Scientists working at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile have detected evidence for an unusual, ‘moon-like object’ in the CD-35 2722 system that doesn’t appear to orbit a planet.

The research team behind the discovery said the unusual object, which orbits a brown dwarf that orbits a large, Sun-like star, doesn’t fit normal astronomical categories, leaving them unsure what to name it.

If confirmed, the unusual space object would be the first moon without a host planet ever discovered. Such a confirmation would also make the newly termed “exosatellite” the first exomoon of any type discovered outside our Solar System.

Moon-Like Object Part of ‘Super Weird’ System

According to a statement announcing the moon-like object, ESO student Kevin Hoy had been monitoring the CD-35 2722 star system for months. The measurements that spotted the new, moon-like object were taken with the observatory’s CRIRES+ instrument using the radial velocity method that spotted the first planet around a Sun-like star.

During that time, the researcher and lead author of a study detailing the find said he noticed the system was “super weird” compared to our local Solar System. While the star at the center of the system, with a mass of about half of our Sun, was not unusual, they also determined that it is orbited by a brown dwarf. Brown dwarfs are astronomical objects too small to be a star, but too massive to be a planet, making the pairing unusual. Still, it was not unheard of.

However, according to Hoy, when the team spotted a third, smaller object in the system, they were left confused. Measurements indicated it is at least as massive as Jupiter, suggesting it may be a moon orbiting the Brown Dwarf, only without a host planet.

“The satellite we report is a giant gaseous body orbiting a highly massive companion, itself several times the mass of Jupiter,” explained Alice Zurlo, Director of the Millennium Nucleus of Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) in Chile project and collaborator on the study.

Mysterious ‘Exosatellite’ Defies Traditional Classification

The team has temporarily named the moon-like object an “exosatellite.” However, Hoy said the object’s status as a ‘third wheel’ in the system makes them want to classify it as a moon, “even if it is nothing like the small, rocky moons we have in our system.”

“This system is somewhat hard to define using Solar-System-based words like ‘planet’ and ‘moon’,” the researcher explained. “The exosatellite is clearly massive enough to be a planet, but it does not orbit a star, though it orbits an object that orbits a star.”

Director Zurlo said the differences between the observed system and our own Solar System have added to the difficulty in labeling the moon-like object.

“We have a clear delineation between the planets and the Sun in the Solar System, so defining things like moons is simple,” Zurlo explained. “In the CD-35 2722 system, where we are blurring the lines between stars, planets, and moons, the whole thing becomes more complicated to describe.”

“This System is Truly Unique and Represents a Breakthrough”

When discussing the significance of the moon-like object, Director Zurlo said detecting satellites in other systems will help researchers better understand the diversity in formation and evolution of planets, moons, and other moon-like objects. The director also noted the historical nature of the detection.

“As exotic as it is, this system is truly unique and represents a breakthrough: the first plausible detection of an exosatellite,” the researcher explained.

Moving forward, the team said the increased sensitivity of the 39-meter mirror on the ESO’s in-development Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will allow for the detection of even smaller moons, including potentially spotting moons the size of Earth’s largest satellite. The researchers said such detections will likely force the astronomical community to reconsider how planetary objects are labeled, especially those in systems so radically different from our own.

The study “Planetary-mass exosatellite detected around the substellar companion of a star” was published in the journal Nature.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org.

The United States Space Development Agency (SDA), in support of the U.S. Space Force, has awarded contracts to L3Harris Technologies and Sierra Space Corporation to build and deliver 36 Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 (AMDT3) space vehicles (SVs) designed to operate in four distinct orbital planes.

Part of the Tracking Layer for Tranche 3 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), the space vehicles will support the White House’s space-based segment ‘Golden Dome for America’ antimissile defense system to expand the country’s missile tracking and defense network, with a projected delivery date of 2028.

36 Space Vehicles Orbiting in Four Separate Planes Will Aid Missile Defense

According to a statement announcing the awards, the 36 space vehicles will operate across four separate orbital planes. Half of the vehicles covering two of the four orbital planes will be made by Sierra Space Corporation. The statement from the SDA describes the vehicles as “missile warning/missile tracking” SVs loaded with specialized sensor packages. An official at the SDA speaking on background told The Debrief that the details of the sensor technologies and capabilities are not available at this time.

The second half of the vehicle order covering the other two orbital planes will be made by defense technology company L3Harris Technologies. Their award calls for 18 Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)-like missile defense variant SVs.

When The Debrief asked the SDA for clarification on the term “variant” space vehicles, the official explained that this designation represents the different types of sensor packages that each company will provide. For the L3Harris award, the SDA explained that their sensor is an advancement on earlier work performed with the Missile Defense Agency under the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program.

Infrared Sensors Will Integrate with a Low-Latency Communication Network

When discussing the significance of the twin awards, the SDA said their deployment will expand the company’s missile defense sensing established in previous phases “in support of homeland defense and theater defense.”

“Each AMDT3 SV will be interoperable with all SDA Tranche 1, Tranche 2, and Tranche 3 SVs and will operate in an integrated fashion through a common ground system,” the statement explained.

They also note that the tracking layer is equipped with infrared sensors “that will integrate with a low-latency communication network.”

“With these awards, SDA is accelerating the deployment of the Tracking Layer to provide the homeland, our deployed forces, and allies with global, persistent indications, detection, identification, warning, tracking, and defense against advanced and evolving missile threats,” explained G.P. Sandhoo, Space Force Portfolio acquisition executive for Missile Warning and Tracking and SDA director. “AMDT3 expands upon SDA’s previous and current Tracking Layer generations — Tranches 1, 2 and 3 — marking another milestone in delivering a resilient, global missile warning, missile tracking, and missile defense capability.”

Future Satellites Will Offer Even Greater Capability to the Warfighter

Although a specific delivery date for each of the company’s separate awards was not made public, the announcement did say they are expected to be available for launch “by the end of 2028.” Once aloft and in their respective orbital planes, the missile tracking and defense space vehicles will be operated and maintained by the U.S. Space Force.

When asked by The Debrief if there are any plans to add capabilities beyond detection and tracking to the multi-layer system in the future, the SDA said future improvements are one of the main pillars of the organization’s business model.

“We use spiral development to deliver new generations of satellites (we call them “tranches”) every few years,” the SDA explained. “Each new tranche represents an enhancement over the previous and offers greater capability to the warfighter, either through additional sensing coverage, or through technology advances (or potentially both).” 

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org

NASA’s Juno mission scientists have reported the first successful temperature measurements below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Io, including indications of significant heating within the moon’s shallow subsurface.

Collected during a pair of close flybys of the Solar System’s most volcanically active world, the Juno mission measurements were described as a complete “surprise” since the instrument was designed for a different purpose.

“[The readings] break new observational ground for both fiery and icy worlds beyond our planet,” the team said.

MWR Instrument Designed to Probe Jupiter’s Atmosphere Provides Double Duty

Due to the extreme gravitational pull of its host planet, Jupiter, Io is repeatedly stretched and pulled as its slightly elliptical orbit carries it around the massive gas giant. This repeated motion generates a tremendous amount of heat, which the scientists note is “many times greater” than the same type of heat generated on Earth.

However, a detailed understanding of this process has remained elusive, as the only data on the moon’s inner heat came from infrared telescope observations. The team notes this data is limited to the temperature of Io’s upper rocky surface layer.

Conversely, Juno is equipped with an instrument called the Microwave Radiometer (MWR). According to the team’s statement announcing the successful subsurface temperature detection, Juno’s Microwave Radiometer was custom designed by Scott Bolton, the mission’s principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and a co-author of the study detailing the team’s findings, to “peer beneath Jupiter’s top clouds” for a closer look at the gas giant’s complex atmosphere.

“The MWR’s six microwave antennas serve as a single instrument, simultaneously detecting microwaves at a wide range of wavelengths, from about half an inch to 20 inches (1.3 to 51 centimeters),” the team explains.

“Everywhere We Looked, We Found the Temperature Rising”

Bolton said the team’s novel approach allowed the instrument to observe wavelengths from different depths, “providing a new way to characterize the deep atmosphere of giant planets and the subsurface crusts of icy and rocky moons.” This included observations of Jupiter’s other ‘Galilean’ moons, Ganymede and Europa.

“At Ganymede and Europa, we explored tens of miles below the surface, assuming their ice shells were mostly pure water,” the mission scientists explained.

However, Bolton added, using the instrument to successfully probe into Io’s volcanic rock “was an unexpected discovery.”

The feat was accomplished during a pair of flybys on December 30, 2023, and February 3, 2024, where Juno came within roughly 930 miles (1,500 km) of Io’s surface. Shannon Brown, the paper’s lead author at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said that during these flybys the MWR instrument measured the moon’s thermal emission “at depths ranging from a few inches down to tens of feet.”

“Everywhere we looked, we found the temperature rising by more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit just several feet into the surface — a gradient far steeper than solar heating alone can explain,” Brown said.

Although more information is likely needed to make a conclusive determination, the team said that the data suggests two possible explanations for the readings. The first option is heat rising steadily through what the team termed a “conductive crust.”

“While this background heat flow — measured at 1 to 3 watts per square meter — is relatively gentle on a local scale (roughly equivalent to a small nightlight glowing under every square yard), across the entire moon it represents a release of energy up to 30 times Earth’s average,” they explained.

Another possibility proposed by the joint research team suggested that the heat signal detected by Juno’s MWR could be coming from cooling lava flows covered by 30 to 35 feet (9 to 11 meters) of solidified crust that cover approximately 10% of Io’s surface “at any given time.”

A Similar Instrument Could be Used to Scan Earth

When discussing the implications of the team’s findings, Bolton said the “surprising” ability to see below Io’s surface “has important implications for studying Earth’s volcanoes.” He also noted that if scientists used a similar instrument to measure areas on Earth near volcanoes, they might see a similar heat signature in the planet’s subsurface temperature gradient, “providing new information on how terrestrial volcanoes work.”

“Io provides a unique window into learning how tidal heating works throughout the cosmos, a fundamental process that provides energy and heat to worlds that are far from their parent star,” Bolton explained. “This process can not only create the most volcanic body in the solar system, in the case of Io, but also fuels the subsurface oceans on the moons of giant planets, such as Europa and Ganymede.”

“Up until this point, we could only observe the heat escaping at the surface or through eruptions,” the mission scientists added. “Now we can characterize how the heat is moving from the interior toward the surface.”

NASA has additional information about Juno available at the mission’s official webpage.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org.

Archaeologists from the Israeli Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University, conducting excavations in the City of David, have unearthed massive wooden beams burned during the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.

