear without the world even realizing they are gone,” Bayer concluded.

“We often think extinction is something dramatic and obvious, but in reality, it can happen gradually and silently, especially for rare species living in remote or understudied habitats.”

The paper, “First Photographic Evidence of an Insular Dwarf Fox (Urocyon sp.) on the Island of Cozumel, Mexico,” appeared in Neotropical Biology and Conservation on May 4, 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.

A new study has taken a fresh look at a late 2025 Yonsei University study claiming the universe’s expansion is stalling out and instead has found that the universe is still expanding as previously believed.

Led by researchers from the University of Southampton, the team behind the new analysis acknowledged the scientific value of the 2025 team’s work, noting that their calculations were not wrong but lacked the additional data needed to confirm the universe’s expansion rather than refute it.

The lead author of the 2025 study, Dr. Chul Chung, told The Debrief that he and his colleagues “have already submitted our response to Wiseman, Riess et al. 2026 on May 14,” adding that the paper, “Still accelerating: age bias correction in supernova cosmology is robust to host-progenitor age mapping,” has also been posted on arXiv.

“The abstract summarizes the two main issues we identify in Wiseman et al., so I think it provides a concise overview of our position,” Chung told The Debrief.

Challenging Universal Expansion

According to a statement announcing the findings, scientists first confirmed the universe’s expansion was accelerating in 2011, a discovery that won astrophysicists Professor Adam Riess and Professor Brian Schmidt the Nobel Prize in Physics. Since that discovery, cosmological models have incorporated this accelerating expansion, with experiments on dark matter and dark energy attempting to explain it.

Then last year, a separate team of astronomers announced that a new analysis of stellar phenomena indicated that the universe was no longer expanding. Adding to the controversy was the team’s claim that dark energy may not exist, citing the lack of concrete evidence for a universe undergoing accelerating expansion.

According to the Southampton-led team behind the new study, the 2025 study suggested that previous methods used to measure the universe’s expansion, such as measuring supernovae, “were fundamentally flawed.”

“This points to a time-varying dark energy and a universe that is no longer accelerating, representing a potential paradigm shift in cosmology if confirmed,” explained Professor Chul Chung, co-lead author on the study, in a 2025 email to The Debrief.

The claims sent shockwaves through the scientific community, a result that the researchers note could have dismantled the Nobel Prize-winning team’s historic findings, and “nearly three decades of astronomical progress.”

When discussing the 2025 team’s work, the lead author of the new study, Dr Phil Wiseman, said the team’s findings and the resulting debate were not necessarily incorrect. Instead, the Southampton researcher said it was primarily a result of a scientific understanding.

“The previous and well-accepted measurements were, in fact, fine and our current understanding of the fate of the universe remains robust.”

Recalculating Galaxy Masses and White Dwarf Star Ages Reestablishes Expansion

In their reanalysis, the Southampton-led team recalibrated the original data to account for variables not in the original study. According to Wiseman, these included “different host environments and populations.”

For example, the research team looked at Type 1a supernovae, which are violet, extremely bright explosions of white dwarf stars. The authors of the 2025 study claimed that this class of supernova had “different maximum brightness,” which had tricked astronomers into thinking the cosmos was accelerating, when their analysis said it was actually slowing down.

When they took a fresh look at the data, the Southampton team found that they had incorrectly estimated the age of these stars. The new study also says the 2025 team didn’t account for the mass of the galaxies hosting these cosmological phenomena, which they described as “a standard correction used in modern cosmology to prove accuracy.”

When his team factored those data points in, Wiseman said the evidence for a stalling expansion was not supported. Instead, the researcher observed that “the evidence for cosmic acceleration remains remarkably consistent.”

In their reply on ArXiv, the Yonsei University team said the new research failed to factor in two variables of their own, adding that “when these two effects are consistently combined in computing the redshift-dependent magnitude correction, the final correction, and hence the resulting cosmological impact, remain largely unchanged,” from the original 2025 calculations.

