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