Deborah Bloomfield

A team of international researchers has found conclusive evidence of something a little grim: human communities in the Magdalenian era – around 18,000 years ago – practiced cannibalism, even going so far as to snack on human brains. The research offered valuable new insights into the mortuary and ritual practices of this period in ancient […]

This week, the earliest runestone ever to be reliably dated may have been carved by a woman, a “gorilla-like” human relative that lived some 1.4 million years ago has been revealed by a jawbone, and an Antarctic fossil dating back 68 million years proves the existence of dinosaur-era ducks. Finally, as conversations around ownership of […]

Quantum computers hold the promise to revolutionize so many different aspects of science. They can tackle problems that even the most powerful supercomputer wouldn’t be able to deal with. The problem is that these quantum devices are still a work in progress and they are not ready yet for that revolution. But that doesn’t mean […]

We’ve all been there: you’re standing in the cereal aisle of the supermarket, staring up at countless near-identical boxes of multicolored hoops, frozen in indecision over which brand to buy. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Should you choose this one, which boasts a higher fiber count? Or that one, which is better value by weight? The […]

Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile have imaged a filament of the cosmic web connecting two galaxies in unprecedented detail. Running simulations, the team says that the data collected lends further support to the current cold dark matter model of the universe. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE As we […]

Millions of years ago, our early ancestors roamed an area of Africa known as the Cradle of Mankind, scouring the landscape in search of perfectly round rocks. According to a new study, these long-extinct human species valued the lithic spheres for their uniqueness and may have experimented with different uses for them, although exactly what […]

Electricity is extremely dangerous, but also extremely useful when we can contain it and send it from A to B. It turns out that we do not need wires, tubes with special gases, or lasers to do that – even sound can be used to manipulate electric charges to behave how we wish, new research […]

Chances are you have a nighttime ritual that really isn’t doing you any favors. A 2022 poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that 58 percent of Americans regularly scroll through their phone within an hour before bed or even while in bed.  ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE A snooze-worthy pile of studies shows why this […]

This week on Break It Down: the world’s oldest runestone might have been carved by a woman in a language that predates the Vikings, asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 2.3 percent chance of hitting Earth in 2032 (but we’re not panicking yet), an ancient jawbone might reveal a new branch of the hominid family tree, […]

How do you let someone know you’re interested in them romantically? Perhaps a nice dinner, a cheeky DM. Science has even weighed in on the best way to flirt, but everything that humans have to offer is frankly rubbish compared to the dating game of pufferfish. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE We didn’t quite appreciate the […]

Spiders might cause some fear among arachnophobes, with their unusually high number of legs and scuttling way of moving, however, new research has found that they don’t need all eight limbs to get around and can even drop as many as two to avoid predation.  ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Losing limbs might appear to affect […]

On the grounds of Emperor Nero’s grand palace, where legendary parties once shocked and amazed, archaeologists have uncovered a giant chunk of pure Egyptian blue pigment, roughly the size of a swollen grapefruit. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The rare relic was found during recent excavations of the Domus Aurea, the monumental residence commissioned by Emperor […]

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has just collected its 26th sample, named “Silver Mountain”, and NASA has confirmed not only does it have curious textures “unlike anything we’ve seen before” but it’s the oldest one yet. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Perseverance has been exploring a site called Blue Hill that has been described by the science […]

Researchers have developed a new slime-like material made of natural materials that’s basically something out of a sci-fi movie: it generates electricity when squeezed! This crazy goo may have a whole range of potential uses, ranging from new medical applications to supporting green energy production or being used in robotics. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The […]

Researchers have developed a way to grow human-sized tooth-like tissues in the mouths of pigs – this may be a lot to chew on, but the results could lead to new biological tooth substitutes that can be used to replace existing synthetic implants. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The idea of growing human-like teeth in another […]

Lurking in the cooling canals of a Florida nuclear power plant, an unlikely population of American alligators has taken up residence and continues to thrive. Fear not – the crocodiles aren’t glowing, radioactive mutants with strange superpowers. In fact, the artificial habitat has helped to restore populations of the imperiled species. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]

Few debates are more heated than whether to keep your cat indoors or let them meander around the neighborhood. Unfortunately for free-roaming fans, a new study has uncovered another reason to keep cats inside: unexpected exposure to flea treatments. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Despite cats’ innate desire to wander and hunt, they are often kept […]

An amateur astrophotographer has captured an astonishing image of NASA astronaut Suni Williams conducting a record-breaking spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS). ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Last week, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore – famously “stranded” on the ISS after faults on the Starliner spacecraft – left the safety of the space […]

Animal intelligence is a complex and hotly debated topic; there’s even some debate about the sentience of certain species and their ability to think. However, that hasn’t stopped us from giving bees math problems and marveling at falcons’ ability to solve puzzle boxes. But where do snakes fit into this spectrum of animal intelligence? ADVERTISEMENT […]

TV shows often lie, especially when it comes to complex topics, like those surrounding forensic science. Anyone who has watched a crime scene show will likely have the impression that crime scene science is unambiguous and that the “who done it” is typically made clear once the right piece of evidence is identified. That’s how […]