Deborah Bloomfield

Astronomers have announced the discovery of the smallest brown dwarf yet, an object weighing just three to four times the mass of Jupiter. Truly an incredible lightweight in the category of objects often referred to as failed stars. Brown dwarfs are not massive enough to start nuclear fusion at their core, and this object is […]

Deep beneath the permafrost on Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, a long-entombed threat is stirring. Although this may sound like the introduction to a horror movie, it is a reality that could have implications if it is ever released. Under the ice, millions of cubic meters of methane are trapped, but scientists have learned that this […]

Transplants are an amazing feat of medical science. From kidneys to hands to eyeballs, various parts of the body can be transplanted from a donor into a recipient in need – but have you ever wondered why you never really hear about teeth from human donors being transplanted? It turns out the history of this […]

Picture the perfect predator and you perhaps imagine a great white shark, a prowling tiger, or a sharp-eyed hawk. However, one of the most voracious predators on Earth is a lot closer to home: the domestic cat. New research highlights how free-ranging cats (including domestic and feral) have one of the most varied diets of […]

A new study has found a slightly worrying problem with the rail network in the UK; its vulnerability to space weather. Solar storms are a pretty common occurrence – a moderate storm took place last week, for example, after a large hole opened up on the Sun’s surface. There’s nothing the Sun loves more than […]

If the idea of adding another partner to your relationship sounds pretty nice – after all, another person to bring you a morning coffee would be quite handy – then you might be interested to know you’re not the only one. A new survey of men in the UK has revealed that one in three […]

Pittcon is the world’s largest and most comprehensive laboratory science event. Marking its 75th year of operation, the conference and exposition will be hosted for the first time on the West Coast, in beautiful San Diego, CA, from February 24–28, 2024.  How did Pittcon begin? This rich and diverse conference and exposition has a fantastic […]

Move over, Bowie – there’s a new bilateral gynandromorph in town. In a Colombian forest, zoologists have captured footage of an extremely rare and vividly colored half-green, half-female, half-blue, half-male wild bird. The bird, a Green Honeycreeper, was spotted by amateur ornithologist John Murillo, who pointed it out to zoologist Professor Hamish Spencer, who happened […]

It’s that time of year again when news outlets begin publishing their big lists of things that 16th Century CE astrologer Nostradamus predicted would happen in the following year. Last year, predictions included everything from disaster on Mars to a “celestial fire on the Royal edifice”, which Nostradamus-enablers took to mean a meteor could set […]

A 150 million-year-old snout belonging to a predatory marine reptile was found by a fossil enthusiast while walking along the Jurassic Coast, UK. The chance discovery led to a retrieval mission of epic proportions as fossil experts scaled down a nearby cliff face in search of the rest of it. It wasn’t easy, but it […]

Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo, Japan, has launched an investigation after 31 of its 40 squirrels died over the course of a week, potentially the result of an accidental poisoning. According to a statement released by the zoo on December 11, keepers had given all 40 squirrels an anti-parasitic medication on December 4, alongside spraying […]

Long before the bright lights of Lima robbed the stars of their splendor above the central Peruvian coast, the Milky Way dazzled with such blazing brilliance that the region’s pre-Hispanic inhabitants built their cosmology around it. Such was their devotion to the sparkling arch known in Quechua as “Mayu” (meaning “river of stars”) that these […]

If a sibling is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, then there is an increased risk of a shortened lifespan in other family members, even for those without the condition. This is especially true for twins, a new study argues. According to new research conducted by a team at the University of Southern California (USC) Dornsife College of […]

Of all the potential pets that could be dangerous to humans and other animals, few would rank a goldfish very highly. However, these previous pets have been released into the wild by careless pet owners and are now causing havoc across the Great Lakes of Canada and in France. A new study has tracked one […]

This time last year, NASA’s Orion spacecraft successfully returned to Earth. To celebrate this anniversary, NASA showed off stunning footage of the ship falling through our atmosphere at 32 times the speed of sound The ship, designed to take humans further than we have ever traveled before, was launched using NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) […]

It’s been quite the two months for NASA’s Psyche mission. Now, in the latest of its long list of successes, the spacecraft has snapped its first images – achieving a milestone called “first light”. On December 4, the mission turned on Psyche’s twin cameras and photographed a star field in the constellation Pisces, according to […]

Years of sample collection on the Hungarian steppe has revealed four brand new species of fungi, including one that scientists say bears a striking resemblance to an infamous sci-fi monster. Its worm-like body and sandy dwelling place led the team to dub the new species Tulostoma shaihuludii, after the Shai-Hulud sandworms that feature in Frank […]

If you’ve been on the Internet you’ve probably heard of the Slow Mo Guys, the YouTubers dedicated to filming everything from guns firing bullets at other bullets to Will Smith wielding a big flamethrower in slow motion. After doing it for over a decade, the team wondered whether they could attempt to film “the fastest […]

There are many times when we would rather hold in a sneeze – whilst driving, during an exam, or that deathly quiet important meeting. It turns out, however, that trying to stifle a sneeze may not be the best idea, and a recent case report documents one man who ended up tearing a small hole […]

On the Moon, as well as several robots, some tardigrades, and a family photograph, you will find 96 bags of human poop and other assorted space trash. There are so many signs of human interference on our favorite satellite, in fact, that a team including an archaeologist, an anthropologist, and a geologist have made the […]