“Extraordinary Claims Require Especially Careful Testing”

When discussing the new study’s findings, Southampton Professor Mark Sullivan highlighted the benefits of scientific review, noting that “this is how progress is made.”

“Although this idea did not turn out correct, it has opened up new ways of thinking about how supernovae explode and how we can measure dark energy more accurately,” the researcher added.

Paper co-author, Dr Brodie Popovic agreed, noting that the 2025 study provided astronomers a good opportunity to “go back over all of our assumptions,” adding that “it turns out, yes, we do understand this stuff, and we’re accounting for it in our cosmology measurement.”

In a salute to the Sagan Standard established by astronomer Carl Sagan, which says “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” Reiss seemed to celebrate the new findings that reestablish his original work by quipping that “extraordinary claims require especially careful testing.”

With the accelerating expansion of the universe seemingly reestablished, at least for now, Dr Wiseman said: “we can get back to trying to understand what dark energy actually is, rather than wondering if it exists at all.”

“Thankfully we have averted this crisis, but the mystery about why the universe is still accelerating in size remains,” he added. 

The study “Still Accelerating: Type Ia supernova cosmology is robust to host galaxy age evolution” was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

Fog is a living ecosystem for bacteria, rather than just a sterile cloud of mist,  and may provide an unexpected buffer against harmful pollution.

In a recent paper published in mBio, an Arizona State University team led by then PhD candidate Phi Thuong Thuong Cao, now a graduate, revealed that bacteria are present in fog that cleans the air at a surprising rate, but also poses a possible risk to drinking water collection.

While scientists have long known that bacteria exist in fog, the researchers were surprised to find that the bacteria are not merely present but form an active, if short-lived, ecosystem.

Investigating the Mysteries of Fog Bacteria

“There’s very limited knowledge about what kinds of bacteria are present in fogs, which are like clouds at the ground level,” Cao said.

To probe the mystery of fog bacteria further, Cao focused on two questions: what kinds of bacteria are present, and whether they are active. Discovering growing bacteria within fog droplets elevates fog from a simple atmospheric phenomenon to a biological habitat, a major shift in how researchers have traditionally viewed it.

Fog is composed of tiny droplets of water, each less than a tenth the width of a human hair and too small to fall to the ground. These minuscule droplets form around particles, which can occasionally be living microbes. Although fewer than 1% of droplets contain bacteria, that still represents a substantial population, with bacterial concentrations roughly comparable to those found in the ocean. About 10 million individual bacteria inhabit just a thimbleful of fog water.

A major challenge in studying fog is the wind. Sampling the same location before, during, and after a fog event can produce misleading results because airborne particles are constantly being transported and mixed. For this reason, Cao focused on radiation fog, which forms in still air near the ground as temperatures cool. This allowed the team to minimize complications associated with sample collection.

Standout Bacteria

In Cao’s investigation, one particular type of bacteria, methylobacteria, predominated within the fog droplets. Intriguingly, samples collected during fog events contained far more bacteria than samples of dry air gathered beforehand, suggesting that these microbes thrive in foggy conditions. Among the compounds methylobacteria consume are simple carbon-based molecules, including pollutants such as formaldehyde. In a laboratory setting, Cao was able to observe and experiment on samples collected in the field.

“We observed them under the microscope to see that, yes, the bacteria are getting bigger, and they’re dividing, so there is growth,” Cao explained. “We also found that they’re using the formaldehyde as food to support their growth.”

Even more surprising was the rate at which methylobacteria were breaking down formaldehyde—far faster than they could consume it. This led the team to conclude that because formaldehyde is toxic to the bacteria, they were converting much of it into carbon dioxide to make their environment safer, doing so even faster than they could use it as a food source.

Potential Hazards

The team’s research suggests that fog may play a more important role in Earth’s ecosystems than previously understood, serving as both a temporary aquatic habitat and a natural filter for harmful pollutants.

