Deborah Bloomfield

Scientists toying with the afterglow of phosphor particles were stunned to see how uniformly they could diffuse across succulent plants when injected into their leaves. The result is a succulent that glows like something out of Avatar, lasting for hours. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to […]

It’s often assumed that albino animals are rare in the wild because their lack of pigment makes them stick out in the natural environment, turning them into easy pickings for hungry predators. However, in a new study, a team of scientists from Macquarie University in Australia found evidence that the story isn’t so simple. There […]

If you’ve spent time reading medical research articles, you’re bound to have seen two Latin phrases that sound a bit like a magical spell: in vivo and in vitro. But what do they actually mean? These phrases aren’t just there to make experiments sound fancier; they reveal where and how the science is being done. The […]

Today’s rubbish may well be the fossils of tomorrow. Plastic bags, old pens, cheap clothing, or even chicken bones are all examples of possible “technofossils”, rapidly accumulating debris and detritus that may come to represent the story of humanity in the geological record long after we’re gone. The rest of this article is behind a […]

Starship’s 10th test flight has deployed simulated satellites for the first time, and splashed down on target in the Indian Ocean, achieving SpaceX’s primary objectives after months of failed attempts, many ending in fiery explosions. Plans for Starship’s involvement in the future Moon landings remain badly behind schedule, and not everything went according to plan. […]

The International Space Station (ISS) is about to be boosted using a new method, 26 years after the orbiting laboratory first launched. Though you might imagine that the ISS could orbit the Earth long-term like the Moon, it actually needs to be regularly boosted in order to keep it from falling back down to the […]

The map of the world as you know it – the Mercator projection – isn’t totally accurate. And Africa is leading the charge to get rid of it for good. Last week, the African Union, a continental union of 55 member states, reportedly endorsed a campaign to have organizations around the world replace the Mercator map […]

The ankylosaurs were a very impressive group of dinosaurs covered in armored plates with clubs for tails (that may have sounded like birds), but we’ve just discovered that the oldest known member of the group may have also been the most badass. New fossils have revealed that an ankylosaur known as Spicomellus afer was covered […]

An ancient civilization that disappeared from the dense cloud forests of eastern Ecuador 1,500 years ago likely wasn’t obliterated by a massive volcanic eruption, as had previously been suggested. Instead, the mysterious culture appears to have gradually declined for reasons unknown, raising a number of questions as to what went on during the so-called “Lost […]

Hammerhead sharks look like a fish that’s had its face flattened by a cartoon mallet and decided to just roll with it. They’re freaks of nature, haters might say, but these marine marvels are actually masters of adaptation, equipped with bizarre yet brilliant features that make them some of the ocean’s most efficient predators. The […]

Did Neanderthals in Europe have funerary and death practices? The answer to this question in the context of the Iberian Peninsula has been elusive for some time, as there’s an absence of clear burial practices in the archaeological record. However, archaeologists have now discovered evidence of a remarkable diversity and complexity of Neanderthal funerary behaviors […]

You probably all know how rainbows form, if not from being told as a child, then from having to explain it to a child as an adult. But here’s the basic version anyway in case you, uh, forgot. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the […]

As the oceans become more acidic, shark teeth are likely to become weaker and more brittle, according to the findings of a new study. The idea of some of the world’s most formidable predators becoming less lethal might comfort surfers, but this will also undermine ocean ecosystems. Moreover, sharks’ teeth are just one of many […]

Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) is back with a bang for its 61st year, having received a record-breaking 60,636 entries that include stunning images taken across the globe, including a bizarre slime-based family portrait, a stark look at the impact of landfill sites, and a wasp that appears to have developed magical abilities. Winners […]

Over 50 years after the last time it was reported, researchers have rediscovered the sailback houndshark, stumbling upon the long-lost species during a survey of fisheries in Papua New Guinea. If you haven’t heard of this shark before, don’t be surprised; not only has it been missing for a significant amount of time, but the […]

A team from Nagoya University in Japan and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) have used a new method to gauge the age of gas giant Jupiter, suggesting it could be used to pin down the timings of when the planets of the Solar System formed. Figuring out the age of the planets is, […]

Comet 3I/ATLAS is not beating the allegations that it is a supremely weird object. The fastest interstellar comet yet is also breaking records in other aspects, in particular in its outgassing of carbon dioxide, higher than all but one comet observed by humanity. Astronomers have used JWST to conduct a very brief observation of this […]

A woman who crushed up a whole black widow spider and injected it in an effort to get high in the 1990s ended up having a very bad time when the arachnid’s venom kicked in. The unpleasant trip saw her spend a few days in the intensive care unit (ICU) with breathing difficulties, muscle cramping, […]

A 44-year-old man with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has achieved what researchers describe as “remission” of his symptoms after undergoing an experimental brain stimulation procedure. This is the only such case that has been reported to date, and the findings are still awaiting peer-review; but for a condition where the options for patients are severely limited, […]

Pythagoras was undoubtedly a clever man, though his odd ideas about beans are still up for debate. What he’s best remembered for, however, is his mastery of triangles, a fact most of us were reminded of repeatedly in high school geometry through the Pythagorean theorem. But did the famed philosopher actually invent the formula that […]