Deborah Bloomfield

Picture the scene: you’re out walking when an almighty smell catches your attention. A whale has died and washed ashore. Do you: Cut its head off, I’m not one to turn down a knick-knack Leave it be, nature’s best left well alone Consult the internet: am I allowed to keep dead animals? It’s an interesting […]

How often do you see your friends? Do you find yourself trying to make plans, spending time synchronizing your calendars just to scratch together a few hours a week? Do you feel more isolated from the people you used to spend so much time with? If so, then you are not alone (ironically) – the […]

We need to take the popular belief in alien visitations seriously, one researcher has argued – not because it could be true, but rather because that credence can be very harmful. Advertisement The beliefs that extraterrestrial spacecraft buzz in our skies, and that past visitors provided ancient civilizations with much of their technologies, have attracted […]

Here at IFLScience we enjoy a little interactive internet quiz or poll just as much as the next person, from finding out if we see the same color blue as each other to testing the Earworm Eraser after one too many TikToks. Now, the Landsat series of satellites is getting in on the action with […]

When it comes to cats and science we just can’t get enough and now researchers have made tiny crochet hats for them in a bid to understand more about their brain activity and how it relates to chronic pain.  Advertisement Over 25 percent of adult cats have chronic pain associated with radiographic osteoarthritis and the […]

A new species of wasp has been discovered parasitizing adult fruit flies – the first of its kind ever documented. Parasitoid wasps’ life cycles can get pretty gruesome (at least from the perspective of their host), with species that use the bodies of other insects as a cozy home for their eggs often eating or […]

Next time you’re sniffing and itching from a bout of hay fever, spare a thought for the doomed mammoth whose infamous extinction may have been linked to the rise of pollen and bunged-up trunks. Advertisement New research has made the bold claim that hay fever may have been a factor in the untimely demise of […]

For the first time, scientists have observed the changes that occur in an expectant mother’s brain during pregnancy, revealing significant restructuring of numerous cortical areas. According to the researchers, these long-lasting alterations may serve to fine-tune the maternal brain in order to promote parental behaviors and prepare women for motherhood. Advertisement During pregnancy, the production […]

You might think that the line between life and death is clear-cut, but a growing body of research hinting at a “third state” that toes the line between the two suggests this may not be the case.  Advertisement The so-called third state – where the cells of a dead organism continue to function after the […]

A new species of fish has been described from the Red Sea, much to its misery. At less than 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) long, it’s managed to pack enough fury into its tiny face to earn the common name grumpy dwarfgoby, and I’m in love. Scientists first spotted the new-to-science species while diving in the Farasan […]

Nearly three-quarters of the global population will experience significant and rapid changes in temperatures and rainfall in the next 20 years, according to a new analysis – a stark warning for many people living across the world. The only way to avoid this is to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. Advertisement The subject of climate […]

Lettuce has a reputation for being just crunchy water, but it’s actually an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Scientists have recently found a way to add to the leafy vegetable’s nutritional profile by allowing it to brim with beta-carotene, a powerful pigment that’s converted into vitamin A in the human body. Advertisement Ultimately, the […]

New research challenges what we know of our planet’s ancient past, suggesting that a ring formed around the Earth around 466 million years ago. Not only could this hypothesis explain an unusually high period of impacts captured in the geological record, but it may have also influenced the planet’s climate. Advertisement The Earth has a […]

A galaxy seen by the JWST has confirmed the suspicion that some supermassive black holes can kill their home galaxy. The galaxy in question is around the mass of the Milky Way, but is set on a very different path. You might expect such an inside job murder to occur by the black hole consuming […]

A team of physicists have created a one-dimensional gas out of light, studying the strange properties of this strange state of matter. Advertisement When you cool certain particles to near absolute zero, some pretty interesting things can start to happen. In particular, something called “Bose Einstein Condensate” (BEC) can form, a state of matter first […]

At least 123 current members of Congress – 23 percent of 535 total members – deny or doubt the existence of human-caused climate change, according to a new report. If you want to understand this trend, it might be worth chasing the money: politicians who go against the scientific consensus on climate change have gained […]

New Zealand’s world-famous Bird Of The Year competition has announced its winner for 2024 – and yes, this time it is a bird. The hoiho yellow-eyed penguin has won Te Manu Rongonui o Te Tau Bird of the Year, in what they describe as “a peng-win for the penguin.” The hoiho yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) […]

Vortex rings are pretty cool, and electromagnetism even cooler. Now, a team of physicists have found a way to combine the two phenomena, creating the electromagnetic vortex cannon. Advertisement In fluids (which includes gases) vortex rings can be created thanks to frictional forces as a jet moves through the fluid at higher velocities than the […]

A new COVID-19 variant has recently arrived on the scene, and while it hasn’t yet risen to dominance, experts suggest that XEC could be the next big variant to watch. Advertisement 2024 has seen something of a “summer of COVID”. The virus made its presence known at several of this year’s major sporting events, including […]

New research challenges what we know of our planet’s ancient past, suggesting that a ring formed around the Earth around 466 million years ago. Not only could this hypothesis explain an unusually high period of impacts captured in the geological record, but it may have also influenced the planet’s climate. Advertisement The Earth has a […]