Deborah Bloomfield

When you are about to launch into space, you want to make sure everything is GO – all the more so if you have people on that rocket. Yesterday’s Soyuz launch toward the International Space Station was scrubbed just 21 seconds before lift-off. The abort was triggered by an automated system, the cause being a […]

NASA needs you! Or, more precisely, they need your phone to help study the Sun during the coming eclipse on April 8, 2024. Now we’re sure conspiracy cranks are poised at their keyboards to claim that this is some large takeover effort, or whatever, but there is actually good reason for the initiative. NASA are […]

The Amazons of ancient Greece made their first appearance in classical literature almost 3,000 years ago, yet continue to inspire feminist, lesbian, and transgender movements to this day. However, a lack of solid archaeological evidence means that historians still understand very little about these legendary warrior women, with some scholars arguing that they were purely […]

The deep sea off the coast of Canada was rocked by hundreds of earthquakes per hour – yep, per hour – at the beginning of March 2024, leading seismologists to believe that a new ocean crust could be forming deep below the waves. The spike in activity occurred near the Endeavour segment of the Juan […]

We often take it for granted that how we see other people’s faces matches up with what they really look like, but for a small group of people with a rare neurological disorder, their perceptions are distorted. Known as prosopometamorphopsia (PMO), for the first time, researchers have now been able to visualize how people with […]

Much beloved astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan once recorded a message, for future astronauts setting foot on the planet Mars. Sagan was a big advocate for exploration of the Red Planet. Co-founder of The Planetary Society, he believed we should go to the planet to study it as an analog for our own planet, […]

There’s a lot going on in the deep ocean that we don’t know about or haven’t discovered yet. From over 100 species recently discovered off the coast of New Zealand to vast areas of seamounts discovered on the ocean floor in the Pacific. Now, another new species has come to light and it’s something of […]

If you’ve not heard the term “bed rotting” before, you could be forgiven for assuming it’s a description of a rather unfortunate décor mishap, or perhaps a detail from a particularly gruesome serial killer case. If you have heard of it, there’s a pretty good chance you think it has something to do with depression, […]

On Earth, we have an incredibly useful of navigating our way around: a magnetized needle (suspended in a liquid or inside a compass) will align itself with our planet’s magnetic field, and point you towards the magnetic north pole. References to magnetism, which occurs naturally in lodestone, go back to 600 BCE, when Greek philosopher […]

Chickens might be the most universal animals in the world. Whether you’re keeping your feathered friends in the backyard, enjoying them as part of a Kentucky fried banquet, or simply enjoying sharing the planet with an animal that has a breed with all-black bones, chickens are both useful and fun. But how long do they […]

Batteries have allowed so many technological advances. It is likely that you are reading this on a battery-powered device. But did you know that batteries are a bit like Goldilocks? No, they do not commit housebreaking or harass a family of bears, but they certainly prefer conditions to be not too hot and not too […]

As adults, we know death is a part of life; but for children, learning about it often comes down to your first brush with loss, be that a pet or parent. Is there a better way to prepare children for grief than waiting for a death to happen? New research suggests so, proposing that all […]

In the bird-eat-bug world of Australia’s rainforests, a slightly better chance of survival is given to those who act tough or stay hidden. Alternatively, some opt to look so gross that even starving predators aren’t tempted to risk eating them. A brilliant example of this latter tactic has recently been found in the form of […]

If you’re looking for something wholesomely bonkers to learn about today, look no further than the fish doorbell. Now back for the fourth year in a row, this internet sensation might end up with you accidentally wasting your lunch break, but hopefully, you’ll feel less bad about that when you discover how you’ll be helping […]

On Monday April 8, the Great American Eclipse will grace a large strip of North America, providing sky-gawking observers with the last total solar eclipse in the contiguous US and Canada until 2044. If you’re gearing up to enjoy this spectacle, be wary that there is still one uncontrollable hurdle to overcome: cloudy weather.  Oddly […]

A man fitted with a Neuralink brain implant participated in a livestream on X (formerly known as Twitter) yesterday, using the device to play a game of chess online. In May 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controversially gave permission for Neuralink to trial the company’s device in humans, following trials in monkeys, […]

Stepping in poop, eating rotten food, standing downwind from a garbage truck: we’ve all been there, and it seems the disgusting memories stay with us with good reason. Research has shown how disgusting experiences are remembered with more details about smells, tastes, and touches compared to scary or morally questionable ones.  While unpleasant on the […]

An early amphibian has been named after the greatest living (sort of) frog: Kermit. The species, given the scientific title Kermitops gratus, preceded true frogs and is considered by the scientists who described it as a proto-amphibian important to the development of this important animal order. K. gratus was described from a fossil skull held […]

With the release of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, based on the acclaimed novel series by Liu Cixin, we have seen many people ask what exactly the three-body problem is. So join us on a trip into physics and math that started at the very beginning of modern science and continues to vex scientists and thinkers […]

The eruption of the Toba supervolcano is thought to have been the largest in our species’ existence. Inevitably, it changed the climate of the planet for a period. Findings from Ethiopia have now led some anthropologists to think Toba could also be key to one of the great mysteries of human evolution: what caused our […]