Deborah Bloomfield

High levels of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) have been reported in parts of China. The news has sparked some concern, no doubt reminding people of a certain virus that erupted from this part of the world almost exactly five years ago. But do you really need to be worried about this latest disease outbreak? Here’s everything […]

Lunar samples collected by NASA astronauts during the Apollo Moon landings have a curious habit of being destroyed, stolen, or lost. In a bunch of newly released documents from Ireland, the story of one ill-fated moon rock has been revealed in new detail. Advertisement Documents from the National Archives in Dublin explain that one of […]

An oil spill in the Black Sea is believed to have resulted in the death of over 30 cetaceans, including several members of an endangered subspecies. Advertisement The spill, which occurred after two Russian oil tankers were damaged in a storm in mid-December 2024, spread out into the Kerch Strait – a strip of water […]

January 5, 2005, is an astronomical anniversary that is not really marked but should be. It saw the discovery of dwarf planet Eris and how those very observations led to a new way to describe the Solar System and heralded the eventual change of Pluto’s planetary status. Advertisement On that fateful January day, the team […]

What do you think the loudest animal on the planet is? An elephant? An army of Taylor’s Swifties? Well, you’d be wrong if you took relative body size into consideration, because for that, the award goes to the tiny water boatman: Micronecta scholtzi. It was crowned in 2011 when a team of researchers presented their […]

We are constantly learning more about the deep ocean and the creatures that live in these remote places, from sleeper sharks to disco worms. Underwater technology can give us a look into previously inaccessible places under the waves, and one team has now revealed the first-ever record of a roughskin dogfish swimming about deep in […]

Just over 25 years ago, the British Medical Journal published a study that suggested a single cigarette could shorten a smoker’s life by 11 minutes. Unsurprisingly, this caught the attention of the media, and the figure spread far and wide – the trouble was, the study had some pretty significant flaws. Now, new research has […]

Sex is disposable in the most literal sense for the sea slug Goniobranchus reticulatus (formerly Chromodoris reticulata). In a 2013 study, it became the first known animal to reproduce using “disposable penises” that could be jettisoned after mating and replaced with a new one, but the magic doesn’t last forever. It’s thought that these nudibranchs […]

It’s no secret that our gut microbiome can influence our physical and mental health in many ways, but what’s the best way to have a favorable composition? Does one diet rule above them all? A study looked at biological samples from over 21,000 individuals to find out, revealing key differences among dietary preferences, and that […]

Until around 50,000 years ago, the island of Flores in Indonesia was inhabited by a peculiar species of miniature humans called Homo floresiensis – popularly referred to as the Hobbit people. Previously, researchers thought that these Tolkien-esque characters died out when they came into competition with our own species, yet more recent research suggests that […]

After a re-emergence sparked a national emergency in Costa Rica in February of last year, New World Screwworm (NWS) fly larvae (Cochliomyia hominivorax) have once again reared their tooth-covered heads, this time in southern Mexico – with the potential to cross the border into the US. Advertisement Despite being found in just one cow in […]

Tahlequah, an orca well-known for having carried her dead calf for over two weeks back in 2018, has been struck by a heartbreaking event once again. After it was recently announced that the orca had given birth, the new calf has since died – and Tahlequah has been spotted carrying this calf too. Advertisement The […]

Atoms forged in stars take a gigantic meandering path before they become incorporated into a future generation of stars and planets, new research reveals. This path is so indirect it takes these atoms outside the conventional definition of the galaxy. This means that some of the residue of long-lost stars passed outside the galaxy before […]

It’s hard to imagine while you’re on a video call or reading articles on your favorite popular science media outlet, but that information has most likely reached your device through a vast network of undersea cables. Advertisement These fiber-optic cables, typically about the girth of a sausage, use light to carry vast amounts of data […]

This week, we revisit some 100-year-old, but spookily accurate, predictions for 2025, the Earthshot Prize has been awarded to an ecosystem restoration project that marks one of the most significant mammal recoveries ever recorded, and the first-ever fertilized and preserved giraffe embryo sparks hope for endangered species. Finally, January 1, 2025, marked 100 years since […]

The findings of a new study suggest that the virus behind Ebola – a rare but severe and often fatal illness – may be spread by skin contact, by providing a comprehensive cellular map of its journey to the skin’s surface. Advertisement Previous research has identified the presence of the Ebola virus (EBOV) on the […]

Have you ever been walking in the woods and stumbled across a perfect ring of mushrooms? These curious fungal displays are what’s known as a fairy ring, and their formation comes down to the strategic ways in which fungi’s mycelium networks spread out underground. Advertisement What are fairy rings? We often think of mushrooms when […]

Dust off the thermal underwear and watch out for falling iguanas: a polar vortex is bringing extremely cold weather to millions of Americans this January. This weekend, between January 4 and 6, a winter storm will bring significant snow and ice to the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic East Coast, according to the US National […]

On December 30, the people of Mukuku, a village in Kenya about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the capital Nairobi, found a massive piece of space debris. Luckily nobody was harmed when the 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) rocket piece came crashing down. Advertisement The piece is a metallic ring 2.5 meters (8 feet) across believed to come […]

Endometriosis is a common condition, but getting a correct diagnosis can be a difficult, years-long journey. Now a group of Australian researchers have taken a step towards a breakthrough blood test for the disease, which could be the non-invasive solution so many have been hoping for.  Advertisement Endometriosis affects roughly 10 percent of reproductive-age females […]