Deborah Bloomfield

Modeling of the consequences of a giant body smashing into Jupiter has undermined one of the main theories used to explain the strange nature of its solid core. Not everyone is satisfied with the alternatives, however, so the quest to make sense of the innards of the king of planets will go on. Although most […]

It might seem hard to believe, but the ancestors of today’s whales were once land-dwelling animals. Given that they’re now very much residents of the ocean, clearly they left land for water at some point – but what did that look like? For a long time, the answer to that question was a mystery – […]

Many languages talk about the future in ways that are strikingly different from English. And whether we notice it or not, those differences may shape or reflect how we think, how we behave, and even the choices we make every day. In English, there’s a hard future tense that marks what lies ahead, clearly separating […]

At Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre, New Zealand, a little white kiwi has been recorded by one of the rangers trotting back to his burrow in broad daylight. Typically nocturnal birds, the footage has appealed to many online, suggesting he might have been up to no good.  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]

Japan’s first osmotic power plant has gone live in Fukuoka City, providing the local region with electricity using the difference in salt concentration between seawater and fresh water. The Fukuoka District Waterworks Agency opened the facility with a ceremony at Mamizu Pier earlier this month. It’s believed to be the first power plant of its […]

A new study has re-examined the famous “Wow!” signal, finding that it likely has an extraterrestrial origin after all, and may have been even more intense than previously believed. On August 15, 1977, at the Big Ear radio telescope observatory at Ohio State University, a narrowband radio signal was received. A few days later, astronomer […]

Life in space is never boring, but it can certainly be a bit serious. Astronauts are there to work, but so far away from home, even leisure time can feel like it’s not really relaxing. Some of the astronauts take photographs, others play instruments. There’s Samantha Cristoforetti, who cosplayed in orbit, and Scott Kelly, who […]

The advent of refrigeration and freezing has meant we can now store food in our houses until we’re ready to eat it. Perishable items like prawns can sit snuggly in the dark of our freezer, waiting until it’s their time to shine – only, some of that seafood might already be glowing without you knowing. […]

On August 2, 2027, viewers in Europe, North Africa, and parts of the Middle East will view a total eclipse of the Sun, with totality lasting around 6 minutes and 23 seconds. That’s unusually long for a total solar eclipse. As well as being the longest total eclipse viewed on land since 1991, it will […]

Imagine this: you’ve had a long week at work and fancy a little treat. There’s that bottle of bubbly that’s been hanging around in the back of the cupboard since Christmas, but there’s a problem – you’re not planning on drinking it all in one go, but you’ve got nothing to seal it with. Then […]

We don’t know what alien life might be like. It could be wildly different from Earth’s own; if we’re looking at microorganisms, especially their fossilized traces, we might not even recognize it as life if it’s too dissimilar. But what if it’s not that different? Planet Earth has the only life that we know of, […]

When someone asks you to name a deadly species in the US, chances are your mind immediately races to that iconic Western movie villain, the rattlesnake. However, with fatal animal encounters on the rise across the country, researchers have now revealed which creature kills the most people, and it doesn’t hiss or rattle. The rest […]

For decades, humpback whales across the world have been seen performing a weird and unique trick. While underwater, the large animals start to spiral while blowing strings of bubbles, forming rings that float towards the surface. This is not an idle pastime, however, it’s a cunning strategy the whales have developed to catch their prey, […]

Hiking is nice and all, but wouldn’t it be better if it could be a bit more… opulent? Well, there’s one place in the world where a nice family day out can be combined with becoming richer than your wildest dreams – and it’s closer to home than you might think. At least, assuming you’re […]

In 2019, gravitational wave observatories across the world reported the merger of a black hole of 23 solar masses with a much smaller object, at the limit between the lightest black hole and the heaviest neutron star. New analysis suggests that the collision happened as the two were orbiting in the hot embrace of an […]

A new dinosaur has been discovered on the Isle of Wight, England, and it’s very fancy indeed. The dinosaur, a new iguanodontian, has a dramatic sail-like structure running along its back and tail, which researchers believe may have evolved as a way to impress potential mates. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]

The Earth’s Lagrange points are vital for the future of astronomy, possibly space exploration and some even say preventing a climate disaster. So what are they, how do they differ from each other, and how can they be used? Newton’s most famous insight involved the fact that the same force that could make an apple […]

This week, a 5-year-old child who lived 140,000 years ago is the earliest evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, the first-ever recorded case of xanthism in nurse sharks has been seen in a bright orange individual spotted off the coast of Costa Rica, and 16,000-year-old paintings found deep inside a perilously inaccessible cave […]

Humans smell, there’s no denying it, but are some of those smells sending out chemical signals we aren’t consciously aware of? Are we, like ants, giving off pheromones?  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. We spoke to Dr Tristram Wyatt, Senior Research […]

If you can’t point to Tuvalu on a map, don’t worry – in a couple of generations, it won’t even be there anymore. That may sound cold, but it’s true: Tuvalu’s future is so jeopardized by climate change and rising sea levels that almost the entire country will likely be underwater during high tide within […]