Deborah Bloomfield

Galaxy JADES GN-1001830 has something of an oddity at its center: a supermassive black hole that makes up almost half of the mass of the whole galaxy. This object must have undergone an intense period of feeding and growth to reach the incredible mass of 400 million suns – however, now it is quietly napping. […]

While looking out at a lake or ocean, you may well note there are “not a lot of fires there”. When was the last time you read about arson crime in the Pacific? Exactly.  But despite water’s ability to put out fire, it is possible – if you try hard enough – to light a […]

A renowned systems theorist has predicted that human civilization is on the brink of a “giant leap”. This leap could see us embracing “networked superabundance”, but it may yet be thwarted by the rise of nationalist populism. In a new study, investigative journalist and academic Nafeez Ahmed has argued that the world is facing unprecedented […]

Unfortunately marine animals often run into issues with boats, which either cause fatalities or have serious, often long-term consequences for the animal. Mystic Aquarium is home to Charlotte the green sea turtle, who has “bubble butt” syndrome, causing Charlotte’s behind to lift up out of the water as air is trapped in his shell. The […]

An unfortunate combination of the deer mating season and holiday festivities has seen Colorado officials put out a reminder to decorate with wildlife in mind, after receiving an uptick in calls about bucks getting stuck. The deer mating season – known as the rut – begins in the fall and typically continues through to late […]

Researchers investigating the nasal microbiota of people who have asthma and allergic rhinitis found they have different fungi in their noses when compared to others. This suggests new targeted ways to treat these irritating conditions. Allergic rhinitis is a common condition that usually involves sneezing, itching, a blocked and running nose, and inflammation of the […]

It’s an idea straight out of the schoolyard: that you might one day accidentally count so high that you break the laws of math. A new preprint (that has not yet been peer-reviewed) seems to have done just that, however – and it could have huge ramifications for how we ought to understand infinity. It’s […]

In 2023, a controversial study introduced a dramatic twist to the story of human history by suggesting that our species came to within a whisker of extinction almost a million years ago. Published in the prestigious journal Science, the research made headlines around the world, yet more recent examinations of the data suggest that our […]

Sagittarius A* is the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. As black holes go, it is pretty quiet, which has allowed for an interesting environment in its surroundings – for example, there are a lot of stars around it. Some of them orbit Sagittarius A* in a matter of […]

Welcome to True Crime in Science. Over six episodes, we will discuss some well-known true crime cases, as well as some cases you may not have heard of, and then delve further into the science and the forensic details behind them. Watch episode four on John Wayne Gacy now. In episode one we covered Colin […]

There is a place in Pennsylvania where rocks don’t just do what every other rock does. No, they’re not so pedestrian, these rocks are special: they produce a mysterious metallic bell-like sound when struck. This odd phenomenon is so famous that it has given the whole area its name: Ringing Rocks Park. The 128-acre park […]

Imagine you’ve been waiting all day for five minutes to yourself so you can sit down and tuck into a bar of your favorite chocolate. You peel back the wrapper, excitement mounting, tastebuds tingling… but alas! It’s all covered in weird white stuff! Why does chocolate sometimes go white like this, and – most importantly […]

There are plenty of physics problems out there that are unresolved, from the Hubble tension to the black hole information. But one particularly cool and far more demonstrable mystery revolves around something you probably see just about every day of your life; bubbles. In 1934, scientists at the University of Cologne were studying sonar when […]

Scientists have suggested we could create housing on Mars for future settlers using an Ancient Roman technique of making concrete.  If humans ever want to set up a home elsewhere in the Solar System, Mars seems like the most viable bet, beating off the competition by not being a hell world, having a surface we […]

Down in the depths of the ocean live all sorts of rare and unusual beasties – from squids with tentacles that stretch for days and seals picking up good vibrations, the sea bed is home to all sorts of rare life. In the southwestern Pacific Ocean near the Tonga Trench, researchers used a camera trap […]

An Alabama woman who had been on the waiting list for a kidney transplant since 2017 just became the third-ever recipient of a gene-edited pig kidney. Fifty-three-year-old Towana Looney had previously donated a kidney to her own mother, but when her one remaining kidney began to fail, the long wait for a donor organ began. […]

The Southern Ocean is growing restless. Storms are increasing around Antarctica due to rampant sea ice loss in what researchers have described as a “shift unlike anything seen in the past century.” In a new study, scientists at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre looked at the record low sea ice levels in the Antarctic during […]

How do you create an army of cockroach cyborgs? Why, you enrol the robots, of course. That’s the direction a new preprint study has taken in equipping cockroaches with little backpacks in under 68 seconds using an automatic assembly method, something they’ve termed the “Cyborg Insect Factory”. It sounds like nightmare fuel, but it’s actually […]

We can hear thanks to our middle ear bones, something that began with holes in the sides of therapsid skulls. Among these ancient animals was a group of saber-toothed gorgonopsians, the oldest of which were thought to have lived 265 million years ago. But don’t you know it, we just found one that is wayyy […]

Hoping to keep tabs on the magnetic north’s wandering ways, the World Magnetic Model 2025 has been released this week, revealing the latest official predicted placement of Earth’s magnetic fields. This version will remain valid until late 2029, during which time we can expect to see the magnetic north pole slowly edge further toward Russia. […]