The research team behind the discovery notes that the huge wooden support beams, which were surprisingly well preserved for ancient wood structures, allow for much more precise dating of the site. The researchers also highlight the apparently deliberate efforts by the city’s rebuilders to leave the ruins in place for future generations to witness.

2,600-Year-Old Wooden Beams Preserved by Melting Plaster

According to a statement emailed to The Debrief, the ancient, charred wooden beams discovered within the Jerusalem Walls National Park were relics from a collapsed building destroyed by “the intense fire of the First Temple’s destruction” over 2,600 years ago.

“The beams appear to have served as the roof of an inner courtyard in a building from the First Temple period,” explained Excavation Director Efrat Bocher.

Although not unprecedented, the team said that finding intact wood relics of this advanced age is rare, since organic materials like wood typically break down over such extended time periods. In this case, they suggest that the surprisingly intact beams were likely preserved by melting plaster, “sealing the burnt wood beneath.”

“During the destruction, they collapsed onto the floor,” Director Bocher explained. “We believe that the plaster cladding of the building’s walls, melted by the fire, covered the charred wooden beams, and ultimately enabled their exceptional preservation.”

Growth Rings Help Archaeologists Narrow the Site’s Dating Range

When discussing the historic and scientific value of the discovery, Dr. Johanna Regev of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who studied the wooden beams up close, noted the exceptional rarity of finding ancient wood with “such a large number” of visible growth rings.

“Here, in the City of David, we found thick beams with many rings, offering significant research potential,” Dr. Regev said.

For example, the researcher explains, more growth rings help scientists date sites and materials with increased precision and “higher dating resolution.”

“Until now, we could date finds within a range of hundreds of years,” Dr. Regev explained. “Now we can attain much greater precision, narrowing the dating range down to as little as ten years.”

City’s Rebuilders Left Ruins in Place as a “Testament to the Destruction”

While the historic site was witness to a tragic destruction, the research team said returning residents beginning to rebuild the city appear to have intentionally left the remains untouched for future generations to see.

“[They] probably made a deliberate decision to preserve the memory of the destruction by leaving behind remains that tell the story of the catastrophe,” the team explained.

Dr. Yiftah Shalev, who directs the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority alongside Prof. Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University, said the idea of a landscape of memory is “familiar from many cultures around the world.”

“Preserving memory is a human need, seeking to preserve what once existed,” Dr. Shalev explained. “Here we see it in its clearest form: a deliberate choice to leave ruins in place as a testament to the destruction and build the new layer over them.”

On a more personal note, Director Bocher noted the serendipitous timing of the discovery “just before Tisha B’Av.” According to Hillel.org, the holiday, which is recognized as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, “is a day of mourning for tragedies across Jewish history, most particularly the destruction and loss of the first and second Temple and Jerusalem.”

“This discovery makes you feel that you are witnessing the very moment of destruction, the moment when it all happened,” the researcher concluded, adding that “it’s deeply moving.”

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org

New analysis of microscopic plant remains collected from ashy pits within Cloggs Cave on Australian Aboriginal nation land confirms that local ancient inhabitants burned chosen grasses for magic and spiritual rituals dating back 25,000 years before present.

The research team behind the new analysis said the evidence also suggests that the ancient cave has been in continuous use throughout the entire timespan, offering scientists a rare glimpse into the magic and spiritual beliefs of Australia’s ancient inhabitants.

Oral Traditions Said Coggs Cave was Used for Magic and Spiritual Rituals

According to a statement announcing the ‘magical’ discovery, 19th-century ethnographic reports recorded a network of caves in Gippsland and the Southern Victorian Alps. Those same reports also noted that local oral traditions suggested that the caves were used by powerful women and men called “mulla-mullung” and other spiritual practitioners for magic, healing, and “cursing” rituals.

Previous archaeological expeditions determined that these caves, including the study site at Cloggs Cave, were occupied throughout the past 25,000 years. However, little direct evidence has been provided to support the oral traditions of magic and healing taking place within the caves.

Instead of cave art or other magical relics that may not have survived the passage of time, the research team, led by Dr Elle Grono, School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, focused on phytoliths, which are microscopic silica bodies from plants recovered from Cloggs Cave. To gain insight into the potential uses of Cloggs Cave, the studied phytoliths were recovered from its buried deposits.

When detailing the process, Dr. Grono said that phytoliths have the advantage of mostly accumulating where a plant decays. Conversely, plant pollen can be dispersed by winds or insects, diminishing some of their historic site value. This difference is critical, Grono said, because phytoliths found inside Cloggs Cave must have come from humans or other animals bringing them inside.

“No plants grow inside the cave due to a lack of light, so the phytoliths must have been carried in by people or by animals such as possums on their fur or through their scats,” the team leader explained.

Excavation of Ashy Deposits Includes Unexpected “Standing Stone”

To determine the taxonomic groups of the thousands of recovered phytoliths, the team examined the samples under a microscope. To ensure the samples were from plants brought into the cave by humans and not animals, the team used specimens collected from one pit that was 1.5 meters deep and a second that was 2.3 meters deep.

Grono said the team also exclusively studied half-burnt phytoliths from “ashy” layers within the pits. The researcher noted that this extra selection criterion also helps ensure the samples came from samples brought into the caves by humans, “as unburnt ones might have arrived through either means.”

The top layer of the two pits consisted of 73 thin, ashy layers of burnt plant material. When the research team performed optically stimulated luminescence and carbon dating tests to establish when the material was laid down, the latter via accelerator mass spectrometry,  the results placed the deposition of the material between 4,400 and 1,600 years ago.

When searching through the ashy pits, the team found a 28-cm-high “standing” stone. They note that subsequent analysis showed that the stone was likely erected in Cobbs Cave “by Old Ancestors for ritual purposes around 2,000 years ago.”

The “Old Ancestors” Were Selective About Which Grasses Were Brought Inside

When the analysis was complete, the team had identified 29 different phytolith types representing a wide range of plants. This included woody plants, herbs, and grasses.

The team determined that as much as 97% of the burnt matter came from grass. This included disparate species, such as grasses that prefer temperate or cooler climates and grasses that prefer warm and humid conditions to thrive, deposited in the same ash layer.

“Here we show that the Old Ancestors selected whole grasses from the wider landscape and carried them into Cloggs Cave to spread out in thin layers and burn,”  Dr. Grono said. “Over time, sediments covered these burnt layers, preserving each layer on top of another over thousands of years.”

The researchers said the taxonomic analysis revealed that the “Old Ancestors” were selective of which grass types they brought into the cave and which ones they omitted. For example, they avoided what the team noted were “diverse species” of grasses still plentiful in nearby riparian forest and open woodland before European settlement.

“The phytoliths found at Cloggs Cave were from different parts of grass plants such as stems, leaves, flowers, and roots, indicating that whole grasses were brought in, including the inedible parts,” Grono explained.

Selection and Burning Consistent With “Magic and Rituals”

Although there is no direct record of the reason the ancient people selected and burned grass inside of Cobbs Cave, dating back thousands of years, Professor Bruno David from Monash University, who co-led the excavations with GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Corporation, said the behavior is “consistent with GunaiKurnai traditional practices of using ash to perform magic and rituals.” Professor David also noted the practice could allow the participants to track the footsteps of anyone entering the cave, “including spirit beings.”

The team also found macro-botanical evidence, including fat-smeared trimmed wooden sticks from Casuarina trees, in deeper and older pit deposits. Professor David said this discovery suggests that “other kinds of rituals using woody plants” were also performed in Cobbs Cave.

When discussing the historical significance of the discovery, the researchers said that finding partially or completely burned phytoliths “throughout the dated deposits” suggests that humans intentionally brought selected plants and grasses into the cave and burned them “over the entire timespan of the past 25,000 years.”

The study “Phytoliths from Cloggs Cave, GunaiKurnai Country (southeastern Australia) reveal the gathering of whole grasses for burning practices inside the cave” was published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org

Scientists from the Salk Institute have determined that brain waves in the visual cortex serve as a computational engine, allowing the brain to construct internal representations of the external world that enhance prediction, reconstruction, and perception capabilities.

While the scientists behind the new study focused their work on the visual cortex, they suspect that similar brain waves washing over other areas of the brain’s surface likely serve a similar role for other sensory systems.

Unraveling the Role of Traveling Brain Waves in the Visual Cortex

The human brain uses electricity to communicate between synapses. Research has shown that this electrical activity can travel in waves across the brain’s surface. Called neural traveling waves, the phenomenon’s role in brain function and consciousness is not completely understood.

Previous studies have established that traveling brain waves play a significant role in behavior and attention. In 2020, Salk neuroscientist John Reynolds, PhD, successfully identified traveling brain waves in the visual systems of animals during a wakeful state.

According to a statement from Reynolds, the senior and co-corresponding author on the new paper, and colleagues, the 2020 research effort also found a direct correlation between traveling brain waves in the visual cortex and an animal’s ability to perceive objects directly in front of them. The authors suggest this discovery explained the “classic conundrum” of searching for something like a pair of keys or a phone that was right in front of you the whole time.

Although the connection between traveling brain waves and an awake animal’s ability to perceive objects seemed solid, Reynolds said he was left wondering why. 

Process is Analogous to LLM’s Like ChatGPT

In their newly proposed theory, Reynolds and colleagues suggest that traveling brain waves are not simply “electrical noise” resulting from the brain’s normal relaying of signals. Instead, the Salk Institute team proposes that the neural connections responsible for the generation of traveling brain waves change their physiological structure, or “synaptic weights,” to more accurately reflect the outside world.

“Each sight, smell, sound, and action of an animal alters the connections that generate these waves, building the neural circuitry that the brain uses to construct an internal representation of the external world,” the team’s statement explains.

In the visual cortex, the part of the brain responsible for receiving and processing visual information, the team proposed that traveling brain waves perform four distinct functions. These include modulating visual perception from moment to moment and turning recent visual sensory inputs into “internal representations” of objects, people, and surroundings.

The team proposes that traveling brain waves also help humans generate short-term predictions about their surroundings, and “store and replay patterns that represent memories of events unfolding in time.” Reynolds said the process laid out by his team is analogous to how ChatGPT and other LLMs translate and interpret data.

“They learn statistical structure from language and use that knowledge to generate meaningful and appropriately structured text that reflects the patterns of language,” the researcher explained. “The brain may be doing something functionally similar—a biological generative model built from the ground up by experience.”

“One Step Closer” to Understanding How Our Brains Compute the World

When detailing the potential impact of their proposed role for traveling brain waves in the visual cortex, the team highlights the contrast between a rich and complex world and its general predictability.

