Deborah Bloomfield

Earlier this week, the Sun released two large solar flares in quick succession. Associated coronal mass ejections headed close to Earth may still make direct hits. While skywatchers anticipated a high latitude auroral treat for the eyes, R3 radio blackouts occurred across half the planet, raising the questions: why do these radio blackouts occur, and […]

When I get up to stand, it doesn’t occur to me to question how I can move because, well, we’ve figured it out. But there was a time when the way our tissues and nerves produced movement was a complete mystery. Turns out, the quest to figure such a simple thing out inspired one of […]

This year, for the first time in history, we got the first image of the polar region of the Sun. The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter mission was shifted to an orbit with a tilt compared to the plane of the Solar System, and this has led to the first exciting observations. The first science […]

The first-of-its-kind event unfolded on November 2, 2025, in the waters off the coast of Skjervøy in Northern Norway. At least six whale-watching boats were in the area when some started to notice some unusual behavior among a group of orcas, primarily females and juveniles, splashing around the water surface, close to the island of […]

They say stare into the abyss and the abyss stares back, and no truer could that be than when you shine your light into a field or garden at night. You see, all those little dots of light reflecting back at you? There’s a good chance they’re spider eyes. The rest of this article is […]

There are sailors’ eyeballs to be found at sea, that is, if you know where to look. Fortunately not the result of any gouging injuries, these curious blobs are a type of algae called Valonia ventricosa, and they’re one of the largest single-celled organisms on Earth. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]

Extreme environments push life to its limits, but we’ve found all sorts of wacky extremophiles in some of Earth’s most hostile places. In Antarctica, the waters can dip well below freezing, so how is it possible that life can survive here? And for that matter, why doesn’t the water freeze? Ice forms when low temperatures […]

On Christmas Day 1950, one of the most audacious political heists in British history went awry when a Scottish nationalist named Ian Hamilton dropped the famous Stone of Destiny while spiriting it away from Westminster Abbey in London. Also known as the Stone of Scone, the revered lump of sandstone split in two, and new […]

Along with vacuum cleaners and nail clippers, water is a notorious enemy of the domestic cat – but for one medium-sized feline, rivers, wetlands, and mangroves are home turf. The fishing cat has made aquatic environments its niche, earning its name from its remarkable ability to swim long distances and chase prey underwater. A bit […]

If you’re searching for a modern-day analog of Ancient Egypt, you probably wouldn’t think to look at Arizona. But the Copper State is more pharaonic than you might expect: it has vast deserts and thundering rivers; sun worshippers and snakes; a state-endorsed love of turquoise, and – if you believe the rumors – its very […]

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a suckerfish, hitching a ride on the belly of a humpback as it cruises through the deep blue sea? No, probably not, but this unusual vantage point offers surprising insight into the migrations and behavior of the world’s whales and their clingy companions. The rest of […]

A new site in one of the most important basins for humanity’s evolution has provided evidence of occupation over an unprecedented period. Across 300,000 years, the toolmakers maintained a similar style in the face of a harsh and changing climate, in contrast to places occupied much more briefly. Millions of years ago, the Turkana Basin […]

Car commercials always boast a top speed, and it’s always pointless. Who cares if your new wheels can reach 200 miles per hour? The fastest you can drive anywhere in the US is less than half that! But what if you could top out your car? Really let it go as fast as possible, with […]

In June 2024, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore became temporarily stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) after the ship they rode in on – the Boeing Starliner – malfunctioned.  Though the two stressed that they signed up for the mission knowing that delays are possible, and that they did not resent the extra […]

A treasure trove of rare freshwater fossils has been described from Taiwan in a new study. Dating back to the Early Pleistocene, over 1 million years ago, they include a baby snail preserved inside its mother’s shell. Did she eat it? Oh no, these snails gave birth to live young and it’s only the second-ever […]

A few years ago, an “acoustic portrait” of Pando — a vast clonal aspen colony in the USA — was released to raise awareness of this astonishing tree and the threats it faces. Recordings of humpback whale songs released as records in the 1960s helped turn public opinion in most of the world against whaling […]

A fantastic new discovery has given astronomy an unexpected window into the formation of life-precursor molecules in an environment significantly different from our galaxy, the Milky Way. Scientists report the first-ever detection of Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) – potential “building blocks” of life – in ice outside of our galaxy. The detection comes from the […]

In an awesome space-based surprise, China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter has sent back intriguing photos of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, taken from the orbit of Mars. For those just joining the story of our interstellar visitor, on July 1 this year astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) spotted an object moving through the Solar System […]

Science fiction is filled with cool gadgets, but sometimes real life mirrors the movies as scientists invent new toys for monitoring and moving around. Just look at Polar Bears International (PBI), who recently launched two very cool pieces of equipment: Bear-Dar, and their shiny new EV Tundra Buggy One. After years of testing in Winnipeg […]

A new digital map of the road network that once connected the Roman Empire has been created, revealing a staggeringly vast constellation of interlocking routes. Named Itiner-e, the new digital map includes 299,171 kilometers (186,000 miles) of ancient roads spanning from the British Isles to the Middle East. Famous for their straight roads, the Romans […]