Decades of NASA Satellite Data Reveals the Elusive, Enigmatic ‘Urban Pulse” of Six Major Cities
Decades of satellite data have revealed the Urban Pulse of six cities worldwide, including the "health" of each city and its neighborhoods.
Christopher Plain
Christopher Plain is Lead Science Writer at The Debrief. A science fiction and fantasy novelist of many years, you can follow and connect with him on X @plain_fiction, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
“SpiderCam, SpiderCam, Does Whatever a Spider Can?” 3D Camera Inspired by Jumping Spider is First to Operate Below One Watt
Northwestern engineers have unveiled an energy-efficient camera called SpiderCam that estimates depth in the same way that jumping spiders do.
Ancient Europeans Ate Some Pretty Gross Things, but The Ickiest One Was Probably by Accident
Analysis of dental tartar reveals that Ancient Europeans ate insects less often than humans near the tropics, and probably not on purpose.
After Swiss Scientists Injected ‘Repair’ Microrobots into the Injured Spinal Cords of Fish and Mice, Something Incredible Happened
After magnetically driven microrobots loaded with stem cells were injected into the injured spinal cord of a mouse, something happened.
“A Game Changing Warfighting Capability”: DIU-Funded Hermeus Says Autonomous, High-Mach Payload Release Test Flights to Begin
Aviation defense company, Hermeus, has announced new test flights to expedite carrying and releasing payloads at high-Mach speeds.
First Look: Enigmatic ‘Aurora’ Suborbital Spaceplane Spotted Carrying a Special John Hopkins Payload in Previously Unseen Video
Dawn Aerospace has released raw footage of its Aurora Spaceplane ferrying a Johns Hopkins Advanced Propulsion Lab payload to suborbital space.
Discovery Hidden Inside 520-Million-Year-Old Rocks Solves a Longstanding ‘Evolutionary Enigma’
A discovery hidden inside 520-million-year-old rocks has solved an evolutionary enigma and could even rewrite the entire tree of life.
“A Holy Grail of Integrated Photonics”: EPFL Researchers Reveal Tiny-Yet-Powerful Ultrafast Laser on a Chip
Scientists have revealed a downscaled, lab-sized, high-energy ultrafast laser to the size of a matchhead, enabling futuristic technologies.
Scientists Discover an Astronomical ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Decoding Mysterious Cosmic Signals
Scientists claim to have discovered an astronomical 'Rosetta Stone' for mysterious cosmic signals that have perplexed astronomers for decades.
“Explore a Scene from Any Vantage Point You Want”: 3D Volumetric Video Breakthrough Means Streaming in 3D May Soon Be a Reality
A 3D volumetric video breakthrough overcoming previous technological limitations could finally enable true 3D streaming on everyday devices.
“How in the World Can These Things Happen?”: After a Series of ‘Mystery’ Quakes Shook Utah, Scientists Finally Think They Know Why
Nearly five decades after the first in a series of mystery quakes rocked the Utah-Wyoming region, scientists think they've figured it out.
Scientists Locked ‘Virtual’ Astronauts in a Moon Base with Equipment Failures, Moonquakes and Extreme Radiation. Here’s What Happened.
Scientists locked virtual astronauts in a simulated Lunar Base with system failures and natural disasters and watched how they'd respond.
Superhero Strength from Futuristic Clothing? Scientists Invent ‘Wearable Robot’ Fabric Muscle Clothing That Increases the Wearer’s Strength by 40%
Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials engineers reveal a fabric 'muscle' that makes the wearer stronger and increases range of motion.
“They Would Be Able to ‘See,’ ‘Hear,’ and ‘Think’”: Laser-Powered Ceramic Engines Could Drive Futuristic Intelligent 6G Networks
Chinese scientists claim they've tested a visible-light, laser-based ceramic engine that could enable AI-based intelligent 6G networks.
Over 1,100 Newly Identified Marine Species Include Ghost Shark Chimera and a Worm in a “Living Glass” House
Scientists have announced the discovery of over 1,100 new marine species, including the Ghost Shark Chimera and 'Glass House' worm.