“Objects around you exist in 3D space, you see the world in retinal images that change with your eye and body movements, and the laws of physics and physiology overlay this all,” they explain.

Reynold’s team says that traveling brain waves are merely the brain’s way of internalizing these predictable “regularities” and encoding them in its synapse network. If correct, they said that this encoding would allow the brain to “infer the likely causes of sensory input and construct an internal model of the world.”

“This framing brings us one step closer to understanding how our brains compute the busy, messy world around us, turning a complicated sensory onslaught into behaviors and experiences,” they conclude.

The study “Neural traveling waves in cortex: network mechanisms and potential roles in neural computation” was published in Neuron.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org

A team of scientists exploring a possible deep-sea coral reef off the coast of Benin that 1960s researchers had deemed likely dead found a living, thriving reef supporting a complex underwater ecosystem, including several coral and fish species.

Led by scientists from the Institut de Recherches Halieutiques et Océanologiques du Bénin, the discovery is the first known mesophotic coral reef in the region and offers scientists a tantalizing target for future deep-sea marine-life expeditions.

Deep-Sea Coral Reef Spotted in the 1960s was Considered Dead

According to a statement announcing the unexpected discovery, previous historical surveys of the area had indicated a possible reef more than 50 meters below the water’s surface. When a 1960s survey detected the unusual feature, they suspected it was a coral reef that was likely dead.

When team leader Gérard Zinzindohoué and colleagues studied the features, they suspected that the team from the 60s may have provided them with a golden scientific opportunity. Although the feature’s depth ruled out a typical shallow-water coral reef, the researchers note that it could be an entirely different kind of reef structure, known as a mesophotic coral ecosystem, that can inhabit such depths.

“A mesophotic coral ecosystem lives deeper than the usual shallow coral reefs, in zones where light is much more limited,” Zinzindohoué explained. “Unlike typical shallow reefs, it does not always form a single continuous reef structure. Instead, it can appear as patchy or scattered coral communities spread across the seafloor.”

Instead of using mid-twentieth-century technology to settle the debate, the team turned to the National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab, which provided access to its Deep-Sea Camera System.

“We Could Actually See the Sea Floor”

Following the path set out by the 1960s survey, the team used the underwater camera to map the seafloor with sonar. After several passes, the team covered a total of 11.5 kilometers. Zinzindohoué highlighted the difficulty of the effort, noting that it was “not an easy field campaign.”

“It was a mix of long days at sea, technical problems, and a lot of uncertainty,” the researcher explained. “But then we saw structures on the sonar that looked like they could be reef signatures, which gave us hope that we were close.”

The closer the team drove the Deep-Sea Explorer’s cameras, the more the shockingly unexpected scene began to unfold.

“That was a big moment for us, because suddenly we could actually see the seafloor,” Zinzindohoué said.

Instead of the dark, lifeless structure anticipated by the original survey team, the new team found a healthy reef containing eight distinct types of coral. The system was also actively supporting eight fish species, with the camera capturing them feeding and sheltering among the corals. The species identified by the team include golden African snappers, blackbar soldierfish, Guinean angelfish, West African goatfish, the Monrovia doctorfish, three-banded butterflyfish, and two distinct species of damselfish.

“I still remember seeing those first images,” Zinzindohoué recalled of the vibrant ecosystem lying directly in front of the cameras. “It was a mix of excitement and disbelief, because after all this time thinking about this reef, suddenly there was something real in front of us.”

More Research Needed to Determine if the Coral Reef Was Ever Dead

When discussing the discovery’s significance, Zinzindohoué said that to the team’s knowledge, “this is the first confirmed record of a living mesophotic coral ecosystem on the Gulf of Guinea continental shelf.”

Although the cameras captured a complex ecosystem, the researchers said that the reef does not appear to be a continuous barrier. Instead, the deep-sea environment consists of several patches of coral that occupy rocky seabed areas most suitable for their survival. Still, they add that further surveys may identify more reefs in the same area.

“I think what we found is probably not an exception,” Zinzindohoué said. “It is more likely a reflection of how little we still know about coastal regions in West Africa and elsewhere. If we were able to find this reef again after 60 years, how many others are still undocumented or simply forgotten?”

Since the team was unable to sample the corals directly, they were unable to confirm the species identification with genetic analysis. The team was also hesitant to condemn the original 1960s survey, noting that it is impossible to tell, without more data, whether the corals were dead at the time and have since rebounded.

“This is still an initial exploration,” Zinzindohoué said. “The historical reports suggested that this could be a continuous coral reef barrier extending roughly 40 kilometers parallel to the coast. We only surveyed a small section of this area, and we had a limited number of visual transects.”

Although there are no immediate plans for a return expedition, the research leader said the only thing holding them back from learning more about these ecosystems, which are “still poorly known in this part of the world,” is adequate financial support.

“If I had all the grant money in the world, the first thing I would do is return to the site with a proper scientific diving and sampling program,” he said, before adding that “every additional piece of information matters.”

“I do believe there are more coral systems out there that we have not yet documented,” he said. “But we should not assume they are everywhere. Each discovery needs to be confirmed. Without going back into the field, we are really just guessing.”

On a personal note, the team leader said the most exciting part is understanding the reef’s history and the lessons that can be gleaned from this underexplored region.

“It feels like we have only just started to read an archive that has been there for a very long time.”

The study “First evidence of live mesophotic coral reefs on the Benin continental shelf” was published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org

Researchers from the University of British Columbia studying material from the mysterious dinosaur-killer meteorite that wiped out 75% of Earth’s species, including non-avian dinosaurs, have determined the doomsday space rock was likely a rare type of carbonaceous chondrite.

Although the international team behind the discovery, which includes researchers from Paris, Brussels, and Vienna, said the evidence for this category of “oddball” meteorite offers a viable solution to its mysterious composition, they note that the rarity of chondrite meteorites makes its origin a new mystery that needs to be solved by future research.

They also note that a chondrite meteorite impact would have much less effect on atmospheric sulfur, which is critical to most extinction models, potentially casting doubt on its central role in dinosaur extinction.

Many Details About the Dinosaur Killer Meteorite Remain a Mystery

According to a statement, the Cretaceous-Paleogene impactor resulted in one of the largest extinction events in the planet’s history. While most scientists agree that the event played a significant role in ending the dinosaurs’ reign, the study’s authors note that “the exact mechanism and the extent of the impact-extinction link are debated.” They also note that the origin and composition of the dinosaur killer have remained a mystery.

An analysis of the Chicxulub impact structure reveals that the doomsday dinosaur-killer meteorite was between 10 and 15 kilometers (approximately 6 to 9 miles) wide. Estimates also suggest it impacted Earth at 64,000 km/m (40,000 mph) beneath the modern-day Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.

Although previous studies identified the meteorite as similar to carbonaceous chondrites, the researchers said that carbonaceous chondrites are a diverse class of space rock, “leaving the exact nature of the impactor unclear.”

“Carbonaceous chondrites of the Ornans class (CO) are definitely not like the typical meteors you find in museum collections,” explained study co-author and visiting professor Dr. Philippe Claeys.

For example, the professor explained, a CO contains fewer volatile elements, such as zinc, carbon, Sulphur, and H20 “than other classes of meteorites we’ve discovered so far on Earth.”

One Mystery Solved

To try to unravel the mystery of the dinosaur-killer meteorite, the researchers teamed up with scientists from the Institut de Physique du Globe and the Université de Paris to conduct high-precision nickel isotope measurements of meteor samples from the event that have been collected over the years from the thin, worldwide layer of clay created by the explosive impact.

Dr. Claeys, a professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, currently visiting the Pacific Center for Isotopic and Geochemical Research in Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at UBC, noted the challenging nature of the isotopic analysis, primarily due to the limited number of samples.

“Only a minute fraction of the projectile is preserved in the planet’s KT clay layer because the entire meteorite vaporized upon impact,” the researcher explained.

Still, the study authors explain, evaluating Nickel isotopes offers several advantages over other testing methods. For example, Nickel has five isotopes that the researchers note  “allow for up to three separate internally normalized signatures.” They also highlight the availability of Nickel in “virtually all types of available early Solar System solids,” including iron meteorites, which allows for comparison with a wide variety of potential impactors.

Finally, they write, CI chondrites have a distinct Ni isotope signature from the rest of the class, therefore “making it possible to distinguish a CI-like impactor clearly” from other meteorite types.

After completing an isotopic analysis of samples of marine clays containing microscopic pieces of the ejecta, the team said their results “constrain the impactor to one group of carbonaceous chondrites, CO chondrites, “ as well as some evidence for “ungrouped chondrites.”

“By combining our new Ni isotope data with the existing evidence, we demonstrate that the composition of the Chicxulub impactor was most likely CO chondrite-like,” the researchers write, adding that this identification is possible “given nickel’s high abundance in primitive meteorites compared to the Earth’s crust and the distinct isotope compositions they record.”

A New Mystery is Created

While the isotopic analysis offers a compelling solution to the composition of the famed dinosaur-killer that slammed into Earth millions of years ago, the team said the identification casts doubt on the extent of its role in the dinosaurs’ extinction. Specifically, they note that CO chondrites are “dry” compared to others in their class, meaning they contain much less of the volatiles that most extinction theories cite as a significant mechanism.

“As highly volatile elements, such as C, N, and S, in CO chondrites are less abundant than in the typical CCs, questions arise whether the impactor was an essential contributor to the volatiles released during the impact,” they explained.

The most important volatile in most extinction theories is Sulfur (S). However, the authors note, CO chondrites would deliver “approximately half as much S” as more common types.

If the new analysis is correct, it also puts the dinosaur-killer’s origin in question. The authors note that possible sources include distant, debris-rich regions of the outer Solar System or even the outer area of the asteroid belt near Jupiter.

Combined with the compositional analysis lacking volatiles, the team notes that their findings allow “further studies of the mechanism behind the extinction.”

Finding “Doesn’t Alter Our Theory” of What Caused Land Dinosaur Extinction

When discussing the potential implications of their findings, the researchers said their study “highlights the extraterrestrial origin of the K-Pg mass extinction and the isotopes of Ni as a well-suited tool to characterize the nature of extraterrestrial material on Earth.” They also note that the composition of the dinosaur-killer “opens the door for further research into the connection between the impact and the mass extinction.”

From a scientific perspective, the research said their work “highlights the use of Ni isotopes in fingerprinting extraterrestrial materials on Earth,” and helps evaluate the risks associated with “potential future impact events and their consequences.” The study also shows how even an uncommon type of space rock can permanently alter the planet’s history.

