Deborah Bloomfield

Who’s the ruler of the Andes? You might be thinking the seven countries they run through, or perhaps the mighty Andean condor. Both are wrong: it’s an absolutely massive, rare-blooming, and long-lived plant called Puya raimondii. What is Puya raimondii? The so-called “Queen of the Andes” belongs to the bromeliads, a family of plants that […]

This week, a physicist studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus believes he’s found evidence that we’re living in a simulation, a newly discovered species of titanosaur is one of the smallest ever found, Stonehenge may be aligned to a rare lunar event, and a donor heart successfully makes it nearly 7,000 kilometers across the Atlantic for the […]

A lava tube in Saudi Arabia sheltered ancient humans for at least 7,000 years, new research has hinted. A treasure trove of archaeological finds – including artifacts, rock art, and skeletal remains – suggests for the first time that the extensive cave system was used by human pastoralists and their livestock for several millennia. The […]

Here at IFLScience, it’s safe to say we have a soft spot for unusually colored animals, from bright lobsters to pink elephants, we can’t resist the color combinations that nature sometimes comes up with. The latest addition is no exception. Meet Blanquita, the first reported case of incomplete albinism in the Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo […]

The largest continuous dinosaur trackway in the world has been bought by the US Forest Service, putting this magnificent monument into the hands of the public and protecting the site from mining.  Located in Ouray County, Colorado, the West Gold Hill Dinosaur Track site features 134 consecutive dinosaur footprints that extend for nearly 97 meters […]

When it comes to the legendary “runner’s high”, people often fall into one of two camps: the true believers, and the staunch deniers. While it’s true that not everyone feels fabulous after a long run, runner’s high is a real phenomenon. But what causes it? And if you’ve never felt it yet, is there still […]

The unfortunate case of a man in The Netherlands who was infected with COVID-19 for more than a year and half is documented in a new report. At 613 days, it’s the longest COVID infection we know about so far. So long, in fact, that the virus had time to evolve into a new variant […]

Plants don’t generally have a reputation for being badass. Then again, not many have people heard of Puya chilensis and the rumors of its “sheep-eating” exploits.  P. chilensis is native to central Chile, typically found on the arid hillsides of the Andes at an altitude of 300 to 1,000 meters (980 to 3,280 feet). It’s a […]

How life first began on Earth remains a huge question – scientists have ideas of how it kicked off, perhaps near a hydrothermal vent providing the energy needed for the chemical reaction to take place that eventually led to the first living organisms. It’s sometimes spoken about like an unlikely event, where the right mix […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has voiced concerns about the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which is increasingly infecting non-avian species and thus upping the risk of transmission to humans, for whom the mortality rate is “extraordinarily high”. “This remains, I think, an enormous concern,” the health agency’s chief scientist Jeremy Farrar told reporters in […]

A marathon is 42.195 kilometers (26 miles 385 yards), an oddly precise number that doesn’t appear to line up with any modern measurement. To understand how and why it became this specific distance, you must take a short jog through the history of ancient Greece, the first modern Olympics, and the British Royal Family.   […]

After three long years without the appearance of her mate, Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, appears to have hung up her metaphorical mourning outfit and put her best dancing shoes back on, after being spotted bopping about with potential new mates. Believed to have hatched in 1951, Wisdom the Layson albatross is believed […]

A new vaccine platform could see us waving goodbye to boosters for some diseases, as one shot could cover every possible future strain of a virus. So far, it’s only been tested out in mice, but the scientists behind it are optimistic. “This could be the universal vaccine that we have been looking for,” said […]

Scientists at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) say that they have had their first ever “contact call” – with a whale. SETI may seem like an unlikely organization to concern themselves with whale song, given that their brief is to search for proof of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. The thing that […]

One family just wanted to make their child’s dream come true. However, they might have gotten a bit more than they bargained for after the one octopus they bought for their son multiplied into 51 octopuses. Cal Clifford, a 9-year-old from Edmond, Oklahoma, in the United States, had asked for a pet octopus at every […]

Do you think you have good taste? Not the type that makes you judge other people for wearing Shrek-themed Crocs outside of the house, that is, but one of the five senses. If your tongue happens to be home to some key features, science might even deem you a supertaster. What’s a supertaster? The term […]

It’s not often that we get to talk about vampires, skincare, and sports injuries in the same sentence, but there is one medical treatment that unites these seemingly separate worlds. It’s called platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and it’s been growing in popularity in recent years. But how does it work – and, for that matter, does […]

Mark your diaries, folks: On May 5, 2024, the vaquita survey kicks off as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society goes in search of the world’s rarest mammal. Having been issued an extinction alert by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) – the first in 70 years – it’s a critical time for one of the planet’s […]

Spring has sprung in the Northern Hemisphere and if you’re looking to give your garden an all-natural boost, scientists have a simple trick: don’t cut your lawn. Gardeners and bug lovers have long sworn by this advice, but it’s now been reaffirmed by scientific research.  In a new study, scientists at Butterfly Conservation in the […]

Despite normally being drier than your mouth after demolishing a pack of saltines, the summer of 2023 saw Death Valley transformed by the appearance of a temporary lake in Badwater Basin. Though it’s now disappeared, thanks to a new analysis of satellite images, we now know how the depth of this ephemeral lake changed over […]