Deborah Bloomfield

A new method for making diamonds bypasses the high temperatures and pressures, opening the door to making them at a fraction of the existing cost. The world of fine crystal control called The Diamond Age in science fiction may be closer than we think. Although we have known how to make synthetic diamonds since the […]

In addition to being one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, the tomb of Tutankhamun also turned out to be a glorified can of worms, the opening of which has inspired countless myths, movies, and pseudo-archaeological theories. In particular, the so-called “Pharaoh’s Curse” became a globally recognized phenomenon when Lord Carnarvon […]

Particles and waves are one and the same in our universe. This challenge to the expected binary is everywhere, but it becomes crucial at the quantum level. The wave-particle duality has been studied for over a century with a myriad of experiments, but researchers have now done something different: They have captured it on camera. […]

Fractals – those self-similar shapes which can be endlessly zoomed in on without losing detail – are weirdly ubiquitous in nature. You’ve got snowflakes, famously; cauliflowers and coastlines; even rabbits, with a bit of work, can be shown to conform to fractal patterns. Of course, none of these examples can truly be said to be […]

In 2017, astronomers at the Pan-STARRS1 observatory looking for near-Earth asteroids spotted an object as it hurtled past our Sun at 38.3 kilometers per second (23.8 miles per second).  Soon, telescopes around the world pointed in the unusual object’s direction, trying to capture as much data as they could before it moved away from the […]

Exquisitely preserved fossils belonging to an extinct group of giant sharks have been discovered in Mexico, and may help solve some centuries-old mysteries surrounding what these enigmas looked like, what they hunted, and how they fit into the shark evolutionary tree. Ptychodus is a genus of extinct sharks from the Albian–Campanian stage of the Cretaceous period […]

The carbonized remains of an ancient papyrus scroll from Herculaneum have yielded long-lost information concerning Plato, including his exact burial place as well as details about his demise into slavery. Located near the iconic site of Pompeii, Herculaneum was obliterated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, leaving the town – and its […]

Last November, astronomers saw a quick gamma-ray explosion lasting one-tenth of a second. Then, 13 seconds later, they knew it came from galaxy M82, which is just 12 million light-years away. Basically next door, as galaxies go. This suggested they had witnessed something quite rare, a flare from a magnetar. A magnetar is a special […]

Our Sun is currently around the mid-point of its existence, constantly creating energy (and helium) by fusing hydrogen atoms within its core. As the supply of hydrogen in their cores are depleted, stars like our Sun begin their red giant phase. Advertisement “In about 5 billion years, the Sun will start to run out of […]

Evidence has been found for bioluminescence having existed among animals 540 million years ago, more than doubling the previous record. Besides altering how we picture the oceans of the world in the Ediacaran era and thereafter, the finding could shed light (sorry) on the reasons bioluminescence evolved and is so widely used today. The capacity […]

Aussie scientists have uncovered three new species of giant extinct kangaroo that once skipped around the outback of Australia as well as the forested mountains of Tasmania and New Guinea.  The three new species are members of the extinct genus Protemnodon, which lived from around 5 million to 40,000 years ago. Advertisement The biggest of […]

A Bengal tiger and her cubs were spotted by tourists as they feasted on a crocodile in Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India. The 6-year-old tiger T-124, aka Riddhi, had been spotted pursuing these scaly targets previously. A video shared in February shows her approaching a crocodile from the water’s edge – although that particular […]

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured a rare phenomenon on Tuesday, April 23: four enormous regions of the Sun exploding simultaneously. Eruptions on the Sun are a common occurrence, especially as we are around the peak of the Sun’s activity cycle, known as the solar maximum. During this part of the Schwabe cycle, sunspots and […]

Finally – FINALLY! – the world’s first flame-throwing robot dog is available for the general public to purchase in the US. What could possibly go wrong?  Ohio-based company Throwflame is selling the “Thermonator” on its website with a price tag of $9,420 (with free shipping in the US, by the way).  Advertisement The remotely operated quadruped […]

Deepstaria looks like a cross between a ghost emoji and a floating plastic bag, but don’t be tempted to underestimate this shape-shifting jellyfish: it’s among the largest and strangest invertebrate predators of the deep sea.  There are two recognized species of Deepstaria – D. enigmatica and D. reticulum – named after the US research sub Deepstar 4000 […]

Astronomers taking a closer look at Uranus believe it could be filled with a lot more methane than we previously thought. Uranus and Neptune are often referred to as ice giants, with scientists believing that they are mostly made up of “icy” materials such as water, methane, and ammonia, surrounding a hot, rocky core. One […]

Tesla has recalled all Cybertrucks produced between November 13, 2023, to April 4, 2024 due to a fault with the accelerator pedals, increasing the risk of a crash. The firm, of which Elon Musk is CEO, recalled all 3,878 Cybertrucks sold during this period, estimating that 100 percent of these trucks were affected by the […]

An island made of gemstones may sound like the daydream of a rum-addled pirate, but if you sail around the Red Sea you might be lucky enough to find Zabargad Island. The small island is formed of a barren surface brimming in peridotite, a rock that’s laced with beautiful peridot gemstones.  Zabargad Island is located […]

If there are alien civilizations out there close enough to pick up our stray signals, there’s a non-zero chance that amongst the first transmissions, they could receive the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games, meaning our first contact with another species (in the unlikely event that they picked them up) could include a speech by […]