Last summer, astronomers were observing the near approach of a space object believed to be an asteroid that had been tracked since its discovery in 1998. However, in a surprising development, the object failed to appear where it was predicted to be after decades of observations.

Now, a team of researchers reports in a new study that this mysterious orbital body is no asteroid at all, but instead may be an elusive class of space objects that scientists are still working to fully understand.

The research, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, identifies the newly suspected reasons for this unexpected “dark” twist in the developing story of 1998 SH2, a celestial body once thought to be a common space rock that is now upending past thinking on how to protect Earth from potential impact risks.

1998 SH2’s August Surprise

Since its discovery in 1998, the object designated 1998 SH2 has been monitored by astronomers continuously, providing close to three decades of observations that inform us about its orbit, leaving what researchers thought would be little room for surprises.

That all changed last August as the anticipated return of 1998 SH2 approached. Based on radar observations, the object appeared to be absent from its expected orbital path—a mystery that initially baffled astronomers.

Eventually, once the near-Earth object was spotted again by Brazil’s Southern Observatory for Near Earth Asteroids Research, it had moved significantly beyond its expected path. But what could account for such an unusual display?

When AN Asteroid Goes “Dark”

Now, according to Jet Propulsion Lab and CalTech researcher Davide Farnocchia and colleagues, 1998 SH2 was likely steered off course as a result of jets of gas escaping from beneath the object’s surface—a phenomenon known as weak cometary outgassing—meaning that the suspected asteroid is actually probably a type of comet.

However, unlike most comets, this one showed none of the typical characteristics astronomers associate with them, including a glowing tail or coma. This helped to explain the confusion over its initial classification, and additional observations of layered composite imagery did finally reveal these features, albeit faintly.

This confirmation that the object was indeed releasing material meant that 1998 SH2 was a rare variety of space objects known as dark comets, enigmatic bodies whose subtle behavior falls somewhere between comets and asteroids.

Planetary Defense Implications

One of the more concerning aspects of the discovery involves 1998 SH2’s unexpected orbital shift, which presents the question of whether other suspected asteroids might turn out to be dark comets. If so, could any of these shifty space objects pose a risk to Earth?

Fortunately, Farnocchia and his colleagues say there is currently no indication that 1998 SH2 poses an impact threat to Earth in the foreseeable future. Still, the team’s findings do have important implications for planetary defense, since their findings underscore the possibility that additional near-Earth objects currently classified as asteroids may turn out to be hidden comets.

Given the unpredictable orbital shifts and changes in acceleration these objects display, challenges associated with identifying and tracking them could complicate long-term impact forecasts, and influence how future deflection missions are designed.

Fortunately, the team’s study also highlights beneficial findings, which include the possibility that a hidden population of dark comets could potentially resolve questions about how water was delivered throughout the early solar system, eventually making its way to a young planet Earth billions of years ago.

Additionally, such possibilities could help to explain past observations of enigmatic objects like ‘Oumuamua, the first confirmed interstellar object, whose detection in 2017 and unexplained acceleration during subsequent observations have fueled scientific debate over its origins for many years.

Farnocchia and his colleagues’ new paper, “Non-gravitational acceleration indicative of cometary activity of near-Earth object,” appeared in Nature Astronomy.

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.

Welcome to this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief… a controversy has erupted in recent days with the FCC’s approval of a proof-of-concept satellite that reflects daylight to Earth at night, in a move that has astronomers concerned. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) the FCC’s approval of Reflect Orbital’s Eärendil-1 satellite, 2) what the company says about its sunlight mirror orbital technologies, 3) the sharp responses from the astronomical community, and 4) where things go from here as the demonstration satellite heads toward production.

Quote of the Week  

“While we fully support American technical innovation in space, this innovation cannot come at the cost of imperiling scientific research, which has been at the forefront of American innovation and global leadership for decades.”

– American Astronomical Society statement

If you enjoy the news and perspectives offered by The Debrief, make sure that you aren’t missing our stories by making us one of your “preferred sources” on Google News. You can simply follow this link to add The Debrief to your list of favorites, and you can read more about Google’s preferred sources in our article here.

RECENT NEWS from The Debrief

• Norwegian scientists have unveiled a new method for tracking silently moving objects underwater.
• NASA’s Webb Telescope may be on the brink of solving a supermassive black hole mystery.
• New research is revealing possible links between dark matter and a “hidden” fifth dimension.
• Archaeologists just made a discovery linked to the legendary hero of Homer’s The Odyssey.
• Get all the latest stories from The Debrief, with more breaking stories at the end of this week’s newsletter.

FCC Approves Launch of Satellite Designed to Reflect Sunlight to Earth’s Nightside

This week, in a controversial ruling that has sky watchers (and others) concerned, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the launch of an experimental satellite crafted to reflect sunlight onto Earth after sunset.

The move has seen significant pushback from astronomers, who now warn that the technology would likely interfere with scientific observations and alter the natural appearance of the night sky.

Dubbed Eärendil 1, the satellite is being developed by the California-based Reflect Orbital as a proof-of-concept for the company’s larger, and potentially even more impactful vision: as many as 50,000 orbiting mirrors capable of directing sunlight to different regions on Earth.

While astronomers have expressed concern over the implementation of such orbital systems, the company says its satellites would offer the possibility for providing illumination after dark in select areas, which could be used to extend the operation hours for solar powered facilities.

Eärendil 1: A Case Study in Controversy

Branding itself as “the sunlight company,” Reflect Orbital says in a statement at its website that it aims to provide “clean, abundant energy available on demand,” because “reliable access to affordable energy is the foundation of human progress, economic growth, and a healthier planet.”

The satellite, which shares its name with Eärendil the Mariner, a character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythos, will carry an 18-by-18-meter (59-by-59-foot) reflective Mylar surface that unfolds in orbit after launch. Operating roughly 625 kilometers (390 miles) above Earth, the spacecraft is designed to redirect sunlight onto specific target areas of approximately five kilometers (three miles) in width.

Although many are sounding the alarm about the potential consequences of such technology, the Reflect Orbital says it maintains strict exclusion zones where astronomical operations or “sensitive areas” exist, and that its technology can be carefully deployed only to regions identified as target areas.

According to a FAQ page on the company’s website, the light produced by Eärendil 1 and future members of the company’s constellation will be “contained within the spot” among several other safety features it promotes. The company also says it can turn off the light quickly, and disable it at any time to prevent light from reaching Earth.

“The light is not bright enough to start fires or harm eyes,” the company’s FAQ page states, “even when viewed through a telescope, and cannot be concentrated past maximum natural sunlight irradiance.”

The company’s CEO, Ben Nowack, has argued the concept could improve the economics of solar power overall, allowing Earth-based power systems the ability to harvest additional sunlight before sunrise and after sunset.

Criticism Abounds

The proposal has drawn criticism from several groups, particularly the American Astronomical Society (AAS), which urged the FCC to reject the application.

“The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is dismayed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision on 9 July to grant a license to Reflect Orbital,” the organization said in a statement following the FCC ruling. “As the AAS expressed to the FCC, Reflect Orbital’s proposed satellite, which would reflect sunlight back to Earth at night, carries the potential for significant harm to our members and the broader community of those who depend on a dark night sky.”

“This harm could include damage to sensitive research telescope equipment, potential flash-blinding of pilots and drivers, and — as Reflect Orbital stated in its own FCC filings — potential permanent eye damage to anyone looking through a mid-sized telescope,” the AAS statement adds, noting what appears to be a sharp contrast between information contained in FCC filings, and that which appears on the company’s website.

Further, research cited by the AAS suggests that a full constellation of Reflect Orbital satellites could increase nighttime sky brightness by a factor of two to three, even at remote observatories, due to atmospheric scattering of the reflected light.

“While we fully support American technical innovation in space, this innovation cannot come at the cost of imperiling scientific research, which has been at the forefront of American innovation and global leadership for decades,” the AAS statement concludes.

Beyond FCC Authority

However, in the wording featured in the agency’s approval, the FCC concluded that such concerns fall outside its authority, which is primarily limited to regulating the use of radio-frequency spectrum, adding that it believes the overall likelihood of injury resulting from the launch of the proof-of-concept satellite to be low.

In the meantime, while the FCC’s approval marks an early win for Reflect Orbital, the company has said that it is planning to have independent research commissioned to help assess the technology’s environmental and scientific impacts. Additionally, the company says it plans to coordinate with the National Science Foundation to help ensure that its efforts align with those of the broader scientific community.

Fundamentally, the AAS’s disappointment—a view expressed by other members of the scientific community, argues that the ruling presents broader questions about who should oversee the environmental consequences of future space-based illumination projects, especially if such systems end up becoming more widespread in the years ahead.

“In the absence of another licensing agency that could take these considerations into account, we believe that it is critical for the FCC to consider all of the impacts of the satellite’s use case,” the AAS said in its statement this week.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.

Here are the top stories we’re covering right now…

Welcome to this special star-spangled edition of The Intelligence Brief… In this installment, as America celebrates its 250th birthday amid record-breaking summer heat and mounting pressure on the nation’s power grid, we take a broader look at the technological revolutions that have shaped the United States—and the artificial intelligence revolution now poised to redefine its future. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) how successive innovations transformed American society over the past two and a half centuries, 2) why artificial intelligence may represent the next great technological leap, 3) the extraordinary scientific opportunities AI is already creating alongside the risks and disruptions it presents, and 4) why the choices we make today about this transformative technology could help determine the course of America’s next 250 years. 

Quote of the Week

“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”

— Harry S. Truman

If you enjoy the news and perspectives offered by The Debrief, make sure that you aren’t missing our stories by making us one of your “preferred sources” on Google News. You can simply follow this link to add The Debrief to your list of favorites, and you can read more about Google’s preferred sources in our article here.

RECENT NEWS from The Debrief

• Russia has now suffered up to 1.4 million casualties in Ukraine, exceeding all its wars since WWII.
• Scientists have solved the mystery of an unusual circular structure beneath the North Sea.
• Human laughter may hold a 15-million-year-old evolutionary secret, new research says.
• Get all the latest stories from The Debrief, with more breaking stories at the end of this week’s newsletter.

