Deborah Bloomfield

On September 7, 1978, around 1.30 pm, Bulgarian BBC broadcaster Georgi Markov was casually waiting on Waterloo Bridge for a bus when he felt a sharp jab in the back of his right thigh, and from there it all went downhill for him. When he turned around he saw a person picking up a dropped […]

Ever wonder what the oldest written text that has ever been found is? Needless to say, it’s pretty old, but humans have been communicating about their experiences and reality for millennia. It just wasn’t written down in ways we would recognize today – writing emerged as a process.  The evolution of written language The oldest […]

South Korean scientists have announced the development of a room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor. If the claim is verified, this will change the world. Superconductors transmit electricity without resistance and have a series of magnetic properties that make them invaluable in technological applications. Usually, superconductors need to be cooled down to very low temperatures. A superconductor capable […]

Streaming live today, Wednesday, July 26, the US House Oversight Committee will hear the highly anticipated testimony of three witnesses in regards to their experiences with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs). Commencing with opening statements followed by questions from members of Congress, the witnesses will recount their individual claims of “close encounters”. Former US Navy commanding […]

When interacting with children, adults modify their language depending on the gender of the child, and in fascinatingly consistent ways. That’s the finding of a new study from researchers at the University of Queensland, who wanted to try and bring some clarity to an area where previous research has produced conflicting findings. “Two main factors […]

Last week, many Californians witnessed a red glow in the sky that could have been mistaken for an aurora. The recent burst of solar activity is bringing polar lights to lower latitudes than has happened for a long time, but nothing this large and bright has reached the outskirts of LA – instead, the sky […]

A person has tested positive for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (also known as MERS or MERS-CoV) in Al Ain city of Abu Dhabi, the Capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). As of yet, the source of the infection is unclear.  The 28-year-old man was admitted to […]

Polar vortexes play a massive role in controlling our fate, at least in terms of the bitterly cold weather we face in the winter months. As global temperatures continue to creep up, we’re playing an increasingly dangerous game that could seriously upset this grand force of nature – the consequences of which are not totally […]

A red giant star has been spotted in an unexpected location. Once the astronomers who found it got over their surprise, they realized that what has happened once could happen twice – including to us. If a star like this happened to pass quite close to the Sun at the right time, it would have […]

A single dose of psilocybin, taken in a safe therapeutic environment, was all it took to put four women with anorexia nervosa into remission three months later in a new study. Most other participants also said they had benefited from the treatment. Far more extensive trials are needed before the viability of the treatment can […]

The oldest fragments of DNA ever discovered have been found in the permafrost of northern Greenland, enabling scientists to paint a picture of a verdant landscape teeming with life in the distant past. Dated to at least 2 million years ago, the genetic material belonged to more than 100 different plant species and the animals […]

The world is full of invisible, but very real lines, from the equator that bisects the planet, to the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. But have you heard of the Wallace Line? This imaginary line starts in the Indian Ocean, cuts between Bali and Lombok, sneaks around Borneo, and ends to the east of the […]

Cinnamon is synonymous with the Christmas season – in pumpkin spice lattes, dense spice cake, and gooey cinnamon rolls, it is a key staple of the cozy aesthetic that many people fantasize about. So, it may be disappointing to know that the cinnamon that you make putting into your delicious homemade treats may not be […]

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), “the conveyor belt of the ocean” that carries warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic, is potentially facing collapse within the coming decades, according to a new study. If we keep pumping out fossil fuel emissions at the current rate, this dramatic halt could occur around […]

As the northern hemisphere suffers through a summer that is breaking heat records like the proverbial bull in a china shop, something even more extreme is happening at the other end of the world. Despite being locked in near-constant darkness, the waters off Antarctica are struggling to form ice. The event is so extreme, in […]

We should admit that often, when it comes to Mars, our pareidolia goes into override. From the famous face which turned out to be a windswept hill, to bear-looking craters, to the many many rocks spotted by rovers that look like ducks, flowers, and more, it’s fun to see all these familiar things. Well, until […]

In two months, the asteroid sample collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx will come down to Earth. On September 24, a capsule looking like something from a 60s sci-fi show will fly through the atmosphere and land in the Utah desert. The team has practiced the collection of the capsule several times, and last week they were […]

The Batagaika Crater, an immense fracture in the depths of the Russian Far East, was splintered open just a few decades due to defrosting and thawing permafrost. Decades on, with climate change continuing to cook up this part of the world, the literal scar on the planet is continuing to grow. The crack, widely known […]

Corn is a relatively ancient crop; humans began selectively breeding its wild ancestor teosinte in Mexico over 9,000 years ago. Roughly 1,500 and 2,000 years after this, partially domesticated corn varieties continued to spread to Central and South America respectively. But as this popular crop developed, so did its etymology, and now, despite looking nothing […]

The universe is just too big and planets too common for Earth to be the only place where life evolved. The search for life beyond our world is varied, from trying to spot the transmission of an alien civilization to looking for biosignatures on Mars. The answer to the question of whether we are alone […]