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While scanning one of Scotland's richest prehistoric landscapes, archaeologists uncovered evidence of what may be a newfound stone or timber circle buried beneath a peat moorland. The find may add another monument to a ceremonial structure that has fascinated researchers for more than a century.

The possible circle lies beneath the surface of Machrie Moor on Scotland's Isle of Arran, a landscape already famous for its towering standing stones , burial monuments and ceremonial sites dating to between roughly 3500 and 1500 B.C. Researchers from Historic Environment Scotland identified the possible circle using geophysical survey equipment, which is wheeled aboveground and detects subtle magnetic changes underground without disturbing any archaeological remains.

The discovery emerged from a survey designed to test how well modern archaeological instruments work in peat-covered landscapes, but instead the project revealed the unexpected subterranean circle.

"We know that there is a lot of archaeology yet to uncover at Machrie Moor, but the discovery of a new circle completely surpassed our expectations," Nick Hannon , senior heritage recording manager at Historic Environment Scotland, said in a statement released June 30.

While Stonehenge is the world's most famous prehistoric circle, it is only one monument among hundreds built across Britain and mainland Europe during the Neolithic and Bronze ages. Machrie Moor is among the best-preserved examples of these ritual landscapes, with six ceremonial circles already identified since the 1980s.

In fact, the archaeologists found there was more to learn about some of the previously known circles. At Machrie Moor Circle 2, for instance, the team identified a ring of anomalies suggesting the circle may have had 14 stones instead of the seven or eight previously reconstructed.

An excavation of Circle 11 from the 1985 excavation. Circle 11 has been dated to the Bronze Age. (Image credit: Historic Environment Scotland) The circles also share a striking orientation: They align with a notch at the head of nearby Machrie Glen where the midsummer sun would have risen, which suggesting astronomical observations may have played a role in ceremonies held there.

Archaeological anomalies

Unlike the circles that had already been discovered at the site, the newly detected monument has not been excavated yet. Instead, researchers identified a ring of magnetic anomalies ‪—‬ subtle disturbances in the soil that often indicate archaeological features such as pits or postholes.

According to the survey report , the feature consists of 12 circular, pit-like anomalies arranged in a circle approximately 92 feet (28 meters) across. The pits are spaced around 21 feet (6.5 m) apart, with two unusually wide gaps that the researchers say could represent the locations of two additional pits that are now decayed. If so, the monument may have originally contained 14 posts or standing stones.

"There is no indication that any of these anomalies contain a stone" at this time, the researchers noted in the report, so the circle could have been built from either timber posts or standing stones that were later removed.

An ancient circle believed to be from the Bronze Age at Machrie Moor in Scotland, looking northward. (Image credit: Historic Environment Scotland) Related stories

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Previous excavations have already revealed that several of the other stone circles at Machrie Moor were originally built as timber circles before the wooden posts were replaced with stones around 2000 B.C. Human cremations and bodily burials were later placed within some of the circles, suggesting the monuments' functions changed over time.

"It is likely that the newly-discovered circle dates from a similar period as the other circles still standing," representatives of Historic Environment Scotland said in the statement.

See how much you know about Stonehenge with our Stonehenge quiz!

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Elon Musk has refuted a WSJ report that claimed SpaceX investors were shown a prototype AI device.

This prototype was reported to feature AI tech from SpaceX subsidiary xAI, while running Qualcomm silicon.

A demo of the prototype was reportedly given to investors ahead of the lucrative SpaceX IPO.

AI is everywhere you see today, with industry giants doing everything in their capacity to get an edge over their competitors. So it didn’t come as a surprise when a new report this week claimed that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had demoed a prototype of an AI device to investors.

According to The Wall Street Journal , this smartphone-like device would run on Qualcomm silicon and incorporate AI tech from SpaceX subsidiary xAI, while featuring a custom operating system. Musk has attempted to pour cold water over that idea by calling it “ utterly false ” in response to a now-deleted tweet.

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Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Thursday that there was “practically unanimous” support among party leaders for ending the country’s ban on nuclear weapons.

“Opinions were practically unanimous. Almost all parliamentary faction leaders expressed the view that Article 137 has become obsolete and should not merely be amended but removed,” Nausėda told reporters, referring to the section of Lithuania’s constitution that bans nuclear weapons and foreign military bases.

Speaking after meeting with parliamentary faction leaders, Nausėda indicated that the legislature would soon look to amend the legislation. Vilnius, a staunch ally of Ukraine, has previously indicated interest in hosting U.S. nuclear weapons as it looks for deterrents against neighboring Russia.

Lithuania joined NATO in 2004, and Nausėda said the country’s parliamentary leaders did not want to be in a “gray zone” within the military alliance as one of the only countries that continues to ban nuclear weapons. Finland repealed a similar ban last June.