America at 250: The Heat is On

Depending on where you are at the time you’re reading this, you may have noticed the temperature. Safe to say, summer has arrived.

One reason involves the “heat dome” that is covering much of the East Coast and the Midwest, with temperatures topping 100 degrees across large portions of the U.S., including the nation’s capital. As a result, the country’s power system is undergoing inevitable strain as extreme heat warnings have prompted grid operators to warn about surges in air-conditioning use throughout the nation, with many systems expected to operate less than optimally amid such temperatures.

All of this arrives just in time for America’s 250th birthday, with Independence Day celebrations falling on a weekend that is certain to be memorable for more than just the extreme heat, since this year’s celebration marks our nation’s semiquincentennial.

“Reaching 250 years is a significant event for any nation,” read a statement by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute in honor of the forthcoming holiday. “It offers a chance to learn more about how the United States began, how it grew, and how it has changed over time. Every era of American history has shaped the present in some way, from early settlements to westward expansion, from war and invention to civic achievements and cultural growth.”

Something else that this special Independence Day offers us is an opportunity to reflect on how successive technological revolutions have influenced our nation’s growth since its inception, and where the cutting-edge technologies of today are likely to carry us going forward.

America’s Tradition of Technological Revolutions

We’ve come a long way since 1776. Back in the days during which the Declaration of Independence was signed, the speed of information was constrained to how fast a horse could carry its rider, or how strong the winds were that could propel a ship across water.

Under such conditions, pens and ink were used to preserve ideas on paper that could take weeks to make its way from locations like Philadelphia to other parts of the colonies. With such technological limitations, human political organization was similarly constrained.

Over the last two and a half centuries, we have seen most of those limitations fall away, with new inventions advancing progress, and eventually being overtaken by even newer, bolder ideas and inventions. Our steam engines helped remove geographic constraints, only to be replaced by aircraft, automobiles, and conveyances propelled by electrical power.

Similarly, the telegraph helped collapse the imposition of time that once hindered communication; its successors, like radio, the telephone, the Internet, Smartphones, and a host of other mobile communications technologies, have now placed instantaneous global communication at our fingertips.

And now we are on the cusp of another great American technological transition: one that very likely will rival any that came before it.

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

It is difficult to even compare artificial intelligence to any other potentially revolution-inducing technology in our nation’s history. As America turns 250 and we look back on the progress that has brought us to the present day, one must also wonder how history will look back on the advent of this technology: will we recognize the implementation of AI as another innovation that breaks significant barriers that constrained human achievement, as time and geography once did?

Or will the advent of AI be remembered differently? Science fiction affords us alternative scenarios that most of us are quite familiar with already, and the real possibility that AI could spell trouble for us in the years ahead remains ever-present. Where things go from here, understandably, has a lot to do with the question of what humans choose to use this technology for, and how we go about implementing it.

Yes, scientific progress is accelerating, and AI is helping with that. Discoveries are arriving faster not only because scientists are working harder, but because the tools they’re using—especially AI—are helping them achieve more, and increasing our productivity and overall capability to levels that dramatically exceed what humans alone can do.

From the design of new proteins in the lab and the identification of obscure exoplanets within mountains of astronomical data, to the acceleration of materials science and a range of other fields, much of what we are seeing AI help us achieve right now bears the promise of a brighter future. But should that hopeful vision for a better future be taken for granted?

There are obvious reasons for caution, since virtually every major technological revolution brings not only opportunities, but also disruption. New sources of technology replace old ones, and thereby require new skills to be leveraged. The result of this obsolescence often extends to those in the workforce whose expertise once propelled these predecessor technologies; once the technologies have fallen out of use (sometimes with remarkable speed), the human workers once tasked with building them are left having to find new professions.

Myriad examples of similar past technological scenarios exist that encourage such concerns. Nuclear physics gave us clean energy, but also nuclear weapons; the internet connected billions of people—and each day, it enables the spread of misinformation into our homes, along with the potential for unwarranted surveillance and cybercrime.

AI will almost certainly follow a similar pattern to every other major technological revolution that America, and the world at large, has ever seen. So the question isn’t one of whether it will change our society: we already know the answer to that.

The question here has more to do with how we will use this technology, and what we will allow it to do for us—and to us—as it progresses.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s Interesting CNBC Interview

To conclude on a somewhat odd, yet also an extremely relevant note in the context of what we’re discussing here, some interesting exchanges aired recently on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” during a live segment featuring Palantir CEO Alex Karp.

Anyone who watches this will understand both the relevance, as well as my choice in characterizing it as “odd,” given the strange, rambling nature of Karp’s interview (admittedly, some have been a bit less gracious in how they’ve characterized the recent appearance).

Rather than discussing Palantir and Nvidia’s recent work for the United States government in assembling its new AI infrastructure, Karp appeared to have something else on his mind: the looming prospect of a financial bubble underlying the current boom in AI technology.

“Something has gone completely wrong,” Karp said at one point during one of the rambling exchanges, where he appeared to be addressing the token model currently employed by leading AI companies amid rising costs, as industry leaders continue to seek returns on investment.

“The basic view among enterprises in this country is I’m going to chillax and waste my time with tokens,” Karp said. In another portion of the diatribe, Karp aired his concerns about how current AI models have been “irresponsibly” oversold, which he called “dangerous for everyone, which is why I can give [AI] to all your adversaries but I can’t give it to the Department of War, or I can’t safely give it to an enterprise in this country, without being certain that the Alpha of that business could transfer to this model tomorrow, i.e. I have no business, no job.”

When chided by host Becky Quick for sounding angry, Karp shot back that “This is the voice of American business that is being channeled through me.”

“Are we really going to outsource the battlefield of this country to the consensus view in Silicon Valley?” Karp also said at one point. “That is effing insane.” The entire segment can be watched here.

Uncertainty is Our Business

Although Karp’s interview was odd, to say the least, the Palantir CEO raises some important points, and as evidenced by his demeanor during the CNBC segment, much of what he discussed appears to be weighing heavily on him.

It would be safe to say that he’s probably not the only one in Silicon Valley right now experiencing a degree of unrest and uncertainty over such issues, as the current situation with AI technologies in America and around the world progresses onward into uncertain territory.

Fortunately, America’s history shows that a major driving factor in its progress has been the conviction that the next horizon is worth pursuing, even when it’s uncertain.

Yes, the unforeseeable consequences of these nascent technologies, like AI, can be sobering at times.  While it seems inevitable that the same driving forces that have driven past industrial revolutions will also drive humans to build smarter, and increasingly more powerful machines, hopefully, we will also remember that wisdom is required in knowing how to use them.

If we can do that, then perhaps America’s progress can continue for another 250 years, and the technologies we are innovating in the present day can indeed help us to build a brighter future for tomorrow.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.

Here are the top stories we’re covering right now…

New research is revealing possible links between one of the most enduring cosmic mysteries—dark matter—and the existence of a “hidden” fifth dimension.

Dark matter is widely believed to exist according to several leading cosmological theories, although this nonluminous material remains invisible through direct detection. However, its presence can be inferred through the gravitational influence this mysterious form of matter has on the surrounding universe.

Now, according to researchers at the University of Sheffield, one reason dark matter may have remained so elusive involves the possibility that it exists within a “hidden” dimension—a concept that has gained traction in past research.

The Sheffield team’s recent look at this possibility, detailed in a study published in Physical Review D, takes the concept one step further by introducing a new potential framework that could help reveal clues to the behavior of dark matter, as well as why astronomers have had such a hard time detecting it.

A Dark Secret Lurking in a Hidden Dimension?

In their new research, the Sheffield team says that dark matter may be lurking within a hidden dimension accompanied by dark photons, a variety of particles among those which physicists call “hidden sector particles,” and which are believed to represent potential force carriers for dark matter.

Due to the specific geometry present within this hidden dimension, a phenomenon known as dark matter resonance may occur, where dark photons align in specific arrangements.

“Dark matter resonance is already known to be a powerful idea,” according to Yu-Dai Tsai, Ph.D., a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield and one of the new paper’s coauthors.

Tsai adds that the concept has “the potential to change our understanding of how dark matter was produced in the early universe and how we search for it today,” although reconciling it with our current understanding of dark matter has presented issues for researchers in the past, which include questions about its specific origins.

“Many previous resonant dark matter models have treated the resonance as an assumption,” Tsai recently said in a statement. “[Our team’s] work gives a possible deeper origin for it: The resonance may come directly from the geometry of hidden dimensions.”

Unlocking Dark Matter Resonance

According to Tsai and his co-author, Taegyu Lee, understanding dark matter resonance more fully could hold significant implications for unlocking new clues about how matter behaved at early stages in our universe, and why that may differ significantly from what astrophysicists see occurring right now.

“This resonance can make dark matter interactions much stronger at crucial epochs in cosmic history,” Tsai says. “Crucially, the model allows for these strong interactions in the past while still explaining why dark matter appears so inert and hard to detect today.”

Although Tsai concedes that the concept of dark matter resonance has been explored in the past, unlike previous studies, the Sheffield duo’s new work suggests that dark matter may essentially be “in tune” with conditions in a hidden fifth dimension already, arising naturally from its innate mathematical structure.

Tsai says this approach toward understanding dark matter, if correct, “would represent a profound advance in humanity’s knowledge of the cosmos and what it is made of.”

A New Approach Toward Unraveling Dark Matter’s Mysteries 

Fundamentally, the team’s findings point to promising new ways physicists may be able to explore the underlying mysteries of both dark matter and the possibility of additional dimensions in which it may operate.

“Our research gives physicists clear new targets in the search for dark matter,” Tsai says, “while connecting two of the biggest ideas in fundamental physics: the mystery of dark matter and the existence of hidden dimensions.”

The recent study, “Naturally resonant dark matter from extra dimensions,” by Yu-Dai Tsai and Taegyu Lee, appeared in Physical Review D on July 8, 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.

As Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey arrives in theaters, archaeologists working off the western coast of Greece say a real-life cult site devoted to the legendary story’s hero has been uncovered.

Local traditions had long told of a stony hilltop on the Greek island of Ithaca that had once been home to a shrine to Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of the isle and main protagonist in Homer’s famous poem.

Now, after close to two decades of archaeological work on the island that served as home to the fictional king in Homer’s epic literature, archaeologists say they have uncovered the most compelling evidence yet that a genuine historical cult site had existed there, dedicated to the famed hero of The Odyssey.

An Ancient Cult Site Devoted to Odysseus

Researchers with the University of Ioannina recently revealed the discovery of new inscriptions and artifacts supporting the existence of a cult element devoted to Odysseus, uncovered at the ancient complex at Agios Athanasios, which had been a public sanctuary devoted to the worship of Homer’s famous hero during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods.

According to a statement released by the Greek Ministry of Culture, the building complex is characterized by a series of robust structures located on terraces, which involve several monumental elements featuring carved architecture and niches for what appear to have been votive offerings or inscriptions, all of which point to its use as a cult site.

Yannos Lolos, one of the project’s lead archaeologists, recently told ArtNet that the site’s role was revealed partially through a reexamination of existing materials found there, which helped reveal what he calls “new and strong inscriptional evidence” linking the site to Odysseus.

Bronze Bust and Inscription Discoveries

Among the most important discoveries at the site were a small bronze bust of Odysseus dating to the first or second century C.E., as well as a roof tile fragment which bore an inscription that reads, “to Odysseus.”

However, an even more compelling discovery involved a second stamped roof tile inscribed with the hero’s name but appearing in the Greek genitive case; this is significant, since it indicates ownership, thereby identifying the sanctuary as “belonging” to Odysseus.

Based on current evidence, organized cult worship is believed to have begun at the site by around the late fourth century B.C.E., which places its use at around 500 years after Homer composed his famous epic poem, and almost a full millennium after the legendary events the epic describes.

The physical sanctuary itself was built onto a massive natural rock formation, and remnants of the ancient structure include a primary tower, a large oblong building, and terraces which were carved directly into the underlying bedrock.

Excavations over the last several years have also revealed the site’s deeper history, which points to evidence of earlier Mycenaean occupation during the 13th and 14th centuries B.C.E., at which time the site had likely served as a strategic center overseeing nearby harbors and local water resources.

A Discovery with Legendary Significance

In a statement, the Greek Ministry of Culture said the two new engravings arrives “in combination with the other available data, to document the development of a prominent public complex at the site,” which it said help to establish the “major role in the religious, social and possibly political life of the Ithacians of the Hellenistic-early Roman periods, but also with a broader pilgrimage character.”

The recognition of this ancient cult site only adds to the existing evidence that already supported worship of Odysseus on Ithaca. Past discoveries have revealed ancient coins depicting the hero, found near ritual offerings at Ithaca, which were also linked to cult activities. However, the identification of the sanctuary offers the most conclusive archaeological evidence to date that Homer’s legendary hero had been the cult’s focus.

Of course, these discoveries fall short of establishing Odysseus as a true historical figure, and most scholars agree that Odysseus was a fictional character born out of traditions that incorporated real places and events into their broader mythos.

However, in at least a few instances, the lines between myth and ancient history have been blurred—a famous example being Heinrich Schliemann’s identification of a site (originally discovered by British amateur archaeologist Frank Calvert, with his identification of the mound of Hisarlik) which helped reveal the archaeological reality behind the city of Troy, which had previously been considered a mythical location.

It was also reported last year that an archaeological discovery resembling the “labyrinth” from Greek mythology had been uncovered on Crete, in a discovery some have called “one of the most important archaeological finds” of the century.

Although the discoveries at Ithaca don’t establish Homer’s Odysseus as a historical figure in this way, they do confirm that centuries after The Odyssey was composed, inhabitants of Ithaca engaged in cult activities to honor the legendary king at a sanctuary on the island, which, according to legend, he once ruled.

Additional details about the site and discoveries made there in recent years can be found at the Greek Ministry of Culture website.

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.

This week in science and technology news we’re covering at The Debrief: For decades, physicists have argued about Richard Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem, involving the question of how a reverse sprinkler would operate. Now we may finally know the answer… elsewhere, new studies reveal how breathwork may trigger psychedelic-like states, emotional breakthroughs, and psychological insights without drugs. Meanwhile, a stone sphere unearthed at an archaeological site in Azerbaijan is reportedly unlike anything previously documented in the South Caucasus.

Also, in an exclusive feature, University of Toronto bioethicist KM Bowman, Ph.D., writes for The Debrief about his firsthand experience with uncontacted indigenous tribes: “Through the haze stood a man. Barely clothed, carrying what appeared to be a weapon of some form, he remained motionless for only a few seconds before silently disappearing back into the forest.” In his essay, Bowman shares his experience and asks whether governments can protect “the uncontacted.”

Finally, here’s a look at more stories The Debrief is tracking right now…

An unusual find has been unearthed by archaeologists excavating a prehistoric settlement in Azerbaijan, who recently discovered a stone sphere they say is unlike any previously documented in the South Caucasus.

The mysterious spherical artifact, crafted from polished stone, was uncovered during excavations at Pasha Tepe in Azerbaijan’s Jalilabad district, and raises new questions about Neolithic technology, trade, and ritual practices.

A Mysterious Stone Sphere Resurfaces

Excavations at the site are currently being undertaken by a team led by Vafa Mahmudova of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.

The unusual find, which measures approximately 4 inches in diameter and weighs a little more than four pounds, immediately stood out among the items the team had uncovered during excavations. They describe the object as potentially being among the most significant polished stone artifacts associated with the region’s Neolithic period that archaeologists have recovered to date.

“The stone sphere is of particular scientific importance because of both its manufacturing technology and its possible function,” Mahmudova recently told the Azerbaijani news site Report.

“It offers a new source of information for understanding connections between the Levant, Anatolia, and the South Caucasus during the Neolithic period,” he added.

The carefully crafted sphere stands out for its remarkably smooth surface and nearly perfect shape. Unlike many prehistoric stone objects, however, it bears no perforations, impact marks, or other modifications that might reveal how it was used.

Unlike Past Discoveries

Mahmudova says that presently there is no similar object that has yet been identified in archaeological records from the South Caucasus, making the discovery potentially unique.

Presently, the techniques employed in crafting the object remain unclear, as well as what its function might have been. Mahmudova and his colleagues believe that understanding the reasons for its creation could potentially offer valuable new insights into cultural connections linking the South Caucasus with Anatolia and the Levant during the Neolithic period.

What Was Its Purpose?

A range of theories about the object’s purpose have been put forward, which include that it may have been a ceremonial object used for ritual purposes. More utilitarian possibilities include that it may have been a sort of standardized weight, although neither theory can presently be confirmed based on available data.

Presently, Mahmudova and his colleagues hope to compare the artifact to other similar discoveries, and by drawing from specialists and additional scientific analyses, obtain a better idea of the manufacturing processes behind its creation, and what purpose it might have served.

Additional Discoveries

As excavations at Pasha Tepe remain underway, Mahmudova and his colleagues also say they have recently uncovered sections of a medieval ceramic pipeline, which they say may have served as a component of an ancient water management or drainage system.

Additional surveys at nearby archaeological sites, including the Chalcolithic site Alikomektepe, have offered additional clues that are helping archaeologists reveal clues about the ancient ways of life in the region, according to Heritage Daily.

Future studies involving the curious stone sphere Mahmudova and his colleagues unearthed at Pasha Tepe will hopefully shed additional light on the technological capabilities and cultural traditions of some of the earliest farming communities in the South Caucasus. With any luck, they may also find additional clues to the purpose of an artifact that, for the time being, remains unlike any previously discovered in the region.

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.

Engineers have developed a new robot that can swim underwater, then rise to the surface and take flight, in an aerial-aquatic feat that mimics some of nature’s most formidable fliers and swimmers.

Developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the new robot’s capabilities could help launch a new generation of aerial-aquatic exploration vehicles.

Dubbed the “Flapping-Wing Aerial-Aquatic Vehicle” (FAAV), this lightweight robotic platform weighs less than 300 grams and can transition seamlessly between water and air with its very flexible flapping wings. Now, the team’s findings, published in the journal Science, could help scientists better understand how diving birds, which include puffins, petrels, loons, and gulls, are so adept at navigating two vastly different environments.

Such capabilities, the team says, could also pave the way toward advanced drones in the coming years that could transform ocean research.

Inspired by Diving Birds

Departing from conventional modern designs employed for aircraft or underwater vehicles, the team based their design on diving birds, which evolved to fly over water, then plunge beneath the waves to hunt for food, before surfacing and resuming flight.

One problem when it comes to replicating these abilities in robots involves the density of water, which is around 1,000 times denser than air. Because of this, the engineering team had to carefully balance the flexibility of the robotic wings in their design, along with flapping frequency, tail angle, and other factors that allowed the robot to move efficiently through both environments without requiring propellers or separate propulsion systems.

Finding the Sweet Spot for Transmedium Travel

Experiments were undertaken by the team in the lab and in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva, and helped the team determine that the robot achieved best performance with medium-sized wings that flap at approximately five times per second. Under such conditions, the robot was able to swim one meter per second, then by pitching upward at a 70-degree angle, it could break through the surface, and continue this same movement to propel itself through the air.

Although the robot still has some limitations compared to the avian examples that inspired it, interestingly, it does appear to have one advantage: unlike diving birds, which paddle using their feet to achieve aquatic launches into the air, the new robot has no such requirement, and can transition from water to air relying only on its wings and adjustable tail.

Future Drones with “Aerial-Aquatic” Abilities

In the future, drones equipped with such capabilities could be leveraged to monitor marine ecosystems in a variety of ways. The team also says it could help to observe environmental concerns, such as water near glaciers or offshore infrastructure, or even collect data from hazardous locations that are either too difficult or simply too costly for ships to reach.