The implications of the findings are varied. Harvesting fog for drinking water and crop irrigation is already practiced in some regions of the world. This study suggests that such water may contain more bacteria than previously recognized, potentially requiring additional filtration. The risk to most people appears minimal; researchers say only a slight risk may exist for individuals with severely compromised immune systems who are exposed to fog. However, more work is needed to determine the potential benefits and drawbacks of consuming water collected from fog.

Harvesting fog for drinking water and crop sustenance is an ongoing practice. This work shows that water may be full of bacteria, requiring more filtering than previously understood.  The risk to most people is very minimal; only a minor risk exists to people with heavily compromised immune systems from breathing in fog. However, the researchers say that more work is needed to determine the benefits and harms of drinking fog water.

“It’s relatively new that people are starting to look at biological activities in clouds, so there’s still a lot which we don’t understand,” said co-author Pierre Herckes. “At nighttime, for example, there isn’t that much atmospheric chemistry going on. Chemistry is largely driven by the sun and by light. But if the bacteria are still doing their thing even during the nighttime, they can be important.”

Many questions remain unanswered in the wake of this discovery. Cao’s team focused on a single type of fog, leaving open which bacteria thrive in other kinds of fog in other locations, what they eat, and how they impact air quality, all of which will require further study.

“The sky’s the limit,” co-author Ferran Garcia-Pichel says. “No pun intended.”

The paper, “Growth and Formaldehyde Degradation of Photoheterotrophic Methylobacterium within Radiation Fogs,” appeared in mBio on May 11, 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.

California could be due for a major earthquake in the near future, according to concerning new models based on data comprising 1,000 years of quake activity on the West Coast.

According to recent findings, tectonic stress has quietly been building in California to levels not seen since the last major earthquake in the region, which bore a magnitude of 7.9 and struck the West Coast nearly 170 years ago.

That event, known as the Fort Tejon earthquake, affected the greater Los Angeles area, and since the time of those historic rumblings, researchers have grown increasingly concerned about a period of seismic silence that could point to the likelihood of an event of similar magnitude at some point in the future.

The potentially concerning new forecast was detailed in a recent study by an international team of researchers led by Dr. Liliane Burkhard of the Division of Space Research and Planetary Sciences (WP) at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern, which focused on historic earthquake data as a means of gauging current stress loading at Cajon Pass.

The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, indicates tectonic stress levels that are now believed to exceed the highest seen during the years the team surveyed.

The “Earthquake Gate” at Cajon Pass

The researchers aimed to investigate stress that has slowly built along the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults and incorporated what they likened to an “earthquake gate” at Cajon Pass, which, in their models, functioned like a point of control that governed the size of earthquakes and whether they could spread to both systems.

For their research, they used a four-dimensional earthquake cycle model that allowed them to replicate certain processes both in spatial dimensions and across time.

Using a millennium of reconstructed earthquake data from the region based on geological information such as radiocarbon dates, unusual events recorded in dendrochronological data (i.e., information obtained from tree rings), and historical information sources, the team gave this to the model they devised.

Dr. Burkhard said the team’s simulation offered them a unique opportunity to better understand the ways stresses in the fault system build up over long periods of several centuries.

“By running the earthquake history of Southern California as a simulation, we can estimate the extent to which the fault system is already under stress today,” Dr. Burkhard said. The results of those simulations weren’t particularly promising either: according to Burkhard, current stress levels in the region are the highest they have been in 1,000 years, based on the data.

Concerning New Earthquake Data

The team also identified significant new information regarding the function of the so-called “earthquake gate” at Cajon Pass.

“The earthquake gate concept captures something important about how fault junctions work,” Burkhard said in a recent statement. “Cajon Pass doesn’t simply block or channel earthquakes: It responds to stress conditions, and those conditions change over centuries.”

