The pyramid tombs of Egypt’s ancient rulers are amongst the most magnificent man-made structures to have survived through antiquity, into the modern-era. They have succeeded in capturing the curiosity of countless historians, archaeologists, and conspiracy theorists, who have spent lifetimes attempting to unravel the secrets of their complex construction, and otherworldly purpose.

Whilst centuries of intense scrutiny have yielded libraries-worth of insights into the nature of the pyramids and their creators, countless mysteries yet remain. Among them is the reasoning behind the locations of a chain of 31 of the tombs in an inhospitable region of the Sahara Desert, in modern day Egypt.

Now, an international team of researchers may have discovered the reason behind their placement. They managed this by using a combination of satellite imagery and time tested archaeological techniques to unearth the existence of an ancient waterway connecting the pyramids to the aquatic highway that is the river Nile.

“Many of us who are interested in ancient Egypt are aware that the Egyptians must have used a waterway to build their enormous monuments, like the pyramids and valley temples, but nobody was certain of the location, the shape, the size, or proximity of this mega waterway to the actual pyramids site,” said Eman Ghoneim, a professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and first author of the study detailing the results in the journal Communications, Earth & Environment.

“Our research offers the first map of one of the main ancient branches of the Nile at such a large scale and links it with the largest pyramid fields of Egypt.” The newly discovered waterway, which has been named for the Arabic word for pyramid, Ahramat, is thought to have been active during the 1,000 year period in which the pyramids were being constructed, which began some 4,700 years ago in the ‘Old Kingdom’ era, and spanned several dynasties.

Over time, complex environmental shifts and sand incursion from the Sahara’s Western Desert Plateau likely led to the abandonment of the Ahramat branch, which was eventually hidden from sight entirely by the passage of several millennia. However, the team behind the discovery were able to piece together its existence and trace its path using a combination of radar satellite imagery, sediment core sampling, and geophysical surveys.

Neuralink is challenging members of the public to test their skill at the reaction game used to test its N1 brain chip, and see how their score stacks up against that of the first human recipient of the brain-computer interface (BCI), Noland Arbaugh, who plays by directing the movements of a computer cursor with his mind.

The N1 chip implanted in Arbaugh’s head is designed to detect the 29-year-old quadriplegic man’s brain activity, and transmit the resulting data to a Neuralink App, which then translates the neural signals into executable actions such as the movement of a computer cursor. Neuralink is currently working to improve the performance of the BMI to grant Arbaugh the ability to wield a computer cursor with a speed and accuracy that rivals the performance of an average Neuralink researcher using a physical mouse.

Along the way, scientists are using a simple but addictive reaction-based game called Webgrid to gauge the performance of the experimental brain-computer link. Webgrid is able to test a person’s skill at manipulating a computer cursor by presenting them with a simple grid displaying a single blue target square, which shifts location randomly with each click. In each session, players must click on the blue target tiles as fast as possible in order to attain a high score, which is measured in bits per second (BPS) - a metric that takes into account factors including speed, accuracy, and misclicks.

Don't go easy on me. Blow me out of the water. It'll only push me to get better. The highest I've seen is 17.10 on a 35x35 by @chapman_bliss https://t.co/GtUPT4dFNq

— Noland Arbaugh (@ModdedQuad) May 14, 2024

In the months following his implant surgery, Arbaugh was able to attain a high score of 8.01 BPS, and is now working to beat the physical mouse score set by Neuralink researchers of 10 BPS. Earlier this week, Neuralink made the Webgrid game freely available to the general public, giving players the opportunity to see how their mouse control stacks up against Arbaugh's. “Don't go easy on me,” said Arbaugh in a post on X following the announcement. “Blow me out of the water. It'll only push me to get better. The highest I've seen is 17.10 on a 35x35 [grid] by @chapman_bliss.”

Last week saw Neuralink provide an update on Arbaugh’s progress 100 days out from the implant surgery, in which a specialised robot inserted a collection of 64 electrode-bearing threads into the 29-year-old’s brain, which feed data to the circular N1 implant.

The company revealed that Arbaugh has used the brain-computer link to play a number of popular games, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Slay the Spire, and Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 during his free time. The researchers are also working to develop bespoke video-game-centric features for the Neuralink App, which will allow Arbaugh greater freedom as to where and how he games.

Neuralink also disclosed that a number of the ultra-thin threads had retracted from Arbaugh’s brain in the weeks following the surgery, which led to a drop in performance that the researchers were later able to compensate for by tweaking the data collection and translation algorithm.

For more science news why not read up on a new set of NASA supercomputer simulations, which reveal what it would look like if you were to fall into a supermassive black hole with a mass of 4.3 million suns, or check out Boston Dynamic’s new and terrifyingly flexible line of all electric Atlas robots.

Image credit: Neuralink.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch alert following the eruption of at least seven coronal mass ejections earlier this week. Material ejected during the intense bout of solar activity is expected to reach Earth on Friday, May 10, potentially triggering colorful aurora that could be visible accross swathes of North America over the course of the weekend.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) are colossal stellar explosions brought about by shifts in the Sun’s magnetic field, which launch vast clouds of charged particles accounting for billions of tons of coronal material to the farthest reaches of our Solar System. These stellar temper tantrums often occur alongside the appearance of smaller, short lived stellar explosions known as solar flares.

