Deborah Bloomfield

Could aquatic mammals, such as whales, orcas, and bottlenose dolphins, ever evolve to live on land again? It seems the chances of this are actually vanishingly small, as the adaptations that allow them to thrive in the water are more or less irreversible, representing an evolutionary threshold beyond which there can be little chance of […]

What do Freddy Mercury, Nero’s mom, and an ancient Bulgarian vampire have in common? That’s right: they all have hyperdontia – aka “too many teeth”.  But while for these three toothy icons, their dental situation was variously a source of embarrassment, a lucky omen, and a genuine benefit to their goal of eating the local […]

In most European languages, the name of the holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus derives from the word “Pascha.” It’s called Pâques in French, Pasqua in Italian, Pasg in Welsh, Påske in Danish, Páskar in Icelandic, and Pasen in Dutch. Why, then, do we call it “Easter” in English? First things first, Pascha (or Πάσχα) […]

Whether it’s Adam and Eve being shunned from Eden, Prometheus chained upon the rock, or Odin sacrificing his own eye, humanity has long agreed: wisdom comes at a price.  Of course, for most of us, growing to an age where we might accept and understand the world a little better won’t bring the kinds of […]

Throughout the Iron Age, wealthy elites and royals swanned around the Mediterranean decked out in purple robes – although where and how these flamboyant garments acquired their aubergine hues has until now remained a mystery. Yet the authors of a new study report the discovery of an industrial-scale purple dye workshop near Haifa, Israel, which […]

Last year, Professor Richard Lieu proposed that there could be gravity happening even without mass. This proposal, outside the conventional understanding of physics, was to explain the effects of dark matter and dark energy, two hypothetical features that are at the cornerstone of the standard model of cosmology. Despite their importance, we have not found […]

The mummification process is perhaps one of the most talked about aspects of Ancient Egyptian life. It highlights the morbid curiosity shared by those of us alive at a time when funerary practices have gone in a different direction. It’s also a skewed view, offering us insights into the death rituals of only the ancient […]

The high seas haven’t been this sketchy since the Golden Age of Piracy. To navigate these tricky waters, a US-based tech start-up called Blue Water Autonomy is promising to “usher in” a new era of autonomous ships. They’ve just received $14 million in seed funding and have already begun saltwater testing in the real world.  […]

Well, la-di-da! Who knew great apes had such fine tastes? Gorillas in parts of the Congo are occasionally seen scratching at the soil, seemingly in search of bugs and grubs. However, new research has shown that they’re actually scouting for a much more specific food source: truffles. These findings were based on observations of western […]

Scientists have created nugget-sized bits of chicken meat in a bioreactor that can mimic the blood vessels to deliver nutrients and oxygen to the artificial tissue. It might bring the concept of “processed foods” to a whole other level, but the researchers suggest their technology offers a “sustainable, ethical alternative to conventional meat.” Creating lifelike […]

The 365-day Gregorian calendar we use today isn’t exactly a masterpiece of logic. The months arbitrarily have 30 or 31 days (and then February just does its own thing), plus we patch in an extra day every four years to make up for the fact that a solar year isn’t quite 365 days (it’s about […]

The 13th director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Science Advisor to the President, Michael Kratsios, has sparked a number of conspiracy theories over on Reddit after appearing to claim that the US possessed technology that can “manipulate time and space”. Kratsios was attending the “Endless Frontiers” retreat, an […]

“[It’s] the gift that keeps giving,” Richard Sabin, Principal Curator in the mammals group at the Natural History Museum, London, told us recently when we visited the museum’s new permanent gallery, How To Fix Our Broken Planet. “It’s like it’s a comedy material – and who knew that there would be so much science in […]

It’s been more than five years since COVID-19 changed the world forever. Now, after multiple rounds of negotiations, extensions, and controversies, we finally have a solid plan for the next time a global pandemic hits – or at least, most of us do. “The nations of the world made history in Geneva today,” Dr Tedros […]

Updated Google Earth satellite images of a Chinese naval base appear to show at least six nuclear submarines, according to naval analyst Alex Luck. Google Maps is a pretty useful service, taking satellite images and street views of pretty much every accessible area of the planet. But there are a few places which governments around […]

You may have seen exoplanet K2-18b in the news recently, thanks to newly published research that is destined to be discussed for a long while. K2-18b is believed to be a sub-Neptune world with a radius 2.6 times that of Earth, and in orbit around the habitable zone of a red dwarf 124 light-years from […]

A collection of previously unseen inscriptions and images have been revealed on the walls of the Cenacle, a hall built by the Crusaders at the supposed site of Jesus’s last supper. Among the many ancient designs identified are a scorpion, a bagel, and numerous Medieval coats of arms representing elite families from around Europe. Located […]

Researchers have identified the brain regions that are essential for logical thinking and problem-solving. The findings help us understand how our brains support our reasoning skills – our ability to comprehend, draw conclusions, and deal with novel problems. Reasoning skills are pretty important. They underpin many of humanity’s greatest intellectual achievements – from mathematics, philosophy, […]

Even zoo animals can sometimes benefit from a little trip to the vets. Whether they have a blade of grass stuck up their nose or require a neck brace, zoo vets can work wonders to help all manner of patients from the feathered to the scaled to the furred. Rico the sloth is no different […]

Every year, the US Library of Congress chooses 25 audio pieces to be add to the National Recording Registry, aimed at preserving recordings which are “culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States”.  “This year’s National Recording Registry list is an honor roll of superb American popular music from […]