Deborah Bloomfield

A 50-year-old idea about electromagnetic waves known as the Zel’dovich effect has been tested by physicists in the lab, and proven to be correct.  Advertisement The idea behind the Zel’dovich effect came from a strange place. In 1969, British physicist and mathematician Roger Penrose suggested that energy could be extracted from black holes by lowering […]

Life isn’t easy under the sea, but luckily its resident creatures have evolved all sorts of clever tricks to keep themselves out of the jaws of predators. That includes the humbug damselfish, which new research suggests takes a much more complex approach to hiding from predators than previously thought – and it dazzles while doing […]

Satellite images of the test site of Russia’s infamous “Satan II” superweapon taken this month appear to show that a test launch ended in failure. Advertisement The RS-28 Sarmat, sometimes called “Satan II”, is a liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile developed by Russia as a replacement for the Soviet-era SS-18. Back in October, Russian president Vladimir […]

Brace yourself to meet the Lammergeier, a bone-crushing bearded vulture that dyes its feathers red with baths in springs of iron-rich mud. As tough as it appears, the intense-looking vulture has been wiped out from much of its historic range and continues to face existential threats in parts of its habitat. The species (Gypaetus barbatus) […]

A little-known population of orcas living off the coast of Chile has been seen hunting and eating dusky dolphins for the first time. The behavior may offer insights into the lives and diets of all orcas in the southern hemisphere, which could help future conservation efforts. Advertisement Off the coast of Chile is the Humboldt […]

A small study of 156 people with COVID-19 has found that mutations that confer resistance to antiviral drugs were “commonly detected”, especially in immunocompromised patients. The authors stress that most of these mutations were transient and occurred at low frequencies – the results do not mean that drug-resistant strains of SARS-CoV-2 are going to become […]

The Pennsylvanian might make up a hefty chunk of one of Earth’s most important periods, the Carboniferous, but we know relatively little about the land ecosystems that existed in its earliest days. Now, thanks to the discovery of an “exceptionally preserved” fossil site in Massachusetts, researchers are beginning to fill in the gaps. Advertisement The […]

In the balmy air above the Amazon rainforest, nasty human-made chemicals called PFAS have been discovered for the first time. While it’s known that “forever chemicals” have become ubiquitous in the natural world, the researchers behind the discovery have described it as “shocking”.   Advertisement An international team of scientists collected air from a 325-meter-tall (1,066-foot) […]

Scientists have just discovered the mechanism through which a winged fish uses its “legs” to taste the seafloor. The peculiar fish is so good at tasting the seabed, in fact, that other animals follow it for clues on where to find food. Isn’t the ocean just absurd? Advertisement Every now and then an animal comes […]

A recent Supreme Court ruling has seen calls for clarification after a study found that it could result in nearly all of the nontidal wetlands in the conterminous USA being stripped of federal protections. Advertisement The ruling in question was over Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, a case that concerned the scope of the 1972 […]

A decade ago, California became the first US state to ban single-use plastic bags. It proved to be a massive failure. Hoping to rectify the problem, the Golden State is doubling down with a new, even bigger plastic bag law.  Advertisement The initial 2014 ban prohibited grocery stores from distributing free single-use plastic bags for […]

For the first time, a ruby has been grown in situ by planting a “ruby seed” in a platinum ring. The novel approach could transform the jewelry industry as it demonstrates that, theoretically, we no longer need to mine to get great gemstones. The ruby seed used to grow the stone in situ can be […]

We know that Mars was different in the past. Flowing water, abundant ice, and a denser atmosphere were the main features of the ancient Red Planet. All of that is gone, but the evidence remains. Planetary scientists have conducted an in-depth analysis of the various terrains present on Mars and found fossilized evidence of the […]

Everywhere the President of the United States goes, they are accompanied by an aide carrying what’s known as the nuclear football. Unlike your regular pigskin, however, this holds the fate of the world within. Advertisement Also known as the Presidential Emergency Sachet, the football is actually a black briefcase containing several items that must be […]

Whales have been up to all sorts this year, from joining the list of animals demonstrating tool use and accidentally almost scooping up seals to slapping people in the face. It seems that their antics have not slowed down, as researchers look into them doing acrobatic headstands. Advertisement Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) off the coast […]

NASA has captured radar images of a newly discovered, potentially hazardous asteroid as it tumbled towards its closest approach with the Earth. Advertisement On July 27, the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on Mauna Loa in Hawai’i spotted a relatively large asteroid heading for a close approach with our planet. NASA keeps a […]

Minerals formed from iron-rich magma contain concentrations of so-called rare earth elements. Identifying deposits formed from this magma around extinct volcanoes could be the path to ensuring these elements are widely available, and heading off potential global conflicts and shortages. Advertisement The elements from lanthanum to lutetium on the periodic table, plus scandium and yttrium […]

It took more than 13 years and it has more than 500 terabytes of data, but the most detailed infrared map of our galaxy has now been completed. The project was the largest ever conducted by the European Southern Observatory, featuring over 200,000 images snapped by VISTA – the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for […]

We all (hopefully) know it’s not a good idea to go near crocodiles, scorpions, venomous snakes, and the like, but perhaps it’s time we started adding some feathered friends to that list. Swooping magpies are certainly a contender and we’ve even been to war with emus – but which is the most dangerous bird of […]

Sharks are sometimes referred to as “swimming noses” in honor of their spectacular olfaction. Yet with no air under the ocean to carry scent particles, the super smellers rely on some ingenious apparatus to help them pick up the stench of their prey from vast distances away. How Sharks Smell Like us, sharks have two […]