Deborah Bloomfield

Just when we thought we were starting to understand the mysterious object 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, it has confounded us again. Four eruptions from its ice volcanoes in quick succession led to a 289-fold brightening. This is the largest set of eruptions since 2021 – and unlike a recent, smaller outburst, we did not see it coming. Comet […]

To visit the southernmost national park in the United States, you’ll need go a lot further than Hawai’i – around 4,184 kilometers (2,600 miles) further southwest, in fact. That’s where you’ll find the National Park of American Samoa, the only US national park south of the equator. Where is the southernmost US national park? The […]

There’s a common trope in movies and TV where, to show a character is off-the-charts smart, the writers will have them solve a Rubik’s cube. The idea, obviously, is that said Platonic solid is so complex, so utterly bamboozling, that only those with a genius-level intellect would be able to wrangle it successfully. Well, it […]

See that strange rock up there? It’s a nifty trick of geology that’s captured three phases of matter, with a solid exterior, liquid middle, and even a gas bubble to boot, all contained within rock crystal quartz. Liquid-filled rocks form when minerals trap fluids, but depending on their composition they can either be classed as […]

A team of astronomers using data from the eROSITA All-Sky Survey has modeled the hot gas in our local stellar neighborhood, finding a curious “interstellar tunnel” towards the constellation of Centaurus. The “tunnel” potentially connects our own local bubble to a neighboring superbubble. Our Solar System resides in a 1,000-light-year-wide “Local Bubble“, sometimes called the […]

A cleaning station for turtles in the waters off the US Virgin Islands recently turned up three fish species that weren’t known to clean turtles. The interaction is a kind of symbiotic relationship as both the hungry fish and the grubby turtles benefit from the collaboration, but there’s growing concern it could also be a […]

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 aircraft has achieved its fastest speeds yet, blasting towards its goal of surpassing the speed of sound. During its seventh test flight on November 5, the experimental aircraft reached a new top speed of Mach 0.82, or 1,012 kilometers (629 miles) per hour. Advertisement Since its first flight in March 2024, XB-1 […]

Marineland, a zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Canada, has found itself back in the spotlight after the death of five of its beluga whales in the last year. The park is the last place in Canada where whales are still kept captive, and has seen 17 of its resident belugas die since 2019.  […]

Koalas’ noses are so distinctive they can be used to tell the animals apart in the wild, even at considerable distances. The discovery could cut costs for teams trying to save the beloved creatures, and also save humans and koalas alike from stress. Despite being a major part of Australia’s tourism industry, and possibly the […]

This week, the frogs of Chernobyl no longer need to adapt to survive high radiation levels, a physicist thinks he’s found the equation for how cats move, and a new study concludes it is safe to get your COVID-19 and flu shots together. Finally, we explore the story of a DNA scientist who picked up […]

Earth is no stranger to mass extinction events – it’s had five so far, and some scientists have even claimed we’re in the midst of a sixth. The biggest one of all, however, was so hugely devastating to life on Earth that it’s been nicknamed the “Great Dying”. The Permian-Triassic extinction event If you thought […]

Whether you’re a marathon runner or have just thrown yourself into a new kind of exercise, there’s one common injury that everyone wants to avoid: shin splints. They might not be serious, but they are painful – so what causes them, and what can be done to treat or even avoid them entirely? What are […]

It’s one of the lessons that any driving instructor worth their salt will tell you early on – be mindful of the fact that objects in your side-view mirror are actually closer than they appear to be. And, if their student just so happens to be curious, the next question out of their mouths might […]

Over 3.6 million years ago, three distant human relatives went for a stroll, blissfully unaware they were making history. By sheer chance, their footsteps became imprinted in volcanic ash and lasted for millions of years, providing modern scientists with the oldest unequivocal evidence of human ancestors walking on two feet. They’re known as the Laetoli […]

What came first, the chicken or the egg? If we’re talking about eggs in general, then the latter, but a new study of an ancient single-celled organism suggests the genetic tools to “create” eggs may have been about before animals were even a thing. The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Geneva, […]

It’s been the staple of various film or TV show plots, though some might remember it more specifically as being the devious plan of Dr Evil in the first Austin Powers movie: the world is held to ransom as a megalomaniac villain threatens to trigger volcanic eruptions by detonating a nuclear weapon either on top […]

Here at IFLScience, nothing thrills us more than when a colorful crustacean graces our inbox. Banana the Lobster will always hold a special place in our hearts, and we love the blue, bicolored, and cotton candy versions just as much – but today, it’s all about the crabs. Introducing Strawberry Claws, a new-to-science species of […]

In volcanic ocean vents off the coast of Italy, researchers have discovered a new strain of cyanobacteria that could pack a particularly effective punch when it comes to capturing carbon dioxide, one of the driving forces of climate change. The cyanobacterium, or alga, is officially known as UTEX 3222, but the team behind its discovery […]

The manipulation of tools is something widespread across the animal world. While most use them to aid in feeding behaviors, some can even craft their own tools to solve complex problems. New research on elephants has shown one individual to be particularly adept at tool use, even mastering it to have a shower. The individual […]

For a few months now, the mathematical world has been abuzz. Rumors abound of a new proof, monumental in length and virtually impenetrable even to the experts – and which, if correct, has the potential to reform the entire mathematical landscape from here on out. Now, as the dust settles around the nearly 1000 pages […]