5,000 Years Ago, Two Ancient Megalithic Societies Shared an Unknown Connection—Now Genetic Science Reveals Their Long-Hidden Secrets
Tests reveal that megalithic communities responsible for these massive stone monuments in ancient Europe were actually genetically related.
“Different Flows of Time All Exist at the Same Moment”: Scientists Claim Trapped-Ion Atomic Clocks Can Observe “Quantum Superposition of Time”
Scientists claim they can improve the sensitivity of atomic clocks to measure the quantum superposition of time and possibly explain gravity.
Scientists Looked Inside an ‘Impossible’ Crystal Formed in the Heart of a Nuclear Blast—And Found Something No One Had Ever Seen
Scientists have revealed something within a trinitite crystal formed during a 1945 nuclear blast that has never been seen before.
“This Compound Can Selectively Dampen Escalated Social Conflict”: Fish ‘High’ on Key Ingredient in Magic Mushrooms Become Lazy and Less Aggressive
A species of innately aggressive fish dosed with psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms, became lazy and less aggressive.
Free Energy from the Vacuum? Warp Drive Pioneer Unveils Battery-Free ‘MicroSparc’ That Allegedly Draws Power from the Quantum Vacuum
Casimir, founded by NASA & DARPA warp drive scientist Sonny White, has unveiled a chip that allegedly draws energy from the quantum vacuum.
“This is not a Routine Launch Update”: EarthDaily Analytics Launches Six Satellites Capable of Detecting Complex Planetary-Wide Changes ‘At Scale’
EarthDaily Analytics has announced the successful launch of six satellites capable of unprecedented daily monitoring of the Earth's surface.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Just Revealed Surprising Surface Details on a Nearby ‘Super-Earth’
In a historic first, scientists have successfully characterized several surface features and the likely mineral composition of an exoplanet
Archaeologists Just Discovered a Fragment of Homer’s Iliad Inside an Ancient Egyptian Mummy
In a historic first, archeologists excavating an ancient Egyptian tomb have found a fragment of Homer's poem The Iliad embalmed with the mummy
“The Foundations for a New Generation of Light‑Based Technologies”: Scientists Uncover ‘Hidden’ Property of Light That Allows it to Spin and Twist
Scientists have discovered a 'hidden property' of light that could lead to a new generation of light-based and quantum technologies.
NASA Tests Prototype ‘Magnetoplasmadynamic’ Electric Propulsion Thruster Designed to Power Future Trips to Mars
NASA announced a successful test of a sci-fi-sounding lithium metal vapor electric thruster propulsion system that could power trips to Mars.
Occam’s Robot? Harvard Researchers Build a Swarm of Simple Robots Called ‘RAnts’ That Can Collectively Build and Destroy Complex Structures
Harvard researchers have developed a swarm of ant-inspired robots called 'RAnts' that use three 'simple' rules to build complex structures.
Chat GPT of Sound? SmartDj Lets Users Customize Their Immersive Sound Environment with Simple Voice Commands in Everyday Language
Penn scientists announce an AI-powered sound engineering audio language model, SmartDj, that turns simply worded commands into complex audio.
Scientists Explore Paranormal Experiences and the Effects of Inaudible “Infrasound”
Experiments with infrasound have revealed a potential connection to paranormal experiences such as haunted houses and buildings
MIT Experiments Show Plant Seeds Can “Hear” the Sound of Rain—And They Don’t Find It Calming
MIT engineers reveal plant seeds can "hear" the sound of rain, which awakens them from a dormant state and prompts them to begin growing.
Scientists Discover Path to ‘Extreme Light Intensities’ That Could Enable Ultra-Powerful Laser Weapons and Advanced Tech
Experiments reveal a new path to extreme light intensities used in combat lasers, nuclear fusion, and studies probing the laws of physics.
Scientists Use Modern Technology to Unravel the Origin of the ‘Baptism of Christ’
Modern machine learning tools have determined that the Spanish Renaissance painting, the Baptism of Christ, was the sole work of El Greco.
“Icarus is Building the Robotic Labor Force for Space”: Voyager Technologies is Sending a Next-Generation Zero Gravity Robot on a ‘Joyride’ to Space
Space launch company Voyager Technologies has agreed to test the Icarus Robotics zero-gravity robot 'Joy' on the International Space Station.
