Deborah Bloomfield

In the past few centuries, scientists have conducted countless experiments that have revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Very few have been as impactful as the Michelson-Morley experiment, which attempted to find evidence of the luminiferous aether, and found nothing. First, a little context. In the 19th Century, physicists revolutionized our understanding of light, in […]

Sex education has become a complex topic in the United States. Despite the overwhelming evidence that it offers substantive health benefits for children and young people, there is no federal law requiring schools to teach it. As a result, the decision to teach students about sexual matters lies with states or even local school districts. […]

When we think of amphibians like frogs and toads, we often imagine spawn. Gloopy little eggs spilling out into ponds. It’s a great glimpse into the metamorphosis of anurans, allowing us to see them grow from egg to tadpole, to froglet, or toadlet. There is, however, one species that keeps things a little more intimate. […]

What killed off the Tasmanian tiger? For a long time, it was believed this enigmatic marsupial went extinct due to being exterminated as a “pest” and competition with newly introduced dingoes. However, new research suggests there may have been another factor at play: the animal’s genetic diversity. Tasmanian tigers, or Thylacines (Thylacinus cynocephalus), sometimes known […]

Deep below the seafloor, locked in a layer of 100-million-year-old sediment, a lifeform quietly lives. It’s not quite Godzilla, nor a long-lost Megalodon, but it does go to show how life on Earth can dwell under the most extreme and bizarre circumstances. Scientists discovered that communities of microbes living beneath the seafloor are able to […]

You’ll sometimes hear psychotherapy referred to as “talking therapy,” and it’s not entirely wrong. Some routes of treatment, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), can involve a lot of talking as therapists work with clients to try and question negative patterns of thinking and pave the way for a fresh outlook. Thing is, people aren’t always […]

Scientists toying with the afterglow of phosphor particles were stunned to see how uniformly they could diffuse across succulent plants when injected into their leaves. The result is a succulent that glows like something out of Avatar, lasting for hours. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to […]

It’s often assumed that albino animals are rare in the wild because their lack of pigment makes them stick out in the natural environment, turning them into easy pickings for hungry predators. However, in a new study, a team of scientists from Macquarie University in Australia found evidence that the story isn’t so simple. There […]

If you’ve spent time reading medical research articles, you’re bound to have seen two Latin phrases that sound a bit like a magical spell: in vivo and in vitro. But what do they actually mean? These phrases aren’t just there to make experiments sound fancier; they reveal where and how the science is being done. The […]

Today’s rubbish may well be the fossils of tomorrow. Plastic bags, old pens, cheap clothing, or even chicken bones are all examples of possible “technofossils”, rapidly accumulating debris and detritus that may come to represent the story of humanity in the geological record long after we’re gone. The rest of this article is behind a […]

Starship’s 10th test flight has deployed simulated satellites for the first time, and splashed down on target in the Indian Ocean, achieving SpaceX’s primary objectives after months of failed attempts, many ending in fiery explosions. Plans for Starship’s involvement in the future Moon landings remain badly behind schedule, and not everything went according to plan. […]

The International Space Station (ISS) is about to be boosted using a new method, 26 years after the orbiting laboratory first launched. Though you might imagine that the ISS could orbit the Earth long-term like the Moon, it actually needs to be regularly boosted in order to keep it from falling back down to the […]

The map of the world as you know it – the Mercator projection – isn’t totally accurate. And Africa is leading the charge to get rid of it for good. Last week, the African Union, a continental union of 55 member states, reportedly endorsed a campaign to have organizations around the world replace the Mercator map […]

The ankylosaurs were a very impressive group of dinosaurs covered in armored plates with clubs for tails (that may have sounded like birds), but we’ve just discovered that the oldest known member of the group may have also been the most badass. New fossils have revealed that an ankylosaur known as Spicomellus afer was covered […]

An ancient civilization that disappeared from the dense cloud forests of eastern Ecuador 1,500 years ago likely wasn’t obliterated by a massive volcanic eruption, as had previously been suggested. Instead, the mysterious culture appears to have gradually declined for reasons unknown, raising a number of questions as to what went on during the so-called “Lost […]

Hammerhead sharks look like a fish that’s had its face flattened by a cartoon mallet and decided to just roll with it. They’re freaks of nature, haters might say, but these marine marvels are actually masters of adaptation, equipped with bizarre yet brilliant features that make them some of the ocean’s most efficient predators. The […]

Did Neanderthals in Europe have funerary and death practices? The answer to this question in the context of the Iberian Peninsula has been elusive for some time, as there’s an absence of clear burial practices in the archaeological record. However, archaeologists have now discovered evidence of a remarkable diversity and complexity of Neanderthal funerary behaviors […]

You probably all know how rainbows form, if not from being told as a child, then from having to explain it to a child as an adult. But here’s the basic version anyway in case you, uh, forgot. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the […]

As the oceans become more acidic, shark teeth are likely to become weaker and more brittle, according to the findings of a new study. The idea of some of the world’s most formidable predators becoming less lethal might comfort surfers, but this will also undermine ocean ecosystems. Moreover, sharks’ teeth are just one of many […]

Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) is back with a bang for its 61st year, having received a record-breaking 60,636 entries that include stunning images taken across the globe, including a bizarre slime-based family portrait, a stark look at the impact of landfill sites, and a wasp that appears to have developed magical abilities. Winners […]