Deborah Bloomfield

In science, the more observations, the better the insights. And amateur astronomers are actually killing it when it comes to supernova (SN) 2023ixf. The event is in the Pinwheel galaxy, a spiral galaxy 21 million light-years from us, making it the closest of the last decade. It was discovered first by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi […]

On the Kenya-Uganda boundary lies Mount Elgon. Inside this extinct volcano, there is a fascinating animal population: Cave Elephants. Located on the eastern side of Mount Elgon, within Kenya’s Mount Elgon National Park, elephants serenely forage in the forested surroundings during the daytime. However, at sunset, these elephants make their way up the mountain and […]

Organic molecules found by the Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater on Mars are more varied than those previously found in Gale Crater by Curiosity and in meteorites knocked off Mars. The molecules detected could have formed without the presence of life, but they do show the planet once had more complex chemistry than previously recognized, […]

People in San Francisco have discovered a ridiculous way to both “prank” self-driving cars and protest their existence by doing a process called “coning”. The simple trick involves placing a single traffic cone on the bonnet of the vehicle, which appears to fully disable the car and makes it immediately stop, switch its hazard lights […]

When Johann Weikhard von Valvasor first described an olm in 1689, the famed Slovenian polymath believed he’d laid eyes on a baby dragon. After all, local folklore explained that ferocious dragons dwelled beneath the planet’s crust and these strange pale creatures seemed to magically emerge from Earth’s surface during heavy rains.  While their mythical prowess […]

It’s well known they’re incredibly sensitive and intelligent pets, but dogs do not cry – at least, not in the sense of shedding tears. However, there are a few telltale signs that your canine companion is feeling blue. Just like cats and most mammals, dogs have tear ducts in their eyes, but they are only […]

Every now and then on the Internet, people discover something about food that you thought everyone already knew. Hey, we’re all learning, right? A few months back it was the turn of paprika and allspice, but now it’s our old friend the crab stick which is under the spotlight. A video posted to Reddit shows […]

Here’s a weird thing: a study in 2012 found that humans are able to tell whether someone is young or old based on smell alone. In the study, researchers collected the body odors of different age groups by asking them to wear T-shirts in bed for five nights with underarm pads to soak up their […]

An international team of astronomers has found a way to make disagreeing estimates of the age of the Moon’s surface finally agree with each other. It turns out some features, such as the maria, which in many countries is referred to as the “Man in the Moon” are now estimated to be millions of years […]

Falling into water inside a car is something that doesn’t happen to a lot of people, but still happens a surprisingly frequent amount: in 2004-2007, 384 traffic fatalities in the US listed drowning as a cause of death. Knowing what to do should it occur can be the difference between life or death, but there’s […]

The must-have accessory for fashionistas living in Ice Age South America was a polished pendant carved from giant sloth bone, it seems. Archaeologists have recently found artifacts made of giant sloth bones in central Brazil that date to over 25,000 years old, providing evidence that humans arrived in the Americas way earlier than once thought. […]

Music lessons have a positive impact on brain health in older adults and can even lead to an increase in gray matter, according to a recent study. The findings spark hope for a new non-pharmaceutical intervention to help protect the brain from gradually declining over time. Many of us are concerned about what will happen […]

After seeing the sheer size of Niagara Falls, it is almost impossible to think that such a volume of water could ever stop, but it has – twice, in fact, and one of those was entirely down to humans.  The first was a simple tale of unfortunate timing. On March 29, 1848, local people woke […]

Mysterious octagons stamped across the seabed of the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard had scientists scratching their heads. Some were mini while others were bigger than a basketball, but what was causing them? Remote-operated vehicles (ROV) were able to get to the bottom of the peculiar prints, discovering that they appear to be the […]

A man presented to his doctors with an unusual and slightly worrying symptom: his tongue had turned green and hairy.  The 64-year-old had noticed the change to his tongue over the few weeks prior to his appointment at the clinic. Advertisement “On physical examination, the tongue had elongated filiform papillae and green discoloration. No other […]

If you’ve planned a relaxing summer vacation by the edge of a lake you might think your chances of running, or rather swimming, into a shark are pretty low. Surprisingly there are several places around the world that are home to sharks capable of surviving in freshwater. Guess you’re going to need a bigger boat […]

Researchers have extracted genetic data from fossilized teeth belonging to an ancient species of human that lived over two million years ago in South Africa. By far the oldest genetic information ever recovered from any hominid, the data helps scientists understand how this long-extinct creature fits into the human family tree. Presenting their findings in […]

At a rockshelter in Oregon, archaeologists have unearthed an animal tooth that’s been dated to be over 18,000 years old. If their interpretation of the artifact and other relics at the site is on point, this could suggest the shallow cave is one of the oldest sites of human occupation in North America. The Rimrock […]

Every 36 million years, the planet’s marine ecosystems experience surges in biodiversity. New research has discovered the cycle is indirectly triggered by geological changes led by plate tectonics influencing sea levels, paving the way for new life to thrive. When continents dry up and then flood again, barren stretches of land can become extensive shallow […]

First up, here is your usual reminder that penis size doesn’t matter and you should stop worrying about it or comparing yourselves to others, as they are probably lying anyway. That said, in 2021, a team of scientists studied the noses and genitals of fresh corpses to determine if the “big nose big hose” hypothesis […]