Deborah Bloomfield

After making it through the state legislature, a bill that reschedules two medications used in abortions as “controlled dangerous substances” has now been signed into Louisiana state law, making it the first US state to make such a move. Under bill SB 276, mifepristone and misoprostol have been reclassified as Schedule IV substances – a […]

Astronomers have used the JWST to cast their eyes farther into the past than ever before, witnessing some of the earliest galaxies ever actively forming between 400 and 600 million years after the Big Bang. The space telescope was able to determine that these objects are surrounded by a lot of gas. Images from the […]

Colossal quantities of lithium – a metal that’s vital for the world of tomorrow – could be sourced from wastewater that’s been pumped out of a Pennsylvania fracking site.  In a new study, scientists at the National Energy Technology Laboratory and the University of Pittsburg worked out that 38 to 40 percent of the country’s […]

It’s easy not to give a second thought to our nails beyond keeping them clean and tidy, but keeping an eye on them can actually be pretty important. Though they only make up a small part of our body, a change to our nails might be an important sign of what’s going on inside. Growths […]

This week, a fossil of dinosaur skin has revealed it had both scales and feathers, a new study could explain why hundreds of stars have vanished without a trace, and a 1-million-year-old skull from China may belong to the “dragon man” lineage. Finally, we explore the global impact of “dark extinctions”. Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter for […]

Although hideously ugly to humans, male proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) use their noses to woo their mates, both through the sounds they make and visual appeal, new evidence reveals. Humans have a way of appreciating nature, even if we don’t always show it. We umm and ahh at the adorability of many species, but the […]

A farmer in Canada has found an enormous piece of space junk in a field that is believed to have fallen from a SpaceX mission. The piece is 2 meters (6 feet) wide and weighs 40 kilograms (90 pounds). It landed on the farm of Barry Sawchuk in Saskatchewan province, northeast of the city of […]

The number of people who use cannabis on a daily basis now exceeds the number of daily alcohol drinkers in the US, new research reveals. Overall, more people continue to consume booze than weed across the country, yet the proportion of high-frequency stoners has skyrocketed, overtaking regular alcohol use for the first time. Study author […]

Human-wildlife conflict is one of the biggest issues relating to the ability of the world’s wildlife and people to coexist. Whether it’s living through a cicadapocalypse, having your crops stolen by hungry elephants, or the impact of war on wildlife, there are basic rules when it comes to living side by side with the creatures […]

The cicadapocalypse is now upon us, with potentially up to a trillion insects set to rise up, make a whole bunch of noise and cicada babies, and then die – all within the space of about a month. But why so noisy? That’s called seduction in Cicadaville, and it turns out we can mimic it. The […]

Have you been looking for an article you read several years ago but just cant find it? If it was written in 2013, there is a good chance it has simply disappeared from the internet. That’s according to new research from the Pew Research Centre which found that nearly 40 percent of all webpages created […]

Two different groups of astronomers have reported the discovery of an exoplanet that might be an Earth twin, or maybe a Venus-like world. This world is a fantastic target for exploration and it might provide crucial insights into rocky planets like our own – and their habitability. The planet is called Gliese 12 b and […]

Google has launched AI Overviews. And it is not going too well. The feature was launched in the US last week and it will spread globally by the end of 2024, but results so far suggest that it is a mess. Users on social media were quick to point out the funny answers until several […]

Birds are dinosaurs. That’s how the Natural History Museum, London kicks off its exciting new exhibition, Birds: Brilliant & Bizarre. From the very first Tyrannosaurus rex fossil dug up, through to the most peculiar adaptation of the dinosaurs’ only extant relatives, the exhibition displays the remarkable diversity of one of Earth’s most successful animal groups […]

Chernobyl’s wild boars have been the subject of a long-standing scientific mystery. While the radioactivity of deer in the region has predictably decreased over the decades, the wild boar remained surprisingly radioactive. It turns out that these Ukrainian hogs aren’t only being irradiated from the infamous disaster of 1986, but also the atomic bomb testing […]

If you were assigning animals to sporting contests based on looks alone, you wouldn’t send a wombat to track and field. With short legs and a mighty butt, wrestling might be a more obvious choice, or perhaps weightlifting. Yet wombats can produce a surprising turn of speed. Some even propose carrots strategically placed at the […]

The latest forecast from the NOAA National Weather Service predicts that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will be a freakishly busy one and could even rival 2005 – the year of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The NOAA forecast says there’s an 85 percent chance of an above-normal season, a 10 percent chance of a near-normal […]

According to a new study, just 10 “superspreaders” were responsible for over a third of the misinformation posted on Twitter (now X) during an eight-month period in 2020. Misinformation has become a serious concern in recent years. On the face of it, this type of content may appear to be simply irritating, but it can […]

Dozens of rivers and streams in the far reaches of Alaska have turned from crystal clear to a rusty color, some looking “like a milky orange juice.” According to a new study, the culprit is likely to be warming temperatures causing permafrost to thaw and leak metals into the waterways.  Needless to say, the researchers […]

If you like to use your lunch break to catch up on a bit of YouTube, you’d be far from the only one. Some people, however, invest far more time and energy in the online personalities they watch – despite the fact the other party has no idea they exist. Such a one-sided relationship might […]