Deborah Bloomfield

Efforts to build a global treaty to combat plastic pollution fell apart over the weekend. While international agreements are rarely straightforward, many believe powerful forces were working to undermine the talks: big oil and countries hellbent on fossil fuel production. Almost 200 nations recently met in Busan, South Korea, for the fifth session of the […]

The Arctic Ocean could have a period effectively devoid of ice as soon as summer 2027, new research shows. The exact date is not a prediction; there is enough annual variation and uncertainty that the near complete absence of ice may take many years longer. One way or another, however, we are heading for summers […]

For the first time in half a century, scientists have hit on a new treatment for asthma attacks. Clinical trial results have shown that a drug called benralizumab is effective at treating acute attacks of both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and it works better than the current standard steroid treatment. Asthma is […]

There are plenty of great tree mysteries out there, from the beech tree masting mystery to why all Cook pine trees lean toward the equator no matter where they are on Earth. But before you check out those, let’s start with some plant basics; where do they get their mass from, or the matter that […]

The Fountain of the Lions in the Alhambra has amazed people for centuries. It’s a beautiful, ornamental water feature sitting preeminently at the center of the now-infamous Court of the Lions. Twelve lions hold a basin, and from their mouths, water spouts into a 12-sided canal that spreads in four channels across the courtyard. Twelve […]

The world’s first urban wind turbine designed to be tailored to the various wind conditions of specific geographic areas has been unveiled, created by a joint team of AI design specialists and precision metal fabricators. The “Birmingham Blade” has been designed by EvoPhase and KwikFab to address a substantial problem for green energy production – […]

It sounds like the plot of a modern crime drama, but it’s very real. In 2015, contractors working off Florida’s Treasure Coast as salvage operators for a company hunting for lost historical artifacts once contained in sunken Spanish fleets made a remarkable discovery: 101 gold coins. But rather than report the whole discovery, the operators […]

A drug that has recently been approved for the treatment of schizophrenia could one day be prescribed to Alzheimer’s patients. Researchers are trialing Cobenfy to see if it effectively treats Alzheimer’s-induced psychosis. However, there is still a fair way to go before we see if it will be approved as a treatment option for this […]

In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, 350 African elephants died suddenly and mysteriously in northeastern Botswana. Many theories have been put forward to explain what exactly caused this mass die-off. Now, research not only confirms the statements put forward by officials closer to the time but highlights the tragic effect of climate change […]

Earlier this year, a little gray cat called Rayne Beau (pronounced rainbow) embarked on an epic adventure, traveling 1,448 kilometers (900 miles) from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming back home to California. The fearless feline got lost in America’s oldest national park while visiting with his family during a camping trip. Against all the odds, […]

Kids have always loved fingerpainting, and you could probably count on one hand the number of preschoolers who don’t enjoy slapping their colorful palm prints onto paper – or better yet, walls. Amazingly, new research suggests that this universal artistic craze pre-dates our own species, with evidence pointing the finger at Neanderthals as the instigators […]

It’s not been a great year for salad lovers; both the US and the UK have seen significant outbreaks of foodborne illness linked back to salad vegetables. But what is it about our favorite crisp and fresh ingredients that can make them a potential source of such unpleasantness? How often do these outbreaks happen? The […]

Researchers have announced that they have constructed the current best map of the background of gravitational waves across the universe. They did so using the incredible MeerKAT radio telescopes in South Africa. But this map has an unexpected feature: there is a possible anomaly in the gravitational waves washing across our galaxy, linked to the […]

A provocative study is claiming that biology textbooks are going to need some major revisions – although not everyone is convinced. The axons of a neuron – the arm-like structures that stretch out and exchange signals with other brain cells like wires – are often depicted as sausage-like cylindrical tubes, but new imaging suggests they […]

A study of thousands of twins has suggested what your grandmother preached all along: eating more fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of depressive symptoms.  Scientists led by a team at UNSW Sydney looked at 3,483 twins (all aged over 45) from Australia, Denmark, Sweden, and the US to see how their […]

If you’re as addicted to TikTok as we are, then you may well have recently seen a video of a teeny tiny owl serving absolute face. “Hoo” is this diva? It’s none other than the elf owl, the smallest owl in the world. Little raptors When it comes to their size, elf owls live up […]

In 2003, scientists described a new family of frogs – the first time such a discovery had been made among the anurans in around 70 years. Their prize was a weird one, a purple frog described as the “coelacanth of frogs”. Why? Because it stemmed from an ancient lineage that was wriggling around in the […]

Humans have a weird relationship with cheese. It is extremely popular and even has entire festivals committed to it – such as ones where it is rolled down hillsides. Most people have their favorite type of cheese they like to pair with wine, crackers, or other delights. But accompanying the odd, almost mystique status cheese […]

Recording the goings-on inside the human brain is no simple task, largely because there’s a skull in the way. Over the years, we’ve developed ways of capturing brain activity using electrodes, but a team of scientists just made a big leap forward by inventing a biocompatible liquid ink that can be used to print temporary […]

In among the seething mass of carbon dioxide that is the Venusian atmosphere, there is not enough water vapor to make plausible the wet history that has been imagined, new research indicates. If verified, the work would suggest searching Venus for signs of lost oceans is a waste of time. It may also cause us […]