New Analysis of “Tasmanian Tiger” Skulls Overturns Assumptions About What Led to the Species’ Extinction
Australia’s extinct thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, was not the powerful predator European settlers had assumed.
Ryan Whalen
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
Scientists Discover How Extraterrestrial Life Could Thrive In the Harsh Acidic Clouds Surrounding Venus
A new theoretical kind of extraterrestrial life could survive the harsh acid clouds of Venus, according to MIT researchers.
Researchers Connect Indigenous Star Knowledge to One of Humanity’s Most Advanced Ground Telescope Projects
While astronomers are providing new knowledge of the stars daily, ancestral star knowledge is fading from local consciousness.
Breakthrough Computers Made From Slime Use Amoeba-like Organisms to Solve Intricate and Costly Problems
Computers based on slime molds may be the next step for solving some of the most advanced and resource-heavy problems.
A B-52 Carrying Two Hydrogen Bombs Broke Apart Over North Carolina in 1961—and Nearly Caused a Nuclear Disaster
The dropping of a nuclear bomb on the United States isn’t just relegated to Cold War fiction; it actually occurred in 1961.
The Secret to Longevity and Destroying Cancer May Hide in Bat DNA
Bat DNA may hold the secret to a long and healthy life, according to an international team of researchers.
Immune Cells Revealed to Have a Unique Sense of Touch in New Research That Could Rewrite How We Understand Autoimmune Problems
How memory survives in immune cells works differently than medical scientists previously believed, according to international researchers.
Scientists Grew Human Brain Organoids for Years and Discovered They Keep Track of Time
Cell-culture brain models called organoids can be used to study far more advanced neurodevelopmental disorders than researchers imagined.
The Massive Asteroid Apophis Will Pass Closer to Earth Than Some Satellites in 2029—Planetary Defense Researchers are Getting Ready
One of planetary defense's biggest opportunities will come as the asteroid Apophis makes its tight flyby of our planet on April 13, 2029.
James Webb Space Telescope Discovery Reveals Hidden Stars Massively Expanding Early Galaxies
James Webb Space Telescope data have revealed hidden stars that astronomers say are unexpectedly increasing the mass of early galaxies.
A Universal Quantum Behavior Achieved for the First Time Confirms the Distance Between Novel Quantum States
A universal quantum state, long the subject of theoretical predictions, has been achieved for the first time in simulated quantum matter.
The Death of a Supercontinent May Have Formed the Grand Canyon Close to a Billion Years Earlier than Once Thought, New Study Reveals
The Grand Canyon, one of America’s most famous landmarks, may have been exposed when an ancient supercontinent cracked apart.
4,000 Years Ago, These Ancient Seafarers May Have Brought Symbolic Art to Distant Lands Earlier Than Their First Neolithic Pottery
The ancient Austronesian maritime civilization may have carried painted art on its journeys before developing its first Neolithic pottery.
A Neanderthal Gene May Be Making Some Modern Humans Bigger and More Muscular
Physically larger humans today may owe their large muscle mass to an inherited Neanderthal growth hormone receptor.
Solving This London Mystery Led to the Discovery of a New Species Almost 6,000 Miles Away
A misidentified frog species that was well known across Ecuador and Colombia remained unrecognized by science for decades—until now.
This Hidden Structure Within the Building Blocks of Atoms May Dictate the Imbalance Between Matter and Antimatter
New evidence suggests the structure that holds protons together also dictates the quantum property that separates matter from antimatter.
Inspired by Coral, These Scientists Are Regrowing Bone Under Some of the Most Challenging Conditions
Medical scientists in China have developed a new method for regrowing bone after Steroid-Induced Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head.
As This Ancient Star Cluster Unravels, a Never-Before-Seen Star Ribbon is Forming Under the Influence of Dark Matter
Dark matter remains elusive to scientists, despite making up the majority of our universe’s mass, and now there's a new way to observe it.
Cameras Finally Captured How a Parasitic Plant That Mimics Mushrooms Spreads Its Seeds—and an Unexpected Ally Was Revealed
A strange plant hides in the forests of Japan, acting as both a parasite and a doppelgänger, tricking hermit crabs into spreading its seeds.
Scientists Are About to Test a Revolutionary New Device During This Week’s Solar Eclipse—Here’s What It Could Reveal
European scientists are taking advantage of this week's solar eclipse to test a potentially groundbreaking instrument that could transform the way astronomers study the Sun.
Forget Lasers—Researchers Just Created Quantum Entanglement Using Sunlight
Lasers are no longer required to produce quantum entanglement, physicists say, after achieving the state using sunlight.
“One Origin of the Genetic Code, but Two Origins of Life”: Scientists Reveal the Ancient Evolutionary Split That Gave Rise to All Life on Earth
An international research team has uncovered how LUCA, the last ancestor of all life on Earth, split into the first two branches.
Antarctica’s Eerie Blood Falls Could Host a Thriving Colony of Million-Year-Old Microbes, Pointing to Evidence of a “Lost” Ocean
Antarctica’s eerie Blood Falls may point to a hidden connection between the sea and the coldest desert on Earth.
An Unexpected Carnivorous Plant Has Been Discovered Growing in China’s Mountain Forests
A century and a half later, botanists are still proving Charles Darwin right in their recent identification of a new carnivorous plant.
Metasurface Breakthrough Makes Blistering Laser Light Speeds a Reality
In a nanomaterial breakthrough, engineers have developed a new metasurface that can steer and shape light beams at unprecedented speeds.
