Deborah Bloomfield

Astronomers have reported the detection of what is believed to be the oldest supermassive black hole in the Universe. The object is located in a galaxy whose light is reaching us from when the universe was just 570 million years old. The observations were possible thanks to the latest major space observatory JWST and the […]

Researchers have found that defendants who refuse to swear an oath to God are more likely to be found guilty by jurors with religious beliefs. The study asks whether it is time for this legal ritual to be updated. When giving evidence in courts in countries like Britain, Ireland, Australia, and the USA, a witness […]

If you have ever wanted to travel to Mars and fly over its dunes, volcanoes, and chasms, today is your lucky day. Caltech’s Bruce Murray Laboratory for Planetary Visualization has released the closest thing to being physically above the Red Planet. They have published the highest-resolution global image of the Mars ever created. The interactive […]

Oh, the confusing world of units of measurement. Whether you’re a die-hard metric system user or prefer to measure things in corgis or ferrets we’re here to break down two of the more shiny, lesser-known units. In the sparkly world of gemstones and precious metals, carats and karats are used to measure different things in […]

A man in Australia has been charged after allegedly taking a wild platypus from a waterway, wrapping it in a towel, then taking it on a train and to a shopping center where members of the public were allowed to pet it. Queensland Police allege that the platypus was taken from a waterway in Morayfield […]

Ice covers around 98 percent of the Antarctic continent, shielding the vast majority of its land mass from sight. However, thanks to some incredible imaging techniques, we’re able to gain a deeper understanding of what the continent of Antarctica would look like without ice.  The Bedmap2 was created back in 2013 using vast amounts of […]

Move over, Octomom: you’ve just been outdone by a factor of 12. And sure, granted, the super-fertile newcomer is a Burmese python rather than a human – but still, at 96 eggs, this reptilian new mom is a record breaker among her species. “To our knowledge, this is the largest clutch size ever documented for […]

If you live with a feline or two you might know that cats have personalities, but what about their wild counterparts? Semi-wild Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), also called Siberian tigers, at two wildlife sanctuaries in China are the focus of a new study looking at their personalities in a bid to better inform conservation […]

Cartwheeling snakes are the subject of a new paper that explores if this hectic movement may actually be a defense mechanism to ward off predators. The gymnastic reptile in question is the dwarf reed snake, Pseudorabdion longiceps, that’s been observed going tail-over-tongue to cartwheel away by repeatedly launching its coiled body into the air. Snakes […]

Coastlines across the globe are preparing for gargantuan blobs of sargassum seaweed that are on their way after accumulating in the Atlantic Ocean. The bloom was expected to bring with it millions of tons of odorous algae to the Caribbean and parts of Florida, and now reports suggest it could be the largest seaweed blob […]

Over the last several years, cosmologists have had to grapple with an unyielding conundrum. The expansion rate of the universe, also known as the Hubble’s constant (H0), has two different values depending on how you measure it, either with the echo of the Big Bang or with stars and galaxies. Researchers have now improved the […]

Among the most controversial artifacts housed in British and American museums, the Benin Bronzes are a collection of thousands of African artworks created by Nigerian Edo metalsmiths between the 16th and 19th centuries. As arguments over the priceless relics’ repatriation continue, researchers have finally discovered the source of the metal from which the pieces were […]

An enormous red circle briefly appeared in the Italian sky last week. This fleeting event, lasting a fraction of a second, looks like the dusting of a crimson doughnut but in reality, is a rare atmospheric event known as an ELVE. ELVES are an Emission of Light and Very Low-Frequency perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse […]

Follow Peseshet as she carries out the day-to-day activities of a doctor in Ancient Egypt, from treating patients to teaching the next generation of students, as outlined by Elizabeth Fox. Peseshet, who lived around 2500 BCE when the pyramids were being built, is considered the earliest known female physician in Ancient Egypt, possibly in history.  […]

Dinosaur footprints were discovered during a chance encounter back in 2022 as a diner at a restaurant in China asked about some unusual pits on the stone floor. The person noticed there were a dozen evenly-spaced imprints along the outdoor courtyard of the Garden Restaurant in Sichuan Province, which were later confirmed to be dinosaur […]

SpaceX’s Starship might finally take to the sky. The launch vehicle is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built, even bigger than NASA’s massive Space Launch System that took Artemis I to the Moon. It’s also the first to be designed for complete reuse. All going well, its inaugural flight will take place next […]

Robotic probes have dived into the watery ruins of the Fukushima nuclear power plant and revealed that vital supporting structures appear to be damaged. While the discovery is not an immediate concern, it’s feared it could become a major issue if another earthquake rocks the area. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) uses remote-controlled probes […]

Multiple ticks across the UK have been found to carry tick-borne encephalitis virus, and one human case has been confirmed, making it the first case of the rare virus in the UK. Health officials now warn the public to stay away from ticks where possible, as this adds to the potentially dangerous diseases they may […]

Religion is a human universal. For thousands of years, humans have held religious beliefs and participated in religious rituals. Throughout history, every human society has featured some kind of supernatural or religious belief. Why is religion so prevalent? One reason is that it’s a powerful tool for explanation. Advertisement The world is a mysterious place, […]

New research argues that 64 Viking shields, previously assumed to be ceremonial in nature, were actually used in battle. A reanalysis of the iconic wooden round shields suggests they may have been covered in rawhide and used in combat. In 1879, two farmer’s sons decided to dig up a large burial mound located on the […]