Not only this, but Burkhard and her team also determined that a key element to these quakes involves not only the level of stress that accumulates at a single fault, but perhaps more significantly, the way stress between two systems can align. This is because, as the stress across a pair of faults rises together over longer periods, this appears to be most conducive to a large joint rupture comparable to the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake.

Conversely, if stress levels are not in concert as they evolve, the team determined that this causes quakes that probably will not propagate beyond the junction.

In short, a more severe earthquake event today would entail a joint rupture that crosses the Cajon Pass, as opposed to one constrained either to the San Andreas or the San Jacinto Fault alone. Should such an event occur, it would likely impact one of the largest population centers, as well as a crucial infrastructure system that supplies energy and transportation to surrounding areas.

For Burkhard, “The question of when and how the next major earthquake will occur in this region is one of the most pressing problems in applied geoscience.” Based on the team’s findings, they say that their new modeling hopes to provide a much more complete picture of the science behind the factors that could lead to a major quake—conditions that could apply equally to other parts of the world as they do to California.

Burkhard adds that her team’s study is not intended merely as a prediction for when the next major earthquake could potentially occur, but also as a means of preparing for future quakes and mitigating their effects.

“What we can say is that the system is critically stressed and that physics-based models like ours give a clearer picture of the range of scenarios we should be prepared for,” Burkhard says. “This information is important for hazard assessment, infrastructure planning, and emergency preparedness.”

The team’s study, “Cajon Pass and the Southern San Andreas Fault System: Earthquake Cycle Stress Accumulation and Present‐Day Loading,” appeared in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

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.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers are testing a new category of advanced-propulsion “electrospray” thrusters that combine the benefits of modern chemical and electrical thrusters used to drive satellites and other spacecraft into one hybrid system.

The team behind the novel propulsion technology said that electrospray thrusters could allow mission planners to design smaller, more nimble satellites and spacecraft capable of performing faster, more powerful maneuvers or slower, more precise adjustments, depending on mission requirements.

Electrospray Combines the Best of Chemical and Electric Propulsion

Launching rockets into space still requires chemical thrusters, but once spacecraft and satellites reach orbit, engineers continue to develop novel propulsion methods that are more efficient than chemical propulsion technologies. Given the strict weight requirements of spacecraft launches, finding alternatives to chemical propellants has opened up a wider range of mission profiles.

Among the most common alternatives to chemical thrusters are designs that combine electrical energy with small amounts of propellant to produce small but sustainable thrust. Although electric thruster designs require less fuel, saving significantly on launch weight, they also lack both the power and the rapid, quick burst performance of chemical thrusters.

According to study author Amelia Bruno, a former postdoc in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro), combining chemical and electrical propulsion into a single system is “the best of both worlds.”

“This opens the door for small satellites to do even more science, more observations, and more interesting missions, all on a smaller and cheaper platform,” Bruno explained to MIT News.

Study co-author Paulo Lozano, the Miguel Alemán Velasco Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, agreed, noting that combining both technologies could enable a CubeSat mission to Mars “where they could make the journey slowly, using electrospray thrusters.”

“You could then use your chemical thrusters to quickly move to look at interesting features,” the professor added. “You could have a lot more flexibility to do a lot more things.”

ASCENT Rocket Fuel as the Thruster’s Ionic Liquid Propellant Enables Hybrid Design

According to a statement detailing the new electrospray thruster’s design, the ones developed by the MIT team are about the size of a thumbnail. Each thruster is also placed directly above a small fuel reservoir. For the MT electrospray thrusters, the fuel is an ionic liquid propellant, a liquid composed of salts that remain dissolved in a solution.

“Ionic liquids are very stable and can even remain a liquid in space, which not a lot of materials can do,” Bruno explained. “And it’s basically a sea of ions, which is why we base our technology around it, so we can pull those ions out into an electrospray.”

When a spacecraft’s battery delivers an electric charge to the fuel reservoir, the ions within the fuel also become charged. The thruster’s design channels the charged particles from the reservoir and through the thruster tips, expelling them into space.

Although the team has tested several types of ionic propellant in its electrospray propulsion thrusters, Bruno and Lozano have collaborated with the U.S. Air Force to synthesize an all-new ionic liquid propellant, which they are calling the Advanced SpaceCraft Energetic Non-Toxic propellant, or ASCENT.

Originally designed as a “green” alternative to extremely hazardous hydrazine rocket fuel that has been the staple in the rocket industry for decades, Bruno notes that ASCENT “happens to be an ionic liquid mixture.”

“And we said, hey, that’s the stuff we typically use,” the researcher added. “Theoretically, this should work. Let’s go figure out how.” 

Tests: Chemical Propellant Equally Efficient as Conventional Ionic Liquids

To test their electrospray design, each tested thruster was attached to a small reservoir about the size of a single Lego brick, and then the reservoir was filled with ASCENT. Next, electrospray thrusters were mounted on opposite sides of a traditional CubeSat.

To simulate the microgravity environment of Near-Earth Orbit, the team placed the thruster-equipped CubeSat on a MagLev stand. The team noted that the MagLev in Lozano’s lab is installed inside a large vacuum chamber. This design allows the researchers to fine-tune the environment to best mimic the conditions in space.

During a series of tests, the team applied varying voltage levels to the electrospray thrusters. As expected, the reaction produced a spray from the thruster nozzles, which spun the CubeSat around on the MagLev stand like a freely spinning top.

During each thruster firing, the team measured the amount of thrust produced. This data, combined with the voltage and fuel data, allowed the team to calculate ASCENT’s fuel efficiency during continuous operation. Some tests lasted up to 100 hours.

When the MIT group evaluated the results, they first determined that the choice of ASCENT was correct, as it successfully fueled each electrospray thruster. Even more significantly, the tests revealed that the readily available chemical propellant was equally efficient as conventional ionic liquids.

“Compared to our normal electrospray propellants, ASCENT can provide similar performance in terms of thrust,” Bruno explained. “Now that we know our thrusters work with ASCENT, we can start thinking of all the ways we can make them even better.”

Testing Electrospray Thrusters on NASA’s Green Propulsion Dual Mode Mission

When discussing the benefits of their successful electrospray thruster tests, Lozano noted that a spacecraft with electric and chemical thrusters can share a single fuel tank. Due to its compact design, this hybrid electrospray thruster could be mounted on a small satellite.

Fortunately, the team won’t have to wait long to see their thruster in action. According to the research team, whose work was partially supported by NASA, their design will be incorporated into NASA’s upcoming Green Propulsion Dual Mode mission scheduled to launch in November. The Green Propulsion Dual-Mode mission will carry a briefcase-sized CubeSat with a primary chemical thruster and specially designed electrospray thrusters, making it the first attempt to combine electrical and chemical propulsion in a small spacecraft.

“This will be the first time that a satellite will have a shared propellant tank,” Lozano explained.

Although a large portion of proposed electric propulsion missions that might employ the new electrospray thruster are designed to explore deeper into the Solar System and beyond, Lozano also highlighted the technology’s possible applications closer to home. For example, satellites equipped with both technologies could rapidly respond to environmental or climate changes in real time with a speed and efficiency unavailable with current propulsion options.

“Say there’s a storm coming, and you’d want to deploy your constellation of small satellites to observe over one location,” the researcher explained. “You could choose to send them quickly or slowly, depending on the nature of the observation.”

“And the only way to do that is if you have two propulsion systems, which is now possible,” he added.

Although the mission will not launch before November, Bruno noted that a successful test could allow engineers to consider missions they never thought possible.

“Now that we know our thrusters work with ASCENT, we can start thinking of all the ways we can make them even better,” the researcher explained.

The study “Performance Characterization of Electrospray Thrusters with Energetic Ionic Liquid Monopropellant” was published in the Journal of Propulsion and Power.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

The ancient history of our planet’s impact events is coming into focus, thanks to researchers who have triangulated similarly aged impacts on Earth, the Moon, and the asteroid 4 Vesta in a new study.

The lunar meteorite NWA 12593 correlates not only with impact events observed across three locations in our solar system but also contains evidence of three separate impact events that occurred at different times.

The findings, revealed in a recent paper published in Geology, show that scientists are using this new impact data to fill in the volatile early-Earth period when life began.

Early Earth Impacts

The Archean period, roughly 4 to 2.5 billion years ago, was a consequential time from which our earliest fossil records date, corresponding to around 3.5 billion years ago. Researchers believe that life likely first arose at this time, yet it may have faced adversity from bombardment by space rocks between 3.2 and 3.5 billion years ago, although scientists disagree on how intense this impact activity was.

Our planet’s geological activity eventually destroys evidence of the ancient past through erosion, subduction, and burial, continually reshaping the surface. Yet those early years are essential to understanding the origins of water, atmospheres, and life on Earth. 

“On Earth, the first fossil evidence of life shows up around 3.5 billion years ago, meaning that life is emerging and evolving before then. The question that we often have, even going back further, is what was the impact record when life was emerging?” said lead author Carolyn Crow, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“It is important for understanding how life is taking hold, how life is emerging,” Crow added. “The cadence of these catastrophic events is an important part of the equation.”

A Neighbor Remembers

While Earth’s surface is constantly renewed by geological processes, our nearest significant neighbor, the Moon, is much more stable, retaining its geological record for longer periods. Because of this, lunar meteorites provide a resource for scientists to understand the impact of Earth and the inner solar system by matching them to known impacts on our planet and in the asteroid belt.

For the recent study, the team focused on a lunar meteorite discovered in northwest Africa, designated NWA 12593, and identified three separate impact events in a single sample. 

Radiometric dating traced the oldest to 3.5 million years ago, intriguingly close to the time of the earliest known fossils. Extraordinary in power, this impact produced the mineral zirconia by melting the lunar surface into a lava-like flow. Without the precise laboratory conditions required to produce stable cubic zirconia, only traces of mineral remained in the sample.

According to the team, the first impact aligns with previously known impact events on Earth, and the fourth-largest object in the asteroid belt, 4 Vesta. It’s extremely rare to find such corresponding evidence between three bodies, providing important data on this time of frequent collisions.

“It’s not very common, which is why we’re very excited about it,” says Crow. “It’s pretty rare to have all three records line up like this.”

Later Impacts

Evidence of later impacts included breccia composed of large, angular, broken mineral fragments cemented together. The team believes the breccia resulted from a second impact that struck the melt sheet formed by the first.

“Breccias are similar to what you would see if you went and chipped out a chunk of concrete. You would see all these little rocks, and then it’s fused together by the cement,” says Crow. “But the meteorite is fused together by the impact process. You get all these chunks of different kinds of rocks that the impact hit into. These all get mixed up, and then it gets fused together like your concrete sidewalk.”

As for the third impact, the evidence for this is the meteorite’s mere presence on Earth; an event that occurred some time after the first would have ejected the lunar breccia, the researchers say, allowing it to eventually land on our planet.

In total, the sample reveals an intriguing impact history, preserving a record of bombardment that provides solid evidence for a flurry of activity in the inner solar system during a violent chapter in the early history of our Solar System.

The paper, “Three-Body Evidence of Ca. 3.7 Ga to 3.2 Ga Bombardment Across the Inner Solar System,” appeared in Geology on May 12, 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.

A curious recent discovery has revealed a promising new underground archaeological find at the ancient site of Buto in Egypt’s Nile Delta.

Researchers who were testing a remote sensing technology designed to locate buried structures and other below-ground features reported the unique find earlier this year, which could be a previously undiscovered tomb or temple now believed to date as far back as 2,600 years.

The discovery was made at the Tell el-Fara’in site, more commonly known as Buto, which comprises the remains of an ancient city that thrived around 5,600 years ago during Egypt’s Predynastic period.

Origins of a Mystery

Buto underwent several periods of destruction and reassembly throughout its history, making it a significant focus of past archaeological work.

Some of the city’s oldest portions are currently entombed beneath several centuries’ worth of accumulated mud and soil, a factor that significantly complicates traditional excavations. To help them locate an ideal location for future excavation, the team employed an approach that combined SAR (Sentinel-1 GRD) satellite imagery with electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements, which helped them pinpoint an ideal location to dig that would best enable an investigation of Buto’s settlement phases.

“Sentinel-1 (C-band) satellite imagery captured on May 5, 2018, was processed using SNAP software (version 9.0.0) to identify large-scale anomalies indicative of buried structures,” the team reports in a paper detailing their findings, which appeared in Applied Geophysics in March.

“Based on these detected anomalies, the locations for ERT profiles were strategically selected to maximize the likelihood of indicating significant subsurface features,” the team explained.

ERT technology is ideal for such carefully targeted excavation, since it relies on electrical currents placed into the ground, which researchers then use to collect data that helps them assemble a three-dimensional model of the buried structures. This imagery is generated based on differences in the way various materials either display electrical conductivity or resistance.

Buried Discoveries Emerge

Based on the team’s scans, the top three meters of the area revealed a distinctive layer of material, which the team judged to be broken pottery and debris—likely associated with Roman periods of occupation.

However, going further down in their scans, descending to a depth of approximately six meters, the team discovered something more intriguing: what appeared to be some kind of large buried structure.

Based on its depth, the team believes this unique structure is likely associated with the Saite period, which dates it to around 2,600 years ago. Although it remains unknown precisely what the structure is, or what its exact purpose may have been, one possibility is that it could be a large shrine, or even a tomb.

Uncovering Religious Artifacts

Following the initial discovery, the team undertook preliminary excavations of a small 10 x 10-meter area. This revealed walls constructed of mudbrick, as well as religious artifacts in locations that aligned with the team’s scans.

“The presence of a small offering basin along with numerous religious amulets depicting Egyptian deities such as Isis, Horus, Taweret, and Wadjet further supports the temple hypothesis,” the team writes in their study.

Also among the religious artifacts uncovered at the site were a “remarkable bronze amulet with a suspension hole, representing Horus the child” as well as amulets featuring a crouching lion, an amulet of Anubis, and the remains of limestone statues “in sexual positions” along with “a faience plaque with relief carvings of Hathor on both sides.”

However, the team reports that one of the most significant artifacts recovered from this area of the excavation was a steatite scarab bearing the name of King Thutmose III, which the team believes “may have functioned as an amulet or seal.”

“Collectively, these artefacts indicate the presence of a religious site with strong cultic and ceremonial associations, further reinforcing the interpretation of the structure as a temple from the 26th Dynasty,” the team says.

Ongoing Excavations

While still in the early phases, the team’s discoveries so far help to validate the geophysical and remote sensing techniques that made the discovery possible. “The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of combining geophysical measurements and remote sensing data,” the team writes, adding that they provided “a very accurate vision in detecting buried settlements in a complex region.”

“3D inversion algorithms were particularly effective in delineating buried mudbrick walls and architectural structures, significantly enhancing our understanding of site formation processes,” the researchers add.

Going forward, the team recommends further ERT surveys, which may help to reveal additional information about the site’s deepest occupation levels. For the time being, the team believes the evidence in hand points to the interpretation of the site and its features as an ancient temple, and that evidence points to the possibility that another may be located nearby.

“Our findings suggest that, in addition to the known temple, another temple may remain buried under a thick clay layer, which will be investigated through extensive measurements in forthcoming studies,” the team writes.

