Deborah Bloomfield

The emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator, is one of the largest scorpions in the world. At a whopping 20 centimeters (7.9 inches), it carries around a huge set of pincers that can crush a mouse to death. It figures that such an arachnid might be hiding a few tricks up its enormous sleeves, one of which […]

The first-ever example of an ancient Egyptian petroglyph depicting a zodiac sign has been discovered at a rock art site on the western bank of the Nile. Consisting of a crudely engraved creature with the head of a goat and the body of a fish, the image has been identified as Capricornus, the mythological figure […]

Lakes with impressive depths or unique geological features that obscure their true scale are often, misleadingly, labeled as “bottomless lakes”. Despite lakes being found at staggering elevations and being able to produce their own tsunamis, they still lack one feature: an actual bottomless depth. While no lake can truly claim to be bottomless, some appear […]

If you too suffered through the cinematic experience that was The Happening, you’ll know it’s hard to feel that threatened by a plant – but there is a tree out there that seems hell-bent on cruelty. The manchineel has been declared “the most dangerous tree in the world” by the Guinness Book Of World Records, […]

Just over 3,200 years ago, it must have felt as if humanity was reaching never-before-seen heights. Across the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Near East, a collection of complex and highly organized civilizations became interconnected through diplomacy, trade, and exchanges. Cultures boomed and cities rose. Then, it all fell apart – and no one […]

Researchers have discovered how to make ions – electrically charged atoms – move ten times faster than they would do in water alone. It is being called an “ion superhighway” and it opens up the possibility of new technological developments, from batteries that can charge faster than ever before to biosensors and soft robots. The […]

A video from science YouTuber James Orgill, better known by the channel’s name The Action Lab, has demonstrated how you might be able to use a mug of hot drink as a particle detector. If your aim is to detect and see the effect of particles that happen to be passing through your kitchen, that’s […]

The longest pier on the planet extends for an incredible 8,018.98 meters (26,309 feet) into the sea. First constructed more than 80 years ago, the insanely long jetty now acts as a major docking point for cargo ships and cruise liners alike. Located in the port city of Progreso in Mexico’s Yucatán state, the pier […]

Go to any country where you don’t speak the language, and you will obviously have some trouble communicating. You may have a little help, with languages sharing common roots and similar words, but without background knowledge it’s probably time to start pointing, grunting, and apologizing in your own language as best as you can get […]

Researchers from the University of Birmingham, UK, have developed an intriguing computer model to understand how light and matter interact. As tasks go, it is exceptionally hard, but the team was able to develop a strategy to simplify the problem. In doing so, they were also able to create something peculiar: an image representing the […]

Some bridges stand at dizzying heights, some are unfathomably long, and some have sunk below the waves. There’s even one that’s weirdly circular. But now, we’re going to introduce you to one of the shortest of them all, where in a few steps you can find yourself in a whole new country – and needing […]

The 1519–22 expedition to circumnavigate the planet by sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the tip of South America has been described by historians as “the greatest” and “most significant” sea voyage ever undertaken – and it’s easy to see why.  The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan is often credited as being the first […]

Were you to find yourself holding the tail-end of a certain parasite that infects whales, you could be pulling for 40 meters (131 feet) before you got the disgusting thing out. That’s the eye-watering standard set by Tetragonoporus calyptocephalus, previously known as Polygonoporus giganticus, a giant tapeworm that lives deep inside the guts of whales.  […]

When considering your future plans, how much weight should you give to the possibility of an asteroid (or comet) striking the Earth in what ought to be your lifetime? Probably not a lot, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. How often do asteroids strike? Some people like to compare science to magic, and one […]

There are plenty of rules in US National Parks that are to be expected: don’t vandalize, don’t stray off permitted paths (we’re looking at you, Pierce Brosnan), and please, please don’t touch the wildlife. It turns out though, that there are a whole bunch of other regulations that are super specific – although still very […]

We’ve seen Game Of Thrones and secretly dreamed about what it would be like to have an absolutely massive dire wolf as a pet. However, since the reality is that they’ve been extinct for over 10,000 years, we might have to content ourselves with some big wolf watching from a respectable distance. But exactly what species […]

In 1878, the James R Bentley was headed for Chicago when it sank in Lake Huron. The crew were rescued, but its shipment was not: bucket-loads of a rye variety that no longer exists today. However, the capsizing schooner would not be the seeds’ end, as 145 years later a team of scientists have retrieved […]

Exercise has undeniable benefits for body and mind, but a new study from engineers at MIT has found that the gains could reach far deeper. The team’s results show how physical activity that contracts the muscles leads to the release of biological signalers that could have the power to repair damaged nerve cells. Uncovering the […]

In an incredible breakthrough, scientists have created a mouse using ancient genetic tools older than animal life. By taking a gene from single-celled lifeforms and introducing it into mouse cells, researchers generated stem cells, which, when injected into a developing embryo, helped give rise to a living, breathing mouse. Hundreds of millions of years ago, […]

Between 1974 and 1978, a long and grisly conflict between two factions of chimps was documented in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park by the renowned primatologist Jane Goodall. It came to be known as the Gombe Chimpanzee War or the Four-Year War. Some researchers have been uneasy with the label of “war” – we’ll go into […]