Deborah Bloomfield

Getting out more energy from nuclear fusion is a fundamental step in making it the energy source of the future. So far, it has been achieved only in one system – the inertial fusion approach of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). New research on a similar approach shows that the NIF might have competition in […]

Looking at objects far away in the universe is like looking back in time, a very useful consequence of the finiteness of the speed of light. Very distant objects are therefore very young objects, as they were when the universe was also young. Imagine the surprise, then, of astronomers who found a very distant galaxy […]

The Silk Road, the mega highway that linked the far-flung corners of Eurasia, wasn’t the only grand trade route of the ancient world. In Europe, another historical trade network spanned from the North Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, quenching the wild demand for “the gold of the north” – amber.  It’s impossible to say when […]

The animal kingdom has a multitude of tricks for surviving harsh weather conditions and long, cold winters. From snuggling down in a cave to sleep away the worst of the weather, to shutting down all but the most basic of functions as a way to save energy, we break down the differences between the ways […]

NASA’s Perseverance has spent 1,063 days on Mars exploring the rocks and structures of Jezero Crater and its river delta. It has been collecting samples to be sent to Earth and analyzing rocks. But for over a month, one of its instruments has not been working, and mission specialists have not yet been able to […]

Earthly doctors have boldly gone where no medics have gone before, as they used a remote-operated robot to perform simulated surgery aboard the International Space Station (ISS). If you’re concerned about which astronaut had to play the guinea pig, though, don’t worry – the surgical procedure was limited to a bunch of rubber bands for […]

Have you ever wondered why that first sniff of rain makes you instantly tired? Or why it’s virtually impossible to peel yourself away from the sheets on a rainy morning? Well, it turns out you’re not just lazy, there’s a scientific reason rain makes us sleepy. There are a number of factors at play causing […]

Of the 20 extant species of armadillo, there is one that stands out for a myriad of reasons. Pink fairy armadillos are the world’s smallest armadillos, but the weirdness doesn’t stop there. They have pink coloration (unsurprisingly), enthusiastic sprouts of fine white fur, and recently it was discovered that they have a trait that’s never […]

Einstein’s work was crucial for the current understanding of gravitational waves and the development of stimulated radiation that culminated in the invention of lasers. Dr Jing Liu, from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, has combined the two into an intriguing proposal: it is possible to create the gravitational equivalent of a laser. Let’s […]

A fun question on Reddit asks “Do butterflies have any memory of being a caterpillar or are they effectively new animals?” Moths and butterflies have very unusual life cycles, as you likely learned from a surprising number of children’s books where caterpillars are (unfairly) mocked by other insects for being ugly, before they retreat into […]

Do you really know what’s going on in your mouth? The oral microbiome refers to the microorganisms living in the human oral cavity. While some of them can offer a positive or neutral benefit to human health, others can cause diseases within the mouth and even have a wider impact on human health beyond. We […]

An archaeological dig has unearthed an intact chicken egg, still containing its yolk and albumen, from a wishing well that dates back to the age of the Roman Empire. The speckled egg, which is about 1,700 years old, was recently discovered by Oxford Archaeology during excavations near the town of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, UK.  Advertisement […]

Fans of adorably small animals rejoice: A teeny tiny flea toad (Brachycephalus pulex) may have taken the title of tiniest frog, and also tiniest vertebrate, in the world. When we say teeny tiny, we aren’t messing. B. pulex is smaller than a pea, with males averaging just over 7 millimeters (0.28 inches) long, and females […]

They might only be small, but desert ants have a powerful skill – they can orient themselves to the Earth’s magnetic field. Where in their brains this information is processed was previously unclear, but by disrupting magnetic fields early in the ants’ development, researchers now believe they’ve uncovered the responsible regions. In a previous study, […]

Mechanical systems designed to manipulate the quantum properties of light struggle at room temperature. There are simply too many sources of noise that disrupt the quantum system. Some depend on the mechanical part, like low quality, others on the optical properties, and others still on thermal effects. Researchers have now developed a setup that allows […]

Tongue scraping involves using a tool to remove bacteria, dead cells, and food debris from the surface of the tongue. Some studies have suggested this daily ritual may hold some benefits, from reducing levels of nasty bacteria to eliminating bad breath, although other research has indicated that some of its purported benefits may be overstated. […]

We are aware that geographical sorting based on ideological lines is on the rise in the US, but do regions and states differ in personality as well? And, if so, do those who “fit” in with these community “types” also experience certain benefits? A new study suggests this may be the case. Professor Kevin Lanning […]

For the first time ever, a child suffering from a deadly type of brain tumor known as a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) has been completely cured. Until now, doctors had only been able to offer radiotherapy in an attempt to slow the cancer’s growth, yet this breakthrough offers hope for a more effective treatment. […]

Dark matter has been shown to be concentrated in threads within a spectacular cluster of galaxies popular with amateur astronomers. These filaments explain why the galaxies occupy their locations. The finding shows that, while our models of the universe are facing challenges, they continue to predict many things rather well. Galaxies are not randomly distributed […]

In the video game Simcity 2000, one of the futuristic types of energy plants was a microwave power plant where solar energy was collected in space and transmitted back down to Earth. That idea is now a reality. Since June last year, an experiment in space has been transmitting energy down to Earth via solar […]