The recent paper, “Multi-scale detection of buried archaeological elements across different occupation phases: an integrated approach using radar satellite imagery and electric resistivity tomography at Buto, northwestern Nile Delta of Egypt,” appeared in Applied Geophysics on March 10, 2026.

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.

An unexpected human behavioral tendency to prefer turning counterclockwise rather than clockwise has been uncovered by a team of researchers in Spain and Japan, and its cause remains unknown.

In a recent paper published in Nature Communications, the team sought to identify patterns in individual human behavior among large crowds and determine which factors influence them. Surprisingly, the team found that counterclockwise turning is the overwhelmingly common behavioral preference, regardless of gender or culture, with only age making a slight difference.

An Unexpected Behavior

The team’s work could have ramifications not only for psychology but also for architecture, engineering, and design, enabling more intuitive layouts. Work on the project began at Spain’s University of Navarra, before experiments continued at the University of Tokyo in Japan.

The University of Navarra team discovered the phenomenon entirely by accident while researching social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, their interest was in monitoring how effectively the recommended six-foot spacing could be maintained in public spaces. They observed how humans moved through spaces, such as museums, without a set route. While closely monitoring crowd video, they were surprised to witness the counterclockwise trend emerge.

“When analyzing the experiments, my colleagues realized by chance that in 32 out of 33 experimental trials, as people moved and turned, they noticeably preferred to turn counterclockwise,” said co-author Professor Claudio Feliciani from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

“This was completely unexpected as, at least instinctively, when people walk around randomly, you imagine people turn as their needs suit them with little sign of an overall preference,” Feliciani added. “But there was a definite, measurable tendency for people to turn counterclockwise over clockwise, all things being equal.”

Exploring Internationally

With their curiosity piqued, the University of Navarro team sought to test their findings against further observations to determine which factors might be influencing the behavior. They decided to seek international follow-up observations. This brought them into contact with Claudio Feliciani, whose presence in Tokyo would allow the project to test how the trend played out across cultures, and among other factors. 

For the second stage of the project, Feliciani and his team developed a series of experiments targeting age, handedness, gender, group size, and cultural influence. They observed pedestrian test subjects in both constrained and open environments.

“Of all these things, the only thing that stood out was that kids tend to have a stronger bias for the counterclockwise direction, so probably age plays a role in making the effect weaker or stronger,” said Feliciani. “Our results may appear as a minor, insignificant discovery, but in nature, most phenomena related to locomotion show that animals mostly walk without directional preference.”

“The strong bias found in people hints to some asymmetry at the biomechanical level,” Feliciani added.

Unknown Behavioral Causes

With the international project having confirmed the counterclockwise trend, the researchers are now moving on to more granular exploration of the phenomenon at the individual level. They hope that this more individualized research will yield some information on what biomechanical factors may be driving the behavior.

“It likely does not come from the eyes, because we tried to patch people’s left or the right eyes and the bias was still there,” Feliciani said. “And some people asked us if it might be large-scale phenomena like the Coriolis force or Earth’s magnetic field, but this seems unlikely given what we have managed to point to so far. “

Both lead investigator Iñaki Echeverría Huarte and Feliciani say that the Coriolis effect has become something of a joke among the team, and that they are invariably asked about it when presenting their findings.

“As a curious aside, a friend and collaborator in Argentina was intrigued enough to run some similar experiments when he heard about this,” Huarte told The Debrief of the team’s research in an email. “He tells me that, with no proper scientific confirmation yet, the counterclockwise rotation still seems to be there in the southern hemisphere too.

“There are some interesting parallels to certain sports,” Feliciani concluded. “Some running and driving competitions are always, but inexplicably, taken on courses that run counterclockwise. But that’s an investigation for another time.”

The paper, “Individual Locomotor Bias Drives Counterclockwise Motion in Pedestrian Crowds,” appeared in Nature Communications on June 10, 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.