“Being impacted by such a rare, distant projectile really underscores how unlucky the dinosaurs were,” Dr. Claeys said.

The researcher also noted that the lack of volatiles in this category of meteorite “doesn’t alter our theory of what caused the extinction event.” However, he notes, if correct, the result “makes it less likely that Sulphur contained in the impactor was the smoking gun.”  Instead, the fine debris “thrown into the atmosphere” by the forceful impact would have been the primary factor in the end of the dinosaurs.

The study “The origin of Cretaceous-Palaeogene impactor revealed by nickel isotopes” was published in Science Advances.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org

An international research team led by Harvard scientists has announced the first-ever detection of an atmosphere on an Earth-like rocky exoplanet, LHS 1140 b, orbiting within its star’s habitable zone, only 48 light-years away.

The researchers behind the historic discovery, which they are calling “a major milestone in the search for life on other planets,” said the detection of an atmosphere on an Earth-like rocky exoplanet offers the strongest evidence to date that worlds with similar compositions and temperatures to Earth that are also capable of supporting life could exist beyond our solar system.

Models Predicted First Earth-like Rocky Habitable Zone Exoplanet Atmosphere

In a statement announcing the detection of an atmosphere around a habitable-zone rocky exoplanet, the discovery was motivated by theoretical predictions suggesting that LHS 1140 b may contain an atmosphere. The planet was even more tantalizing because its orbit around its host red dwarf star allows for liquid water on its surface, a key ingredient for life as we know it.

Although thousands of exoplanets have been confirmed since 1995, including habitable-zone rocky worlds similar in size and composition to Earth, the team notes that determining whether any of these potential Earth analogs maintain an atmosphere. Like water, an atmosphere is considered a likely necessity for life to emerge.

“An atmosphere is essential for a planet to support life as we know it,” explained Collin Cherubim, the lead author of a study detailing the findings, who recently earned his Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University.

Robin Wordsworth, the Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering and Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard, said that as recently as twenty years ago, astronomers still didn’t know if other, terrestrial-type planets “even existed.” However, he explained, they quickly found that this type of planet was common, including some orbiting within their star’s habitable zone.

“The next question was whether any of them had managed to keep an atmosphere,” the professor added.

Infrared Observations Confirm Historic First  

Before performing any direct observations, the team used computer models to predict what they might find on LHS 1140 b. As noted, those models predicted an upper atmosphere rich in helium. The models also suggested that the atmospheric helium was slowly escaping into space.

To test the model’s predictions, Cherubim and colleagues gained access to the Warm Infrared Echelle (WINERED) Spectrograph on the Magellan Observatory in Chile. The team noted that this powerful telescope allowed them to observe an alignment of LHS 1140 b and another planet transiting its star “on the same night.”

When analyzing the data, the team found that one of the planets appeared to lack any measurable atmosphere. However, as their models had predicted, helium was actively escaping from LHS 1140 b. The finding confirmed that this rocky exoplanet orbiting within its star’s habitable zone was actively maintaining an atmosphere.

David Charbonneau, the head of the Harvard Department of Astronomy and an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and Cherubim’s co-advisor with Wordsworth, was initially skeptical because the entire concept was based on a mathematical prediction of a phenomenon astronomers had never witnessed directly. However, Professor Charbonneau ended up praising the student’s determination and follow-through, which led to the historic detection.

“Collin analyzed the planets we knew about and predicted that this one would have a helium atmosphere,” Charbonneau said. “Then he organized telescope time, got the data, and the detection was statistically rock solid.”

“Hopefully it’s just the First of Many More Observations to Come”

When discussing the implications of the findings, Cherubim noted that “this is the first time anyone has found an atmosphere on a rocky planet in the habitable zone of another star.” Professor Wordsworth agreed, once again noting that until now, planets in these categories with atmospheres had been purely theoretical.

“Now we know at least one has,” the professor said.

The data also suggest that LHS 1140 b’s atmosphere has likely survived for more than three billion years, roughly three-quarters of Earth’s existence. This durability makes LHS 1140 b an excellent candidate for future exoplanet atmosphere studies.

More broadly, the team said that using ground-based observatories to search for escaping gases, such as the helium detected leaving LHS 1140 b, “may become an important tool for studying atmospheres on rocky exoplanets.” They also note the potential value of atmospheric detection for astrobiologists searching for signs of life in the cosmos.

As for Cherubim, he plans on following up his historic discovery with a more detailed analysis of the planet’s atmospheric composition. He also said he would like to investigate the possible presence of surface oceans or other planetary characteristics typically associated with habitability and life. The entire team also said they would like to use Cherubim’s model to search for similar Earth-like, habitable-zone rocky exoplanets.

“This has been a model validation, and hopefully it’s just the first of many more observations to come,” Cherubim said.

The study, “Helium escaping from the atmosphere of a nearby rocky exoplanet orbiting in a habitable zone,” was published in Science.

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

An international team of researchers has demonstrated a new biosignature detection method for distinguishing between abiotic and biotic apatite mineral samples on Mars using instruments already aboard the Perseverance Rover, rather than returning samples to Earth.

The team said their mineral-based biosignature detection approach was successful in identifying samples with nearly 98% accuracy and allows for “deeper time” searches for signs of life, given the longer-lasting nature of minerals compared to biological materials. They also suggest their approach could broaden the capabilities of upcoming rover and life-hunting missions without adding new tools or sensors.

Advantages of a Mineral-Based Approach for Hunting Biosignatures

In a study detailing the team’s technique, Robert M. Hazen from the Carnegie Institution for Science and colleagues explained that searching for life and biosignatures beyond Earth “is a central objective of astrobiology.” They also note that this research is complemented by studies exploring the origin and early evolution of terrestrial life. Still, they add, although identifying biosignatures remains a key challenge, “robust mineral biosignatures remain limited.”

For example, most proposed biosignature missions focus on organic molecules or searching for fossils preserved in sedimentary environments or aquatic environments, including the subsurface oceans of some of the solar system’s moons. However, there are few, if any, proposed missions searching for signs of life preserved in mineral records, which the team notes “can retain records of biological activity over much longer geological timescales”

On Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover has meticulously collected soil and rock samples deemed most likely to contain biosignatures. However, efforts to send a future sample-return mission to the red planet to retrieve samples are currently stalled and may never be completed.

According to the study authors, there are flight-ready instruments “already deployed on the “Perseverance” rover and planned for deployment on the “Rosalind Franklin” rover capable of searching for signs of life in place rather than returning the samples to labs on Earth. However, they add, “to fully exploit these mission-limited yet information-rich tools, it is essential to efficiently extract as much diagnostic value as possible from the data they generate.”

To search for mineral-based biosignatures, the team focused its research on Raman spectroscopy.

Using Instruments Already Aboard Mars Rovers to Search for Life

“Raman spectroscopy is particularly attractive because it provides bond-specific information on crystal structure and chemical substitution in a nondestructive manner,” they explain.

The team also notes that the Raman spectra acquired by the rover’s instruments “are highly comparable to those obtained under laboratory conditions,” increasing the robustness of any possible life signal.

“This consistency enables direct translation of laboratory reference datasets to planetary environments,” they write.

However, they add, Raman spectra from natural geological samples are often complex, including “overlapping vibrational modes, heterogeneous backgrounds, and chemistry-dependent band shifts.” Until now, this complexity has made interpreting samples based on individual spectral peaks or qualitative inspection inherently challenging.

“Identifying reliable biosignatures that can be detected by flight-ready instruments, such as Raman spectroscopy, remains a central challenge in astrobiology,” the researchers explain. “Developing robust mineralogical indicators of life therefore represents a critical and complementary approach for planetary exploration.”

Approach Distinguishes Abiotic and Biotic Features

To test their approach, the team focused on the mineral apatite. A ubiquitous phosphate, the team notes that apatite can be found “in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments.” Although apatite is a major component of biological formations such as teeth and bones, it also forms naturally, providing an opportunity to search for biosignatures over much longer timescales if scientists can differentiate the two.

“Here, we integrate Raman spectroscopy with interpretable machine learning to distinguish biotic from abiotic apatite, a ubiquitous phosphate mineral in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments,” the researchers write.

First, Hazen and colleagues compiled 331 Raman spectra samples. Critically, they included only specimens with known origin attributes: biogenic, abiogenic, or synthetic.

Next, they used this data to extract 21 “band-resolved features.” This was accomplished by training a random forest classifier to identify the “most diagnostic” features of each sample.

“Determining the origin of a sample involves assessing multiple independently varying features of a Raman spectrum, including band positions, widths, and relative intensities, the type of multivariate analysis well suited to machine learning,” the study authors explain.

After some comparative analysis, the team ultimately determined that a sample’s carbonate band and the width of the dominant phosphate band, “reflecting chemical composition and crystal structure, respectively,” were the strongest indicators of biological, natural, or synthetic origin.

After using their method to check the 311 samples, the team said the model successfully  distinguished biotic from abiotic apatite “with classification accuracy exceeding 96%.” In fact, the team reported that their mineral-based biosignature detection method misidentified only one biotic apatite sample as abiotic and one abiotic sample as biological.

“Here, we show that biologically formed apatite can be distinguished from abiotic counterparts using interpretable machine learning applied to Raman spectra,” the study authors write.

Life Detection Across Diverse Planetary Environments

When discussing the potential implications of their new mineral-based biosignature detection approach, the team noted that their findings establish a “broadly applicable and mission-relevant strategy for deep-time archives and future planetary missions.” More broadly, the researchers note that their findings highlight the “growing importance of combining flight-ready analytical instruments with AI” to fully leverage datasets already captured by Mars rovers and other “in situ” planetary missions.

“As planetary exploration increasingly shifts toward autonomous decision-making and target selection, the integration of interpretable AI with mineralogical biosignatures offers a powerful and extensible framework,” they write.

Beyond mineral-based biosignature detection strategies, the research team notes that future life hunting missions will “increasingly rely on the joint interpretation of mineralogical and organic spectroscopic signatures.” These include on-board py-GC-MS measurements, infrared spectroscopy, luminescence, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and “other analytic methods.”

Future approaches will increasingly rely on AI to analyze these disparate datasets, which the authors note will allow for biologically mediated patterns to be distinguished from natural or synthetic backgrounds “in a physically and chemically consistent manner.”

“In this context, such an integrative and interpretable framework provides a pathway toward autonomous, mechanism-informed life detection across diverse planetary environments, advancing the broader goals of planetary science in understanding habitability, biosignature preservation, and the coevolution of geology and biology,” the authors conclude.

The study “Mineral biosignature identification from Raman spectroscopy using machine learning” was published in PNAS Nexus. 

