Austin Burgess, Author at The Debrief

Hidden Charcoal Inside a Famous French Cave Just Rewrote the Timeline of Its Ice Age Paintings

Austin Burgess·August 12, 2026

A recent study has identified charcoal in the cave paintings at France’s Font-de-Gaume, overturning the long-held assumption that these paintings lacked the carbon needed for radiocarbon dating.

SETI Researchers Are Expanding the Search Beyond the ‘Water Hole’

Austin Burgess·July 31, 2026

Astronomers searching for extraterrestrial intelligence have traditionally focused on a specific, narrow band of the radio spectrum.

Britain’s Power Grid Has a Blind Spot for Extreme Solar Storms, New Research Reveals

Austin Burgess·July 30, 2026

In May 2024, the strongest geomagnetic storm in two decades exposed important gaps in how the UK monitors and prepares its power grid, satellites, and aviation for future extreme space weather.

The Brain Has a Flexible Sense of Time That Can Split Across Regions, New Research Reveals

Austin Burgess·July 29, 2026

When the brain tracks time, it must decide whether its regions should rely on a shared timing signal or maintain separate representations.

Backyard Mosquito Sprays May Be Helping These Blood-Sucking Parasites Evolve, Making Them Resistant to Insecticide

Austin Burgess·July 28, 2026

Recent research suggests localized mosquito-control practices may create conditions that favor the evolution of insecticide resistance.

Rare Discovery of a Hellenistic Sanctuary Offers a New Glimpse Into Ancient Elite Rituals

Austin Burgess·July 27, 2026

At the site of Gradište, close to the village of Mlado Nagoričane, archaeologists from North Macedonia have uncovered what they believe was a ritual dining complex associated with a Hellenistic sanctuary, providing new evidence of elite religious practices and extensive trade connections more than 2,300 years ago.

New Gravity Theory Suggests How Cosmic Order Emerges Despite Rising Entropy

Austin Burgess·July 23, 2026

A recent study offers a mathematical explanation for how cosmic structures form while still obeying the second law of thermodynamics.

A New Theory May Explain One of the Dead Sea Scrolls’ Biggest Mysteries

Austin Burgess·July 22, 2026

One of the longest-debated mysteries involving the Dead Sea Scrolls ma finally be solved, according to Tel Aviv University researchers.

‘Mechanical’ Properties of This Predatory Sea Worm’s Jaws Could Inspire a New Class of ‘Bio-Metal’ Material

Austin Burgess·July 21, 2026

A predatory sea worm known as Perinereis cultrifera possesses jaws that do not fit neatly into either biological or metallic categories.

Astronomers May Have Been Looking for Alien Megastructures Around the Wrong Stars

Austin Burgess·July 20, 2026

A new study suggests astronomers may have been looking for alien structures known as Dyson spheres in the wrong places.

Citizen Scientists Helped Reveal How Fatherhood Evolved in Spider Relatives

Austin Burgess·July 20, 2026

A new study reveals harvestmen, or daddy longlegs, account for more than half of all paternal care cases documented among arthropods.

Scientists May Have Finally Solved Earth’s Greatest Extinction Mystery

Austin Burgess·July 19, 2026

A recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that differences in physiology, metabolism, and oxygen use helped determine which marine animals survived the Great Dying catastrophe.

Astronomers Uncovered a Hidden Bubble Inside the Orion Nebula

Austin Burgess·July 18, 2026

A key component of the Orion Nebula had evaded detection by astronomers until now, according to newly published research.

Scientists Created a Psychedelic ‘Factory’ Inside a Single Plant

Austin Burgess·July 15, 2026

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have engineered Nicotiana benthamiana, a fast-growing relative of tobacco, to produce five different psychedelic compounds.

AI Identifies the Most Effective Ways to Measure Water’s Hidden Structure

Austin Burgess·July 13, 2026

Researchers at the University of Osaka developed a neural network to test 16 different 'structural descriptors,' which are mathematical tools for measuring how ordered or disordered water molecules are at the microscopic scale.

This Color-Changing Material Could Give Robots a New Way to Detect Touch

Austin Burgess·July 11, 2026

Engineers at Queen Mary University of London have created a tactile sensor, described in a study published in Science Advances, that allows robots to detect touch using a simple camera.

AI ‘Ghosts’ Offer New Opportunities for Conversations with Deceased Loved Ones, Study Reveals

Austin Burgess·July 10, 2026

A recent study documented a participant using an AI model to simulate a conversation with her late grandmother.

How Jellyfish Can ‘Miraculously’ Heal Without Scars Has Long Remained a Mystery—Scientists Now Know Their Secret

Austin Burgess·July 7, 2026

Jellyfish can close a wound in real time, without stitches, scabs, or scars. Now scientists have unlocked the secrets of how they do it.

A.I. Just Mapped a ‘Hidden’ Structure Inside One of the Most Complex Problems in Physics

Austin Burgess·July 6, 2026

A single machine learning model just turned one of condensed matter physics' most persistent problems into a navigable map.

