Deborah Bloomfield

It’s hard to miss the eggs of apple snails. Popped out in a curious shade of Pepto-Bismol pink, they are packed full of a neurotoxin that’s thought to be unique to these animals, and warning enough that no predators other than red fire ants dare eat them. Impressive, but unfortunately, as adults, these snails can […]

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Ming lived one hell of a life. It managed to live through the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the entire run of Seinfeld. While wars raged and empires came and went, Ming just kept on going, steadily and completely unfazed. Ming, in case you are wondering, was an ocean quahog clam (Arctica islandica). At the […]

Human funerary practices have shown some real flair over the ages, from the remarkable mummification of Ancient Egyptians (ever wondered what happened to the eyeballs?) to the eco-friendly options like composting and aquamation available today. One of the most widespread ways to treat the dead is embalming, something that can make a corpse safe for […]

The ocean may be the most common environment on the planet, but we know surprisingly little about it, particularly at its deepest, darkest depths. Scientists are now seeking to rectify that, plunging thousands of meters below the surface to explore the otherworldly environment and the unusual organisms that inhabit it. Among them is Dr Adrian […]

You know that feeling when your mind goes blank? One minute you’re happily getting on with something; the next, it’s like all the thoughts have just fallen out of your head. A new study is helping uncover what’s actually going on inside our brains when this happens, including why some of us experience it much […]

Entombed in stone for 113 million years, this ancient insect is the oldest ant specimen known to science. It’s a new species that belongs to an extinct subfamily of ants called Haidomyrmecinae – better known as hell ants – that only lived during the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.    The fossil was […]

The phone or computer that you are reading this on feels pretty solid. What about an apple? It has a mass and weight, it won’t just disappear into nothingness, right? Well… there is a possibility that this might be the ultimate fate of the universe, that all the physics we hold dear might suddenly vanish. […]

Extraordinary behavior has been reported in a species of Hyposmocoma caterpillars. Although the species is yet to be given a scientific name, the team that discovered its behavior call it the “bone collector” caterpillar for the way it will wear pieces of its prey’s bodies as if as trophies. Children’s books are not always the […]

The Perseus cluster is enormous. It has a mass equivalent to 600 trillion Suns, and it looks like it has not stopped growing. New evidence suggests that it is undergoing a merging process with another cluster, and a bridge of dark matter has been the crucial clue to find this linked, but previously missed, companion. […]

When Stuart Semple read the news of a “new color”, he knew it was his duty as a chroma-obsessed artist to cook up a paint inspired by it. And so, after a long night in his “lab,” he concocted a liquid paint that attempts to embody the unprecedented coloration of so-called olo. Olo is the […]

Just a few years ago, dozens of headless skeletons were discovered at a prehistoric pit in Slovakia, leading archeologists to ask a simple question: what on Earth went on here? Now, researchers are starting to unveil the story behind this gruesome site – and things might not be as straightforward as they first appear.   […]

On February 3, 2022, SpaceX launched 49 Starlink satellites. Within days, the vast majority of them were lost, raining back down across the Caribbean. At the time, Elon Musk’s company blamed a modest geomagnetic storm that took place at roughly the same time. But the real culprit might have been a much more complex and […]

Scientists have developed a first-of-its-kind, fully synthetic food source that may revolutionize efforts to save honeybees. This new “Power Bar” can be put into bee colonies, helping to sustain them without the need for natural pollen. This game-changing innovation is the outcome of a long collaboration between researchers at Washington State University and APIX Biosciences […]

At half a millimeter long (0.02 inches) tardigrades are so small they’re hard to see without a microscope. However, these adorable eight-legged creatures still have room for tattoos on their bodies, scientists have demonstrated, and the work could lead to medical applications, much as it may sound like the product of bored minds. Tardigrades, also […]

Lung cancer might be one of the most well-known potential consequences of using tobacco, but it’s far from the only health problem that’s been linked to it. In fact, tobacco use can affect nearly every organ in the body – so what other conditions can it cause? Gum disease According to the Centers for Disease […]

Have you ever watched the 1998 hit movie The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey, and thought to yourself, “Well, that’s nice – but what if I am actually in a reality TV show and I just don’t know about it?”. There are some people who truly believe that, and that thought process is actually called Truman […]

You should always wash your hands if you touch public surfaces, because they might be covered in dangerous pathogens. While one should wash hands regularly anyway, it would be so much easier if dangerous microbes simply did not stay on trays, seats, handles, and toilets. That dream could soon be a reality thanks to a […]

It’s no wonder deep-sea creatures are so strange. They survive against the odds in one of the most extreme environments on the planet, featuring near-zero temperatures, desperately low oxygen levels, constant darkness, and unbelievably high pressure. How on Earth do they do it? In a new study, scientists have taken a look at the genetics […]

The potential of quantum computers is astounding, with the ability to solve complex problems that not even the most powerful supercomputer could. We are not there yet, despite some positive steps forward. Quantum computers will also benefit from a quantum communication network – a quantum internet. Now, researchers have been able to test a quantum […]