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

Scientists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have unveiled a method for tracking silently moving underwater and surface objects by using existing fiber-optic cables to measure water displacement.

The scientists behind the novel detection approach, which was designed to detect whales even when they aren’t vocalizing, also demonstrated the method’s ability to track surface ships and potentially underwater vessels, such as submarines, that traditionally rely on silence for stealth.

Tracking Silently Moving Whales and Other Objects

In the research team’s study, the authors explain that it is already possible to record and reconstruct marine mammal vocalizations, including those of whales, using seabed fiber-optic cables. They note that the current method, called distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), allows scientists to passively monitor whale behavior, “enabling both the detection of vocalizations and the simultaneous tracking of multiple individuals.”

However, they add, although this data can prove valuable in tracking these increasingly endangered animals, “it has not been possible to track marine mammals when they are silent.”

“A fundamental limitation of passive acoustic monitoring is that most methods rely on acoustic data, which is only available when whales vocalize,” the study authors explain, adding that this limitation “clearly demonstrates the need for new sensing methods that can detect silent whales.”

Although the researchers propose several methods, including combining DAS data with satellite and observational data to paint a more complete picture, they also note a “second path” that involves exploring current datasets to discover new, valuable acoustic signatures even when the animals are silent.

Detecting Hydrodynamic Pressure Changes Caused by Ships and Animals

When exploring new ways to interpret DAS data collected by seabed fiber-optic cables, the team explained how low-frequency strain variations may arise from “a range of physical mechanisms.” These include hydrodynamic processes “associated with moving objects.”

For example, the authors explain, when a ship moves across the ocean surface, it pushes water ahead of it and draws water along in its wake. This motion through the water medium generates a strain on the surrounding water described as a hydrodynamic pressure field. According to the team, this motion-induced pressure field  “extends downward through the water column.”

“The displacement of water generated by moving whales and ships induces a moving hydrodynamic pressure field that extends through the water column, dynamically loading and unloading the seafloor,” they explain.

Changes in this pressure field caused by moving objects cause sediments on the ocean floor to deform laterally and vertically. In areas of the seafloor with fiberoptic cables buried underneath, the DAS system records this “lateral deformation” of the sediments, which “translates into strain that can be observed in the DAS data.”

“This means that no acoustic signal is involved, and we can ‘listen’ to silent whales,” they write.

Tests Demonstrate Tracking Surface Ships and Submerged Whales

To calibrate their approach, the team used surface ships as “proxies” in a series of field experiments. According to their study, the four interrogator units (IU) were installed “during the DAS experiment on Svalbard in 2022.” Then, another unit was installed in Longyearbyen in March 2025. Although the study focuses on the newer IUs, the team notes that all the experimental data “was used to analyze how coupling affects the detectability of hydrodynamic pressure field signatures and how the signal characteristics change with increasing source-receiver distance.”

In those experiments, the team investigated four ships of different sizes. Notably, all ships were observed at a depth of 70 to 80 meters and were traveling at roughly the same speed. Critically, ship size, speed, and route data can be verified externally, providing a check on the study’s results.

“Ships are observed in the DAS data year-round, and the AIS is available to confirm which ship is sailing above the fiber and at what time,” they explain.

As expected, they found that the DAS signal amplitude “scales with the size of the ship.” For example, the smallest ship they observed barely registered above the background noise, making it the hardest to track. Conversely, the largest vessel tracked by the team, an icebreaker, left the clearest signal.

The researchers also demonstrated the ability to observe hydrodynamic pressure and velocity signals from a cruise ship at a water depth of 413 m, “and up to 550 m from the fiber cable.” However, when the team searched for whales, the range was much more limited.

“The smaller blue whales can be observed when diving within 40 m of the fiber-optical cable,” they explain.

During a dedicated test segment, the team monitored what they interpreted as several silently moving whales traversing through the detection zone. Although they were unable to independently confirm they were whales in the same way they could confirm the ships, the team notes that “multiple lines of analysis support the interpretation that whales are responsible for the observed signals.”

The team also notes that AIS data confirmed that no acoustic ship signatures were present “in the time window studied.” They add that this result “reduces the likelihood that the observed low-frequency signals originate from vessels.”

The Signal Amplitude Decreases with Increasing Distance From the Fiber

When discussing the implications of their findings, the team said their data shows that the observed low-frequency response captured by the fiber-optic cables “is consistent with translating hydrodynamic pressure fields generated by the displacement of water by moving ships and other large bodies such as whales.”

“This sensing method enables an approach to monitoring one of the world’s most endangered species,” they explain, adding that it is even more effective at detecting submerged objects than at detecting surface ships.

“A fully submerged object generates a more symmetric pressure field, while a surface-bound ship produces a truncated field due to the air–water interface, which limits the downward extent of the pressure field,” the study authors write.

When discussing the limitations of their innovative, silent, object-tracking approach, the team notes that it is only effective for tracking smaller ships and whales at close range.

“Kvitungen is the smallest ship investigated in this work and is barely observed above the noise floor for a water depth of ∼75 m,” they write. “Blue whales are even smaller and are unlikely to be detected at distances greater than approximately 30 to 40 m from the fiber.”

The team also notes that although larger ships generate stronger signals than smaller ones, “the signal amplitude decreases with increasing distance from the fiber.”

Other limitations involved data returns suggesting whales that were either “abnormally long or surprisingly small.” The team said this seemingly impossible result “underlines that our simple model needs further development to obtain more precise results.”

The study “Detecting silent whales using seabed fiber-optic cables” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 

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

An international team of geophysicists examining the Southern Indian Ocean floor witnessed a section greater than two meters split apart, releasing millions of cubic meters of stored-up magma within just a few days.

Jean-Yves Royer, a marine geophysicist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Brest and a co-author of the study detailing the team’s serendipitous discovery, said witnessing the ocean floor splitting apart in real time was “a major surprise,” while the team hailed the scientific value of finally witnessing these processes up close.

Scientists Have Never Witnessed The Ocean Floor Splitting Apart in Real Time

Because the ocean floor is dynamic, the movement of tectonic plates pulling the existing crust away from mid-oceanic ridges allows magma to well up to the surface. When it dries, this material solidifies, adding to the existing crust. While scientists have understood this process for decades, no one has ever witnessed the phenomenon directly. This absence has left a gap in scientific knowledge that, as study co-author Isobel Yeo, a geoscientist at the National Oceanography Center in Southampton, UK, notes, persists to this day.

“We still know remarkably little about the frequency, magnitude, and dynamics of the eruptions and tectonic processes that build them”, the researcher explained

To try to fill that gap, the team focused its research on a section of the seafloor called the Southeast Indian Ridge, which runs east to west across the Indian Ocean. Due to its location, the ridge separates two tectonic plates, the Antarctic and the Australian.

The team notes that these two plates, which contain Antarctica and Oceania and the surrounding oceanic crust, are continuously moving in opposite directions by roughly six centimeters each year. Although both plates are exerting stress on the ridge, the team said the northward movement of the Australian plate accounts for most of this annual expansion.

The motion dynamics can also change by location. For example, one section of the Australian plate may stay stationary for a period and then suddenly experience a large surge in motion. These sudden events are accompanied by earthquakes. 

Ocean Floor Movement in Real Time

In hopes of catching the ocean floor splitting in real time, Royer and colleagues ventured to the Southeastern Indian Ridge in February 2024. Once on site, the team deployed three categories of sensors at several different locations along a 100-kilometer stretch of the ridge. The sensor array included five hydrophones that detect underwater sound, including the telltale sonic waves produced by earthquakes. The team also deployed 15 battery-powered acoustic beacons designed to emit and detect sounds at selected locations along the ridge.

Because the acoustic beacons can produce and receive sounds, the team programmed them to exchange audio signals every four hours. This regular exchange allowed the team to measure the time between sound and response, which they used to determine the distance between the two beacons at four-hour intervals.

After the sensors were all in place, the team’s efforts finally paid off. According to the study, the carefully placed hydrophones began to detect seismic tremors on the ocean floor. These signals were followed by several days of acoustic beacon returns, indicating some of the stations had moved. When the team calculated the time between beacon signals, they determined that some sections of the ocean floor had moved by “at least” two meters as they were pulled away from the ridge.

The team also found evidence that the ocean floor was splitting apart in real time, altering the ocean floor’s depth. According to a reading from a single pressure sensor, the depth change caused by the event was “substantial.”

a rare direct view of these processes in action

In the study’s conclusion, the research team estimates that 160 million cubic meters of lava rose between the split ocean floor and spilled onto the seafloor. They also suggested that the magma explosion emptied a reservoir that had accumulated along the ridge, which caused portions of the floor to “subside.”

Royer said the team was only expecting to find a vertical displacement of “a few centimeters.” Instead, he notes, “we measured 4.2 meters.” The team said this large amount of change suggests that three to six decades’ worth of stress from the northward movement of the Australian tectonic plate was released during the ocean-floor-splitting event.

When discussing the significance of witnessing the ocean floor splitting apart in real time for the first time, Yeo said their study “provides a rare direct view of these processes in action.”

The study “Anatomy of a seafloor spreading event captured by in situ seismogeodesy” was published in Nature.

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

Scientists from Arizona State University have performed computer simulations suggesting viable methods for controlling the weather by ‘nudging” systems in their development stages with proven technologies to mitigate or even completely avoid the damage from extreme weather events.

Although the new approach, which the team termed “Weather Jiu-Jitsu,” hasn’t been tested in real-world conditions, the researchers behind the new perspective paper outlining the process said it could help humans better prepare for severe weather systems by finding ways to live with nature rather than reacting to it.

Controlling the Weather Could Mitigate Property Damage and Loss of Life

When detailing their approach, ASU researcher Qin Huang and colleagues highlight the historical damage caused by extreme weather events, including floods, heat waves, droughts, and ‘freezes.’ In addition to the loss of life, estimates suggest that climate extremes caused $417 billion in damage in 2024 alone.

The paper’s authors also note that such extreme weather events “are increasing in frequency and intensity,” a trend research suggests is strongly driven by rising global temperatures. Although there have been some efforts to mitigate the effects of extreme weather, the paper’s authors write that increasing populations and continued climate change “heighten exposure to risks that conventional infrastructure cannot fully address.”

“The growing impact of weather extremes on society highlights that traditional approaches such as dams, levees, and insurance alone may not be sufficient to address the widespread consequences of these hazards,” the authors write.

To explore alternatives, the team wondered if small adjustments to burgeoning weather systems could redirect their paths or lessen their severity. In some ways, it’s like redirecting an incoming meteor to miss the Earth or hit it at a more oblique angle to lessen the impact.