“Our dream vision is for oceanographers, marine biologists, and members of coastal communities to launch this robot from a boat, or from shore, and it would fly close to the area of interest, such as an iceberg or a port facility, or over a pod of whales,” according to Raphael Zufferey, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.

“It would dive into the water to take a measurement or collect a sample, and fly back to deliver the data at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. Then it could go back out to dive for more,” Zufferey recently told MIT News.

Drawing from movements in nature influenced by evolution, the researchers hope their bird-inspired design may eventually help scientists by introducing cost-effective, but formidable new tools to help obtain information from some of the most challenging environments, all with help from robots that can do what only nature’s diving birds could once achieve.

The achievement is detailed in a new paper, “Leaping out of the water: aerial-aquatic locomotion with flapping wings,” which appeared in the journal Science.

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 unusual phenomenon that has been recognized around the world for more than a century has finally been resolved: what are the origins of the distinctive, stair-like ridges that form on steep hillsides?

These features, known as “terracettes,” have long puzzled scientists, and the question of how they form has attracted some of history’s greatest minds, including Charles Darwin.

The famous naturalist described these features as “Little horizontal ledges, one above another,” which he said had been “observed on steep grassy slopes in many parts of the world.”

According to Darwin, the formation of terracettes had “been attributed to animals traveling repeatedly along the slope in the same horizontal lines while grazing,” although he adds that “Professor Henslow (a most careful observer) told Sir J. Hooker that he was convinced that this was not the sole cause of their formation,” with the implication that these curious, structured features on steep hills might have geological origins, rather than those attributable solely to biology.

Now, researchers may finally have an answer to this pastoral riddle that baffled the likes of Darwin more than a century ago, settling the scientific debate over their origins.

Solving the Mystery of Terracettes

Benjamin Seleb, the lead author of a new study detailing the findings, said the mystery of terracettes first attracted his attention in 2024 after he observed them firsthand during a hike in the Alps.

“I suspected the numerous grazing cows—hard to miss with their clanking bells—had something to do with it, and was already sketching out how I would model their movement before the hike was over,” Seleb says.

“It wasn’t until I got back to my hotel and started digging into the topic that I learned about the contested origins of these terracettes,” Seleb adds. “With my curiosity piqued, I got to work building a simple model to ask whether grazing animals really could reshape mountains.”

According to Seleb and a team of collaborators from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, computer modeling was employed to reshape hillsides into these distinctive “stepped” formations. The findings reveal that the most likely explanation is that repetitive pathways followed by grazing animals such as sheep and cattle produce remarkably ordered landscape patterns over time.

Simulating ‘Chaos’ to Solve a Mystery

To test their hypothesis, the research team simulated the movement of individual animals across steep slopes. For their analysis, they also introduced a few rules, which revealed that the “virtual grazers” preferred traversing hillsides in long, horizontal pathways that form gradual inclines. This makes sense, since it is a method of ascent that requires less energy, and humans have also traditionally employed similar approaches (think of mountain trails, which, rather than ascending straight uphill, follow longer sloping inclines and switchbacks where directional changes are necessary).

With each simulated footstep, soil and vegetation become compacted, producing subtle alterations to the terrain over time. As these pathways form, animals over successive future generations are thereby encouraged to follow similar routes, and with time, the familiar terraced patterns emerge.

“People have argued about terracettes for over a century,” says Professor Saad Bhamla, one of the study’s co-authors and leader of the Bhamla Lab of Extraordinary Organisms, which describes its efforts as work that “seeks to understand how organisms do amazing things.”

“Some say [terracettes] are purely geological, just slow soil creep and slumping,” Bhamla recently said. “Others say animals create them, and the standard criticism for the animal-origin camp is that the animals wander around randomly, so how could they ever carve something this regular?”

“What we show is that they can and that this regularity emerges out of that chaotic, random movement, not in spite of it, through the back-and-forth between the animals and the ground they’re chewing up with their mouths and packing down with their feet,” Bhamla adds.

Complexity from Simple Movement

Bhamla and his team say their research offers another example demonstrating how complex natural landscapes can emerge from simple, uncoordinated behavior, involving a process known as stigmergic feedback. This involves organisms that gradually reshape their shared environment over time.

The result of their work is an answer to a mystery that has persisted for many generations, and not only that, but also a pathway toward understanding the various ways animals influence landscapes more broadly.

The team’s findings were detailed in a new paper, “Moo-ving mountains: grazing agents drive terracette formation on steep hillslopes,” which appeared in Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

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.

The United States Department of War (DOW) released its latest collection of imagery and other materials related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) on Friday.

The fourth official release under what the DOW has dubbed the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), the latest tranche of files includes several new previously unseen U.S. military videos depicting unidentified aerial objects acquired by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

“Today, the Department of War is publishing the fourth release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE),” said Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement.

“The collection continues to be housed on WAR.GOV/UFO, and the Department will release additional files on a rolling basis,” Parnell said.

As with previous releases, the new videos leave much to the imagination; in most cases, they show small blurry objects captured with multi-sensor electro-optical targeting capabilities from fighter aircraft or UAVs, and in some cases, imaging systems on board civilian aircraft. In addition to the new imagery, several historical documents from as early as the 1940s were included with the release, the majority of which were previously made available in past releases by various U.S. government agencies.

Here is a look at a few key takeaways from the latest batch in the Pentagon’s ongoing release of UAP-related materials.

A Deeper Look at the Latest PURSUE UAP File Release

One series of historical NASA images included with the new PURSUE release originates from the 1996 STS-80 mission. The entry on the DOW’s site, “NASA-UAP-D030, STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 1, 1996,” features photographs obtained by astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia at the time, which convey a small triangular or cone-shaped object.

“During STS-80, between November 19 and December 7, 1996, astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Columbia captured a series of three images of an unidentified object in low-Earth orbit. In the first photograph, the object is visible near the center of the frame, to the right of the limb of the Earth,” a caption accompanying one of the images states at the DOW website.

It is unclear what the object in the photograph may be, although it is worth noting that several observations of allegedly unusual phenomena occurred during STS-80, which included the imagery captured of grainy luminous shapes from the spacecraft’s backward-facing cameras. The most common interpretation of these objects is that they were ice particles outgassed from the spacecraft, whose highly reflective surfaces could produce the optical effects captured from the space shuttle’s cameras, especially in such low-light conditions.

DOW-UAP-PR030, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2023: In this video, “Two areas of contrast transit the sensor field-of-view. The first enters the field-of-view from the bottom right and exits from the top edge of the frame. The second, relatively smaller area of contrast enters from the top and exits the bottom of the frame.”

The unusual shape of the object first seen entering the frame from the bottom of the screen could potentially be the result of a sensor artifact, similar to past videos released by the DOW, where the starlike appearance of refraction spikes emanating from an object (as also seen in this example from the most recent release) had been misinterpreted by some as being the literal shape of the alleged UAP.

DOW-UAP-PR108, Unresolved UAP Report, Western United States, 2020: This footage, reportedly collected over the Western United States in 2020, is notable (if for no other reason) due to its similarity to the famous “Tic Tac” imagery from 2004, captured by F/A-18 pilot Chad Underwood off the Baja California coast. Apart from that superficial similarity in appearance, the footage—like others from recent PURSUE releases—provides little additional context, and it is unclear what the object (seen below) may be.

Several other examples of imagery included with the fourth PURSUE release depict objects apparently engaging in flight at high speeds, such as an object appearing in “DOW-UAP-PR112, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2019” where the observer reportedly described the object in question as exhibiting “flight characteristics unlike anything [the observer] had seen in 28 years for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.”

Other objects appearing in videos included with the newest release, such as the UAP in “DOW-UAP-PR116, Unresolved UAP Report, Atlantic Ocean, 2020,” include descriptions from the observer that note an object with a “darker, maroonish color, approximately 12-15 feet in height” that was “travel[ing] with the wind,” did not “maneuver or change direction,” and appearing similar to a “large, somewhat deformed balloon.”

We would have to agree with the witnesses’ assessment in the case: the flight dynamics of the object in the accompanying video (seen above) are indeed very consistent with an inflatable object, albeit possessing an odd shape (it is also possible this object may be a cluster of smaller balloons). The same can be said of other examples in the new releases, where, in some instances, dangling payloads beneath what are obviously balloons are clearly discernible in the purported “UAP” videos.

Clarity Remains Elusive, but More Releases to Follow

To date, none of the videos or other documentation made available at the DOW website as part of its PURSUE releases provides clear examples of any objects attributable to unknown aircraft, or objects exhibiting unusual or advanced technologies.

In his statement on Friday, Parnell said the DOW and its agency partners “are actively working on the next release of UAP files,” which can be expected to appear on the DOW website in the coming weeks. In the meantime, all of the existing four releases of UAP imagery and documentation can be found on the DOW’s PURSUE page.

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.

Residents of Forest Beach in Queensland, Australia, were recently urged by one local business to “do the smart thing” and “panic buy” after unusual objects found in the area were likened to the remains of a crashed UFO.

The amusing alien wreckage references followed a surprising discovery in the coastal community: a collection of six odd metallic spheres found along the community’s beaches over the weekend.

Although many mystery objects that are found on beaches have Earthly origins, that wasn’t the case in this instance: according to Australian Space Agency officials, these mysterious metallic spheres actually did fall from space.

The Mystery Spheres of Forrest Beach

The mystery began on July 5, when Queensland Fire Department personnel responded to reports of unusual objects spotted by area residents along the nearby shoreline.

“Queensland Fire and Rescue crews are continuing to assist partner agencies following the discovery of several potentially hazardous objects around Forrest Beach in North Queensland,” the agency wrote in an update that appeared on its official Facebook page.

“Specialist QFR Scientific teams have safely secured a number of the items throughout the weekend and remain on scene continuing their work,” the statement read. “A 50-metre exclusion zone is still in place.”

“The nature and origin of the debris are still being investigated,” the Queensland Fire Department statement added.

