Deborah Bloomfield

In our attempts to identify how human culture differs from that of other animals we have been focusing on the wrong things, a new paper argues. What is distinctive is how flexible our culture is, allowing development in many directions, rather than a capacity to build on previously transmitted cultural behaviors. Humans have spent so […]

Mars is a planet divided in two. The southern hemisphere is made of highlands, marked with many large craters, volcanoes, and canyons. The northern hemisphere is instead marked by smooth lowlands. The Red Planet had a wet past and it is believed to have had an ocean covering the northern hemisphere. New data from the […]

The private jets of the rich and famous are becoming a growing burden on the environment. New research has shown that the annual carbon emissions from private aviation increased by 46 percent between 2019 and 2023, significantly contributing to the growing climate crisis. Private jets are used by 0.003 percent of the world’s population, yet […]

The surprising identities of some of the doomed inhabitants of ancient Pompeii have been revealed by a new analysis of their DNA, re-writing the life histories of these unfortunate souls. Based on their findings, the study authors suggest that certain long-standing narratives regarding some of the Roman city’s residents are wide of the mark, and […]

Tis the season to get vaccinated! We in the Northern Hemisphere are rapidly approaching the shortest day of the year, and that means it’s time to think about protecting yourself against the flu and COVID-19. It would be convenient to get both shots at the same time, but is it safe? Yes, is the resounding […]

The devil works fast, but citizen scientists are definitely faster when it comes to turning data from the Juno mission into beautiful images. The NASA spacecraft conducted its latest close passage to Jupiter – or perijove, in scientific lingo – on October 23, and the most stunning photos have already been uploaded on the Junocam […]

All cuts hurt, but one type of cut seems to stand out the most as being disproportionately painful to the injury you have received. We are talking of course of the humble yet ridiculously ouchy paper cut.  So why do they hurt so much? Is it the shape? The shallowness of the cut? The feelings […]

For the first time since 1970, members of the endangered Southern Resident population of orcas have been spotted in Penn Cove, a region off the coast of Washington State that was the site of a notorious capture incident involving the whales.  Non-profit organization Ocean Conservancy, which is based in Washington, announced the news on social […]

The world’s first wooden satellite has been successfully launched into space and arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). Soon, it will be released into an orbit around 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth. Space around our planet is getting quite full. We are a messy species, and low-Earth orbit is apparently no exception […]

When giant ice sheets that once covered the tropics melted, they produced what paleoclimatologists call a “plumeworld ocean”, for which we now have direct evidence. The plumeworld was relatively brief, as carbon dioxide levels skyrocketed and fell again after the ice was gone. To the general public, references to “the last Ice Age” mean the […]

Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? The US military’s top secret X-37B space plane has just pulled off a bunch of fancy flight maneuvers for the first time.  In a rare display of transparency about X-37B, Boeing Space, the makers of the space plane, have recently released a video explaining how […]

When we are vulnerable, words matter, and there are few circumstances where we are more vulnerable than when it comes to our health. The last thing you’d want to hear from your doctor is some clumsy fatalistic expression like “there’s no hope” – or worse, “they’re circling the drain”. Even a single word can cause […]

At this cave in North Africa some 15,000 years ago, a human was buried alongside an “unusual and special” medicinal plant: Ephedra, a humble shrub that’s still used today in some traditional medicines. It’s the earliest known evidence of humans using this plant, and it holds the potential to cast light on the mysteries of […]

A woman depicted in the section of the Sistine Chapel relating to Noah’s flood has one healthy breast and one showing signs of disease. A forensic pathologist has teamed up with doctors and art experts to diagnose the fictitious woman five centuries after one of history’s most revered works was painted. Although modern medicine arrived […]

There’s no denying that some species are impressive thanks to certain body parts (behave). From the long neck of a giraffe to the impressive (albeit creepy) finger of an aye-aye, to simply having a very tiny body in general, the animal world covers pretty much any kind of adaptation you can think of. This makes […]

Every now and then, one of the robots on Mars sends back a picture of an unusual rock it has found on its journeys. After all, that’s one of the reasons we sent them there. These can range from the interesting (such as the donut-shaped rock which may not be from the planet) to the […]

We’ve heard it all before: getting more sleep is good for us in all sorts of ways. It’s not always easy to hit the magic eight hours that everyone seems to be striving for – but what if we told you that just 46 extra minutes could be enough to make a difference? A new […]

A robot has delved into the radioactive ruins of Fukushima to retrieve a tiny chunk of spent nuclear fuel. It’s the first time solid fuel debris has been removed from the plant – but they’ve still got a hell of a long way to go: 880 tons of the stuff to be precise.  The remotely […]

A series of ancient drawings at a Palaeolithic site in Germany appear to show fish caught in nets, suggesting that the use of this fishing technology may go back further than previously thought. Etched into stone plaquettes, the engravings have been dated to 15,800 years ago and form part of a large body of artworks […]

The undeniable face of Andean bears is the one and only Paddington, but while everyone’s favorite fictional marmalade fiend thrives, the number of his real-life counterparts remaining in the wild is on the decline. A recent conservation project taking place in Ecuador hopes to turn the tide. Classified on the IUCN Red List as a […]