“Imagine harnessing the power of nature to help steer hurricanes away from land, redirect atmospheric rivers to spread their rain safely and evenly, or defuse extreme weather patterns like heatwaves, freezes, or prolonged droughts before they take hold,” Huang and colleagues write. “It’s a vision where we partner with Earth’s own forces to create resilience, rather than reacting to disasters. We call it Weather Jiu-Jitsu.”

‘Nudging’ Weather System Trajectories with Weather Jiu-Jitsu

When detailing how the process would work, the team explained that Weather Jiu-Jitsu takes advantage of the “chaotic sensitivity of mid-latitude atmospheric dynamics to redirect destructive weather trajectories through small, precisely timed perturbations,” using forecasting models that project system paths and intensities.

“Our thesis is that Weather Jiu-Jitsu, i.e., adaptive chaos control applied to mid-latitude atmospheric dynamics, may provide a 21st century approach to managing a range of extreme weather events by nudging the system trajectories,” they explain.

Due to the challenges and risks of testing weather-control methods in real-world conditions, the researchers developed proof-of-concept computer simulations. Critically, their approach used established models of atmospheric circulation and a large-scale artificial intelligence “deep-learning Earth system” model, Aurora, designed to predict weather at high resolution.

According to the team’s research, carefully timed seeding of clouds could have major impacts on a storm’s path and intensity, noting that “nudges applied days before peak impact can shift a hurricane track to avoid landfall on a major city, weaken the peak intensity of a blocking-driven cold extreme, and reduce atmospheric river moisture transport under favorable upstream conditions.”

When testing their weather control approach on historically extreme climate events, the results were significant. For example, the team found that small, carefully timed cloud seeding operations applied in the critical days before the peak of an extreme weather event “could have shifted the track of the 2012 Hurricane Sandy by about 300 miles to miss New York City.”

The model also indicated that a similar approach could have raised the lowest temperature extremes experienced during the 2021 Texas freeze “by about 18 degrees Fahrenheit.” Similarly, the model revealed that the approach could have reduced the damaging precipitation levels associated with the 2022 atmospheric river that caused flooding in California by about 5%.

“By leveraging the atmosphere’s inherent sensitivity, Weather Jiu-Jitsu seeks not to overpower nature, but to collaborate with it: nudging storm tracks, influencing jet stream meanders, and possibly mitigating compound extremes before they fully develop,” the authors explain.

Revolutionizing the Risk from Extreme Climate Events

When discussing the potential impacts of controlling the weather before serious damage can occur, the study authors noted that it would be “transformative” for the planet. They also noted that controlling the weather could offer an outsized benefit to the most vulnerable people “who do not have recourse to other protections from weather extremes.”

Still, they add that demonstrating the real-world benefits of their approach to controlling the weather while accounting for “natural variability” will require evidence of tangible outcomes. The suggestion is that these metrics would include “reductions in peak precipitation intensity, flood inundation extent, and insured economic losses.”

To achieve this goal, Huang and colleagues recommended a three-stage approach. In the near term, they suggested starting with “controlled deep-learning perturbation experiments” for historical extreme events like floods and droughts, and air them with an “observational system design.” In the medium term, Huang and colleagues suggested implementing “scaled regional pilot studies” and developing a “governance framework development with WMO and UNEP.” The final proposed phase involved limited operational pilot experiments in select locations “under formal international oversight with systematic outcome monitoring.”

“We outline an argument that control over catastrophic weather extremes is imperative to reduce exposure to catastrophic events that are not mitigated by traditional physical, financial, or social infrastructure, and explore conditions under which this may be feasible,” the authors conclude. “If such an approach were successful, it could revolutionize hydroclimatic risk mitigation.”

The study “Weather Jiu-Jitsu: Prospects for atmospheric nudging to defuse the impact of catastrophic weather extremes” was published in PLOS Water.

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

The fascinating behind-the-scenes story of the exploits of the first team of private astronauts to cross the Kármán line is finally being told.

A newly released documentary film, “Beyond Blue Sky: The Untold Story of the First Private Astronauts,” now available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime, reveals the award-winning accomplishment and includes firsthand testimony from the pilots and engineers who made the inaugural private astronaut space flights possible.

The film also includes one of the two record-setting astronauts, U.S. Navy combat veteran Brian Binnie, sharing an unusual, life-altering experience for the first time on screen, an event that he credits for inspiring him to continue after a crushing setback almost ended his dreams of flying to space.

A Private Astronaut’s Failure and a UAP Encounter

In an email to The Debrief, documentary filmmaker Kevin Curran noted that his Emmy-nominated crew, “with a proven space pedigree,” including chronicling milestones of Blue Origin, SpaceX, Astrobotic, and NASA, was able to capture “razor’s-edge supersonic test flight footage” to reveal the story of the first team of private astronauts to join the small group of humans to have ventured into space.

Along the way, the documentary depicts the team’s successes and failures in their pursuit of reaching space for the first time—and then doing so two more times with extra ballast—to win a $10 million prize.

Although Binnie, a Princeton-educated aeronautical engineer and 20-year Navy pilot, would typically seem like the obvious choice for the award-winning space attempt, a difficult crash landing on the first rocket-powered test flight of the program had Binnie doubting whether he would get another opportunity to pilot SpaceShipOne for the remaining five test flights.

As incredible as the team’s historic accomplishments were, Curran told The Debrief that the story took an unexpected, but inspiring turn when Binnie revealed an out-of-this-world encounter that he credited with inspiring him to recover from that setback and ultimately make the historic flight.

“The rest of the documentary is pretty incredible/riveting, I think, but [Binnie’s] story makes it so topical right now with the Pentagon’s release of UAP files,” Curran told The Debrief.

“I Turned Around Expecting to See Them Behind Me”

According to Curran, his team had no idea about Binnie’s encounter when they started filming. As the ebullient filmmaker noted, the team was about six weeks into production on a film that he says “we thought would simply be an untold, feel-good story involving perseverance and redemption within the birth of private spaceflight.” Then, while the cameras rolled, Binnie made his revelation.

Although Curran notes that the pilot had previously confided in “dozens of people within the aerospace and test flight world over the years about his extreme close encounter,” this was the first time the veteran of 33 combat missions had “courageously” shared his experience on-screen.

“Like any good story, it simply became more fascinating the more we pulled on the thread,” Curran told The Debrief.

The tale began on December 17, 2003, when Binnie successfully piloted SpaceShipOne to nearly 68,000 feet on its first rocket-powered test flight, a critical early accomplishment that made him the first pilot to go supersonic in a privately funded vehicle. However, the flight ended in an extremely rough landing that damaged the craft’s landing gear, wing, and fuselage, putting Binnie’s future as one of three test pilots of SpaceShipOne in doubt.

“After the crash, the 47-year-old Binnie faced the reality that he may never fly the spaceship again on the remaining five test flights of the program,” a summary emailed to The Debrief explains.

Six days after the hard landing, Binnie was awake one morning at around 4 a.m., unable to sleep comfortably in his bed. Then, according to the astronaut’s account, he noticed that “bright lights were coming through my window blinds. I rose, opened the window blinds to find that daylight had manifested in my backyard.” The decorated Navy veteran noted that while his backyard was illuminated, everything else he looked at was dark.

The next part of Binnie’s story details the presence of around a dozen translucent, glowing “orbs” he said he could perceive within the lit area. However, the pilot recalled, the orbs did not seem bright enough to account for the inordinately bright light illuminating his backyard. During his on-screen recollection, the award-winning pilot also details the movement of the orbs, including two of them approaching him from approximately 50 feet away, passing through his bedroom window, and entering his chest.

“I turned around expecting to see them behind me, but they weren’t there,” he said.

Binnie described the pre-dawn experience as “the most incredible thing I ever witnessed.”

The Impact on Binnie and the Documentary Crew

When discussing the impact that the unusual experience had on him, Binnie told Curran’s team that he initially searched for a conventional explanation. With advanced engineering degrees and a 20-year Navy career that led him to become both a test pilot and manager of the SpaceShipOne program, he was well accustomed to evaluating unusual observations. However, after exhausting all prosaic possibilities, the trained scientist, pilot, and observer ultimately concluded that the mysterious glowing orbs represented an intelligent phenomenon that had somehow allowed him to perceive them.

“It gave me hope that I had a purpose, and that purpose was to not simply take defeat, but was to pick myself up and continue,” Binnie told the documentarian.

After what the team calls “a bizarre series of events” that offered Binnie a second chance to pilot SpaceShipOne, the newly reinvigorated aviator boarded the craft’s final flight on October 4, 2004. During the launch phase, when the pilot and craft are hauled to a high latitude by the mothership, White Knight, Binnie said he once again reflected on the apparent UAP experience, including how he felt the orbs had given him an intangible drive to complete his mission and make history.

By the time the flight was complete, winning both the Collier and Ansari XPRIZE, Curran said the accomplishment proved that a team of “renegade geniuses” could achieve a NASA-level feat for a fraction of the space agency’s typical cost. As far as the late pilot’s unusual UAP encounter, Curran credits Binnie’s courage for sharing his experience with UAPs, while also noting the effect the man’s retelling had on him and his crew.

Brian Confided in Colleagues for Years, But This is His First Filmed Account

“One thing I wish to clarify, in the event it matters, is that I believe Brian’s story,” Curran told The Debrief, while once again citing the combat veteran’s impressive credentials.

The documentarian also noted that there has been a stigma around the UAP subject for a long time, and that Binnie “was really brave to come out to me in 2020 before any of the House Oversight Committee testimonies or recent releases by the Pentagon.”

Brian confided in only a few aerospace colleagues about the experience for many years, and even learned of another astronaut with a similar experience, but the story’s inclusion in the film was the first time he shared it on record before passing away.

“I simply want to protect Brian Binnie’s memory and surviving family, as he was always kind to me, inspiring, and I’m proud to have called him a friend,” Curran concluded.

The project “is dedicated to the memory of test pilots Brian Binnie and Mike Melvill, the first two private astronauts who had the courage to fly stick-and-rudder to space,” the documentary team states.

“Thankfully, they shared their extraordinary stories on camera before they were lost forever in the Mojave sand,” the team concludes.

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

Experiments exploring the effects of missing a night’s sleep on the human brain have found indications that a sleepless night actually increases connections between brain cells instead of impeding growth. However, the lack of sleep could also create brain “fatigue” and pressure, resulting in burnout.

The Forschungszentrum Jülich Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine team behind the discovery said that their findings might support the idea that sleep plays an important role in restoring the brain’s cellular balance.

