This week in science and technology news we’re covering at The Debrief: For decades, physicists have argued about Richard Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem, involving the question of how a reverse sprinkler would operate. Now we may finally know the answer… elsewhere, new studies reveal how breathwork may trigger psychedelic-like states, emotional breakthroughs, and psychological insights without drugs. Meanwhile, a stone sphere unearthed at an archaeological site in Azerbaijan is reportedly unlike anything previously documented in the South Caucasus.
Also, in an exclusive feature, University of Toronto bioethicist KM Bowman, Ph.D., writes for The Debrief about his firsthand experience with uncontacted indigenous tribes: “Through the haze stood a man. Barely clothed, carrying what appeared to be a weapon of some form, he remained motionless for only a few seconds before silently disappearing back into the forest.” In his essay, Bowman shares his experience and asks whether governments can protect “the uncontacted.”
Finally, here’s a look at more stories The Debrief is tracking right now…
- In 1960, Scientists Predicted a “Doomsday” Might Arrive on This Date—Here’s What They Got Wrong
- 125,000-Year-Old Hunting Weapons Reveal Sophisticated Technology and Surprising Evidence of Ancient Hunting Techniques in Arabia
- A Planet Mysteriously Vanished While Astronomers Were Watching—Now They Finally Know What Happened
- The Antarctic Ozone Hole Has Grown “Unusually Large,” NASA and NOAA Scientists Reveal
- 15,000-Year-Old Clay Figurines Show Signs of Advanced Technology Thousands of Years Before the First Human Societies
- NASA Scientists Say Hidden Planets Lurking Around Tiny Stars Could be Revealed Using Gravitational Waves
- BCI Implant Recipients Release Ethical Recommendations, Calling for Greater Control Over Neural Data and Device Ownership
- Mystery of Thousands of Ancient Buried Frog Bones Finally Solved
- A Cosmological Controversy, Time Travel Shakeups, and a Giant Prehistoric Discovery—The Latest from The Debrief
- A Controversial New Theory Claims the Universe Could Be Twice as Old as Once Thought—and It Just Passed Several Key Tests
- This Unusual Fossil Sat Unstudied for Years—Now Scientists Say It Was a Giant That Lived Alongside the “Hobbits” of Flores
- DARPA Robot Builds a Structure in Space for the First Time, Opening the Door to Giant Orbiting Spacecraft
- “Hidden” Disasters in Japan’s Past Revealed by Deep-Sea Core Experiments
- Time Travel into the Past May Be Impossible—and This Simple Mathematical Discovery Reveals Why
- Stonehenge Discovery Deepens the Mystery of Its Enigmatic “Altar Stone,” Raising New Questions About Its Origins