Deborah Bloomfield

Ask just about any mathematician, and they’ll tell you the same thing: you can’t predict the primes. Indeed, the pseudorandomness of these building blocks of mathematics – defined as numbers that can only be divided by themselves and one – is as close to a truism as you can get in the subject. Or is […]

If you went to the doctor with some physical problem – IBS, say, or painful arthritis; maybe even something as serious as Parkinson’s disease – you’d probably be a bit annoyed if you were sent home with medication you later found out was little more than a sugar pill. Especially if you had been charged […]

The Dead Sea is one of the planet’s saltiest bodies of water. Technically a land-locked lake, rather than a sea, it’s nestled between Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, and as its total lack of fish, bird, or plant life is a testament to, it really is quite dead. Why is the Dead Sea so salty? The […]

As the rush for copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and other rare earth elements heats up, the impact of mining on Africa’s great apes may be even higher than previously thought. New research has looked at where African mining areas overlap with great ape habitats and found that one-third of the continent’s gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos […]

A series of ancient engravings found on volcanic boulders in southern Peru might represent music that was performed during shamanic rituals involving hallucinogenic plants 2,000 years ago. Consisting of what appears to be dancing human figures surrounded by zigzagging lines and other geometric forms, the enigmatic art eludes concrete interpretation, although a new analysis suggests […]

NASA is set to create a new “Coordinated Lunar Time” ahead of upcoming missions by the US and others to the Moon. Currently, there is no agreed time zone on the Moon. Uncrewed missions generally use the time corresponding to the craft’s country of origin, while the crewed Apollo missions used Ground Elapsed Time (GET), […]

Stars close to the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of our galaxy live in constant danger, but many of them seize the opportunity to look younger than their true age anyway. That can be achieved by eating neighboring stars. Astronomers are sometimes puzzled by stars where different ways to estimate their ages produce […]

The idea of someone knowing you’ve been up to sexy shenanigans is cringe-inducing enough as it is, but now imagine getting stuck in a blob of tree resin during the deed and someone finding said blob millions of years later. That’s the case for some unfortunate mid-Cretaceous water striders trapped in a piece of amber […]

In 2022, NASA sent a spaceship to slam into an asteroid about the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in an attempt to alter its course. The mission was a success, and demonstrated that it is possible to redirect objects in space, great news for a planet that isn’t a huge fan of being […]

Germany and Botswana have had something of an international argument this week, after Germany suggested it might seek a ban on the import of hunting trophies due to issues related to poaching. Botswana’s response? We’ll send you 20,000 elephants to “have a taste of living alongside them”. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi said that the suggested […]

This is a pretty great year for gawping at celestial events. As well as a possible once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a nova, there is a total solar eclipse taking place across North America on Monday, April 8. While emergency officials warn that you should stock up on food, water, and fuel ahead of the eclipse, […]

Between 33 million and 15 million years ago, an ancient group of viruses ran riot through countless ancient mammals, including the relatives of everything from humans and chimpanzees to aardvarks and pandas. This band of prehistoric viruses eventually died out around 15 million years ago – perhaps it had infected all the hosts it could […]

Some conspiracy theorists appear to believe that a “massive human sacrifice” event will take place during the total solar eclipse on April 8. Without anything even approaching evidence, a fairly popular post to the r/conspiracy subreddit “explains” that they are concerned that overlaying the path of totality of the 2017 total eclipse with the 2024 […]

Alaskapox, a relative newcomer to the microbiological scene, has been renamed “borealpox”. The decision follows the first human death from the infection, a man from the Kenai Peninsula who succumbed earlier this year, with officials keen to avoid unnecessary stigma against the state where the virus was first identified. What goes into naming a disease? […]

The Red Sea is steeped in thousands of years of human history and Biblical myths, but its origins are much older, beginning roughly 30 million years ago when a chasm split between Africa and Arabia. In the 21st century, scientists say this unique sea is facing radical new changes and a precarious future. Much of […]

You could do worse than to end up with a wedding ring made of the zombie fungus Cordyceps sinensis, a parasite that’s touted to be worth more than its weight in gold to the right buyer. Coveted for medicinal use, it’s a crucial form of income for some people, but one that’s under threat due […]

Out in the islands of the Galápagos Archipelago live 1.5-meter (5-foot) long yellow lizards who have a history – and a future – linked to the islands of Baltra, North Seymour, Fernandina, Isabela, South Plaza, Santa Cruz, and Santiago. Meet the yellow iguanas. Also known as Galápagos land iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus), these impressively yellow lizards […]

In the age of the Vikings, there may have been one surefire way to tell if a man was part of a merchant guild: by looking at his teeth. According to a new analysis of intentional body modifications among Viking skeletons, males who entered into the trading profession may have undergone a curious rite of […]

Scientists have developed a solar-powered technology that converts saltwater into clean drinking water free of dangerous waterborne diseases. If their claims are true, then this may represent a massive step towards providing reliable and safe water to developing countries and others. Access to clean water is something we take for granted in the developed world. […]

In the hit Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem, several of the main characters are sent a mysterious virtual reality (VR) videogame, in which the protagonist is asked to help an alien species solve a problem: how to predict the movement of their planet’s three suns. The three-body problem is an interesting and real one, […]