Missing a Night’s Sleep Could Disrupt Cellular Balance

In a statement announcing the surprising discovery, study leader David Elmenhorst and colleagues note that scientists still are not in complete consensus about why humans and other animals need sleep. One proposal involves restoring synaptic connections between brain cells during certain stages of sleep, helping the brain maintain a form of cellular ‘homeostasis.’

For example, previous research has shown that synaptic connectivity increases during wakefulness. This increased activity also increases energy consumption, potentially resulting in problematic protein buildup. Conversely, scientists suspect that sleep helps restore baseline synaptic connections and protein levels, thereby maintaining a healthy cellular balance.

“Sleep is essential for synaptic homeostasis, a proposed mechanism whereby wake­fulness leads to synaptic potentiation, and sleep facilitates synaptic down-selection,” the research team explains in a recently published study.

Although previous studies suggest that missing a night’s sleep could disrupt this balance, the team notes that there is very little experimental data to support these conclusions.

Study Reveals Elevated Synaptic Activity After 28 Hours Awake

To explore the role of sleep in cellular homeostasis in the human brain, the researchers used an advanced brain-scanning technology called positron emission tomography (PET). According to the team’s statement, this tool can scan the human brain for signs of synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A),  which they describe as a “marker” of brain synapses.

The team started by enlisting 40 study volunteers. Next, each volunteer was given a PET scan to establish baseline marker levels. After their first scan, 20 of the volunteers were told to get a normal night’s sleep. According to the study authors, the second half were assigned to “the sleep deprivation condition,” where they were told to miss a night’s sleep.

The next day, the team used the PET scan to search for telltale brain synapse markers. As hoped, the scans revealed a distinct difference between the two groups. Where the normal sleep group’s levels were within expected ranges, the synapse markers of the volunteers who had missed a night’s sleep were elevated.

A closer analysis found that once people passed 28 hours of continued wakefulness, their SV2A markers were higher “in several brain regions.” Notably, these increased markers were detected in the hippocampus, which plays an important role in memory, and in the thalamus, which is critical for information relay within the brain.

“Sleep deprivation led to significant increases in synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A binding in multiple brain regions, including the thalamus (+4.6%), hippocampus (+5.6%), and parietal cortex (+3.2%), whereas no changes were observed in controls,” the study authors write.

Sleep Deprivation Causes Fatigue and CHanges Neural COnnections

When discussing the study’s limitations, the authors note that the SV2A marker used is a “proxy” for connections between brain cells, not a direct measure. They also note that the observed changes after a missed night’s sleep “were relatively small.” Still, they add, the results in several regions across several study participants “suggest a biological connection between the need for sleep and the buildup of cell connections.”

“During sleep deprivation, the brain remains awake longer and continues to process stimuli and information,” they write. “Our study shows that after approximately 28.5 hours of wakefulness, a marker for synaptic density increases in several brain regions. This suggests that sleep deprivation not only causes fatigue but is also accompanied by measurable changes in neural connections.”

The study “Sleep deprivation increases levels of the synaptic density marker SV2A in the human brain” was published in PLOS Biology.

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

A virtual tour of the historic UK monument, called the Virtual World of Stonehenge, which allows users to visit one of the world’s most iconic historical sites, has just been released online to coincide with the annual summer solstice.

Along with capturing the entire 2022 British Museum’s Stonehenge virtual tour, the new online experience developed by researchers at the University of Reading allows users to travel back in time to witness the site at various stages of construction on their phones, PCs, or other devices without leaving the comfort of their homes.

Building the Virtual World of Stonehenge with 3D scans

According to a statement announcing the new online Virtual World of Stonehenge experience, the museum’s original ‘World of Stonehenge’ exhibition, which opened on February 17, 2022, attracted over 190,000 visitors and brought together “over 400 objects from 36 institutions across Europe.”

“The original exhibition brought together an extraordinary collection of prehistoric objects, many of which had never been displayed together before,” explained team member and study author, Professor Duncan Garrow, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading. However, the team noted, viewing the entire complex, interactive exhibit required in-person attendance.

To capture the experience and make it available worldwide, Professor Garrow and colleagues joined forces with researchers at the University of Southampton. They also enlisted the services of ArtasMedia, a team of “digital heritage specialists” which employed laser scans to digitally capture every inch of the exhibit. According to the team, these 3D scans of the original World of Stonehenge gallery were taken during the exhibition’s final weeks.

Taking the Online Tour Makes History “More Accessible”

Along with capturing all the original exhibit, the team said that the new online experience allows users to “go inside Stonehenge itself and watch it change through time, explore Neolithic flint mines at Grimes Graves, and discover rarely seen prehistoric objects through animation, soundscapes and interactive content.”

“Timed to release alongside the summer solstice, the new virtual version goes well beyond a simple recreation of the gallery,” they explain.

Some of the most striking objects featured in the museum exhibit and the virtual tour include a 6,000-year-old elm leaf, a bracelet woven from cow hair, and the remains of what the team called a “prehistoric feast.” When scanned with 3D lasers and combined with their historical context, the team said the lesser-known objects and their stories suddenly become “more accessible.”

“Now anyone, anywhere they are, can not only see those objects but understand the world of Stonehenge and experience how it looked and felt thousands of years ago,” Professor Darrow said. “We hope it brings prehistoric Britain to life in a completely new way.” 

Release Intentionally Timed with the Summer Solstice

When discussing the value of putting the Virtual World of Stonehenge online, Dr Neil Wilkin at the British Museum said the project has prompted him and his colleagues to consider the future of virtual museum exhibitions, “not just at the British Museum but everywhere across the world.”

Funded by UK Research and Innovation and building on AHRC-funded research led by British Museum curator Dr Neil Wilkin, in partnership with Professor Duncan Garrow at the University of Reading, the June 21st release of the online experience was timed to coincide with the summer solstice. Although some aspects of the iconic structure’s function may remain in dispute, most historians and many enthusiasts believe the site has been home to solstice celebrations for several millennia.

“The launch coincides with the summer solstice, the moment when Stonehenge’s alignment with the rising sun has drawn people to the site for thousands of years,” the team explained.

The Virtual World of Stonehenge is free to access from Sunday 21 June: The World of Stonehenge: University of Reading and British Museum

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

A joint expedition to the ancient Egyptian city of Elkab has unearthed several previously unknown ancient rock art inscriptions, including what the team believes are the earliest known monumental Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Written over 1,000 years before the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed, these ancient Egyptian writings, discovered by archaeologists from Yale University and the Royal Museums of Art and History (Brussels), laid the foundation for the later, better-known hieroglyphic writing system.

Yale Professor John Coleman Darnell, the expedition’s leader and the co-director of the Elkab Desert Survey Project, said the newly discovered inscriptions, which were not recorded by any previous scientific expedition, include samples as far back as 4,000 BCE.

Although the team concedes that these are not the first examples of this specific style of rock art, they are the first of this ancient age and “monumental” scale, making them of great significance in the history of ancient Egyptian writing systems.

“This was not what I was expecting to find when I set out on this period of work on the expedition,” Professor Darnell said of the historic find. “It was completely shocking to me.”

Earliest Monumental Egyptian Hieroglyphs Depict Cosmological Concepts

In a Yale news story announcing the discovery, Professor Darnell noted that the newly discovered rock art site of El-Khawy preserved some of the earliest and largest signs “from the formative stages of the hieroglyphic script.” The professor added that the discovery includes “rare” evidence for how this enigmatic ancient society invented its internationally recognized ancient writing system.

The expedition, which was directed by Darnell and Dirk Huyge, was undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of Antiquities and the Aswan and Edfu inspectorates.

After photographing the newly discovered inscription, Darnell and Alberto Urcia, a digital archaeologist and associate research scientist in the University’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, created a series of three-dimensional (3D) images. Darnell said the new technology allows archaeologists to record ancient sites and artworks “at a level of accuracy and detail that was absolutely impossible before.”

“It also means that we can record the site as a place, or a location, and not just as a series of inscriptions,” the professor added.

One of the more noteworthy examples of ancient monumental hieroglyphs, carved sometime between 4,000 and 3,500 BCE, depicted a herd of elephants. A closer examination also revealed that one of the elephants had an image of a smaller elephant inside of it, which Professor Darnell described as “an incredibly rare way of representing a pregnant female animal.”

A second discovery detailed by the joint expedition, which consists of four separate panels, was likely created sometime around 3,250 BCE. Written right to left, which ultimately became the dominant writing form in later Egyptian hieroglyphic languages, the panels show animal images of a bull’s head on a short pole, followed by two back-to-back saddlebill storks with a bald ‘ibis’ bird above and between them.

The research team said this arrangement of symbols is common in Egyptian representations created centuries after the newly discovered panels depicting the solar cycle. These same depictions typically include imagery of luminosity. Darnell suggested that the images may also express “the concept of royal authority over the ordered cosmos.”

“This is the First Time That Anyone Has Seen Them on Such a Massive Scale”

When discussing the importance of the new find, Professor Darnell noted the immense size of the individual tableaus and their elements. For example, each individual hieroglyph identified by the Yale-led team measures over half a meter in height. The professor also noted that the entire tableau “is about 70 centimeters (27.5 inches) in height,” whereas previously discovered signs of early Egyptian hieroglyphs were “only one or two centimeters in size.”

“This discovery isn’t new in the sense that this is the first time that anyone has seen these hieroglyphs,” Darnell explained, “this is the first time that anyone has seen them on such a massive scale.”

To offer a perspective on the discovery’s significance, the professor said a modern-world equivalent would be seeing smaller text displayed on your computer screen, “and then suddenly seeing very large ones made the same way,” only displayed up on a highway billboard.

When discussing the site’s location in the northeastern desert hinterland of Elkab, Darnell noted that it was a “very important” center in ancient Egypt, which demonstrates that the area’s budding communicative system “is not limited to the more commonly found small tokens or labels.”

The professor also said the study shows that ancient writing did not develop slowly “for bureaucratic use,” as researchers had previously believed. Instead, Darnell suggested that the discovery shows hieroglyphic-style writing “was more geographically widespread and topically diverse at the time of or shortly after its development.”

“This also suggests that there is a much more expansive use of the early writing system than is indicated from other surviving archaeological material,” the professor added.

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

Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) pioneer Archer Aviation has confirmed that it is on track to perform Team USA transport duty during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, aboard its Midnight aircraft.

In an email to The Debrief, a company spokesperson said Archer was selected as the Official Air Taxi Provider of the LA28 Olympic Games and Team USA, marking a historic first in the quest for commercial eVTOL operations before the end of the decade.

