Deborah Bloomfield

In 2021, the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri lost a very special resident. She was a snake, but not just any snake. You see, this ball python was the oldest snake in the world in zoo care. She lived to a staggering 62 years old, but not before doing something remarkable just a year before […]

Something may be stirring in the world’s largest oceanic current. New research suggests that this vast conveyor belt of cold water around the South Pole could shift its location over the coming centuries, if not millennia, potentially reshaping the planet’s climate and ecosystems. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is a vast current of cold seawater […]

When we look at maps of the world, landmasses seem to be well distributed. Sure, there is more water than landmasses, but they are all spread out. Well, not really. If you grab a globe and turn it towards the Pacific Ocean, you can angle it in a way that the only thing you can […]

While most of the world measures temperatures in Celsius and the United States clings to Fahrenheit as if its hands were frozen, scientists usually prefer Kelvin. A degree Kelvin marks the same difference in temperature as a degree Celsius, but the starting point is 273.15 degrees lower. If you think that sounds like an odd […]

Astronomers have broken two records in one thanks to an incredible serendipitous alignment of cosmic objects. It’s the highest resolution detection of a gravitationally lensed radio arc, and within it, a small kink indicating the presence of a small gravitational mass – the smallest ever seen, creating this effect at cosmic distances. The rest of […]

How do you change a medical treatment protocol that’s been around for 200 years? It’s not easy to step outside the status quo; but if you do, you might just discover that with the right combination of technology and expertise, you can forge a new path – one that has the potential to improve outcomes […]

Golden moles are pretty special, rarely seen, and occasionally even rediscovered. They also have the curious characteristic of being the only known mammal with iridescent fur. At least, they were. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that other mammals might share such traits and now a new study has revealed that the golden mole is not, in […]

Creative experiences can delay brain aging, according to new data from 1,240 people. Across a range of different creative pursuits, scientists discovered that the more people engaged in their hobbies, and the more skilled they became, the better the impact on their brain age. Whether it’s learning a musical instrument or mastering a new video […]

After decades of ultra-reliable behavior, the pulsar PSR J1713+0747 suddenly changed its output in April 2021. Astronomers have documented the change and subsequent modifications, and offered some tentative explanations for the cause. Nevertheless, they admit the events indicate something deep about pulsars we don’t yet understand. When supernovae leave a neutron star behind, it spins […]

Now, good sleep is important – that’s indisputable. But as the issues above make clear, what counts as “good” is really a mixture of myriad different factors. So, in an effort to de-oversimplify the issue, a new study takes a more holistic approach to quantifying sleep – and has found that, when it comes to […]

A robot has just set off on its mission to complete the first-ever global circumnavigation with an autonomous underwater vehicle. The self-gliding sub launched on the morning of October 10 from the docks of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, where it will go on to ride the Gulf Stream across the Atlantic Ocean. […]

A 71-year-old man in China became the first ever living recipient of a liver transplant from a genetically modified pig, as detailed in a new case report. The surgery was initially deemed successful, but complications arose, and the patient died on day 171 post-surgery. The team behind the procedure say it’s evidence that pig liver […]

One of the most complete sea monsters on record had been discovered along the UK’s Jurassic Coast, being perhaps the world’s most complete reptile fossil dating back to the Pliensbachian period. The rare and impressive specimen offers unprecedented insight into a period of time we know little about, and bridges a gap in our understanding […]

The acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has endorsed comments made by President Donald Trump, calling on parents to request that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines be given to their kids as three separate shots, known as monovalent vaccines. The CDC, guided by the Advisory Committee on […]

Finding new species is a tricky business, especially when it comes to areas off the beaten track. On the border between Peru and Brazil, a case of mistaken identity has been rectified within a very snazzy-looking group of poison dart frogs.  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe […]

In a boon for this elusive and troubled species, a bundle of fossa pups have been born at Chester Zoo in the UK – and they’re undeniably adorable. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. A resident female named Shala recently welcomed the […]

A team of astronomers believe they may have found the most “pristine” star in the universe to date. According to the team, the gas that formed this star may have come from an elusive “population III” star, the earliest stars in the universe. Population III stars are the name we give to the universe’s first […]

Asteroid impacts are normally associated with danger to life. The end of the dinosaurs’ dominion on Earth was caused by a massive collision. As the Chesapeake impact and others have shown, however, not all of the impacts bring global devastation. Researchers have now found evidence that craters can actually provide long-lasting habitable conditions, which could […]

A new study looking at data from 24 years of NASA satellite surveys has found that the Earth is getting darker, and there are significant differences between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The team looked at data collected by the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) project, which launched its first stage in […]

Quasar OJ287 is not wildly famous, but it is so bright that it can be seen even by amateur astronomers. Its brightness is due to the extremely active supermassive black hole at its center. But the black hole is not alone; it has a companion, as some intriguing, first-of-a-kind radio images have witnessed. The rest […]