Max Planck Institute of Extraterrestrial Physics Makes an ‘Illuminating’ Discovery About the Solar System’s X-Ray ‘Glow’
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have successfully isolated the Solar System's ubiquitous X-ray glow.
Robots Are Learning Complex Tasks by Watching Humans and Other Robots
A new kinetic intelligence framework allows robots to rapidly learn complex tasks by watching other robots without any human intervention
Scientists Create Light Inside the Human Body Using Waves of Ultrasound
Stanford scientists have used nanoparticles and an ultrasound 'hat' to generate non-invasive, therapeutic light inside the human body
“Learning Gives Our Metamaterials the Ability to Evolve”: Scientists Invent Intelligent Materials That Learn, Change Shape, and Move on Their Own
Scientists have invented intelligent metamaterials that can learn, remember, change shapes, and move on their own without external control
“The Animal Cannot be Confidently Assigned to Any Known Phylum”: Scientists Exploring Deep Ocean Trenches Discover ‘Baffling’ Mystery Organism
A deep-ocean trench expedition discovered a unique, floating mystery organism that has left taxonomy experts 'baffled.'
Massive ‘Tycho’ Space Station 10X Larger Than the ISS Wins Inaugural Aurelia Prize
Massive Tycho space station habitat that is 10x larger than the ISS wins the inaugural Aurelia Prize in Design for Space Urbanism.
Tracking Debris & Weapons of Mass Destruction: U.S. Naval Research Lab Just Launched Three ‘Advanced Experimental Payloads’ into Space
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory launched three advanced experimental payloads to aid GPS, track space debris and spot nuclear explosions
“There are All Kinds of Neat, Fun, Weird Things Waiting for Us to Find”: Astronomers Discover Giant Hydrogen ‘Halos’ Surrounding Ancient Galaxies
Astronomers using the powerful Hobby-Eberly Telescope have eyed thousands of hydrogen halos surrounding ancient galaxies during 'cosmic noon'
“One of the Most Important Challenges in Astronomy”: Scientists Unravel the Epic, Violent, Multi-Billion-Year Story of Water on the Moon
Researchers have debunked a decades-long theory suggesting the origin of water on the Moon was from a comet impact or other single event
“A Microcosm of Life Itself”: Archaeologists Use ‘Radioactive’ Method to Date Historic Coral Polynesian Structures
Scientists have revealed a new timeline for historic coral structures in French Polynesia thanks to the modern uranium-thorium dating method
Scientists Have Turned Unwanted Sawdust into a Fire-Resistant Super Material
Scientists have created a fire-resistant material out of sawdust that offers a more sustainable alternative to burning the sawdust for energy
A Rare Glimpse into the Birth of New Worlds: Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Discover Newly Forming Protoplanet
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have discovered a distant protoplanet still in the formation process
Bottom’s Up! Scientists Turn a Kentucky Bourbon Byproduct into a ‘Super’ Supercapacitor
Scientists have invented a 'super' supercapacitor made from bourbon stillage that stores 25 times more energy than current devices
This New Invention Will Let Robots Work Directly Inside a Failed Nuclear Reactor
Tokyo scientists have developed a resilient Wi-Fi robot controller chip that can withstand the ultra-high radiation inside a nuclear reactor
Astronomers Identify Origin of Mysterious Deep-Space X-Rays Directed Toward Earth
Five decades after astronomers detected mysterious X-rays coming from the constellation Cassiopeia, the mystery has finally been solved
Antimatter Breakthrough: CERN Scientists Successfully Transport Antiprotons in a Truck without Exploding
In a scene right out of a movie, CERN scientists successfully transported 92 antimatter antiproton particles in a truck without exploding.
“You Can Create and Control This Exotic State Using Light “: DARPA-Funded Scientists Use Lasers to Create a New Exotic State of Matter at Room Temperature
Researchers using custom fabricated nanostructures that 'trap' light have created a new exotic state of matter with light at room temperature
NASA Scientists Finally Solve Asteroid Bennu Mystery That Left Them “Baffled”
NASA scientists trying to unravel a longstanding mystery about the asteroid Bennu believe they may have finally 'cracked' the case