Deborah Bloomfield

Over and over again IFLScience and other popular science websites report on the discovery of an element or molecule in space, whether in a star, a comet or the atmosphere of planet beyond our Solar System. No doubt many people wonder how we can tell, since we haven’t been there to collect a sample. Such […]

Scientists have imaged and quantified the toxic protein molecules that are thought to drive Parkinson’s disease for the first time. The finding will help researchers understand how this neurodegenerative disease begins at the molecular level.  The brain cells of people affected by Parkinson’s disease are stuffed with toxic proteins. Aggregates called Lewy bodies are classic […]

Many non-avian animals are capable of some form of flight. Here, we take a look at these soaring species and how they make it off the ground.  The Gliders Let’s get one thing straight. All the animals in the first part of our list are really only capable of gliding. They use various evolutionary adaptations […]

A  mitochondrial DNA study points to at least two waves of migration linking the Americas, China, and Japan- one during the last Ice Age, and another as the ice began to retreat. The research team traced a rare Native American founder lineage across the continents and time, looking at mitochondrial DNA passed down through females. […]

Researchers have engineered a courtship ritual from one species of fruit fly into another using genetic modification.  A Japanese research team tweaked a single gene in the fly Drosophila melanogaster, causing it to display a courtship ritual only previously seen in Drosophila subobscura.  The research shows that manipulations of relatively small chunks of genetic code […]

Recent observations by astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory have confirmed the presence of a rare and almost unheard of “anti-tail” or “anti-solar tail” on interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. As someone who follows science news, you are probably aware by now of our third interstellar visitor (that we know of), known as 3I/ATLAS. On June 1, […]

An animation of an asteroid’s close approach to Earth has garnered considerable interest in recent times, largely due to its apparent proximity to our planet.  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. The animation, shared by Facebook page Cosmoknowledge, shows asteroid 99942 Apophis’s […]

Just like oil and water, certain substances in chemistry simply do not mix. At least this was our understanding. It turns out that some of these substances do mix under certain conditions, a discovery that might have a major impact on what we expect to discover on Saturn’s moon Titan and what the conditions on […]

This week, an “anti-tail” and an odd 594-kilometer (369-mile) feature have been found on interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, brain training has been found to significantly improve key neurochemical levels in a world first, and 14 new ocean species have been discovered, including popcorn-like parasites and weird worms. Finally, we spoke with ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan on […]

Lead exposure from modern chemical pollution is a well-documented threat to neurodevelopment and general health, yet a surprising new study reveals that this toxic heavy metal has, in fact, been impacting human evolution for more than two million years. What’s more, using lab-grown mini-brains, the study authors revealed that Homo sapiens is far more resistant […]

Currently, the Lagocheilus genus of snails contains 106 species that are widespread across much of south east Asia, India, and South China. Of these 106 species, only six are known from mainland India and the understanding of the snails in the Western Ghats region is largely poor due to large parts of the area having never […]

We have mapped and discovered a large portion of the most dangerous asteroids in the Solar System, but there is a glaring omission, with glaring being the operative word. Asteroids that orbit the Sun much closer than the Earth can be lost in the glare of our star. It’s painstaking work to find them, but […]

When red devil spiders ventured down the Atlantic and arrived on the Canary Islands, their genome dramatically shrank and became half the size within just a few million years (a blink of an eye in terms of evolution). A new study has investigated this “extraordinary diversification” to better understand how genomes can undergo such rapid […]

Look up at the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere from October to March, and (weather-permitting) you can catch a glimpse of Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. As well as being an excellent example of an asterism (see also: the “Summer Triangle“), this cluster of stars serves as the inspiration for what could […]

Some of us still remember when fax machines were the height of technology, so it’s safe to say this one blew our minds a little bit. Scientists have developed a pill-sized bioprinter, designed to be swallowed and then to use “living” ink to repair damage inside the body. When it’s done its job, you simply […]

We all go through an awkward phase in our youth, and most of us hope all evidence of it is lost. Our planet is no exception – but as a new study has discovered, Earth’s major makeover wasn’t totally enough to cover up its past. It’s “maybe the first direct evidence” of preserved materials from […]

Just a few weeks ago, we crossed the significant milestone of 6,000 known exoplanets. The counter keeps getting higher, and there are 8,000 more candidates waiting for confirmation. In the decades since the first detection of a world beyond the Solar System, we have learned that the universe is a lot more varied and extreme […]

No, sharks do not have bones. Their skeletons are made of cartilage, the same flexible, “rubbery” material found in human ears and noses.  Unlike bone, which is a rigid, mineralized tissue rich in calcium phosphate, cartilage is made mostly of water and protein collagen, making it lighter, flexible, and less rigid. Bonelessness is a defining […]

After millions of years of peace, an idle volcano is showing its first signs of volcanic unrest. The summit of Taftan has become swollen and bloated, indicating that the pressure of magma and hot gas is increasing within its bowels.  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to […]

Residents of the US’s West Coast have long feared “The Big One” – the apparently inevitable massive earthquake that will one day hit where the Pacific tectonic plate meets its North American neighbor.  Well, we’ve got good news and bad news.  The good: according to a new paper, that expectation may be unrealistic. The bad: […]