The Unconscious Brain May Be More Capable Than Scientists Realized

Austin Burgess·July 3, 2026

While a patient is fully anesthetized and unresponsive, neurons in the hippocampus continue to process language, distinguish different types of words, and generate neural activity consistent with predicting upcoming words.

Earth May Have Been Sending Microscopic Hitchhikers Toward Venus for a Billion Years

Austin Burgess·July 2, 2026

A new model suggests that asteroid impacts on Earth may have occasionally launched microscopic material into space that could have reached Venus’s atmosphere over billions of years.

Scientists Used Water to Uncover a Strange, ‘Invisible’ Quantum Phenomenon That Remained Elusive for Decades

Austin Burgess·June 30, 2026

A team of physicists set out to recreate a 60-year-old quantum mystery using a large water tank.

The First Ancient Protein Analysis of Homo Naledi Has Revealed a New Burial Mystery

Austin Burgess·June 29, 2026

A recent study, published in Cell, marks the first ancient protein analysis of Homo naledi and raises the possibility that the Dinaledi Chamber may contain predominantly, or possibly exclusively, female individuals.

Scientists Have Discovered an Ancient Brain Circuit That Filters Distractions

Austin Burgess·June 28, 2026

Before the prefrontal cortex evolved, another system in the brain may already have been directing attention.

A Slowly Aging Butterfly Could Help Scientists Understand Longevity

Austin Burgess·June 26, 2026

A University of Bristol-led study reports that a species of butterflies has evolved both longer lifespans and slower physical decline.

Discovery of Fungi Living Within Desert Moss is Challenging Past Thinking on How Organisms Thrive in Arid Environments

Austin Burgess·June 25, 2026

Moss has long been regarded as unusual among land plants for its resilience and apparent independence from fungal partnerships, which are common in other species; however, new research from UC Riverside indicates that this view may not apply in desert environments.

A 2,700-Year-Old Stone Could Shed New Light on a Religious Reform Described in the Bible

Austin Burgess·June 24, 2026

A massive stone, deliberately laid on its side and buried within the walls of an ancient Judean home, may provide physical evidence consistent with interpretations of King Hezekiah’s reported religious reforms.

Scientists Want to Know Whether Meditation Can Boost the Effects of Psilocybin Therapy

Austin Burgess·June 22, 2026

A new research initiative at the University of Southern California is investigating the effects of combining psilocybin with structured mental training.

Elephant Trunk’s Hidden Design Could Inspire a New Generation of Soft Robots

Austin Burgess·June 20, 2026

The elephant's trunk has long been studied by engineers seeking to understand how it performs both powerful and delicate tasks effectively.

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Two Completely Different Twilights on an Alien World

Austin Burgess·June 16, 2026

For the first time, astronomers have distinguished between the morning and evening atmospheres of a single planet, revealing two remarkably different environments at its edges.

The Amaterasu Particle May Not Be a Proton at All, New Research Suggests

Austin Burgess·June 15, 2026

A recent study suggests that the Amaterasu particle, along with other extremely energetic cosmic rays, may actually be atomic nuclei heavier than iron.

This Philosopher Thinks Physics May Be Asking the Wrong Question About Space-Time

Austin Burgess·June 15, 2026

Einstein's equations have withstood every experimental test for more than a century; however, according to one philosopher, they have not withstood careful scrutiny of the language used to describe them.

Archaeologists Uncover 4,000-Year-Old Evidence of a Deadly Event in Ancient Mesopotamia

Austin Burgess·June 13, 2026

Archaeologists believe a site in present-day northern Iraq may preserve the remains of an ancient city whose fall was recorded in Mesopotamian texts.

A ‘Memory Switchboard’ in the Hippocampus May Help Explain How the Brain Learns Without Overwriting Old Memories

Austin Burgess·June 12, 2026

New research identifies a mechanism that may explain how the brain can take in new experiences without erasing stored memeories.

DMT Users Have Described Encounters with Non-Human Intelligences for Decades—A New Mathematical Framework Could Test Such Claims

Austin Burgess·June 10, 2026

Researchers have introduced a new mathematical framework to help unravel the most baffling aspects of the DMT psychedelic experience.

You Shall Not Pass: Scientists Identify New “Balrog” Cricket Species in Greek Island Tunnel

Austin Burgess·June 9, 2026

A small Greek island on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean has revealed a new species inside a man-made tunnel carved into a hillside.

People Have Reported Hearing a Mysterious Low-Frequency Hum for Decades—Scientists Now Think They’ve Found the Source

Austin Burgess·June 9, 2026

A recent study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), published in PLOS ONE, provides evidence that, for most people who experience The Hum phenomenon, the source is not external but may actually originate within the auditory system.

A Hidden Brain Rhythm May Map the Line Between Conscious and Unconscious States

Austin Burgess·June 8, 2026

Researchers at LMU have found a new type of electrical rhythm in the central thalamus that allows them to closely track certain states of consciousness.

Scientists Demonstrate What Pianists Have Argued for Over 100 Years

Austin Burgess·June 6, 2026

For more than a century, musicians have maintained that the way a pianist touches a key influences the sound that emerges. Many scientists, however, have argued that after the hammer strikes the string, the instrument itself determines the outcome, making the pianist's touch irrelevant.