The Debrief

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 ...
The Debrief

It Appears the Reports of Venus’s Death Were Greatly Exaggerated—New Models Suggest the Planet is Still Geologically Active

New computer models suggest that Venus is not geologically dormant as previously believed, including possibly active ...
The Debrief

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 ...
The Debrief

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 ...
The Debrief

In One of Africa’s Deepest Lakes, Scientists Have Found a Species No One Expected Swimming at Incredible Depths

A remarkable discovery has been made in East Africa’s Lake Malawi, one of the deepest bodies of water on the African ...
The Debrief

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 ...
The Debrief

The 5,700-Year-Old Psychedelic Drug Mescaline Finally Got a Modern Brain Scan, And The Results Were Unexpected

The first proper brain scan of mescaline found the drug ignoring the regions where psychedelic research has spent a decade, ...
The Debrief

Consistent With “Magic and Rituals”: Ancient Cave-Dwelling Australians Burned Grass for Spiritual Purposes Dating Back 25,000 Years

Discoveries inside an ancient Australian cave suggest ancient humans burned grass at the site for magic, healing, and ...
The Debrief

Archaeologists Unearth “Exceptionally Well-Preserved” 2,600-Year-Old Wooden Beams Burned in the First Temple Fire

Excavations in the City of David have unearthed 2,600-year-old, exceptionally well-preserved wooden beams from the 586 BCE ...
The Debrief

Scientists May Have Finally Solved the Mystery of How and Why Hannibal Took War Elephants Across the Alps

New research suggests war elephants helped determine Hannibal's route across the Alps—and survived it better than soldiers.
The Debrief

Scientists Warn Something is Vanishing from Earth’s Oceans at an Alarming Rate, Driving the Planet Into an “Unsafe Space”

Scientists are sounding the alarm over the concerning loss of oxygen in Earth’s oceans and freshwater systems.
The Debrief

2000-Year-Old Evidence of a Cult Shrine to Odysseus, the Legendary Hero of Homer’s ‘Odyssey,’ Has Been Uncovered at Ithaca

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an ancient cult site devoted to the legendary hero of Homer's epic poem, The ...