Deborah Bloomfield

The oldest government computer still in operation today is over 25 billion kilometers (15.5 billion miles) from Earth, and despite well-documented issues, it still runs far better than we could expect. While you may rush out to buy the latest hardware necessary to run the latest computer games, governments and large organizations can end up […]

The miniature “Hobbit” humans of Flores Island may have come from the nearby island of Sulawesi, where researchers have discovered evidence for hominin occupation up to 1.5 million years ago. It’s currently unclear exactly which ancestral species was present on the Indonesian island at this early point in our history, but the journey from mainland […]

If you were to go strolling at night in the right part of New Zealand, you just might be blessed by a visit from one of nature’s most delectable-looking gastropods: the pickle slug. Also known as putoko ropiropi, the gherkin slug, leaf vein slug, or Athoracophorus papillatus, these slugs are famous for the little spikes […]

The Grand Canyon is undeniably a wonder of nature – and according to a new paper from a team of palaeontologists and geologists, it always has been. Half a billion years ago, long before humans were around to gape in awe or plummet to their selfie-related deaths, the canyon was apparently a hub of biodiversity […]

The Wizard of Oz got a hat tip from scientists poking around in an ancient and underwater volcano chain in the Pacific Ocean, as they discovered what looked like a “yellow brick road”. The natural brickwork was actually the result of volcanic geology which has fractured the rock in a curiously uniform way. E/V Nautilus […]

How often do you change your bed sheets? We spend nearly a third of our lives in bed, yet we often don’t treat it with the same hygiene standards as our bathrooms or kitchens. A survey reported by several outlets, including The Independent, found that nearly half of single men in the UK admitted to […]

Dark matter is a hypothetical substance that outweighs regular matter (which makes up us and everything we can see in the universe) five to one. We do not know what it is and have not confirmed its existence, but based on astrophysical observations, it is strongly believed to be a substance; the alternative is that […]

A new study has found a few odd surprises about the first molecule in the universe, suggesting our models of the early cosmos may need a little update. Shortly after the Big Bang the universe was a hot, dense soup of particles. After a few seconds, it became cool enough for the first elements to […]

Standing at 4 meters (13 feet and 2 inches) from ground to shoulder and weighing around 11 tons, “Henry” is the largest Elephant ever recorded – a true giant amongst giants. To help you get your relatively puny-sized head around this stature, he was heavier than the biggest T. rex ever unearthed and tall enough […]

You’ve heard of HIV. You’ve definitely heard of COVID-19 – probably more often than you want to, let’s face it. You know about HPV, and tons of other viruses besides… but there’s one that gets nowhere near as much attention, even though it affects millions of people around the world. It’s called human T-lymphotropic virus […]

Snakes are true killing and eating machines. While some inject incredibly potent venom, others can swallow food five times larger than their own heads. Due to their unfused lower jaw, they’re able to swallow jaw-dropping-sized prey, and some even possess “bone-digesting” cells in their gastrointestinal tract. To top it all off, some species are also […]

Four new tarantula species have been discovered in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. While that is remarkable in itself, what makes these four new tarantulas stand out from other known species is their surprisingly long schlongs.   Technically, tarantulas don’t have penises; instead, they possess specialized appendages called palps that are used […]

In 300 years, NASA’s Voyager spacecraft will reach a hypothetical region of space, long thought to exist but for which we do not yet have conclusive evidence. The region is so large that it will then spend the next 30,000 years passing through it.  Voyager was launched in 1977 and has been traveling ever since. […]

Wavy Dave the robot crustacean has been showing scientists how male fiddler crabs respond when they see a fellow crab waving. Famous for their enormous claws, the team made Wavy Dave blend in by giving him a huge claw of his own, only for it to get ripped off by a male crab. Before he […]

A tiny tweak in our brain chemistry may have been the secret weapon that gave Homo sapiens the edge over Neanderthals and Denisovans, a new study hints. The heart of this idea lies in an enzyme called adenylosuccinate lyase, or ADSL, which is involved in the synthesis of purine, a fundamental building block of DNA, […]

NASA has begun planning to end the mission of several important satellites at the request of the Trump administration, according to a report by NPR. In 2009, NASA launched the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), an orbiting satellite designed to take precise measurements of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere and help guide our response to climate […]

For some people, seeing art can give them a kind of “art attack” known as Stendhal syndrome, or Florence syndrome. It’s a psychosomatic response to exceptional beauty, hence why Florence, Italy, the home of many great artworks, gets a hat-tip.  Symptoms of Stendhal syndrome can vary, but typically include things like increased heart rate, dizziness, […]

Tyrannosaurus rex is arguably the most infamous of the dinosaurs, renowned for its enormous teeth, teeny arms, and gargantuan size – but just how big did it get? The largest specimen ever found was discovered in Canada, weighed an astonishing 8,800 kilograms (19,400 pounds), and was nicknamed “Scotty”. Originally discovered in 1991, Scotty was trapped […]

A study of Australia’s many species of skink reveals they have evolved resistance to snake venom at least 25 times, a testimony to the continent’s dangers. Since each skink lineage had to evolve resistance from scratch through mutation, not all of them got the most effective protection, but some came back for a second round. […]

NASA’s Curiosity landed on Mars on August 5, 2012 – a date that has been marked ever since as its birthday. It was the year after, though, when the birthday celebrations took a turn that quickly became viral. The mission team made the rover sing itself Happy Birthday. Maybe saying that everybody loved it is […]