“Today, 35 years later, the situation is different. As NATO members, we have the right, the duty, and the desire to be full and equal members of NATO. The primary means of deterrence is nuclear deterrence,” said Juozas Olekas, the speaker of Lithuania’s parliament.

The Financial Times previously reported that the U.S. had discussed deploying nuclear warheads to countries on NATO’s eastern flank. U.S. nuclear weapons are currently stored on military bases in the U.K., Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands.

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Amazon Game Studios boss Christoph Hartmann left the company earlier this year amidst its move away from big-budget game development and embrace of AI-powered slop. There was no indication at the time as to what he'd get up to next (in fact, I don't think his departure was ever publicly confirmed by Amazon), but now we know: He's signed up with Ubisoft.

Hartmann, who prior to joining Amazon had a long run at Take-Two including 14 years as president of its 2K Games publishing label, will head up Ubisoft's still-needs-a-proper-name Creative House 2, one of five "creative houses" that emerged from the company's recent restructuring .

That will put him in charge of Tom Clancy franchises The Division , Ghost Recon , and Splinter Cell —although the premier Tom Clancy game, Rainbow Six Siege, will remain with Vantage Studios , formerly known as Creative House One—as well as the March of Giants MOBA Ubisoft acquired from Amazon in 2025.

"Christoph is exactly the kind of leader we needed for Creative House 2—a passionate gamer with a proven ability to bring out the best in creative teams and build franchises that last," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said.

"His experience across development and publishing as well as his management style give him a rare understanding of what it takes to make great games. I am confident Christoph will elevate our teams and brands to new heights and deepen their connection with the dedicated players who love these franchises."

In his own message on LinkedIn , Hartmann said he's "excited to get started" with his new gig.

"For nearly four decades, Ubisoft has created some of the industry’s most iconic franchises and earned a reputation for building ambitious AAA experiences that have entertained millions of players around the world," Hartmann wrote. "It has long been a company I’ve admired for its creativity, the strength of its franchises, and, above all, the talented people behind them.

"My goal is simple: create an environment where talented teams can do their best work and continue building games that players love."

While Hartmann is a significant addition to Ubisoft's executive lineup, the company's seemingly endless thrashing in the water has also cost it some notable names with serious institutional knowledge, including former Assassin's Creed franchise boss Marc-Alexis Côté , former Assassin's Creed Hexe creative director Clint Hocking , and former Assassin's Creed Hexe game director Benoit Richer , all of whom have departed the company in recent months. In June, Ubisoft closed two studios, in Winnipeg and Belgrade, and laid off hundreds of employees ; a report at the time by French site LesEchos claimed that further cuts at Ubisoft's American operations are expected, although those cuts have not yet materialized.

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A mysterious wavelength of light is missing from the dwarf planet Pluto and Saturn's supersized moon Titan, new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations show. The surprising discovery hints that these worlds harbor an unknown molecule that has not been seen in any other solar system world or exoplanet so far.

Every element or molecule in the universe absorbs unique wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation . Therefore, one of the main ways astronomers study distant worlds — both inside and outside the solar system — is by closely examining the light that reflects off them and searching for dark "absorption lines" that correspond to the wavelengths of known chemical compounds.

For example, molecular oxygen absorbs light at 230 nanometers, so if the electromagnetic spectrum of a faraway exoplanet has an absorption line at this frequency, researchers can be confident that its atmosphere contains oxygen, according to a 2021 study .

JWST has proved to be exceptionally good at capturing electromagnetic spectra and identifying specific chemicals in exoplanet atmospheres , around distant stars and within primitive galaxies . It has even identified a molecule on one alien world that could point to extraterrestrial life .

In a new study, uploaded June 11 to the preprint server arXiv , researchers analyzed JWST data from Pluto and Titan , focusing on very small wavelengths that have been relatively unexplored until now. This revealed a specific absorption line at around 5.11 micrometers in both worlds' spectra. (These findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet.)

The James Webb Space Telescope is specially designed to be able to detect subtle absorption signals from distant worlds. (Image credit: Getty Images) The team pored through similar studies on other planetary spectra but "did not find any band referenced in these publications that corresponds to the location of the observed absorption in Titan and Pluto," the researchers wrote in the paper.

A molecular mystery

The discovery is even stranger because there are very few similarities between Pluto and Titan that could explain why they share a molecule not found anywhere else.

Titan is the largest of Saturn's many moons and is even larger than Mercury . It is also the only solar system world, other than Earth, that is known to have liquid rivers and oceans on its surface. Pluto, on the other hand, is a completely frozen world that's around half the size of Titan and roughly four times farther from the sun than Saturn's satellite is.

Both worlds do have similar atmospheres that are rich in methane and nitrogen. However, the researchers are confident that the molecule responsible for the 5.11-micrometer absorption line is located on both worlds' surfaces, not in their atmospheres.

