Deborah Bloomfield

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 […]

On Wednesday evening, the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) European Remote Sensing 2 (ERS-2) satellite will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, just under 13 years after its mission ended. ERS-2 was launched in April 1995, an Earth-monitoring satellite tasked with monitoring our planet’s ocean temperatures, winds, polar ice, and changing landscapes. The satellite was also used to […]

For the first time ever, researchers have succeeded in growing a pair of testicles in the laboratory. Created from immature testicular cells taken from newborn mice, the cultured cojones quickly developed structures resembling those seen in natural knackers and may even be capable of sperm production. As with other types of lab-grown organs – typically […]

Manufacturing giant Yamaha Motor have unveiled a prototype they claim is a world first: a hydrogen-powered outboard motor, used to power a motorboat. The hydrogen-powered engine, exhibited at the 2024 Miami Boat Show, is the result of a collaboration between Yamaha and engineering firm Roush, and part of the company’s overall goals to reach carbon […]

A container ship has hit the seas fitted with an onboard carbon capture system that allows it to trap some of its carbon emissions while it makes its voyage. The experimental pilot project was recently carried out by Seabound, a London-based climate tech startup that’s come up with an inventive way to decarbonize shipping.  Advertisement […]

A study of DNA sequences from almost 10,000 ancient individuals has revealed six children with Down Syndrome. By following the trail to data about their remains and burial sites, scientists can start to piece together the history of these children, and the position they may have held within their communities. Most humans are born with […]

Egypt is the home to the oldest mummies in Africa, right? That at least is the assumption most of us likely have – but there is evidence challenging this. Deep in the desert mountains of southwest Libya, researchers uncovered the mummified remains of a long-dead child, known as the Tashwinat mummy, that predates Egyptian mummies […]

It happens to the best of us. You are sat there, innocently doomscrolling your phone, when the device slips from your grip and into the toilet bowl. Before you can say, “My phone is wet,” a friend, family member, or casual acquaintance will tell you that you should immediately plunge it into rice. And if […]