Deborah Bloomfield

Our blue planet is ruled by cycles. There’s the water cycle; the solar cycle; the menstrual cycle, all tiny epicycles on the great orbit that is the Circle of Life. But one you may not have heard of – or even thought of much before – is the salt cycle: how salt, or rather salts, […]

Ever seen a bee slap an ant? We imagine the answer to that is “no”, but if you’re now desperate to know what that looks like, well, today’s your lucky day. Advertisement Researchers from the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan have discovered that, in the face of unwanted visitors, Japanese honey bees (Apis […]

In an effort to stop peckish fish from gobbling them up, scientists have developed special cradles to protect the young corals being used to rehabilitate reefs. With coral reefs under stress from the effects of climate change and pollution, researchers are looking for ways to quickly restore the damage caused. One of these is coral […]

Researchers have shown for the first time that doomscrolling – the habit of checking up on disturbing stories on social media – can prompt existential issues, such as impacting your view of humanity and the meaning of life. Advertisement In recent years, news reporting has becoming increasingly negative. The media’s wholehearted embrace of the adage […]

There are plenty of local issues with the United States’ power grid. Texas, for example, continues to have weather-related outages. But there is another threat that should be considered – and it comes from beyond Earth. The effects of space weather, of a geomagnetic storm, could be disastrous.  Advertisement Researchers have found two particularly vulnerable […]

The only green-boned dinosaur fossil ever discovered is set to take center stage this fall at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. “Gnatalie” (pronounced Natalie) will grace the Museum’s new wing and community hub, where her verdant remains will be on display for all to see. Advertisement As well as being the only green-colored […]

A vaccine platform that promises a one-shot solution to the flu has just been tested on a potential pandemic strain, and the scientists behind it say their results are very promising indeed. Advertisement “I think it means within five to 10 years, a one-and-done shot for influenza is realistic,” said corresponding author Jonah Sacha of […]

The fastest object ever made by humankind is NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, a spacecraft that cruised through the corona, the Sun’s upper atmosphere, a mere 6.5 million kilometers (4 million miles) from its surface. Advertisement It first completed this historic flyby of the Sun in 2021, but achieved its top speeds during its 17th close passage […]

The very first inhabitants of the paleocontinent known as Sahul may have exported some of the region’s most iconic mammals to islands hundreds of kilometers away, new research suggests. Consisting of Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea and other nearby isles, Sahul is famous for its cast of marsupial characters, some of which appear to have been […]

Ever been out walking and spotted a pair of sneakers slung over a power line? It’s not an uncommon sight, and with good reason.  Shoe tossing – or shoefiti – is done all over the globe and for all sorts of reasons, so let’s dive into some of the most common theories behind this seemingly […]

Researchers have been able to turn simulation and observational data from a fusion reactor into an incredible 3D simulation. It provides a view of what it would be like to fly through the plasma, and gives insights into how the reactor behaves at such extreme temperatures. Advertisement The modeled reactor is a faithful reproduction of […]

Front paws forward, stomach on the ground, and most importantly, back legs kicked back. This is the full sploot position. And it is very cute. Advertisement The sploot. Although the first use of the word is unknown it has gained increasing popularity over the last seven years. Its origins are in DoggoLingo, a cutesy internet […]

The United Nations (UN) has issued a report warning that some efforts to combat the effects of climate change may bring with them further risks. The report emphasizes how interconnected and fragile our system is in the 21st century and urges us not to focus on short-term solutions that may impact long-term prosperity. Advertisement The […]

Although chimpanzees and humans share a surprising 98.8 percent of their DNA, our differences are vast – or at least we like to think. Take a look at chimp behavior and you’ll quickly realize that we’re not so different from our primate cousins (for better or for worse). Advertisement Chimps are warmongers Humans aren’t the […]

Fancy a trip to see the stars? Don’t worry if you haven’t got a rocket – to see the stars we’re talking about, you only need a passport, some flip-flops, and a Japanese phrasebook. Advertisement Our destination is right down in the south of Japan, on the three islands of Iriomote, Hatoma, and Taketomi. Scoop […]

So, mere hours after announcing that only the emergence of some medical problem would make him drop out of the presidential race, US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID. But how worried should he and his supporters be?  Advertisement Is this the end of his campaign? Or just a week with the sniffles? […]

Cephalopods are always full of surprises that push the boundaries of what we think we know about animal life – and few are more fascinating than the octopus squid (Octopoteuthis deletron), a deep-sea loner with removable limbs and a strong tendency towards same-sex behavior.  Most squids have a total of 10 appendages, consisting of eight […]

This week on Break It Down: why Venus just got very exciting as a potential site of extra-terrestrial life, how you make butter out of thin air, a Stegosaurus on sale for $44 million, the discovery of the first Moon cave, why Earth just landed itself a new microcontinent, and pseudoscience Vs anti-science – what […]

Space weather can be beautiful, such as the incredible aurorae seen around the world in May, and dangerous, damaging technology both temporarily and permanently. Predicting space weather is incredibly important. And researchers now report a better understanding of coronal mass ejections, a crucial development in knowing what kind of danger lies in the future. Advertisement […]

Words like “fruit”, “berry”, and “vegetable” are thrown around with reckless abandon, taking little care for their botanic classifications. So, if you’d like help reducing your circle of friends, stick with us and we’ll teach you how to correctly identify all the taxonomic inaccuracies surrounding fruit and veg. Let’s start off easy to whet your […]