Titan and Pluto are very different worlds. Saturn's largest moon has liquid on its surface and is around four times closer to the sun than the dwarf planet. (Image credit: Getty Images) Pluto's absorption line is around three times thicker than Titan's, meaning the mystery molecule is likely much more abundant on the dwarf planet. But on Titan, the molecule seems to be unevenly distributed, with a stronger absorption line on its trailing side — the hemisphere opposite to its forward momentum around Saturn — than on its leading side.

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The researchers proposed that it could be benzene — a ring-shaped hydrocarbon — mixed with an unknown molecule, or some form of acetylene or ketene ice. However, much more work is needed to prove that any of these potential candidates are responsible for absorbing this specific wavelength, they wrote.

NASA's Dragonfly spacecraft, which is set to launch no earlier than 2028 and fly through Titan's atmosphere in 2034, could eventually shed more light on the situation. The helicopter-like craft's onboard spectrograph could identify the mystery molecule on Saturn's moon, which would also help reveal if it is viable on Pluto, the researchers suggested. But in the meantime, we'll have to wait to unravel this curious cosmic conundrum.

See how well you know our planetary neighborhood with our solar system quiz!

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A potentially habitable rocky world has been found in the habitable zone around a red dwarf just 25 light-years from us.

However, faced with a hostile wind of radiation from its host star, it remains unclear whether this new exoplanet supports an atmosphere, or the possibility of life. Nevertheless, astronomers are celebrating the discovery.

"This one's exciting," said Paul Robertson of the University of California, Irvine, in a statement . "It's one of our closest cosmic neighbors. Twenty-five light years sounds like a long way, but the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across, so in that respect it's our next-door neighbor."

The planet, designated GJ 3378b, orbits the faint red dwarf star in the constellation of Camelopardalis, the Giraffe. It was discovered in 2024 by French astronomers using the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope in Mauna Kea, but American astronomers have revised those initial findings, revealing that the planet is possibly more like Earth than we realized.

All we know for sure is the mass and the orbit of GJ 3378b. We do not yet know whether it is like Earth or not – it could have land and sea and clouds and life, or it could be airless and cratered.

The planet is not seen to transit, or pass in front of its star, blocking its light from our vantage point. Instead, GJ 3378b was detected by the effects of its gravity tugging on its parent star. This causes the star to wobble around the center of mass that it shares with the planet, a wobbling that is betrayed by a Doppler shift in the star's light that can be measured by its spectra, the wavelengths of light that it emits.

When it was discovered in 2024, its mass was measured to be 5.26 times the mass of Earth , putting it in mini- Neptune territory of being a larger, mostly gaseous world. However, by taking a second look at the planet using two different telescopes, Robertson's team was able to show that the planet's true mass is 2.3 times the mass of Earth. This means that it is closer to being a rocky super-Earth instead.

Furthermore, the same observations found that GJ 3378b's orbital period is 21 days, not the 25 days that had originally been measured. This means that the planet is closer to the star than had been thought, sitting comfortably within the habitable zone where temperatures will be suitable for liquid water on the surface of a planet with an atmosphere. So from that point of view, the chance of GJ 3378b being habitable, if not inhabited, seems fair.

"This super-Earth gets about 90% of the radiation from its host star that Earth gets from its sun , so it's right in the sweet spot," said Robertson.

The WIYN 3.5-meter telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, one of the two telescopes used to discover exoplanet GJ 3378b. (Image credit: NOIRLAB/NSF/AURA) One significant problem, however, is that red dwarfs spit out harmful torrents of radiation in fierce gusts of their stellar winds, which can strip away a planet's atmosphere. This raises the question, does GJ 3378b even have an atmosphere?

Currently there is no way to tell. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been probing for atmospheres around other rocky worlds orbiting red dwarfs, such as those in the TRAPPIST-1 system. It does so by transit spectroscopy, where an atmosphere wrapped around a planet absorbs some of the star's light filtering through it, leaving dark absorption lines in the star's spectrum.

Unfortunately, GJ 3378b does not transit its star. This means that astronomers will have to wait until the 2040s, when NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory will hopefully launch, to answer the question of whether GJ 3378b really does have an atmosphere or not.

Still, astronomers are hopeful. GJ 3378b is right on the edge of the zone where planets are expected to be seriously battered by radiation, meaning it could have escaped the worst. If so, there might be more than just an atmosphere for the Habitable Worlds Observatory to discover.

"The ultimate goal is biosignatures," said University of Texas at Austin astronomer Michael Endl in a separate statement . "We really want to know, are we alone in the universe? We are still in the reconnaissance phase of our solar neighborhood, trying to find the planets around the nearest stars because those will be the easiest ones to detect a biosignature on."

"This planet brings us one step closer to knowing all of our neighbors and, ultimately, which might be hospitable for life."

The findings were reported on June 30 in The Astrophysical Journal .