Deborah Bloomfield

A 500-year-old Inca document made of alpaca wool and human hair was made by an unknown individual of low social status, shattering the common belief that only high-ranking imperial officials knew how to produce these strange thread-based records. Known as a khipu, the artifact forms part of a “proto-writing” tradition that was widespread in the […]

A team of scientists studying strange spectral lines observed on Mars may have discovered a previously unknown mineral. For nearly two decades, scientists have been receiving data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, constantly in orbit around Mars. On board the orbiter, the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) analyzes the spectra of the planet’s […]

A study of five common Australian bird species in southeast Queensland has found on average, 4.8 percent of them have sexual organs that don’t align with their chromosomes. The authors don’t know the cause of the deviation from biology textbooks, nor how representative the findings are for avian populations elsewhere, but it does appear to […]

The TRAPPIST-1 system is a multi-planetary system made of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a cool red dwarf just 40 light-years from Earth. Of the seven, three planets sit in the habitable zone, the distance from their star where temperatures would allow for liquid water, making the whole system an object of great interest. Observations so […]

A deeply bizarre group of dwarf crocodiles with fiery orange skin lurk in the caves of Central Africa. Immersed in the environment of Gabon’s Abanda cave system, the crocs have developed several strange adaptations that set them apart from their surface-dwelling counterparts. Dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis) are the world’s smallest living species of crocodile, measuring […]

Stretching around 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) along western North America, the Tintina fault has long been assumed to be inactive. Now, a new study has challenged that assumption, finding that the fault has generated “numerous large earthquakes in the recent geologic past” – and it could be brewing another one of “at least” magnitude 7.5. […]

The search for life beyond Earth is a complicated affair. Elsewhere in the Solar System, we are looking for microorganisms, and our robotic explorers do not have the ability to do the things that we do in the lab. There are many ways for rovers and spacecraft to look for evidence of life, recent or […]

While whales today are the giants of the ocean, it was a different story 26 million years ago. Back then, their ancestors were much smaller – but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security. As one newly described ancient whale species makes clear, appearances can be deceiving.  The rest of this […]

Here are some of the best. Louie the otter Careful planning and strategizing is great, but sometimes, you’ve just got to cut it and run. That’s what Louie the otter did earlier this year, and he’s never been happier. “Due to the length of time that Louie has been missing, we believe he has made […]

Blue lava oozes from the Kawah Ijen volcano of East Java. The flowing molten rock gets its vibrant appearance through the combustion of sulfur gas, which burns blue, as it seeps out from volcanic cracks at high temperatures and reacts with oxygen in the air.  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please […]

Scientists have found over 300 underwater canyons that spread out from the continental margins of Antarctica, some of which plunge for over 4,000 (13,123 feet) meters into the abyss.  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. Two researchers from University College Cork in […]

There is a great total lunar eclipse coming up in a few weeks, and it will be enjoyed by the vast majority of people on the planet from Oceania to Brazil! The event will happen, depending on your time zone, during the evening between September 7 and 8, and from partiality to the total spectacle […]

For beings of our size and lifespans, space is pretty big. So big, in fact, that to make it to our nearest star system you would need to factor in the fairly sizeable downside that you will die of old age before you get there. Humanity has focused on making our spaceships more speedy, as […]

When you think of radar, you probably think of large rotating military antennae and a green screen with blinking dots. But radar could do more than that, as radio waves are so versatile that they can be used not just to find aircraft, but also buried things, with applications in archaeology, construction, and mining. A […]

Do dolphins and whales actually play together, or are the dolphins just harassing the whales? Researchers sought to answer this question by looking through hundreds of photographs and video clips in a new study to determine if these species are mutually playing, or if their interactions are all one-sided.  The team looked at 199 separate […]

Italy’s long-standing dream to build the world’s longest suspension bridge between the mainland and the island of Sicily has just moved one step closer to becoming reality. On August 6, the Italian government gave its final approval to build the Strait of Messina Bridge (Ponte sullo Stretto di Messina) between Sicily to the southern region […]

The ocean is packed with scary-looking stuff. I mean, have you seen the things that live in the Mariana Trench? Terrifying. But if you thought all the horror movie inspiration was confined to the seas alone, then hoo boy, just wait until you see what’s lurking within the world’s fresh waters. The rest of this […]

Chances are you’ve yawned today, and if you haven’t, I expect you’re about to. It’s a daily practice for we weary humans, but yawning isn’t unique to our species. Far from it.  Yawning is seen in a diverse range of animal species, both those that live on land and underwater, but do all animals yawn? […]

Ask a fish if it has a tongue, and it probably won’t answer – partly because it can’t talk, but also because the question is tricky to answer. Most definitions of a “tongue” describe a muscular organ in the base of the mouth with the ability to move independently, an ability that enables humans to […]

NGC 4945 is a well-known spiral galaxy, about 11 million light-years from us. It has an active supermassive black hole at its center, as well as a lot of new stars being born around it, a phenomenon known as a starburst. Among the many signals from the core of this galaxy, astronomers have found one […]