Deborah Bloomfield

There is a lake in the northeastern part of Kazakhstan that serves as a true testament to the Cold War’s hazardous legacy. The lake, known as Lake Chagan, is situated in the sparse, rocky landscape near the city of Semey (formerly Semipalatinsk). To a casual viewer, the lake might appear unremarkable, but its other name […]

A new study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – the organization most famous for their “Red List” of threatened species of animal, plant, and fungus around the world – has turned up some good news for once.  Having evaluated 48 populations of six sea turtle species around the world, and examining […]

Researchers have discovered the first giant virus in Finland. The specimen demonstrates that such huge viruses are more common in northern regions than previously thought. Viruses are tiny. Even compared to the smallest bacteria, which can be about 200 nanometers (a nanometer being one-billionth of a meter) in diameter, viruses are still teeny tiny, with […]

This week, we delve into the fossilized remains of an 113-million-year-old “hell ant” discovered in Brazil, the oldest ant known to science. We explore the peculiar case of Pope Pius XII’s embalming mishap, which led to an unexpected and explosive outcome. We examine how a solar “terminator” event may have disrupted SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, and […]

It is a truth universally acknowledged – at least, it should be – that TikTok influencers are not the best place to go for skincare and health advice. One trend that caught our eye recently, though people have been at it for quite a while, involves rubbing a banana peel on your face as an […]

The giant crocodiles that fed on large dinosaurs that strayed into Cretaceous wetlands were not closely related to modern alligators, as previously thought. In fact, they’re fairly distant from all surviving crocodilians. The discovery shows that the giant croc niche is one that has been filled multiple times in Earth’s history, with distantly related species […]

Wine has a potent place in ancient Greek culture and myth, but while it may be thought of as something reserved for the elite or divine alone, new chemical evidence shows it was drunk by common people in Troy too. Although much about the story of Troy as recorded in Homer’s Iliad is the stuff […]

This week, on Break It Down: a planet with a very rare tail is being boiled apart, the first physical evidence of a gladiator fighting a lion discovered in Britain, scientists are tattooing tardigrades (for science), what’s happening in your brain during a mind blank, the grim fashion of “bone collector” caterpillars, and five health […]

For the very first time, scientists have captured live footage of the painted swellshark (Cephaloscyllium pictum) — a super-elusive, blotchy catshark that until now had only been known from unlucky specimens hauled into Indonesian fish markets. The video (below) was filmed in November 2024 during a recent project supported by the National Geographic Society that […]

The National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawai’i is the world’s largest solar telescope and has already taken some of the highest-resolution images of the Sun. One of its instruments has just taken its first light, and it is going to be a game-changer when it comes to studying our star. The […]

The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter is studying the Sun like never before. Just two months ago, it used Venus to leave the plane of the Solar System. It is now on a slanted orbit that will allow the spacecraft to photograph and study the poles of the Sun for the very first time. Before […]

If you had to guess, how many penises are on display in the Bayeux tapestry? I am sure you were not expecting that question on an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon, but here we both are. If this is something that piqued your interest or perhaps you’ve been wondering this yourself for a long time, then […]

Ahh, the world of glowing animals. From wombats and platypuses to puffins and bats, many animals of planet Earth can rustle up not only their typical colors but a few hidden tricks in their feathers and fur that only show up under certain conditions. Joining the ranks are long-eared owls (Asio otus), which have been […]

Eight legs really seem to do something to people. Even bring up the subject of spiders and you’ll have some people shuddering, but this writer has stumbled upon something that quite honestly makes spiders look cute and cuddly compared to what’s lurking within them. Real-life Alien is already on Earth, and its name is Mermithidae. […]

Boston Harbor is sprinkled with dozens of grass mounds, peeping out of the water like half-buried eggs. Don’t be fooled by these innocuous-looking islets, these are no ordinary islands: they are sunken drumlins.  Drumlins are smoothly rounded, oval hills that are formed when glaciers move over debris made of clay, sand, gravel, cobble, and boulders […]

One hundred and eighty-nine years ago, a spectacular 3,300-year-old Egyptian obelisk was erected in Place de la Concorde, Paris, after it had been gifted to France by the viceroy of Egypt. Since then, the Concord (or Luxor) Obelisk has been on display to residents and visitors alike, it has been studied and scrutinized, and probably […]

Humans were shaped by Earth, molded over millions of years by its gentle gravity, its specific atmospheric cocktail, its flowing water, and the distant warmth of its Sun. Every cell in our bodies, every spark in our minds, is tuned to this world. So, how will our fragile Earth-borne bodies react if we were to […]

Head down deep enough into the ocean and you might just find the lord of the underworld – except it turns out he’s a bit more… crustacean-y than you might’ve been expecting. Ok, scientists haven’t really found the spirit of Hades lurking in a creature at the bottom of the sea. However, the name of […]

The Solar System is very tidy. You have four rocky planets near the Sun, and four gas giant planets further away. An asteroid belt with a dwarf planet separates the two groups, and many other small worlds exist beyond the orbit of Neptune. There is one kind of planet that doesn’t exist here, however: super-Earths, […]

With increasingly more measles cases cropping up across the US and vaccination rates falling amid a wave of anti-vax sentiment at the highest level, many have been left wondering what the future holds for the reemergence of once-wiped-out diseases. According to new research out of Stanford University, which has predicted the number of cases of […]