Deborah Bloomfield

Found in the rivers and coasts of South and Southeast Asia, the undeniably adorable Irrawaddy dolphin is a unique sight for those lucky enough to see it. Its rarity doesn’t come from shyness alone, however – years of human activity have seen the population dwindle, to the point that the species is now classed as […]

There are some dreams that almost everyone seems to have: turning up for an exam having completely forgotten to study for it, or being chased by some bad-intentioned assailant, to name just a couple. However, one of the most enigmatic, yet surprisingly common, nightmares involves losing one’s teeth, although science may have an explanation for […]

The mission to resurrect the dodo from extinction has just been given a boost thanks to a new partnership between Colossal Biosciences, a genetic engineering and de-extinction company, and the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit conservation organization that works closely with the Mauritian government. The de-extinction of the dodo is one of the central interests […]

This week the world’s oldest weapon factory reveals some pretty nasty munitions, the secret of why gold explodes purple is solved, and we discovered what made a curious double crater on the Moon last year but the mystery doesn’t end there. Plus, did you know the universe has an average color, and it sounds delicious?  […]

What’s the secret to living past 100? You may think the answer is something to do with healthy eating and regular exercise – but a new study from researchers in Madrid suggests there’s something more at play: your personality.  “Considering that happier people are likely to live longer, we asked ourselves whether healthy centenarians share […]

Every now and then a conspiracy theorist asks the question, “If dinosaurs actually existed, wouldn’t their bones be everywhere?” While it’s odd critical thinking to disregard all the evidence we have that dinosaurs existed because we haven’t found even more evidence that they exist, it is nevertheless a fun question, and one that has been […]

The earliest known factory for the production of standardized war weaponry may have been established during the early Copper Age in modern-day Israel. Based on an analysis of hundreds of stone projectiles recovered from two archaeological sites, researchers have concluded that the items were mass-produced, indicating the highly organized arming of warriors in preparation for […]

Superb film has been obtained of dolphins stealing bait from crab traps and escaping to tell the tale to their fellow pod members in what may be a unique behavior caught on film for the first time. Moreover, when crab fishers tried to make the traps dolphin-proof, their first efforts didn’t succeed for long. It […]

Last year, Artemis I successfully flew around the Moon putting the Orion capsule that will one day carry humans to the test. The first human-grade capsule to go into deep space in 50 years needs to be as safe as possible, so since coming back to Earth in one piece NASA has been looking at […]

And the winner of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023 goes to… Jason Moore for his timeless photo “Air Guitar Roo” showing a kangaroo rocking out.  Jason captured the image (below) of the female Western grey kangaroo in the outer suburbs of Perth. He was out with his camera in the early morning, hoping to […]

The material purple bronze has a never-before-seen capacity to change between electrical states, becoming an insulator or a conductor depending on small shifts in physical conditions. Purple bronze sounds like a contradiction in terms – isn’t part of what defines the mix of copper and tin it’s distinctly non-purple color? More confusingly still, the compound […]

Seychelles is a dream holiday location for many, but early in the 20th century, it was a popular hunting ground for whalers. Luckily, in 1978, the Republic of Seychelles successfully lobbied to protect the Indian Ocean from whaling. Until now, it was unknown if blue whales even came back to this area, but scientists have […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) is looking for more information about a reported cluster of outbreaks of respiratory illnesses and undiagnosed pneumonia among children in northern China. News of the surge in illness first came to light on November 13 when officials from the Chinese National Health Commission reported an increase in the number of […]

The universe, already impressively big compared to say, a planet or Tom Cruise, is expanding. According to the cosmic microwave background, this expansion is happening at the rate of about 67.5 kilometers (41.9 miles) per second per megaparsec (3,260,000 light-years). Meanwhile, measuring the distance of Cepheids stars leaves us with an estimated expansion rate of […]

Something weird is washing up along the Gulf Coast. Numerous sealed bottles with unusual contents have been found on beaches in Texas. But while your mind may jump to romantic ideas about messages in a bottle, what’s appearing in this instance is far more sinister and most certainly should not be opened.  Witch bottles, as […]

In January 2031, the International Space Station (ISS) will come to an end. NASA plans to deorbit it, with the station burning up in Earth’s atmosphere over a very remote area of the Pacific Ocean. It will be the end of an era; there have continuously been humans in orbit since its launch in November […]

A team of researchers believe they have found a previously unidentified gigantic mass of water in the Atlantic Ocean. Within oceans, there are different bodies of water with their own distinct physical properties (such as temperature, salinity, formation history, and chemical makeup). For instance, think of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and the better […]

As much as 1.1 million gallons of oil may have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the US Coast Guard (USCG), after an oil sheen was spotted off the southeast coast of Louisiana last Thursday. Whilst a task force overseen by the USGC is attempting to mitigate the impact of the spill, there […]

Adorable jumping spiders that aren’t considered to be social critters may be able to remember one another. The curious finding comes from a pre-print into Phidippus regius, a big-eyed spider species that behaved differently towards jumping spiders it had “met” before, compared to those that were total strangers. Individual recognition is considered to be a […]

Bacteria, despite lacking neurons, synapses, and a nervous system, are capable of forming something akin to memories, new research has discovered. What’s more, they can pass these “recollections” to their progeny for at least four generations. Now, we don’t mean that bacteria are prone to taking a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about the time […]