The following day, the Australian Space Agency confirmed the outer space origins of these objects, according to The New York Times, although with one caveat: while the curious spheres fell from space, their deeper origins are here on Earth, having likely been related to debris from a rocket that recently reentered from orbit.

“The recovered objects appear to be pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle,” according to a statement released by the Australian Space Agency that said the metallic spheres were “consistent with debris from a foreign rocket body,” though offering few additional details about the objects and their specific origins.

The suspected pressure vessels would have been used as storage containers for substances used during the launch phase, or possibly while in orbit.

Space Debris Found in Australia

“The majority of returning space objects either arrive back in a controlled manner to a specific location on Earth, or burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere,” the Australian Space Agency states on a page on its website that discusses space debris that may be discovered in Australia.

“Some objects may survive uncontrolled re-entry, making it harder to predict where the debris may fall,” the FAQ page states. “While any space debris that survives re-entry is most likely to land in the ocean or in remote locations, the initial discovery of space debris on Australian territory may be by members of the public.”

According to officials with Australia’s National Emergency Management Agency, there was no risk posed by the objects found at Forrest Beach, although the area around the discovery site was temporarily closed while officials descended on the area to test for any signs of contamination from potentially volatile substances.

Australia Isn’t Alone

Debris suspected of originating from spacecraft has made its way to Australia in the past. One large example discovered by residents in northeastern Australia four years ago was determined to have belonged to part of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Australians aren’t the only ones making such discoveries. In 2024, NASA confirmed that an unusual object found on a remote property in Western North Carolina had also been SpaceX debris from one of the company’s Dragon capsules.

The Debrief was one of the first outlets to identify that object as possible SpaceX debris, after noting similarities to a confirmed portion of the trunk section from a Dragon capsule used during the SpaceX Axiom 3 mission that survived reentry over Saskatchewan on Feb 26, 2024, and was later discovered by a farmer on his property.

Our Fascination with Mysterious Metallic Spheres

Last year, similar claims involving the alleged recovery of a mysterious metallic sphere were reported in March near Buga, Colombia. Researchers who studied the object, which was allegedly observed passing through the sky before it was recovered from an area of thick undergrowth, claimed the object had “no welds or joints,” and that it featured unusual symbols on its surface.

The origins of the Buga mystery sphere remain undetermined, with some suspecting that, rather than space debris in this instance, the object may simply have been a hoax.

Such stories highlight our fascination with mysterious metallic spheres, which is nothing new, especially when it comes to mysterious sightings of unusual objects. During the height of the Second World War, The New York Times carried a news brief in its December 14, 1944 edition, which described observations by U.S. pilots involving unusual spherical objects seen over Europe.

“A new German weapon has made its appearance on the western air front,” the short Times article reads. “Airmen of the American Air Force report that they are encountering silver colored spheres in the air over German territory.”

“The spheres are encountered either singly or in clusters,” the brief concludes, adding that “Sometimes they are semi-translucent.”

In an April 2023 Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, at the time serving as the inaugural director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, told lawmakers that small spherical objects accounted for a majority of the reports it receives involving what the U.S. military now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), historically known as UFOs.

More Space Debris Could Be Found

While Australian officials have confirmed that the objects discovered at Forrest Beach aren’t evidence of visitors from space, they have nonetheless advised that it is possible additional debris could be found, and locals who may find such materials have been advised to alert the Australian Space Agency.

“Do not handle the debris,” the Australian Space Agency states on its website. “Space objects are built from a range of materials that may be hazardous. They should only be handled by appropriately trained and equipped professionals.”

Residents in Australia who discover possible space debris are advised to contact the country’s space agency using the official contact page available on its website.

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.

For many years, scientists have been tracking even the tiniest fragments of space debris orbiting our planet to keep tabs on whether these small leftovers from decades of spaceflight might become a problem, whether for astronauts or for populations here on Earth.

Now, in new research, scientists say they have uncovered dozens of previously undetected fragments of space debris orbiting high above Earth, revealing a hidden population of tiny objects that some liken to a “potential minefield” in space that could pose a growing hazard to some of the world’s most important satellites.

The findings, published in the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, were carried out by an international team led by researchers at the University of Warwick, who found 25 faint objects in geosynchronous orbit—roughly 36,000 kilometers (22,400 miles) above Earth’s equator.

Close to 80 percent of these newly detected objects had been absent from catalogs available to the public that track such debris, meaning that there could be even more unrecognized leftovers from past space missions circling the Earth than experts realize.

A Problem in Geosynchronous Orbit

Home to a steadily growing number of satellites that we rely on daily for activities here on Earth, geosynchronous orbit is where satellites that govern communication systems, television broadcasting, weather forecasting, and environmental monitoring all reside.

Objects at this altitude remain synchronized with our planet’s rotation, which means that they inhabit what is considered some of the most valuable real estate in space around the Earth.

“Pieces of space junk can be moving very quickly relative to one another, as much as several kilometers every second,” says Dr. James Blake of the University of Warwick’s Centre for Space Domain Awareness, who served as the new study’s lead author. “The energies involved are really high, and even small debris can cause a lot of damage to very expensive satellites, so small things really matter.”

Archival Imagery Reveals New Concerns

Blake and his colleagues didn’t have to collect new observations to make these discoveries: they were able to discover evidence of undocumented orbital debris simply by looking at archival images obtained by the 2.54-meter Isaac Newton Telescope in the Canary Islands.

Offering a new perspective on these archival photos, the team employed a new image processing technique known as “blind stacking,” along with advanced image-processing algorithms, to detect fragments in orbit as small as five centimeters. The detections were significant, as they are now counted among the faintest examples of debris ever observed in geosynchronous orbit.

Naturally, a question arises: how many more examples of tiny debris might be lurking up there?

Tiny Tumbling Troublemakers in Space

Additional analysis of the brightness of these objects revealed another concerning reality: based on variances in the light they reflect, it was evident that many of these objects are tumbling as they make their way through space.

The team’s findings offer a wakeup call in terms of just how much undetected debris may be drifting—or even tumbling—through geosynchronous orbit. However, there is also a positive side to the situation: the team’s discoveries also showcase our growing ability to make such detections if we know how to look for such minuscule objects.

Still, the findings underscore the challenges presented by monitoring orbital debris in a space above the Earth where such materials could potentially linger for centuries, since atmospheric drag in this region of orbit is essentially nonexistent.

“The debris in the neighborhood of the geostationary belt is a potential minefield,” said co-author Dr. Stuart Eves of SJE Space Ltd. “No one in their right mind would enter a terrestrial minefield without a mine detector. Similarly, no one in their right mind should launch a satellite to GEO without an adequate debris survey.”

A Call for International Collaboration

With the project’s reach beyond Europe to include collaboration with researchers in Australia and Japan, the team says that international cooperation will be necessary to track potentially dangerous orbital debris—especially as more and more satellites are being placed in orbit above the Earth.

Increasingly sensitive surveys will be essential for understanding and mitigating the risks posed by even the smallest fragments of space junk, the team says.

“There are a finite number of orbital slots in the GEO belt,” Blake adds, “so it’s important that we know how much debris is out there, how it behaves, what risks are posed to the active satellites we rely on. Surveys for faint debris help us build a clearer picture.”

The team’s findings were detailed in a new study, “DebrisWatch II: Digging Deeper for Geosynchronous Debris,” which appeared in The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences.

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.

One of the longest-running debates in modern American archaeology involves how the first people who arrived in the New World survived amid the many challenges they faced while migrating into an unfamiliar environment during the final years of the Ice Age. At the heart of that debate is a simple question: what did the earliest Americans rely on as their primary source of food?

Without question, migrations that would ultimately carry humans across two continents are the kind of activity that will burn a lot of calories. Hence, archaeologists have long wondered whether these ancient hunter-gatherers primarily survived by hunting a wide variety of plants and animals, or whether they specialized in pursuing giant megafauna that roamed the Americas, which would have offered a much higher-protein diet.

Now, in a significant new study published in Science Advances, an international team of archaeologists says the evidence strongly points to the latter scenario, meaning that the earliest Paleoindian Americans were likely to be highly specialized hunters whose success depended on their ability to stalk and bring down enormous creatures like mammoths, giant ground sloths, and other late-Pleistocene megafauna.

The study, led by Ben Potter of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with contributions from Todd Surovell and Robert Kelly of the University of Wyoming, looked at a synthesis of zooarchaeological evidence from sites spanning Eastern Beringia, North America, and South America.

The team’s research now presents a major discovery: that at least 98 percent of the diets of these early populations focused on massive megafaunal herbivores, which would have provided an exceptional source of protein during the early colonization of the New World.

Multiple Lines of Evidence Support a Highly Specialized Diet

The team’s findings challenge the view that the earliest Americans were broad-spectrum hunter-gatherers. Among the best evidence for this, they say, is food remains that were left behind thousands of years ago at locations that would become recognized today as Paleoindian archaeological digs.

“The most direct proxy for paleodiets are the food remains left at archaeological sites,” Potter told The Debrief in an email. “These are most closely connected with the animals targeted, butchered, and consumed.”

Potter adds that the zooarchaeological record of East Beringians, Clovis, and Fishtail Projectile Point Complexes “demonstrates a clear focus on megafauna, no matter how one measures it: bone elements, minimum number of individual animals, or associated edible biomass.”

Potter says that “multiple lines of evidence point to the same conclusion,” which include isotopic data directly obtained from Anzick-1, a Paleoindian child’s remains uncovered in central Montana in 1968 that are still recognized as the only Clovis-era human remains ever found in the Americas, dated to 12,990–12,840 years ago.

Additional evidence comes from “toolkit homogeneity across continents, high residential mobility and limited/no site reuse, and lethal weapon technology, clearly and repetitively associated with megafauna,” Potter explains.

Wide Dispersal in a Short Span of Time

Potter and his coauthors say the dietary specialization evidenced by the available archaeological data helps to explain how humans were able to disperse across the Americas within a relatively short timeframe—possibly just a few centuries.

A key element to the success of these early American hunters would have been the consistency in hunting methods that could be employed with large herbivores across great geographic distances, from as far north as modern-day Alaska to as far south as Patagonia.