The First Temporal Photonic Crystal Advances Light into a New Dimension
When a team of physicists in Paris fabricated the first temporal photonic crystal, they added a new dimension to the quest to control light.
New Observations Reveal the Staggering Scale of the Universe’s Largest Galaxy
As new observations reveal the edges of IC 1101 for the first time, they allow scientists to confirm it is the largest known galaxy.
“It’s Obviously Quite Over the Top”: We Talked to the Company Behind This Eerie Four-Legged “Centaur” Robot That’s Going Viral
Could a remotely operated centaur robot called Threehalves be the future of manual work in some of our planet’s most dangerous environments?
China Develops Drones with Endless Flight Times Powered by Advanced Laser Technology
Chinese Researchers have developed a breakthrough laser charging technology enabling drone flights of unlimited duration.
The Powerful Radio Afterglow from a Black Hole Tearing Apart a Star Could Help Solve a Cosmic Mystery
The cosmic violence of a black hole tearing apart a star produced a brilliant radio light observed by Chinese astronomers using US equipment.
An Unexpected Transmissible Cancer Is Appearing in North American Waterways—Where Did It Come From?
An unexpected transmissible cancer has been detected in North American waterways, prompting new concerns about how the disease developed.
Barnard’s Star Contains Inhospitable Exoplanets—But They Could Still Tell Us Something Important in the Search for ET
The small exoplanets of our Sun’s second-nearest neighbor, Barnard’s Star, are inhospitable wastelands, British astronomers say.
The Wackers’ Decades-Long Harassment Was One of Unsolved Mysteries’ Strangest Cases—New Information Has Finally Come to Light
For the last 22 years, one of the most bizarre true crime stories ever to grace Unsolved Mysteries has confounded amateur investigators.
“Impossible” Synthetic Motion Opens Faster-Than-Light Speed Possibilities for Extreme Physics Research
A new type of synthetic motion developed in a CUNY laboratory gives physicists access to impossible, faster-than-light speeds.
“Forever Chemical” Breakthrough Rapidly Degrades Synthetic Substances Linked to Cancer and Other Health Problems
The problem of PFAS, a group of potentially cancer-causing “forever chemicals,” may finally have a solution from German scientists.
“This Upper Limit is an Illusion”: NASA Study Warns There May Be “No Limit” to How Solar Storms Impact Earth
Our modern society depends heavily on communications and power networks that are highly susceptible to interference from solar storms.
Deep Beneath the Atlantic, an Eerie “Lost City” is Feeding Legions of Lifeforms That Thrive Where Sunlight Never Reaches
Earth’s hidden plumbing system may be feeding one of its strangest ecosystems: the Lost City hydrothermal field in the Atlantic Ocean.
Can You See It? This Stealth Drone Deploys a Human Perception “Hack” to Become Nearly Invisible to the Eye
The “Phantom Twist” drone disappears from view in a major new robotics advancement, offering a close-to-invisible aerial platform.
Weapons Buried with Ancient Egyptian Women Were Long Seen as Symbols—New Research Suggests They Had a More Lethal Purpose
Egyptian princesses may have been skilled in combat, according to a new archaeological assessment that interprets their weapons.
Scientists Achieve Most Precise Measurement Yet of Einstein’s Frame-Dragging Effect
In major new support for Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the LARES-2 has detected frame dragging around the Earth.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope May Have Just Unraveled a Longstanding Black Hole Mystery
New James Webb Space Telescope observations have astronomers on the brink of solving a longstanding supermassive black hole mystery.
A 1,200-Year-Old Discovery Has Revealed the Identity of an Ancient Mayan Astronomer, in a New Archaeological First
A Maya astronomer’s identity has been revealed for the first time, as revealed in an inscription discovered at the Xultun site in Guatemala.
Feynman’s Famous Physics Problem of a Sprinkler Running in Reverse has a Surprising New Solution
For decades, physicists have argued about Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem, the question of how a reverse sprinkler would operate.
Did this Ancient Human Survive Being Stabbed in the Face 100,000 Years Ago?
In Israel’s Qafzeh cave, archaeologists have discovered ancient human remains revealing illness, violence, death, and survival in the past.
James Webb Space Telescope Reveals New Features of an Unusual Galaxy That Left Baffled Astronomers Questioning Its Origins
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is celebrating four years of unexpectedly strong performance by providing a deep new view.
For the Last Century, This Creature Was Thought to Only Exist in Hawaii—and Scientists Just Spotted One in the Himalayas
The strange grin of the Happy-Face spider has been spotted far from the Hawaiian Islands, its only previously known home.
Hidden for More Than 1,000 Years, a Lost Maya City Has Been Uncovered Deep in the Mexican Jungle
An international team of archaeologists reports the discovery of a previously unknown Maya city hidden beneath a millennium of jungle growth.
These Microbes Could Allow Plants to Grow in Impossibly Salty Soil
Salty soil, one of the greatest threats to agriculture, may have a new cure in the form of soil bacteria that allows plants to thrive.
A ‘Second Breakfast’ for Real-Life Hobbits? New Evidence Calls into Question Past Presumptions About Homo Floresiensis
Homo floresiensis, a tiny ancient hominin, often compared to the hobbits of the Lord of the Rings, engaged in a sort of second breakfast.
“We’ve Replicated in Chemistry What Only Used to be Possible in Biology”: Scientists Have Created the First Fully Synthetic Cell
Researchers have developed the first entirely artificial cell, made completely from non-living chemical components.