Deborah Bloomfield

Some of the best fossils in the world have been found along a 95-mile-long stretch of coastline in the UK. Known as the Jurassic Coast, it’s turned up the world’s first fossilized ammonite eggs, more belemnites than you can shake a stick at, and a giant sea monster that lived 150 million years ago. It […]

It would be easy to assume that little life remains in the area irradiated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. However, against the odds, some species have adapted – including Eastern tree frogs. How did they manage to do this? Researchers think it could come down to rapidly developing a different skin color. Eastern tree […]

How far would you go to look for something that might not be there at all? Well, researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso spent six weeks looking for a lost bird species in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and they have managed to capture the first ever photo […]

The common bacteria Escherichia coli usually lives harmlessly in our guts, but sometimes escapes to cause serious disease in other organs. Analysis of the difference between the disease-causing “bad bacteria” and the non-toxic “good” versions reveals the harmful ones have lost the capacity to produce cellulose. Besides its role as an indicator of the health […]

Astronomers have found a new, speedy planet: TOI-1347 b orbits its star in just 20 hours and 24 minutes. Its existence has only been recently confirmed, and it looks like a truly intriguing world. It’s not just its extremely close orbit that is peculiar – it’s the biggest in its class, and it might have […]

The first human recipient of Neuralink’s controversial brain implant has reportedly reached a new milestone, successfully operating a computer mouse cursor using only their thoughts. According to Reuters, Neuralink founder Elon Musk gave an update on the trial subject’s progress on February 19 via Spaces, a service that facilitates audio conversations through social media platform […]

Nearly two weeks ago, a barge ran aground and capsized off the coast of the island of Tobago and, in the aftermath, began leaking oil into the surrounding Caribbean Sea. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) has released satellite images showing just how far the oil spill stretches. The images, taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 […]

Astronomers have reported an incredible stellar discovery. Actually, they’ve reported two incredible discoveries: they have found the smallest star ever and it orbits its companion with the smallest known period for binary stars at just 20.5 minutes. The star is part of a binary system that has been called TMTS J0526 and is located 2,760 […]

On Wednesday evening, the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) European Remote Sensing 2 (ERS-2) satellite will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, just under 13 years after its mission ended. ERS-2 was launched in April 1995, an Earth-monitoring satellite tasked with monitoring our planet’s ocean temperatures, winds, polar ice, and changing landscapes. The satellite was also used to […]

For the first time ever, researchers have succeeded in growing a pair of testicles in the laboratory. Created from immature testicular cells taken from newborn mice, the cultured cojones quickly developed structures resembling those seen in natural knackers and may even be capable of sperm production. As with other types of lab-grown organs – typically […]

Manufacturing giant Yamaha Motor have unveiled a prototype they claim is a world first: a hydrogen-powered outboard motor, used to power a motorboat. The hydrogen-powered engine, exhibited at the 2024 Miami Boat Show, is the result of a collaboration between Yamaha and engineering firm Roush, and part of the company’s overall goals to reach carbon […]

A container ship has hit the seas fitted with an onboard carbon capture system that allows it to trap some of its carbon emissions while it makes its voyage. The experimental pilot project was recently carried out by Seabound, a London-based climate tech startup that’s come up with an inventive way to decarbonize shipping.  Advertisement […]

A study of DNA sequences from almost 10,000 ancient individuals has revealed six children with Down Syndrome. By following the trail to data about their remains and burial sites, scientists can start to piece together the history of these children, and the position they may have held within their communities. Most humans are born with […]

Egypt is the home to the oldest mummies in Africa, right? That at least is the assumption most of us likely have – but there is evidence challenging this. Deep in the desert mountains of southwest Libya, researchers uncovered the mummified remains of a long-dead child, known as the Tashwinat mummy, that predates Egyptian mummies […]

It happens to the best of us. You are sat there, innocently doomscrolling your phone, when the device slips from your grip and into the toilet bowl. Before you can say, “My phone is wet,” a friend, family member, or casual acquaintance will tell you that you should immediately plunge it into rice. And if […]

Calling those with an interest in photographing the skies, and the backyard equipment to do it; your electricity grid needs you. A forthcoming approach to the Sun by a relatively modest comet could provide an opportunity to learn about the solar wind close to the peak of the Sun’s cycle, and your help is being […]

Two hundred years ago, a dinosaur was given a scientific name for the first time. It was named Megalosaurus, and it’s a strange moment in history to contemplate with the benefit of hindsight because, at the time, nobody knew what a dinosaur was. The word “dinosaur” wasn’t used until around 20 years later, so what […]

Usually, you want your flying vehicles to be extremely visible because you want other aircraft to know where you are using radar and other wavelengths of light. The exception is military aircraft, which very much don’t want to be seen, and so various technologies have been employed to reduce the reflection and emission of both […]

Being the driest place in North America, Death Valley probably isn’t the first place that springs to mind when thinking about lakes – but that doesn’t mean you won’t find one there. After Hurricane Hilary brought heavy rainfall to the region last year, a lake popped up in Badwater Basin and though at first it […]

An ancient bronze hand inscribed with a mysterious ancient language may help to illuminate the backstory of the Basque language, a fascinating “language isolate” that has no living relatives.  It’s said to be a “miracle” that the Basque language is still used today. It’s spoken by just under 1 million people who live in the […]