Deborah Bloomfield

Think fungi can’t be carnivorous? Think again. Arthrobotrys oligospora is a worm-eating species of fungus that has been found to be capable of sensing, trapping, and consuming very small animals. Now, new research has illuminated some of the molecular changes that enable its predatory lifestyle. First discovered in 1850, Arthrobotrys oligospora isn’t the only worm-eating fungus […]

JWST has gazed deep into the heart of our Milky Way galaxy and spotted some never-before-seen features that astronomers are yet to fully understand. The image shows Sagittarius C, a star-forming region located around 300 light-years from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. This is relatively close to […]

Known for their protruding brows and stocky build, Neanderthals are often portrayed as a primitive prototype of the modern human. Yet as our understanding of our extinct relative deepens, the image of the Neanderthal has evolved from that of an archaic ape to a surprisingly sophisticated hominid. What did Neanderthals look like? Fossil remains reveal […]

Earth’s rotational axis is on the move. According to a recent study, the North and South Poles shifted almost 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) over 17 years between 1993 and 2010. One of the reasons for this, the researchers suggest, could be irrigation. Cyclical polar drift is a well-known phenomenon. But the poles can also shift […]

Crocodiles have been around for millions of years, and whilst they’re often thought of as being relatively unchanged since their origin, two new studies have revealed that they in fact have a rich and diverse evolutionary history. Origin story In one of the studies, researchers were able to trace back the origin of Crocodylomorpha – […]

In Western societies, we are used to the idea that a typical family unit consists of two parents and their children. This is the nuclear family model which has predominated family standards since the 1950s. However, new research shows that this pressure on two parents may be out of sync with our evolutionary history. According […]

When we say the words “science experiment”, it probably conjures up images of bubbling flasks of brightly colored chemicals, or shooting laser beams, or basically anything from the opening sequence of Dexter’s Laboratory. It probably doesn’t make you think of a bunch of people sitting in a room watching a video of someone shaking a box. […]

Feast your eyes and gorge your brain on these beautiful maps showing which ocean each river in the world flows into. They were crafted by Grasshopper Geography, best known as the creators of the vibrant maps that illuminate the flowing river basins of Earth’s continents. Now, they’re back with a new set of maps showing […]

You name it – from ladybugs and thousands of grasshoppers to a World War II artillery shell, if it’s small enough it’s probably been found in someone’s butt. Usually, it’s not exactly baffling how the objects got up there. But just occasionally, there is a real mystery. Recently, for example, a team conducted a colonoscopy […]

Did you have a heavy metal phase when you were a teenager? If the answer is yes, then you might have something in common with “teenage” galaxies. They too are into heavy metal: nickel. This surprising find is just one of several discoveries among galaxies that formed in the first 3 billion years after the […]

They might not look like anything fancy – indeed, they often look more like a glamorous rock or a strange seaweed than an animal – but a humble sea sponge might someday save your life. This broad bag of organisms produces an unknowable variety of antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antimalarial, or anti-inflammation chemicals, making them fascinating […]

Astronomers and engineers at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have pushed the observatory’s capabilities to the highest resolution yet. They were able to see features 5 milli-arcseconds apart in observations of the aged star R Leporis. That is equivalent to seeing a school bus on the surface of the Moon and it is a […]

Late last week, global temperatures briefly passed a benchmark that climate scientists have been dreading. Provisional data suggests the mean global temperature likely crossed a critical threshold of 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels last Friday for the first time in recorded history. “Provisional ERA5 global temperature for 17th November from @CopernicusECMWF was 1.17°C above 1991-2020 […]

Archaeologists believe they have located the site of the long-lost Monastery of Deer in Northeast Scotland. The site is not only significant in its own right but is also important for the history of Scots Gaelic. It is thought that the earliest examples of this form of Celtic language were produced at this monastery in […]

The use of echolocation is one of the defining characteristics of toothed whales and dolphins, allowing them to navigate, communicate, and hunt in their underwater home. Now, a new study has provided fresh insight into how these creatures evolved to get their “built-in sonar”. To find out more about how dolphins and whales developed the […]

Penguin plumage may look like adorable little tuxedos, but new research has shown they serve a very practical purpose too. It seems African penguins and two of their close relatives use the dots on their bellies as “name tags” that enable them to identify one another, even amid a bustling throng of other penguins. Humans […]

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president known for his infamously anti-environmental stance, is reportedly being investigated by federal police after a man matching his description was seen “harassing” a humpback whale.  The incident occurred in June 2023 off the coast of São Sebastião, a seaside municipality in the state of São Paulo. According to O Globo, […]

SpaceX’s Starship rocket successfully blasted off on its second test flight on Saturday morning – and then came to an abrupt end just 8 minutes later. But whilst the explosion of both the first-stage booster and ship has dashed the hopes of putting astronauts back on the Moon in 2025, many are still considering the […]

Scientists at the Schmidt Ocean Institute have discovered a new hydrothermal vent field off the Western Galápagos Islands – one that has been speculated about for around 20 years, but never actually located until now. To finally pin the evasive vents down, the team had some help from a group of obliging squat lobsters, whose […]

With a penis that’s seven times too large to fit inside the vaginal opening of its species, the serotine bat, Eptesicus serotinus, has had to get creative when it comes to sexual reproduction. It’s physically impossible for the massive appendage to achieve penetration post-erection, but video footage has revealed how they’ve evolved to achieve contact […]