“Through this exclusive partnership, the two will look to integrate Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft across theLA28 Games in a variety of ways, such as transporting VIPs, fans, and stakeholders, while electrifying vertiport take-off-and-landing hubs for key venues and providing support for emergency services and security,” a company spokesperson explained.

Archer CEO Announces ‘Progress’ Including Upcoming Midnight eVTOL Test Flight in 8 US Cities

Archer Aviation founder and CEO Adam Goldstein recently shared more specific updates about the company’s road to the Olympics and eventually government approval, noting that “we made tremendous progress towards beginning operations in the US later this year, with record FAA certification progress and our most expansive flight testing to date.”

Goldstein also highlighted the company’s recent winning applications to begin pre-certification test flights of Midnight in 8 US states later this year, including New York, Florida, and Texas. According to the CEO, those test flights are part of the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), “which was unlocked through the White House’s Executive Order in June last year.”

“Archer expects Midnight operations in American cities to begin this year as part of the White House’s eIPP and in preparation to serve as the Official Air Taxi Provider of the LA28 Olympic Games, in coordination with the DOT and FAA,” the CEO explained, adding that the two benchmarks “pave the way for Archer to showcase its air taxi technology in parallel with its continued work toward FAA Type Certification for Midnight.”

Six Independently Operating Engines Produce Over 1,500 Horsepower, Last 10,000 Flight Cycles

When asked about the technical aspects that have put Midnight on course to become the first commercial eVTOL air taxi provider in the U.S., the company spokesperson first noted that their aircraft are “designed and manufactured” domestically, which can shorten development timelines and improve quality control. This includes focusing the team’s research and development on what the company termed “differentiating technologies,” including the pioneering aircraft’s unique powertrain.

“Our world-class in-house team, coming with experience from Apple, Tesla, SpaceX and beyond, contribute to our efficient and certifiable electric propulsion design,” the company told The Debrief.

Some of the differentiating technologies the team said set it apart from the competition include rapid charging, long-lasting battery packs “and the capability of >1500 horsepower.” They also note that Midnight’s high-performance battery cells, patented high-voltage architecture, and gearbox are designed to operate reliably for roughly 10,000 “flight cycles” before the vehicle’s battery pack needs replacement.

“We are optimized for electric flight,” the company told The Debrief.

Due to the potential risks in premiering a new vehicle platform, with Archer Aviation telling The Debrief that “eVTOL aircraft are the first new category of aviation in more than 60 years,” the company said Midnight is built as a ‘fly-by-wire’ system, reducing the number of mechanical components that can fail. The company also said that each of Midnight’s engines operates independently “allowing for high levels of redundancy and safety.”

Although the current version of the Midnight eVTOL aircraft is flown by a human pilot, the company told The Debrief that it is “continuing to build the technology stack” required for its longer-term goal of a fully autonomous eVTOL aircraft.

Company Anticipating Final FAA Approval “in the Near Future”

With the 2028 Summer Olympics just two years away, the company said it has transitioned out of a successful Phase 3 of the FAA’s 4-phase Type Certification process, an industry first, and has “already been advancing its work in Phase 4 for some time now.”

“This is where Midnight’s compliance with FAA airworthiness requirements will be demonstrated through formal testing and analysis,” the company told The Debrief.

In his address to shareholders, Goldstein said the company’s flight test program “continued to expand this quarter.” The CEO said this expansion includes piloted VTOL and CTOL flights across its expanded fleet of test aircraft “occurring nearly every day, often multiple times a day.”

To expedite the testing phases leading up to the 2028 Olympics, the company recently took over operations of Hawthorne Airport in Los Angeles County. Goldstein said the move will help Archer develop the local airstrip “into the airport of the future.”

“Located near LAX and several major LA sports and entertainment venues, Hawthorne Airport is expected to anchor Archer’s planned LA air taxi operations while also serving as an innovation hub for next-generation aviation technologies,” the CEO explained.

When asked how soon the company expects to fulfill the FAA’s Phase 4 requirements and gain full certification, the spokesperson told The Debrief that Archer is in the final stages of the process, “and is anticipating approval in the near future.” However, the company also added that their focus is on building a safe, high-performance aircraft, and that once they can demonstrate the safety and versatility of Midnight, “it is the FAA’s job to certify it.”

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

Scientists have released a series of previously unseen images of the asteroid Donaldjohanson captured by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during an April 2025 flyby.

The team behind the photos’ release said the Lucy spacecraft, which was named for the infamous hominin fossil discovered by anthropologist Donald Johanson, captured critical details about the small main-belt asteroid’s surface features and motion that could help clarify the space rock’s origin and evolution.

The data could also inform studies of the Solar System’s formation, including how asteroids move and evolve over extended timescales.

Craters on Asteroid Donaldjohanson Confirm Its Age

According to a statement from team leader Simone Marchi and colleagues, images captured during the deep-space rendezvous revealed that the oddly shaped rock consists of two cratered ‘lobes’ connected by a comparatively smooth central “neck” section. The researchers noted that Donaldjohanson measured over 8.8 kilometers by 4.4 km by 3.1 km.

An analysis of the surface features helped the team pinpoint the asteroid’s likeliest age to a set of asteroids belonging to the Erigone family, a group that broke apart a larger “parent” body into smaller fragments. The team notes that this ancient age “implies that DJ is a fragment of a larger parent body that was destroyed in a collision about 155 million years ago.”

Although an examination of the craters helped place the asteroid’s likely age, they noted that craters less than 0.4 kilometers “have been preferentially erased.” The researchers suggest that this preferential erasure of smaller craters might have been caused by “seismic shaking” following a more recent impact event.

“DJ Rotates Slowly in a Tumbling State”

Along with surface features, the newly released images revealed the asteroid’s motion. Specifically, the team determined that Donaldjohanson has a slow, tumbling movement rather than a simple rotation.” Instead of an impact, the team suspects that the asteroid’s motion could have been produced gradually by “torques” resulting from thermal radiation.

“DJ rotates slowly in a tumbling state, likely owing to spin-down by radiative forces,” the team writes.

A spectral analysis of the rock’s cratered surface also revealed a similar composition to other Erigone family asteroids, particularly the presence of iron-bearing phyllosilicates. The team notes these phyllosilicates indicate an “aqueous evolution” on the parent body. However, they also note that the water-induced mineral alteration was likely halted “at an early stage” due to insufficient water or heat.

Next Mission Encounter Planned for 2027

Although the newly released Lucy images were captured in 2025, the team notes that the Donaldjohanson flyby mission was one leg of a larger set of 8 planned Lucy asteroid flybys, with the entire set expected to take 12 years to complete.

“Over its 12-year mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids: it will fly by three in the belt of asteroids that circle the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and then eight Trojans, which includes five asteroid targets and the satellites of three of those,” a NASA statement explained. “Lucy also will fly by Earth three times to get a push from its gravity, making it the first spacecraft to return to the vicinity of Earth from the outer solar system.”

The study “​The Lucy flyby of asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson:​ ​A bilobed object with a tumbling rotation” was published in Science.

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

Scientists from Asia Pacific’s largest paint and coating manufacturer have developed a new “ultra-black” automotive coating using carbon nanotubes that absorbs over 99% of the light it receives, resulting in the darkest black of any currently available paint or coating.

The NIPSEA Group’s research team said its new ultra-black coating, which they describe as “deep, jet black,” meets stringent automotive standards, a critical requirement in markets like China, where trendy, luxury vehicles in the darkest colors are in high demand.

Carbon Nanotubes Absorb Light to Create Darkest Black “Ultra-Black” Coating

According to a statement announcing the new ultra-black coating, BMW first introduced a concept car in 2019 with a vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) array outer coating. Due to the unique material properties of carbon nanotubes, including the ability to bend or absorb light, the researchers said that its introduction “set off a race” among auto manufacturers to create a similar, ‘black hole’ effect with a pronounced dark appearance. 

“Automotive coating companies have been actively pursuing innovations in color technology to develop mass-processable ultra-black coating solutions with extreme blackness,” explained Zhiwei Liu, a research chemist with the company’s Color Technology Group, Core R&D, and an author on the study outlining the new coating.

The researchers note that ultra-black coatings are in unusually high demand in Asian countries, where having the darkest vehicle can represent a status symbol. has become a “key selling point” in China.

“Deep black finishes have long been the premium choice and signature color for luxury cars due to their elegant appearance, powerful visual impact, and luxurious undertone,” the researcher explained.

Although scientists have explored more practical ways to achieve the desired ultra-black effect, the new research once again leverages the unusual properties of carbon nanotubes to create an ultra-black coating that is darker than even the darkest commercially available alternative.

Creating a Stable Composite That Meets Automotive Standards

According to the team’s statement, they began by exploring methods to combine the benefits of carbon nanotubes with a black pigment that would serve as the coating’s color base. Critically, the team needed to create a nano-sized carbon black pigment-carbon nanotube composite that was also stable at a wide range of temperatures. and moisture conditions.

After exploring several formulations, Liu and colleagues succeeded in a stable nanotube-pigment composite. Next, the team incorporated the new carbon nanotube-based mixture into a coating binder and sprayed it onto a model car.

Because the new ultra-black coating uses structural absorption of light rather than the carbon black dispersion method used in current approaches, tests revealed an average absorption of 99.90% across all visible wavelengths. The team said its new coating also displayed “excellent long-term stability” during water and humidity tests.

Although the light absorption levels set a new standard for the darkest achievable automotive coating, Liu said advancements in dispersing technology and equipment leave his team “room for improvements.” The researcher highlighted potential advancements in “practical processability of carbon-nanotube-containing nanomaterials.”

Liu and colleagues also noted that increasing the proportion of carbon nanotubes in the material could further increase its light-absorbing capacity. However, they conceded, this approach “would also bring difficulties in industrial-grade processability.”

Future Improvements Include Even Darker Multi-Layer Options

When discussing potential future improvements, the team said scientists could fabricate multilayered ultra-black coatings. In theory, they note that this approach could result in a “gradient refractive index that reduces interface reflection and further enhances light absorption efficiency,” producing an even darker look than their single-layer version.

Although the ultra-black automotive coating is not yet commercially available, the team said they have already completed a “proof of concept” manufacturing design. Still, they conceded, given technical and regulatory challenges that remain, “it may still be a while before ultra-black cars made with this film will be able to hit the road.”

“Further efforts will focus on the verification of coating application window and the comprehensive film performance validations of carbon black pigment-carbon nanotube composite-based ultra-black automotive coating,” Liu concluded.

The study “Robust ultra-black automotive coating with structural absorption and high absorption efficiency based on waterborne carbon black/CNT composite” was published in Matter & Light.

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