Upon completing T1B hunters were rewarded with the newest image. A much higher resolution version was then uploaded to the official-art channel here:
1) AA - Anders Ångström
There are two lone “A” characters in the image. The first is located on the rear sight tower of the AKM (above the foregrip), while the second is on the buttstock of the M60.
It is believed that these A’s are referring to the first letter of the first and last name of Anders Jonas Ångström, a founder of the science of spectroscopy.
Spectroscopy is useful in analytical chemistry because atoms and molecules have unique properties which allow them to be distinguished in a sample using various instruments.
This clue was guiding us to think about atoms.
2) E-2a / Луна III
Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 (Russian: Луна 3), was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme.
The Soviet origins of the spacecraft and the use of Cyrillic both serve to guide us toward a Soviet connection.
The substitution of Roman numerals for the 3 in the Russian name allude to the regular themes of Roman numeral replacement and “three” which seem to be ubiquitous throughout the hunt, despite not being used in this tier’s password.
3) Pink equilateral triangle
Pink Floyd’s dark side of the moon
The pink equilateral triangle was interpreted as a nod to Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon, as the album cover features an equilateral triangle. The name of the album serves as another nod to Luna 3, while the album cover is a nod to spectroscopy because of the light refraction and dispersion.
4) 118
There are 118 known elements.
5) AAИ
These characters are Cyrillic Numerals, equivalent to the number 118.
This again points to the known elements, but also points to a Soviet connection due to the Cyrillic.
6) ”..-.” → F
”..-.” represents the letter F.
Mendelevium is present in the F block of the periodic table.
7) X-X
The magazine is upside down, so the apparent “x-X” is actually reversed. X is 10 in Roman numerals, so this clue can be interpreted as 10-10.
The angstrom unit is 10-10m.
8) 460BC
Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus was born in 460BC.
primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe.
This is another clue directing us to focus on atoms.