Deborah Bloomfield

The walls of Mount Vernon, American Founding Father George Washington’s former residence, were likely witness to all sorts of historical secrets we’ll never know about, but it turns out there’s plenty to be found under the floorboards too – nearly 30 glass bottles of “perfectly preserved” cherries and berries, in fact. Advertisement It all started […]

One of the rarest cats in the world, the Iberian lynx was once on the brink of extinction. Now, thanks to intense conservation efforts, they’ve clawed their way back from being classed as an endangered species to a vulnerable one. Advertisement The change in status was announced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature […]

From your computer to maglev trains, from power tools to MRI scanners, rare Earth permanent magnets are all around us. Modern life without them is difficult so their importance can’t be overstated. However, extracting the rare Earth elements that make them is often laborious and energy-consuming. Scientists have been looking for a better way – […]

A man who died 2,000 years ago in southern Spain had his ashes infused in white wine, probably as part of some sort of ritual to assist him in his journey through the afterlife. Amazingly, the urn containing his booze-drenched remains has managed to keep the ancient plonk from deteriorating, making it the oldest surviving […]

On the bottom of the seafloor near Colombia, surrounded by fish and three centuries of sediment, there sits a shipwreck loaded with millions, perhaps billions, of dollars worth of treasure.  Advertisement Attracted by the promise of glory and gold, the sunken remains of the San José have charmed the eyes of many contenders – countries, […]

Palaeontologists have struck giant new dinosaur gold with the discovery of Lokiceratops, an ornate beast that was approximately 22 feet (6.7 meters) long, weighed around 11,000 pounds (5 metric tonnes), and had a seriously fancy hat. It belonged to a group of vegetarian dinosaurs known as the “centrosaurines,” and dates back 78 million years. Advertisement […]

Who can resist a good news rescue story, and when it features a pair of the Earth’s most extraordinary-looking animals what more is there to ask for? Two beluga whales have been rescued from an aquarium in the region of Kharkiv in Ukraine and safely transported thousands of miles to a safe home in Valencia, […]

If we one day want to explore the galaxy (let alone the rest of the universe) we have a speed issue. In late 2023, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe achieved the highest speed ever achieved by a human-made object, clocking in at 635,266 kilometers (394,736 miles) per hour. Advertisement While impressive, that’s only 0.059 percent of […]

In 2019-20, at the height of Australia’s most devastating bushfires, a claim that wombats were herding other animals to safety in their burrows went viral on social media. Sadly, it was too good to be true. Nevertheless, evidence quickly emerged that while wombats were not displaying the altruism of the post, their burrows were used […]

The monkeys of Cayo Santiago were known for their aggression – until Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. Although the humans of nearby Puerto Rico were harder hit, with 3,000 deaths, the resource depletion the monkeys suffered changed them in ways that have continued to this day. Advertisement Cayo Santiago is a unique site, greatly valued […]

Saturn’s energy budget has been found to be severely unbalanced. The extent of the difference between energy in and energy out has surprised planetary scientists, even though the cause has been known since Kepler. An analysis of the imbalance has suggested it contributes to the planet’s giant storms, and raised questions about whether something similar […]

American musician Kevin Jonas, best known as the lead guitarist of the Jonas Brothers, has recently revealed that he was diagnosed with and received surgery for a form of skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma (BCC). In a video posted to Instagram, Jonas showed the cancerous patch of skin on his forehead.  Advertisement “So […]

Chimpanzees intentionally seek out medicinal plants with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties when they are sick or wounded, new research has suggested. By documenting the primates’ incredible pharmaceutical practices, the study authors shine a light on the complexities of chimp behavior while also revealing potential new sources of vital medications for humans. Advertisement The idea of […]

Beech trees across Europe have been mystifying plant scientists. Around the middle of June, trees across different cities, areas, and even countries and time zones would perfectly sync up and all together perform their reproductive behavior. Quite how the trees knew how to do this remained a mystery to scientists, until now. Advertisement Masting behavior […]

Archaeologists have found a rock engraving 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Athens depicting what appears to be an unknown temple that stood where the famous Parthenon is now found. The graffito is at least 50 years older than the Parthenon and uses a term that had confused archaeologists for a while: Hekatompedon. Advertisement As translations […]

It’s been a pretty good decade so far for witnessing cosmic events. As well as the total solar eclipse and the Sun approaching its peak in activity, creating stunning auroras on Earth, we will soon see an event first recorded in a medieval manuscript, when T Coronae Borealis goes nova. Advertisement The decade has a […]

Adding to a growing list of body parts in which microplastics have been found, researchers have now, for the first time, identified the problematic particles in human penises. Advertisement Microplastics are fragments of plastic less than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) in length and can come from a variety of sources, such as plastic manufacturing or […]

Today, June 20, is the solstice, the day with the longest day and shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere. It came a little earlier than usual (actually the earliest since the late 1700s) and it means that we are entering summer everywhere north of the Equator. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the opposite. Advertisement […]

A Bronze-Age ship that sank around 3,300 years ago has been discovered on the Mediterranean Sea floor, along with its cargo of hundreds of intact jars that once stored merchandise. Located around 90 kilometers (56 miles) off the northern coast of Israel and at a depth of 1,800 meters (6,000 feet), the ancient vessel is […]

We often take it for granted that animals can be smart. Corvids have distinct cultures, can cheat death, and will hold a grudge. Elephants refer to each other by name. Dogs will throw children into rivers to score a tasty snack. You know – normal signs of intelligence. Advertisement But still, you probably wouldn’t want […]