Deborah Bloomfield

Flocks of birds can be one of the most majestic sights in the natural world, ignoring all the squawks and chaotic flapping. Among certain species, these mesmerizing congregations of flight can reach sizes of unbelievable proportions.  One of the largest recorded flocks of birds featured over 40 million red-winged blackbirds flying over Arkansas in December […]

Veins of a blue-and-yellow banded mineral run through the Derbyshire hillside in Britain’s Peak District, a rare mineral we know today as Blue John. It’s thought to only be found in two locations across the planet, so while it’s only semi-precious, its scarcity makes it a valuable find. Blue John is a variety of fluorite, […]

A new study into the traditional medicine of Indigenous communities within the Incan heartland has revealed the plants that make up the unwritten pharmacopeia of this ancient Andean culture. After interviewing dozens of Quechua-speaking individuals in the mountains of Peru, researchers were able to identify 46 species of medicinal plants that are used to treat […]

A snake-like robot and mini drones have ventured deep inside the irradiated reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan. As shown in their new images, the clean-up operations still have some way to go 13 years after the catastrophic nuclear meltdown. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), the electric utility company that […]

Colors in the natural world can come in just about every possible shade, from the bright blues of a peacock’s tail feathers to the glow of an animal under ultraviolet light. Now researchers have found some of the earliest traces of the pigments that help produce the pretty colors in snail shells and they are […]

The alligator penis doesn’t have an off setting. Unable to inflate with blood or lymphatic fluid, it instead maintains erection by being constantly rigid due to a dense network of collagen fibers inside the penile shaft. This means that rather than being flaccid and rising to the task of copulation, it’s permanently ready to pop […]

A total solar eclipse happened across North America yesterday, in case you’re the one person who missed it and wondered why it was briefly nighttime during the day. OK, there’s not much chance you missed it, given the amount of coverage everywhere. There were countless articles online and so many TV items during the news […]

There’s a revolution going on in how we produce our electricity, and it’s happening even in the places where it’s denounced the loudest. Few places illustrate that better than Texas, where renewable power keeps setting records, despite how many powerful people hate it. In February 2021, a cold snap put unprecedented pressure on the Texas […]

Some members of the bird world are capable of truly amazing feats from flying without flapping for over five hours, to not stopping flying for over 10 straight months. However, all that time in the air can make even the most seasoned flier weary – so where do birds rest when they are flying over […]

Today, people across North America will witness a total solar eclipse. It should be spectacular (assuming the weather holds), coinciding as it does with the solar maximum. As enjoyable as it will be, most witnesses will only get around 3.5-4 minutes of totality, when the Moon completely covers the Sun from their perspective. There is, […]

Women are more likely to expect to orgasm when anticipating a sexual encounter with a female partner, according to new research. While this may be a hard pill for heterosexual men to swallow, it highlights one of the drivers behind the well-established orgasm gap – but crucially, it also suggests ways in which that gap […]

When meteorites crash land in Antarctica, they stick out like a black blob against a pure white backdrop. This is the reason why over 60 percent of discovered meteorites have been found on the frozen continent. However, warming temperatures could soon spell the end of this golden era of meteorite-hunting in the South Pole. Antarctica […]

There is no shortage of celestial events to gawp at this year, with the April 8 eclipse and the “Devil’s Comet” being the highlights.  These are events that come around only a few times a lifetime, but there are plenty of yearly events to keep the calendar full. One such event is known as “lāhainā […]

New evidence has confirmed theories of how the lunar mantle formed, and given increased precision to the timing of this important event for our astronomical companion. In the process, some important insight has emerged into the question of why the near and far sides have such different chemistry, and only one has seas. Like the […]

In the latest addition to the ambitious Human Cell Atlas project, launched in 2016, scientists have created the first-ever spatial map of all the different cell types that make up a human ovary. It’s already giving us a detailed look at how these organs function, and could help pave the way for the development of […]

Bad news everybody, according to the Internet’s finest minds the world is going to end today. After humanity survived eclipse after eclipse going right back to the birth of our species, it, apparently, is not going to make it through being briefly in the shade. Conspiracy theories surrounding April 8th’s total solar eclipse have been […]

Have you heard of Mount Shasta, the breathtakingly beautiful mountain in Northern California? If not, we’re willing to bet you’ve heard of at least one of the many oddities associated with it. For anyone with a fascination for the weird, wonderful, and barely rational, this site is a cornucopia of fantasies. It has UFOs, cults, […]

Nearly seven months after declaring a re-emergence of the New World screwworm fly in Costa Rica, a state of emergency was declared in the country on February 7 as the flesh-eating insect population continues to rise. New World screwworm (NWS) flies (Cochliomyia hominivorax), which are a species of blowfly (family Calliphoridae), are native to much […]

Mount Etna is an iconic volcano found on the eastern coast of Sicily, an island off the coast of Italy. This is the most active stratovolcano in the world and as of Saturday, April 6, Mount Etna has been up to a few tricks. Footage captured from the island shows plumes of what looks like […]

Our likelihood of celebrating a century of birthdays has increased dramatically since the Industrial Revolution, yet the absolute number of centenarians still remains low, with less than 100 per million people globally. With that in mind, receiving a congratulatory letter from the King on one’s hundredth birthday seems more than warranted, although whether or not […]