Whilst they may sound apocalyptic, CMEs are actually a regular occurrence on our Sun, and tend to take place with a higher frequency when our star is at the height of its 11-year activity cycle - which we’re coming up to now, by the way. The reason that we rarely experience the effect of these colossal outbursts is simply because powerful CMEs usually occur on a part of the Sun’s surface that is facing away from our planet.

The Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) has issued the first G4 (Severe) geomagnetic watch since 2005. The aurora tonight/tomorrow morning may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California.
Story:… pic.twitter.com/bqgd9qqnNI

— National Weather Service (@NWS) May 10, 2024

However, starting on May 7 and continuing through to May 9, Sun-facing telescopes captured a series of at least seven powerful CMEs and accompanying solar flares exploded into life on a region of our star marked by a cluster of enormous sunspots. According to NOAA, the onslaught of stellar material cast out by the solar upheaval is even now on an intercept course with Earth, and will reach our planet in a matter of hours.

Whilst the impending solar storm poses no threat to human life, the observations have been sufficient to prompt NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center to issue an extremely rare ‘Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch’ for Friday May 10 - the first alert of its kind in almost 20 years.

According to NOAA, the material from the CMEs should merge and begin to interact with Earth’s atmosphere on Friday evening (UTC). Over the course of the weekend, the storm of high energy charged particles could interact with our planet’s magnetosphere to create auroras that will be visible across swathes of North America, and could even be seen as far south as Alabama, and northern California.

There is also the potential that interference brought on by the solar storm could disrupt orbital satellites and Earthbound communications, with the most powerful events being capable of affecting power grids, and GPS navigation systems. The operators of these critical infrastructure elements have already been notified of the potential risks, allowing them to put safeguards in place where possible.

Keep an eye on the NOAA's Space Weather Predictions website, and NASA socials for updates on the solar storm over the course of the weekend.

Image credit: NOAA

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

The first human Neuralink implant recipient is playing Slay the Spire, Old School RuneScape, and a range of other popular games by using the implant to translate his neural signals.

Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company also revealed in a new update that a number of the implant’s electrode-bearing threads had retracted from the patient’s brain, leading to a temporary drop off in the performance of the brain-computer interface (BCI).

Back in January, Neuralink co-founder Elon Musk took to X to announce the company had implanted its first ‘N1’ brain chip in the head of a human patient as part of its Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface (PRIME) study. The patient was later revealed to be 29-year-old American quadrapalegic Noland Arbaugh, who had suffered paralysis below the shoulders after sustaining a spinal injury during a diving accident some eight years ago.

During the surgery, a circular section of skull was removed to grant a specialized robot access to a section of Arbaugh's brain. The robot used a needle thinner than a human hair to insert a collection of 64 ultra-fine electrode-bearing threads into the grey matter. These newly installed sensors are designed to detect the patient's neural signals, and send the resulting data up the threads to the main body of the N1 implant, which had been installed in the skull gap created during the surgical procedure. Signals from the implant are then transmitted to a Neuralink Application, which is being trained to decode the intent behind the information and convert it into executable actions, such as the movement of a computer cursor.

Prior to the surgery, Arbaugh had to rely on a mouth stick - an assistive tool that lets the user apply pressure to a touchscreen once placed in the mouth - to play games and interact with the digital world. While this did allow Arbaugh to use an iPad, it came with a range of drawbacks. For example, in order to use the mouth stick he had to be sat upright and have a caregiver present to give him the tool. Furthermore, he couldn't speak properly while using it, and prolonged use had the potential of triggering spasms and giving rise to pressure sores.

“I thought that the mouth stick was a lot better than BCI a month ago, when we compared them I saw that BCI was just as good if not better and it's still improving; the games I can play now are leaps and bounds better than previous ones,” Arbaugh was quoted as saying in a Neuralink blog update marking the 100 day anniversary of his surgery. “I’m beating my friends in games that as a quadriplegic I should not be beating them in.”

Neuralink revealed that Arbaugh had recently used the brain-computer interface for 69 hours in a single week, of which 34 hours were for recreational purposes. During this time, Arbaugh used the assistive tech to surf the internet, learn new languages, and play a range of video games, including the rogue-like deckbuilding title Slay the Spire, Old School RuneScape, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Sid Meier’s Civilization 6, all by manipulating the cursor with his mind. The scientists are also working on a bespoke gaming functionality within the Neuralink app, which is being designed to give Arbaugh greater freedom as to how and when he can connect and play games.

What's on my mind? https://t.co/hq4n2Ep0BL

— Noland Arbaugh (@ModdedQuad) May 5, 2024

In the 100 days following his surgery, Arbaugh has set what Neuralink described as a "new world record for human BCI cursor control." He is currently able to use the interface to score a value of 8.0 bits-per-second (BPS), which is the measurement used by the scientific community to grade the accuracy and speed of computer cursor movements. For context, Neuralink engineers clocked in around 10 BPS using a physical mouse - a score Arbaugh is looking to best in the coming months.

The company also revealed that an unspecified number of the electrode-bearing threads that had been inserted into Arbaugh’s head during the installation of the N1 implant had "retracted" from his brain in the weeks after the surgery. The thread movement forced the Neuralink scientists to tweak the algorithm responsible for collecting and translating the neural data, which the company says has made up for the loss in performance.