“There are a number of reasons this adaptation facilitated rapid expansion into unfamiliar territories,” Potter told The Debrief. Among these is the fact that larger megafauna rich in fat yield far more calories than their smaller counterparts.

“Megaherbivores have large territories and are found through multiple ecosystems,” Potter says. “This focus on megaherbivores allowed tracking their preferred prey into additional regional ecosystems, enabling rapid dispersal across the Americas.” Additional factors he cites include the fact that animal meat and fat offer abundant sources of macro- and micronutrients, and that there would have been relatively little competition from other late-Pleistocene megacarnivore predators.

This adaptation, Potter says, “was a continuation of earlier Beringian strategies, necessitating no major technological innovations or adjustments when encountering radically different habitats,” ranging from geographic locales as diverse as modern Alaska, to Virginia, Florida, and Mexico.

“Mapping onto these few taxa allows for rapid expansion rather than the generations-long time needed to learn each local region with its own endemic plants, animals, fish, shellfish, and birds,” Potter adds. “The overall strategy supports moving into new areas with higher densities (encounter rates) of megafauna, facilitating rapid expansion.”

Clues Pointing to Shared Cultural Traditions

From such evidence, Potter says, another “logical extension of the data and patterns” he and his team observed is potential evidence for shared cultural traditions carried by these ancient migrating populations.

“This is supported by multiple datasets,” Potter told The Debrief, which he says include genetic information supporting a single clade’s rapid expansion sometime after roughly 14,000 years before present, “suggesting a single source population expanding rapidly through the continents.”

Potter also points to the timing of early continent-wide cultural manifestations, which he says are “consistent with the genetics,” and “the cultural connections between Clovis points and Fishtail points,” the latter referring to an early Paleoindian American projectile point type that, in many cases, are fluted in the same manner as Clovis points.

Finally, Potter says the zooarchaeological record he and his colleagues examined, as well as the “time-transgressive nature of megaherbivore extinctions, earlier in the north, later in the south,” all provide additional support for a widespread dispersal within a short period of time, helped by early Paleoindian hunters’ prowess in hunting large herbivorous megafauna.

“In short, Early Paleoindians expanded into Eastern Beringia (~14,000-13,300 cal BP) using the same toolkits that allowed them to migrate throughout northeast Asia (microblades, composite points), continuing a long-standing tradition of woolly mammoth hunting,” Potter told The Debrief. “Woolly mammoth habitat extends from Alaska through the Ice Free Corridor, open at least by 14,000 cal BP, into the Great Lakes Region.”

“There, one group, SNA, encountered a related species, Columbian mammoth, and hunted them throughout North America to Mesoamerica (13,400-12,800 cal BP), where they developed Fishtail fluted points and predated other proboscideans they encountered (Gomphotheres) as well as very large ground sloths (12,900-11,600 cal BP).

Support for the “Overkill” Hypothesis?

Finally, the team’s findings also lend support to the controversial hypothesis that human hunting played a significant role in the extinction of many Ice Age megafauna between roughly 11,000 and 13,000 years ago.

As those giant animals disappeared, Potter and his colleagues argue, Paleoindian populations were forced to diversify their diets, adapting to locally available resources such as bison, birds, fish, shellfish, and plants.

“After these megafauna became extinct, ~13,300 cal BP in Beringia, ~12,800 cal BP in North America, and ~11,600 cal BP in South America, SNA descendents diversified into many regional cultures, focused on locally abundant food resources,” Potter says.

Fundamentally, Potter and his team’s study challenges the long-held view that the first Americans were broad-spectrum foragers, instead portraying them as highly adaptable big-game specialists whose pursuit of megafauna shaped both their extraordinary continental expansion and the course of early human history in the Americas.

The team’s new paper, “Hemisphere-wide evidence of Early Paleoindian megaherbivore specialization,” appeared in Science Advances on July 8, 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.

Welcome to this edition of The Intelligence Brief… This week, a new milestone has been reached in space technology, with the launch of the world’s first satellite equipped with a commercial betavoltaic nuclear power system. The satellite was carried to orbit on a a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, and in our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) how the next generation of compact nuclear power systems are now being tested aboard the first City Labs BOHR satellite, 2) how the satellite converts radioactive decay into electricity, and why this technology could eventually help to facilitate long-term space missions to the Moon and other locales, 3) the advantages and hurdles this novel tritium-based power system faces, and 4) what this all could mean for the future of nuclear powered spacecraft used in deep-space missions.

Quote of the Week

“This is a historic step for commercial nuclear power in space.”

— Peter Cabauy, CEO of City Labs

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RECENT NEWS from The Debrief

• Officials say mysterious metallic spheres discovered on an Australian beach fell from space.
• Archaeologists opened an ancient Chinese tomb and found “deactivated” metallic artifacts inside.
• Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft just had a close encounter with a two-headed asteroid.
• A new study says space dust that lands on Earth every year could be coming from unidentified objects.
• Get all the latest stories from The Debrief, with more breaking stories at the end of this week’s newsletter.

The First Nuclear-Powered Satellite is Now in Orbit

Tuesday marked a new chapter in the quest for novel power systems for spacecraft, with the launch of the world’s first satellite equipped with a commercial betavoltaic nuclear power system.

The City Labs Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability (BOHR) satellite was carried to space on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and in the coming weeks will begin tests to determine whether miniature nuclear batteries can reliably generate electricity in space.

Designed primarily as a proof of concept, the first BOHR satellite will rely on conventional solar panels for its primary power system. However, the first-of-its-kind spacecraft also carries the company’s proprietary “NanoTritium” betavoltaic power source, which, according to the company, uses beta particles emitted during the radioactive decay of tritium that are converted into electricity.

In a statement, Peter Cabauy, CEO of City Labs, called this week’s launch “a historic step for commercial nuclear power in space,” adding that the BOHER satellite “demonstrates that safe, compact, and regulatory-approved nuclear power systems are ready for routine commercial deployment.”

“This capability enables persistent, always-on payload operations that are not constrained by sunlight or battery life,” Cabauy added.

Harnessing the Power of Beta Radiation

The innovative satellite was carried to space earlier this week as part of the recent SpaceX Transporter-17 mission.

“On Tuesday, July 7 at 12:12 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-17 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,” read an update that appeared at the SpaceX website announcing the successful launch that carried the City Labs BOHR satellite to space.

“Transporter-17 was a dedicated smallsat rideshare mission,” SpaceX’s update earlier this week added. “There were 81 payloads on this flight, including cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying eight of those payloads to be deployed at a later time.”

Following the satellite’s successful delivery to orbit, its power systems will begin testing the feasibility of beta radiation as a primary driver to produce electricity. In the past, radioisotope thermoelectric generators have been used to propel landmark space missions, such as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. By contrast, BOHR’s beta radiation system does not rely on heat generated by radioactive decay, which allows for a compact power source that, if all goes according to plan, could one day be deployed in future missions to support spacecraft operating in environments where sunlight is limited. Such applications include the permanently shadowed craters on the Moon and future missions into the outer solar system.

Primarily, City Labs says a tritium-based system is also more beneficial than traditional nuclear fuels like plutonium since it emits relatively low-energy radiation. This, the company says, makes it easier to shield and safer to handle during spacecraft assembly and launch.

Challenges Ahead

The technology does face significant hurdles, however. One involves the fact that tritium is presently still one of the world’s rarest—and most expensive—radioactive materials. Right now, with only around 20 kilograms produced annually throughout the world, the limited quantity and exorbitant costs (current prices reach tens of thousands of dollars per gram) make large-scale adoption anytime in the near term a significant challenge.

There are also regulatory considerations, as noted in a news article released this week by the American Nuclear Society (ANS) following the launch. “In 2019, National Security Presidential Memorandum – 20 (NSPM-20) laid out updates to the process for launching spacecraft containing nuclear systems,” the article states.

“Now the Department of Transportation, which includes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), directs the coordination of various agencies to review the safety analysis for missions with nuclear components,” the ANS news brief added, noting that the FAA updated its launch regulations in 2020.

Despite the existence of a few hurdles and other considerations, the mission nonetheless marks an important milestone in the development of next-generation spacecraft power systems. If successful, BOHR could demonstrate that compact betavoltaic power sources are a viable complement to solar energy, opening new possibilities for long-duration missions in some of the darkest and most remote regions of the solar system.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.

Here are the top stories we’re covering right now…

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid Space Telescope has just revealed new evidence for the existence of more than two-and-a-half dozen objects that are among the oldest and most remote in the universe.

These 31 massive objects, known as quasars, rank among the oldest objects astronomers have ever seen, including two that are believed to originate from a period in the universe when our cosmos was only 5% of its current age.

The discoveries, revealed in a new study appearing in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, provide a remarkable look at the earliest generations of galaxies, as well as a rare look at the dynamics of the ancient black holes that once powered them.

Quasar Questions

As some of the brightest objects anywhere in our universe, quasars are remote objects resembling stars in appearance that emit unprecedented amounts of energy. They are the result of creation processes that involve enormous quantities of gas and dust, which spiral into supermassive black holes.

During the gravity-driven inward acceleration process, immense friction causes temperatures that can reach millions of degrees, which generates large amounts of energy. The resulting celestial features produce enough light to outshine entire galaxies.

Despite their brightness, the 31 newest additions to our growing collection of known quasars were difficult for astronomers to spot, given their extreme distances from Earth. The light that documents their ancient presence in the universe has traveled more than 13 billion years to make its way here, causing it to be extremely faint, and thereby very difficult to distinguish from surrounding stars whose light normally outshines them with ease.

Rotating Quasars from the Early Universe

A dozen of the newly discovered collection of quasars date to within the first 770 million years our universe existed. Add to that the fact that two of the ancient objects are believed to have formed just 670 million years after the Big Bang—at such ages, these quasars are among the oldest astronomers have ever observed.

The weight of the discoveries goes beyond just record-breaking astronomical observations, since the data they provide could help astrophysicists unravel some of the most enduring mysteries of cosmology. For instance, these quasars could help to reveal answers to questions about how supermassive black holes grew so quickly while the universe was still in its infancy.

