Deborah Bloomfield

Scientists have successfully sequenced the genomes of seven people who lived in Europe between 42,000 and 49,000 years ago, revealing that they belonged to the earliest known group of humans to split from the original “Out-of-Africa” lineage. The ancient individuals were also part of the very first population to mix with Neanderthals, picking up sections […]

Materials tend to have very distinct magnetic properties. For some, being in a magnetic field means developing strong magnetic properties, in others they are weak, and in others still they are non-existent. Scientists have recently discovered a new class of magnetism called altermagnetism, and in new research, they have shown how to control it. Materials […]

Long ago, the Grand Canyon wasn’t a land of plunging ravines and gaping gullies, but the site of towering mountains, not dissimilar to South America’s Andes of today. They are known as the Vishnu Mountains. Although they no longer stand proudly, evidence of their existence can be found in the ancient crystalline rocks at the […]

In the world of mathematics, two things always hold true: firstly, some of the most stubborn and complex problems often have surprisingly real-world applications; and secondly, for people who spend all their time actually in that real world, those problems can seem… well, pretty silly. Take, for example, the “sofa problem”: a conundrum that has […]

A team of scientists have suggested a possible solution to the famously tricky black hole information loss paradox, first proposed by Professor Stephen Hawking nearly 50 years ago. Black holes are strange objects which (though we have learned plenty about them) confound our understanding of physics. Formed when massive stars collapse, black holes are areas […]

Internet search giant Google has released the top searches of 2024, revealing what the world wanted more information about this year. 2024, like many of its recent predecessors, has been an eventful year. For instance, a South Korean president declaring martial law only to repeal 24 hours later and face impeachment procedures is not what […]

Amateur astronomers in Dwingeloo in the northeastern Netherlands have picked up a signal from NASA’s ailing Voyager 1 spacecraft, around 24.9 billion kilometers (15.5 billion miles) away. The Voyager probes, launched in 1977, have performed spectacularly well over nearly half a century, flying past various planetary bodies and studying them on their way to the […]

The USA’s various internal and external borders have been changed and rejigged countless times over the years, and it has the odd little panhandles and extra states to show for it. But we tend to think that by now, things have basically settled down – that the country, with a few exceptions of various overseas […]

A remarkable tale of determination, hope, and the tiger equivalent of “love” has blossomed in the far-flung reaches of Russia. After being reintroduced to different parts of the Pri-Amur region, a Siberian tiger named Boris walked over 200 kilometers (124 miles) to reunite with Svetlaya, a female he had been raised alongside in semi-captivity. Within […]

When we talk about death, we often say things along the lines of “it’s a fact of life,” but the view can be very different when you’re facing the real and imminent prospect of no longer existing. Given the chance, can we be so sure that we wouldn’t try anything for a little more time? […]

So, whose bright idea was it to hold national elections mere weeks before everyone has to meet up and make nice with their entire families? Yes, the election may be over – but according to a new survey from the American Psychological Association, hardly any Americans are looking forward to the holiday fallout. “More than […]

The supermassive black hole 3C 273 is a wonder. It is the first object identified as a quasar, a black hole that is eating stuff so voraciously the process outshines its own galaxy. It is so bright that even at 2.5 billion light-years away, it can be seen with a small telescope. To observe its […]

An alcoholic beverage made from moldy rice may have provided the spark that led to the widespread adoption of agriculture in East Asia. Having detected remnants of this ancient rice beer on 10,000-year-old pottery vessels in China, researchers believe that the boozy substance was probably consumed during ceremonial feasts and dramatically altered the culture and […]

The recently discovered class of objects known as Odd Radio Circles (ORCs) has a new member: This one is fainter and smaller than previous discoveries and was only detected using an intense study of a small area of the sky. This leads the team responsible to suspect there are many similar examples waiting to be […]

Welcome to True Crime in Science. Over six episodes, we will discuss some well-known true crime cases, as well as some cases you may not have heard of, and then delve further into the science and the forensic details behind them. Watch episode two on Jarrod Ramos now. In episode one, we covered Colin Pitchfork, […]

After thousands of years, we may finally know how to play an ancient board game, or at least a decent approximation of it. In 1977, Italian and Iranian archaeologists were excavating a cemetery in Shahr-i Sokhta in the south-eastern region of Iran when they discovered an unusual item in grave number 731. Inside the pseudo-catacomb […]

Just over a decade ago, a story did the rounds about a man who was stranded in his snow-covered car for two months during a desperately harsh Swedish winter. He was only able to survive, his doctor said, thanks to the “igloo effect”. Peter Skyllberg, 44 years old at the time, became trapped in his […]

Winter has come to the Northern Hemisphere, and with it the usual slew of viral illnesses. Amid the inevitable chaos of the race to the year’s end, preparing for holiday festivities, juggling the kids’ school play and the office party, it can be easy to forget about your flu shot. If you’re only just now […]

Researchers have conducted the first bioarchaeological analysis of the diets of people living in Ukraine over 5,600 years ago. The results shine light on the lives and somewhat grim deaths of these Neolithic people. The people in question were associated with the Neolithic Cucuteni-Trypillia culture who lived across Eastern Europe from around 5500 to 2750 […]

NASA’s Ingenuity was the first ever flying vehicle operated on another planet. It truly was a marvel, and every flight outperformed the hope of its designers – but on January 18, 2024, the little helicopter that could had an accident that brought an end to its career. Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern […]