This week in news from The Debrief, researchers have uncovered new clues about two colossal, continent-sized structures buried 1,800 miles beneath Earth’s surface—anomalies once dismissed as “random oddities,” now believed to preserve chemical fingerprints from the planet’s earliest formation. Meanwhile, DARPA has launched TBD2, the first deep-space surveillance network designed to track tiny spacecraft millions of miles from Earth, marking a major leap in real-time monitoring of the Earth–Moon system. And in the realm of food innovation, scientists have engineered a genetically modified protein-producing fungus that could rival conventional livestock, offering a more efficient and environmentally sustainable alternative to meat.
Here are the top stories we’re covering right now at The Debrief…
- X-Ray Imaging Uncovers Hidden Structures in Liquid-Metal-Grown Crystals
The delicate internal structure of platinum crystals growing in liquid metal has been revealed, according to new research employing a powerful X-ray technique.
- “There’s an Operating System that Exists, that Emerges in a Primordial State”: New Research Reveals Our Brain’s “Preset” Conditions
New models show that our brains are “pre-wired,” and that electrical activity begins even before any external experiences occur.
- Dwarf Galaxies Around Andromeda Are Revealing a Complex Story of Cosmic Death
A new study of M31, also known as Andromeda, explains how our cosmic neighbor kills off smaller nearby galaxies.
- Scientists Reveal How Severely a Geomagnetic Superstorm Erodes Earth’s Protection from Dangerous Space Radiation
Researchers have now measured how violent space weather events called geomagnetic superstorms disrupt the Earth’s protective plasmasphere.
- Researchers Have Developed a New Tool to Help Predict Emerging Disease Hotspots Using Social Media
Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, have developed a new method of analyzing social media posts to help identify growing vaccine skepticism.
- James Webb Space Telescope Captures Stunning Images of “Repetitive, Predictable Structures” in a Rare Star System
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first-ever image of four dust spirals surrounding the Wolf-Rayet stars in the Apep system.
- Archaeologists Uncover a Massive Bronze Age ‘Proto-City’ in Kazakhstan That Rewrites Steppe History
Archaeologists reveal Semiyarka, was a vast Bronze Age settlement, reshaping our understanding of early Steppe cities and metallurgy.
- The Origins of Theia, the Cosmic Impactor that Violently Birthed the Moon, Has Finally Been Revealed
New research reveals that Theia, the colossal, Mars-sized impactor that collided with the Earth to birth our Moon, may have come from the direction of the Sun.
- “These Are Not Random Oddities”: New Clues Emerge About Anomalous Continent-Sized Structures Deep Within the Earth
New insights into a pair of colossal, continent-sized structures 1,800 miles beneath the Earth’s surface have revealed clues into how the planet formed and evolved.
- DARPA Launches TBD2, the First Deep-Space Surveillance Network to Track Tiny Objects Millions of Miles From Earth
DARPA’s TBD2 program aims to track tiny spacecraft across deep space, creating the first wide-area surveillance of the Earth–Moon region.
- Forget Meat—Here Comes Genetically Modified Protein Fungus
Move over meat, scientists have engineered a fungal organism that produces protein more efficiently than conventional livestock while dramatically reducing environmental damage.
- NASA Finally Reveals Long-Awaited 3I/ATLAS Images—There’s Still No Sign of Aliens
This week, NASA finally released long-awaited images of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, following weeks of silence during the record-long U.S. government shutdown.
- Scientists Discover New Quantum ‘Pinball’ State of Matter Where Electrons Break the Rules
A new study reveals a “pinball phase” in a Wigner crystal, where electrons act as both solid and liquid in a quantum breakthrough.
- A Medieval Poem Misled Historians About the Black Death for Centuries—Scholars Now Reveal the “Spider’s Web” of Plague Myths
A new study in the Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies shows that a widely accepted belief about the Black Death’s rapid spread from Central Asia to the Mediterranean is not based on records or eyewitness accounts, but on a single medieval poem.
- A Strange Rock Discovered on the Martian Surface May Be a Visitor From Outer Space
3I/Atlas isn’t the only unusual space rock to be spotted recently, as NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover has spotted a possible meteorite.