Jan 20, 2026 3:34 PM
This week in stories we're covering at The Debrief, scientists have identified a "master regulator" in the brain, and an ancient Roman factory is unearthed.
(Credit: Shawn Day/Unsplash)This week in stories we're covering at The Debrief, scientists have identified a "master regulator" that could potentially reset aging in the brain. Meanwhile, a major archaeological discovery in the UK has revealed an ancient Roman "factory" that archaeologists are calling "the most important discovery of the last hundred years." Ryan Whalen reports on why and what that means. And finally, science reveals why some people can naturally experience symptoms of intoxication without consuming any alcohol, in what researchers are now calling "auto-brewery syndrome."
Here's a look at all the recent stories we're covering right now at The Debrief:
- Mysterious Iron Bar Discovered in the Ring Nebula is a “Fascinating, Previously Unknown Structure in a Night-Sky Jewel” Astronomers have discovered a strange, bar-shaped iron structure within the Ring Nebula, which could be the remains of a vaporized planet.
- “It’s Like Watching a Cosmic Volcano Erupt Again”: Black Hole Roars Back to Life With Powerful Plasma Jet A dramatic scarlet image of a supermassive black hole erupting like a cosmic volcano has been captured by researchers.
- A Newly Discovered Species Offers Clues to the Great Salt Lake’s Past Researchers have discovered a new species in the Great Salt Lake, offering scientists a new tool for monitoring environmental change.
- How the Pentagon Is Quietly Turning Laser Communications Into the Backbone of Future Space Warfare Laser Communications could reshape military space networks as research shows adaptable laser links nearing use.
- A New Brain-Stimulation Tool Could Help Scientists Trace the Origins of Consciousness Although researchers can monitor brain activity associated with perception, pain, and awareness, it remains unclear which neural pathways are tied to the origins of consciousness.
- Astronomers Have Uncovered a “Definitive Clue” to the Origin of Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Originating from Binary Stars Researchers have, for the first time, discovered clear evidence that some fast radio bursts (FRBs) are emitted by binary stars.
- “One of the Solar System’s Least Mapped Planetary Surfaces”: Satellite Data and the Physics of Ice Flow Finally Reveal Antarctica’s Hidden Landscapes Scientists have combined satellite data with ice-flow physics to create a map of Antarctica's hidden landscapes.
- Astronomers Reveal How a “Weird” Variety of M Dwarf Stars Can Function as “Space Weather Stations” Scientists have identified phenomena in deep space that can act as naturally occurring “space weather stations” far beyond our solar system.
- Ancient DNA Reveals a Virus That Learned to Live Inside the Human Genome A virus that infects nearly all children early in life has, in rare cases, been present within human DNA for thousands of years.
- James Webb Space Telescope Solves a Cosmic Mystery by Revealing the True Identity of Mysterious “Little Red Dots” in Deep Space One of the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) earliest mysteries was that of the little red dots, which researchers have finally resolved.
- Your Brain Knows Which Locations Will Make Memories Stick—Even Before Anything Happens There Neuroscientists reveal how the brain decides which locations will best anchor memories—before new experiences even happen.
- Novel Compound Activates Key Psychedelic Receptor Without Behavioral Effects Laboratory tests of a novel serotonin-binding compound have revealed an unexpected disconnect between receptor activation and behavior, raising new questions about how psychedelic effects emerge in the brain.
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