Deborah Bloomfield

Online fraud is today’s most common crime. Victims are often told they are foolish for falling for it, but fraudsters use psychological mechanisms to infiltrate the defences of their targets, regardless of how intelligent they are. So it’s important to keep up with the latest scams and understand how they work. Advertisement Recently, consumer protection […]

In 1772, Antoine­ Laurent Lavoisier – sometimes referred to as the father of modern chemistry – set valuable diamonds on fire. When Lavoisier was born, chemistry was still not what you’d call a science. Beliefs included the theory of phlogiston – that all combustible materials contain a fire-like element (called phlogiston) that is released as […]

This week a NASA visualization shows us where Earth’s carbon dioxide comes from, it turns out many people had no idea where the Titanic actually sunk, the record-breaking 2022 Tonga eruption caused an 11-hour lightening marathon, and we investigate the strange conspiracy theory that claims Ancient Egyptians were once in the Grand Canyon. Subscribe to […]

There was once a woman who filed a malpractice suit claiming that the CAT scan she received made her unable to use her psychic powers… and she won (well, sort of). Judith Richardson Haimes once earned her living as a psychic, and was able to read people’s auras and help police solve crimes (a true […]

You may have heard of omega-3, a class of fatty acids found in fish and seeds that has ascended to almost mythical levels within the supplement industry – but have you heard of omega-7? As omega-3’s less popular cousin, this group of fatty acids isn’t quite as important (it’s not essential like the former is), […]

Let’s dive right into the weird world of underwater armed beasties. Octopuses and squids both belong to the marine mollusk class called Cephalopoda, with around 300 species of each. Cephalopod means “head-footed” as these animals have no feet, but can you tell all those tentacles apart? We break down the difference between these fascinating and […]

Recent news has seen the dangers of deep-sea exploration, and the potentially catastrophic events that can happen as a result, thrust into the public eye. With it has come misunderstandings of what decompression and implosion actually are, and how they may arise. So, let’s explore both and what makes them different.  What is an implosion […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially sued Amazon for allegedly making it extremely difficult to cancel a Prime subscription once subscribed. The service, which costs $14.99 or £8.99 a month, has supposedly used tricky tactics to hold onto users for as long as possible, making them jump through hoops to cease payments, a practice […]

If you’ve ever wondered how many ants there are on Earth, then look no further: there are approximately 20 quadrillion ants currently on planet Earth, according to the latest scientific estimate.  How many ants are there in the world? The figure of 20 quadrillion comes from a study published in the journal Proceedings of the […]

Have you ever been longing for a nap all day, and once you have one, you wake up feeling terrible? Well, it is probably all to do with sleep inertia. There are many benefits to a little cat nap in the middle of the day. It is known to reduce stress, improve our mood, boost […]

Some areas of the world are particularly rich in dinosaur fossils, and while some finds are spectacular or of particular scientific importance, some are just downright confusing. A new discovery in Mongolia fits into the latter category, with an unusual fossil of a theropod dinosaur hand that has some peculiar features.  At the Pigeon Hill […]

Amid the smashed ruins of an ancient town sacked by ISIS, archeologists have returned and yielded all kinds of ancient artifacts. Among the new relics discovered at the site are ones from a 3,000-year-old temple that was dedicated to Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, who’s the goddess with the earliest written evidence. […]

In today’s fast-paced world, finding effective ways to manage stress and achieve better sleep can seem like an impossible challenge. Thankfully, Apollo Neuro, a new company pioneering discoveries in neuroscience to make products to improve mental health and well-being, has arrived on the scene with its groundbreaking wearable device. The Apollo wearable offers a holistic […]

There is a rising trend of people in health misinformation circles on the internet claiming that vitamin K does not exist and therefore babies should not be given this injection at birth, despite it being standard practice approved by the CDC. There have always been disgruntled people on the internet that do not like this […]

Archaeologists and computer scientists have worked together to create an artificial intelligence (AI) program capable of translating ancient cuneiform texts. The researchers say their goal is for the program to form part of a “human-machine collaboration”, which will assist future scholars in their study of archaic languages. Cuneiform is thought to be the oldest writing […]

For the first time, scientists have successfully transplanted an organ that’s been frozen and “defrosted.” The novel feat has only been performed on lab rats so far, but the researchers believe it could someday boost the availability of human organs for life-saving transplants. Organs can be preserved through long-term cryopreservation methods like vitrification, a process […]

A 4,000-year-old solar calendar sanctuary has been unearthed by archaeologists in the Netherlands who have described it as the first of its kind. The size of four football pitches, this vast religious site appears to have been constructed so the sun shines straight through certain passages on the main burial mounds on the winter and […]

Poison frogs are famous for a lot of things: intense bright colors, tadpole cannibalism, and of course the toxins they secrete through their skin. Wearing teeny tiny trackable frog pants, however, hasn’t been one of them – until now. To explore how males and females of three different species of poison frog are using their […]

Polar bears have long been the poster animal and early warning system for all things climate change. We asked experts what is really going on with the “white hairy canaries” of the Arctic.  Host Eleanor Higgs spoke with Alysa McCall, Polar Bears International Staff Scientist and Director of Conservation Outreach, on the polar bear monster […]