Deborah Bloomfield

The world’s oldest analog computer may be no more than a 2,000-year-old lemon, according to the findings of an as-yet un-peer-reviewed study. Discovered at the site of an ancient shipwreck, the world-famous Antikythera Mechanism is lauded as one of the technological marvels of the Greco-Roman world, yet it turns out that the gadget might not […]

A new study on processing speech has found a handy trick for anybody who struggles to hear conversation within noisy environments. If you cannot hear conversation when you are in a noisy environment (say a pub, or Katy Perry’s spaceship capsule) it can be a sign of hearing loss, or an auditory processing disorder, and […]

Selenium – it’s an essential mineral that most of us probably don’t give a second thought to, at least compared to the likes of calcium and iron. It is, however, vital to our functioning. Does that mean that it could have medical uses too? Or can too much selenium be a problem? What is selenium? […]

If you catch this creature in the US, chop off its head immediately. That’s the message coming from wildlife authorities who are attempting to control the invasion of northern snakehead fish in Missouri and many other states. In a new announcement, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is reminding anglers that northern snakehead fish are […]

How do traumatic events affect our bodies? A new study set out to investigate by looking at three key areas: the autonomic nervous system, inflammatory immune system, and endocrine system. It found changes to these key biological systems that remain detectable even when the person reports good psychological wellbeing. It seems the body remembers trauma […]

The type of meteorites that could have been crucial to the origins of life are very rare, but the asteroids they come from are common. Astronomers have long had an explanation for this paradox, but couldn’t prove it. New research shows that explanation is only half the answer, with exposure to the Sun providing the […]

The Standard Model Of Particle Physics is one of the most revolutionary theories humans have ever created. From the behavior of fundamental particles to electromagnetism, the field that gives everything mass to nuclear decay, the Standard Model has got you covered. But we know that there’s a fair bit of reality beyond it, and scientists […]

Over 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) beneath the near-frozen water of the Antarctic Peninsula, a collection of squids – each one stranger than the last – have been captured on camera in stunning detail. The dazzling footage was captured during an expedition by Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and Inkfish between December 2024 and January 2025.  At […]

Throughout history, people have always striven to look their best. For our parents, that meant questionable choices in Lycra and neon; for our medieval ancestors, it looked more like topping your head with a gigantic horned hat or showing off a manly set of calves and ass-cheeks in your very tightest tights. For Neo- and […]

American singer and songwriter Katy Perry is getting blasted into space today, part of an all-female mission run by private space firm Blue Origin. The 40-year-old singer of such hits as I Kissed a Girl and Roar will head 100 kilometers (60 miles) above the Earth today from a launchpad in Western Texas at around 9:30 […]

Have you ever noticed a strange crease or fold in your earlobes or those of people you know? It looks like a diagonal line that extends backwards and diagonally across the earlobe from the tragus (the fleshy bump in front of your ears’ opening) to its edge. This fold, known as Frank’s sign, has a […]

This week, the dangerous asteroid that might hit the Moon has a very unusual origin, one of the most bitter compounds in the natural world can be found in a common mushroom, and a potential long COVID drug has been successfully tested on mice, sparking hope for a much-needed treatment. Finally, we ask: Is time […]

Last summer, researchers announced the first ever detection of a supermassive black hole being spotted as it awoke. The object, known as SDSS1335+0728 and nicknamed Ansky, is one of a kind. We have seen the effects of active black holes and the lack of activity of sleeping ones, but we had never witnessed the changes […]

Malfunctioning of the enzyme CDK7 is crucial to many cancers, making drugs that target it a high priority. Despite some demonstrated success, the mechanism by which these drugs work has been a mystery for decades, impeding progress in developing better ones. An answer to that puzzle could open the path to variations that could save […]

Excessive cannabis use causes dopamine signaling to spin out of control in a part of the brain that is strongly linked to schizophrenia, new research reveals. Using brain imaging techniques, the study authors were able to observe black spots in this critical neurological region, providing the clearest evidence yet for a direct link between cannabis […]

Island-dwellers in North Carolina’s Outer Banks speak a dialect that’s like a linguistic time capsule. To the common ear, it might sound like a charming mash-up of West Country English, Scottish, and Irish, with perhaps a sprinkling of “pirate accent” – but that’s not surprising given its history. It’s known as “High Tider,” or (to […]

This week on Break It Down: old skin samples have revealed the first-ever evidence for an intersex Southern right whale, a dangerous asteroid that might hit the Moon has an unusual origin, what dire wolf “de-extinction” really means and how it’s helping red wolves, a mushroom that contains one of the most bitter compounds known […]

Once known as one of the smoggiest, most polluted cities in the US, Chattanooga in Tennessee has just been recognized as the first National Park City in North America. In 1969, Chattanooga was named as “worst city in the nation for particulate air pollution” by the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Known as […]

Over the last three years, a huge bridge has appeared across California’s Ventura Freeway – but this isn’t just any old overpass. This one is set to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing, and it’s being built with the aim of reconnecting some of the state’s most important animal life. Known as the Wallis Annenberg […]

It has been an exciting few weeks for the Moon. Last month, there was a total lunar eclipse with a beautiful “Blood Moon“. Not content with being center stage across the Americas, it also obscured the Sun in a partial solar eclipse only two weeks ago. This weekend, the full Moon is back again, and […]