Additionally, studying these energetic ancient giants could help to provide new insights into the formation of the earliest galaxies and the evolution of the universe while it was still in its relative infancy.

Answering Questions About the Cosmos

The recent research, led by the ESA and with contributions from its partners at NASA, has helped to place the Euclid mission in an ideal place to carry out its mission of mapping billions of galaxies. Doing so may help scientists uncover clues about the questions surrounding mysterious dark energy, which is widely believed to be the force behind the accelerating expansion of the cosmos.

Additionally, the Euclid mission’s findings could be pivotal in helping shape the future work of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will continue the quest to unravel the nature of dark energy and help astronomers understand the nature of the universe at large scales. Additional details about the recent quasar discoveries by Euclid can be found at the ESA’s website and on NASA’s FAQ page.

The new findings were detailed in a recent study, “Euclid: Discovery of 31 new quasars at 6.6 < z < 7.8” published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 

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.

Every year, more than 5,000 tons of material with cosmic origins lands on Earth’s surface, with as much as 15,000 tons of this “space dust” making its way into the atmosphere but vaporizing during reentry.

The resulting rain of micrometeorites that reaches our planet consists mostly of tiny objects anywhere from 30 to 200 micrometers in size, based on past studies. But what are the origins of these large volumes of material that accumulate over time as they shower the Earth throughout the year?

According to new research, evidence for one potential source of this cosmic debris has now been found: it could be coming from unidentified near-Earth objects.

Space Dust with Unknown Origins

The problem with tracing the origins of space dust is that most of it that makes its way into Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t survive the intense conditions of atmospheric entry, and those tiny bits that do—known as cosmic spherules—are reshaped as they melt from the friction they encounter while falling.

Although their original mineral structure is compromised as well as their shape, there are a few isotopes—namely oxygen—that these spherules maintain that scientists can use to help trace their origins. Based on their chemical “fingerprints,” cosmic spherules are placed into different groups by planetary scientists, with many being able to be traced back to known varieties of meteorites and other sources.

Among these groups, around ten percent fall into a category possessing unusually small quantities of the isotope oxygen-16. This category, known as Group 4, doesn’t appear to match any known meteorite group—the implication, therefore, is that some of this cosmic debris may originate from an unidentified variety of near-Earth objects.

New Clues to the Origins of Uncorrelated Space Dust

Now, according to new research by Matthias Van Ginneken and colleagues, there are at least some ways that the origins of these spherules can be determined, one of which involves their orbital parameters.

In one case, the team writes in a recent study published in Science Advances, “the mineralogical and textural properties of a subset of cosmic spherules do provide information on the orbital parameters of their precursors, including eccentricity and encounter velocity.”

This group of materials, which is dubbed “CumPo” based on its material consistency of cumulate olivine porphyritic, is “characterized by clustered olivine phenocrysts that increase in size from one side of the spherule to the other,” the team writes.

In short, this unique class of spherules points to equally unique orbital characteristics that may be associated with what the research team surmises could be atypical types of near-Earth objects, or NEOs, that could be near enough to our planet to provide a likely source.

A particular clue offered by these objects is that some of them may have undergone unusually high entry speeds, as evidenced by their surface texture. One factor that could potentially account for this is that they may have entered Earth’s atmosphere at angles consistent with objects possessing high orbital eccentricity.

More Clues from Antarctica

As with past studies, researchers were able to retrieve several samples of these CumPo cosmic spherules from Antarctica, which provides a pristine environment that helps to facilitate their discovery and collection. However, another source location had been far less remote: urban rooftops, where a large amount of cosmic dust lands every year.

With the aid of electron microscopy and microprobe chemistry studies, Ginneken and colleagues examined the mineralogy, chemistry, and textures of these spherules, as well as the oxygen isotopes they contained.

What they found indicated an entirely new subset of spherules, which possess significant amounts of cumulate olivine rich in sulfur, garnering the name “SCumPo.” This unique new class of samples has links to the “Group 4” class and their minimal inclusion of oxygen-16. Other unusual similarities they possess are an overall absence of magnetite and a low presence of nickel in their olivine crystals, paired with an abundance of iron-nickel sulfur and a significant amount of sulfur present within glasses produced from vitrification.

Intriguingly, some spherules appeared to show a combination of signatures that were both poor in oxygen-16 in some areas, while rich in the isotope in others. This suggests that these cosmic materials had likely been mixed from two separate original sources, since such conditions could not be otherwise explained through natural processes.

“We interpret this as strong evidence that the SCumPo precursors were composite materials containing at least two different components,” the team writes in their study. Then, by running numerical simulations of crystal settling to help determine the likely entry speeds of these materials, and thereby their eccentricities while in orbit, the team determined that the settling of olivine is most consistent with entry speeds of as much as 17 kilometers per second, and likely no more than 14 kilometers per second—speeds that would be consistent with NEOs, as opposed to asteroids originating from the main-belt.

Evidence for an Unknown Class of Space Objects

Based on their findings, the team believes that unsampled meteorites from the CM, CO, and CY classifications of carbonaceous chondrites—a group of primitive, carbon-rich meteorites containing some of the oldest materials in our Solar System—are the likely sources for these cosmic materials.

“Given that we have linked their composition to the CM-CO-CY clan of carbonaceous chondrites, it is plausible that their parent body was a primitive carbonaceous asteroid that migrated onto an Earth-crossing orbit—attaining comet-like orbital parameters,” the team writes.

“For instance, one might consider the disrupted fragments of a thermally altered but water-bearing asteroid (like the CY group) that evolved into near-Earth space,” they add.

Although still only inferred from their studies, the team suggests the existence of a hypothetical new variety of NEOs based on the samples they studied, which are unlike any variety of meteorites currently known on Earth.

“These findings point to a previously unsampled, primitive, sulfide-rich CY-like near-Earth asteroid, which represents a ‘missing’ meteorite parent body that contributes distinctive ¹⁶O-poor cosmic dust to Earth,” the team writes, noting that any future confirmation of the existence of this unknown class of meteorites would represent “a pivotal discovery.”

The team’s new paper, “¹⁶O poor cosmic spherules from near-Earth CY chondrite asteroids,” appeared in Science Advances.

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.

New evidence for the existence of “lost” ancient medieval manuscripts, long forgotten from memory, is now being uncovered by researchers using agent-based computer simulations.

The findings, reported by Jean-Baptiste Camps and colleagues, relied on a novel approach to uncovering evidence for these long-lost texts: a complexity science approach that allowed them to estimate the volumes of lost ancient literature that once existed, by inferring references to such texts from existing chivalric narratives beginning in the 12th century.

The team’s findings also bring to attention a new concern for historians, since according to their simulations, as much as 60% of all ancient texts from this period, and more than 95% of manuscripts once believed to have existed, may have been lost to time. The findings were recently reported in PNAS Nexus.

Evidence of “Lost” Medieval Manuscripts?

The names we commonly associate with epic tales passed down to us from ancient literature are not the only heroes of yore that existed—they are merely the ones whose stories survived.

For every Gilgamesh, Thor, and King Arthur, it is possible that several more heroic characters from undiscovered ancient epics also exist. However, based on Camps and his team’s findings, they are probably unrecoverable stories, lost to time apart from scant references that occasionally appear in the few surviving manuscripts that have made their way down to us throughout time.

Some of the problems that have contributed to this concerning loss of ancient knowledge are technological. In the days before the invention of the printing press, texts had to be copied manually—a process that led to both innovations, but also errors and inconsistencies as these early copies were made.

From existing copies of surviving ancient texts, scholars can often infer a significant amount of information based on subtle (or in some cases, not-so-subtle) changes that appear from one version to the next. Philologists, researchers who study the structure, historical development, and relationships between languages, refer to the evolutionary “trees” encompassing such texts and their evolution through time as stemmata.

What’s ‘Stemmata’ With You?

Since modern stemmata are based only on existing copies, they lack the full evolutionary history of texts and fail to account for versions that have been forever lost, which may have contained significant differences or additional information.

Jean-Baptiste Camps and his colleagues’ new model has revealed a key discovery: that the early years of a text’s creation, and the number of copies that were made during that time, are of crucial importance to their survival.

As one might guess, the fewer copies that are made, the more endangered the text becomes. However, another implication based on the team’s modeling is that if no copies of the original work are made, all the surviving derivatives generally form what scholars recognize as a subsidiary branch of that manuscript’s family tree.

And therein lies the issue: one that has sobering implications for the preservation of knowledge from ancient times.

Roland’s Unknown Song

As an example, the researchers point to the Song of Roland, an 11th-century account of the Frankish military leader Roland’s deeds at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The events in question took place in AD 778, during the reign of Charlemagne, and the account remains the oldest single surviving major work of French literature.

However, the version of the tale we know today comes to us from several different manuscript copies that were made over time. While this speaks to the tale’s popularity in the Medieval world of the 12th to the 16th centuries, it also underscores the fact that its oldest, original versions are probably unknowable to us today.

But how is such knowledge lost to time? Arguably, one of history’s most famous examples involves the famous burning of the library at Alexandria—a story which is itself somewhat contested by modern scholars, in that rather than one catastrophic loss of information resulting from the destruction of a single building, a range of factors over an extended period are more likely to have resulted in the loss of this wealth of knowledge from the ancient world.

This is merely one example; a range of other instances involving random occurrences, accidents, and cataclysmic events point to additional reasons for the fragility of knowledge. One that Camps and his colleagues point to is obvious: the Black Death, which, in addition to raging through Europe and decimating human populations, also likely contributed significantly to the destruction of ancient manuscripts.

Knowledge must be protected, in other words, and the team’s recent findings only underscore how fragile it is—and also how easily it can be lost.

The team’s study, “On the transmission of texts: Written cultures as complex systems,” appeared in PNAS Nexus on July 7, 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.

