The Search for a “Second Earth,” a Magnetic “Clock” in Ancient Pottery, and Alien Life Lurking in Venus’s Clouds

1 September 2026 at 15:44

Roman telescope

This week in stories we’re tracking here at The Debrief: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope was launched on Sunday, and experts think this could be one of its most important discoveries in the years ahead. Meanwhile, scientists have discovered a magnetic “clock” in ancient pottery that could help museums distinguish real artifacts from modern fakes. And elsewhere, scientists say it might be possible that aliens are lurking in the acidic clouds of Venus.

Ready to get caught up on more of the latest science news? Here’s a look at other stories we’re covering right now at The Debrief…

A Pompeii-Like Eruption Buried This Landscape 22 Million Years Ago—Scientists Just Discovered What Lies Beneath
Pentagon Opens New Pathway for Government Insiders to Disclose UAP Information
Democratic Allies Must Join Forces in the Race for UAP Disclosure
This Stretchable Screen Packs 16,000 Pixels Per Inch—and Shines Brighter Than Any Before
A Volcanic Seafloor Collapse Released a Massive Tsunami, and Scientists Got an Extremely Rare Look at the Submarine Devastation
NASA’s Chandra Discovers a Mysterious New Class of Cosmic Objects That Could Solve Two Longstanding Mysteries
15,000-Year-Old Stone Tool Experiments Shed Light on Mysterious Ancient Technological Transition
Nature’s First Kiln May Have Been a Wildfire, New Research Reveals
Mathematician Says Relationships Have a Critical Threshold—and Crossing It Can Predict When Love Falls Apart
Mercury May Have Shrunk Far More Than Scientists Realized—and Its Cratered Surface Was Hiding the Evidence
A Problem in the ‘Pits of Eternal Darkness’? Scientists Pour Cold Water on Future Moon Colony Plans
The First Denisovan Forearm Bone Ever Discovered Fills a Key Knowledge Gap in Our Understanding of This Archaic Hominin
Ancient Etruscan Tombs May Have Been Engineered to Manipulate the Senses, New Research Suggests
66-Million-Year-Old Mystery Solved? Fossilized Bird Feather Reveals How ‘Modern’ Birds Likely Survived the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid
25,000 Years Ago, the Earliest Human Drug Use May Have Occurred on This Small Island

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Study: Night Owls Face Higher Mental Health Risks Tied to Work-Life Balance

The Search for a “Second Earth,” a Magnetic “Clock” in Ancient Pottery, and Alien Life Lurking in Venus’s Clouds

Fix iPhone timer sounds not going off