Deborah Bloomfield

Hydrated metals have been detected on the surface of the asteroid Psyche. The observations, made with JWST, raise some big questions for the mission named after the asteroid, which hopefully will be settled when the spacecraft reaches its target. Advertisement At 222 kilometers (178 miles) wide, 16 Psyche is the 16th largest member of the asteroid belt […]

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus), arguably the most famous extinct animal, is comparatively poorly understood. Endemic to the island of Mauritius, the doomed flightless bird is the subject of myriad myths and misconceptions, not least of all its scientific name and the number of species that make it up. In the most comprehensive review of the […]

Hurricane Ernesto battered homes and businesses across North Carolina, Bermuda, and the Bahamas as strong winds and swells caused damage along the islands and east coast of the USA. In Rodanthe in Dare County, North Carolina, one beach home was even swept completely out to sea. Advertisement On Friday, August 16, a house at 23214 […]

The story of our species begins in Africa, although our ability to tell that story is based on patchy evidence that has been steadily vanishing for the past 2 million years. Much of what’s left comes from the famous East African Rift System (EARS) – often referred to as the Cradle of Humankind – although […]

A detailed analysis of five recently discovered microscopic eukaryotes has identified one that appears to have dispensed entirely with its mitochondria. If that is the case, Skoliomonas litria will join a highly exclusive club, becoming the first free-living eukaryote ever discovered to have lost its mitochondria. Advertisement “Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell!” You […]

The ever-growing menace of plastic pollution and the plight of polar bears has been starkly captured in this shortlisted image for an upcoming photography competition.  Advertisement The image was recently picked as a finalist for the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024 award along with a selection of other incredible wildlife shots depicting Godzilla-like iguanas, […]

The European Space Agency’s Juice mission is on its way to explore Jupiter’s icy moons, arriving in a few years, but to get there it’s stealing some orbital velocity from Earth, Venus, and – for the first time – the Moon. These gravitational assist maneuvers are standard to slingshot missions about the Solar System but […]

Astronomers studying red dwarf stars have spotted something in the background, which they think explains a signal that has been puzzling astronomers since its detection over four decades ago. If they are right, it could represent an opportunity to improve our understanding of rare astronomical events.  Advertisement In the 1970s, the Big Ear telescope, operated […]

A new study argues that ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) are incapable of independent learning or acquiring skills without human input. This pours cold water on the belief that such systems could pose existential risks to humanity. Advertisement LLMs are scaled up versions of pre-trained language models (PLMs), which are trained on massive […]

While there’s no chance of you encountering a megalodon on your marine adventures, there are still plenty of other heebie-jeebie-inducing deep-sea creatures out there to run into, as one group of kayakers and snorkelers found out last week when they came across a rarely seen giant – an oarfish. Advertisement The 3.7-meter (12-foot) long, silver […]

The push to set up a “Lunar Coordinate Time” is gaining traction. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the latest organization to call for the Moon to have its own standard clock time in a bid to coordinate future lunar missions. Advertisement A motion to establish a standard Lunar Celestial Reference System and Lunar Coordinate […]

Citizen scientists working on the hunt for the hypothetical Planet 9 that should lurk at the edge of the Solar System have instead found a cosmic object moving so fast that it will one day leave the Milky Way. It’s the first object with the mass of a small star found moving at this speed. […]

You may have seen in the news recently that a banana apocalypse is nigh – scientists have heralded an uncertain future for the fruit as it continues to be plagued by a fungal pathogen. It sounds like devastating news for lovers of banoffee pie and banana bread (although maybe not for smoothie fans) – are […]

Ever been at one of those oceanside airports where you take off over the sea and noticed that among the choppy waters are smooth patches? These surface slicks are a perplexing phenomenon, and it turns out they’re a haven for a vast diversity of tiny lifeforms. Advertisement What are those smooth patches out at sea? […]

Late last month, Russian and Chinese bombers staged a joint patrol over the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea near the coast of Alaska, prompting American and Canadian forces to respond. Advertisement Two Russian TU-95 “Bear” bombers and two Chinese Xi’an H-6 bombers were tracked flying in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) […]

There’s one question that’s crossed many a mind whilst having a paddle at the beach: am I in the sea or the ocean? Saying you’ve dipped your toes in the ocean certainly sounds more impressive, but is there actually a difference between the two? Advertisement Before we dive into it, it’s important to know that […]

A personalized approach to a common Parkinson’s disease treatment may lead to substantially improved results, according to a new study. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), which involves implanting electrodes into the brain to stimulate regions affected by the disease, is usually a standardized treatment – but the study team found that an approach adapted to each […]

Along with summoning beautiful aurora in the night sky around the world, the gusty solar storm that rocked Earth in May this year left another legacy: a new Van Allen Belt looping around the planet.  Advertisement The Van Allen belts are two donut-shaped belts of radiation wrapped around Earth, composed of energetic charged particles trapped […]

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has passed a resolution to strengthen the work it does in protecting the Dark and Quiet Sky both on the ground and in space. That the resolution would pass was obvious – you wouldn’t expect turkeys to vote for Christmas – but it matters greatly in showing the commitment of […]

The light signals of fireflies appear to have been highjacked by orb-weaving spiders. Scientists believe they have observed the spiders manipulating captive flies so that they flash like females, luring more male fireflies into their trap. Can’t trust anything anymore. The spider is Araneus ventricosus, which is partial to feeding on the firefly species Abscondita […]