This week in stories we’re covering at The Debrief… Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft just completed its flyby of the mysterious asteroid Torifune over the weekend, in a celestial rendezvous that nearly coincided with the Chinese Tianwen-2 mission’s successful capturing of new images of Earth’s “quasi-moon”. Equally intriguing are the unusual “polygon” structures NASA’s Curiosity rover just spotted and photographed on the Martian surface; what are they, and what caused them? And finally, bringing things back down to Earth a bit, scientists have revealed new details about an odd “reversal” that occurred deep within the Earth’s molten core, and what new findings suggest that could mean.

In addition to these stories, here’s a look at more of the stories we’re following right now at The Debrief…

• Archaeologists Opened a Chinese Lord’s 2,600-Year-Old Tomb—and Discovered Dozens of “Deactivated” Metallic Artifacts
  Why were dozens of bronze artifacts discovered within an ancient Chinese tomb “deactivated” at the time of their placement?
• How Jellyfish Can ‘Miraculously’ Heal Without Scars Has Long Remained a Mystery—Scientists Now Know Their Secret
  Jellyfish can close a wound in real time, without stitches, scabs, or scars. Now scientists have unlocked the secrets of how they do it.
• The Brain’s Language System Is Far More Expansive Than Scientists Thought, New Study Finds
  New evidence suggests the brain’s language network is far more widespread than previously thought.
• Surprising Evidence of a ‘Lost’ Ancient City is Emerging from Beneath the Sands of Egypt’s Western Desert
  Archaeologists have found the remains of an ancient ‘lost’ city in Egypt’s western desert, Ministry of Antiquity officials have revealed.
• How Did a Crab Become Trapped in a Bottle with an Opening Too Small to Enter? Once-Baffled Scientists Say They’ve Solved the Mystery
  An oceanic mystery has unfolded with the discovery of a crab in a plastic bottle with an opening too small for the crustacean to fit through.
• A.I. Just Mapped a ‘Hidden’ Structure Inside One of the Most Complex Problems in Physics
  A single machine learning model just turned one of condensed matter physics’ most persistent problems into a navigable map.
• Hidden for More Than 1,000 Years, a Lost Maya City Has Been Uncovered Deep in the Mexican Jungle
  An international team of archaeologists reports the discovery of a previously unknown Maya city hidden beneath a millennium of jungle growth.
• Look: NASA Celebrates “America 250” This Independence Day With a Patriotic View of the Cosmos
  With the arrival of America’s 250th birthday this Independence Day weekend, NASA is marking the occasion with a patriotic-themed perspective on the cosmos.
• These Microbes Could Allow Plants to Grow in Impossibly Salty Soil
  Salty soil, one of the greatest threats to agriculture, may have a new cure in the form of soil bacteria that allows plants to thrive.
• A ‘Second Breakfast’ for Real-Life Hobbits? New Evidence Calls into Question Past Presumptions About Homo Floresiensis
  Homo floresiensis, a tiny ancient hominin, often compared to the hobbits of the Lord of the Rings, engaged in a sort of second breakfast.
• “We’ve Replicated in Chemistry What Only Used to be Possible in Biology”: Scientists Have Created the First Fully Synthetic Cell
  Researchers have developed the first entirely artificial cell, made completely from non-living chemical components.
• Hawking Radiation Breakthrough: These Black Hole Emissions Could Reveal Quantum Gravity
  New experiments are bringing into focus the mechanism behind Hawking radiation, demonstrating black holes are not strictly a one-way street.
• The Unconscious Brain May Be More Capable Than Scientists Realized
  While a patient is fully anesthetized and unresponsive, neurons in the hippocampus continue to process language, distinguish different types of words, and generate neural activity consistent with predicting upcoming words.
• America at 250: From the Battle for Independence, to the Fight Over Artificial Intelligence
  As America celebrates its 250th birthday, we look at technological revolutions that have shaped the country—and the AI revolution now poised to redefine its future.
• This Intriguing Exoplanet is Just 25 Light-Years from Earth—Is Its Too Dangerous to Be Home to Life?
  Researchers have discovered a potentially habitable exoplanet just 25 light-years from Earth—but is its precarious location on the cosmic shore too dangerous for extraterrestrial life?

The Chinese Tianwen-2 mission has captured the first imagery of a space object that some astronomers are calling Earth’s “quasi-moon.”

The object was captured in images released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), after its Tianwen-2 spacecraft reached the tiny asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa. Initially discovered in 2016, the asteroid became the target of a sample return mission launched by China on 28 May 2025.

Officially the CNSA’s second mission under its Planetary Exploration of China Program, Tianwen-2 aims to return close to 100 grams of samples from the surface of the small object.

Earth’s Mysterious Quasi-Moons

Quasi-moons are the name astronomers have for small, very distant objects that do not impact our planet’s tides or possess other characteristics associated with our primary moon.

These objects are nonetheless considered moon-like because they remain in our celestial neighborhood for extended periods, providing unique opportunities for studying near-Earth objects (NEOs) like asteroids, and the impact things like solar radiation and gravity have on them.

Although Kamoʻoalewa (also known as asteroid 2016 HO3) is the most well-known of Earth’s quasi-moons, it is one of seven that are currently known to astronomers. Kamoʻoalewa’s orbit is technically also around the Sun, rather than Earth, although its synchronized path keeps it locked closely to Earth’s orbit, thereby justifying its recognition as a “quasi-satellite.”

The object’s size and distance make it an ideal target for studying NEOs, and China leaped at the opportunity with the CNSA’s Tianwen-2 mission.

Approaching a Quasi-Moon

The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is currently nearing 20 kilometers from the 130 to 330-foot space rock, according to a statement CNSA released on Monday.

Along with a mission update, the CNSA also released new images, which are the first to officially document the object’s appearance. According to current mission timelines, Tianwen-2 will remain in the vicinity of 469219 Kamoʻoalewa until next April, and by sometime in November 2027, its return capsule is expected to reach Earth.

After its study of 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, Tianwen-2 will then make its way with the aid of a gravity assist in the direction of the comet 311P/PANSTARRS, arriving in its vicinity by January 2035.

“Going forward, the probe will gradually conduct more detailed scientific explorations to obtain information on the asteroid’s shape, material composition, and internal structure,” read the CNSA’s statement on Monday.

The agency said its ongoing collection of information will help to provide “support for preparations for sampling,” and the spacecraft will spend the next several months conducting reconnaissance of the asteroid before its sample collection begins, which will combine high-speed maneuvers with the deployment of a specialized robotic arm.

Following their collection, the samples will be delivered to a recovery site in the Gobi Desert after dropping into Earth’s atmosphere in November 2027.

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.

A 2,600-year-old discovery in China has revealed an archaeological enigma: why were dozens of bronze artifacts within an ancient tomb scattered and broken at the time of their placement?

The discoveries, made within the Zaoshulin Cemetery, a major archaeological site in Suizhou City, Hubei province, China, included several bronze bells that were dispersed throughout the lord’s final resting place, following the destruction of their wooden hanging components.

Now archaeologists think the unusual discovery wasn’t an accident, but instead could be evidence of the “deactivation” of these ancient objects as part of a widespread ritual phenomenon from the ancient world.

For Whom the Bells Toll

Archaeologist Chinglong Tse, who is presently a Ph.D. candidate at the University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, says the bells found within the tomb were more than just instruments used to create sonorous ringing: they were the implements of a world filled with belief in spirits of our ancestors and other supernatural presences.

“If archaeologists treat objects as tools, they risk projecting the image of a modern, rational, secular man onto the past,” Tse recently said of the discoveries, which he details in a new study featured in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

The bells, according to Tse, were likely crafted sometime in the early to mid 600s B.C., when Lord Qiu of the Zeng state commissioned them as implements for summoning the strength of his ancestors in combating an enemy state in the region. During Qiu’s time, known as the Spring and Autumn period, rival states in China’s Zhou dynasty waged war for power over the region, and the period is recognized as one of early China’s most turbulent.

Before the ancient Chinese lord’s death, peace was achieved between the Zeng state and its enemies in the state of Chu. As an act of ritual to prepare Lord Qiu’s changing role in the afterlife, the dismantling of the bells was a means of “deactivating” them, as their purpose had already been fulfilled.

With their powerful supernatural effects disabled, Lord Qiu’s own path into the afterlife to join his ancestors was prepared for.

The Dragon Bells of Lord Qiu

Qiu commissioned the crafting of these bronze bells as a charm to aid him during the period of unrest during which he reigned. The bells are magnificent artifacts, decorated in stylized dragons and featuring gemstones inlaid on their surfaces alongside inscriptions praising Qiu’s ancestors, all aimed at ensuring the protection of the Zeng territory.

According to history, Qiu would eventually wed the sister of the King of Chu, ending the rivalry between states, and thereby making these specially crafted bronze artifacts obsolete. Upon his death, the bells were intentionally “deactivated” with their wooden components removed, and the bells were scattered within Qiu’s tomb to prevent their intended function from carrying on into the afterlife.

Artifacts that Tell Stories

Appearing nearby within the tomb were a newer set of simpler bronze bells, which were neatly stacked and facing toward the southeast, bearing inscriptions that indicate their intended role had been for the afterlife, rather than to aid during times of regional conflict during Qiu’s lifetime.

“We still know very little about how bronze bells were produced in the Zeng state,” says Tse, adding that archaeologists may be able to discern a significant amount of information about the beliefs and capabilities of the people who lived during Qiu’s time if deeper knowledge about the bronze bells they constructed could be gleaned.

Fundamentally, Tse argues that while it is tempting to project a materialist, utilitarian mindset onto such ancient artifacts, doing so risks misunderstanding their actual purpose and their relationship to the worldview and belief systems of their ancient creators.

In that sense, the curious collection of dragon bells within lord Qiu’s tomb is more than merely artifacts—they are part of an ancient story of conflict, peace, and traditional views on the afterlife in the world of ancient China.

Tse’s findings were recently published in a study, “The Bells Are Harmonious and Resonant’: Numinous Ancestors, Resonant Bells and the Personhood of Lord Qiu of Zeng in Tomb M190 at Zaoshulin, Hubei,” which appeared in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

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.