Deborah Bloomfield

Neptune’s clouds have almost disappeared, images from space and Earth confirm. The cause remains somewhat mysterious, but the timing suggests it has something to do with the strength of the current solar cycle. The announcement raises the priority of a project where NASA is calling on amateur astronomers to assist it with observations of Neptune […]

You may have missed it last week, but according to one conspiracy theorist, a rogue planet should have smashed into Earth on Friday, ending life as we know it. Mike Buckner announced the end of the world on Twitter, the apocalyptic soothsayers’ medium of choice. Buckner spent the week before Nibiru was meant to hit […]

A cargo ship fitted with giant sails has set out on its maiden voyage in a quest to see whether age-old technology has the potential to revolutionize this fuel-guzzling industry. It’s been dubbed as a “world first”, although we’re pretty sure we’ve seen wind-propelled sails boats before… The Pyxis Ocean ship, retrofitted with two 37.5-meter […]

Yutu-2 has been a busy rover. Carried by the Chang’E-4 lander to the far side of the Moon in January 2019, it has moved further across the lunar surface than any other rover, collecting a variety of measurements. Now, for the first time, it has peered underneath the lunar surface down to 300 meters (1,000 feet), […]

JWST has captured a pair of beautiful images showing the Ring Nebula, a dying star in the midst of a final flurry at the end of its stellar lifecycle. Also known as M57 and NGC 6720, the Ring Nebula is typical of a planetary nebula, an ejection of ionized gas emitted from red giant stars […]

There is apparently a widely held belief that facial masculinity can reliably indicate whether a man will be more or less involved as a parent. According to this view, men with more masculine features are regarded as “healthier” but potentially less likely to be involved as a parent, while men with feminine faces are likely […]

According to a new review, the recreational use of nitrous oxide can have serious and sometimes permanent neurological impacts. Although this drug is becoming increasingly popular, the findings are worrying. It is hoped the results of the survey will help doctors identify the signs of nitrous oxide toxicity.  Nitrous oxide (N2O), also known as laughing […]

Updated COVID vaccines will reportedly be available in the US next month amid rising numbers of the new variant “Eris”. However, some public health experts are not expecting this batch of vaccines to be taken up with the same gusto as in previous years. Also known as EG.5, Eris is a subvariant of Omicron. It […]

An ancient weapon known as an atlatl may have been used by prehistoric women to launch projectiles with the same force as men, thereby enabling them to take over hunting duties. Watching a group of students operate the archaic spear-thrower in a field, researchers found that the atlatl “equalized” the performance of male and female […]

A short walk outside the city walls, archeologists have discovered an apartment for the slaves who used to serve the people of Pompeii. The rare discovery is a reminder that Roman life in the big city wasn’t all pizza, parties, and picturesque villas. The room was found at the Civita Giuliana villa, some 600 meters […]

There are many baffling stereotypes about pirates, from how they buried their treasure for no fathomable reason, to how they all talked like English farmers.  One of the most firmly embedded in popular culture, along with hook hands and parrot companions, is that they wore eye patches in numbers not usually seen outside of eye […]

Research has shown an easy method to help investigators weed out liars: ask a suspect to carry out an additional task while being questioned, and you’re more likely to accurately tell whether they are telling the truth or not. Previous studies have shown that being dishonest and deceptive can strain the brain, requiring considerably more cognitive energy […]

The Russian space agency Roscosmos has admitted its Luna 25 spacecraft, intended to mark a new era in space exploration, has crashed into the Moon after entering an uncontrolled orbit. The disaster probably reflects the mistake of trying to hurry the mission in order to beat  India’s Chandrayaan-3 to the coveted region. However,  it’s also […]

Due to the versatility of gold, its conductivity, durability, and good looks place it firmly in the top five most expensive metals. Gold prices stand at over $1,850 per ounce at the time of publication – impressive, but nothing compared to rhodium. Currently the most expensive precious metal and one of the rarest, the price […]

Fresh evidence suggests that early humans in Europe were mastering fire around 245,000 years ago. If this latest assessment is on point, it indicates our distant relatives may have been sat around a campfire, perhaps sharing food and building social bonds, up to 50,000 years earlier than previously thought.   In a recent study, researchers […]

One of the oldest burial chambers in the Iberian Peninsula has been identified in a cave in northern Spain, with bones from within the pit dated to over 7,000 years ago. Representing some of the earliest Neolithic human remains ever discovered in the region, the find provides a rare insight into the funerary customs of […]

Africa is slowly but surely splitting in two. The east of the continent is scarred by one of the largest rifts in the world. Despite its colossal size, scientists know surprisingly little about the complex movement of this unusual deformation. In a new study, researchers used GPS mapping and computer models to change that.  The […]

Have you ever noticed that when the remains of ancient civilizations are found, they are often dug up or unearthed, and never found “lying around” or “just sort of sat there”? Well before you go assuming the obvious (an order of mole people, dedicated to hiding knowledge of the past) you should know there are […]

The Wizard of Oz got a hat tip from scientists poking around in an ancient and underwater volcano chain in the Pacific Ocean, as they discovered what looked like a “yellow brick road”. The natural brickwork was actually the result of volcanic geology which has fractured the rock in a curiously uniform way. E/V Nautilus […]

In the deserts of the Middle East, you can find vast megastructures known as desert kites that were carved into the rocky landscape over 8,000 years ago. In a recent study, archaeologists have discovered the world’s oldest architectural plans detailing how ancient humans managed to construct these colossal structures. Desert kites were only identified in […]