Deborah Bloomfield

Planets and moons during the early Solar System were pelleted by asteroids a lot more than they are today. We can see the evidence of these impacts on the Moon, but the geological traces on our planet have been erased by erosion and plate tectonics. Despite these challenges, researchers have found evidence of an impact […]

Einstein’s general relativity is an exceptional theory of gravity that has been proven correct time and time again. Quantum mechanics takes care of the three other fundamental forces, and it too has been exceptionally successful over the last century. Unfortunately, the two don’t work together. Many solutions have been proposed to get to the elusive […]

Hoaxes come in all sizes, but few are as large-scale and weirdly distributed as recurring stories about giants. That’s right, giants. You didn’t read that wrong. This may seem like a surprising statement to make in the 21st century, but to those who believe giants once walked the planet, it is a serious subject with […]

A team of astrophysicists running numerical simulations believe that water may have existed a lot earlier in the universe than we thought. According to the new study, the life-giving compound may have pre-dated even the first galaxies. ADVERTISEMENT Hydrogen was the first element to be produced in the universe, as it cooled enough after the […]

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have said they were unaware of any offer by Elon Musk to bring them back to Earth early, in a press conference from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT Last year, on June 5, Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore departed for the ISS on […]

The Trump administration’s attacks on science and medicine have been unprecedented. Since January 20, a series of executive orders, cuts directed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, and decisions by the health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr have made people in the US less safe against natural disasters and diseases. ADVERTISEMENT Whether warranted or […]

Set the appropriately ominous music, Clone Robotics released a video of its latest humanoid robot, eerily twitching as if it’s being hung from a butcher’s hook. ADVERTISEMENT Dubbed “Protoclone”, the creation is the brainchild of Polish company Clone Robotics, which describes it as a “faceless, anatomically accurate synthetic human with over 200 degrees of freedom, […]

The Moon is about to receive yet visitor from Earth this week – and you can watch the whole lunar landing right here. The mission by NASA and private space exploration company Intuitive Machines is set to make a touchdown on the Moon at 12:32 pm EST (5:32 pm UTC)on Thursday, March 6. ADVERTISEMENT Live […]

After much promise and some doubt, it’s confirmed: the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic is recovering thanks to the global effort to reduce ozone-depleting substances.  ADVERTISEMENT A new study led by scientists at MIT has shown with high statistical confidence ozone recovery is going strong and its healing is the direct result […]

North America has Bigfoot, the Himalayas have the Yeti, and the former Soviet Union has the Almas. In the late 1960s, a Soviet historian became fascinated with reports of a giant ape-like beast roaming the mountains of Central Asia. His obsession led him to develop an elaborate theory that these sightings were not of a […]

Tools were made from bones as well as stones in East Africa 1.5 million years ago, new research reveals. The finding adds to growing evidence of technological sophistication among early humans that far exceeds what has traditionally been acknowledged. ADVERTISEMENT Long before Homo sapiens walked the Earth, early humans – and even pre-humans – were […]

New species are all around us, hiding under the waves, hidden in jungles, or maybe even lurking in a cave. In an impressive discovery, researchers have spotted a new spider species hiding in a cave in Spain – and what makes the finding even more extraordinary is that the spider measures just 1 millimeter (0.04 […]

The US Military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is attempting to develop and grow large-scale “biomechanical” structures in space. ADVERTISEMENT DARPA, known for its somewhat quirky development projects, has put out a call for the development of large structures that can be “grown” in space.  “Given recent advances in metabolic engineering for rapid growth, […]

A team of scientists has innovated a brainwave reader that uses the power of thought to allow people to communicate yes or no, even when they can’t blink. The reader uses affordable parts and a novel artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that’s being made available without copyright in the hope that it can help patients being […]

A new-to-science species of titanosaur has been described by a team of palaeontologists working in the Anacleto Formation near northern Patagonia. The long-necked dinosaur has been named Chadititan calvoi, meaning “titan of the salt”. ADVERTISEMENT It may be salty by name, but Chadititan was not salty in nature, described as a “gentle giant” with a […]

As the measles outbreak in Texas continues to grow, and with cases popping up in other states, a doctor has urged people not to hold so-called “measles parties”, warning that doing so comes with some serious risks. ADVERTISEMENT The idea of infectious disease “parties” has been around for a while – if you grew up […]

A remarkable collection of five pre-Hispanic clay puppets with rotating heads has been discovered in El Salvador. Aside from the expert craftsmanship that went into making the items, the ancient figurines are notable for the context in which they were found – atop the largest pyramid at the mysterious site of San Isidro. ADVERTISEMENT “They’re […]

The superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) of south-eastern Australia has been found to farm its habitat, changing the environment in ways that increase its food supply. Although examples of similar behavior from non-human animals have been found before, known examples are from invertebrates, or in very restricted locations. Lyrebirds instead farm an ecosystem that once covered much […]

For the first time in Canada, surgeons have successfully carried out the first stage of a procedure involving implanting a tooth into the eyes of people with a type of severe blindness in the hopes of restoring their vision. ADVERTISEMENT The operation o known as osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, or “tooth-in-eye” surgery – was recently carried out at […]

Quantum computers hold the promise to revolutionize modeling and calculations. By employing the peculiar laws of quantum mechanics, they can perform calculations that would take even the fastest supercomputers billions of years to complete. Building and operating quantum computers has many challenges, and while these devices are still a long way off, some components are […]