Deborah Bloomfield

With 8 billion of us currently swarming over the planet, it’s hard to imagine there was ever a time when humans weren’t flourishing, yet new research suggests that our ancient ancestors came perilously close to extinction around 900,000 years ago. And while these days we tend to be the ones pushing other species onto the […]

The tiny Romanian town of Costești is home to a bunch of rocks like none other. Not content with the typical sedentary life of rocks, these bulging boulders slowly ooze their innards and can even appear to grow and move as if they were alive. Known as trovants, it’s no surprise the geological oddballs are […]

At its core, the Fermi Paradox grapples with a puzzling contradiction: Considering the enormous size of the universe and the frequent discovery of potentially habitable planets, why haven’t we heard from any extraterrestrial civilizations yet? Advertisement Despite our advancing technologies for astronomical observation and the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence, we have yet to find […]

One of the largest raw pink diamonds ever discovered was retrieved by miners in Angola in 2022. Named the “Lulo Rose”, it clocked an impressive 170 carats and could be about to become the most expensive diamond in history. Its enormous weight is one factor, but so too is its rare pink color, which got […]

This article first appeared in Issue 11 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Jetting off to remote locations, getting up-close and personal with rare and endangered wildlife, and motorbiking a few Siamese crocodiles in baskets: it’s all a day in the life for National Geographic Explorer, presenter, stand-up comedian, and palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi. Exploring is something that anyone […]

This week we may finally have discovered why humans have such big brains, a Harvard astronomer claims to have recovered pieces of an interstellar object, the role of predators in keeping ecosystems healthy has been explored in a myriad of ways, and ancient footprints suggest humans were wearing shoes 148,000 years ago. Finally we take […]

Russia’s Luna-25 mission made an undignified crash-landing on the surface of the Moon last month, leaving behind a giant creator on the pitted lunar surface.  The Russian space agency Roscosmos estimates that the spacecraft crashed into the Moon after entering an uncontrolled orbit on August 19 at 11:57 UTC. On August 21, they published an […]

In April of this year, Spanish athlete Beatriz Flamini emerged into the light after a 500-day stay in a cave. Her descent underground is probably the longest undertaken by a long stretch. Flamini says she lost all sense of time on the 65th day. But can she really be sure it was the 65th day? […]

This article first appeared in Issue 11 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Searing hot water. Sulfurous springs. Pools of caustic acid and plumes of scorching steam. Sounds hectic, right? Nonetheless, the Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia is a geological hit with curious sightseers. Its blue-burning lava and bright yellow springs might be a psychedelic […]

When Iceland suspended the summer 2023 commercial whaling season, many were optimistic it could be the final nail in the coffin for the dwindling whaling industry. However, those hopes have been dashed after Iceland’s government quietly announced it will be lifting the summer suspension on whaling, effectively allowing hunting to resume under a new set […]

There was a period of time during the mid-1930s when newspapers in Britain and elsewhere became transfixed on the strangest of strange stories. According to the reports, a family on the Isle of Man were being visited by a “talking mongoose” or “man-weasel” that went by the name Gef, the Dalby Spook. What the hell […]

This incredible shot of a UFO-like lenticular cloud atop one of Chile’s most active volcanoes is among those shortlisted for this year’s Weather Photographer of the Year competition.  Photographer Francisco Negroni titled his piece A Perfect Cloud, and we can see why. Lenticular clouds are a rare and striking phenomenon, arising when moist air flows […]

When an accidental explosion sent an iron rod straight through the head of railroad construction foreman Phineas P. Gage, nobody could have expected he would survive. Nor could they have anticipated that it would prove to be a pivotal moment in medical history, giving rise to one of the most contentious therapies in medical history. […]

Undoubtedly up there with some of the weirdest animals on Earth, platypuses resemble a hodgepodge of about four different animals. These funky monotremes are found swimming around Australia’s rivers, laying eggs (more on that later) and raising their young. But what do you call a baby platypus? Let’s start with breeding Of course we have […]

A new study has found that dog owners in the US have become increasingly skeptical of vaccinating their canine companions. The growth of the anti-vax movement was one of the most notable outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic, even reaching the point where social media platforms had to expand their medical misinformation policies to cover all […]

A celestial object recently smashed into Jupiter, the undisputed king of the planets, releasing a short but sharp flash of energy. While objects frequently collide with Jupiter – much more so than any other planet in the Solar System – it’s pretty exceptional for scientists to document the crash in action. Remarkably, this latest collision […]

Bananas are berries, botanically speaking, which is especially confusing in the context that strawberries aren’t. There’s a lot to these fruits – which they are classed as, too – that people don’t appreciate, but perhaps one of its most misunderstood and wrongfully maligned features is that little black nub you find at the end. If […]

A team of archaeologists has made an important discovery in the province of Chota in Cajamarca, Peru. They have unearthed the tomb of a shaman who is thought to have lived around 3,000 years ago. The find represents the first priestly figure of its kind in the region.  The individual, who was buried with a […]

The brain’s weight switch may have been discovered in a new study that enabled obese mice to lose weight without changing their diet. If the same effects are seen in humans, it could give rise to a new therapy that enables people to regulate their weight without experiencing the hunger pangs and dietary restrictions associated […]