Deborah Bloomfield

Homo sapiens – us – are the only surviving human species. The question, and it is a big one, is why? Who were the species that came before us, or lived alongside us, and what happened to them? Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti is joined by Professor Chris Stringer, human evolution research lead at the Natural […]

Space in the vicinity around our planet is getting quite full, or at least full for space. We are a messy species, and low-Earth orbit is apparently no exception to our “we’ll clean up later” rule. One concern about the debris is that it could cause the “Kessler Effect” (or Kessler Syndrome).  Simply put, the […]

Around 6 million antelope have been recorded on a trek across East Africa, marking the world’s largest land mammal migration ever recorded. Advertisement The scale of the Great Nile Migration recently became apparent through an ongoing project between African Parks and the Government of South Sudan. Advertisement Between April 28 and May 15, 2023, after […]

Over the past several decades, scientists have developed optical and acoustic tweezers. Using light or sound waves, they can lift and control the motion of a small object, like a tiny tractor beam. These are exciting developments, but have very stringent requirements to work. Researchers have now developed a new way to move and manipulate […]

If you heard that someone was receiving a kidney transplant, you might naturally assume they’d have to spend at least a few days in hospital afterward. You might also assume that they would be put to sleep for the procedure. A 28-year-old man from Chicago just managed to buck both of those trends by receiving […]

Researchers in Spain have discovered the remains of a Neanderthal child displaying a number of traits that are consistent with Down syndrome. However, unlike other prehistoric individuals with the condition, the youngster didn’t die as a baby, indicating that both the child and its mother received ongoing care and support from the rest of their […]

While casually reading news about a slate tablet unearthed in Spain, a sharp-eyed researcher noticed the archaeologists had missed a huge discovery: not only did it feature the engravings of battling warriors, but also the mysterious alphabet of an ancient language. Advertisement The 20-centimeter (7.8-inch) tablet was recently unearthed during an archaeological dig near the […]

Low-cost miniature greenhouses could save one of Australia’s most beloved frogs from extinction, and the technique may prove applicable to many of the hundreds of other species under threat from an introduced fungus. Advertisement Of all the major classes of the tree of life, amphibians may be the most threatened, with many species already gone […]

Painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) aren’t exactly strangers to long journeys across land, but for the first time ever, scientists have shown they’re also capable of making non-stop flights across oceans, having mapped the insects migrating a whopping 4,200 kilometers (2,610 miles) across the Atlantic. Advertisement The first indication of these transatlantic flights came back […]

The atmosphere of Jupiter is a fascinating, ever-changing environment. Bands of different colors, storms, enormous clouds, and more are seen across the planet. Its upper atmosphere, though, has always been considered uneventful. Sure it is where the polar aurorae happen, but beyond that, it was believed that it had nothing weird going on. Now, a […]

Under the shadow of night, criminals have put an end to an important field test in Italy. Scientists had planted a new experimental variety of rice that could be the answer to one of the most destructive diseases this crop faces – but the field was recently broken into and destroyed. Advertisement If you have […]

Scientists have come together to identify the most important hotspots for biodiversity, whose survival is essential if the era of human domination is to avoid ranking with Earth’s worst periods. Combined, the locations involved are smaller than Iran, but time is running out. Advertisement Five times in the planet’s history the Earth is known to […]

There may come a point (perhaps for humans, perhaps not) where a civilization may wish to terraform a planet in their Solar System or beyond. Perhaps an environmental disaster was looming on their planet, or they spotted a nearby neighbor planet that looked like – with a few finishing touches – it could make a […]

In 2019, Anna Lee Dozier, who lives in Washington, DC, bought a vase at a local thrift store. The piece, which is richly decorated with Maya-like imagery, was in a clearance sale and only cost $3.99. However, it turns out this Maya-like decoration was authentic, and the vase is a genuine ancient artifact. Advertisement “It […]

Tomorrow, Earth will have a relatively close encounter with one of the largest known space rocks in the potentially hazardous asteroid class. It is known as 2011 UL21 and it is classed as a “planet-killer” in size. With a mass estimated to be about 21 billion tons, like a small mountain, it is speeding through […]

This grinning pink blob might populate your nightmares for the next week or two (sorry about that), but if you can see past the all-too-realistic eyes, you’ll find a very impressive feat of engineering. Scientists in Japan have figured out a way to attach lab-grown human skin tissue to the faces of complex humanoid robots.  […]

Astronomers have discovered the most distant, and so the oldest, known stellar clusters. This is the first time astronomers have seen star clusters from before the first half a billion years of the Universe. The light of these gravitationally bound groups of stars comes to us from just 460 million years after the Big Bang. […]

A new study has confirmed for the first time that various common “forever chemicals” can be absorbed into our bloodstream through contact with our skin. Forever chemicals, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are synthetic chemicals that are resistant to degradation over time.  Advertisement Since the 1950s, these chemicals have been celebrated for their resistance […]

In the shadow of Mount Fuji, a new city is being built by Japanese car maker Toyota called “Woven City.” It’s been described as a “living laboratory” designed to investigate how urban inhabitants can live in tandem with autonomous vehicles, robots, clean energy, and artificial intelligence (AI). So-called smart cities, often surrounded by starry-eyed hype […]

Cheese is milk that’s been fermented and aged, but the process is a controlled one that strikes the right balance of bacterial activity to delicious cheesy goodness. Some traditional approaches to making cheese have pushed the boundaries of what’s safe for human consumption, and perhaps the most talked about is casu marzu. Advertisement Casu marzu […]