Deborah Bloomfield

In the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs were big, and mammals were small. At least, that’s been the general view – until very recently, when a slew of larger ancient fuzzies started turning up in the fossil record. None, however, come anywhere close to the size of Patagomaia chainko: a brand-new Late Cretaceous mammal reckoned to have […]

Around 26,000 light-years from Earth, at the center of our galaxy, lies Sagittarius A* – a supermassive black hole 4.1 million times the mass of the Sun. While it poses no threat other than to the nearby stars it demolishes, it’s still nice to know where it is at all times. A new app for […]

Breathing liquids is generally a bad idea. In fact, few ideas could be worse for anybody who enjoys breathing. But there is a concept – which has been tested on animals and humans – that we should be able to breathe in certain liquids that are rich in oxygen. It sounds like the stuff of […]

If all goes well, Intuitive Machines might be making history tomorrow, becoming the first private company to soft-land on the Moon – one of the many attempts to get to the Moon this year. Theirs will be the closest lander to the Moon’s South Pole, an area of extreme interest for future human settlement of […]

A type of complex adhesive found on stone tools made by Neanderthals has provided researchers with new insights into the intelligence of this extinct human species. Made of a mix of bitumen and ocher, the multi-compound glue resembles that employed by early Homo sapiens in Africa, indicating that our ancient cousins may have had a […]

One of the concerns in the transition from petrol-based to electric vehicles (EVs) is range. How far can you go on a single charge? Researchers believe that they have a formulation that expands on traditional design massively. They claim they can push the average range of EVs beyond 1,000 kilometers (600 miles). The secret is […]

A rare and ancient box retrieved during an excavation in the City of David is being revealed to the public for the first time at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Dating back to the Second Temple period, it was found within the Jerusalem Walls National Park during excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The […]

In 1994, geologists mapping the stone quarries of Ancient Egypt identified a 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) stretch of limestone and sandstone slabs leading from one basalt quarry to Lake Moeris. Using pottery found at the site, likely left by workers of the quarry, and an ancient worker camp, researchers were able to date the discovery to around […]

Evidence has emerged for the evolutionary benefits of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in paleolithic times, potentially explaining its presence today. Indeed, in the study done, ADHD proved so advantageous it’s fair to ask why not everyone has it. The presence of genetic conditions considered to be disadvantageous has posed a puzzle at least since […]

Microplastics have been found pretty much everywhere from the oceans, to food, and even in our bodies. That includes human placentas, and a new study shows just how pervasive these tiny pieces of plastic can be – they were found in every single placenta tested. Though microplastics were discovered in placentas for the first time […]

COVID-19 is a slippery customer. A quick look through the comment section of any social media post with a photo of that dreaded positive test will tell you that everyone’s journey with this disease is different. One thing that’s become clear during this pandemic is that, in some unlucky people, the initial infection takes a […]

Take a look out your window wherever you work and it most likely looks like a trash-filled alley behind a fast food restaurant in comparison to the view astronauts get aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Retired NASA Astronaut Terry Virts is well aware of this, and used a lot of his time on board […]

Some of the best fossils in the world have been found along a 95-mile-long stretch of coastline in the UK. Known as the Jurassic Coast, it’s turned up the world’s first fossilized ammonite eggs, more belemnites than you can shake a stick at, and a giant sea monster that lived 150 million years ago. It […]

It would be easy to assume that little life remains in the area irradiated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. However, against the odds, some species have adapted – including Eastern tree frogs. How did they manage to do this? Researchers think it could come down to rapidly developing a different skin color. Eastern tree […]

How far would you go to look for something that might not be there at all? Well, researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso spent six weeks looking for a lost bird species in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and they have managed to capture the first ever photo […]

The common bacteria Escherichia coli usually lives harmlessly in our guts, but sometimes escapes to cause serious disease in other organs. Analysis of the difference between the disease-causing “bad bacteria” and the non-toxic “good” versions reveals the harmful ones have lost the capacity to produce cellulose. Besides its role as an indicator of the health […]

Astronomers have found a new, speedy planet: TOI-1347 b orbits its star in just 20 hours and 24 minutes. Its existence has only been recently confirmed, and it looks like a truly intriguing world. It’s not just its extremely close orbit that is peculiar – it’s the biggest in its class, and it might have […]

The first human recipient of Neuralink’s controversial brain implant has reportedly reached a new milestone, successfully operating a computer mouse cursor using only their thoughts. According to Reuters, Neuralink founder Elon Musk gave an update on the trial subject’s progress on February 19 via Spaces, a service that facilitates audio conversations through social media platform […]

Nearly two weeks ago, a barge ran aground and capsized off the coast of the island of Tobago and, in the aftermath, began leaking oil into the surrounding Caribbean Sea. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) has released satellite images showing just how far the oil spill stretches. The images, taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 […]

Astronomers have reported an incredible stellar discovery. Actually, they’ve reported two incredible discoveries: they have found the smallest star ever and it orbits its companion with the smallest known period for binary stars at just 20.5 minutes. The star is part of a binary system that has been called TMTS J0526 and is located 2,760 […]